Again, I want to thank each and every single person to took the time out to read, and review. You all really know how to make a girl feel loved, lol. This chapter, I think you guys will like. Nathan and Haley speak! So, be sure to read on, and let me know what you think!

xx

Wendy

Ch. 10 – Stumble

"So," Haley spoke, pausing for a little while as she made her way around to her side of the table, sitting down.

Nathan watched as she sat down, and followed suit. "So," he echoed, first folding his arms, and then unfolded them, decided that it seemed a little distant. Immediately, he felt like kicking himself in the head. Five years, and the first word that you say to her when we're both alone is 'so'? He saw her fiddling with a strand of her hair, like how she always did when she was nervous, her thumbs twiddling in her lap. Despite the awkwardness, he smiled to himself at the familiarity of her movements.

"How are you?" Haley finally blurted out, looking up at him. He lifted his head at the very same moment to look at her, saying the exact same thing. "How are you?"

She smiled a little, seeming like she didn't dare to laugh. "Great minds think alike, huh?"

Nathan laughed softly, shortly. "Well, they also say fools seldom differ." Great job, Scott. That was not the right thing to say, he mentally chided himself.

Haley's brow creased, her eyes conveying discomposure. "Yeah," she murmured softly. "Fool. That, I am."

"Yeah, that makes the two of us," he replied dryly.

Haley sighed, taking up to twiddling a strand of her long hair again. "Look, can we at least be civil for a moment here?"

"You tell me," Nathan shot back. "Since you were always the one calling the shots."

"What? Nathan, I never- "

""Why are you here, Haley?" he cut her off, suddenly.

Her frown deepened. "What are you talking about?"

Nathan put out his arms, gesturing around the room. "Here. Doing this. This wasn't in the plan."

"Then what was, Nathan? What was the plan?" she asked, her tone of voice getting louder, sounding tired. When he didn't answer, she continued. "Because I really don't think either of us knew what the plan was. Because I don't even think we had a plan."

"You had a plan, Haley. I know you did. I know I did. But this," he gestured again. "This was not it. This was not what you left for."

Haley let out a short burst of sarcastic laughter. "Please do tell, Nathan. What did I i leave /i for?"

"You wanted music, Haley, and you left me to go get it."

She threw up her hands in exasperation. "What I'm doing here is music, Nathan."

"It's not what you started out to do," Nathan stated. "You left to go on tour, to be a big star. You were going to make it."

"Well," she raised her glance. "Things changed," she said tightly, her heart hurting.

"You were really good, Haley. What happened after the tour?" His tone softened, his eyes looking concerned.

What tour, a little voice inside her head resounded bitterly.

"I looked out on the entertainment news for you," Nathan continued. "I watched MTV to look out for you, but I never found you."

"Guess I wasn't good enough for the listeners," Haley lowered her eyes, evading his startling blue gaze.

"You were good, Haley. You're better than this."

She shrugged, forcing laughter. "Glad at least someone thinks so."

"Haley, I- "

A sleepy Mike stood at the door, rubbing his eyes with his right hand, interrupting them. "Haley? Daddy?"

Nathan stood up quickly. "Mike," he said, the sound of pride evident in his voice. Mike ran to Nathan, wrapping his arms tightly around Nathan's legs as Haley watched on, her heart wrenching with a pang of pain. "How was your lesson, buddy?" Nathan asked, ruffling Mike's hair affectionately.

"Okay," Mike mumbled, burying his head into Nathan, his voice muffled. "I was sleepy."

Nathan smiled, and squeezed his son gently. "Mike, darling, can you go out for a minute? I need to talk to Ms. James for a little while."

Mike looked up at him, and giggled a little. "You got her name wrong, daddy, it's not Ms. James, it's Scott," he shook a tiny finger at his father. "Like ours."

Haley's eyes widened. "Mike, it- it's- not- " she stuttered. "I- I don't- "

Nathan turned around to look at her, startled. "Like ours?" he echoed.

Her heart beat faster, her heart whirled around with emotion, and she did the only thing that she could think off. She bolted for the door, leaving Nathan behind, his jaw open.

---

Nathan walked out into the cold, Mike's hand safely in his. Why had she kept his name? Did she still love him? His heart beat faster at the notion, then as quickly as he had thought it, he erased it from his mind. Even if she did, it wasn't supposed to matter to him anymore. It wasn't supposed to, those were the key words. Things would get out of hand; it would get difficult, confusing, and tough, if Haley were to become involved in his life again. Even by just appearing again, she was getting involved in his life already. He could feel it. He wasn't supposed to, but somehow, he knew that he always did what he wasn't supposed to do. He always went against the odds.

---

"Hey," Lucas walked into the living room, his palms sweaty with anticipation.

Brooke didn't look up. "Hey."

"You seen Haley today?"

She continued flipping through the newspaper. "We went for a jog before she went off to work."

"She doing okay?"

"You know Haley," Brooke finally looked up; the eye bags under her eyes shocking Lucas. "She acts like everything's a-okay. When it's not."

Lucas let out a sigh. "As always. She deserves an Oscar." Brooke nodded curtly, and turned back down to the daily comics. "Hey, how about you? Are you doing okay?" he asked her.

She shrugged indifferently. "We're not here to talk about me."

"Then let's talk about us," he tried to look at her, but she kept on dodging his gaze.

"Why now, Lucas? Why not five years ago?" she looked up, her voice suddenly forceful. "Why wait this long?"

"Because I never knew where I stood with you." His voice was soft, edged with regret, with a little shame. He looked at her, so beautiful across from him, and all he wanted to do, was to reach out and touch her.

"Do you think I did then, Lucas?"

"I still don't, Brooke, but I know where I stand. I want to be with you."

Brooke laughed, sarcastically. "That's ridiculous, Lucas. You don't look for me, for five years, and you just suddenly decide that you want to be with me, after you see me again? That's utter rubbish."

"Don't be so quick to judge, Brooke," Lucas tried to move closer to her, but she inched away.

"I'm not being quick to judge; I'm just protecting myself."

"You did what?" Brooke asked incredulously. "You ran off?"

"What else was I supposed to do, Brooke? He was right there in front of me, and his son just told him to call me Mrs. Scott!"

"What's wrong with that? You are Mrs. Scott."

"Yeah, I'm the missus who didn't bear him any children," Haley muttered dryly.

"It's all about Mike, isn't it?" Brooke said softly. "You don't want to ruin things."

Haley sighed, and pulled up one of the fluffy cushions to herself. "You know it, Brooke. The thing the three of them share, the family, they don't need another person in it. I don't want to wreck it, especially not for Mike. I don't want Mike to turn out having a childhood like Lucas had, you know. It was horrible for him growing up." She paused, catching her breath. "And what's more, he's my sister's son."

"Look, Haley," Brooke scooted closer to her, putting an arm around her shoulder. "Nathan and you, you're meant to be together. I know that much, and everyone else does. If something happens to the three of them, it's not your fault, okay? It takes two, and the two are you and Nathan."

Haley looked at Brooke, her eyes sad. "Oh, what am I talking about," she whimpered softly under her breath. "You're right, it takes two. And right now, it looks like I'm the only one who's confused. His mind's made up." She shrugged. "He's a great father, Brooke. You should see him. He's so good with Mike, and he loves him so much. So much that it's obvious that he'd do anything to try to keep their family together."

Brooke sighed, knowing that that was true. All of them had known Nathan for a long time, and they all knew that Nathan would want to do the right thing for his child; he would strive to make a good life filled with love for his son, he wouldn't not want to repeat the mistakes that Dan had made. They sat that way for awhile, Brooke comforting Haley.

"Hey," Peyton walked into the living room where they both sat, a pen tucked in behind her ear. Sitting down at the table, she yanked the pen out, writing furiously on her notepad, her other hand shoved into her unruly blonde curls. Her cell phone rang, for what seemed like the hundredth time that evening. She ignored it, and continued writing, the sound of the tip of her ball point pen scratching wildly against the thick paper clear in the room.

"Aren't you going to get that?" Brooke finally mustered up the courage to ask. Neither Brooke nor Haley dared to bother Peyton when she was in the midst of her work. Peyton was a workaholic, through and through, sometimes to a point when it wasn't healthy.

"No, it'll probably be more bad news," Peyton said, her voice irritated. "My main act cancelled out on me, and I'm only four days away from the opening."

"Well," Haley shifted uncomfortably, not knowing what to say. "I'm sure you'll be able to find some other live singers, won't you?"

"No, it's nearly Christmas, and everybody's fully booked," Peyton sighed, and turned around to face them. "You know Boston, Haley, you know the dead music scene here is why I want to open Tric up over here."

Brooke pursed her lips together. "You'll do fine, P. Sawyer. You are a musical genius, when it comes to these kind of things. You worked miracles for Tric in Tree Hill back then when you were only in high school! You got the Wreckers, and Jimmy Eat World, and Gavin DeGraw, and then you got Fall Out Boy, and even Haley to sing-"

Peyton's jaw dropped, her eyes widening. "That's it!"

"What?" Brooke stopped her tirade, looking confused. "What is?"

"Haley!" Peyton looked at her, hopefully. "Haley, you have to save me! You have to be my main act."

"Whoa," Haley shook her head. "No, no way. Besides, Chris Keller's in town; hire him!"

Peyton's eyes narrowed. "I will rather curl up and have all my toes fall off than to have Chris Keller be the opening act for my new club, okay?" she said.

Brooke winced. "Eww."

"Haley, you sing beautifully. And I won't have any other worries if you agree, because I know you can do it! You did awesome then! You were nearly going to go on tour, and release an album. Come on, Haley, please? For me?" Peyton looked up at Haley with puppy dog eyes, her hands clenched together desperately.

"Peyton, you don't understand, I haven't written music in five years, I haven't performed in five years. What makes you think I can, right now, in four days? That's crazy!" Haley shook her head.

"Haley James, I am one of your best friends. If you're not going to help me, who is? Brooke can't sing to save her life!"

Brooke glared at Peyton. "Gee, thanks."

"I didn't mean it that way, and you know it," Peyton glared back. "Haley. I'm desperate. I need your help."

Haley sighed, and then finally gave in. "I'll try, but no promises."

---

Taylor paced up and down the length of the bedroom she shared with Nathan. The big bedroom, with the big king-sized bed, the expensive furniture, and the tasteful designer carpet lining the floor. It was all the things she'd grown accustomed to over the past five years. These things were hers; they belonged to her. So did Mike, and so did Nathan. She had thought that she had gotten Mike, things would change. Nathan would be different, but she had been wrong. He had been great throughout her pregnancy, throughout the birth. He had went back to Dan for help, after he realised that he couldn't make ends meet. She had had a difficult pregnancy and a difficult birth. Mike had to be induced out from her womb a month before his due date; he had been born prematurely. They had encountered complications during the birth, and if it hadn't been for Dan, one of them, either mother or child may not have lived to see this day.

But after that, after the birth, Nathan grew away from her. He spent all his time with Mike, neglecting her, and she resented that. She had thought differently, she thought she could earn his love, but she soon quickly learnt that that would never been quite adequate.

She lifted her chin up, stopping in front of the mirror, studying her reflection. She was pretty, more conventionally prettier than Haley was. She was attractive; she had big eyes, flawless skin, a killer smile, a curvaceous body, even after one child. She still turned heads when she was out and about. But no matter how she looked, or how she acted; nothing she said or did, made her better in his eyes. She was not enough, and she was not Haley.

And now Haley was back. Taylor shook her head, her hands pressing against her temples. She knew what that meant.

"Well, looking worried, aren't we?"

Taylor twirled around quickly, a few strands of her hair falling out of her messy bun in the process. "What do you want, Dan?" she asked, her voice sounding impatient.

"The same thing you do," Dan smirked, the wrinkles around his eyes creasing. "And I need your help."

She glared at him. "What makes you think I'd help you?"

He laughed. "What makes you think you can do this alone?"

"What's in it for me?" she folded her arms across her chest defiantly.

"If you even have to ask, then I guess you're dumber than I thought you were," he retorted smoothly.

"Fine," she rolled her eyes. "Then what's in it for you? You never really liked me anyway."

"Well, I like you better than I like your sister. If it wasn't for her, he would never have gotten emancipated. When they got married then, she took him away from me," his twisted smile grew wider. "But when Nathan passed on the Dan Scott DNA to you, it brought him back. And I rebuilt a great life for him." He paused, coughing a little. "He's got a college education, a university degree, a car, and a great career waiting in front of him. He is going to be successful, and the last thing he needs is his old teenage wife back in his life."

"And do you really think Nathan will look at it that way?" Taylor asked, sardonically.

Dan shrugged. "If he didn't have Mike, I'm sure he wouldn't. But things are different. I know my son, and I know he wouldn't put Mike in any potential hurt. You are Nathan's family now, both you and Mike. Not Haley. Remember that."

"So what do you want me to do?"

"Where's the fun in that, if I tell you?" Dan smirked again. Taylor rolled her eyes, wanting more than anything to wipe that infuriating grin off Dan's fat face. She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off in mid-syllable. "Come on, prove to me that you're not as dumb as I think you are."

---

Haley sat in one of the music rooms, looking at the blue clock which hung on the wall opposite her. She absent-mindedly strummed on the guitar, her fingers pressing down on random chords. The melody wasn't particularly entrancing, nor did it resemble a song in anyway, but it just was soothing. Chicken, that's what you are, a little voice echoed inside of her head. Why did you run away like you did? Again. Is that how you're going to spend your whole life? Running?

"I've got to deal with it soon," she said under her breath.

"Well, well. Haley James."

Haley rolled her eyes, her knuckles hitting the side of her guitar in her lost concentration. She didn't even need to look up to see who it was; just the voice alone agitated her. "Get lost, Keller."

"Whoa," Chris walked around her to face her, holding both his hands up, palms outward in surrender. "Now if you could just transfer some of that angst into a song, you'll be fine."

"God knows I've got angst enough for the entire population of China, okay?" she snapped at him, her eyes shooting daggers at him. "It's just not coming!"

"Coming, huh?" he snickered, looking down at her sleazily. "I could, you know," he waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Give you a little help with that. Get it?"

Haley's eyes narrowed into little slits. "You arrogant, piece of- " she started, standing up, holding up her guitar.

"You know, you're so sexy when you're furious?" he smirked. "Yeah, I could totally help you with coming, y'know?" Haley swore under her breath, and raised the guitar, poised to hit him. "Hey, watch the instrument!" he retorted, holding both his hands over his head for protection. "Relax, can't take a joke anymore?"

"Not when they're not funny," she snapped back at him. "Get lost."

"Chris Keller does not take orders from others," he retorted, folding his arms across his chest.

"Well, Chris Keller can go to hell!" Haley shouted back at him. "And all his sexual innuendos can go right with him!"

"Okay, okay, cool it. No need for curses. I'm here to help," he shrugged.

She glowered at him. "I seriously doubt that."

"Look, I am human, okay? I was a little worried about you that night," Chris looked away. "It must have been pretty hellish to go through."

"What do you think?" she said bitterly.

Chris shrugged. "Well, it's simple really. I think your talent's tied to Nathan. You wrote beautiful music when you were married to him. And then after all the drama happened, your music was barren for five years. Sure, you wrote some crap here and there, but nothing compared to what I know you can do."

Haley looked at him, exasperated. "So, what now?"

"So, keep on trying. If you write something, then that's great. Then, you take it from there. But if you don't, then forget about him. You'll write again some day, god knows when, but some day without him, when you get rid of all this crap in your life. But if that some day happens tomorrow, with Nathan, then the both of you are good to go. Music never lies, Haley. Simple as that."

She frowned up at him, waiting for him to continue, but he didn't.

"Look, it may not make sense right now, but I know I'm right. Chris Keller always is. You'll figure it out." And with another smirk, he nodded at her, and shut the door behind him, leaving her in the silence, the contemplation thick in the air.

---

Mel walked into the music school, the doors swinging behind her. She shrugged out of her thick coat, rubbing her palms together to keep herself warm. Turning around, she barrelled straight into someone. His hands shot out to hold her arms, keeping her upright, keeping her from falling.

"Thank you," she said breathlessly, looking up at him. "Sorry, I wasn't really looking where I was going."

"It's okay," he grinned.

She took another closer look at him. "Chris?" she exclaimed incredulously. "What are you doing here?"

"Okay, you were not speaking to me in that tone of voice when you ran into me at the bar that other day," he leered at her. "Why the sudden change, cutie?"

Her green eyes stared ferociously at him, the tenacious lawyer in her emerging. "Okay, poser, listen up. Number one, I now know what you did to Haley and Nathan back in Tree Hill, okay? And what you did doesn't sit well with me. And two," she scowled at him. "If you ever call me cutie again, I will single-handedly chop off both your testicles with a butcher knife, mince them with a meat cleaver and scatter them over the Pacific Ocean."

Chris winced, both his hands instinctively covering his groin protectively. "I get the idea," he replied lamely, croaking under his breath. "No messing around with you."

"That's right, and no messing around with Haley."

"What's in it for me, then?"

She glared at him in disbelief. "Hmmm, let me think," she said, mockingly. "I know, instead of being a poser, you can be a ball-less poser."

Chris shuddered involuntarily. "Now, where would the fun be for you, if I was ball-less?" he retorted slickly, raising an eyebrow.

Mel rolled her eyes. "God, give me strength," she said tightly through clenched teeth.

"Okay," Chris finally said. "I'll make you a deal. I'll stay away from Haley, provided that you agree on one thing."

Mel folded her arms tightly, hugging herself. "What?" she spat out, her voice laced with disgust.

"I want a date with you," Chris smirked, leaning closer to her, so close that she could feel his warm breath on her face. "Cutie," he finished, and walked out of the swinging doors, leaving her standing there, more annoyed than she ever had been in her life.

---

Like it? Hate it? Be sure to let me know. More Nathan and Haley interaction to come, definitely!