Alright, are you guys ready for this next chapter? Sorry I didn't post earlier. I had church to go to and had to get my ears repierced... long story. Anyway, thanks to all who reviewed. :) You guys really are awesome.
ticklemeElmo667: I know, too much suspense isn't good for one person. lol. Thanks for the review!... as for Nathan's proposal, well keep reading... ;)
April: Somehow, I knew you'd be happy if Jack died... How did I know? you ask. Just a hunch... lol. Yeah, I know, it sucks that it has to hurt Nathan and Haley. But hey, he's gonna propose, right? ;) Nathan leaving the light on for her... yeah, I kind of thought that was sweet too. And thanks, once again, for quoting one of your favorite lines. :) Glad you got my email. I hope you like the parts I sent you when you do read them.
Medine: Hey! A new reader. I love those. lol. I'm so glad you're loving the story and yes, I know, what would this story be without the naley? Thank you so much for reviewing. :)
daddyzangel108: Once again, it amazes me that you would take the time to write a review for each chapter you missed. I will always love you for it. :) I'm glad you thought the naley was cute. I know, it's sad we're nearing the end of this story, but at least you enjoyed it, right? Love ya!
Thank you so much again to all of you!
And for those of you who missed out on the proposition and didn't get the chance for a preview at my new story, don't worry... I have plenty more stories that you can have previews of...and I'm sure something else can be arranged...maybe I'll think of a new proposition. Or maybe, one day, I'll just surprise someone who leaves a really good review...
Anyway, on with the story...
Chapter 4:
Haley was running out of time and she knew it. She was running out of time to fix things and she didn't know if she would be able to do it. Didn't even know if it mattered anymore. She had to stop being selfish. She was forcing Nathan to be with her. Did he really want to spend the rest of his life having her make him unhappy? She had to get an answer from him.
She looked around her at all the people dancing carelessly. They didn't have the problems she had. But she knew from experience, they had their own problems. No one had a perfect life. She certainly never had. Her gaze landed on the drink in front of her. She'd ordered it twenty minutes ago and still had yet to take a sip. Somehow, she knew drinking wouldn't solve her problems. Not this time. But she couldn't bring herself to leave yet. Turning, she saw a guy in his mid twenties checking her out from across the room. He nodded and smirked at her. She turned away, disgusted.
No wonder people thought she was a w hore. She used to sleep with random men, she cheated on her boyfriend with his best friend, she had come to this bar. She really needed to start changing her image.
But that wasn't what she should be thinking about right now. She needed to find Nathan. Before she was too late.
So, she hurried outside and waited for a cab. The door of the club opened behind her. She ignored it. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see the leering face of the guy who'd nodded at her earlier. "Hey..." he started. But he didn't get time to finish.
A small hand slapped him. "Don't ever come up and try to hit on my friend again, you bastard!" The guy walked off, mumbling.
Haley turned to her rescuer. "Andrea! What are you doing here?" The two hugged.
Andrea smiled at her excitedly. "Hey! I've been trying to find you. I moved here about a month ago."
Haley grinned. "That's great. Wait... how did you know I was here?"
Andrea rolled her eyes. "Duh, I called Tim to find out where you went. He didn't know what the hell happened to you, so he gave me Brooke's number. She gave me Nathan's. He didn't tell you I called?"
Haley looked at her, confused. "No, he must've forgotten. Well, I can understand why."
Andrea gave her a quizzical look. "Ok, well, obviously, I need details, so let's go."
They linked arms and Andrea led them to her car, parked across the street. "Hop in and tell me where you're staying."
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Nathan stared out the window of the cab and the scenery flashing rapidly by. "Come on, come on," he muttered under his breath. Now that he'd decided to propose, he didn't want to lose his nerve. He needed to get to Haley. And fast. Before his courage dissolved.
His cell phone rang and he glanced at the caller ID. His brow furrowed. Brooke. He hadn't talked to her in a while. Usually, she called to talk to Haley. "Hello?" he answered uncertainly. It's not that he didn't like Brooke. He loved her like a sister, but when she called him, it usually meant she had something up her sleeve.
"Hey, Nate. Where the hell is Haley!"
"Wow, Brooke, you get right to the point."
"Just answer the question."
He sighed. "I don't know, OK?"
"What do you mean, you don't know!" she shouted. "Look, I found out why you guys went to New York. Why did no one tell me Jack was in the hospital? Never mind, that's not important right now. Listen, I really need to talk to Haley. I have to know she's OK." Brooke sounded almost hysterical.
"Brooke, Jack died. I just came from the hospital."
Brooke gasped. "What! Oh, you better let me talk to her. She needs someone to tell her it's OK."
"You don't think I would have done that, Brooke?" Nathan shouted, angry that Brooke didn't think he could take care of her.
Her voice shrank. "Sorry, Nathan. I'm just worried about her. OK, tell me exactly what happened."
He lay his head against the cool, frosty glass of the window and closed his eyes. "Well, I was waiting in the waiting room for about thirty minutes and finally, I just couldn't take it anymore, so I walked outside and sat on a bench across from the hospital."
Brooke sighed. "Ok, then..."
He filled in the blanks for her. "Well, she came out a little while later and she looked so sad and lost, Brooke. It broke my heart. But I couldn't make myself get up and go to her. So, I watched her get in a cab and ride off."
There was silence for a few seconds. "Brooke?.."
"What the hell? Nathan Scott, do you mean to tell me you just let her walk away? OK, so you have every right to be upset, but you lost Haley!" she shrieked.
"Brooke, calm down. She was probably headed back to the hotel. I just... I wish I could make it better."
"What are you talking about? Of course you can make it better. Nathan, she loves you more than anything. Just be there for her."
He let out another sigh. "But that's just it. I don't think she's convinced that I really want to be with her anymore."
"And why the hell not!"
"It's not my fault!" he shot out defensively. "She's just feeling insecure."
"Well then, you have to prove it to her. I suppose you could always..."
"Brooke, chill. I have it under control. I've already planned something."
"Oh, I have to hear this. And what do you have planned?"
"Well..." Nathan hesitated. "I can't really tell you yet. I don't think I should tell anyone until I've... run it by her. It's kind of personal."
"What!" Brooke screamed.""What's so personal that you can't tell her best friend who is worried out of her mind?"
"I''ll give you hint," he muttered. "I have a very important question to ask her."
"Yeah, but what does that have to do with... Oh..." she trailed off. "Nathan!" she squealed. "Are you gonna ask..."
"Night, Brooke."
"But..." He hung up and chuckled to himself. Brooke was nosy, but she meant well. She just wanted the best for him and Haley. He looked again out the window and they were pulling up at his hotel. He thanked the cab driver and paid him, sliding out of the cab and shutting the door behind him. He stood for a moment, looking up at the hotel, then took a deep breath and rushed inside.
When he got to the room, he pulled out his key and entered quickly, shutting the door behind him. "Haley?" he called. "Haley!"
He looked down at his cell and saw that he had a message he hadn't listened to yet. He punched in the code and held the phone to his ear. He heard Haley's soft voice. "Nathan? If you're at the hotel, please stay there. I'm on my way. We need to talk."
He sank down on the sofa. She was on her way. He almost smiled in relief. But her other words rang through his head... 'We need to talk...'
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They were on their way to the hotel and Haley had just filled Andrea in about her and Nathan moving in together and then about Jack's heart attack. She sighed. "So, that's why we came. So that I could say bye to him." Andrea grimaced. Haley raised a brow at her. "What? I know that look. What did I do wrong?"
Andrea glanced at her. "Well... don't you think that was kind of asking a lot? I mean, this is the guy that basically made you leave Nathan. I mean, he ruined the guy's life, then you ask him to bring you here because this Jack guy's dying? It's got to make him feel... I don't know... upset?"
Haley felt a tear roll down her cheek. "I know that now. I wish I hadn't done it. I just... ugh... I put him through so much, Andrea. You don't even know the half of it. I have taken him to hell and back. No... seriously, I have broken his heart way too many times. I think I've finally broken him."
Andrea gave her a stern look, then returned her eyes to the road. "Haley James, this is nothing you can't repair. That man loves you so much. You broke him, now go fix him."
Haley gazed out the window. "If only it were that easy."
Andrea blew out a frustrated breath. "What's so hard to understand? Haley, I love you, honey, but you can be so difficult sometimes. Stop being so stubborn and just admit that all you have to do is apologize and he will be happy for the rest of his life. That boy is whipped."
Haley gave a bitter smile. "There's a problem with your theory." She took a deep, shaky breath. "I'm not so sure Nathan wants to be with me anymore. I mean, Andy (A/N; no, it's not a typo, it's her nickname lol), if you could've seen his face... I went too far this time, I think he's tired of trying to pick up the pieces only to have them fall apart again."
Andrea gave her a sympathetic look. "Haley, babe, I know you might think that, but you have to talk to him. I don't think that's true. I think that boy would do anything for you. I think he'd wait forever for you to realize it's time to stop...being afraid."
Haley looked at her strangely. "What are you saying I'm afraid of?"
"Think about it, Haley."
Back at the hotel, Nathan was starting to lose his grip. He needed Haley there right now. He needed to hold her in his arms and never let her go. He needed to propose and he needed her to say yes. He hoped it would be that simple.
Haley sat quietly in the car for the rest of the ride, thinking about what Andrea had said. She couldn't make any sense of it. What did everyone seem to think she was so scared of? It couldn't be her past... she'd learned to let that go.
Nathan paced anxiously. She'd said she was on her way. What was taking so long?
Andrea pulled up in front of the hotel and Haley unbuckled her seatbelt. Andrea leaned over to give her a hug. "Go get him, girl. And remember what I said."
Haley gave a sad smile. "Even if I don't understand it?"
"Hey!" Andrea protested. "You will! And cheer up. You're young, you're gorgeous, and you've got a guy who's head over heels in love with you. What else do you need?"
Haley grinned. "Thanks, Andy." She hopped out of the car and watched as Andrea sped off, waving all the way.
This was it. She had to tell Nathan about her doubts...
Up in the hotel room, Nathan was frantic with worry. He couldn't sit still for more than a few seconds. He was antsy and anxious and just wanted Haley to come home. He paced endlessly around the small den and when there was finally a knock on the door, he paused, not sure if he'd actually heard it. He thought he might be hallucinating.
But the knock came again and he rushed to the door, not bothering to see who it was before throwing it open. It was Haley. She stepped inside and shut the door behind her. When she turned, Nathan was still standing just in front of her. They stared at each other for a few seconds before he reached out and brought her into his arms. He held her tightly as she sobbed against his chest. He rubbed her back and kissed the top of her hair soothingly. "Shh, it's OK. I promise, it'll be OK."
She clung to him as though her life depended on it and he looked into her eyes. He saw the fear there. "Hey...hey, what's wrong?"
She looked away. "I just... I didn't know where you were."
He leaned down and kissed her, trying to comfort her. She kissed him back, but only briefly, then pulled away. She went and sat on the couch. "Nathan, I need to talk to you."
He took his time getting to the couch and sat next to her. Uncertainly, he took her hand. She squeezed it, trying to think of the right words. "Nathan... I know I haven't been good to you." He began to protest, but she stopped him. "I know I haven't been good to you and that kills me. I've made you do so much... I've put...put you through so much and you will never know how sorry I am. And the thing is, I can't keep making you unhappy."
He crushed her to him. "Haley, baby, you could never make me unhappy."
Tears filled her eyes again. "But I am. I shattered your trust in me. You've always been there for me and all I ever do is run away. Why would you want to be with me after that?"
"Haley, I will always want to be with you. I love you."
"And I love you. But it's not fair to you for me to always do this to you. I always break your heart and then come running back. Doesn't it bother you?"
He looked away. "I'm not going to lie to you. Of course it hurts. But it doesn't mean I don't want to be with you." He looked back into her eyes and his voice took on a pleading note. "Haley, I can't live without you."
She burst into tears again. "Nathan, I need some time to think. I don't want to keep hurting you."
"Then don't do this, Haley," he begged. "Why can't we just be together?"
She kissed his cheek softly. "Because I have to figure out how to be good enough for you."
And then, she was standing and rushing out of the room. She ran to the elevator just as someone else was stepping off. She hurried in. Nathan ran after her. "Haley, wait!" He sprinted toward the closing doors. She looked at him.
'I'm sorry,' she mouthed.
"Haley!" he shouted. The doors closed and the elevator moved downward. "You are good enough for me," he whispered.
He stood frozen for a few moments, then pressed the down button. It took a few seconds, but the other elevator dinged open and he ran inside, punching down on the lobby button. It seemed to take forever for it to reach the ground floor. When it did, he ran through the lobby and out the front doors. Just in time to see her getting in a cab. He punched the wall of the hotel. "Damn it!" he screamed.
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Haley took a cab to Andrea's new address, which she'd gotten on the way to the hotel. She cried the whole way over. The driver kept giving her these concerned looks, but she refused to talk. When she got there, it took her five full minutes to work up the nerve to ring the bell. When she did, Andrea answered the door and immediately pulled her into a hug.
Ten minutes later, they were seated on the couch with mugs of hot chocolate and Haley had told Andrea the whole story. "Why did you just leave? I mean forgive me for criticizing you here, but it sounds like he had something to say. And it probably would've made you feel better."
Haley groaned in frustration. "But that's just it. He's always trying to make me feel better. And he shouldn't have to. It's probably gotten to be so automatic that he doesn't even think about what he's saying. He just says it. And in that case, whatever he said could've potentially been a lie."
Andrea quirked an amused brow. "Ok, Hales, I think you're reading way too much into this. I think you were finally going to get your answer as to whether he still wanted to be with you and you got scared. So, you bolted."
Haley squinted her eyes. "Is that what I'm supposedly so afraid of?"
"Well, partly, yes. But you're not seeing the big picture here."
Before Haley could question Andrea, her cell phone rang. She picked it up and checked the caller ID. "It's Nathan."
"Well, answer it."
Haley looked uncomfortable. "Actually, do you mind if I just go get some sleep? I can deal with all this tomorrow." Andrea looked at her skeptically. "Andyyy... come on."
Andrea rolled her eyes. "Fine, go. We'll talk more in the morning."
Haley hugged her. "Thank you."
It wasn't until twenty minutes later that her cell phone rang again. Andrea checked to make sure she was, in fact, asleep, then crept back out to the kitchen. She grabbed Haley's cell phone off the kitchen counter. It was Nathan. "Hello?" she whispered into it.
"Haley?" he said, sounding confused.
"No, it's Andrea."
"Oh, hi. What are you doing answering Haley's phone?"
She sighed. "Long story. I moved to New York a month ago, saw Haley tonight, gave her a ride back to the hotel, then she came here. Oh yeah, and I know everything."
He groaned. "Is she upset?"
"Um, duh."
"Right... can you tell me what exactly is upsetting her so much?"
"Ooh... I'd love to help you out, but I think that's something she has to do."
"OK, well do you know when she's coming back?"
"Can't say, but I have to ask you something. Can you make it better Nathan?"
He didn't answer for a few seconds. "I can sure as hell try."
Andrea blew out a breath. "OK then, let me tell you how to get here..."
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It took Nathan all of ten minutes to get to Andrea's house and about two seconds to race to the door. He knocked and it immediately swung open. Andrea held up a finger to her mouth. "She's sleeping," she whispered.
"Right," he whispered back. Andrea grabbed his arm and pulled him inside, shutting the door against the cold.
"Make yourself at home," she whispered.
He and Andrea hung out for the next few hours, watching TV and playing cards. When Haley finally woke up, she walked into the den and was greeted with the sight of them laughing together. Andrea noticed her first and nudged Nathan, who instantaneously ceased laughing. He even stopped smiling. Andrea got up. "Well, I think I need some fresh air. Have fun you two. Oh, and no one leave until you straighten this out," she said, glaring pointedly at Haley, who offered her a weak smile.
She slipped out the front door and it was quiet for the next few minutes. Finally, Haley tentatively walked over and sat on the floor next to Nathan. She leaned back against the couch and sighed. "I'm sorry for walking out."
He looked at her. She looked so helpless. "It's OK, I just wish you would've let me say what I wanted to say."
She glanced away from him. "Which was..."
He turned her chin so she was looking into his eyes. "Haley, you already are good enough for me. You have always been good enough for me. Why do you think I love you so damn much? I can't help it. You're it for me."
She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Nathan, I'm not good enough for you. You deserve better than me. You deserve someone who can make you happy." He tried to stop her. She looked at him pointedly. "Always."
He turned so he was facing her. "But I can't be without you, Haley. You don't understand. You are the only person who can make me happy. Without you, I'm nothing. Please, you have to believe me." She shook her head, but he reached out to take her hand. "Haley, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I can't imagine living another day knowing I don't have you. It killed me the last time. So, I know it's not the best timing and I know I might be too late, but..." he stopped long enough to pull the box out of his pocket. Her free hand went to her mouth as tears filled her eyes. He opened the box with one hand and squeezed her hand with his other. "Haley James, will you marry me?"
Dun dun dun... I know, I'm terrible. Another cliffhanger. Guess you'll just have to leave some reviews to find out what she says...
Spoiler in one word:
DRAMA!
But don't worry, not too much of it, just enough to keep you reading...