Denying What's in Your Heart (Chapter 6)
Lucas walked into his brother's hospital room a week later and sat down in the chair next to his bed. Nathan was standing up. He was putting on a sweatshirt over a t-shirt and he winced in pain. "Don't overwork yourself, Nate," Lucas said. Nathan scoffed.
"Lucas, I'm putting on a damn sweatshirt, not running a marathon," he said. Lucas started to laugh.
"Just showing concern for my little brother. You don't need to bite my head off," Lucas said, holding his hands up in surrender. "So, when do you want to leave for California?" he asked. Nathan looked around the room and gestured to the duffel bag on the bed. He put his jacket on.
"As soon as possible," he said. Lucas said. "Let's go," Nathan said. Lucas laughed.
"We're not going right now, Nathan," he said. Nathan looked at him in confusion. Then he studied his face and Lucas winked an eye at him.
"Oh, no," he said.
"Sorry," he said.
"Why is it that Brooke seems to want to throw a party every chance she gets?" Nathan asked. Lucas shrugged.
"Well, she said she it's a party to say goodbye to you and glad that you're ok, but she also said that she has some big news for us," he said. Nathan shook his head in annoyance.
"She does know that I have classes to get back to, right?" he asked. Lucas nodded.
"Relax. The party's tonight. You'll sleep over and then I'll drive you back first thing in the morning," Lucas said. Nathan sighed in annoyance.
"Fine. Where are we going then?" he asked.
"Well, to the apartment, of course," he said. Nathan nodded and grabbed one of his duffel bags but Lucas took the other one before he could reach it.
Lucas unlocked the front door and opened it. They walked into the apartment. It was huge. "Nice place," Nathan said as he walked in. Lucas smiled.
"Thanks. Peyton and I found it a few months ago and we all moved in," he said.
"I thought you guys were living together before then," Nathan said.
"We were, but that apartment was really small and overcrowded with five people living there. So, Peyton and I went looking for another apartment so we could move out and live together. Instead, we found this one and it was in our price range. It had three bedrooms, which was good for Hales, since she didn't have to sleep on a couch anymore. It worked out really well," Lucas said.
"Haley was sleeping on a couch?" Nathan asked. Lucas nodded. "I don't understand why she didn't just find another apartment or keep our old one," Nathan said.
"We didn't want her to live alone, so, we asked her to move in with us," Lucas said. A bedroom door opened and Peyton came into the hallway. She smiled when she saw Nathan.
"How's she doing?" Lucas asked. Peyton shook her head.
"Who?" Nathan asked.
"Haley's sick," Brooke replied, coming out of the same bedroom. "We were in there playing nurse," she continued. Peyton and Brooke looked each other and smiled. Then, they laughed.
"What's so funny?" Sam asked, coming from the kitchen.
"The irony of it. We were playing nurse to a nurse," Brooke said and started to laugh harder. Lucas rolled his eyes.
"But it's just her being sick, right? She didn't actually do anything to herself, did she?" Nathan asked. Peyton looked at him and shook her head.
"No, she's just sick, Nate. It does happen on occasion," Peyton replied.
"Not to Hales. She never gets sick," Nathan said.
"Well, she's been under the weather all week. Didn't you notice that she wasn't at the hospital?" Brooke asked.
"Well, I assumed she was avoiding me," he said.
"Why would she be doing that?" Peyton asked. Lucas was about to open his mouth but Nathan glared at him. Peyton looked at both of them. She studied Nathan carefully and then looked at Lucas. He avoided looking her in the eye and when he finally did, he looked away quickly.
"You two are hiding something. What happened?" Peyton said, folding her arms across her chest and switching her gaze from Lucas to Nathan and then back to Lucas again. Lucas bit his lip.
"Nathan and Haley kissed," he said.
"What? You two kissed?" Brooke exploded.
"It happens sometimes. We were married and it's not like I forced myself on her. She kissed me back," Nathan said defensively.
"No, no, no. That's not what she meant," Peyton said. Nathan looked at Brooke who was looking insulted.
"How could Haley not tell me and Peyton that the two of you kissed?" Brooke asked in outrage.
"She's not the type to kiss and tell," Nathan said immediately. Peyton and Brooke looked at each other and then laughed.
"You'd like to think that, wouldn't you?" Peyton asked. He looked at them doubtfully. Peyton raised an eyebrow and then winked. Nathan blushed in embarrassment and then looked away. They all broke out into laughter.
Then a door opened and Haley came out in her pyjamas. Nathan froze. She did not look good at all. She was very pale and there were dark circles around her eyes that made it seem like she hadn't slept much. The others walked to the living room. "I'm going to get something to drink. Do you guys want anything?" he asked.
"Four colas, Nate," Brooke called from the living room. Haley was already opening a can of soup and pouring it into a pan. She stirred the contents and put it on the stove and set the burner to number seven.
"So, I see you've been released from the hospital," Haley said. Her voice was scratchy. He nodded. "How are you feeling?" she asked, looking at him now.
"Fine. A little weakness when I lift my arms, but that's normal. Right?" he asked. Haley cracked a smile.
"Yeah, it's normal," she said.
"What about you?" he asked, looking her over carefully. Haley smirked and laughed.
"You mean this? It's nothing. Probably the flu," Haley replied. He grabbed the cokes and stopped at the doorway.
"I hope you feel better, Hales. It'd be a shame not to see you tonight," he said. Haley laughed.
"One: This is a party thrown by Brooke. Do you really think she'd let me use the flu as an excuse to avoid her party? Two: I live here. I'll be here anyways. I may poke my head out," she said, smirking. He nodded and left the room.
Four hours later, Nathan was sitting down on the couch in between Lucas and Sam. "All right, Brooke. How about you make this announcement now?" Peyton asked. Brooke looked over at Sam and smiled. Then she looked around and her face faltered.
"Haley, get out here now!" she exclaimed. A few seconds later, Haley appeared in a light purple, spaghetti-strapped dress that fell an inch above her knees looking really annoyed.
"You shrieked," she said. Brooke glared at her but then smiled.
"Sam and I have an announcement to make," she said. She reached out her hand and Sam took it and walked over to her. Brooke smiled hugely. "We're engaged," she announced. Peyton screamed in excitement and came over to hug Brooke. Brooke turned to Haley.
"I would hug you, but you don't want to get sick, do you?" she asked. Brooke nodded and just shook Haley's hand.
"How long have you been engaged?" Nathan asked.
"A few weeks," Sam replied.
"And you're just telling us now? Brooke Davis!" Peyton exclaimed. Brooke looked away for a second as if to stop her from getting glared at by Peyton but then burst out laughing. Lucas came over and hugged her.
"Congratulations, Cheery. I'm happy for you," he said and planted a friendly kiss on her cheek.
"Thanks, Broody," she replied. Sam walked over to Haley and stopped for a minute. Haley looked at him warningly.
"I think I'll risk it," he said and hugged her.
"Congratulations," Haley said when he pulled away from her.
"Thanks, Haley," he said and rejoined Brooke. Haley left and returned to her room.
"Well, Nathan, it looks like we can leave. Just let me get ready. Give me fifteen minutes," Lucas said. Nathan nodded and hugged Peyton and Brooke goodbye and shook Sam's hand.
"I'm going to go say goodbye to her," he said, looking at them carefully. They smiled up at him sympathetically and nodded, as if giving him the ok that it was a good idea.
Nathan knocked on the door lightly. "Come in," Haley said. He opened the door and closed it behind him. Haley was sitting down at her desk writing, still dressed in the same outfit. She looked over at him and smiled. "What's up?" she asked.
"I'm leaving in a few minutes," he announced. Haley tensed and put her pen down. She turned her chair around and looked up at him. She held his gaze for a few minutes. Then, she turned away and nodded. "Haley?" he said. She got up walked over to him, keeping her face down the entire time. Then she looked up at him again. There were tears streaming down her face. He put his hand to her cheek and wiped them away.
"I'm going to miss you," she said quietly. He nodded.
"I'll miss you too," he said. She walked away from him and kept her back to him. "I'd be willing to stay," he said.
"Why would you do that?" she asked. He could tell that she was crying. He was holding back tears of his own.
"To see if we could maybe work things out," he said. Haley turned around and smiled at him through her tears as she shook her head.
"No, Nathan. You have a life in California. I can't ask you to walk away from that," she said. He knew that she had a point. He didn't hate his life in California or anything; it just seemed empty now that he had seen her again.
"I feel like maybe there's a reason the accident happened. That it was meant to somehow bring us back together," he said. Haley walked over to him and they were only about two inches apart.
"In a way, it did," she said. She leaned up on her toes and kissed him softly. He put his arms around her and held her closer. She broke away and looked up at him. "We're talking again and I want to stay in touch. But right now, I think it's best if we finish school. Who knows? Maybe we'll see each other again some day," she said. He didn't want to, but he nodded in agreement. He walked towards the door and before he opened it, he looked at her.
"I love you," he said. Haley smiled.
"I love you too. I always will," she said.
"Always and forever," he said. She nodded slowly. Then she started to walk over to him, but she collapsed to the ground. "Haley!" he exclaimed. Nathan rushed over and kneeled beside her. He lifted her head up gently. Her eyes were closed and her body seemed lifeless, but he felt a faint pulse. He started CPR. "Call an ambulance!" he screamed. Then the paramedics came and took Haley on a stretcher. Nathan set foot into the ambulance.
"Sorry, sir. Only family members can ride along," the paramedic said.
"I'm her husband," he said without hesitation and got into the ambulance. He sat down and took Haley's hand in between his.