Chapter Thirteen: Runaway

Haley's hands shook as she tied the belt of her dressing gown before venturing out into the hall. Something wasn't right, but she couldn't think of what it was. The previous night she knew she'd gotten drunk and they'd come home together to discuss… Peyton and Jake? Haley couldn't remember, didn't want to remember, if she'd said anything to incriminate herself. But what could she say that could possibly incriminate?

Nathan was sitting at the kitchen counter, reading the sport's section of the newspaper. She shuffled her slipper clad feet to announce her presence.

"Haley. Good morning," he said stiffly.

"You're being weird. Are you okay?" she asked in concern. He glanced over his shoulder at her and smiled slightly.

"You know, Davis wouldn't have picked up on anything in a thousand years," said Nathan.

"I know. You're just lucky I'm not her," said Haley.

"Always," he replied, holding out his hand to her. She went swiftly toward him and took it in her own.

"You're in a good mood," she said.

"So I'm not being weird any more?"

"Well, you being nice is a little bit weird. What's the occasion?" she asked. He smiled.

"What, you're saying you don't remember?" he asked.

"What? You don't mean…" she gasped in shock and slight horror.

"No, we didn't. Sorry, I couldn't resist. And we couldn't be giving Chris Kellar damaged goods now, could we?" teased Nathan. Haley frowned as her boyfriend's name finally surfaced.

"No, we couldn't. What are we doing today?" she asked.

"Going home. Remember?" he asked.

"Right, back to face the music. Fun. Do I have to worry about Davis?" asked Haley nervously.

"No. She's not a road block, trust me. She gets it, she wants the press to think we've split again," said Nathan calmly.

"Great. But what kind of person…" Haley began.

"Babe, don't," he said, pressing her fingers to his lips and begging her to stop.

"You look pale. Let's go for a walk," she suggested. He looked at her dressing gown clad figure and smiled slightly.

"Give me five," she said, dropping his hand and running off again.

XxxxxxX

For the sake of the media that they seemed bound to run in to, Haley let Nathan take her hand once they'd left the apartment to wander through a small city park.

"I'm going to miss it here," said Haley decidedly.

"We could…" began Nathan.

"No, we can't. My life's still there, and apparently going down the drain without my influence," said Haley.

"Have you heard from…"

"No. He went somewhere with his band," she said quietly.

"Are you ever going to let me get a sentence out?" asked Nathan teasingly. She looked up at him and smiled.

Nathan watched in interest as Haley's eyes roamed toward a family with three children, playing soccer on the grass. He watched a smile flicker over her face as the mother jumped on the father's back to prevent him from reaching the ball, and cheered as her eldest son got it in the makeshift net.

"What're you thinking about?" he asked.

"It's nice," said Haley simply.

"I guess. You want kids someday?"

"Yeah, four," said Haley, her eyes still on the family.

"Four? That's kind of a lot."

"Not really. I grew up as one of seven. But in books there's always four, two boys and two girls, and it looked so nice," she said. He nodded.

"I see what you mean. You think about it a lot?" he asked.

"Yeah, for the future. I want a boy then a girl, then a boy then a girl, like in the Narnia books," she said. She looked up at Nathan, tearing her eyes away from the family on the lawn. "But Chris doesn't want kids."

"Haley, why the hell are you still with him?" said Nathan, asking the question that plagued him constantly.

"What?"

"You heard me. You don't trust him, believe in him, and you two don't even want the same things from life. And don't give me that love crap, because you sure as hell don't love him. If you did, you sure as hell wouldn't be doing this," said Nathan.

"Doing what?" asked Haley shakily.

"This!" said Nathan in exasperation, holding up the hand that was clasped in his. She tugged lightly to test his grip, but he didn't loosen his fingers.

"This isn't real, Nathan. It's just pretend," she said.

"You say that, and maybe it's true but either way you're trying to get him jealous. You shouldn't have to. If he loved you, if he really meant what he said, you wouldn't have to do it all," said Nathan. Haley rolled her eyes.

"I am so sick of hearing that argument day in and day out. I am in love with Chris. Deal with it. Maybe it's not conventional, maybe it's not perfect, but it's there and it's how I feel and a million of your arguments isn't going to change that," said Haley. Suddenly he leaned down toward her. "What are you doing?"

"Making an argument," said Nathan. She jerked away and slapped him across the cheek with her free hand.

"While we're on the topic, what about Davis?" demanded Haley.

"What about her?" asked Nathan.

"Davis Ryan, your girlfriend. Don't you deserve her fidelity?" asked Haley.

"She slept with Jake," argued Nathan. Haley shook her head, suddenly looking more sad than angry. She tugged her hand out of his, and backed away.

"You so don't get it, do you?" she said, turning to run down the long path back to the apartment.

"Haley!" he called after her, surprised. She didn't even break her stride.

XxxxxxX

"Haley?"

Nathan ran into his apartment and looked around wildly.

"Haley," he said in relief when he found her, in her bedroom.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"I want.."

"Because if you're going to make a play for me, you may as well save your breath," she said. He frowned.

"Bit high on yourself?" Haley scowled and lifted he bag over her shoulder.

"I'm leaving," she said shortly. As she walked past him, his hand shot out and gripped her shoulder. She shook him off. "Don't. You're not worth it, Nathan. You're nothing."