Haley took a final deep breath as she marched up to the door. She gathered her courage before opening it. She prayed she looked tougher than she felt on the inside.

Nathan raised his head and saw her. He rolled his eyes and cursed under his breath.

"What are you doing here?"

"I told you already."

"I don't want you here."

"Well tough shit because I'm not leaving", she folded her arms defiantly.

"Haley, I mean it. You may as well just go back to the tour. There's nothing for you in this town anymore."

"You're here."

"Whatever", he mumbled.

"I'm not going anywhere, Nathan. So unless you plan on calling security or hobbling out of that bed yourself, we're stuck together."

He rolled his eyes. She had a point. He obviously wasn't going anywhere. Hell, he couldn't even roll over on his own.

"This is stupid…"

"The way you're acting? I'd say so."

"Go back to your tour."

"No."

"Look, I'm fine, okay? Or at least I'm gonna be. You came, you saw, you showed your face and did your wifely duties. The show is over now, Hales. You can go back to doing what you want to do."

"It's not like that. You just don't understand."

"But I do, Haley. I do understand. I understand that you're going for your dream. That's what you should do. That's how it should be. And as soon as this is over, I'm gonna go for my dreams."

"Dreams are great but most of the time they're not nearly as important as what is standing right in front of you."

"We have to. We have to go for our dreams because if we don't, we're just going to end up resenting each other later."

"How do you know that?" she asked softly.

Nathan chuckled in spite of himself.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Yeah? Try me."

"I…I had this dream. Two of them actually. I guess the first happened when I was on the operating table. It was like I had switched places with where Luke used to be. Dad chose Karen instead of my mom. I was poor and balling on the River Court while Lucas had everything handed to him. We ended up competing for the High Fliers spot."

"Did you win?"

He smiled faintly.

"Yeah."

"Was Lucas a jerk?"

"Before I beat him? Yeah. He was sort of like the guy I used to be. But everyone was there. Karen owned a bunch of upscale cafes and she was having an affair with Keith. Luke and Peyton were together and you…well, you were my best friend. You, um, you worked at Deb's Den, my mom's place and uh, you were tone deaf."

Haley's heart was heavy.

"Then what happened?"

"I don't know. It just showed how it could have been different. It ended with you giving me back that Cracker Jack bracelet but when I looked at it, it was your wedding ring."

"Then what?"

He shrugged.

"I woke up…or at least I thought I did. But when I woke up, I wasn't here. I was in a bed in a house. And you were there. We were older and everything was different. Jake and Jenny were gone and Brooke was gone. Peyton and Lucas got married. My parents were divorced. Keith and Karen got together. It was so weird but it was so real at the same time. We, we had kids and everything. A boy and a girl and you were pregnant again. The boy looked like me and the girl…she had one blue eye and one brown."

Haley felt her heart skip a beat.

"Her name was Lillian", she finished.

"What? How'd you know that."

She looked right at him.

"Lucky guess."

"Anyway, it was right after this accident and you came back home. We made up and that was our life and everyone else's around us."

"Were we happy?"

"Yeah…I guess."

"Then what's so bad about that?"

"It wasn't. I mean, we had a family and we loved each other and things were good but you were working with my mom and Karen and I was a trainer at the University. Everything was boring and normal, I guess. It's like we gave up our dreams to be together. I know that sounds weird but…"

"It's okay. It makes all the sense in the world."

"None of this makes sense."

"I love you, Nathan. I love you more than anything. I want to be with you. I've made a lot of mistakes. Kissing Chris was one of them and I am so sorry for that. I promise you it never happened again between us. I know that really hurt you. And I know my leaving hurt you. My reason, my intentions were good and pure but maybe the way I did it was wrong. I apologize for that. I never wanted anything to come between us…ever. Now I'm still confused and I'm still scared but I know now more than ever that I love you with all my heart. We have decisions to make Nathan and we need to make them together. I need to know where you stand, how you feel. I have to know if we can make this work, if it's worth it…or if it's even what you want anymore."

"I don't know", he whispered.

"I had a crazy dream too one night. I dreamt about what it would be like if this is the end for us."

"What happened?"

She looked away.

"That's the thing…it will never end, Nathan."

"I love you, Haley. I do. I want to spend my life with you…that's why I married you. I still want that but it has to be right. We have to both want it and want it for all the right reasons. If not, then it isn't worth it. That's how I feel. That's where I stand. The rest is up to you but you need to make a choice. No flip flopping. Because the decision you make today…will affect the rest of our lives."

She looked right in his blue eyes. He was right. God, if he only knew just how right he was.

"I know that", she said.

She took his hand in hers. He didn't pull away but he didn't exactly reciprocate her affection.

"Haley…"

"Listen to me. Please. Nathan, just hear me out. You are the love of my life. You're my heart and soul. You are the very air that I breathe. Nothing and no one will ever change that. No matter what happens or where we go or what we do, you will always live on inside my heart every single day."

He looked at her with almost quiet understanding.

"I love you, too", he finally whispered.

She bent down and kissed his forehead, letting her lips linger as long as possible.

"I'm gonna go get something to eat. You'll be okay here?"

Nathan nodded.

"I'm fine."

She smiled, standing at the door just looking into the set of blue eyes that had always made her melt.

"Love you", she said again.

"Love you too", he returned softly.

Their time together from the minute he cockily sauntered into the room demanding that he tutor her to the second she got on that bus with Chris, Jessica, and Michelle flashed before her eyes. Haley smiled.

"I'll be seeing you", she said.