Hey everyone! I am alive and doing well. Just been dealing with some rough stuff but I'm at the close of it (I hope!). And back with an update! I am embarrassed to say that I've had this ready for you all since January, but I have just been so drained. I actually have several more chapters all ready for you. :) So be prepared for a bunch! I have been writing, just not updating. I'm so sorry! Enjoy.
Chapter 50
"One, two, three, go."
"My house."
They both said at the same time, before groaning.
They had been alternating between houses since Christmas Day, trying to decide which house to move into.
And it was not going well.
They'd asked each other this question several times over the past two weeks.
And their answers never changed.
Haley sighed, setting the take out bowl of salad on the couch next to her, standing up and walking around Nathan's desk and leaning against the edge of it.
Nathan set his bowl on his desk as well, leaning back in his chair and linking his fingers together behind his head, looking at her.
"I've lived in my house longer," She reminded him, crossing her arms.
"My house is newer and more modern," Nathan said, shrugging.
"My house is bigger," She said, shrugging. "It has five bedrooms and yours only has four. We could turn one of those into a home office for you."
"I have a home office at my house that I really like. I don't want a home office in a basement, and you don't want a guest bedroom in the basement either."
"We can move Macey downstairs," Haley said, shrugging. "Your bedroom is upstairs, Nathan. What happens when you hurt your knee again?"
"I'll sleep on the couch. I have a pool," He said, clearing his throat.
"Come on, Nathan... Before this we stayed at my house more often."
"Because you pick up the kids and take them there."
"If you want, you can start picking up the kids," She said, shaking her head.
"Maybe I will," He said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I just can't today, or tomorrow..."
She laughed, shifting from leaning against his desk, to sitting in his lap. "Okay," She leaned forward, kissing his cheek. "What will it take?"
"You're bribing me?" He asked her, laughing.
"Anything you want, and I'll do it," She said, tapping his chest.
"Can we have sex in Clay's office?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.
Haley sighed, "I said anything, didn't I?"
He laughed, wrapping his arms around her. "I'm just kidding," He hummed, kissing her softly.
"I'm all settled in my house, Nathan," She said, sighing. "I like it."
"I know you do, Haley. But I like my house. And I have that jacuzzi tub in my bathroom that is just... Perfect. You know that."
"I do like that jacuzzi tub," She agreed.
"Plus, my shower has different settings on it."
"If anything that will make your house easier to sell. It's more modern," She said, shrugging. "The shower can be changed in my house. I don't have enough room to add the jacuzzi tub though. But we could get a hot tub or something."
He sighed, shaking his head. "I like my neighbors. You hide from yours," He reminded her.
"Because they all just want to gossip," She said, grabbing onto his tie.
Nathan looked up at her, "The first time I told you that I loved you was in my house."
"And the first place we made out was against a tree in the park, but I don't want to move there. Next."
"I thought maybe that would soften you," He laughed, shrugging.
Haley smiled, leaning forward and kissing him.
He rubbed his hands over her back and shoulders, kissing her back.
"No strings attached massage every night for a month," He suggested, raising his eyebrows.
"No strings attached never works, Nathan. Never," She said, shrugging. "All strings attached massages for a month?" She suggested, winking at him.
"Okay, now we're getting somewhere. You're telling me you would have sex every day for a month just to live in your house instead of mine? Every day, Haley?"
"If that's what it takes."
"Wow, that was a really romantic sentence."
She pressed a kiss to his head, laughing.
"I'm going to have to decline."
"I thought you would," She sighed, tugging on his tie lightly. "So what do we do now? We're getting nowhere."
"I agree, this isn't working," He said, shaking his head. "Maybe we should just take a break. Let the cards fall where they will."
"Is that what you want?" She asked, stroking the side of his face with the back of her hand.
"I don't know how we're going to find the middle ground on this one," He said, shrugging. "So let's just put a pin in it for the time being."
She weighed the options, sighing softly, "Maybe you're right."
He smiled, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her tightly to him.
"I better go," She said, kissing him briefly. "Let you get back to your important stuff."
"Thank you for picking up the kids," He said, releasing her from his grip.
She stood up, nodding at him. "I do what I can."
"I'll call you, okay?"
"Got it," She said, leaning over and kissing him one last time, exiting the office.
She waved at Clay, who was standing not too far off from the door.
"Haley, hi. I didn't know you were here..." Clay said, eyeing her suspiciously.
"Yeah, well... We had some stuff we had to talk about," Haley said, gesturing towards Nathan's office.
"Oh... Everything okay?" Clay asked, standing up a bit straighter.
Haley waved her hand dismissively in response to his question, sighing.
Clay made a face.
"Anyways... I better go. I'll see you later, Clay," Haley said, waving at him and stepping into the elevator.
xxxx
Haley leaned her elbows against her kitchen table, looking at her laptop and sighing.
She couldn't stop thinking about her conversation with Nathan.
Should they really put a pin in it?
Or were they both just being ridiculous about this whole house thing?
It didn't really matter, did it?
Nathan's house would probably be easier to sell.
But it was newer, and more modern. He made some good points about the pool.
She looked over when her phone started ringing, her sister's name appearing on the screen.
She picked it up, holding it to her ear.
"Hey Quinny," Haley greeted, sighing softly.
"Hey. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah... Why wouldn't it be?"
"Clay called me in a panic about an hour ago and he said that he thinks you and Nathan broke up."
"What?" Haley asked, knitting we eyebrows together.
"Did you guys break up?"
"No, of course not," She laughed, closing her laptop slightly. "Why would he think that?"
"Well, he didn't know you were there and he was about to go into Nathan's office when he heard you guys talking about how things aren't working out and you're going to take a break," Quinn informed her. "So?"
"That's why he was acting strange when I left Nathan's office probably," Haley said, nodding slowly. "Okay. Makes sense now."
"You guys aren't breaking up, right?"
"No," Haley said, laughing. "We're moving in together. Or we were. I don't know anymore. We can't really agree."
"I thought you were far from that? Because last time we talked about this wasn't that long ago."
"I don't know, Quinn. There was a shift. We spent all of Christmas break together and I just realized that I don't want to do the switching back and forth between houses anymore. Unfortunately, that's all we've been doing for the past two weeks though. And debating on who's house we should live in."
"Moving in together. Wow. That's a big deal," Quinn commented.
"God, Quinn... I'm so in," Haley said, biting her lip. "I just love him so much."
"He hasn't rushed you or anything, right? Last time we talked about you two living together, it just seemed far off."
"Not at all. It was my idea. Whether or not it's still going to happen, I don't know," Haley sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I just don't know what to do. I want him to move in with me, he would rather we moved in with him... It's just a mess."
"So that's the argument that Clay mistook for you two breaking up. I thought it was weird that you didn't call me," Quinn laughed.
"I feel like argument is an exaggeration. I'd barely call it a disagreement. We're discussing our options," She said, rolling her eyes. "Clay really just heard the two sentences that sounded like it could have been a break up and then he freaked out."
"He's going to be so annoyed at me for calling you and telling you but I just had to make sure you were alright," She said, laughing. "Gotta love him though."
"Well I'd hope so, he is your husband after all," Haley laughed, humming softly.
"What are you doing right now?"
"I'm supposed to be writing but really I'm just looking at Nathan's house on Zillow," She informed the older James girl, sighing softly. "Just running out the clock before I have to go pick up the kids."
"Haley, can I offer you some advice?"
"I think you will regardless of what I say," Haley laughed, tapping her fingers on the table.
"I think that no matter who's house you move in to, it's going to be a pain. You both have stuff. Nathan might really like his couches and want to keep them, while you might want to keep your couches. You like this lamp, he likes that one. But you have to understand that this isn't going to be Nathan's stuff and Haley's stuff anymore. When you move in together, it because both of your stuff. There will be things you'll like and there will be things you don't like. Do you think that Nathan likes it when you shove your freezing cold hands up his shirt to warm them up? Or do you think Nathan likes that seriously hideous painting you have downstairs in one of the bedrooms down there?"
"I don't even know if Nathan has spent much time in the bedrooms down there... Wait. You hate my painting? It's a replica of a-"
"Doesn't matter. I know that you're compromising a lot by moving in with him, but so is he. Take it from your sister, because at this point he'll never say it, you have some strange habits. And I know you have years and years of accumulated stuff in your house and I'm not telling you to move into his house. But I just think you need to stop having the my house, his house conversation and starting having an our house conversation."
Haley sighed, pushing her hair back slightly. "Okay," She said, nodding. "You're right. The way things are going right now isn't going to change anything. It's just going to prolong us moving in together."
"I love it when I give you advice that you actually listen to," Quinn laughed, "Maybe I am the smart one after all."
"Maybe," Haley agreed, rolling her eyes. "I'll call you later, okay? And tell Clay that we appreciate the concern but we're fine."
"I will. Love you!"
"You too," Haley hummed, before hanging up her phone and setting it on the table next to her laptop. She pushed it open again quickly.
Time to get to work.
xxxx
Nathan looked around in confusion when his GPS told him to stop.
Haley had texted him and asked if he could meet her at a random address at 4:45 instead of back at her house.
His eyes landed on her standing in a front yard near a mailbox, talking with a woman that was dressed in a pantsuit, no kids in sight.
He got out slowly, tightening his tie and approaching the two.
"And here's my partner, Nathan, right now," Haley said, gesturing to Nathan as he approached.
Nathan wanted to laugh. Partner? That was the first time she'd ever called him that. It was kind of strange, but at the same time it made them sound more committed to each other.
Nathan greeted the woman with a nod, shaking her hand.
"Nice to meet you, Nathan. I'm Cheryl Gilbert."
Nathan glanced at Haley.
"Cheryl is going to show us around this house," Haley informed him, gesturing towards the home that was attached to the yard.
Nathan raised his eyebrows in surprise, nodding slowly. "Well, uh... Okay then. Lead the way."
"Alright, it has four bedrooms and four bathrooms," Cheryl began to introduce the house, stepping up the front door. "The family that was originally building it ended up moving somewhere else before they had the chance to live in it, so it's vacant. There's a sort of loft style room upstairs, which could be made into a bedroom, and then on main floor, there's the master suite and one other bedroom, and downstairs there's the remaining two bedrooms."
Nathan nodded, holding his hand out to Haley, to which she gladly took ahold.
"Now, Haley said that you are looking for something with a home office, and unfortunately, this house doesn't have a room specifically for that. But, the second bedroom on the main floor is pretty roomy," Cheryl informed him. "It would make a great office."
Nathan nodded, squeezing Haley's hand lightly. "Well, I'm excited to look around."
Cheryl pushed open the front door, gesturing for them to come inside.
She had them put the foot coverings over their shoes.
The home was pretty open. They entered into a family room style room with a dining room off to the side, and an entry way that entered into the kitchen to the right, and to the left there was a walkway that led towards the master bedroom and second bedroom on the main floor.
"Aren't these hardwood floors just beautiful?" Cheryl commented, nodding down at the floors.
Haley nodded, brushing her thumb over Nathan's knuckles lightly.
"And just imagine where you'd put furniture. It's like a blank canvas right now," Cheryl smiled at them. "Sitting down with your family at a nice dinner over here, watching something on TV over there," She said, shrugging and pointing around the room. "How many kids do you two have?"
"Um..." Haley glanced at Nathan and shrugged.
"Two," Nathan answered, letting out a laugh.
"Fantastic. How old are they?"
"They're eight. One is hers and one is mine," Nathan said, smiling. "That's why there was the confusion."
"I see," Cheryl nodded. "Well, that's great. Let's continue on to the master," She said, gesturing towards the bedroom door.
After a walkthrough the whole house, Cheryl left them in the upstairs loft so that they could talk about the house.
"So?" Haley asked, siting down on the window bench, gripping the edges with her hands.
"What brought all of this on?" Nathan asked, gesturing around the room.
"I thought that maybe we should explore our options," She informed him, shrugging. "I don't know if I really want to put a pause on the moving in together thing, Nathan."
"I was thinking about it after you left, and I don't think I want to either," He said, laughing.
"And I just think that instead of you moving into my house or me moving into your house, we should start fresh," She said, smiling at him.
He nodded, tugging on his tie lightly. "You really want to do this? Buying a house together is a big deal," He reminded her.
"I got that," She said, looking around. "But I don't care. I think this will be the best way for us to move in with the least argument. So... What do you think of this house?"
Nathan looked around, sitting next to her and sighing. "I think it's too small. If there was another bedroom, I'd be more interested."
"You think we need a five bedroom house?" She asked him, raising her eyebrows.
"I think that we have plans for the future, and I really hate moving," Nathan said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "And right now, with a home office, we only have enough for the four of us."
"You could do a home office up here," She said, gesturing around the room.
"No, because if we moved into this house, this would be your space," He said, smiling at her. "Put a piano up here, and a desk. Make it your workspace."
"We could turn it into a joint office," She said, shrugging.
"There's a reason Clay and I don't share an office. We talk too much. I think that would be the same with you," He laughed, kissing her head. "Do you like it?"
"Not as much as I did in the pictures," She said. "Shower is too small for my taste," She added, winking at him.
"Oh, I like you," He laughed, rolling his eyes. "I have to say, I did notice that."
"And did you see the wallpaper in one of the downstairs bedrooms?"
"It was awful," Nathan laughed, shrugging. He stood up, grabbing her hands and pulling her up to her feet. "So, I think that this is a no from us."
"Too bad. I was hoping to knock this out on the first try," She said, sighing. "Oh well. We'll just have to talk a little bit more about what exactly we want."
"Hopefully we can agree on that," He said, resting his hand on her shoulder.
"We will, Nathan," She said, shaking her head. "The problem will be finding a house that meets all our needs."
"We can move here if you like it," He said, gesturing around. "It just doesn't leave much room for growth."
Haley nodded, standing on her toes and kissing him briefly. "I don't like it that much."
He smiled, grabbing onto her hand. "Alright. Time for you to go break the news to Cheryl."
She rolled her eyes, tugging him out of the room and down the stairs.
They found the realtor standing near the front door.
"So... We think we need to keep looking," Haley said, smiling at her.
"I thought you might say that," Cheryl said, nodding. "But don't worry, I've already found some houses that are more your taste. I'll email them to you and we can go through a few more, okay?"
"Sounds perfect," Haley said, nodding. "Thank you for all your help today, Cheryl. It was kind of last minute."
"I'm always ready," The woman responded. "Are you sure you don't want to give it one more walk through?"
"I think we're alright," Nathan said, clearing his throat. "But thank you."
"Of course," She said, smiling warmly at them. "Call me if you need anything else. I'll keep you update on what's available."
"Thank you so much, we appreciate it," Haley hummed, grabbing the door handle and pulling it open.
Nathan headed outside, sighing softly and looking over at her. He pulled his car keys out of his pocket, spinning them around his finger. "So... I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"
She rolled her eyes and laughed, nodding. "Yeah, tomorrow it is."
He made a face at her.
"What? Did you want to come over?" She asked him.
"Considering I don't know where the kids are right now, I probably better because otherwise I don't know how else I'll get my son," He said, walking her over to her car, resting his hand on the door handle.
"Right," She hummed, smiling at him. "Okay, well, my place or yours?"
"Question of the year," He said, sighing softly. "Well... Let's just go to your house I guess."
"Awesome," She said, winking at him.
Nathan tugged open the door for her, leaning down and kissing her briefly. "How about I go pick up some dinner and you go get the kids?"
"That sounds great. They are with Brooke, by the way. I should have told you," Haley said, shrugging. "I just had her take them home."
"All good. I didn't think you'd send them with someone random," He laughed, kissing her again.
Haley smiled, patting his cheek lightly, before getting into her car. "See you in a bit."
He nodded, closing the door and walking over to his own car, getting in and waving at her.
Haley smiled and waved back as him, blowing him a kiss.
He laughed, shaking his head.
With one last glance at the house they just looked at, Nathan started driving back towards Haley's home.
xxxx
"Clay was acting so weird today..."
Haley looked up as a shirtless Nathan stepped out of the bathroom. She placed the marker back in the book she was reading, closing it slowly and setting it on her nightstand. She then removed her glasses, setting them next to the book as well.
"I was going to tell you earlier but I forgot until just now," Haley said, rolling her eyes. "He thinks we broke up."
"What?" Nathan laughed, sitting down on the bed next to her, picking up the remote. "Why would he think that?"
"I guess he accidentally heard us talking about potentially putting a pause on us moving in together but since he only heard bits and pieces and put the puzzle together in the wrong order," She laughed, rolling her eyes. "Quinn called me."
"That actually makes a lot of sense now," Nathan said, flipping the remote around in his hand. "He came into my office like an hour after you left and he kept calling me buddy. It was weird. How are you feeling buddy? Do you want to take the rest of the day off, buddy? Need anything, buddy?"
Haley laughed again, leaning over and kissing Nathan's shoulder. "You should have taken advantage of it. Now he'll know that we didn't break up because Quinn will tell him."
"Dammit," He said, looking over at her and smiling. "Where's your laptop?"
"I think that it's in the kitchen," Haley said, shrugging.
He stood up, walking out of the room and returning a moment later with the object, handing it to her.
"Let's look," He said, gesturing for her to open up the laptop.
He sat back down next to her, dropping his arm around her shoulders and kissing her head.
Haley opened up her laptop, quickly logging in and pulling up her search-engine.
"Okay, so hit me with the things you want, Haley James," He said, looking down at her.
"I want a fireplace in the master bedroom," She said, nodding slowly. "And I want a master bedroom that's on the ground floor with built in shelves in the closet."
"And you want a bigger shower," He added, kissing her head.
"That too. I also want to be able to fit a double fridge. And a yard that has a fence," She said, shrugging.
"Anything else?"
"Not that I can think of. You?"
"I want a master bedroom on the main floor, just like you said. I would really like a home office that's enclosed so I can be alone when I need to be. I don't care if it has two stories, or a main floor and a basement, or all of the above. I just think it needs to be big enough for the four of us, and maybe another extra bedroom or two. I think we should look in the five bedroom area."
"This is so strange," Haley laughed, shaking her head and looking up at him. "Doesn't this feel weird?"
"Kind of. But I really don't want to move again," He laughed, shrugging. "Oh, and I think we should try and keep it in the same school district that we're in now."
"I think so too," She agreed, sighing. "The problem is, we only have limited options."
"I've been thinking about it, and..." He shook his head. "Nick and Macey will be unhappy about this, but we don't need a pool."
She laughed, looking up at him. "If we find one then we find one, okay?"
He nodded, removing his arm from around her and running his hands through his hair. "I'd kind of like a basketball hoop."
"I figured," She said, looking down at her laptop. "I think the most important things are that the master bedroom is on the main floor and that it's big enough, correct?"
"You know, I get along just fine right now and my bedroom is upstairs," He said, shrugging. "Maybe that doesn't have to be a necessity. We could always sleep on the couch too."
"We?" She laughed, rolling her eyes. "No. Let's get a house with the master on the main floor."
"I can't believe we're doing this," Nathan said, grinning at her. "Can you believe this, Hales?"
"It seems insane," She laughed, kissing his shoulder lightly.
"I guess we could build... That way we could have whatever we want."
"We'll find something," She said, sighing softly. "Because I can't keep doing this bouncing back and forth thing until a house is built."
"I'm getting too old for it," He agreed, laughing. "Back in high school and college, I could sleep where ever I wanted. I could sleep on the floor, the beach, in a car... Anywhere."
She laughed, looking up at him. "We only looked at one place, babe. Don't worry. We'll find something. And we have to split the furniture too," She said, sighing. "I'm totally fine with getting rid of any furniture in my basement. It's old. And we can ditch this bed and keep yours."
"I was hoping you'd say that," Nathan hummed, hitting his palm against her mattress lightly. "All my stuff is pretty new. When I left Tree Hill, I sold a lot of it and bought new stuff in Charlotte."
"We'll figure it out... Probably. You never know with us. We couldn't agree on a place to live so instead we're going the most expensive route and buying a new one," She said, rolling her eyes and sighing.
Nathan looked down at her and smiled, pressing a soft kiss to her nose and shrugging. "I just want you to be happy, Haley. And if you really want to stay here, I'll move in here."
"No," She said, sighing softly. "It's not our place. I'm worried it will always feel like my house. You know, it's the house I bought with Peter and so much has happened here... It doesn't feel right. I just needed to think about other options to realize that."
He nodded, letting out a sigh and looking at her laptop. "I think we can handle this," He laughed, grabbing the laptop from her lap and moving it into his own. "Let's just look and see what's available. Maybe we'll be surprised. Let's look for a five bedroom house with a fire place in the master, and a pool. That's common, right?"
"Who knows," Haley said, sighing and resting her head against Nathan's shoulder.
Nathan typed in the suggestions, clicking his tongue lightly. "Look. Four matches. Nailed it."
"Not so fast," Haley said, pointing to the screen. "Two are out of the school district."
"Okay, so we don't look at those two. I'm calling the realtor tomorrow and we're going to look at both of these houses. Tomorrow. I'll take the day off too."
"Both of them, hm?"
"Well... Right now we have two options. And those are them. If we want everything that we want, this is what we have to work with. If there's not a home office then I'll just go to Fortitude every time I need to do something. I'll make compromises."
She looked at him and sighed softly, leaning into him. "This is going to be a lot of work."
"I'll take care of it," He said, looking down at her and smiling. "And when we have something, we can tell the kids. They'll be thrilled."
"Everyone else is going to think we're insane... It's only been two months."
"I think we're fine," He laughed, kissing her head and closing the laptop. "We're not a normal couple, Hales."
"I know," She said, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I'm not having second thoughts or anything. I guess I'm just a little worried about all the different reactions. What if Nick and Macey are unhappy?"
"They won't be," He assured her, frowning. He leaned over and set the laptop on the floor carefully, before sitting back up. "They'll be so excited."
"I know," She said, looking at him. "I just can't help but stress."
He smiled, kissing her cheek and squeezing her shoulder. "I think you stress too much."
She let out a laugh and rolled her eyes, "I stress too much? What about you, Mr. I Can't Take A Second Off Work?"
He gasped, reaching over and tickling her sides quickly. "Hold on a second."
Haley shoved his hands away, holding them back so that he couldn't tickle her again. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding!"
He smiled, gesturing for her to come closer to him.
She hesitated, before maneuvering herself so that she was straddling his legs.
He let his hands fall to her sides, brushing his thumbs along her ribcage. "I can't believe you broke up with me today."
"How do you know that you didn't break up with me?" She asked him, laughing and poking his chest.
"Clay was being too nice to me. If I would have broken up with you then he would've told me to fix it," He laughed, shrugging. "So you definitely dumped me. It's alright though. It was your turn."
"Yes, but aren't you the one that suggested the break?"
He tilted his head to the side, frowning. "Ehh... I'm just glad we worked it out."
She smiled, resting her hands on his shoulders. "Me too," She said, nodding.
"Maybe I should go home," He hummed, glancing at the clock in her room.
"Why the hell would you go home?" She laughed. "Your son is here."
"Yeah, but if we're going to live together soon, you're never going to get a break from me," He said, shrugging.
She pretended to weigh her options in her head for a moment, tilting her head back and forth and mouthing nonsense to herself.
"You know..." She began to speak to him, dropping one hand from his shoulder to his chest, brushing her thumb along the smooth skin there, before sliding her hand to his stomach muscles. "After much thought and consideration, I think you should stay. I could never need a break from you while you're shirtless."
He laughed, rolling his eyes and leaning his head back against the headboard. "Okay, I'll stay..."
"In fact..." She leaned forward and began to kiss down from his ear. She moved her lips to the other side once she reached his collarbone and repeated the action.
Nathan hummed in approval, carefully inching his hands inside of the t-shirt she was wearing, closing his eyes. "Didn't you tell me earlier to leave you alone tonight so that you could finish reading since the part you were at was so intense?"
"I didn't say leave me alone," She said, pinching his side lightly. "I suggested that you watch TV tonight because I really wanted to finish the book I'm reading."
"Same difference," He laughed, keeping his eyes shut.
"No, one sounds a lot nicer than the other," She said, nipping at the side of his neck lightly.
"Yet here we are," He said, shrugging his shoulders.
"I was distracted anyways, might as well just finish the book tomorrow," Haley said, laughing. "Now do something. Grab my ass, take off my shirt. Don't just sit there."
He laughed, "Bossy. I like it."
"You better," She hummed, kissing his cheek.
Nathan grabbed the hem of Haley's shirt and he was about to lift it from her, when there was a quiet knock on the door.
Haley jumped slightly, shoving his hands away and moving off of him.
"We really need to get away," Nathan mumbled, rubbing his hand down his face.
"Yep," She agreed, nodding at him.
"I think this one is on you," He said sheepishly, shrugging. "I'm going to need a minute."
"God, Nathan. It's so easy," She laughed, kissing him softly.
"What can I say? I'm really attracted to you, I guess."
"Well that's good," She said, rolling her eyes and humming softly.
She stood up slowly, walking over to the door and pulling it open.
To her surprise, it wasn't Macey standing there, but Nick.
"Hi," Nick said, rocking back and forth on his heels.
"Hi," Haley greeted, smiling down at him. "Is everything okay?"
"Yes," Nick said, nodding.
"Cool," She laughed, tapping her hand on the door lightly. "What's up?"
"I can't sleep," Nick informed her, shrugging.
Haley glanced over her shoulder at Nathan, who gestured for her to keep talking to him.
"You want to know what used to help me sleep when I was a kid?" She said, stepping out of the room and closing the door behind her quietly.
She led Nick down the hallway, resting her hand on his shoulder.
"Where are we going?" Nick asked, looking up at her.
"Kitchen," She informed him.
"I already brushed my teeth..."
"You can brush them again," She laughed, squeezing his shoulder. "My dad and I used to do this."
She led him through the living room into the kitchen, pulling out a chair at the table. "Have a seat, Nick."
Nick hopped onto the chair, watching her curiously.
Haley hummed softly, pulling some milk out of the fridge. She grabbed two cups, pouring milk into both of them.
"Milk?" Nick asked, shaking his head.
"Hold on," Haley laughed, putting one cup in the microwave.
She warmed it up until it was a good temperature, before warming up the next cup.
She then found some chocolate powder, using a spoon to sprinkle it into the cup.
She walked into the pantry, grabbing some Oreos from a hidden spot out of Macey's reach. She tucked them under her arm, picking the cups back up and walking to the table. "Here you go. The perfect way to fall asleep."
"Sugar?" Nick asked warily, glancing at the Oreos and warm chocolate milk.
"Dude. Trust me. Like I said, my dad would do this with me when I couldn't fall asleep," She said, smiling at him. "The perfect amount of Oreos is four. And you can drink however much of the milk that you want."
"I'll believe you because I want them," Nick giggled, smiling at her.
"I'll believe you because I want them," Nick giggled, smiling at her.
Haley grabbed four cookies out of the package, setting them down in front of Nick. "But he wouldn't do this with me often, so don't think it's going to be a nightly thing."
Nick grinned at her, splitting apart the cookie.
"Your dad would do this with you?"
"Yep," She said, ruffling his hair. "I have a lot of siblings. So this was our thing," She informed him, smiling at the memory. "We still do it sometimes... When he's visiting me. I'll find him in the kitchen and we'll just talk."
I like that," Nick told her, nodding. "Maybe it can be our thing too."
Haley's smile grew, taking a bite of one of the cookies. "Yeah, maybe," She agreed with him. "If it works, of course."
Nick picked up the drink, taking a long drink and wiping his face. "So what can we talk about?"
She laughed, "Well... How was your day?"
"Kind of weird," Nick said, shrugging. "Mrs. Baker told me I can call her Brooke but I don't know. She's my teacher. Macey calls her Brooke."
"Quite the problem," She hummed, shrugging. "What are you going to do?"
"What should I do?"
"I think you should do whatever you feel comfortable doing. As you know, she's one of my best friends and I just know that if she told you it's okay to call her Brooke, then she really means that."
"Maybe I'll try it out then," Nick said, licking some of the frosting off half of the oreo cookie.
"Glad we could figure that out," She said, leaning her elbows against the table.
"What did you do today?"
"Well... I had lunch with your dad," She hummed, shrugging. "And them I came home and tried to get some work done. And then your dad and I did some other stuff, which was why you went to Brooke's house."
"Sounds like a fun day," Nick told her.
After a few more minutes of talking and laughing, Nick yawned.
"Now was that a yawn?" She asked him, grinning.
"I guess it is magic after all," Nick sighed. "I wanted to keep talking."
"Go on and brush your teeth, honey. I'll clean this up."
Nick hopped off the chair and headed into the bathroom as she instructed.
Haley cleared the table and put everything away, humming softly. She glanced at the clock on the oven. It wasn't too late, so she didn't feel guilty for keeping Nick up.
She heard the bathroom door open again and rushed to meet him before he went to bed.
"Thank you, Haley," Nick said, smiling at her. He wrapped his arms around her quickly.
Haley smiled, hugging him back. She placed a very delicate kiss to the top of his head. "No problem, Nicky. It's our thing now, I guess."
"I like that it's our thing," Nick informed, "I like having you in my life."
She nodded, hugging him tighter. "I like having you in my life too."
"I'll see you tomorrow," He said, holding a thumbs up out to her. "Good night."
He headed back into the bedroom, leaving the grinning woman out in the hall alone.
What a sweet kid. She had so much love for him. It made her feel good that he liked having her around.
She stepped back into her bedroom, finding Nathan flipping through the book she'd been reading.
"Hey," He greeted, closing the book and dropping it on the bed. "Sorry, I came out to join you guys, but it looked like you had it under control so I snuck back in here."
She laughed, sitting down on the edge of the bed and looking at him. "You have a great kid."
"I know," He said, smiling. "Cookies and milk, huh?"
"Hey, hey, it's our thing, Scott. Back off. I share it with my dad and now I'm sharing it with Nick."
"And I'm not allowed in?"
"Nope," She hummed, poking his leg. "You could have been if you weren't preoccupied."
"Don't make fun of me," He said, shaking his head.
"I could never," She laughed, standing up. "I do have a really great idea though."
"What's that?" He asked, looking up at her.
"It has to do with what we were... Discussing earlier..."
"The house?"
"Not the house, after that. Well... It wasn't as much of a discussion, but rather-"
"I'm in," He said, jumping up.
"How do you feel about meeting me in the shower?"
"The better question is how do you feel about me carrying you into the shower?"
"Carrying me-" Haley began, but was cut off by Nathan picking her up quickly, laughing.
"Shh! There are people trying to sleep in this house," He teasingly reprimanded her, before rushing into the bathroom, carrying her with him.