A.N I'm glad that I still managed to surprise some of you with the last chapter. A lot of you had suspected she was pregnant but apparently the circumstances behind it still caused a few of you a bit of a shock. This may be the last update for a while unless I get lucky and actually have internet access next week. So don't hate me if I don't update as quickly as you would like me to because trust me it will be killing me too. I don't know who allowed real life to interfere but whoever they are they have a lot to answer for. Anyway hope you enjoy the chapter and I promise I won't make you wait any longer than is absolutely necessary for the next one.
hilaryhilary Gee I feel so privileged. I'm the only recipient of your constant threats. Lucky me. It probably sounds horrible to say it like this but I'm glad you found it sad. I assume you know what I mean by that from my earlier email.
heather dawn This chapter should give you the answer about your suspicions of where Nate has gone. Glad you enjoyed it.
kaos2405 Hey Jess what can I say I have an overactive imagination. I couldn't just let it be the same old she ran away because she was pregnant and hey wha la here's your son who looks exactly like you and is addicted to basketball. No offence to people who write those stories but I just personally wanted to do something a little different. You have no idea how glad I am to have finally found a use for my warped imagination. Hope you're planning to post another update today.
firefightersgal Hey welcome aboard. Glad to have another reviewer. Yes it was a very hard thing for Haley to go through on her own and I'm glad I was able to express it in a way that didn't make it sound trivial. As for what Nathan's up to well this chapter should answer that question. Hope you enjoy it.
Cap'n Keira Sparrow Yes when Haley keeps a secret she doesn't do it by halves. Glad that it managed to have some shockvalue for you. All I can say about Nate and Haley working things out is you will have to wait and see.
MeSpikeAndAngelinA3sum Ok so the major emotion that seemed to be emanating from your review was shock. Would I be right in thinking that you were a little surprised by the extent of Haley's secrets. Hope you've managed to close your mouth now because with any luck I will be causing it to drop again within the next few chapters.
sammyjo5678 Wow you really know how to give a girls ego a boost. Thanx for the compliments but seriously I'm really happy that you are enjoying this story so much. It makes my day when I get such enthusiastic reviews. I'm also happy that I managed to convey some emotion into my writing about the loss of Haley's baby. It was obviously supposed to have been a fairly traumatic event for her.
unfolddream Yes I love the name Schapelle too but as I said in my author's note it was more as a form of support for the Australian girl being held in an Indonesian prison at the moment. It was a hot topic of conversation while I was away on holdiay the other week and I thought it might be a good way to show some support.I have a bit of a love for taking one of the regular characters and turning them into the evil one. Remember Brooke in GITD. Couldn't make her the bac one again or all the Brooke supporters would probably have had me lynched so Tim seemed a good choice. Glad you're still enjoying it. Hope you like this chapter too.
HipHopper92 Yeah I guess the last chapter was pretty dramatic. Glad you enjoyed it. Looking forward to hearing what you think of this one.
catc20 Well I guess thats when you know things are getting bad when you're actually glad that a character got raped. LOL. But I know what you mean there was no way Haley was going to have consensual sex with another guy. Not in my story. No way. Guess that means her and Josh must have a pretty boring time in bed huh? I hope I handled the whole abortion topic ok its a very sensitive subject and I didn't want to sound like I was advocating one way or the other. Poor Haley has had a pretty tough time in the last five years but I guess we'll all just have to hope that there are better things ahead. Oh hang on I just remembered what else I have planned. Poor girl. I guess there are still a few mysteries to be solved so hopefully that should keep everyone's interest until I'm able to get back in front of a computer. I very much doubt that I'll get sick of your reviews. They always bring a smile to my face without fail.
Jaeli Hey good to hear from you again. I'm glad that you're still enjoying the story but unfortunately there are some major bumps in the road ahead for Naley.
Chapter Twenty-five
Hours later Haley dialed his number for what felt like the fiftieth time, she listened to the sound of his phone ringing and sighed resignedly as she realised that once again he was not going to answer. Hearing his familiar voice as he delivered his request for whoever was calling to please leave him a message she had to fight back the tears.
What if she never heard his voice again other than this recording?
Haltingly she attempted to leave him a message. She kept it simple and to the point.
"Nathan its Haley if you get this message please call me back as soon as possible. I uh hope you call soon."
Hanging up she once again began pacing much the same as she had been for the past hour and a half. Then just as she had many times since he had left earlier that night she hit the redial button and gave him one more try. When the call was automatically diverted to his voicemail she threw the phone across the room in disgust although if she was to be honest it was more in disgust with herself. She had managed to completely destroy everything and all because she decided to unburden herself on to him.
Looking back at it now she didn't believe that she had any justification for unloading everything on to Nathan the way she had. He had gotten by just fine for the last five years not knowing the gory truth behind her disappearance and now he did and there was no changing it. It wasn't like by knowing he could somehow go back and change the past and magically take away the entire trauma that they had both suffered. Over and over she berated herself for her own selfishness, because without doubt in her mind that was what had led them to this point.
I was selfish and now Nathan is the one that has to pay for it.
What was I thinking telling him about Schapelle like that?
No good was ever going to come of it.
All I've done is destroy him the same way I was destroyed by this whole thing.
She was physically and mentally exhausted. Looking at the phone lying on the floor she walked over picking it up to take it in the bedroom determined that if by the slightest chance he did call she would be ready and waiting for him. That was one call that she could not afford to miss. Her whole future depended on getting that phone call.
Despite her exhaustion she took a long time to fall asleep and instead lay awake worrying about where Nathan could possibly be and whether he was ok. Eventually though her fatigue had won the battle it had been waging against the guilt that had prevented her from sleeping and she had drifted off. It had however lasted only until the early hours of the morning where she had found herself wide awake and once again worrying about Nathan.
Standing up from the bed she walked to where the phone lay. Looking at it she prayed that there had been a call and she had been simply too exhausted to hear it. Maybe just maybe there would be a voice message from him telling her it was all going to be ok. Hardly daring to breathe she picked up the phone and brought it to her ear dialling the voicemail number as she did.
When the mechanical voice began to speak she actually had to grip onto the headboard of the bed to hold herself up as her legs turned to jelly beneath her. She almost moaned in despair as she received the information that she had no new messages.
Drawing herself up straight she went to the kitchen to make some coffee before going to the living room and switching on the TV. She needed a distraction that would help her to stop thinking about Nathan and where he might be and what he must be thinking of her.
Seeing that the news was just about to start she fixed her attention to the screen ready to lose herself in the worlds problems as opposed to her own. As the presenter began to speak pictures of a fire flashed up behind her. Haley listened half heartedly to the details of the fire. She felt bad for the people involved but her mind really wasn't on their plight. Try as she might she could not stop thinking about Nathan and wondering where he was.
As she watched the images of the fire faded from the screen and were replaced by the one face she had hoped never to see again although considering his chosen career it was almost certainly a case of wishful thinking. Tim Smith's grinning face filled the screen and Haley felt an inexplicable dread in the pit of the stomach. She tried to explain it away as simple resentment of the man who had destroyed her lift but there was something more to it and she was filled with foreboding. She didn't know why Tim was on the news but whatever the reason she was sure it did not bode well for her future with Nathan. Her mind flashed with a myriad of possibilities in the short space of time between when Tim's grinning visage flashed up on screen and the announcer began to relate the details of the story surrounding him.
"In news just in we have reports that star L.A Lakers player Tim Smith was attacked in the early hours of this morning at his home in Beverly Hills. Witnesses from the hospital where he was admitted for treatment have claimed that he appeared to have been badly beaten. At this stage there is no word on who the perpetrator might be but Police are continuing with their investigations. Standing by at the hospital with all the latest information on this breaking story is Julia Simpson. Julia what else can you tell us?"
"Thanks Ron, well the biggest development at the moment is the persistent rumours that Tim Smith has requested Police to discontinue their investigations. Insiders are speculating that this is because Tim Smith actually knew his attacker. If that is the case we can only assume that Mr Smith may have actually known this was coming or perhaps even did something in his past to result in this attack. We'll be reporting back throughout the day with any further developments. Until then I'm Julia Simpson reporting to you livefrom Memorial Hospital."
As the news presenter moved onto another story Haley slowly became aware of her surroundings once again. There was absolutely no doubt in her mind about who the perpetrator was. She had been fairly certain when she had heard the news that Tim had been beaten but when she found out that he was not going to press charges she had known for sure. Nathan must have gone directly to the airport after he left her the night before and got on a plane to Los Angeles. Her heart lifted as she realised that obviously that was why she had not been able to contact him the night before he must have had his phone switched off for the flight. It wasas if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders and rushing into the bedroom she grabbed the phone once again with shaking hands dialling the digits that would allow her to speak to him.
Although she had done her utmost to convince herself that everything was now going to be ok she could still feel the knots of tension in her stomach as she waited for him to answer. Just as she was about to give up he answered on the sixth ring.
"Yeah," he said with no emotion.
"Nathan it's me, are you ok? I've been trying to call you ever since you left last night."
"You think I don't know that," he said and Haley heard the hard edge to his voice and felt her heart rise up into her throat.
"I would have thought that when I made no effort to call you back that you would have got the message that Idon't want to speak to you," he said harshly, "but I guess that was too much to hope for."
She could feel the tears stinging in the corners of her eyes and made no effort to prevent them from cascading down her cheeks.
"What… what do you mean?" she choked out.
"God Halesisn't it obviousor doI have to spell it out for you. I never want to see you again. So why don't you run on back to Chicago and maybe get a job there although if I were you I wouldn't bother with teaching lets face it you suck as a teacher. Who knows maybe Josh is still waiting for you. Good luck with that" and without another word he hung up leaving her sitting on the floor in shock.
When she finally managed to force herself up from the floor quite some time later she looked around the room in despair. There was nothing left here in Tree Hill for her anymore and she realised that however much she might not want to admit it maybe Nathan had a point. It was time for her to leave Tree Hill and her past with Nathan behind.
As she thoughtback over the time she had spent in Tree Hill and Barbados she came to a realisation. She and Nathan had tried to recapture something that was long ago over without being prepared to allow the real world into the fantasy they had tried to create, whereas she and Josh had existed solely in reality.
Maybeshe belonged with Josh after all. All she knew right now was that she needed the security that had always been such a big part of their relationship.
Walking around the bedroom she quickly gathered up a suitcase full of belongings before going to the bathroom and collecting a few items from the cupboard. She didn't want to waste anymore time than she had to packing she would take only what she could fit into a suitcase and the rest could be sent on later she was sure Brooke would help her out when she found out the circumstances surrounding her departure. She was terrified that if she allowed herself too much time the ever present doubts would once again begin to creep in.
Locking the front door she had to fight away the tears that welled in her eyes. She couldn't ignore the knowledge present deep within her that this was the end of a significant chapter of her life. The childhood sweetheart relationship that she and Nathan had was now officially a thing of the past. She got into the car and started the engine headed back to Chicago. Thinking back to the reasons that she had returned to Tree Hill in the first place sheattempted to smile through her tears. Speaking out loud to the emptiness of the car she said.
"My past is finally resolved."
Tears cascaded down her face as she drove back to her old life with no real idea of just what her life would be from now on.
Spoilers:- Haley thinks about everything that happens, Flashback to Barbados, Yet another shock for Haley.