39 ½ hours ago Wednesday morning
No matter what happens the night before, a fresh morning starts everything anew. Choices made the day before have to be rethought. Mistakes made have to be let go. A sunrise through the morning dew on a hotel room window signals to all who see it that it is time to move on from yesterday. What's done is done. Today is all we'll ever have.
Nathan got up quickly at 6:30 am. He had only gotten to sleep at 4:30 am but sleep wasn't important. He was close. He knew it. The man he called said they were headed to this hotel. But the man at front desk wouldn't tell him what room they were in. "For our guests protection, we cannot reveal any information" were his exact words. It didn't matter though. It was only a minor setback. He knew they had to be here and he was determined to find them. He didn't come all this way to go home empty handed. The problem was, for all he knew, they could be next door to him or 10 floors away. He decided the only way to find them was to keep watch over the lobby. They had to go through there sooner or later. He ate a rushed breakfast at the restaurant and found a seat in the center of the lobby. Then he waited and waited, watching every figure that crossed his sight carefully.
Haley and Chris"Wake up beautiful." Haley awoke to Chris planting a kiss on her forehead. She shivered at this and jumped out of bed.
"I'm going to take a shower." She said to him as she walked into the bathroom.
"Ok, but hurry. We have to get to the studio at 8." He said to a closed bathroom door.
By 7:15, Haley and Chris went down to the donut stand next to the lobby. While Haley bought food, Chris noticed the back of someone's head looked familiar. The guy was just sitting there, examining everyone that passed, like he was looking for someone. Wait a second! Chris soon realized who it was.
LucasLucas awoke in the hospital lobby that morning. He didn't want to leave Peyton but he couldn't bring himself to face her either. He had gotten so close. Then Brooke had come in and sent him miles away again. He knew he couldn't leave this hospital without telling Peyton how he really felt. But he couldn't get a moment alone with her. He was in a confusing situation. He had fallen asleep hoping that by morning a chance would present itself. He finally decided it was time to go back to Peyton's room.
"Hey. Where'd you go?" Peyton asked as he walked in.
"I just…umm…had something I had to do." Lucas replied, noticing a snoring Brooke on the other side of the room.
"Oh." Peyton looked into Lucas' eyes. "Well it just seemed like you were in the middle of something. Aren't you wearing the same clothes as yesterday?" She asked, puzzled by the way he had acted the night before.
"Well, yea but I washed them." He said hoping to change the subject soon.
"That's what you had to do so bad? Go home and wash clothes? Geez man, you left without even saying goodbye."
Lucas breathed heavily and looked down at the tiles on the floor. He had been rude and now he had tried to lie to her. Great! I just keep giving her reasons to be mad. He thought before he looked up to find Peyton smiling.
"I'm messing with you, Luke. Brooke told me she saw you in the lobby. Relax. What's up with you?"
"Nothing. Well, actually there's something. It's pretty big too."
"What? Is that what you were trying to tell me before Brooke came in?"
"Yea. I've realized that I…"
"Haha. Luke finally got the guts to come back?" Brooke said as she yawned.
"Dammit Brooke!" Both Lucas and Peyton said in unison. "Whoops. Did we say that aloud?"
"Fine. You don't have to tell me twice. I know when I'm not wanted." Brooke said as she left the room.
"As I was saying…" Lucas started again.
"Peyton, you want to give me money for food?" Brooke's head peaked back into the room.
"I love you, Peyton!" Lucas screamed over Brooke's interruption.
Three dumbfounded faces looked around the room. Even Lucas was surprised he had finally said it.
NathanNathan was in a daze of blank face after blank face. After an hour of keeping watch, his lack of sleep had caught up with him. He could hardly keep his eyes open. He watched everyone around him closely. To him, they were all suspects. Men and women in suits on business trips hurried through the lobby. Families on vacations took pictures of each other by the giant Christmas tree. A man went from guest to guest trying to sell everything from onion bagels to pirated DVDs. Chris and Haley walked past Nathan and headed out the front doors. Bellmen pushed carts of luggage to the elevators of the large hotel. Wait…Chris and Haley walked past Nathan and headed out the front doors? Nathan was up chasing them in a flash. By the time they had reached the lobby doors, Nathan's fist headed straight into the Chris' face. He fell to the ground with a bloody nose. Nathan looked down breathing fast. But it wasn't Chris or Haley either. The man held his hands over his face and shivered in fear. Then he screamed, "No! Stop! Some guy paid me to do this." Nathan's eyes scanned the lobby. They had to be nearby.
"Come on, Hales. We've got to go." Chris said as he hurried her out the other side of the lobby. Nathan saw them. This time he was sure. He saw a chocolate cream donut in the girl's hand. It had to be Haley.
"What's going on?" She asked as Chris pushed her forward, out the hotel doors. Outside Haley could tell it was many degrees below freezing. The sky was roaring above.
"Nothing. Nothing. It's just that time is money." He said as he looked back to see Nathan on close pursuit behind. Haley's feet left a trail of footprints in the snow as she ran. She turned her head to see Nathan chasing after her. She froze in her tracks. They had reached Chris' rental car. Nathan was seconds away from being at her side. She asked herself. What's it going to be?
Clouds moved to and fro above. Unrecognizable noises could be heard from the heavens. Puffy white drops of snow fell down on everything in sight. Then all of sudden the clouds cleared away. The storm disappeared. The noises ceased. It was calm again. All that was left was a message in the sky.
Haley paused a moment before she got into the car. Chris hit the petal and they were off. She looked back as a tear streamed down her cheeks.
"Wait, stop." She said softly to Chris. He stopped the car and looked back at Nathan and then to his side at Haley. His dream was slipping away…
"Haley, you can't let him hold you back." He replied. Haley nodded slightly and Chris took that as agreement. He started up the car again. Nathan noticed the car moving again but he continued to run after them. He briefly caught up with them and tapped on Haley's window as the car slipped away. She looked up at him with remorseful eyes and wrote three small words on the dew of her window. Nathan ran with the car for a few yards before he couldn't keep up anymore. Chris didn't notice what she had wrote. He assumed she was just waving goodbye.
Nathan stood in his place, breathless and watched the car until it disappeared. He was severely confused but he would wait for her. She said that she loved him and that was enough for him.
