A Way of Working Out

Chapter 10

That night, Haley sat across the table from Nathan, and had been enjoying driving him crazy running her foot up his leg during the entire meal. Suddenly though, she noticed the expression on his face change. The apparent state of arousal was replaced with a tone of seriousness. Nathan pulled a box out of his pocket, one that reminded Haley a lot of the box she'd hidden in a drawer earlier that day.

"Haley, I've been carrying this box since the day after you told me that Lucas had moved out. Being with you makes me feel alive. I've never felt this way with anyone else. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and pray that you feel the same," he paused, "Will you marry me?"

"Oh Nathan!" Haley started to cry, "I can't. Not right now. I need to make sure that it would be the right decision." She heard the words coming out of her mouth, but somewhere in the back of her head was a voice screaming, 'Say yes stupid!'

The look on Nathan's face said everything, he was devastated, "Well, okay then," his voice was a little shaky, "I wasn't expecting that."

'So much for getting some tonight,' Haley thought to herself before saying, "I'm so sorry. My love for you is like nothing I've ever experienced before. But right now, part of my heart still belongs to Lucas."

"There will always be a part that belongs to him, won't there?"

"Yes, probably."

Nathan didn't know what to say or think, so standing up, he said, "Call me when you've sorted things out." He tossed the ring, still in its box, on the table, "Hold on to that. It can serve as a reminder that you have a decision to make." With that he walked away leaving Haley at the table by herself, crying softly.

Haley was sitting at the kitchen table glancing back and forth between the red box and the green box when Mouth returned home with Brooke. He looked at the clock, it was one o'clock in the morning. 'What's she doing up?' He wondered. "Haley?"

She looked up from the lists that were sitting in front of the boxes, "Hey," she breathed.

"You're up late. What's going on?"

"Oh Mouth, I don't know what to do," Haley stood up to hug him, then she looked at Brooke, "You guys have to help me. I don't know what to do."

Brooke sat down on her right side, "Those look suspiciously like ring boxes."

"Yeah, check them out," Haley clicked open each box and Brooke gasped, "Yeah, I know. I couldn't look at them anymore."

Mouth sat down on her other side, "They're both gorgeous, and that's for sure. But I thought after last night you had made your decision."

"I had. But Lucas showed up this morning to apologize and gave me one. Then tonight at dinner, Nathan told me he can't imagine his life without me and gave me the other one."

"And Nathan didn't know that Lucas had done the same thing earlier."

"No idea. At least I didn't tell him."

"Then he didn't know," Mouth said.

Brooke picked up the two boxes, "Bet I can guess which ring came from which guy."

Haley smiled, "You think?" It was nice to have a slight distraction.

"Of course. This one," she pulled out the large princess-cut ring, with small diamonds lining each side, "is from Lucas. Even though he's been dating you longer, it's obvious he has no clue what is 'you.' He bought this ring with the intention of wanting bigger and better. He thought more flash would draw you in."

Picking up the smaller round-cut ring, she sighed, "This one is obviously from Nathan. And he put thought into it. He noticed that the jewelry you wear is simple. But he wanted to know that he was serious. And with the tear-drop shaped diamond on either side, he wanted you to know that he thinks you're beautiful and should have a ring that reflects that beauty."

Smugly, she placed each ring back on the table and looked at Haley, "So am I right?"

Haley turned to Mouth, "Care to make a guess?"

"I'm not going to make a guess as to who gave you which ring. But I am going to say that I think Brooke has a point in what she said when describing her pick. Nathan is serious, but I think Lucas did it because he's afraid."

"Thanks you two."

"So have you made a decision?" Brooke asked impatiently.

"I think so. I just want to sleep on it."

"Well then, goodnight, and let us know when you decide," Mouth hugged her and headed towards his bedroom.

Haley lay in bed that night, finding it impossible the sleep. She thought about everything that Brooke and Mouth had said, and about her phone call with Peyton prior to that.

As soon as Peyton answered the phone, Haley cried, "Oh Peyton, thank God you're home! I need your help!"

"What's wrong?"

"How can I decide? They both want to know, and we all deserve to go on with our lives. But I just don't know."

"What changed from this morning? I thought you'd made your decision."

"Yeah, until Lucas came over to apologize."

"I can't believe he was so convincing to change your mind, but just tell them you still need more time."

"Oh, both of them have given me more time."

"That's great. So what's the problem exactly?"

"Oh, time is not great when it's in the form of two engagement rings sitting on the table in front of me."

"Wait a minute, TWO diamond rings?"

"Oh yeah. Lucas popped the question when he apologized, and Nathan did it at dinner tonight."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Wish I was."

"Lucas proposed, finally. And Nathan, wow, already."

"Yeah, I'm thinking that Lucas may have done it as a last resort after last night."

"But Nathan?"

"I think it's truly sincere. He said he bought it after that night I called him back."

"Wow. That's amazing. But, at the same time, I think you have your answer. I'm guessing that this won't be the last time that Lucas is an absolute asshole about something. And if he thinks buying your forgiveness is what it takes…"

"You're right, thanks," Haley paused, "I guess I should figure out now how I'm going to break this to him."

"Good luck with that."

"Thanks."

It had all seemed so simple when she was talking to Peyton, but as she thought about how she was going to break the news to him, things hadn't seemed so clear. But later listening to Brooke and Mouth tell her basically the same thing, she knew she'd decided correctly.