Author's Note: Hey, all. I'm sorry it's been so long, but I'm back for an update. I'm sorry in advance if it sucks, but please read anyway. Don't forget to reply. Thanks and enjoy.
--OTH--
"Okay, I think it's officially time to give up."
Peyton, Luke and Brooke had been searching for Haley for almost an hour before Jake finally caught up with them. Like promised, he didn't tell Peyton that Haley had come to see him and instead pretended to help look for her. Since Brooke was still pissed at Peyton for getting Haley mad at her, she suggested that they split up. Brooke and Luke would check the south end of town and Jake and Peyton would check the north end. Both teams had come up empty handed. Jake made sure to keep them all away from the Café, claiming that it would be too obvious of a spot for Haley to go. So, after two hours of play 'Finding Haley' they all meet up at the Rivercourt.
"So, I take it you guys didn't find her either?" Peyton asked, as she and Jake walked onto the court, hand in hand. Brooke and Luke were already waiting for them on the picnic table. Brooke sent Peyton a death glare.
"Oh no, we did," Brooke snapped, sliding off the top of the table. She straightens her shirt and looked up at the blonde. "Can't you see her? Or is your big fat mouth in the way?"
"That was a hot one," Peyton mumbled. She really didn't have time to deal with Brooke's little snips, especially when she knew that the other girl wasn't at full strength. When she really wanted to be, Brooke could be a real bitch, but right not she was just upset. She was worried about Haley and lashing out at Peyton for it.
"We looked all over," Luke answered. He still didn't know what was going on between the girls or why Haley was suddenly missing. Every time he asked Brooke about either thing, she just huffed and walked forward, ignoring his question. "Still no sign of her."
"We had zero luck too," Jake told them. They all meet at center court, neither girl looking at each other. Jake watched the lack interaction and signed. He had got a little luckier than Luke had today and got Peyton to explain the whole story. Everything was pretty much what he had suspected, except the pregnancy and Lacy's involvement of course.
"I'm really worried now," Peyton declared, earning her a 'duh' look from Brooke. Peyton rolled her eyes and looked at Luke. "You've known her the longest, had she ever done this sort of thing before? Just take off like this?"
"No," he answered, trying to think back to what she did when she was upset. "Well, the first time her parents left her alone, she got really upset and ran out of the playground. Me and Keith looked everywhere for her."
"Where did you finally find her?" Brooke asked. She couldn't believe that Luke had all this information and never said anything. When someone goes missing, and it's happened before, wouldn't he think it might be a little useful to share this little story with the rest of them?
"She was with my mom," he answered, leaning slightly away from Brooke. He knew that look, the 'I'm going to kill you' look. After all the times he's seen it, it still scared him. "My mom said that she had come running into the Café in tears."
"Really?" Brooke was finding that hard to believe. Haley was like a normal teenage girl, she cried on occasion, but it was never in front of someone. Come to think of it, she had never seen her start to cry, only walked in after the fact or in the middle of it.
"Well, she was nine," Lucas explained with a shrug. A look of disgust and hatred crossed both Peyton and Brooke's face. They absolutely despised Haley's parents for abandoning her all the time, and finding out that they starting doing when Haley was just nine, just adding fuel to the fire. "She loved my mom with a passion. I swear up until she was almost twelve she actually thought she was her mom."
"Look, that's really sweet and all," Peyton interrupted. She already felt horrible for Haley and everything she was going through, hearing about the drama with her parents was something she didn't need right now. "But right now we just need to focus on finding her."
"For once, I agree with big mouth over there," Brooke sighed. Peyton of course, once again, ignore the comment. There was no point in replying, she deserved Brooke's anger, and she knew that it wouldn't last long anyway. Brooke had the attention span of a fruit fly. Sooner or later she would get bored of being pissed. It was Haley she was worried about.
"What's the big deal anyway?" Lucas asked. He found the fact that they had actually formed a search party to look for Haley to be quiet humorous. Can anyone say overreacting? "I'm sure she's just at the Café or at home. She cool off and come talk to you when she's ready."
"It's more complicated then that," Peyton sighed. Before Luke could question her about it, Brooke's cell phone rang. Normally in an important situation like this, she would just ignore it, but thinking that it might be Haley, she pulled it out. Stepping away from the group she answered it.
"Hello?" she greeted. Her face turned stone cold when she realized who it was on the other end. "What the hell do you want? … And why would I do you any favors? … No, you listen to me, buddy … Okay, okay … I'm not doing this for you … I'll be right there." She hung up the phone and turned back to the group.
"Was that Haley?"
"Did it sound like I was talking to Haley?" Brooke snapped. She was really getting tired of Peyton talking to her. She stared down Peyton before walking up to Luke and giving him a quick kiss on the lips. "Bye, Broody."
"Bye?" he asked. "Where are you going?"
"Where I'm needed," she answered mysteriously giving him a sexy smile. She waved at Jake. "Bye to you too, Jakie-boy." She turned to Peyton and growled. "Big mouth."
"Love you too," Peyton muttered, as Brooke retreated to her car. Before she got into the car, she turned around and stuck her tongue out at Peyton's back. Knowing Brooke as well as she did, she smirked. "Right back at you."
"Sorry she's being such a bitch."
"Don't worry about it, I'm not," Peyton said, waving her arm in front of her face. "She's be talking to be tomorrow, it's Haley I'm worried about really."
"What's that about anyway?" Luke asked, as the trio started to walk over to the bench that Brooke and Lucas had been sitting on before. "Brooke wouldn't tell me what happened between the three of you."
"Now's really not the time," Peyton sighed, dialing her home number to see if their were any messages from Haley. Getting frustrated when the message bitch said that she had no messages, she groaned and slammed the phone shut. Luke watched her in amusement.
"Well, we're all sitting here waiting for Haley to show up," Luke pointed out with a laugh. He nudged Peyton lightly on the leg. "I'd say we have plenty of time to hear this story."
"Whatever," Peyton sighed, past the point of caring. She shook her head and jumped down to the grass. "I can't tell this story again, I'm going home to wait for Haley's call." She leaned down and gave Jake a kiss, nodded in Luke's direction and slowly stalked off.
"So, I guess I'm telling it," Jake sighed. He was the second last person to know all of this and he was left to tell Lucas about it. Great, thanks Peyton.
--OTH--
The entire walk to Haley's house was made in silence, as neither Nathan nor Haley wanted to start this conversation in the middle of the street. They entered the house and made their way into the living room. Haley ventures further in that Nathan as he opted to stay near the entrance to the room. He watched as she paced the length of the room, muttering something under her breath.
"You look really good," he blurted out. He didn't know why he said that, but he just needed to say something to stop her from walking back and forth. It was starting to make him dizzy. Just as planned, Haley immediately stopped her pacing and stared at him.
"What?"
"I just said that you…looked really good." He had never seen that much hatred in her eyes before, that much pain. She looked at him like he was a complete stranger that had just killed her puppy. He never would have thought that Haley could make him want to die with just one look.
"You saw me two days ago," she snapped at him. She couldn't look at his face, at least not at his eyes. She had always thought that his eyes were his greatest trait. There was just something about those deep blue ponds that always made her go weak in the knees. It was almost like he could look right through her and know exactly what she was feeling with just one glance. "I haven't chanced."
"You looked beautiful then too," he answered in a soft voice. Haley flinched at the sound of his voice, fighting the urge to run to him. He sounded like he did that night he came to her room after he collapsed on the basketball court. He just sounded so weak and lost, it made her want to do nothing but take him in her arms.
"I always do," she replied, apparently channeling the spirit of Brooke. She had to get this over with. She had to remind herself over and over what he was there to do and what she was going to do after that.
"Okay, Brooke." He leaned off the doorframe and moved further into the room. He actually found this easier with her throwing him death glares. He didn't know what he would do if she looked up at him with those questioning eyes. There was no way he would be able to tell her what was going on.
"Leave Brooke out of this," Haley hissed. She watched him walk into the room, eyeing her. He was probably making sure that she didn't throw something at him.
"Okay, can we just cut all the small talk," he suggested. "Because this is clearly getting us nowhere." He knew that she would be upset about last night, he blew her off, but he didn't understand why she was so pissed off. If anything, he figured she'd be hurt.
"Clearly," she wholeheartedly agreed. She sent him another look before sitting down in the nearest chair. Her eyes moved to the couch across from her, telling him to sit in it. Once he was seated, she leaned back. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"
"Us."
"What about us?" She was going to make this as hard as possible for him. If he was going to trample all over her heart, then she was sure as hell going to make him feel bad about it.
"We just aren't working anymore," he stated. He wanted to make this as painless as possible for both of them. And he didn't want to have to bring Lacy into all of this. Over the last month, Lacy had become good friends with everyone, and he would hate for her to lose all her friends over his mistake. "I think it would be best if we called it quits."
"So you're breaking up with me?" she asked. She had to admit, she was a little surprise. Where was the big confession? She was under the impression he was bringing her here to tell her about everything and then beg her to take him back.
"I think it's for the best." He started to get up, moving towards the door. He couldn't sit there and watch her fall apart.
What the hell? This was not how this was supposed to go. She was supposed to be the one doing the dumping. She was supposed to be the one that broke his heart because he was the jackass that broke her's. Here he was, trying to play the martyr, pulling the 'what's best for both of us' card. Where did he get off pulling that kind of crap?
"Do you mind if I ask why?" There was no way he was leaving this house without telling her what was going on. Sure, she already knew everything that was going on, but she wanted to hear it from him not from some doctor. He stopped at the door, but didn't turn around.
He didn't want to do this. The very thought of saying it was enough to break his heart, but it had to be done. It was the only way to save everyone the pain of knowing the truth. As long as he got Tim and Lacy to go along with it, nobody would ever have to know. Least of all, Haley. He closed his eyes and bit his bottom lip.
"I just don't feel it anymore," he answered in a voice that held no emotion. He bare to turn around and look at Haley's face. If he did, he wouldn't see the devastated look he expected, but he would she the pissed off look that was there.
"So you're telling me that you just woke up one day and fell out of love with me?"
"Yes." Never in his life had one word hurt so much to say. He honestly thought that his heart was going to burst. But he had to do this. He couldn't play this game anymore, couldn't make Haley think that she was with a good guy. He wasn't a good guy, he never was, and she deserved so much better. She deserved someone that was loyal to her, that told her the truth, and that person wasn't him. He wished to God that he could be that guy, but he had his chance and he blew it.
When Haley didn't say anything after a minute, he figured that he better leave. He didn't want to stay here when he obviously wasn't wanted. He bowed his head and took a few steps forward before the sound of her voice brought him to a halt.
"So that's it?" she asked, the anger she was feeling beginning to show in her voice. She had given him his chance to come clean, and he didn't take it. He was seriously going to just dump her with that lame excuse without telling her everything. He slowly turned around, confused by the tone of her voice.
"What's it?"
"You're really just going to leave without telling me?"
"Telling you what?" He didn't like the sound of her voice or the look on her face. Suddenly, a very horrible feeling washed over him. She shook her head and let out a bitter laugh.
"I went to your apartment this morning to see if you were there," Haley began to explain. She had to admit that she got some kind of sick satisfaction from seeing the look of dread on her now ex-boyfriend's face. Nathan's face was drained of all color. "Your buddy from the clinic called, Dr. O'Neil."
"Haley…"
"Congratulations, you're gonna be a daddy." She didn't give him a chance to say anything as she quickly moved on. "Peyton told me what's been going on this last month. How you and everyone I thought loved me has been lying to me. It's really not the best feeling in the world."
"I never wanted to…"
"What?" Haley snapped. By the slight tremor in her voice, Nathan could tell the she was trying her best to hold back the tears. "Hurt me?" Nathan bowed his head, not being able to look her in the eyes and nodded.
"Yeah."
"So you decided to bring me here so you can tell me that you don't love me?"
"It seemed like the best thing to do," he answered in a low voice. "I knew how much it would hurt you if I told you the truth. I was just trying to spare you some of the pain."
"Oh, how very nice of you," Haley cried dramatically. She brought a hand over her heart. "I think I'm falling in love with you all over again."
"Look, I know that this wasn't the best idea, but…"
"Were you ever going to tell me?" she asked, her bravado fading and the hurt was now visible on her face. She saw that he was about to say something and interrupted him. "The truth would be nice, for once."
"Probably not," he answered truthfully. He wished that he had a better answer, a good one, but she asked for an honest answer and he gave it. "I really am sorry about everything and I wish that I could turn back time and fix all of this, but we both know that I can't. What's done is done, there's no going back."
"No there's not," she agreed. As much as she didn't want to believe him, she could tell that he was being honest. He nodded his head, getting that she wasn't going to stop him and turned to leave. "Nathan?"
"Yeah?"
"What you said before," she began, her voice creaking slightly. "About not loving me anymore … did you mean that?" He closed his eyes tightly, trying to hold back his own tears. He couldn't stand hearing all of that pain in her sweet voice. He knew that he couldn't turn around, not again. Of he did, there was no way he was going to be able to walk out that door.
"I've never meant anything less." Deciding that she was satisfied with that answer, he finally put his feet in motion and made it to the door. He paused for a second, wanting to memorize everything about this house before he left it, assuming that he'd never get to step foot in here again. Snapping out of his trance, he opened the door and stepped out.
The moment the door was closed, he could hear Haley's cries on the other side. He leaned his head against the door and listened. He wanted nothing more than to be able to go back in there and take her in his arms and rock her until she stopped crying. But that wasn't his job anymore. Even if it wasn't him, Haley needed someone to be with her, she was too emotional to be alone right now. He pulled out his cell and dialed the first person that came to mind.
"Hello?"
"It's me," he answered. He knew that he wasn't going to be getting a warm greeting from her. If it were actually possible, he thought she might hate him even more than Haley did.
"What the hell do you want?" came her icy reply. For a moment there, he was taken aback by the sheer amount of hatred that he heard in her voice.
"I need to ask you a favor."
"And why would I do you any favors?" He rolled his eyes. He really just needed to stop with the small talk; he was obviously horrible at it. He should just get to the point.
"Brooke, would you just listen to me for once?"
"No, you listen to me, buddy…"
"Haley needs you," he interrupted her. He of all people knew how she could get when she started on one of her rants. She could go on for hours. "We just broke things off and I'm afraid to leave her alone right now and I'm not…"
"Okay, okay."
"Thank you."
"I'm not doing this for you," she snapped, wanting to make sure that he knew just how much she despised him. She knew that there was a huge chance that Haley would kick her ass right out of her house, but she was willing to take that risk.
"Can you just come down here?"
"I'll be right there." Nathan pressed the disconnect button and dropped his phone into his pocket. He looked out at the road in front of him. This was it for him. As soon as he walked away from this house, there was no coming back. Sure, he could go back in there and crawl on his knees, begging for her forgiveness, but it wouldn't be right. He needed to let her go; she needed to find someone that would treat her right and not cheat and lie to her. It's like that old saying; if you love something, you let it go. There was no doubt in his mind that he loved her, and now he had to let her go.
He brought his hand to his face and rubbed his eyes, making sure that no one saw him crying. He shook his head, snapping out of his thoughts and pushed himself off the door, walking down the driveway and away from Haley. Maybe forever.
--OTH--
So you can all start sending in the hate replies now. I know that sucked ass, but that was the best I could do right now. I knew you all wanted an update and I wasn't sure when I'd get another chance to update so I took this one. I'm sorry if you were disappointed, but there it is. I promise that the next chapter will be better. In the mean time, please tell me what you thought.
