"He's going to be ok right? He's going to be ok! He has to be ok. I can't let him not be ok" Haley said. She was talking so fast that even Brooke was having trouble understanding her. "He has to be"
"He'll be fine" Lucas said, but he fooled no one.
"He won't be fine!" Haley stood up from her seat and started pacing back and forth. "I just know it! He won't be fine. And it's all my fault"
"How could you possibly blame yourself for this?" Lucas walked over to her and pulled her into a hug. "How can you? You weren't with him when it happened. Don't you dare say it's your fault because I can't bare the thought of you thinking this happened because of you"
"He's right" Brooke walked over to them and stroked Haley's hair. "You can't blame yourself"
"But it was my fault! I mean the first time he crashed on the racing track it was my fault, why shouldn't it be my fault this time?" Haley pulled out of the hug and turned her back towards Brooke and Lucas.
"It's not-"but Lucas was interrupted by a nurse who had just entered the waiting room.
"Are you here for Nathan Scott?" she said. They all turned to face her and nodded quickly. "Come with me please" The three of them followed the nurse until the reached a room where the nurse stopped.
"He's in there?" Haley croaked.
"You'll have to look and see" the nurse said playfully but none of them appreciated her joke. She opened the door for them and in there was Nathan laying on a hospital bed and he was connected to a lot of wires.
"Is he-?" Brooke said softly.
"Dead? Oh no he's just sleeping" the nurse said before leaving them alone. At this Haley buried her face in Lucas chest and started to cry as if her life depended on it.
"Hey it's alright now Hales" He kissed her forehead and they both walked over to where Nathan was sleeping.
"I know. Haven't you ever cried when you're happy?" Haley smiled at Lucas before sitting herself down on the chair next to Nathan's bed. She grabbed his hand and kissed it. Brooke walked over to Lucas and put her arm around his waist and he put his arm around her shoulders in return.
"Have you ever seen anything so cute?" she whispered to him.
"I've seen something cuter" Lucas said as he looked down at Brooke who couldn't help but blush. She stood on her toes and gave him a kiss.
"You're pretty cute too"
"I know" Lucas said. Brooke gave him a playful punch.
"Nathan? Nathan can you hear me?" Haley was talking to the still unconscious Nathan. "Do you think he'll wake up?" she looked over at Brooke and Lucas.
"Of course he will, he's a Scott" Lucas said. Haley gave him a small smile before going back to stroking Nathan's hair.
"Is he alright?" Peyton stormed into the room, looking confused and tired.
A week had passed since Nathan had left the hospital and he and Haley were, if possible, closer than ever.
"Damn it! I lost again!" Haley threw the play station remote on the floor and looked almost angry.
"You're just doing it wrong" Nathan smiled at her. He had always thought she was cute when she was angry.
"I'm doing exactly what you told me to do. You said press the x button when I want to dribble and the circle to shoot but whenever I press x I end up passing it to the other team and when I press the circle he just keeps running!" Haley complained.
"No I said press the triangle to shoot and circle to dribble"
"Well ok fine! You can be good at playing pretend basketball and I can be good at other things like….well you know…."
"Homework?" Nathan said playfully. Haley gave him a fake smile before standing up and getting ready to leave but Nathan pulled her back down and she landed in his knees and he started to tickle her.
"Please! No!" Haley managed to say between the laughter. "Stop it!" but when Nathan didn't stop Haley jumped out of his knees and ran away from him. But Nathan, being a very talented basketball player, caught up to her within seconds and picked her up. He carried her over his shoulder and walked into the bedroom.
"Come on Lucas!" Brooke whined as her and Lucas were walking around in town. Brooke was trying to convince him to come to the party.
"It just feels wrong, that's all" Lucas said softly, "I mean, Jimmy's gone, and something tragic has happened and I can't bare the thought that we are going to be having fun while he isn't here anymore"
"Well if you say it that way no one is going to come to the party" Brooke rolled her eyes at him. "We need something to take our mind off things and we need something that can make us all forget our troubles for just one night and remember how it used to be. And if it helps you can go back to moping and mourning the very moment you go home"
"That doesn't help" Lucas said as he smiled at Brooke. "Well…I guess if you have Jimmy's and everyone's best interest at heart" he said as he looked at Lucas with a look of unbelief.
"Of course!" Brooke exclaimed, "It's not for my benefit! It's for everyone else!" Lucas could clearly hear the sarcasm in her voice.
"Am I supposed to believe that?" Lucas looked down at her and Brooke gave him an innocent smile and batted her eyelashes. "Ok fine! I'll go, but if I get uncomfortable you have to promise me you'll let me go home"
"Absolutely" Brooke said as she placed her hand in his and leaned her head against his shoulder. "I'm here for you, you know that right? So if you want to talk or if you want someone to lean on, I'm here" Lucas smiled at her.
"Isn't that supposed to be my job?"
Peyton put her hand up reluctantly as Brooke was calling out the names for their planning committee.
"Good. Now where is Mouth? He was suppose to be here in 5 minutes. Brooke looked around at the door expectantly but there was no sign of Mouth. "And where is Haley?"
"She's with Nathan" Peyton mumbles as she continued to draw.
"Well I guess I can let that go, besides she and Nathan have some catching up to do" Brooke winked at Peyton who gave her a disgusted look. "Besides, if she brings Nathan he can do all the heavy lifting"
"Hello, he was in a car accident like a week ago! He can't do heavy lifting" Bevin said, "Duh!"
"Well then I guess you could do it Bevin?" Brooke looked at Bevin who quickly changed the expression on her face.
"On second thought I think that Nathan would be great! You know, it'll be like physical therapy"
"That's what I thought" Brooke looked satisfied. At that moment Mouth entered the door to Peyton's room. "Mouth! You're late! You should have been here five minutes ago! You promised!"
"No I didn't! I'll tell you now just like I've told you before, I ride a bicycle" Mouth put down the box of decorations he'd brought and sat down on the bed. "Now what's happening?"
"Well if you'd been here –" but Peyton interrupted her.
"Just let it go, Brooke, he's here now and he's willing to help. Isn't that good enough?" Brooke gave her a cold look before walking over to the empty black wall where she had written down all the planning on.
"Ok, Bevin and I are going to take care of the people, Haley and Mouth and doing the decorations, Peyton is doing the music, and promise it won't be depressing because face it, we've had enough of that, and Nathan and Lucas will do the lifting, and Tim is getting more people and the drinks" Brooke pointed a pen to each of the names written down on the wall as she went along. At the end she jumped up with excitement and skipped over to the bed.
"This is going to be the best party ever!" she exclaimed and started to giggle.
Nathan was asleep in the bed when Haley came and jumped onto the bed, startling him. "Hey cutie" she whispered as she bent down and gave him a long kiss.
"Hey" he said sleepily as he pulled her down so that they were kissing once more.
"Oooo, bad breath" Haley said with a mocking smile on her face.
"Shut up!" Nathan whispered, "or I'll tickle you again" he started to tickle her once more but before he could do it for long Haley had fallen off the bed and was lying on the floor laughing. Nathan started to laugh too and climbed out of bed and lay down on the floor next to her. She rolled around so that her head was on his chest and she put an arm around his stomach.
"I love you, you know that" she whispered as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"I love you too" Nathan whispered back. He kissed the top of her head and stroked a finger against her cheek. A smile broke out on Haley's face and she felt happier than ever.