She was the first to pull away, as always. She was always the rational one.
She sadly removed herself from his touch and looked back up to his worried
eyes.
"We can't Nat."
"Why not?!"
"Do you have amnesia or something? Do you not remember that in two weeks, you are having the most publicized wedding of the year? Do you remember that your wife is just within those walls and is probably wondering where the hell you are?"
"She's not my wife yet."
"But she will be, and you know it. What we had, what we have, it needs to end now. I refuse to be the reason your marriage fails with her."
"If I get married to her and not you, the marriage will fail. It's bound to."
She let out a sigh of frustration. They could no longer prolong this argument. She started to walk away, turning around just briefly.
"Goodbye."
He stood there for a while, just thinking. One moment, she was in his arms, radiating her love for him through the most passionate kiss he had since. well her. And the next, she was walking away, saying that nothing could happen because he was getting married. That's just with his life. When he thinks he has everything figured out, something is thrown right in his face that he has to deal. And most of those times had Haley involved. But he didn't care about any of that because all he wanted; needed was her. And it seemed that he wouldn't be getting her.
As he walked in, Haley hurried out of the door, quickly followed by Kevin. Nathan came to the table confused. Adrian brightly smiled at him.
"That took a while."
"Oh yeah, coach was yelling for a while."
Nathan shot a look at Peyton, but she chose to ignore it. Lucas just stared deeply into the menu. So he turned to Adrian.
"Hey, why did Haley and Kevin leave?"
"Oh yeah. Haley said that she was being clumsy and spilled too much eyes drops in her eyes. She never really was good at it, so it was hurting like crazy. You should have seen her. A trail of tears was coming out and her face was all blotchy. Then she said that the eye drops she grabbed were the wrong brand, giving her an allergic reaction, so she had to go home soon. Poor Haley."
And yet again everyone but Adrian knew what was going on. They ordered their food and attempted to have a decent conversation, but the air was too thick. The finished and there was only small talk amongst them. Finally, Adrian remembered that she had to make an important phone call to her agent because she had to know when her photo shoot was and her agent would never pick up the phone after nine. She quickly excused herself, as Peyton and Lucas directed their attention to Nathan. Peyton was the first to talk.
"What the hell happened Nathan? She runs in here, gives us some BS excuse about eye drops, which was a straight out lie, and tells Kevin she needs to leave. What did you do to her to piss her off now?" (P)
"Hey look, I didn't do anything." (N)
"Cut the crap Nathan, what happened?" (L)
"If you really want to know, ask her. I've been through too much of this crap to even talk about it."(N)
Adrian came back in and smiled.
"I'm sorry you guys, but I found out that I have a shoot at two in the afternoon and have a morning flight of four so I might have to cut this short. Let's go Nat."
This was Nathan's chance to jump in and say yes, his excuse to get out of this interrogation Lucas and Peyton had put him on. But Peyton sweetly smiled, and injected her own words before he could.
"Actually, me and Lucas wanted to catch up before he left to go back to LA. I mean, we barely see him anymore and we haven't even gotten to do all the things we planned to do. So would it be ok if we steal him away from you for the week? Or you know what? You can get him when you come back for the wedding. That way you two don't have to waste all the mileage and time."
"I don't know."
"Look, your gonna have him for the rest of your life. Give us at least these last two weeks. Plus, he needs to catch up with old friends, right Nathan?"
Nathan shrank down a little. He could just say that he had business in LA, but Peyton and Lucas would have just been able to read right through him. And they would have killed him the next time they saw him. Plus, he needed to get away from Adrian for a while. He loved her, sure, but it didn't mean that he actually liked spending that much time with her. He would rather spend that time thinking about Haley and hoping to see a glimpse of her. So he just gave Adrian a small peck on her cheek, forcing himself to smile.
"I need to spend some time with my friends. I'm sorry, but I will see you in a week right?"
Adrian seemed to be contemplating with the idea for a while and smiled right back at him.
"Love you Nat! Well I got to run, so see you guy later!"
Adrian left and Lucas looked straight into Nathan's eyes.
"I'll let you off this time, but only because I will see you all week."
Nathan started to straighten out and got up.
"It was great to see you guys but I have to bail."
As he left, he heard Lucas say something else to him. It was yet another thing that wasn't there to hurt him, but it did anyways.
"Fix things with Haley."
Nathan walked out of that restaurant feeling lower than pond scum. He had not only had he pissed the hell out of two of his closest friends, but he hurt the one person in the world that meant everything to him. He had hurt Haley, and as much as he hated to admit it, she had him wrapped around her fingers. If she had asked him to quit basketball and become a garbage man he would have done it. Anything to make her happy, make her his. Thinking about her smile, her voice, her scent. Everything about her, the essence that made her Haley drove him completely crazy. He loved her, and would do just about anything for her.
Then why did he ever propose to Adrian? Why did he not break the engagement when he found out about Haley's return? He kept telling himself it was paparazzi. But that was bullshit. He knew that if Haley really loved him, she wouldn't care. And he knew he loved her enough to take all the bullshit they would throw at him. But the real reason went deeper. He was afraid that when she returned, she would no longer love him, and he couldn't take that. He always thought that he would take any chances for Haley. But that was a lie. He wasn't willing to put his heart on the line again. That would drive him over the edge. And only Haley could drive him over.
But now, it was different. Now, he knew feelings hadn't changed. He knew that she was still the loving, caring person she always was. She was still the love of his life, and he would have it no different. He never wanted anyone else but her. And if she had asked him to ditch Adrian, and to marry her, he would have done it in a second. But she never would. She was always thinking about others than herself. That's what drew him to her in the first place.
He drove to his parent's house. Deb and Dan finally divorced after Dan drove Nathan over the edge, which concluded with Nathan overdosing on steroids. After that, Dan and Nathan barely spoke to each other, but Lucas's family and his grew closer. Deb was gone for the weekend, helping Karen with something at the café. After Karen returned from Italy, Deb stuck around and since then, it had become her second home. And although it was only fifteen minutes away from the house, there was something about 'women bonding'.
He walked up the empty house, into his dark room. His house never seemed this dark and gloomy before. But now that he had lost all hope for her, everything in his life seemed empty. So after a good ten minutes, he was out again. He decided to venture to the docks, where he had his first meaningful conversation with Haley. He reached the end of it and sat, contemplating about everything in his life; from the first time he met Haley, to their first kiss, to their last. He looked out into the ocean and felt nothing. Not the cold wind, or the water splashing on his face. He felt numb of loneliness. Numb of fear.
Nathan never feared anything in his life. Not until now. He never felt the need to fear. Fear was only for those who were weak, and Nathan Scott was not weak. At least, that's what he wanted everyone else to believe. But he was weak, especially when it came to Haley. He got up and walked to the empty beach house. If an outsider was looking into his life, and didn't know about Haley, they would think him to be the happiest man in the world. The star of one of the top basketball teams in America, a supermodel fiancé, and fame that couldn't compare. He was just that big.
He wasn't happy. He couldn't be. Since when did he become such a sap? He fell asleep, with no direction in life. All seemed to be lost.
*~*~*
She sat in her room, looking up at the stars, with streams of tears trailing down her neck. She never thought life to be cruel. She always thought life was somewhat fair, and was only did the things it did because it needed to. But these cruel fates made her rethink her philosophy about life. Because it didn't seem fair that her love would be ripped away from her so fast. He wasn't supposed to be married. He was supposed to be waiting for her, supposed to be hers forever, not some supermodels.
She wanted to just tell him to not marry Adrian, to marry her. But she could never do that to someone. Her conscience would kill her if she ever did that. But it didn't mean she didn't still want Nathan. She just wanted to have him without any of this mess. Of course, this simple little package was non-existent in their universe.
She looked down on her wrist, which had on it the two bracelets he had given her. Was she being pathetic? Yes. Did she care? No. She sighed as she pulled herself to bed and fell asleep, for she also had no direction in life. Everything in her life was falling apart.
"We can't Nat."
"Why not?!"
"Do you have amnesia or something? Do you not remember that in two weeks, you are having the most publicized wedding of the year? Do you remember that your wife is just within those walls and is probably wondering where the hell you are?"
"She's not my wife yet."
"But she will be, and you know it. What we had, what we have, it needs to end now. I refuse to be the reason your marriage fails with her."
"If I get married to her and not you, the marriage will fail. It's bound to."
She let out a sigh of frustration. They could no longer prolong this argument. She started to walk away, turning around just briefly.
"Goodbye."
He stood there for a while, just thinking. One moment, she was in his arms, radiating her love for him through the most passionate kiss he had since. well her. And the next, she was walking away, saying that nothing could happen because he was getting married. That's just with his life. When he thinks he has everything figured out, something is thrown right in his face that he has to deal. And most of those times had Haley involved. But he didn't care about any of that because all he wanted; needed was her. And it seemed that he wouldn't be getting her.
As he walked in, Haley hurried out of the door, quickly followed by Kevin. Nathan came to the table confused. Adrian brightly smiled at him.
"That took a while."
"Oh yeah, coach was yelling for a while."
Nathan shot a look at Peyton, but she chose to ignore it. Lucas just stared deeply into the menu. So he turned to Adrian.
"Hey, why did Haley and Kevin leave?"
"Oh yeah. Haley said that she was being clumsy and spilled too much eyes drops in her eyes. She never really was good at it, so it was hurting like crazy. You should have seen her. A trail of tears was coming out and her face was all blotchy. Then she said that the eye drops she grabbed were the wrong brand, giving her an allergic reaction, so she had to go home soon. Poor Haley."
And yet again everyone but Adrian knew what was going on. They ordered their food and attempted to have a decent conversation, but the air was too thick. The finished and there was only small talk amongst them. Finally, Adrian remembered that she had to make an important phone call to her agent because she had to know when her photo shoot was and her agent would never pick up the phone after nine. She quickly excused herself, as Peyton and Lucas directed their attention to Nathan. Peyton was the first to talk.
"What the hell happened Nathan? She runs in here, gives us some BS excuse about eye drops, which was a straight out lie, and tells Kevin she needs to leave. What did you do to her to piss her off now?" (P)
"Hey look, I didn't do anything." (N)
"Cut the crap Nathan, what happened?" (L)
"If you really want to know, ask her. I've been through too much of this crap to even talk about it."(N)
Adrian came back in and smiled.
"I'm sorry you guys, but I found out that I have a shoot at two in the afternoon and have a morning flight of four so I might have to cut this short. Let's go Nat."
This was Nathan's chance to jump in and say yes, his excuse to get out of this interrogation Lucas and Peyton had put him on. But Peyton sweetly smiled, and injected her own words before he could.
"Actually, me and Lucas wanted to catch up before he left to go back to LA. I mean, we barely see him anymore and we haven't even gotten to do all the things we planned to do. So would it be ok if we steal him away from you for the week? Or you know what? You can get him when you come back for the wedding. That way you two don't have to waste all the mileage and time."
"I don't know."
"Look, your gonna have him for the rest of your life. Give us at least these last two weeks. Plus, he needs to catch up with old friends, right Nathan?"
Nathan shrank down a little. He could just say that he had business in LA, but Peyton and Lucas would have just been able to read right through him. And they would have killed him the next time they saw him. Plus, he needed to get away from Adrian for a while. He loved her, sure, but it didn't mean that he actually liked spending that much time with her. He would rather spend that time thinking about Haley and hoping to see a glimpse of her. So he just gave Adrian a small peck on her cheek, forcing himself to smile.
"I need to spend some time with my friends. I'm sorry, but I will see you in a week right?"
Adrian seemed to be contemplating with the idea for a while and smiled right back at him.
"Love you Nat! Well I got to run, so see you guy later!"
Adrian left and Lucas looked straight into Nathan's eyes.
"I'll let you off this time, but only because I will see you all week."
Nathan started to straighten out and got up.
"It was great to see you guys but I have to bail."
As he left, he heard Lucas say something else to him. It was yet another thing that wasn't there to hurt him, but it did anyways.
"Fix things with Haley."
Nathan walked out of that restaurant feeling lower than pond scum. He had not only had he pissed the hell out of two of his closest friends, but he hurt the one person in the world that meant everything to him. He had hurt Haley, and as much as he hated to admit it, she had him wrapped around her fingers. If she had asked him to quit basketball and become a garbage man he would have done it. Anything to make her happy, make her his. Thinking about her smile, her voice, her scent. Everything about her, the essence that made her Haley drove him completely crazy. He loved her, and would do just about anything for her.
Then why did he ever propose to Adrian? Why did he not break the engagement when he found out about Haley's return? He kept telling himself it was paparazzi. But that was bullshit. He knew that if Haley really loved him, she wouldn't care. And he knew he loved her enough to take all the bullshit they would throw at him. But the real reason went deeper. He was afraid that when she returned, she would no longer love him, and he couldn't take that. He always thought that he would take any chances for Haley. But that was a lie. He wasn't willing to put his heart on the line again. That would drive him over the edge. And only Haley could drive him over.
But now, it was different. Now, he knew feelings hadn't changed. He knew that she was still the loving, caring person she always was. She was still the love of his life, and he would have it no different. He never wanted anyone else but her. And if she had asked him to ditch Adrian, and to marry her, he would have done it in a second. But she never would. She was always thinking about others than herself. That's what drew him to her in the first place.
He drove to his parent's house. Deb and Dan finally divorced after Dan drove Nathan over the edge, which concluded with Nathan overdosing on steroids. After that, Dan and Nathan barely spoke to each other, but Lucas's family and his grew closer. Deb was gone for the weekend, helping Karen with something at the café. After Karen returned from Italy, Deb stuck around and since then, it had become her second home. And although it was only fifteen minutes away from the house, there was something about 'women bonding'.
He walked up the empty house, into his dark room. His house never seemed this dark and gloomy before. But now that he had lost all hope for her, everything in his life seemed empty. So after a good ten minutes, he was out again. He decided to venture to the docks, where he had his first meaningful conversation with Haley. He reached the end of it and sat, contemplating about everything in his life; from the first time he met Haley, to their first kiss, to their last. He looked out into the ocean and felt nothing. Not the cold wind, or the water splashing on his face. He felt numb of loneliness. Numb of fear.
Nathan never feared anything in his life. Not until now. He never felt the need to fear. Fear was only for those who were weak, and Nathan Scott was not weak. At least, that's what he wanted everyone else to believe. But he was weak, especially when it came to Haley. He got up and walked to the empty beach house. If an outsider was looking into his life, and didn't know about Haley, they would think him to be the happiest man in the world. The star of one of the top basketball teams in America, a supermodel fiancé, and fame that couldn't compare. He was just that big.
He wasn't happy. He couldn't be. Since when did he become such a sap? He fell asleep, with no direction in life. All seemed to be lost.
*~*~*
She sat in her room, looking up at the stars, with streams of tears trailing down her neck. She never thought life to be cruel. She always thought life was somewhat fair, and was only did the things it did because it needed to. But these cruel fates made her rethink her philosophy about life. Because it didn't seem fair that her love would be ripped away from her so fast. He wasn't supposed to be married. He was supposed to be waiting for her, supposed to be hers forever, not some supermodels.
She wanted to just tell him to not marry Adrian, to marry her. But she could never do that to someone. Her conscience would kill her if she ever did that. But it didn't mean she didn't still want Nathan. She just wanted to have him without any of this mess. Of course, this simple little package was non-existent in their universe.
She looked down on her wrist, which had on it the two bracelets he had given her. Was she being pathetic? Yes. Did she care? No. She sighed as she pulled herself to bed and fell asleep, for she also had no direction in life. Everything in her life was falling apart.