Chapter Two
Haley walked out of her meeting and sighed. "That was a waste of time," she said to Jake as she ran into him outside the staff room.
"Hey, Haley," he said. She smiled as she realized that she forgot to say hello to him.
"Sorry, Jake. How are you doing?" she asked. He smirked.
"I'm alright. Just pretty tired," he replied.
"Why?" Haley asked.
"Well, Peyton's going to Chicago today and so we spent yesterday with each other before she left. She's going to be gone until tomorrow," he said.
"What about Chris and Elizabeth?" Haley asked.
"Babysitter," he replied.
"That must be costing a lot. Why didn't you just take the days off to look after them?" she asked. Jake laughed.
"Are you kidding! I'd be bored out of my mind, stuck in the house all day while they basically sleep most of the time. Not to mention the fact that your husband would kill me. He's already down one assistant coach," Jake said. Haley laughed.
"I'm so out of it today. I completely forgot about that," she said.
"Are you ok, though?" he asked. Haley nodded.
"Oh, yeah. It's just that I felt sick this morning and so, I'm kind of tired. Whenever I feel sick, I get tired," she said. Jake smirked. Haley looked at him and asked, "What?"
"Nothing. It's just Peyton was like that when she was pregnant. She'd have morning sickness and then be tired a while after," he said. Haley laughed nervously. She couldn't let Jake find out that she was pregnant before her husband did. "So, what are you teaching first?" he asked.
"Oh, it's my grade nine English class," she said. Jake smiled.
"That sounds fun," he said sarcastically.
"Whatever. At least I don't have to coach a basketball team," she said smirking.
"It's not a bad job. The pay's pretty good too," Jake said.
"I meant that you have Nathan for your boss," she said. Jake laughed.
"He's alright most of the time. It's when the team isn't being productive that he turns into a crank. I swear, sometimes he's a younger version of Whitey," Jake said. Haley knew that Nathan would take that as a compliment because he looked up to Whitey. All of his former students did, including Haley and he had never taught her.
"Well, I've got to go or I'll be late," she said, rushing to her class. Jake called out goodbye to her as she raced down the hallway.
"I acted hastily. I made a quick decision without considering all of the facts," Nathan said. Rachel scoffed.
"And what facts would those be?" she asked.
"That I was leaving New Jersey for good, that you were still in college and that I was still in love with my wife," he said. Rachel looked at him in confusion.
"You mean the one you were separated from?" she asked. Nathan nodded.
"She's the only wife I've ever had," he said. Rachel smiled.
"And where is she now?" Rachel asked sarcastically.
"At work," he replied. Rachel frowned. Nathan found some satisfaction when the smug look on her face disappeared. He knew that she thought Haley was still gone. Now, she knew that he was still married.
"I can't believe you're still married to her," Rachel said. Nathan was getting impatient.
"Why?" he asked.
"After what she did to you. She left you to go on the road and she sent you signed annulment papers," Rachel said.
"We've worked all that out now, Rachel. And we're happy. So, I don't know what you were hoping to accomplish by coming all the way here, but I'm already taken," he said. Rachel laughed.
"Well, you should be married to me and you and I both know it. It's what you wanted," she said. Nathan sighed.
"You're too late, Rachel. One: You turned down my proposal when I asked. Two: I'm married now," he said.
"Marriage isn't forever anymore, Nathan. You can get a divorce," she said. He looked at her in shock.
"Marriage is important to me and my vows are important to me too," he said.
"But they're not that important to your wife, are they? She left you and said goodbye to your marriage," Rachel argued.
"She thought she was doing what I wanted when she sent me those papers. My father tricked her. And even so, we've renewed our vows since then," he said. Rachel shook her head.
"You want to be with me and you know it," Rachel said. He laughed at her.
"Do you realize how ridiculous this sounds? You're embarrassing yourself. I tried to say it to you nicely. But if I have to spell it to you, I will. I am married. I love my wife and I am not leaving her for anyone especially not for you," he said.
"I know I was messed up then, Nathan," she said.
"Messed up? That's a bit of an understatement, don't you think? You were a disaster. You slept around, you did drugs and you were this close to being kicked out of school. Now, I'm sorry if you're hurt, but it's not my fault that you held onto a relationship that didn't last," he said. Then, Lucas pulled into the driveway.
"Nathan!" Lucas yelled out the window. He held out his left arm and pointed to his watch. Nathan started to leave, but Rachel grabbed his arm.
"We're still talking," she said. He ripped his arm from her grasp.
"No, we're not. I live in this time. I'm not stuck in the past like you are," he said. He left and got into the car with his brother.
"Who's that?" Lucas asked as he started the car and pulled out of the driveway.
"Someone from another life," he replied. Lucas looked at him in confusion. "You don't recognize her, do you?" Nathan asked.
"Should I?" Lucas said.
"That's Rachel," Nathan replied. He and Lucas had gone to the same college, so Lucas knew that he and Rachel had dated for a while. Lucas had never liked her and had always said that she was all wrong for him. Lucas looked at him in shock.
"That's Rachel Moore?" he asked. Nathan looked at him.
"She doesn't look very different, Luke," he said. He shrugged.
"I'm not used to seeing her without a needle in her arm," Lucas said, referring to her drug habit. Nathan chuckled.
Lucas Scott felt as if he was in another universe. Nathan was laughing at his crack about Rachel Moore's drug addiction. Back when he was "dating" her, Nathan would yell at him if Luke made one offensive comment about her. "So, what's she doing in Tree Hill?" Lucas asked. Nathan shook his head.
"Oh, you're not going to believe this. She came here because she wants me back," he said. Lucas pulled over and looked at Nathan.
"Is she aware that you're married?" he asked. Nathan nodded. "She wants you to leave your wife?" Lucas asked, but it was more of a conclusion. Nathan smirked as he said,
"According to her, my marriage doesn't qualify as a real marriage." Lucas laughed.
"You know, Rachel always did kind of live in her own mind and ignore reality, but even this is pushing it. You guys dated for three months four years ago," Luke said.
"She thinks that because I proposed to her, I still want to be with her," Nathan said. Lucas scoffed.
"Please. The only reason you proposed to her was because you wanted to forget about Haley," he said. Nathan nodded. At the time, Nathan had thought he loved Rachel. He had met her through basketball at the college. She was on the girls' team and he had ignored all the problems she had because he thought in time, he would be able to change her, thinking that she was a victim. It wasn't until later that he realized that she wasn't a victim at all. He had assumed that one of her old boyfriends had convinced her to shoot heroin, but he was wrong. She had made all her decisions all on her own. And sooner or later, he had grown tired of picking up the pieces. They started dating and stopped in Nathan's third year of college. At first, she had stayed away from him, but in the middle of his senior year, she had suddenly decided that she wanted him back. Nathan had refused to take her back, of course. By then, he'd realized that any girl he dated would never compare to Haley and he needed to get over her before he started dating again. "I wonder how Haley will react to this," Luke said. Nathan shook his head.
"Haley knows I dated while I was in college, Lucas, and you know that," he said.
"She doesn't know you proposed to Rachel. I know because I would've heard about it," Luke said. Nathan rolled his eyes. Luke had warned him to tell Haley that Nathan had had a relationship while he was in college. Nathan agreed that Haley should know, but he didn't want to tell her that he had proposed to her. Lucas had told him that he should tell her everything, but Nathan didn't want to hurt her because he made a mistake. And Haley had taken the news that he had dated while apart from her pretty well.
(FLASHBACK)
Nathan sat Haley down on the couch and looked at her seriously. Somehow they had started talking about what they were doing while they were apart. Haley had told him that she had gone to New York University and had been so busy that even if she wanted to date, she never had time because of all the assignments and the apprenticeship she did at a local high school. "Nathan, what's wrong? You look so serious," Haley said, smirking to try and lighten the mood.
"Did you really not date anyone while you were in New York?" he asked. Haley nodded. "Why?" he asked. Haley sighed.
"I wasn't over you, Nathan. Legally, we were separated, but, in my heart, I was still your wife. Why else would I still be going as 'Haley Scott'?" she replied. He looked down. "You look surprised," she said. He didn't know how to tell her that while she had remained faithful to their marriage, he had dated other people. Then, she looked down. She seemed to have realized something. "Oh," she said. He looked at her. When he saw the look in her eyes, he knew that she realized that he had dated other people.
"I'm sorry," he said. Haley smiled.
"Nathan, it's ok. I sent you annulment papers. I wanted to give you your freedom because I thought that things were over between us. I took the first step to our separation, not you. We were apart for five years, Nathan. I didn't expect you to be alone and it's not what I wanted. I wanted you to find happiness, even if it wasn't with me," she said.
"So, you're not angry?" he asked. She shook her head.
"I'm not going to lie to you. I'm not thrilled to know that you've been with other people, but, no, I'm not mad," Haley explained. He nodded. "How many people were you with?" she asked carefully.
"Haley, come on," he said.
"Just tell me. I promise, I won't get mad," she said, holding up her hands in surrender. He smirked.
"I was with two girls. I dated one for a month in my second year and another for three months in my third year," he said.
"You didn't date anyone in your senior year?" Haley asked.
"No. By then, I'd realized that I wasn't over you. Any girl I dated, I'd just end up realizing that they were never going to be able to compare to what I had with you," he said. Haley smiled. She came closer to him on the couch. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
"I feel the same way," she said softly. He smiled at her and held her tight against him.
(END OF FLASHBACK)
"Nate, I'll see you later. Tell Haley I said hello," Luke said, bringing Nathan out of his thoughts. Nathan nodded as he got out of the car and headed to his office that was located in between the gym and the boys locker room, but had doors that connected to both. There was even a door to the hallway. Nathan just considered it another way for people to interrupt him while he was working.
THREE HOURS LATER
Nathan was looking at some papers about the upcoming game. He still thought it was ridiculous that he had to give the players on the team permission slips every time they had a game even though the parents had already signed a permission slip so they could play on the team and checked the box, giving them permission to participate in games. But the school board made a regulation that for away games, a signed permission form was required. Then, there was a knock on one of his three doors. He realized it was the one that was from the hallway. He still heard Jake's Phys. Ed. Class going on in the gymnasium. "Come on in," he said trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice. The door opened and a female laughed as she walked into the room and closed the door again.
"I swear, you always sound so irritated," she said. He smiled and looked up to see Haley sitting in a chair in front of his desk as she put her bag down on the other chair. He looked at his watch and realized that it was already third period. He didn't have any classes to teach until fourth and sometimes he had to do an on-call. Haley taught three out of the five periods and third period was her lunch. She usually only had fourth period free since she sometimes helped with the guitar class or did an on-call herself.
"You look tired," he said.
"Really? I'm more annoyed than tired. I just came from my grade nine vocal class and I swear, if I get one more question about Gavin DeGraw or Michelle Branch, I'm going to freak out," she said.
"Come on, Hales. Everyone knows you went on tour. You're practically a celebrity around here," he said.
"I went on tour six years ago. I should be known for more than that by now," she said.
"You are," he said.
Haley put her head on her elbow and asked, "And what is that?"
"You're Coach Scott's wife," he teased. She got up and walked around to his side of the desk and started swatting him.
"Not funny! Not funny at all!" She exclaimed as she continued to swat him. He laughed as he grabbed her by the waist and sat her on his lap. She smirked as he moved his head closer to kiss her.
When the kiss ended, he said, "Hello." Haley laughed as she pulled the chair that was beside him closer and moved to sit down.
