Chapter Thirty-Eight: Penultimate

Author's note: Lately I have received some reviews with questions or helpful suggestions. Which is great. But if you review anonomously and ask something, or offer help, it's impossible for me to get back to you if you don't leave an email adress. Please, leave one! I'll email you back, I promise. And not to put you on the spot, but this has happened to two people that I've been able to find in my reviews-"libberty belle" and "maddie". I'd love to answer both your queries.

Haley let her hands drop to her sides, unused to having nothing to do with them. Her room was in boxes. Her still made bed stuck out in a sea of cardboard. She sank to the floor, taking in the sight of it.

"See now that wasn't so hard, was it?" asked Nathan, taping up the last box with a satisfied smile. She scowled darkly at him. Suspecting that she'd break down again if left to do it by herself, he'd spent the entire day packing with her.

"It's so weird. I don't want to sleep here," she said, shuddering slightly.

"You could sleep at my place," he suggested, regretting it immediately. He'd promised himself he wouldn't pressure her, but it was harder than he ever could have imagined.

"I'll survive here," she said, looking down. Part of her couldn't understand why she was hesitating. She wanted him. He wanted her. He loved her.

"I'd expect nothing less," he said. Walking over to her, he offered his hand to pull her up.

"Let's go out. To celebrate," she suggested.

"Where?" he asked.

"Party at Teresa's. Peyton and Jake are going. It's the last party before we go off to school," she said. She frowned. Somehow she'd walked right into another gray area. The concept of her going away to school, and his return to his home, was one they never discussed.

"Sounds good. Partying with high school girls, I'm up for it," he joked. He frowned, mirroring her own face. He didn't like mentioning their age gap.

"As long as it's just this high school girl you're partying with," she said, hooking a hand around his neck to pull him down for a kiss.

Teresa flung her arms around Peyton and Haley as they walked in the door to her home, finding it hard to believe that her party warranted members of the elite class. The brunette winked at Jake, standing behind them, but found herself unable to be seductive before Nathan Scott.

Peyton rolled her eyes in exasperation before grabbing Haley's hand and tugging her to the dance floor. Nathan coolly grabbed a beer from the cooler and became a pair of eyes, watching the two girls dance against each other.

Jake looked between Peyton and Nathan. Dancing had never been his thing. But he'd never managed to keep a conversation with the older, often crude boyfriend of his friend. In relief, he spotted some of his basketball friends and went over to join them while Nathan was swallowed in a crowd of drunken teenagers.

Haley relaxed and let the flow of the music consume her. Never one to feel comfortable dancing in a crowd, she was glad to have Peyton's reassuring presence. Haley noticed her boyfriend in the crowd of girls and sent him a covert, coyly seductive glance.

Nathan hadn't had any problem watching his girlfriend dance with her best friend. He was forced to admit that it was actually something of a turn on. But it wasn't only him. The two beautiful girls, dancing close together, occasionally touching, were noticed by a tall blonde guy, one they immediately recognized and welcomed. A friend. Nathan forced himself to swallow his pride.

As the blonde man made a remark that made Haley blush, Nathan's frown deepened. He remembered how much he used to make her blush. How fascinating they used to be to each other. With new resolve growing inside of him, he headed toward her on the dance floor.

Haley's gasp of surprise was barely audible as he reached her and gently pulled her away from Peyton and the blonde boy, and toward him. Compelled by his tight grasp on her waist, Haley danced in closer to him until all her curves pressed against his as she moved rhythmically.

He put his arms around her again, willing them to become one being. Wishing for things he knew he could never take from her, wishing for what he'd never deserve. As the music changed and a slow song came on, their movements slowed but they didn't separate. She put her arms around his neck and he rested his chin on the top of her head.

"I don't think I can leave you," he admitted. Over his shoulder, Haley could see Jake and Peyton dancing, with no fear of separation.

"You're not. I'm leaving you, remember?" Haley had to joke. To admit that the situation was a serious one broke her heart.

"Can you come to LA at Christmas?" he asked.

"Christmas is a long way away," she said comfortingly.

"Not compared to how long our lives will be." They fell silent. It was hard on both of them. It occurred to Haley that she could have started going out with Nathan when she'd originally wanted to and they could have had a whole other month to be together in.

Haley tilted her head back and met his eyes, and suddenly he was kissing her. Kissing her longingly and desperately, afraid to tear himself away. Afraid he wouldn't be able to restrain himself, afraid that time apart would change her. She let herself get lost in his eyes, his hands, his lips. Everything that had become so dear to her, willing the night to last their entire lives.

In a flash, Nathan recalled all he'd went through for her. All the humiliation, all the put-downs, all the pain. He'd do it again in a heart beat. Never again had he made himself so available for a woman, never again would he have to.

Haley thought back to her life at the beginning of the summer. Her relationship with Chris, so perfect in even her eyes. And of her friends: Jake, ever heart broken, misunderstood Peyton, perky yet unsatisfied Brooke. She was satisfied now. Jake's broken heart was mended, Peyton was finally understood. But a summer of pain seemed to lead to yet more hurt for Haley, in the long run. She slid open her lips and relished the taste of him.

She saw the sparks she was so sure had passed between Peyton and Lucas, and what she'd seen as Nathan's love for Davis, his love for her. Haley remembered Brooke's intent to use Lucas' as her summer boy toy. Jake screwing Davis, which was a memory perhaps best forgotten.

"This has been one screwed up summer," she said, half to herself.

"Tell me about it," he said, breaking away from their kiss. She smiled.

They didn't much time. Soon it would have to be over. But they had what mattered most.

They had tonight.

In a different time, on the other side of the country, Brooke hurried back into her apartment, eager to spend more time with Lucas, who she was beginning to appreciate again.

"Luke?" she called into the lifeless apartment. She frowned as she walked in and didn't see him anymore. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled. Somehow, she knew something was wrong.

She automatically pushed the flashing red light on the answering machine, ready to hear a friendly message from Leigh, or perhaps one from a particularly crazed fan. But as the message played, she finally began to understand.

"Brooke, Lucas, this is Haley. Um, I don't know how to tell you this, but Nathan got a message from Keith's lawyer last night. They both died in a car accident, and Nathan's going to New York tomorrow to sort things out."

As Brooke gasped in horror her life, laid out so perfectly in front of her, suddenly began to unravel.