Author's Note: Hey everyone. Thanks so much to all of those that updated, and this one goes out to Lizzie. Hope you like it and please tell me what you guys think. Enjoy.
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"Dude, where are you going?"
Neither Nathan nor Jake had said a word since Jake had calmed Nathan down a bit. What Jake said really made sense to Nathan and it really hit home. The worry and fear that had set over him when he found out that Haley was hurt, it was something that he had never felt before. It was this mind numbingly terrified feeling that Haley might not be okay that made him feel weak in the knees. He was positive that if he wasn't sitting down right now, just remembering the feeling might have made him collapse. This was exactly what he needed to get his ass in gear and get Haley back. In that single moment, he had hit rock bottom. He felt as if he had lost everything, and he hated to lose.
"I can't be here," Nathan answered, standing up straight from his seat. He ran a hand over his face and let out a breath for frustration. Jake looked back down to meet the surprised face of his friend. "I just, I can't."
"What are you talking about, man?" Jake questioned. When he saw Nathan get up, he assumed it was because he couldn't stand to wait any longer to see Haley. He couldn't believe that Nathan was just going to walk away. "If it was Peyton in there, wild horse couldn't drag me away."
"Yeah, well, Peyton still loves you," Nathan shot back. He didn't like what Jake was trying to insinuate about his motives for leaving.
"Haley loves you too," Jake tried to tell him. He understood where Nathan was coming from, it was obvious that Haley was angry at him, maybe she even hated him, but there wasn't an ounce in her that didn't still love Nathan. Nathan rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I'm telling you, Nathan, it's true."
"Well, she shouldn't." It Nathan was really being honest with himself; he knew that Haley still loved him. What they shared over the past year was something that couldn't be that easily erased from either of their memories. "I know that, and so does she."
"Nathan…"
"Maybe she does still love me," Nathan cut him off. He shoved his hands in his pockets and started to pace back and forth. "But I know she doesn't want to. I know Haley, better than I know myself right now, and I know that she hates the way she's feeling right now. If she didn't love me than she wouldn't have run out of Brooke's cabin when I came in with Nicki."
"Did I mention what a smart move that was?" Jake replied, trying to lighten the mood. Nathan, despite himself, had to laugh. He stopped pacing to look at Jake, expecting to find hate in his eyes, but only found sympathy. He sighed and plopped back down in his chair.
"I know," he mumbled. "I never should have brought her up here."
"You never should have come in the first place," Jake pointed out. As much as he wanted to be a good friend to Nathan, he still couldn't' believe that he had the nerve to weasel in an invitation. "What exactly were you thinking when you manipulated Tim into giving up their spots?"
"I didn't think she'd be here," Nathan admitted, the excuse sounding lame even to his ears. Even though it was true, he didn't think Haley would have still gone up, he still shouldn't have crashed their party. "Luke said that she was still mad at Pey, so I didn't think she would want to spend the entire weekend with her."
"Still, man," Jake laughed, slapping Nathan goodheartedly on the back. "You knew Peyton and Brooke were going to be there, you had to know that they didn't want you there. Have you not been around those two before? They're like mother bears and Haley's their cub, you don't mess with them and keep your balls."
"Believe me, I know that." Nathan shook his head and stood back up. He knew that Jake meant well, and he was even making sense, but Nathan still didn't feel right being there. "Look, I appreciate you trying to help and all, but I still think I should leave."
"She'd want you to be here."
"No she wouldn't," Nathan disagreed with him. As much as it hurt him to admit it, he knew that Haley didn't want him there. "When she wakes up, she's not going to want to see my face, trust me on this, man. It's better that I go, give Haley her space or whatever."
"At least go in and see her," Jake suggested. He may not show it as much as his girlfriend, but he was really worried about Haley as well. Ever since she had come to him that afternoon, he hadn't seen her since. He only knew what Brooke told Peyton, and that wasn't much. "I really think she'd appreciate it."
"I guess," Nathan sighed. He glance over at the door to Haley's room and his eyes locked on it. He wanted to see Haley, nothing would make him real better, but he didn't want to see her like that. She would be so small and weak, and he didn't want to have to see that. But, he knew Jake was right, Haley would be upset if he didn't got in at all, so he put his own wants aside. "I'll, ah, I'll be right back."
"Take as long as you." Nathan nodded and took slow steps towards the door. He took a deep breath and knocked softly on the door, before pushing it open slightly to find Brooke sitting in a chair beside Haley's bed and Peyton nowhere in sight.
"Hey," he greeted in a soft voice. He could tell by the look in Brooke's eyes when they were in the hall that she still hated him, so he decided it would be best to take a slow approach. The cheerleader didn't even acknowledge his presence as she continued to gaze at Haley's pale face and stroke the back for her cold hand.
"Hey," she greeted back once she realized that she couldn't ignore him forever. She gave him a quick look before letting her gaze fall back on her best friend's face. "What took you so long?"
"What do you mean?" he asked, leaving the doorframe to venture further into the room. He pulled out the chair that was on the other side of Haley's bed and sat down in it.
"I figured you'd have come in by now," she explained. She leaned back into her seat so she was in a more comfortable position, but she didn't let go of Haley's hand. He torn his gaze from Haley's fluttering eyes to look at her face, trying to see if she was waiting for an answer. Deciding that she wasn't, he changed subjects.
"Where's Pey?" he asked as he looked around the room. She had come in with Brooke and he didn't see her leave. If he didn't know any better, he could have sworn he saw a smile grace her lips even if it was just for a split second.
"She's over there," Brooke answered, pointing to the curtain that was drawn behind him. He shifted in his seat so he could look behind him. He pulled the material over slightly and glanced behind it to see the blonde sprawled out on the hospital bed, her back facing him.
"I figured she's stay up with Hales all night," Nathan mused. He knew how close Haley and Peyton were, and he knew the Peyton was the kind of person to worry about stuff like this. Especially with the way Peyton was insisted on coming in first, he assumed she'd be sitting by the bedside like Brooke. "Make sure she's okay and all."
"I made her crash," Brooke answered. She was worried about Haley, but she was worried about Peyton too. They had both been out in the rain and cold for quite a long time and she thought some sleep would do Peyton good. Nathan looked at her, clearly impressed that she got Peyton to listen to her. "She refused at first, but she was out like a light the second her head hit the pillow."
"She needs it," Nathan agreed, letting the sheet fall back into place and turning back to the brunette. Brooke nodded and silence fell over them. Nathan looked down at his shoes, finding it too hard to look at Haley's beautiful face the way it was. He cleared his throat and met Brooke's gaze. "I just wanted to come in quickly."
"I know," Brooke told him. As much as she hated Nathan right now and even though she thought he was being a complete dumbass over the last month or so, she knew that he wasn't as stupid as he was trying to come across. "And I think it's the right thing to do. She wouldn't want to see you."
"No, she wouldn't." He had to admit, he was surprised that Brooke understand what he was saying. He was certain that she was going to react the way Jake did and try to convince him to stay.
"And I don't want you here either," she stated in a calm voice, but he could tell that there was pure anger just beneath the surface. "I personally can't even stomach looking at you right now." Brooke looked down at Haley's face again before looking back up at him. "She's in here because of you. She died, Nathan, she was dead and it was all your fault."
"You think I don't know that?" he exploded. He was trying his best to stay calm, but that never did seem to work well for him. "You don't think this is eating me up inside right now? To know that I almost got Haley killed."
"I don't really give a damn how you feel right now, Nathan," Brooke snapped at him. She was sick to death of him and she just didn't have the patience to deal with his crap right now. Right now, her attention and concerns were focused solely on her best friend.
"Oh, come off it, Br…"
"How do you think Haley felt when she got that phone call from Lacy's doctor?" she questioned. "How do you think Peyton felt when you put her in an impossible position? Or when she was watching Haley die right in front of her?" Nathan rolled his eyes. This was typical Brooke, to lay on the guilt when she was scared about something. "Or me and Luke when we were scared out of our minds thinking that Haley was lying dead somewhere out there?"
"You think you're the only ones that care about her?" he demanded, jumping out of his seat so he was standing over her. Brooke wasn't scared at all, she held her ground and locked her eyes on him, holding his gaze and not backing down. "I love her more than anything, more than you could ever love her…"
"Don't you dare," she hissed, her eyes showing hatred that Nathan had never seen before, not even when he dumped Haley did she look at him like that. "You have no idea how much I love her because you are incapable of that emotion. You insist that you love her and then you turn around and screw the first whore you meet."
"Go to hell, Brooke," he shot back, trying his hardest not to let her words affect him. He fought against everything in his body and mind that were telling him that she was right. When he saw that she was going to say something else, he quickly cut her off. "Forget this. I'm outta here." Ignoring the look of hatred on her face, he leaned down and kissed Haley gently in the cheek, whispering in her ear; "Wake up soon, baby."
"You better be gone when we get back there," Brooke informed him referring to the cabin. "And you can take your dirty little ho with you."
"Whatever, Brooke," he muttered, stalking over to the door and pushing it opened with such force that it slammed against the wall on the outside. Jake jumped at the noise and was surprised to find a pissed off Nathan walked right past him without a word.
"Nathan, what happened?" he called out. When Nathan neither stopped nor responded, he stood up and took a few steps to go after him, but stopped when he remembered Peyton.
"Leave me alone, Jake," was all Nathan said back to him as he kept walking.
"Just wait a minute," Jake asked, in a pleading voice. He wanted to know what happened, and it seemed that Nathan wasn't going to be giving him any answers so he would have to go to Brooke. "I'll go back with you, just give me a minute."
"Whatever," Nathan repeated, turning the corner and disappearing from Jake's sight. Jake watched after him for a moment, before quickly making his way into the room the girls were in. He pushed open the doors roughly to find Brooke looking just as angry as Nathan did.
"What the hell happened?" he demanded, looking around to find his girlfriend. He saw the curtain drawn and figured she was behind there. "What did you say to him?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Brooke snapped. Brooke could hear all the accusations in his voice a mile away and she didn't like it one bit. "He had the nerve to come in here after what he did to Haley and try and make nice with me. What do you think I said to him?"
"He feels horrible over what he did," Jake exclaimed, pissed off at Brooke for ruin what could have been a breakthrough for Nathan. "He came in here to try and make it right and you go off on him?"
"Of course I did," Brooke shot back. She could not believe that Jake of all people was sticking up for that son of a bitch. "Why are you standing up for him?"
"Why are you being such a bitch to him?" he countered. He knew in his head that what Nathan did was wrong and almost unforgivable, but he knew what it was like to make a mistake so he thought that Nathan's deserved another chance. "He made a mistake, it was a horrible thing to do and Haley didn't deserve to be treated that way, but he's sorry about it."
"Who cares if he's sorry?" Brooke was starting to think she was going crazy. Was she the only one that remembered what Nathan did to Haley? It seemed like everyone was just forgetting about it because they felt sorry for him because he's ex-girlfriend was in the hospital. "He obviously wasn't sorry enough since he brought Nicki up to the cabin this weekend, knowing full and well what it would do to Haley."
"He didn't know she was going to be there!"
"You know what, Jake, I don't care," Brooke stated. She was not going to have this conversation again. Nathan was a jackass and nothing anyone said was going to change that. "Follow the Man Code or whatever and take Nathan's side, just remember who's the one in the hospital."
"He didn't mean to hurt her," Jake insisted. There was a part of him that couldn't believe he was taking Nathan's side about all of this, but after seeing the way Nathan was acting in the hall, he knew that Nathan was falling apart over what he had done.
"He screwed around on her and flaunted some whore in her face less than week after they broke up!" It took everything Brooke had in her to not attack Jake right on the spot for all the things he was saying. Jake was supposed to be the sensible one, the nice guy that would never do something like Nathan did. "He's an ass and if you're sticking up for him than you're an ass too."
"You're overreacting, Brooke." All Jake wanted was for her to give Nathan a chance. He knew that if Nathan talked to Haley then she would take him back, but if Brooke was acting this way than she wouldn't let Haley even speak to him.
"Haley medically died, Jake, because of something he did," Brooke reminded him with an edge to her voice. "I really don't think I'm overreacting here. In fact, I think I'm reacting exactly the right amount."
"I can't talk to you when you're like this."
"When I'm right?" Their eyes were locked and neither of them was willing to back down. Finally Jake had had enough and turned to walk out. "I don't know what happened to you or how Nathan's brainwashed you, but tell him that if he ever tries to talk to Haley again, I will personally castrate him."
"I don't know why you're fighting this so much," Jake responded without turning around. "Haley's supposed to be your best friend, I thought you'd want to see her happy."
"There is nothing I want more…"
"Well, Nathan makes her happy," he stated, glancing over his shoulder. "She's never going to be happy with any other guy. Just give him another chance." With that said, he pushed open the door and out left the room, going to meet up with Nathan downstairs.
Brooke said stalk still in her chair, thinking over what Jake had just said to her. There was no denying the fact that Nathan used to make Haley happy, used to being the key words, but now all he did was make her miserable. Her eyes wandered down to rest on Haley's face. Just as she was about to reach out and touch her face, Haley eyes slowly started to flutter open.
"Hales?" she whispered, not wanting to scare the girl. She pulled her seat closer and squeezed Haley's hand tighter. At the sound of her voice, Haley tired to focus her eyes to see the face it belonged to.
"Tigger?"
"Yeah, baby," Brooke cried, a smile on her face for the first time since Nathan stepped foot in the room. "I'm here. Me and Pey are right here."
"Nathan?" Haley choked out, trying to scan the room for her ex-boyfriend. She quickly regretted it when the motion caused a sharp pain in between her eyes and she immediately shut them again. "Is he here?"
"No, sweetie, he's not." Brooke wasn't sure what answer Haley was looking for, but she knew she couldn't lie. Haley let Brooke's words wash over her as she herself tried to decide which answer she wanted.
"Oh," Haley sighed. He thought about the last time she saw his face and heard his voice. He was smiling and laughing with another woman. That was all Haley needed to know her answer. "Good."
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That's all. I hope that you all enjoyed. There isn't much to say, really. Please, please review. Thanks.
