Hi. Thanks for the Feedback tchele. Here is the second and last part of
this story. The Disclaimer and other important information is in part 1.
Sad Song
Part 2
Lucas waited at the airport terminal for the twice-delayed plane to land from LAX. Jake had called him from somewhere out west where they had been forced to layover due to inclement weather. Madison had been crying and carrying on in the background, and Lucas couldn't help but wonder how the little girl was getting on without Haley around.
He watched as men, women and children picked up their belongings from the luggage claim, but mostly he kept his eyes on the escalator waiting and wondering exactly he was going to say to Jake. He had spoken to Jake a few times over the phone when he had called up Haley to talk and Jake picked up first but those conversations were hardly anything more than cordial social greetings from one old friend to another.
His cell phone rang and caller ID verified the number as 555-9547; it was Nathan. He flipped it open and spoke into the receiver.
"Hey bro," Lucas said.
He could hear shallow breathing mixed with normal cell phone static on the other end. He called for Nathan again, and this time received a reply.
"You need to.to.ask Jake," Nathan stuttered.
Luke cringed. Nathan sounded drunk.
"What do you want me to ask Jake, Nathan?" Luke asked.
"She loved me. Did.didn't she love me?" he asked sorrowfully.
There was a pause, then a crash followed by a curse.
"Are you okay?" Lucas asked, worried.
"Just dropped.vodka," Nathan said. "Find mo.more."
"Nathan, hold tight. I'll be over after I take Jake and Madison over to Haley's parents. Okay?"
Nathan held on to the phone but his head was becoming too light and it slipped through his fingers. It crashed to the floor and joined the broken bottle of booze. He sunk down to the floor.
What he couldn't understand was how a love so intense and overwhelming as the one he had shared with Haley could have been so fleeting and ended so abruptly. He closed his eyes and tried to picture her face the way he always liked to remember it: with eyebrows raised and a smirk on her beautiful lips before her eyes began to sparkle and her mouth broke out into a giant grin.
He loved that she used to love to watch him practice. She would sit in the bleachers with her homework in her lap but her eyes would be focused on him.
That's where he was now as he drifted into unconsciousness on his apartment floor. He smiled at Haley, who was sitting in her usual spot in the bleachers. She had her books in her lap but her face looked more drawn and introspective than it ever had before.
"Baby, take a rest from those books and come shoot hoops with me," he said to her with a wide smile.
"Nah, I came by to watch you play," she replied.
"Okay," he acquiesced, taking a shot from behind the three-point line.
The ball swished through the net and Haley clapped at his successful bucket. She removed the books from her lap to stretch her legs.
"Nathan Scott likes to please the ladies," he said as a joke.
She smiled at him, and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"You look older," she said suddenly. "This feels the same but different."
"It is and it isn't," he replied.
"I need to apologize for not telling you. I should have when you visited me, but I couldn't. It was easier to drive you away," Haley sighed. "I was so stupid."
Nathan dribbled the ball down the court and went up for a layout, but the ball was badly angled and it bounced off the net.
"It's not stupidity James," he said with a tiny smile. "It's just."
"Our time was then," she said simply, finishing his sentence. "Our time was here," she motioned around her.
"Yeah," he concluded. "It doesn't mean I don't miss you though," he said. There was a pause and then he continued. "I'm glad you came back to me, though."
"Me too," she said, "but you know I can't stay," she added quickly.
"You have to stay until I make another basket," he said, taking a wide shot that missed the basket.
She gave him a Haley-grin.
"Even after three years I can still tell when you're messing up on purpose," she said.
"That, and you never could resist me James," he smirked.
"I resisted you plenty. You were just very persuasive," she sighed. "Not to mention, gorgeous."
"Some things don't change," Nathan said with a grin.
"No, some things never do," she replied.
He jumped up, released the ball once again and watched as it swished through the net. He thought he heard a whisper of love shatter the air. He didn't need to look at the bleachers to know Haley was gone.
Nathan opened his eyes to see Lucas looking down at him.
"You sober?" he asked quietly with doubt laced in his voice.
"I saw her," Nathan told Lucas, ignoring his question.
"Who?" Lucas asked curiously.
Nathan smiled. "Haley."
"Oh," Lucas replied, not sure whether he should indulge Nathan in his drunken vision. "Um, did she provide some closure?" he asked.
Nathan shrugged as Lucas removed a videotape Jake had given him from his coat pocket. He popped the other tape out and replaced it with this new one.
"Maybe this will," Lucas said. "Jake brought it for you."
Nathan turned his attention to the television screen. He recognized the setting as the club where Haley and Jake played. Jake was presumably the one with the camcorder and the date in bottom left hand corner of the screen informed the watchers of the tape that this had been filmed two months after Haley and Jake had moved to California.
Haley was talking into the camera, documentary style.
"I hope if you are watching this, it means we are very rich and famous and are being featured on our very own MTV special," she said excitedly. "Tonight," she went on, "my good pal Jake and I are playing our very first paid gig! The only thing that makes me sad is that," she moved closer to the camera and began to whisper, "my boyfriend is thousands of miles away on some basketball court in North Carolina and I miss him like crazy."
Haley swiped at her eye and laughed at some remark Jake made, probably about how over-the-top-in-love with Nathan she was. She stuck her tongue out at him.
"That wasn't very lady-like, was it," she said to the camera.
Nathan chuckled and Lucas let out the breath he was holding.
"But that is something you will learn about Haley James. She makes up in dedication and loyalty what she lacks in girly-ness." She laughs at her own depreciative joke.
"If you have one thing you want the people watching this to know, what would it be?" Jake asked her then.
"I want everyone to know that this right here folks is my dreams unfolding right before your very eyes," Haley replied.
"You know you wax poetic when you're hyped up on adrenaline," Jake said.
Haley's eyes went big.
"Ohmigosh they are calling us. We're on Jake. C'mon, put the camera down now, our public awaits!" she gushed.
Haley blew a final kiss towards the camera, mouthed something as Jake was talking about being bigger than Elvis and then the screen went dark.
"Wow," Lucas said as the tape ended.
"Yeah," Nathan agreed. "Wait, what was the last thing she said?" he asked.
"She said 'our public awaits' and then they left to play the show," Lucas reminded him.
"No after that, she said something else," he insisted.
He pressed rewind to the very part he was talking about. Nathan was right; Haley had said something but Jake had spoken over her.
"It was 'love you Scott,'" Nathan said. "Even after everything, she still loved me. Luke, I was so stupid. I should have gone with her," he lamented.
"We have to live with the decisions we make Nathan," Lucas said.
"That's very Buddha of you bro," Nathan joked.
Lucas shrugged.
"Haley used to say it to me," he admitted. "You know, I think there is more of her singing on here. Supposedly, they taped a few of their shows. We can watch it over dinner. Do you have any food I can cook up?"
"How about some macaroni and cheese?" Nathan asked. "It would be pretty fitting."
"Mac and cheese it is," Lucas agreed.
Lucas walked into the kitchen to start dinner, while Nathan sat back down in front of the television. The black screen had turned to static and Nathan wondered if there was any more footage of Haley on the tape. He heard her voice before he saw her image.
"Jake, is this thing on?" Haley was calling out.
"Haley, is the red button flashing?" he responded.
The camera was fixed on Haley but was too close to her face since she was obviously the one holding it in place. She looked all cute and flustered about not knowing how to work the camera.
"Oh, red button. Okay."
She returned her attention to the camera, moving it away from her face slightly.
"Jake is over there changing a dirty diaper so I'm way over here talking to you," she said to the camera.
Nathan felt like she was talking directly to him.
"It's me again. We were supposed to be on stage like five minutes ago, but I thought it was bad luck to go out and not thank my muse first. Shakespeare started his plays by calling forth the muse of fire or the muse of air and it seemed to work for him so it just might work for me too."
She cocked her head to the side and smiled.
"So who is my muse?"
Haley stared through the lens at the love of her life.
"I think you know, gorgeous," she said to him as the screen went dark.
Sad Song
Part 2
Lucas waited at the airport terminal for the twice-delayed plane to land from LAX. Jake had called him from somewhere out west where they had been forced to layover due to inclement weather. Madison had been crying and carrying on in the background, and Lucas couldn't help but wonder how the little girl was getting on without Haley around.
He watched as men, women and children picked up their belongings from the luggage claim, but mostly he kept his eyes on the escalator waiting and wondering exactly he was going to say to Jake. He had spoken to Jake a few times over the phone when he had called up Haley to talk and Jake picked up first but those conversations were hardly anything more than cordial social greetings from one old friend to another.
His cell phone rang and caller ID verified the number as 555-9547; it was Nathan. He flipped it open and spoke into the receiver.
"Hey bro," Lucas said.
He could hear shallow breathing mixed with normal cell phone static on the other end. He called for Nathan again, and this time received a reply.
"You need to.to.ask Jake," Nathan stuttered.
Luke cringed. Nathan sounded drunk.
"What do you want me to ask Jake, Nathan?" Luke asked.
"She loved me. Did.didn't she love me?" he asked sorrowfully.
There was a pause, then a crash followed by a curse.
"Are you okay?" Lucas asked, worried.
"Just dropped.vodka," Nathan said. "Find mo.more."
"Nathan, hold tight. I'll be over after I take Jake and Madison over to Haley's parents. Okay?"
Nathan held on to the phone but his head was becoming too light and it slipped through his fingers. It crashed to the floor and joined the broken bottle of booze. He sunk down to the floor.
What he couldn't understand was how a love so intense and overwhelming as the one he had shared with Haley could have been so fleeting and ended so abruptly. He closed his eyes and tried to picture her face the way he always liked to remember it: with eyebrows raised and a smirk on her beautiful lips before her eyes began to sparkle and her mouth broke out into a giant grin.
He loved that she used to love to watch him practice. She would sit in the bleachers with her homework in her lap but her eyes would be focused on him.
That's where he was now as he drifted into unconsciousness on his apartment floor. He smiled at Haley, who was sitting in her usual spot in the bleachers. She had her books in her lap but her face looked more drawn and introspective than it ever had before.
"Baby, take a rest from those books and come shoot hoops with me," he said to her with a wide smile.
"Nah, I came by to watch you play," she replied.
"Okay," he acquiesced, taking a shot from behind the three-point line.
The ball swished through the net and Haley clapped at his successful bucket. She removed the books from her lap to stretch her legs.
"Nathan Scott likes to please the ladies," he said as a joke.
She smiled at him, and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"You look older," she said suddenly. "This feels the same but different."
"It is and it isn't," he replied.
"I need to apologize for not telling you. I should have when you visited me, but I couldn't. It was easier to drive you away," Haley sighed. "I was so stupid."
Nathan dribbled the ball down the court and went up for a layout, but the ball was badly angled and it bounced off the net.
"It's not stupidity James," he said with a tiny smile. "It's just."
"Our time was then," she said simply, finishing his sentence. "Our time was here," she motioned around her.
"Yeah," he concluded. "It doesn't mean I don't miss you though," he said. There was a pause and then he continued. "I'm glad you came back to me, though."
"Me too," she said, "but you know I can't stay," she added quickly.
"You have to stay until I make another basket," he said, taking a wide shot that missed the basket.
She gave him a Haley-grin.
"Even after three years I can still tell when you're messing up on purpose," she said.
"That, and you never could resist me James," he smirked.
"I resisted you plenty. You were just very persuasive," she sighed. "Not to mention, gorgeous."
"Some things don't change," Nathan said with a grin.
"No, some things never do," she replied.
He jumped up, released the ball once again and watched as it swished through the net. He thought he heard a whisper of love shatter the air. He didn't need to look at the bleachers to know Haley was gone.
Nathan opened his eyes to see Lucas looking down at him.
"You sober?" he asked quietly with doubt laced in his voice.
"I saw her," Nathan told Lucas, ignoring his question.
"Who?" Lucas asked curiously.
Nathan smiled. "Haley."
"Oh," Lucas replied, not sure whether he should indulge Nathan in his drunken vision. "Um, did she provide some closure?" he asked.
Nathan shrugged as Lucas removed a videotape Jake had given him from his coat pocket. He popped the other tape out and replaced it with this new one.
"Maybe this will," Lucas said. "Jake brought it for you."
Nathan turned his attention to the television screen. He recognized the setting as the club where Haley and Jake played. Jake was presumably the one with the camcorder and the date in bottom left hand corner of the screen informed the watchers of the tape that this had been filmed two months after Haley and Jake had moved to California.
Haley was talking into the camera, documentary style.
"I hope if you are watching this, it means we are very rich and famous and are being featured on our very own MTV special," she said excitedly. "Tonight," she went on, "my good pal Jake and I are playing our very first paid gig! The only thing that makes me sad is that," she moved closer to the camera and began to whisper, "my boyfriend is thousands of miles away on some basketball court in North Carolina and I miss him like crazy."
Haley swiped at her eye and laughed at some remark Jake made, probably about how over-the-top-in-love with Nathan she was. She stuck her tongue out at him.
"That wasn't very lady-like, was it," she said to the camera.
Nathan chuckled and Lucas let out the breath he was holding.
"But that is something you will learn about Haley James. She makes up in dedication and loyalty what she lacks in girly-ness." She laughs at her own depreciative joke.
"If you have one thing you want the people watching this to know, what would it be?" Jake asked her then.
"I want everyone to know that this right here folks is my dreams unfolding right before your very eyes," Haley replied.
"You know you wax poetic when you're hyped up on adrenaline," Jake said.
Haley's eyes went big.
"Ohmigosh they are calling us. We're on Jake. C'mon, put the camera down now, our public awaits!" she gushed.
Haley blew a final kiss towards the camera, mouthed something as Jake was talking about being bigger than Elvis and then the screen went dark.
"Wow," Lucas said as the tape ended.
"Yeah," Nathan agreed. "Wait, what was the last thing she said?" he asked.
"She said 'our public awaits' and then they left to play the show," Lucas reminded him.
"No after that, she said something else," he insisted.
He pressed rewind to the very part he was talking about. Nathan was right; Haley had said something but Jake had spoken over her.
"It was 'love you Scott,'" Nathan said. "Even after everything, she still loved me. Luke, I was so stupid. I should have gone with her," he lamented.
"We have to live with the decisions we make Nathan," Lucas said.
"That's very Buddha of you bro," Nathan joked.
Lucas shrugged.
"Haley used to say it to me," he admitted. "You know, I think there is more of her singing on here. Supposedly, they taped a few of their shows. We can watch it over dinner. Do you have any food I can cook up?"
"How about some macaroni and cheese?" Nathan asked. "It would be pretty fitting."
"Mac and cheese it is," Lucas agreed.
Lucas walked into the kitchen to start dinner, while Nathan sat back down in front of the television. The black screen had turned to static and Nathan wondered if there was any more footage of Haley on the tape. He heard her voice before he saw her image.
"Jake, is this thing on?" Haley was calling out.
"Haley, is the red button flashing?" he responded.
The camera was fixed on Haley but was too close to her face since she was obviously the one holding it in place. She looked all cute and flustered about not knowing how to work the camera.
"Oh, red button. Okay."
She returned her attention to the camera, moving it away from her face slightly.
"Jake is over there changing a dirty diaper so I'm way over here talking to you," she said to the camera.
Nathan felt like she was talking directly to him.
"It's me again. We were supposed to be on stage like five minutes ago, but I thought it was bad luck to go out and not thank my muse first. Shakespeare started his plays by calling forth the muse of fire or the muse of air and it seemed to work for him so it just might work for me too."
She cocked her head to the side and smiled.
"So who is my muse?"
Haley stared through the lens at the love of her life.
"I think you know, gorgeous," she said to him as the screen went dark.