Second Time Around

Chapter 12

She continued sobbing into his chest as he rubbed her back. Eventually her sobbing subsided and her breathing evened out. He knew she had exhausted herself and had fallen into a slumber. He stood up and cradled her in his arms. He didn't know where she was staying at much less know how to get her into the room without a key, so he began walking up to his beach house with her in his arms. He maneuvered her so that he could free his one hand to open the door, noticing how light she was and how she fit perfectly in his arms. He carried her up the stairs and into his room. He laid her on the bed and removed her shoes and jacket before pulling the covers up over her. He reached out and wiped away the few tears that still remained on her cheeks before he bent down and kissed her forehead.

"Sleep tight Hales. I love you, always and forever."

He grabbed the blanket from the end of the bed and sat down in the plush chair in the corner. He just sat there and stared at her, taking in her beauty. He hated to see her hurt, to see her cry. He just wanted to hold her and block away any hurt and pain. Sleep eventually over took him too, and his thoughts of her were replaced by dreams of her.

The rays of sunlight peeked through the light curtains and fell upon her tear-stained face, awakening her from her slumber. She rolled over away from the light. As her arm brushed against her tear-stained face she remembered the events of last night and cringed. Her eyes shot open with the realization that she didn't remember anything that happened after being on the beach. As her eyes searched the room she felt a sense of familiarity, and when they landed on the figure sleeping in the chair in the corner she let out a sigh. He looked so peaceful sleeping and she wished that she could wake up to him for the rest of her life. He began to stir and she held her breath as he opened her eyes and stared back at her. He immediately sat up and walked over and sat down next to her.

"Hey. You okay Hales?" His brow was furrowed in concern as he looked down at her searching her face.

"Yeah. Thanks for everything. Sorry about last night."

"Hey, don't worry about it. Are you hungry? I can run down to Karen's and pick something up for you."

"Um, I should probably get back to the hotel and change out of these clothes. Sorry for getting your sheets all sandy."

"Don't worry, I'll wash them later."

"Wow, Nathan Scott doing laundry. Who would have thought?"

"Hey, I'll have you know I can cook and clean too."

"Wow, when did this all come about, cause I remember you couldn't do any of those to save your life back in high school."

"Yeah, my mom finally made me when I moved back because she was sick of me calling her when I needed help." Haley sat up and climbed out of bed. "So do you need a ride back to the hotel?"

"No, I parked the rental up the street a little." Haley found her shoes and put them on then grabbed her jacket and purse. "Do you want to come with me?"

"With you? Umm..y-y-yeah. Can I just change really quick?"

"Yeah. I'm just gonna go downstairs and sit on the deck."

"Okay." As soon as she walked out of the room Nathan ran into is bathroom. He tried to brush his teeth as he shaved with his electric shaver. He grabbed a washcloth and wiped it through short buzz cut as he grabbed his deodorant and put it on. He ran into his walk-in closet and grabbed a pair of jeans and a blue button-up shirt and a pair of brown shoes. He walked out of the room and downstairs to find Haley sitting on one of the chairs on the back deck. He watched her sitting there for a minute as she stared out towards the ocean with the light breeze slightly blowing her hair around. He had never seen anything so beautiful. He walked out onto the deck and stood next to the chair she was sitting in. "Hey. Did you want to go to your hotel now?"

"Yeah." Haley stood up and grabbed her stuff and turned around towards Nathan. They walked together down the stairs and up the beach a little until they came to the area where she parked the car. The drive to the hotel was filled with a bit of an awkward silence, each trying to think of a way to start talking to the other. Haley parked at the hotel and Nathan followed her into her room. "Just give me a little bit to get ready. You can watch TV or whatever in here."

"Sure." Nathan sat down in a chair in the sitting room and flipped on the TV as Haley walked into the other room. Haley went to her suitcase and pulled out a clean pair of khaki cargo pants, a black cami with lace trim, and black stiletto heels. Before she changed she walked back to the door that separated the bedroom from the sitting room and opened it and looked out.

"Hey, so you mind waiting like twenty minutes so that I can take a shower?"

"No, it's fine. Don't worry." He told her as he smiled at her. She smiled back and closed the door and went into the bathroom to take a quick shower. She got out and put on a little make-up and let her hair go naturally wavy. As she was getting dressed she heard a knock on the door.

"Can you get that for me?"

"Sure." Nathan stood up and walked over to the door and opened it to reveal Jake. Jake's eyebrows immediately shot up at the site of Nathan opening the door to Haley's room.

"Is Haley here?"

"Yeah, she's getting dressed."

"Haley?" Haley quickly emerged out of the bedroom to a very pissed looking Jake. "Can I talk to you…alone?" Haley walked back into the bedroom and Haley followed and closed the door behind her. "What are you doing with him?"

"With him? Well we were going to go get breakfast."

"Did you have sex with him?"

"No, not that that's any of your information."

"Then what is he doing here?"

"I told you we're going to go have breakfast."

"Be careful Haley."

"Don't worry Jake, I'm not a little girl anymore. I can handle myself."

"I know, but he broke your heart before, I just don't want him to hurt you again. I love you too much Hales, and I hate to see you hurting."

"I know Jake, I love you too. But I need to do this. Look, last night was really bad for me, I'll tell you about it later, but right now I need to go have breakfast with Nathan because we need to talk about some things. Don't worry I'll be fine. And I'm glad you think so highly of me too. Did you really think that I would just go and sleep with him after all he put me through?"

"Well he answered the door and said you were getting dressed, so I guess I just sorta jumped to conclusions."

"Sorta jumped, more like took a flying leap. But really, I'll be fine. I'll call you later so that you know I survived. Okay?"

"Okay." They both walked out of the room to find Nathan sitting in the chair watching ESPN.

"Hey. You ready to grab breakfast?"

"Yeah." The three of them walked out of Haley's room. Jake waved bye to Haley before he started walking in the opposite direction towards his room. Nathan and Haley both got into the elevator, still surrounded by the awkward silence.