Part 4
3 years later...
Taylor wandered into her house at two o'clock in the morning. She crept up the stairs and quietly opened her bedroom door. It was pitch black in the room. She slowly got undressed and pulled her nightgown on. Just then the lamp was turned on. Nathan was sitting up in bed, wearing an old grey t-shirt he'd had before they'd gotten married and he looked pissed. "Where've you been?" he asked.
"Out," Taylor replied, shooting him a glance as she climbed into bed beside him.
"Where, Taylor?" he asked, turning to face her as she started to lie down.
"I was at a friend's," she replied. Nathan chuckled to himself as he looked at her for another minute and then looked away.
"A friend's, huh?" he asked and let it hang in the air. He stood up revealing checkered boxers. He walked looked down at her and a sarcastic smile tugged at his mouth. "Which 'friend' as it this time? Jack, Simon or was it Mark this time?"
"Does it make any difference?" she asked rhetorically. He widened his eyes in surprise.
"Good. At least you're not going to try to deny it this time," he said. He had lost count how many times they had gone through the scenario. The only thing different about this time was her denial and the argument that followed.
"There's no point in denying it. We both know you won't do anything about it. You're too afraid of failing another marriage," Taylor said confidently. Nathan swallowed hard at that.
"Forget failure; this marriage was a mistake. My first marriage may not have lasted but it wasn't a failure," Nathan said. Taylor chuckled at him.
"It was doomed before it started. You were too young, you didn't have any money, and then you cheated on her," Taylor replied and shot him a knowing smile.
"And the irony that you ended up cheating on me after I cheated on Haley with you is not lost on me," Nathan commented sadly. He looked down at the woman before him, shook his head and walked out of the room. He grabbed a blanket and headed into the guest room. He couldn't fathom sleeping next to her anymore.
◊◊◊
2 days later…
"My mom called," Taylor announced as she walked into the kitchen in the morning. Nathan looked up from his plate.
"What'd she want?" he asked in an empty tone. She walked over and leaned down to kiss him good morning but he turned his head back to his plate and she ended up kissing air.
Taylor sighed. She could never get him to respond to her whatsoever. "She wanted to remind me that the family reunion is next weekend in Charlotte," Taylor replied. They had one almost every two years. Some relatives came and some didn't. It usually varied.
"Have fun," he said dryly. Taylor smiled as she poured herself a cup of coffee.
"We will," she said. He looked up at her and shook his head.
"I'm not going," he said.
"I beg to differ," Taylor said.
"It's your family, Taylor, not mine," he said. Taylor held up her left hand.
"We're married, Nathan so they're your family too. Whether you like it or not," Taylor said. He opened his mouth to argue but Taylor glared him into silence. "You can hate me, but this is my family, Nathan. If I show up at the reunion without you, they're going to know something's up and that means phone calls."
"Taylor…" he started.
"Daily phone calls," she interjected. Nathan didn't need anymore convincing.
"I'll pack a bag this afternoon," he replied.
◊◊◊
The next day…
James Family Reunion (Charlotte, North Carolina)
Nathan and Taylor got out of their black SUV and grabbed their tent, duffel and sleeping bags. Within ten minutes, they had their tent set up. They laid their sleeping bags out and Nathan pulled his a few inches apart. Then they closed up their tent and headed to the area where the main festivities were taking place.
"Taylor, Nathan, you made it!" Lydia exclaimed holding out her arms to hug Taylor and then Nathan.
"Wouldn't miss it," Taylor said in a cheerful voice.
"Yeah," Nathan said half-heartedly.
"How is the team doing?" Jimmy asked as he clapped him on the back.
"We're doing fine," Nathan replied. Then, out of nowhere a little girl with wild brown curls came running towards Lydia and grabbed onto her legs. Lydia laughed in amusement. She picked the young girl up and looked at her.
"Well, hello there! Where's your mom?" she asked.
"Marie le Blanc-James!" an animated voice yelled from a few metres away. Nathan didn't even have to guess who the voice belonged to. Haley appeared in less than two minutes and her eyes zeroed in on the little girl in Lydia's arms.
"Ma mama n'est pas gentile avec moi, grand-mère," Marie said. Haley stiffened.
"Pardonnez moi?" Haley asked, looking at the young girl.
"What did she say, Haley?" Lydia asked in a confused voice as she set Marie down. Marie came closer to Haley.
"Let's just say it was a bad thing to say," Haley said as she looked down at her daughter.
"Mama, je…" Marie started.
"Ca suffit, Marie," Haley said.
"Mais," she said. Haley shook her head at her and her eyes narrowed a little. Marie bit her lip.
"En anglais, s'il vous plait," Haley instructed. Her daughter nodded. A smile tugged at Haley's mouth as she knelt down and opened her arms. Marie ran to them and Haley rose. "That's my girl."
"Since when do you speak fluent French?" Taylor asked.
"Since I've been living in Quebec for a year and a half to be near Chris' father and her grandfather insisted on teaching her the language at birth," Haley replied. Then she glanced at her mom. "So when I went to live there, I took a few lessons."
"And now you're living?" Taylor asked.
"Tree Hill. We just moved back a few weeks ago," Haley replied.
"Why?" Nathan asked. Haley glanced at him and her smile widened.
"Madame le Blanc passed away two months ago," Haley replied.
"Sorry," he said.
"It's ok. It's been tougher for her than it has for me," Haley replied.
"Well, I'm sorry that she died but I'm glad you're back home where you belong," Lydia said.
◊◊◊
3 weeks later...
"So Tay's not home?" Haley asked as Nathan led her and Marie into the kitchen.
"No, she's not," Nathan replied somewhat sadly. Haley sighed in disappointment. She asked if there was somewhere she could put Marie down and Nathan led her into the second guest room. Haley put her purse down and laid Marie down on the bed and covered her with a blanket Nathan had grabbed her from the closet.
"Thanks," Haley said. They quietly walked out of the room.
"Marie's beautiful, Hales. She looks just like you," Nathan said.
"Thanks," she said.
"How's the advice column doing?" Nathan asked as he put some coffee on for them. Haley smiled at the mention of the column she wrote weekly.
"Asked & Answered gets a lot of attention now. I've got more than a hundred letters a week and I was worried that I might not get enough response to it," Haley replied, smiling in amusement.
"So, I've noticed," Nathan commented. Haley looked at him for a minute. He smiled at her.
"You read it?" she asked.
"Every week," he replied. She blushed. She got up and walked over to him and grabbed them two mugs from the overhead cupboard. "You've always been good at telling people what to do so I'm not surprised that it's doing so well." Haley hit him on the shoulder.
"I'm not telling them what to do. I'm advising them on what they should do," she corrected.
"As I said, you've always been good at that," Nathan said. Haley rolled her eyes.
"I gave you some pretty good advice not too long ago," she replied. Nathan froze. He turned around and looked at her in shock.
"How?" he asked.
"You signed your jersey number at the bottom instead of your name, Nathan. It was clever but did you really think I wouldn't figure out that it was you?" Haley asked. Nathan smiled as he realized it was a number she'd probably never forget since she had gotten it tattooed above her ass. "How are things really going between you and Taylor?"
He sighed and shook his head. "I've consulted a divorce lawyer," he replied. Haley frowned.
"That bad?" she asked.
"Worse," he said almost angrily. Haley looked at him for an explanation. He looked down as he answered. "She's been cheating on me. She actually got pregnant a while back and tried to pass it off as mine."
"What happened and how do you know it wasn't yours?" Haley asked. He looked at her. "If you don't mind me asking."
"She aborted it. We haven't slept together in over six months. There's no way it could've been mine since she got pregnant two months ago," he replied.
"Wow," Haley said.
"It's over," Nathan confirmed.
"I'm really sorry. I wanted you to be happy," Haley said.
"I was for a while," he replied. He wandered over to the table.
"What changed?" Haley asked, sitting down beside him.
"I woke up and realized I was married to the woman I love's sister," Nathan said.
"Nathan," Haley started.
"It's you. It's always been you, Hales," he said.
"There are some things you just don't do. Going after your sister's husband is one of them," she said.
"I'm not going to be her husband forever," he pointed out.
"Not their ex-husbands either," Haley said.
"Taylor did," Nathan said.
Haley smirked as she said, "I'm not Taylor."
"Trust me. I know that," Nathan said. Haley looked at him thoughtfully. "What do you think I should do?"
"If you're really not happy with her, Nathan, and I can understand why you wouldn't be, then divorce her and move on. But if you think you could be happy with her and are only miserable because you want to be with me, don't do it," Haley said.
"I'm not happy with her. I would divorce her if you were in the picture or not," Nathan said.
"Well, then, there you go. If you're not happy, there's no choice. You deserve happiness," Haley said.
"It isn't going to happen, Haley. I was happy and I screwed it up by straying. If I hadn't done that, things would be so different," Nathan said.
"They probably would be, but we'll never know now," Haley said.
"And knowing that kills me," Nathan said. He moved closer to her. He leaned in and before Haley could stop him, he pressed his lips against hers. And neither noticed that the front door had slammed closed or heard the footsteps heading towards the kitchen. A few bags dropped down to the ground.
"Well, isn't this interesting?" Taylor asked. Haley and Nathan jumped apart.