Music to My Ears (Chapter 5)
Haley froze as Nathan walked over to her, took her arm gently and pulled her to him. "When you left town, I didn't know how I'd ever get on with my life," he said.
"But we had broken up. We both agreed that things wouldn't work out between us because we wanted different things," she said. He smiled, nodded and then shook his head.
"I didn't feel that way. I just said that because I didn't want to keep you from pursuing music. I know how much it meant to you. It gave you a passion and fire that I loved about you. I knew you would never expect me to walk away from basketball, so I didn't want to stand in the way of you and music," he said.
"So all this time?" she asked. He nodded.
"All this time, I've been thinking of you. No, I didn't live like a priest or anything, but all the other girls in my life couldn't fill the whole that you left in my heart," he said. Haley trembled.
"This is surreal," she commented. He looked at her. Though she seemed to be talking to herself, she was looking right at him. "Like five minutes after my husband from hell leaves me, the guy of my dreams says he wants me back." Then she realized what she had admitted and cringed at her mistake. He laughed. "I didn't say that."
"I'm flattered," he said which prompted a slap on the shoulder from Haley. She stepped away from him. He stepped closer to her and smiled as she moved closer to him. He began telling her how much he did want her back. "I want to be with you so bad." Haley's face crumpled as she stepped away from him.
"I can't," she said softly. He looked at her in disbelief. "It's just impossible."
"How is it impossible? Haley, I care about you and I know that you care about me too," he said.
"I'm still on tour, Nathan. And you are a professional basketball player. We're both on the road 85 of the time," she said.
"So?" he asked.
"So, what kind of a relationship is that?" she asked. "We'd be on the road for two weeks, be home for a weekend, spend a few moments together here and there, see our friends and then be on the road for another four weeks."
"So you'd rather stay on tour with your abusive ex-husband than be with me?" he asked. Haley shook her head. For one thing she wasn't on tour with Chris. They were on separate tours.
"Look, none of this matters right now," she said, shaking her head and forcing herself to focus on who really needed her attention right now. He scoffed.
"Gee, thanks," he spat.
"It came out the wrong way. What I meant was that I came here for a very specific reason- to help Olivia and say goodbye to her. Now, I'm so glad that I get to see you again and I promise we'll talk about this before I leave, but right now, my sister is the one I need to focus on," she said, starting to walk away from him and back to Olivia's room. Then she turned around and saw him standing there looking so torn. She walked back over and wrapped her arms around him and cried softly as his arms came around her back and pulled her closer to him. "I really am sorry, but I don't have much time left with Olivia. I haven't seen her in seven years and pretty soon, she's going to be…" He just tightened his arms around her, signalling that he understood and that it was fine.
"I'm here for you," he whispered in her hair. She nodded, pulled away, kissed him on the cheek and walked away. Nathan watched her go. She closed Olivia's door. A few minutes later, someone came up from behind him and covered his eyes.
"Hey, guess who?" Brooke asked in a seductive tone. He hated it when she did this.
"Hi, Brooke," he said. She smiled as he turned to face her. She gave him a quick peck before pulling him out of the hospital.
"So will we be benefiting today or what?" she asked. He sighed.
"Um, Brooke, we need to talk," he said. Brooke's head cocked to a side and nodded.
"What's up?" she asked.
"Well, as fun as this has been, I think it's time to put an end to it," he said. Brooke looked at him in disbelief.
"I thought we talked about this, Nathan," she said. This was hardly the first time he had suggested that they stopped their little deal. He nodded. "I thought we agreed that since we're not dating, there's nothing to stop. We're just friends hanging out." Then she went on to comment on how they were not tied to anyone so they weren't hurting anybody.
"I am tied to someone," he said. Brooke smirked and looked at him in confusion.
"Who?" she asked.
"Haley," he replied and explained the whole thing. "You know how I feel about her, Brooke." Brooke nodded, jealousy creeping up her spine. It wasn't jealousy over Nathan. She was jealous that Haley had someone who loved her as much as Nathan loved her without even working for it. Brooke longed to have their kind of love.
"But she hasn't said yes to dating you, Nathan. In fact, she told you that she didn't think it would be possible for things to work out," she said. He nodded.
"And I understand that but I don't agree with it. I intend to change her mind, but I'm going to need to be able to be free to change her mind if you know what I mean," he said.
"Of course. I hope you get what you want, Nathan, and hopefully, I'll be here if things don't work out," she said. "Even if they do, I'll still be here." He looked at her in shock. "As your friend! Both yours and Haley's friend, I mean." He laughed at her.