Chapter Twenty-Six: Right Back Where We Started From
Natalya squirmed on Haley's hip, so she allowed her to slip down. Afraid of the bustling traffic she stuck close to her mother and looked curiously at the man she couldn't really remember.
Haley opened her mouth to speak again, but words were lost to her when Nathan's hands again fell to her hips, pulling her close to him. She opened her mouth involuntarily as their bodies melded together and he began to lower his head to meet hers.
The yells of the bus driver and the people on the street shook them out of their reverie. Haley's gaze darted to the bus, to the yelling citizens, and finally to Chris' body, sprawled across the road. She turned inward to Nathan again, hiding her face. His arms wound around her in sympathy, feeling for her despite his feelings for Chris.
She ran on the road, disregarding traffic completely. She dropped to her knees on the black pavement beside him, and shakily took one of his hands. His eyes were closed. But he was breathing. He was alive.
Nathan reached down and picked up his daughter, staring ahead at Haley. He was afraid again. She was obviously attached to this person. She'd fled from him to this man, who seemed to know everything about her. A man so obviously in love with her.
Natalya cried out in surprise as the whale of the siren sounded as an ambulance came into view, screeching down the street to come to halt beside Haley and Chris. Three paramedics jumped out. One checked Chris' pulse, the other two bundled him onto a stretcher and put him in the back of the ambulance. After a long glance at Nathan, Haley joined them.
Nathan stared as the ambulance drove off, it's siren squealing again. What was he supposed to do? He was holding their child, but she'd just disappeared again.
Haley stared as they wheeled Chris into the operating room. She now felt as though she'd spent the last two years with a complete stranger. One who'd secretly been in love with her. She'd noticed his covert glances at her cleavage, his constant presence in her home, but she'd interpreted it as honest friendship tinged with lust. Not undying love. Never undying love.
She felt guilty as her thoughts turned to Nathan. She still loved him. She still desired him. She still hoped for a happily ever after.
"Mama?" came Nati's experimental call. Haley whipped her head around to see Nathan walking toward her with Nati sitting confidently on his shoulders, where she'd ridden so often, only on a different man.
"How is he?" asked Nathan, his face stiff once again.
"Being operated on. Nathan, what were you saying, when you said you called?" she asked.
He sat down and gently placed Nati on the chair beside him. Exhausted, and disgruntled that she was being denied a nap at naptime, she defiantly placed her head on the arm rest and drifted off. Haley was glad-Nati didn't have a place in the scene she knew would follow.
"I found your number in information, a few months after you left. So I called you, and some guy picked up and I asked for you. And he paused for a second, and then he said his name was Chris Keller and he'd never heard of you," explained Nathan.
"So he's the reason we've had to wait so long?" asked Haley.
"Actually, the reason is because you left without a word. Why, Haley?" he asked. She paused, trying to collect her feelings. She forced herself to look bravely into his eyes.
"Because I was scared. I knew you could never be with me, and that being around you would hurt me and make me remember what I could never have, but would always want," she surmised.
"Why didn't you come back when you saw Damian's birth announcement?"
"It said he was your son! And I didn't look in the death's column," she explained.
"So basically a couple of quirks has kept us apart for two years?" he asked. She laughed, breaking the tension between them. He put his finger under her chin and gently tiled her face up to his.
"Nathan, before we do, I just want to hear…" she began.
"Right," he said quickly. Reaching into his pocket, he slipped off his chair and knelt. Taking her hand in his, he flicked open the box to reveal a diamond.
"Haley Sara James, will you marry me?" he asked. The other occupants of the waiting room looked on curiously, but he didn't notice.
"Not exactly what I was asking for, but…" she said, laughing again.
"What?" he asked worriedly.
"Nathan Scott, I love you," she said. He took both her hands and pulled her down to the ground with him.
"Haley, I have always loved you. And I've been a moron for years. Now, marry me?" he asked.
"Of course," she said. A tear leaked from her eye as he slipped the ring on her finger. She put her arms around his neck.
They'd already been interrupted many times, and Nathan wasn't willing to take chances. He leaned forward and kissed her gently. As she opened her mouth and responded, the kiss deepened and flourished. Their bodies, kept away from each other so long, melded together in the heat of desire, and of love. In their earliest days, their kisses had been rushed, passionate and empty. Now love and desire united and poured over them.
They pulled away at the same time, short of breath.
"What were you saying about Peyton and Luke?" asked Haley, giggling.
"Ridiculously together. Perfect little family," said Nathan. Haley sensed he'd been bitter. It was an easy thing to sense.
"Like us," said Haley. He kissed her again, relishing the feel of her soft, scented lips.
"Like us. Especially like us after a couple more," he said.
"Mm, at least. After we get married though," she said sternly.
"Whatever you want," he said.
"God, I can't believe I just got engaged when my best friend was in the ER," she said.
"It doesn't mean you'll change your mind?"
"Who knew you could be such a romantic? No, I won't change my mind. Ever," she promised.
"So do you want to come back?" he asked nervously.
"I don't have a place to live," she said.
"I bought an apartment. It's enormous," he said.
"Then let's get out of here," she said, standing.
"What about..?"
"Oh, Chris? Who lied to me and prevented me from knowing the truth for two years? Yeah, I really care. Let's go," she said. He was surprised at her speech, but wasn't one to counter it. He picked up the sleeping Nati and followed her out.
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