A Way of Working Out

Chapter 12

"So did you talk to her?" Jake questioned as he sat at the picnic table out back with Tim and Nathan.

"Yeah, we met out at the ball field, it was weird." Nathan was struggling not to spill the beans.

"Well?"

"What are you doing the rest of the day?"

"Nothing. But what does that have to do with you talking to Haley?"

"Not much," he shook his head, "Anyway, she gave the ring back."

Tim looked at him in shock, "You're not serious. And she made you meet her at the ball field, one of your happy places, to do that?"

"Oh yeah, I'm serious."

"You seem to be talking it pretty well," Jake commented.

Tim shook his head in disgust, "I can't believe she choose Lucas over you."

"I never said that."

"But you said…"

"That she gave the ring back."

Crinkling up his face, Jake asked, "What's the deal?"

"Promise not to say a word?"

"Of course."

Nathan looked at Tim, "Not even to Teresa. Haley wants to make sure that he finds out from her that she's made her decision."

"I'm guessing then that you were her choice. But why'd she give the ring back?"

"Yeah, I don't get it."

"She says it's too soon. She can see her future with me, but it was all just too fast. But it helped her a lot to know my true feelings."

"So the two of you are together?"

"Yep," Nathan smiled.

"And it's no longer a 'test drive' thing?"

"Nope."

"Congratulations!" Tim patted him on the back.

"So when are you moving?"

"Why Mr. Jagelski, what makes you think I want him to move in with me?" Haley put her arms around Nathan and gave him a small kiss. "I assume you told them."

"I had to tell someone."

"See Jake, he's already breaking promises. It might not last, and as fun as it might be, it would be too time consuming to move him in only to throw all his crap out on the lawn."

All three men looked at Haley, "You're already saying it might not last? But you..." Nathan started.

"I'm kidding," she looked at his friends and put her hands up in the air, "Honestly. I just had to give you a hard time."

"Phew. So, did you talk to him?"

"I did."

"How'd he take it?"

"I'm not sure. Okay, I think. He asked if we could still be friends, and I told him 'always.' But I don't think we'll probably ever talk again."

"You know, I feel bad for him."

"I don't think he would want your pity."

"No, I know that. It's just that he thought his life was great, and he was living with the woman he loved. But I came along, and he was willing to let all that go so that you would be happy. And deep down, hoped he'd be the one, in the end, to make you happy."

Jake and Tim turned to leave, "The two of you have a lot of talking to do. Call us later, and congratulations."

"See you guys later," Nathan turned back to Haley.

"I too am sad at how things ended between us, but it was going to happen sooner or later. It just wasn't working out, like it did in the beginning."

"Does he know that?"

"Yes, I told him. But I think he had his doubts too. I don't know when it happened, exactly, but somewhere along the way, the novelty of our relationship wore out, and I realized I wasn't truly in love with him."

"Are you okay with that?"

"Yeah, I think so. Yet is scares me. I don't want the same thing to happen to us."

Nathan pulled her onto his lap and put his arms around her, "Shhhh...it's okay. That's never going to happen to us. You have to believe that."

Amanda gives him a gentle kiss, "I love you so much. And I do believe it will last, forever. I don't know," Haley continued, "maybe I wanted things to work so badly with Lucas that I ignored the fact that I didn't really love him. You, on the other hand, I have loved forever." She kissed him softly on the lips before trailing her kisses down his neck.

"Why did it take us so long to find each other and realize that we are meant to be?" Nathan asked in a hushed voice.

"Because we were meant to make mistakes first. To discover what we really wanted from life."

"Well, I'm glad that we've discovered each other," Nathan said as he stood and guided her into the apartment.

Haley grinned, "Me too."

After spending the night at Nathan's, Haley reluctantly returned home, and found herself faced with Peyton, who had found out from Jake that she'd finally made her decision.

"So you're with Nathan now?"

"Yeah," Haley grinned brightly.

"Did you keep the ring?"

"Nope."

"Is he moving in?"

"Not right now he's not."

"But he will eventually?"

"Oh probably, but we've agreed to take it slow."

Peyton snickered at that comment, "Yeah right. Since when is spending the night at his place, on your first night as an official couple taking it slow?"

"Shut up. I just don't want to screw this one up too."

"What happened with Lucas wasn't your fault."

"Yeah, it kinda was. I cheated on him, remember. And I was the one who fell out of love."

"Okay, so it's not totally your fault. Besides, people break up all the time. It's normal."

"But he told you to go to Nathan, so I'm guessing he too knew that it wouldn't last forever, but like you, he had to hope."

Haley was next greeted by Mouth, who was sitting at the kitchen table, surprisingly alone. "No Brooke?"

"She's still sleeping."

"Ahh," she chuckled, "So when's she going to start paying rent?"

"Ha ha. Laugh all you want. Especially since I'm guessing your boy toy will be moving in soon."

"He's not moving in. One roommate, and his girlfriend, is enough for me," Haley smiled at Mouth.

"You're afraid, aren't you."

"How could you tell?"

"It's a gift I guess. You're not going to make the same mistakes," he grinned, "I won't let you. Besides, I don't think Brooke would like that very much."

"You're not funny," she paused, "Okay, maybe a little funny. But this is serious. I love him so much. I can't lose him."

"Do you remember when we talked about Lucas moving in?" Haley nodded her head, "You told me that things were a little bumpy, heck how could they not be with what had just happened, but you said you were looking to fix that. I told you that Lucas moving in wouldn't change the fact that you didn't love him. You loved being loved. Every person deserves that feeling. But, somewhere along the line, you were skipped. Lucas was your first experience, an opportunity to further deepen your definition of the perfect mate. And although you'd temporarily placed him on that back burner, you've known all along that Nathan was, and still is, everything you want in a man."

Haley wrapped mouth in a big hug, "Thank you so much. I needed someone to tell me that I'm not being selfish and made the right decision."

"I'm glad I could help."

Okay, I don't want to turn this into multiple stories, so please bear with me. There are going to be a few major time jumps in the next few chapters. But they're worth it, or at least I think so. As always, please review!