I am very excited for you all to read this chapter! I think it's a good one.
Chapter 27
Haley felt a strong pair of arms wrap tightly around her, a smile forming on her face.
His scent was so familiar to her. It surrounded her.
"Good morning," He whispered into her ear, his voice husky from sleep.
It was. Every morning next to him was a good one.
She looked over, kissing him very briefly. "It is, isn't it?" She responded.
He smiled back at her, reaching up to brush his fingers along her cheek.
"You're so beautiful," He said, kissing her cheek.
She let out a laugh, rolling back over so she was facing away from him. "You don't have to tell me that every morning."
"I do," He responded, his hands moving to trailing along her sides, tugging her shirt up lightly.
She let out a content sigh, relaxing against him as he began to lightly stroke her skin.
After a moment, she felt his lips start to brush against her neck.
"What are you doing?" She asked him, blinking her eyes open.
"Nothing," He replied, pulling her closer to him, continuing his path along her neck.
"Nathan..." She warned, shaking her head. "Don't start something we can't finish."
He let out a laugh, kissing back up to her ear.
Instead of whispering to her, the most annoying sound came out of his mouth.
One that sounded a lot like her alarm.
Haley blinked her eyes open (for real this time) and looked over at where her phone was rested on her night stand, playing the worst sound ever.
She shut it off, and allowed herself to fall back against the bed, staring up at the ceiling.
She missed waking up next to him so much. That was one of those dreams she never wanted to end.
It was so unfair. Their relationship had been dead longer than it was alive.
But why did she feel like she lost a part of her in all of this?
She didn't want a guy that wouldn't commit to her so why was she still so hung up on him?
Because he was different. He was different than any relationship she'd ever had, and she knew that.
He pushed her, and as annoying as it was, she enjoyed it.
Haley shook her head, getting out of bed quickly. Now was not the time to think about her past relationship. She couldn't keep talking herself into being sad in the mornings.
Haley wondered if he'd read her book year. It had been a few days since she'd given it to him and well... She'd never seen him read before so she hoped he liked it. He had yet to say anything about it.
Or maybe she didn't care?
Should she care?
She cared about everyone that read her book to this point's opinions. It had not been officially released yet, and the reviews had been pretty positive.
But for some reason she still wanted to know what he thought.
He'd tell her soon enough most likely. He'd do anything to talk to her it seemed.
Haley shook her head, sitting up quickly. She didn't need to worry about this right now.
She climbed out of bed slowly, heading into the bathroom to shower and get ready for the day before she woke up Macey.
Lately Haley had been waking up Macey just a bit earlier to try and get to school before all of the other parents—more specifically Nathan. Which was fairly easy because Nick was usually there right before the bell rang, due to Nathan's late tendencies.
She also wanted to catch a conversation with Mr. Strong. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about him, but physically she was attracted to him, and any conversation she'd had with him, she'd quite enjoyed.
But he wasn't Nathan.
That's what her heart constantly reminded her.
But her brain was tugging her towards, Adam. Nothing had come out of it, and most likely nothing would, he was Macey's teacher after all.
But she wanted to get to know him a little better without the risk of Nathan breathing down her neck while she talked to him.
After a quick shower, she finished getting ready, woke Macey up and helped her with hair and made her some toast and then they were on their way to school.
Haley hummed softly as they approached Adam's classroom, resting her hand on Macey's shoulder as they entered.
Only two other students were there already. Nice.
"Good morning, Macey!" Mr. Strong greeted her with a wave, standing up from his desk as walking over. "How was your weekend?"
"It was fun," Macey informed him, smiling up at him.
"That's what I like to hear," He said, highfiving her and glancing at Haley. "Good morning, Haley."
"Morning," Haley greeted, sending him a friendly smile.
"I trust that your weekend was just as good?" He questioned, raising one eyebrow at her.
"It was wonderful," She replied, nodding. "And yours?"
"Fairly uneventful. Although, I didn't get the chance to talk to you on Friday, you seemed to be in a hurry. I had the strangest experience on Thursday," Adam said, glancing down at Macey. "One that I think you'll be interested in."
"What happened?" Haley asked, crossing her arms and smiling at him.
"So, I was a little lost in the grocery store. New place and all, and I ran into someone very unexpected," He said, a grin on his face. "You'll never guess who."
She laughed at his words, shrugging her shoulders.
She did find him to be pretty cute.
"Who did you run into?" She questioned curiously.
"Lucas Scott! The author. The one that we were raving about just that same morning," Adam informed her, doing a 'mind blown' gesture.
"Really?" She asked him, smiling slightly.
"And you'll never believe what else? Nick Scott? Yeah, Lucas is his uncle. I saw him, his wife, and Nick's dad there," Adam informed her, looking down at Macey again, who was not listening at all.
"Oh, wow..." Haley said, smiling slightly and shrugging.
"And you totally already knew that," Adam said, shaking his head. "How could you let me tell you how incredible his books are without telling me that a student in my class is related to him?"
She laughed at his response, "Oh, I don't know... I didn't want to interrupt."
"I know I ramble, so when you're sitting on information like that, you should interrupt," He laughed, shrugging his shoulders.
"Oh, I would never," She hummed, shaking her head quickly.
Adam sent her a smile.
One that she could tell meant he wanted to say more, but he didn't want to with present company.
"Well, hey," Adam began, clearing his throat. "I heard that you are good friends with Brooke Baker."
"This is true," Haley confirmed, nodding at him. "I'm surprised it took a whole week of school for you to find that out."
"I know, I just heard about it this morning. Shame on her for not talking about you," Adam joked, shrugging. "But, anyways, I've been looking for some really great hikes around here, and I'm completely new to the area, as you know. She mentioned that you might have some places that you could let me know about. Do you think that I could give you my phone number and you could send me a text of some cool places to go?"
Haley smiled at his words, nodding. "Oh, yeah. Of course I can do that."
"That would be fantastic. Just stop by my desk after you say goodbye to Macey," He said, smiling at her. "I hope you got all your homework done, Macey," He said, sending her a joking look.
Macey laughed, shaking her head. "If there was any, I didn't do it."
Haley rolled her eyes at her daughters words. They were so different.
"Good thing I didn't assign any then and that was a joke," He laughed, before walking back over to his desk.
"Okay, goodbye Macey," Haley hummed, smiling down at her. "Have a good day, okay?"
"I will!" Macey replied, waving at her. "Bye!"
Haley nodded, before turning and walking over to Adam's desk.
Adam smiled up at her, handing her a torn off piece of paper with his phone number written on it. "There you are. Book recommendations and anything else you might want to talk about are welcome too," He hummed, winking at her.
She felt a little butterflies in her stomach at his wink. Maybe she could move on from Nathan after all.
That was until she turned around and made eye contact with him.
And by the hurt look in his eyes, she could tell he saw the interaction between the two.
Why did she feel so guilty all of the sudden?
She watched him tell Nick goodbye quickly, and give him a gently push towards his seat, before her b-lined out of the classroom.
Haley sighed softly, turning back to Adam casually and smiling. "I'll be sure to let you know it's me, Adam. See you later," She hummed, nodding at him and walking out of the classroom.
She wanted to think that she was just leaving, but in the back of her mind she knew what she was doing. She was running after Nathan.
He was much closer to the exit than she wanted him to be.
That meant she was going to have to run but make it look like she was speed walking so that she could catch him.
His legs were so much longer than hers though.
When she got outside, she saw him heading towards his car.
"Nathan!" She called out before she could stop herself.
He looked over at her quickly, slowing his pace and stopping all together.
Haley thought over what she was going to say as she approached him. She really had not idea what was going on.
"That wasn't what it looked like," She settled on, shrugging her shoulders.
Maybe it was how hurt he looked when he saw them and her protective nature took over.
"It's, uh, not my business," He said quietly, shoving his hands into his pockets.
That was a bullshit lie if she'd ever heard one. Since when was Nathan not nosy into her life? He'd sent her book into a publisher without her permission for heavens sake.
"It was nothing, Nathan," She told him, clearing her throat.
"So, what, Haley? You text him, he texts back, and you strike up a conversation? Is that what's going to happen?" He asked her, raising his eyebrows.
She blinked in surprise at his words, shrugging. "I don't know, maybe? Is that what you wanted?"
"No," He said flatly, shaking his head. "But it's none of my business."
"You dumped me, Nathan," Haley reminded him, letting out a sigh. "How many times do we need to go through this?"
"I already told you that I regret it," He grumbled, scowling at her.
Haley sighed, pushing him towards his car. They shouldn't have this conversation in front of their kids school.
He was surprised at her actions, even more surprised when she got into the car with him.
"What does that do for me, Nathan? Am I just supposed to jump back into your arms and put all my trust into you with the fifty-fifty chance you won't leave again?" She asked him, scowling.
"That's not fair," He countered, looking at her quickly. "I'm ready, Haley."
"Well, I'm not anymore," She responded, crossing her arms. "And I'm not closing myself off from others either. I'm sorry, Nathan."
"What, so he's an option?" He asked her quickly.
His tone was so... Pained at her words. Like it hurt him to get them out of his mouth.
She wished she never started this conversation. What was she thinking? Now he was hurting too. How did this make anything better?
"He's... I don't know," Haley responded, clearing her throat. "But what you saw today was nothing."
"But it could be something," He replied, turning his eyes from hers.
"Look at me, Nathan," Haley demanded, letting out a sigh.
He looked over at her again.
"Do you think I enjoy this?" She asked him, gesturing between them. "This awkward mess that we've become?"
He shook his head, staying quiet.
"We don't fit, okay? And I don't want to be alone anymore," Haley said simply, resting her hand on the door handle.
She felt the weight with her words. She didn't even know she felt that way until she said them out loud. Now that she'd had a strong connection, she wanted another one like it. Maybe it wouldn't be with Adam, but she wanted someone.
She wanted someone to talk her through her anxieties, and reassure her. Not someone that would confirm her worries.
Why was she feeling so much pain as she said these words to him?
"Why are you acting like we were nothing, Haley?" He asked her, shaking his head.
"Because you acted like we were nothing when you ended things, Nathan!" She argued with him.
She felt like pulling her hair out. It was the same argument over and over again.
"I was scared, Haley! But I'm not scared anymore. I want to be happy and I want to be happy with you!" He responded, scowling at her.
Their eyes met again. Each set annoyed with the other.
Each person wanted the other to see it their way.
But... As always, their fighting brought something else.
A tension that she'd yearned to feel. She'd missed the stupid little arguments between them that ended with the desire the kiss him, honestly.
His eyes flicked down to her lips, and she watched them do it.
But she couldn't. Not in the school parking lot.
Maybe if they'd been somewhere else, she would've given into the temptation.
But thankfully, they had not moved.
She pulled on the door handle, climbing out quickly. "I need more time, Nathan," She almost begged him, shrugging.
He offered her a small head nod, his shoulders slumping forward slightly.
With the sad puppy dog look in his eyes, she wanted to climb right back into the car and hug him.
It wasn't fair that she was hit with the guilt of rejecting him and the pain of him rejecting her.
Maybe he was feeling it too.
Haley looked around, before getting back into his car, which shocked him once again.
She buckled her seatbelt, squeezing her eyes shut. "Let's just... Go somewhere else, okay? Some where quiet where we can be alone."
What was she doing? Wasn't she just thankful they were in the school parking lot ten seconds ago?
It was like someone else took control of her body and made her do it.
Nathan paused, as if he was giving her a moment to take it back.
She didn't say anything though, so he started the car.
They drove in silence for a half an hour, until they pulled up to a park that Haley had been to many times. It was on the edge of the lake, and it was beautiful.
He looked over at her, raising his eyebrows and getting out of the car.
Haley followed his lead, biting her lip nervously.
This was odd. Really, really strange. She definitely didn't expect to end up here with Nathan Scott today.
It was a hidden gem. Not many people ever came around surprisingly.
Today was no different. There were a few other people here, but not many.
Haley followed him as he walked over and took a seat in the grass.
Before she sat down, he removed his suit jacket quickly, laying it down so that she could sit on it.
It was just a small gesture. But damn did she miss the small gestures.
How did they end up here again?
One moment she was ready to slam his car door, and the next she'd gotten back in and they'd ended up here.
She sat down next to him, watching as he pulled off his tie and rolled up the sleeves of his white dress shirt.
"What did you do this summer?" He asked her, glancing over at her once he was settled, leaning back on his arms.
"I jumped on an RV with my parents for two weeks," Haley said, nodding at him.
He nodded back.
It was originally only supposed to be Macey, but being alone wasn't usually the best medicine for a broken heart.
"Sounds fun," Nathan said, clearing his throat.
"The first week was. The second, not so much," She said, smiling slightly. "What about you? Do anything fun?"
"Well, Katherine took Nick for the whole month of June," He said, sighing softly. "Which we did not originally agree upon, but whatever. I still saw him every other weekend. So I pretty much just did some of the old stuff I used to do with Fortitude. Travelled, stuff like that. It was... Nice."
"Yeah?" She responded, glancing over at him.
"Yeah," He confirmed, kicking his heel into the grass lightly. "Do anything else?" He asked, looking out at the lake.
"Worked. Now I have two jobs and I don't know what to do with myself," She laughed, shaking her head.
"So you're still doing advertising?" He asked, looking at her again.
"Yep," She answered, her fingers toying with the grass lightly. "I didn't want to quit my stable job until I knew that I had another stable job to fall back on. I know, not very much of a risk taker, you don't have to tell me."
He shook his head, "I'm sorry. It wasn't fair of me to talk to you like that," He said softly.
She met his eyes, shrugging her shoulders. "You were right."
"It doesn't matter if I was right or not. I broke your trust then called you a coward," He reminded her. "Don't dismiss your own feelings, Haley."
"I'm not, Nathan. I've just moved on from it," She said, sighing softly. "You pushed me into doing something I probably never would have done otherwise."
"But I didn't go about it the right way," He said, rubbing his hand down his face. "The world revolves around me in my own head. But I was raised that way. What could I do better? How can I make the people around me do better? Instead of, how can we be better? How can we grow better together? It was always about me."
"I think you need to let it go, Nathan," Haley said, looking away from him.
"Have you let it go?" He asked, keeping his eyes on her.
"I have," She informed him. "I already told you that I'm not mad about it. Yes, maybe it wasn't the best way for it to happen, but it happened and I'm thankful that it did honestly."
"You're such a good person, Haley," He informed her quietly.
"Pull me off the pedestal you out me on, Nathan. I'm not better than anyone else," She said, glancing over at him briefly.
"You are though," He urged, clearing his throat. "You have so much grace. I hold onto my anger for years."
"Well I'm still angry," She said, shaking her head. "Just not about that."
He smiled slightly at her, "I'm different, Haley. Really, I am."
"What if we just don't talk about it right now, Nathan?" She said, plucking some grass out of the ground, her eyes turning towards it. "Can we just leave it at that?"
He was quiet for a second, before he nodded slowly.
"Sure," He said, sitting up straighter.
"What else did you do this summer?" She asked, looking over at him once again.
He wasn't looking at her anymore, which gave her a little time to admire him.
All thirty years on this earth had done him justice. She had a feeling it was just going to go uphill.
"I went to Tree Hill a couple of times," He said, shrugging. "We really didn't do much, honestly. I tried to make a chore chart for Nick but that idea went out the window quickly. He wasn't very fond of it. He said he likes stuff where he puts them. I didn't realize it was his house that he paid for until he pointed that out to me," He laughed, rolling his eyes.
Haley laughed at his story, shaking her head. "I don't know how to help you there. I beg Macey to clean her room and she never does. I always just end up doing it."
"The problem is, I won't end up doing it for Nick. So his room gets so messy until he can't take it anymore and cleans it himself. Usually it includes a lot of shoving, but it looks clean and that's all that matters, right?" He hummed, smiling slightly.
Haley liked the easy conversations like this one. A lot, actually. More than she probably should have.
There were a lot of things she liked doing with Nathan. Even now, she felt safe around him. Her guard was up, sure. But he gave her comfort she'd never had in any relationship.
"Kids will be kids. The most you can do is try to teach them and hope they listen," She said, smiling at him.
He looked over at her again, letting out a deep breath. "Hey..." He began, pushing himself up to his feet.
"What are you doing?" She asked him, looking up at him curiously.
He grabbed her hands without another word, pulling her up until she was standing as well.
What was going on?
She sent him a confused look as he dropped her hands.
His eyes turned to the water very briefly.
Like half a second.
"Oh no," She said, taking a step back.
"What?" He hummed innocently, grinning at her.
"Don't do it," She warned him, and despite her words, a smile formed on her face.
"Isn't it hot outside?" He said, taking another step towards her.
"It's like 8:45. It's not hot," She attempted to persuade him.
He tugged on his shirt lightly to fan himself, shrugging. "Man, I was not planning on being outside."
"Nathan Scott," She warned again, eyeing him.
She began to rush away, but he was too fast for her.
He grabbed her by the waist, and lifted her up quickly, hoisting her over his shoulder.
Haley let out a loud laugh, one that she wasn't expecting.
Shouldn't she be mad at him?
But this was Nathan. Her Nathan.
Her fun, carefree, Nathan.
He tugged off her sandals with ease, tossing them towards where he jacket was resting.
Her considerate Nathan.
If she let herself dive too deeply in it, this would probably make her sad because this was what they used to do. Have fun.
But she shoved that thought away quickly. Why not live in the moment?
It had been three months, she was going to move on from him eventually.
He ran them towards the water, despite her protests.
After a moment, Haley was quickly tossed in, before her grabbed her to help her resurface.
He laughed loudly at the sight of her.
She was laughing too. She splashed water in his direction, shaking her head.
"How dare you?" Haley laughed, splashing more water at him.
"I think we both needed a little fun," He informed her, grinning down at her after more water splashed at him.
"If I went under, you're going under too," She said, giving him a hard shove.
He stumbled back, falling down into the water.
When he reached the surface again, he had a grin on his face.
He'd probably just ruined his shoes, and maybe the rest of his suit, but he was still laughing.
Maybe they did both need some fun.
She laughed again, pushing more water in his direction.
He shook his head, splashing her right back this time.
"I was being nice because I dropped you in, but now it's on," He said, smirking slightly.
"Oh, sure it is," She teased, shaking her head quickly.
"You've underestimated my splashing abilities for the last time," He said, shoving the water up at her.
Haley smiled at his words, rolling her eyes.
They both broke into a continuous splash fight, their laughter being choked down by the occasional splash of water in the others mouth, which was gross, but neither of them cared at that moment.
They were breathing heavy when they finally stopped, Haley calling the truce first, which she was disappointed in. More ammo for Nathan's bragging rights.
"You're lucky I left my phone in my purse in the car," She hummed when they stepped onto the sand, shoving him lightly.
He smiled at her, shrugging his shoulders. "Don't act as if I didn't know exactly where your phone was when I picked you up. I'm smart, Hales."
Hales.
Everyone she knew called her that. But it felt different coming from him after not hearing it for awhile.
He was just so... Perfect. Again, she had to remind herself about Macey and how hurt she'd been. Because otherwise she would've just said screw it and kissed him there probably.
When they arrived at their grassy spot again, she was shivering slightly.
In her defense, it was still morning, and the water was cold.
He noticed it before she even did, picking up his suit jacket off the ground and wrapping it around her shoulders.
"I don't want to ruin it," She said softly, tugging it around her.
The smell of his cologne smothered her. The same scent she'd had in her dream that morning. The one that in her darkest moments, she'd press her face into one of his sweatshirts, hoping to catch a whiff of it. The scent was long gone off of those, but every once and awhile her brain tricked her nose into smelling it.
"You won't," He said, smiling at her, pushing his hair of his forehead. "My shoes, on the other hand... I'm not sure if they'll survive this one," He laughed, waving his hand dismissively.
"This is all your fault," She pointed out, wrapping his jacket tighter around her.
"Well, I do keep a spare set of clothes in my car, as you may remember. So I figured it didn't matter that much," He reminded her, shrugging.
"You're so cool," She hummed, smiling at him.
Haley began to squeeze some of the water out of her hair and onto the grass.
"Did we just have fun together?" He asked, smirking at her.
"I think so," She confirmed, shrugging her shoulders slightly.
She looked over and met his eyes.
She felt like the thought of how strange this had all turned out was the only one that had passed through her head.
Nathan did that to her. One moment she'd be really annoyed at him, and the next they'd be laughing and having fun.
She could tell that he had more that he wanted to say but he was holding back because he didn't want to ruin the moment.
They were standing a lot closer to her than she initially realized.
Old habits die hard.
She thought back to her dream this morning.
She'd give anything to feel that kind of comfort again.
He was like a drug. Not the kind that you abuse, no. He was like Tylenol mixed with a headache. The kind that makes the pain go away.
Was she really that mad at him?
Maybe not as much as she thought she was.
She was just being careful.
"I miss you too, Nathan," Haley blurted out, staring up at him.
A confused look passed across his features.
"The other day, you told me that you miss me. And I miss you too," She said quietly, not tearing her gaze from his.
She probably shouldn't have done that... But she was only human after all.
He gently raised his hand to her chin, a small smile on his face.
"I'm not doing any of this to hurt you... I just need to protect myself and Macey," She said quietly, offering him a nod.
Suddenly, she was really close to him. It only took her a moment to realize it was her own feet that carried her to him, not him that moved to her.
She pushed the jacket off her shoulders, grabbing his hand from her face with both of hers and moving it so it rested over her heart.
"I need to be careful. You understand that, don't you?"
He nodded in response.
She let go of his hand after a moment, but he didn't remove it from her.
Instead, he brushed his fingertips along her collarbone.
She shivered. Not from the fact that they'd just swam in a lake fully clothed, or at the fact that it was slightly windy and they were in the shade.
That was what she'd blame it on, but she knew that wasn't true. Nathan would know that wasn't true.
That was all him.
He slowly slid his fingertips along the neckline of her shirt, never once taking his eyes from hers.
It wasn't long before his forehead was rested on hers.
Was this going to go anywhere?
She wasn't sure. But she knew that she wouldn't have the willpower to put a stop to it.
Nathan's nose brushed against hers briefly.
Her eyes fluttered shut, and she was waiting. Waiting for the butterflies she felt when he kissed her. Waiting for anything, really.
But after a moment, any physical trace of him was pulled from her body.
She kept her eyes closed for a moment longer, before blinking them open.
He sent her a sheepish look, followed by a shoulder shrug. "Sorry, I just... I don't know if it's a good idea. Not yet," He said, clearing his throat and picking up his jacket off the ground, wrapping it around her once again.
Probably for the best. That didn't make the disappointment go away though.
"It's okay. You're right," She said softly, nodding at him.
"Listen, I, uh... I should probably get to work," He informed her, sighing. "I'm sure Clay has texted me fifty times wondering where I am."
"Yep," She responded, letting out a deep breath.
She followed him to his car slowly, watching as he walked to the front passenger door and pulled it open for her.
She smiled slightly at him as she got in, closing her eyes as he ran around to the other side.
He got in, looking over at her and sighing softly.
"Sorry about getting your seats all wet," She said, shrugging her shoulders.
He laughed, "I threw you in. I knew what I was doing."
She smiled at him, nodding slowly.
The rest of the drive was pretty silent and awkward, with the occasional comment by one of them.
When they pulled into the school parking lot, they were lucky enough to find a spot right next to her car.
She was about to get out, but a sudden thought crossed her mind.
"What did you think of the book?" She asked him quietly.
"You really want to know?" He replied in surprise.
"Well... Yeah," She said, smiling at him. "Why wouldn't I?"
"I don't know, I'm not a book critic or anything," He said, clearing his throat. "I thought it was really great. I've already finished it, and I never read, so that's a milestone for me. I'm glad it ends on a cliffhanger, which means you're going to write another one."
Her smile grew into a grin. "I'm glad you liked it," She said, suddenly feeling very relieved.
There he was, bringing her comfort once again.
"Yeah, I'm hoping I can get the next one early too," He hummed, winking at her.
She laughed, tapping his shoulder lightly. "We'll see about that. I'm just trying to get through this one. I already have the first two chapters of the next one, but I need to get through this release. I'm so nervous."
"Don't be, Haley. You're amazing. Better than Lucas. But don't tell him I said that," He said, smirking slightly.
Haley rolled her eyes at his words, opening up the car door, removing his suit coat from around her shoulders, and picking up her purse off the floor. "I'll see you later, Scott."
"See you later," He repeated back to her with a wave.
He waited until she'd gotten in her car before he drove off.
Haley leaned back against the seat, starting up her car quickly and letting out a sigh.
What a weird morning. One that she'd think long and hard about... Right after she took a hot shower.
xxxx
"How was your day?" Macey asked her from her seat at the bar where she was doing her homework.
Haley was washing the dishes off from dinner, but her daughter's voice made her look over quickly.
What a good question to ask? How was her day?
Okay, shitty, good, a little too good, awkward, the back to okay once again.
But how did she sum that up to an eight year old?
"It was fine," She settled on, smiling slightly.
"What did you do?" Macey asked, tapping her pencil lightly.
"You talking to me to get out of doing your homework?" Haley asked her, shaking her head.
Macey let out an over dramatic gasp, staring at her. "I would never!"
Haley laughed, beginning to load the dishes into the dishwasher. "Sure, sure..." She hummed, shrugging. "I just came home and did cleaning and then some work."
"Anything you need me to clean?" Macey asked her, grinning at her.
"No, you can do your homework," She responded, shaking her head.
"I learned some swear words at school today," Macey informed her, causing Haley to look at her quickly.
She scowled slightly, "Really? And who taught you them?"
"Can't say!" Macey said, zipping her lips shut.
"It wasn't Nick, was it?" She asked, sighing softly.
"No way! Nicky would never," The eight year old responded, giggling quietly. "But I'm going to say them."
"You aren't," Haley said, shaking her head quickly.
"Sometime I will. When you don't know it's coming," Macey informed her, a grin on her face.
"Well you're going to get your mouth washed out with soap. Is that what you want?" Haley retaliated, frowning.
"Doesn't scare me," She hummed out in response.
"Just- do your homework," Haley said, gesturing to the papers in front of her and shaking her head. "I'll be right back," She mumbled, walking to her bedroom.
Haley grabbed her purse off her bed, pulling her phone from her pocket. She grabbed the white slip of paper out of it that had been the cause of her confusing day.
Her confusing day didn't change anything, right?
Sure, she'd almost kissed Nathan, and they'd had a couple... Moments.
But that didn't change this. Right?
No. It didn't.
She quickly typed the number into a new message, before switching to the text bar and typing.
'This is Haley James :)'
Was the smiley face too much?
Was she trying to hard to convince herself to text Adam Strong in an effort to move on from Nathan?
Maybe so.
Without another thought, she pushed send, dropping her phone on the bed, and heading back into the kitchen once again.