Author's note: Surprisingly I wasn't shot for the ending to that last chapter. Let's hope I can keep that up….enjoy! Thanks to those who review…keep it coming.
Chapter 30- Something's Gotta Give
"I'm sorry, you what?" Nathan thought he must have misheard Haley or something.
"I think we should break up, I'm not sure I can do this." Haley had been thinking about what to do about Nathan all day, since she heard the girls in the bathroom.
"We just talked yesterday Hales, why didn't you say something about this then? What happened between then and now to make you feel this way?"
"I don't know, I just worry, ya know? About you being there and me being here, I mean you're there with all those college girls, who's to say you won't want them over me, your high school girlfriend?"
Haley bit her lip as she waited for his response.
"Because I love you, not them, that's why I don't want them. I have everything I've ever wanted with you. I've told you this before though, why won't you believe me? Don't you trust me Hales?"
"It's not that I don't trust you, it's that I don't trust them Nathan."
"You know I hate it when people say that. If you trust me then trust that should they try something, I'll push them away. Whether or not you trust them doesn't matter, all that matters is if you trust me. So tell me Haley, do you trust me?"
Nathan realized he was actually pretty nervous as he awaited her response. He didn't have a good feeling about what she was going to say, no matter how hard he tried to shake off that bad feeling, it wasn't going away.
"I guess not." Haley answered quietly. "I guess that this is all just too much for me to handle. I worry that you'll find some girl you're interested in and you'll just start something with her and not even tell me."
"Why would you think that Hales, I mean honestly, have I ever done anything to give you a reason to not trust me?"
Nathan couldn't say much else, he was too hurt by the fact that Haley said she couldn't trust him. After all they had been through together, all they had gone through to be together, how could she honestly say she didn't trust him?
"I guess not, but it's just, ugh, I don't know Nathan. I don't know what I think, but I do know I've been confused. Then I heard these girls talking, and I don't know, it just got the best of me and I flipped out."
"What girls talking? What did they say?"
"Just these girls in the bathroom, they were saying that you and I wouldn't stay together, and that you'd cheat on me. I'd been thinking it, but to hear someone else say it just made it worse."
Nathan had worried that something like this would happen. He knew how people gossiped in Tree Hill. Nathan had hoped though that people wouldn't subject Haley and his relationship to it.
"Hales, you can't listen to them. What do they know? The only people who get to judge our relationship is us, that's it. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks or says. Does that make sense?"
"It makes sense Nathan, but it doesn't make me feel better. I just think that there has to be some kind of better solution for this. Some way that we can be together but that I don't have to worry about what's going on with you down there, you know?"
"I don't know what you're getting at Haley."
Haley sat there, trying to figure out how best to say it. She thought it was the only solution, the only way that she wouldn't have to lose Nathan, but also wouldn't have to worry all the time.
"What if we had an open relationship? Like we're still together, but we can see who we want to see."
"What does that do? I hate it when people do that crap. You're either together or you're not, there isn't any in between."
Nathan thought her idea was ridiculous. How would that solve anything? She's still worry about him hooking up with other girls. Then he'd have to worry about her hooking up with other guys as well.
"I guess it just makes me feel better. Then I know that I'm not holding you back, that you have the freedom to do what you want to do, but you still have me. I think that this is what I want Nathan."
Haley wasn't going to back down on this. She had thought about it all day and it seemed like the only logical thing to do. If it didn't work, they could go from there, but it seemed like a plausible solution.
Nathan exhaled loudly into the phone, "Fine Hales, I don't really know what it'll do, but if you think it'll make you feel better I'll try it. I'm going to be honest with you though, I think that it won't help anything. I think you'll worry just as much, and I think it will make knowing where we stand a really difficult issue to figure out. But that doesn't matter, all I want is for you to be okay with this, so fine, we'll have an open relationship."
Haley breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you Nathan, this is what I want. I think it'll make me feel better. I think it'll give you more freedom. Let's just try it okay?"
"I said okay, if it's what you want. I need you to promise me one thing Haley. Promise me you won't listen to what other people say about you and me, remember, only you and I know the truth. Promise me that okay?"
"Okay Nathan, I won't listen to what other people say about us from now on, I promise. I'm going to get going now Nathan, I have tons of homework to do, but I'll talk to you again soon, right?"
"Of course. Night Haley, I love you."
"Love you too, bye Nathan."
Haley leaned back on her pillow and pulled her knees to her chest. She had thought she was doing the right thing, she was giving Nathan freedom, now she wouldn't have to worry about him breaking up with her because he wanted to be with some other girl. Now he could do that and be with Haley as well. Haley sat there hoping she was right, she had to be, she couldn't lose Nathan, not ever.
ooooOoooo
Nathan walked quickly, head down, hands stuffed in his pockets. He was heading towards a party, it was his first party since he and Haley had "opened up" their relationship. He had been debating all day about whether or not he should hook up with another girl.
Girls had flirted with Nathan from the first day he stepped onto the campus. They flirted with him everywhere, in the dorm, in classes, at parties, but Nathan always shot down their advances. He always told the girls that he had a girlfriend back home, one he loved and missed very much. Somehow, telling the girls this only made them want him more.
The girls would see his adoration for Haley as a sign that he was sensitive, they would sit there asking him about her and their relationship. He was shocked to find that having a girlfriend caused him to have all these girl friends. It was obvious to Nathan that many of the girls were interested in him, but they never made any kind of moves because of Haley. Nathan wondered if he was ready to change that.
The thought of being with another girl was a difficult one for Nathan to grasp. Being with Haley made him forget any of the girls before her, and that made Nathan feel as though she had been his one and only. Nathan really wasn't sure if he was ready to change that.
Walking into the party he saw a bunch of people from his dorm over in a corner hanging out. After filling his cup from the keg, Nathan headed over in their direction.
"Scott, what's going on?" Nathan's friend Tony reached out to bump fists.
Tony lived down the hall from Nathan and the two had become fast friends. They had a lot in common and both played the same intramural sports. Tony had expressed interest to Nathan about also pledging to a fraternity, so the two had agreed to pledge the same one if possible.
"Not too much." Nathan gazed around the room, "Looks like a pretty decent party."
"Yeah, it's not too bad." Tony confirmed.
Nathan looked over at his friend Amy, he was pretty sure she had already realized that something was bothering him, judging by the way she was looking at him. Amy lived on the floor below Nathan. Nathan couldn't deny that she was a pretty girl, she was blonde and petite. She played soccer so she was in great shape. The two had gone running together quite a few times. They had just clicked from the get go, and Nathan knew that she had an easy time reading him.
When Nathan made eye contact with Amy she gave him a questioning glance and then pointed to a vacant corner of the room, suggesting they go over and talk. Nathan nodded and the two excused themselves from the group.
"Spill it Nathan, what's going on?"
"You know what Amy, I really don't want to talk about this here, mind if we go back to my room? I guess I'm not really in the partying mood tonight."
"Sure, let me just go tell my roommate."
Nathan watched Amy walk away and wondered if this was a big mistake. Yeah, he wanted to talk, but he figured that if he was going to try and hook up with a girl, he might as well have that girl be Amy, he had to admit she was a great girl.
Amy walked back over towards Nathan, "Let's go."
The two turned and headed out the door.
Nathan unlocked the door to his room and was relieved to find that his roommate wasn't there. Nathan reached into his fridge and grabbed two beers, he tossed one to Amy who had taken a seat on the bed. He walked over and sat down next to her.
"So, are you going to tell me what's bothering you?"
"Stuff with Haley. She was starting to freak out about this whole thing, me being so far away and all, and she said that she wanted to have an 'open relationship,'" Nathan emphasized those words by forming quotes with his fingers. "I agreed to it because I want her to be happy and all, but I don't know how I feel about it. I guess I don't see how it solves anything. I mean, she worries about me hooking up with other girls so to fix that she tells me that I can?"
"Maybe she just worries that you'll find someone new and leave her, this way maybe she feels like that won't happen."
Nathan thought about that for a moment. It did make sense, and it did seem like the Haley thought process.
"Yeah, I don't know. I guess I just wish she would realize that I don't want anyone besides her. That would make all this so much easier."
"Who said love was easy? Maybe having to work for it and sacrifice will make it that much stronger in the end." Amy moved over towards Nathan, "Plus, who said that having a little freedom was bad?"
Nathan knew just by her body language that Amy was hoping to be the first girl he exercised his new found freedom with. She had moved so that she was sitting right beside him, and she'd placed her hand on his leg.
Amy patted his thigh gently, "Don't worry, it'll all work out in the end. Until then though, why not just enjoy life?"
Nathan nodded and leaned in towards Amy, she began to reciprocate and right as their lips were about to touch, Nathan backed away and jumped off the bed.
"I'm sorry Amy, maybe Haley thinks this is what I want, but it isn't. Really, I'm sorry, you're great but I just can't do this. With all honesty, Haley's the only girl I want to be with."
Nathan looked down towards the floor, too embarrassed to look Amy in her eyes.
Amy shrugged and hopped of the bed, "No big deal, but I'm going to head back to the party, I think you need some time alone."
Amy walked towards the door and opened it, she started to walk out but then turned back towards Nathan, "Just remember, when you're ready I'm here."
After the door closed behind her, Nathan collapsed onto his bed and sighed. What had Haley done to him? There was no doubt about it, Nathan Scott was so in love he couldn't even think straight.