Chapter Seven: I Never Promised You'd
Author's note: Thanks for being so patient with me, guys. I'm writing a non-fanfic story right now in addition to this and BtS, and between all of them I have exams, so I'm somewhat swamped. But this story has only two chapters left, and all of it will be hopefully fairly shocking. And after this instead of being a good girl and focusing on Bts, I'm starting something new. Something which will revisit my most popular story, which I hope all of you miss as much as I do. Also, in preperation for this chapter, I advise you to reread hte flashbacks of chapter one.
December 3rd 2020, Tree Hill High School, Tree Hill, North Carolina
"I'm guessing you know what happens next?" asked Nathan listlessly. Brooke nodded wordlessly.
"Do I have to hear about it?" she asked.
"I don't think this is about you anymore," said Nathan.
"Then what is it about? You? Your growth? What, will getting it out in the open fix everything, make you finally able to let her go, let you get on with your life? Face it Nathan, you're bitter. You've put her on this pedestal, made her perfect, and now she isn't around us to prove herself. And nothing we could do can change that," said Brooke bitterly. Nathan stared at her for a second.
"I was never certain I couldn't love you, Brooke. I was willing to."
"No you weren't. It was just easier to pretend you were, so you didn't have to face that your life revolved around wishing desperately that she'd somehow find her way back to you," snapped Brooke.
"She won't. And it wouldn't matter. We're married, Brooke. I can't just give up on that." Brooke looked up at her husband, hopeful for a second.
"Yes you could. If you really thought it was possible, you would in a second."
June 21st, 2009
"So there's been a lot of media attention on you guys, in particular because of your age gap. Do you have anything you'd like to comment on about that?" asked a perkly blonde reporter.
Nathan watched in interest as Haley opened her mouth to speak but was silence effortlessly by Dan.
"Love doens't have anything to do with numbers. As soon as I saw her, I knew it was real, and that's all that matters," said Dan proudly. Haley took his hand and squeezed it.
Nathan shook his head in disgust. Dan was re writing history. Dan had first seen Haley, as his son's girlfriend, when they'd been about fourteen years old. Had he planned it even then, to go through with whatever he was planning, to ruin everyone's life? To inflict his emotional rape on Haley, his torture on Nathan.
"Anything else, Miss James?" asked the reporter.
"What can I say? Who could not?" she asked, winking at the camera and leaning into Dan. Nathan shook his head again. This girl, this flirtatious, evocative girl, was not his Haley. His Haley was herself, quiet yet unpredictable, beautiful and natural.
He watched as the scene turned to black and focused again on a large crowd outside a church.
"This is the one and only exclusive coverage of the wedding of Haley Elise James and Dan Scott. Keep watching for their own thoughts, and for a sneek peak at the ceremony!"
Nathan turned off his phone as Lucas called. Neither of the two of them were at the ceremony. Dan was quite effectively pretending that the two did not exist. Nathan would challenge it, bring up his marriage, ruin his father, if he was not terrifed of ruining his love in the process.
"And we're back, with a behind the scenes interview with Haley James," said the perky announcer. Nathan's eyes grew large as the camera focused on Haley, in her white gown, her hair tied back, looking immaculate and beautiful. Less beautiful than she'd looked at their own wedding, when her smile had reached her eyes, but more together. More grown up. More of a woman. He wondered why he'd let her stay. Why he'd let her go. Why he hadn't tried, infintely harder, to hold on to the only thing that had ever mattered to him.
"So, are the rumours true? Have you approached marriage the Jessica Simpson way?" asked the reporter. Nathan sat back in revoltion as she realized what they meant. Haley blushed.
"Yes. It's always what I planned to do. It's the best thing you can give to someone, to give yourself fully to them when you've been bound emotionally," said Haley. Nathan shivered. He knew that Haley had "given herself emotionally" to men besides him, but he always reconciled it with the fact that he'd been first. After all this, he was beginning to wonder if he'd dreamt it all.
"That's beautiful."
"Thanks. All of this is, and I owe it all to him. I feel blessed," said Haley. Nathan watched as she made the perfect, quoteable lines. He imagined them the next day, in newspapers all over the country. He wanted to turn of the TV, to escape, but there was nowhere to escape to.
"Mr. Scott, are you nervous?" probed the reporter. Nathan stared at his father in disgust. Dan was wearing a designer suit, and had a rose in his buttonhole. With one look in his eyes, Nathan knew there was no way that Haley loved him better. Or that he loved Haley better.
"I'm about to pledge my life to the woman I love. What's to be nervous about that?" asked Dan genially.
"And here I thought you were a commited bachelor," said the woman, laughing.
"Oh, I was. And then I found here, and it was all over," said Dan.
"I can tell. I've never seen two people more in love," she said. Nathan rolled his eyes. Had anyone but him and Haley ever lived in the real world? It seemed doubtful.
He imagined his mother, watching the scenes in horror. He imagined Lucas, at home with his wife, feeling sorry for Nathan. He imagined Brooke, not understanding any of it. But he didn't feel sorry for them. He was far, far too busy feeling sorry for himself.
The shots alternated. Haley in her wedding dress, smiling at the camera through the mirror as she put on her earrings. Dan looking through the notes of his speech in his pocket. Haley with her bridesmaids, Dan with his best man. The church full of excited guests. The crowded city street outside.
Was anyone else's heart breaking? Was there room for anything else in the world right then?
Nathan watched in fascinated horror as Haley made her way up the aisle. He knew she'd hate this, these moments of her life being taped. He knew there was a reason she was doing it.
He knew, he knew, that she wasn't doing it by choice.
"Haley, I didn't know how I was going to explain it to you. What about you that makes me lose my breath when you enter the room, what about me that can't get enough of you. I can't. I don't know if I ever could. But I think you know anyways. And I think you know why I asked you, Haley. It's not because I want you. My wanting you wouldn't get in the way of us being together, even if someday in the future I didn't. Because it's because I need you, Haley. Need you like I need oxygen. I love you more than life. I always will. And I think that's the only thing I do know how to say."
They were his words. His. Actually, they were hers. This was his speech, that belonged to him and Haley, and united them. Dan had no right. Dan never would.
Nathan turned off the television in fury, unable to watch the woman he'd always love become forever apart from him.
Somehow, he'd find the strenght to go on.
December 3rd 2020, Tree Hill High School, Tree Hill, North Carolina
"You know, if that wasn't the creepiest couple in existence, that story would be almost cute," said Brooke. Nathan frowned and looked down.
"Did you see the rest of the coverage?" asked Brooke.
Nathan looked up again, and for once the muscles in his face relaxed into a smile.
"No. As it turned out, I never had to."
