I Didn't Mean To (Chapter twelve)
"You said what?" Lucas exclaimed, looking at him in disbelief. Over the last month, Lucas and Nathan had become friends.
"I know; it was stupid," Nathan said shaking his head.
"You think?" Lucas said. Nathan rolled his eyes. It had been three days since Nathan had called Haley a liar, insulted her parents and her. Now he had finally decided to tell his brother the truth about why he never visited Haley, who was still in the hospital after being shot. Apparently, the doctors were shocked that Haley had woken up. According to them, Haley should be dead, but for some unknown reason she had woken up and they wanted to keep Haley until she healed up a bit to prevent a relapse from occurring.
"Look, I feel bad enough as it is," Nathan said.
"And you should feel bad. Nathan, you do realize that Haley almost died because of what Dan did," Lucas said. Nathan glared at him.
"You mean what someone else did," Nathan said. Lucas eyed him carefully.
"You really think Haley was lying?" Lucas asked.
"No, I just think she was misinformed. Her parents aren't exactly saints. You can't blame me for believing my father, the Mayor, over criminals," Nathan said. He cringed as he realized he had just called Haley's parents criminals again.
"I understand your position, Nathan, but I tend to agree with Haley. I mean, her parents have no reason to lie. They've already confessed to their crimes and the FBI obviously knows that they were working for someone powerful so why would they lie and blame your dad? Why not blame Donald Trump if they were lying?" Lucas asked.
"They don't have any proof," Nathan pointed out.
"You don't know that. And, come on. It's Dan Scott. Personally, I wouldn't put anything past him," Lucas said.
"You have a personal reason for thinking that way," Nathan said.
"So what? That fact doesn't make it any less true. Just take a look at all the things he's done to you over a sport, for God's sakes! He wants his son to win and he'll cut corners in order to make that happen. Do you really think he'll think twice before cutting corners if it means he'll win something?" Lucas pointed out. Nathan stopped to think. He nodded.
"You could be right," Nathan said.
"I am right," Lucas said.
"So what do I do now?" Nathan asked. Lucas smirked.
"Go to the hospital and apologize to Haley," Lucas replied. Nathan laughed and smirked.
"Thanks, Luke. You're not a bad brother," Nathan said. He and Lucas just looked at each other. "Okay, that just sounds weird."
"Yeah," Lucas agreed, laughing.
"Hey, Haley," Peyton said, walking into her friend's hospital room.
"Hey, Peyton," Haley said after she opened her eyes.
"I brought you some homework from English," Peyton said, passing her a few papers. Haley took them out of her hands. She frowned at the material. "What?"
"Well, it's just that I helped one of the students I was tutoring with this exact assignment last semester," Haley said. Peyton chuckled.
"Then, it shouldn't be too difficult for you," Peyton said. Haley nodded in agreement and put the papers down on the table by her bed.
"So, what brings you by? Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for the company but don't you have cheerleading practice?" Haley asked.
"Brooke cancelled it for today because she had to go out with her parents or something," Peyton said. Haley nodded. Peyton studied Haley for a minute. "Are you all right?" Haley shrugged. Peyton eyed her.
"Nathan and I had a fight," she admitted.
"About what?" Peyton asked.
"I can't really tell you about it because it involves the reason this happened," Haley said, pointing to the holes in her gut. Peyton nodded.
"Anything I can do?" Peyton asked. Haley shook her head.
"No. I just really thought Nathan would be happy that I told him what I told him. I mean, I knew it would hurt but he had a right to know," Haley said.
"I'm sure you meant well, Haley, and Nathan probably knows that you were only trying to be honest with him about whatever it was. He'll come around eventually. He just tends to figure things out slower than the rest of us," Peyton quipped. Haley glared at Peyton.
"Nathan's not stupid," Haley said sternly. Peyton giggled.
"Sorry," Peyton said. Then, there was a knock on the door and it opened. Nathan peered into the room.
"Hey, Peyton," he said. Then he turned to Haley. "Can we talk?"
"I'll go make myself scarce," Peyton said, getting up and leaving. She smirked at both Nathan and Haley sympathetically before closing the door behind her. Nathan walked into the room and noticed Haley's eyes watching his every move. He could feel the frustration curling off her like smoke. He turned to her and shrugged.
"I'm sorry," he said in a desperate voice. Haley sighed and motioned for him to come and sit down on the bed with her. He did and she put one of her hands on his arm.
"I was only trying to be honest with you, Nathan. I thought that you might want to know the truth about what your father's up to," Haley said.
"I know. And I guess on some level, I knew that you were telling me the truth. It's just hard for me to accept that my dad would do something like that," Nathan said. Haley raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Look, I know my dad is a mean guy. He's an ass that abandons one of his sons and his girlfriend, pressures his other son to the point where he takes performance enhancers to please him…" Haley looked at Nathan in alarm at the admission but Nathan went on, not noticing Haley's reaction: "… and ignores his wife. I know all of that. I never said he was a saint but he's still my dad." He looked up at her.
"I understand, Nathan and it's ok," she said.
"No, it's not ok. My dad broke the law and then he tried to cover it up. He almost cost me you," Nathan said, shaking his head in disagreement. He pulled her hand that had been on his arm and brought it up to his head. He kissed it and held it against his forehead. "My dad is not more important than you. I never want to lose you, Haley."
"You're not going to lose me, Nathan," she said.
"But I almost did and it's because of my dad," Nathan said.
"What are you saying?" Haley asked.
"I guess I'm saying that I want your parents to bring him down," Nathan said, looking at her seriously.