Chapter 12

The next day Nathan woke up expecting Haley to be by his side but she wasn't. He looked at the clock and the red numbers read 1 p.m. He got up and looked around his apartment for Haley but didn't find her or any of her stuff. He decided to call her.

"Hey, it's Haley, you know what to do. beep."

"Hales, it's Nathan, I just woke up, where are you? Give me a call when you get this."

Nathan got dressed to go for a jog and walked out of his apartment. As he was walking past Haley's apartment he noticed there was a new door up. He thought maybe Haley might be there so he stopped and knocked on the door. The door opened and Nathan expected to see Haley but he saw his sister-in-law instead.

"Peyton? What are you doing in Haley's apartment? Is Haley here?" Nathan questioned clearly confused.

"Hey Nate. No, Haley's not here. She and Emily went to her brother's in South Carolina to deal with some wedding stuff. She said she could be gone for up to a week" Peyton replied avoiding the question of why she was there.

"Again, I ask, why are you in Haley's apartment?"

"Why don't you go ask your asshole of a brother" Peyton snapped then closed the door.

"Okay" Nathan said to himself.

Nathan slowly turned away from the door and walked away. He was clueless as to what was going on. Where was Haley? Why was Peyton in her apartment? He took his cell out of his pocket and dialed Lucas' number.

"Luke, it's me. Why is Peyton in Haley's apartment?" Nathan questioned.

"Is that where she is? Thank God" Lucas responded letting out a long breath.

"What do you mean 'Is that where she is'? She's your WIFE Luke, you're supposed to know where she is. What's going on?"

"Uh, I don't want to talk about it on the phone. Come over and I'll explain everything," Lucas said.

"Alright, I'll be there in 10 minutes" Nathan replied before closing his phone and putting it back in his pocket.

True to his word, Nathan showed up at Lucas' house 10 minutes later. Nathan walked into Lucas' house without knocking.

"Luke!" Nathan called out.

"Living room" Lucas shouted.

Nathan walked into the living room to find Lucas sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. He was still in the clothes from the day before except now they were wrinkled. Lucas looked disheveled and tired.

"You look like hell," Nathan stated.

"Thanks. I've been out all night and most of the day looking for my wife" Lucas bit out.

"Yeah, about that, what the hell is going on?" Nathan questioned ignoring his brother's tone.

"Peyton left me last night" Lucas said letting out a long breath.

"What? What do you mean she left you?" Nathan questioned as his face contorted in confusion.

"She left me. Last night she brought up the subject of having a baby. She asked what I thought about it and I said we're too young and we should wait a few years. Peyton said she wants a baby sooner than that, said she's ready for one now. We got in to an argument about it and she stormed out of the room. I called Brooke and met her at the rivercourt to ask her about it, find out if Peyton talked to her about it. When I got home she wasn't here. I found this on our bed" Lucas replied handing the note to Nathan.

"Looks like we have a problem?" Nathan read aloud still confused.

"She's pregnant Nathan" Lucas sighed.

"You're gonna be a father? That's great Lucas."

"No, it's not."

"What do you mean no?"

"I'm not ready for a kid. We're too young, we need more time to ourselves," Lucas explained.

"Oh come on Lucas! Haley and Jake are young and each have a kid," Nathan argued.

"Exactly and look how much they struggle sometimes being young parents!"

"Lucas, they're SINGLE parents, that's why they struggle. Besides, you and Peyton have been together for years, you've had time together" Nathan pointed out.

"Now you sound like Peyton! You're MY brother you should be on MY side" Lucas spit out.

"What side Lucas? Your WIFE is having YOUR baby! There are no freaking sides! The TWO of you are having a kid TOGETHER!" Nathan stressed.

"Look, I don't want to argue with you anymore Nathan. I haven't slept in over 24 hours and my wife won't speak to me. Now that I know where she is maybe I can get some sleep. You know where the door is, I'll talk to you later" Lucas said as he walked out of the room.

"Ok Hales, spill it already" Callie ordered.

"Spill what? What are you talking about?" Haley questioned from the other side of the dressing room.

Callie and Haley were in the bridal shop in South Carolina. Haley had gone to her brother's house for 2 reasons: 1 was for Emily and herself to try on their dresses for the wedding and the other was for her to get away from Nathan.

"Don't even try it, this is me you're talking to. You've been here for a week now and both Gabe and I know something's going on. He's been hesitant to bring it up because of everything that's happened lately but I'm tired of tiptoeing around you. So, I tell you again, spill it. What the hell is going on?" Callie replied.

Haley let out a long sigh before turning around to face her best friend.

"I slept with Nathan."

"How was it?" Callie questioned.

"Callie!" Haley screeched.

Callie burst into laughter.

"Callie this is not funny! I made a huge mistake!" Haley hissed.

"Oh Haley calm down. What's the big deal? I know you like the guy. He's a really nice guy from what I know about him" Callie replied, her laughter dying down.

"Yeah, so was Connor in the beginning."

"No, don't go there. Don't even compare Nathan to Connor. That's so unfair to Nathan. Me, Carrie, April, Erica and Brittney all noticed something was off with Connor from the beginning but you didn't want to listen. You thought he was perfect, no matter what we told you, Connor could do no wrong. I don't get that vibe from Nathan, I think he's really a good guy Hales" Callie argued.

"Cal, I don't wanna argue about this. The seamstress is done with Emily and I so we're just gonna go back to the house. I'll see you there."

Twenty minutes later Haley walked into Gabe and Callie's house.

"H.J., Nathan called for you. I told him I'd have you call him back" Gabe said when he saw Haley.

"What the hell did you do that for?" Haley snapped.

"Excuse me? What is your problem?"

"Nothing. Sorry I snapped at you" Haley said trying to avoid talking to Gabe.

"Stop right there. You know you can't lie to me. I'm tired of walking on eggshells around you H.J. so, tell me what the hell is going on" Gabe demanded.

"Gabe I really don't wanna deal with this right now. If I did I'd still be in North Carolina. I need to clear my head" Haley let out a shaky breath.

"No, what you need to do is talk to someone. So, park your butt in that chair and talk to me" Gabe pointed to the chair across from him.

"You suck" Haley said.

She sat there gathering her thoughts, taking deep breaths. All the while she could feel her brother's eyes on her.

"I don't know what to do Gabe. The night before I came here I slept with Nathan. I didn't mean for it to happen but all the stuff with Connor had just happened a few days before. It was a big mistake. I didn't even tell him goodbye, I just left in the morning and came here."

"Haley Elizabeth James! I can't believe you did that!" Gabe scolded.

"Gabe, I freaked ok! He's like my best friend there other than Jake and I just jumped into bed with him and I just didn't know what to do. I messed up in so many ways, I know…" Haley said.

"Call him" Gabe said simply.

"What? I can't! Not after what I did!" Haley screeched.

"Call him! You owe him that much HJ" Gabe reasoned.

"You're right. I just don't know what to say to him. I'm so ashamed I left without even saying goodbye, he didn't deserve that," Haley said hanging her head.

"No, he didn't. You go call him, I'll go put Em down for a nap" Gabe said kissing her on the forehead then walking out of the room.

Haley grabbed her phone, flipped it open and pressed number 3 on her speed dial. Before hitting the send button she stared at the phone for a while, trying to think of what she was going to say to Nathan. Finally after a few minutes she hit send. After 4 rings she heard him pick up.

"Haley?" Nathan answered softly.

"Yeah, hey Nate…"Haley trailed off.

"I've been trying to call you for a week. I've left you tons of messages on your cell phone and with Gabe and Callie."

"I know." Haley replied softly.

"But stupid me, you've been avoiding me haven't you? Of course I mean after all, you up and left without a word the morning after we slept together" Nathan bit out.

"Nathan I'm sorry about that. I freaked out. And I know I wasn't supposed to leave for South Carolina until this week but after what happened I decided to leave a week early."

"Haley you could've told me you were leaving! Something big happened between us that we need to talk about! You can't just run from something like that!"

"I know! Look, I'm sorry! I told you I freaked out, everything with Connor had just happened and then the thing with you and I happened and I'm just not ready to deal with it yet. I need time to think Nathan. I need to process this all. A lot has happened to me in the past few weeks…"Haley said before she was cut off.

"Yeah, I understand but that THING that happened with you and I was a big thing. And like you said it happened between us and we need to talk about it" Nathan cut in.

"Damn it Nathan! I know that," Haley said starting to lose her temper, "I promise when I get back to Tree Hill we will talk about it. I know it's something we need to talk about and I don't plan on avoiding it forever. I just really can't deal with it right now. It's just too much and with the wedding coming up there's a lot to do. I know I should've talked to you before I left and that's a big reason why I've been avoiding your calls and not returning your calls but Nate, I promise when I get home we'll talk, ok?"

"Ok, we'll talk about it when you get home" Nathan sighed.

"Are you still coming to the wedding with everyone else?" Haley questioned.

"Do you want me there?"

"Of course I do! And so do Gabe and Callie, they really like you. Please come Nathan" Haley responded.

"Ok, I'll be there. See you in a few weeks" Nathan sighed before hanging up.

Haley sighed as she put the phone down on the table. She put her hands in her head as she thought of how much of a mess her life was. She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's ok Callie. I was just in my own little world, thinking about how screwed up everything is" Haley replied.

"Are you ok Hales?" Callie asked, her voice full of concern.

"Cal, I'm so sorry for earlier. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. I was wrong, can you forgive me?"

"Yeah, it's already forgotten. Hales, I can tell something's wrong so, will you please talk to me?" Callie questioned.

"How did I let myself get to this point Callie? Why didn't I listen to everyone when y'all warned me about Connor?" Haley started babbling.

"Haley, why are you bringing this up now? Where's this coming from?"

"Because I just realized the only guy I truly trust with everything in me is Gabe. I don't even trust my dad the way I trust Gabe. I trust Jake, Lucas and Nathan, I do, just not the way I trust Gabe. I trusted Connor with everything I had Callie, and look what he did to me! He betrayed my trust. He took all of that from me. I don't think I can ever trust a guy like that again. You were right earlier when you said Nathan's nothing like Connor. He isn't, and I know that, I've known for a while. But, I still can't trust him like I was stupid enough to do with Connor. I just can't. He's too good for me Callie, he deserves better than some girl with a 4 year old daughter that has tons of issues" Haley answered.

"Why don't you let Nathan be the judge of that?" Callie questioned.

"No. I won't let him get mixed up with someone like me. I won't do that to him. I don't think I can ever trust or love a guy with everything in me again. Even if I wanted to I just don't have the strength to try. I can't put myself through something like Connor put me through again. I just can't" Haley cried.

Callie pulled Haley into her arms and just let her cry knowing that it's what she needed.