Chapter Forty: Get Over You
Nathan's thoughts had been on Haley for the entire plane trip, on how he would make it up to her as soon as he could get back to Tree Hill, but after his plane landed in New York his thoughts shifted irrevocably to his parents.
A company car picked him up and drove him to his parent's lavish town house. He walked briskly up the stone steps, thinking guiltily about how long it had been since he'd entered the house. He'd never imagined, on his last visit, that it had been his last chance to visit them.
The house was empty, cold, and dark. It had always been too large to be cozy or endearing, but never had it been this lifeless. His footsteps echoed loudly on the marble steps as he walked up the sweeping staircase. Eyes haunted him as he walked down the corridor-lining the walls were pictures of long dead ancestors, wealthy Scotts who'd kept the purebred line running. As he neared the end of the hallway he saw the most recent picture-him, his three siblings, his parents. He shivered and looked away.
Cautiously Nathan pushed open the door to Ryan's room. In the darkness, his eyes slowly found the indistinct shapes of two tall, slim blonde girls, huddled together on the four poster bed. Slowly, reluctantly, he went to join them.
As Nathan sat on the bed, Ryan and Leigh both fell into his arms. The room, which had been so silent, was suddenly filled with sobs.
"Shh. It'll be okay," he promised, his words empty, before he too, for the first time since his childhood, burst into loud, uncontrollable sobs.
Hours later, after he'd tucked them in to Ryan's wide bed, he went downstairs. He didn't want to see his own long abandoned room, or Karen and Keith's. He had half a mind to rid the house of anything that reminded him of them. As he heard one of the girls cry out in the midst of a nightmare, in pain and fear, his resolve reaffirmed itself. But first he went to check the messages on the machine. Afterward, he was generally glad that he had.
"Nathan Scott this is Kenneth Ricketts, your parent's attorney. I'd like to meet with you to discuss your stepfather's will and the future of the company. If you could please contact me at…"
Nathan clicked off the machine again and rubbed his temple in annoyance. He knew he could deal with unimaginable pain, with supporting his little sister's. But he didn't know if he could handle the lawyers.
Nathan left the house two hours later, after Lucas and Brooke had arrived to take care of Ryan and Leigh. Dressed in a suit and dress shoes, he looked infinitely older than the Nathan Haley had known.
He looked apprehensively across the desk as he sat down. The tall, stringy lawyer looked at him gravely.
"First of all, I'd like to know who's going to be taking care of Ryan and Leigh," said Nathan, sounding firmer than he felt inside. Kenneth Ricketts sighed and looked down at the document in front of him.
"Let's start from the top. Keith Scott had many assets, the bulk of which he left to you. He set up trust funds for the respective educations of Ryan and Leigh Scott, also to be used for their own support. Lucas Scott will be provided with an allowance, of an amount that you will determine. The house in New York and the house in the Hamptons have both been left to you, as has most of his personal account on the stipulation that you take over the company and run it," began Kenneth.
"So I get everything?" said Nathan in disbelief. Everything he'd spent his whole life running from. The multi-million dollar company, the unfeeling house, the millions in the bank.
"In addition to the guardianship of your younger sisters," added Kenneth. Nathan's eyes widened again. He'd expected the girls to go to a relative. It had never occurred to him that he'd suddenly have responsibilities in his life.
"I'm twenty-four," he said in disbelief.
"Both your parents state clearly that it was their wish. Of course it's your prerogative, but if you do turn it down you will be turning down the company and your share of the fortune," said Kenneth. Nathan scowled.
"If I decide not to be their guardian it would be for their own well being, not for my own gain," said Nathan darkly.
"Do you really think they'd be better off moving out of the city, to live with a relative they barely know? Changing schools for just the last few years?"
"I'll do it. Of course I will," muttered Nathan. Kenneth nodded and said something about papers to sign. But Nathan was already gone, with only one thought on his mind:
Haley.
Nathan made himself a strong drink from his parent's liquor cabinet as soon as he got back to the house, but before he'd taken a sip he'd hurtled it against the stone fireplace and watched it shatter with a relish.
He grabbed another glass and listened to the satisfying breaking sound as it met the same fate as the first.
He needed a better way to take out his frustration. Right now, running away from all of them seemed ideal. But Ryan and Leigh needed him, and had to come first.
Nathan had never considered the fact that he wouldn't be able to return to Haley. He'd half made up his mind to follow her to Providence, knowing that he couldn't bear the distance. Now, all of it was sucked away from him.
Lucas appeared in the doorway, watching his elder brother vent mentally over his frustrations.
"How'd the meeting go?" he asked cautiously. Nathan looked up at his brother in surprise. Lucas, who had to be a man in exactly seven months. Lucas, with his stubble and spiky blonde hair.
"Fine. You got screwed. I got everything. Including them," said Nathan.
"Ry and Leigh? Shit, man," said Lucas.
"I'm going to have to leave her. I'm going to have to leave everything," said Nathan.
"Haley will understand. And what else matters? It wasn't much of a life," said Lucas. Nathan curled his fists in anger.
"Like yours is? Playing house with a girl who's kid isn't even yours? Posing in your underwear for billboards? Listening to your deep music? Partying every single night?" demanded Nathan.
"Calm down," said Lucas.
"Of course you can be calm. You can go back to LA with the woman you love and your hefty allowance and never have to get off your ass. I have to work a company I've always hated, live in an oppressive house I escaped the minute I turned eighteen and abandon the one thing I've loved more than anything else," said Nathan.
"Don't make this about Haley. This has to be about them," warned Lucas.
"Everything's about Brooke now. You shut up about her cheating on you because you weren't man enough to stand up to it and accept that she might leave. You're a family guy now, in denial that it's yours. You're pathetic, man," said Nathan.
"Right, because whining about losing the girl you spent the entire summer torturing while you throw shot glasses at the fireplace isn't remotely pathetic," said Lucas coolly. In a moment, Nathan would have been willing to find a new outlet for his anger. But Brooke, running in from another room, stepped between them.
"Guys, shut up. You have more important things to worry about," she said in disgust.
"Like what?" asked Nathan listlessly. Brooke shoved a portable phone at him.
"For starters you could call your girlfriend. She's the one getting screwed over here, obviously you two can't think of anything but your own petty lives," said Brooke, stalking out of the room. Sighing, Lucas followed her, while Nathan hesitantly dialed the familiar phone number and held the phone to his ear.