Chapter 8

Long Way To Happy

It's gonna take a long time to love
It's gonna take a lot to hold on
It's gonna be a long way to happy, yeah
Left in the pieces that you broke me into
Torn apart but now I've got to
Keep on rolling like a stone
Cause it's gonna be a long long way to happy

---------------------------

It was too early to be awake on a weekend. Basketball season was getting hot and heavy and so was Lindsay and Nathan's relationship. March madness began in two weeks and Nathan knew that if his pent up sexual tension was not released with in the next few days there would be another kind of March Madness occurring.

Lindsay lay on the couch in the living room watching reruns of "What Not to Wear" on TLC. She placed her left hand on her hip bone and reached for her coffee cup. She lifted her head and took a long sip. She coughed a little, "Nate! Nathan!"

"Yeah," Nathan yelled from the adjacent bathroom. He lathered shaving cream onto his face and peaked out the door. "What is it?"

She threw her long, tanned, toned legs off of the bed and held her coffee cup in the air, "What kind of coffee is this?" She crossed her legs and ran her hand down her right one. She waved the cup in the air.

"I don't know, Lindsay, coffee?"

She continued waving the cup until, finally, some spilled on her white tank top. "Damnit." She said as she put the cup on the coffee table. Lindsay stood up, walked into the kitchen, and got a damp towel. "Come on." She said, talking to the coffee on her shirt.

"Who are you talking to?" Nathan asked, wiping the remaining cream off of his face. He wiped his hands on his bare chest and studied himself in the mirror.

"No one, just the coffee on my shirt."

"You are talking to the coffee on your shirt?"

"Yeah, I don't know. It seemed like a good idea at the time." She said, now sounding almost embarrassed. She tugged at the bottom of the shirt, before finally pulling it over her head.

"Just put it in the wash." Nathan said, pointing at the washing room from the bathroom. "I just started the load that's in there."

Lindsay nodded in agreement, "Why thank you sir."

Nathan studied her body as she walked into the laundry room. Her pink boy shorts made the legs on her 5'9" frame look miles long. He watched her. He left the bathroom and walked into the laundry room and ran his index finger down to the small of her back.

Goosebumps raised on her skin as she turned around, letting their eyes meet.

Nathan's lips bombarded. Lindsay moaned from the powerful kiss. He ran his hands down her neck and back. He rested his hands on her hips, letting his fingertips roam the band of her shorts. Lindsay moved her hands from his shoulders to his black jersey shorts, slowly pulling on the hem of them. She lowered herself, her tongue caressing his abdomen. She kissed the line from his abs to his waistband of his shorts, then pulling the shorts off. She put her lips on the place where his member protruded. Nathan let out a soft moan and she stood up. He placed his hands under her buttock and lifted her on top of the washing machine. She reached her hands around her back and unhooked her black bra. Nathan watched her emerge from behind the bra. He picked her up, carrying her into his bedroom. He layed her onto the bed, kissing every inch of her body and climbing onto the bed with her. Lindsay strattled him and dug her face into his neck. She sucked on his earlobe and then blew on it. He let out a long moan and Lindsay felt him get even more excited. She whispered into his ear, "Nathan, I am ready. I want to have sex with you. I am ready to give myself to you." She lifted herself up and looked him into the eyes.

He pulled away from her and said, "Lindsay…" He turned his head away from her and looked at a picture sitting on his desk. It was a picture of he and his mother in the courtyard back in Tree Hill. It wasn't who was in the picture that made him think; it was remembering who was behind the camera that brought him back.

As he walked across the street and to the courtyard, he could see her. He watched her run her hands over the arms of her sweater. She smiled at him as he got closer.

"Hey." She said quietly and slowly, almost in a whisper. Haley sat on the green bench and crossed her legs. "I have been doing a lot of thinking lately." She pulled her legs up to her chest and looked up at me. He could see the reflection of the crescent moon in her brown eyes. She took a deep breath and let her eyes meet his, "I'm sorry."

Nathan nodded his head and then slowly shrugged his shoulders. "We tried." He dug his hands deep into his pockets.

She rubbed her eyes, so obviously fighting back tears and said, "I do love you though, Nate." He nodded at her comment and she continued, "I just… I guess, I love you but, I'm not in love with you. I have been talking for so long about how much I love you, and I do love you, Nathan, I really and honestly do, but I don't love you like I used to. Its just not the same anymore." She stood up, "I'm just sorry, that's all."

He nodded again and put his hand on her cheek. As he kissed her forehead he whispered, "I'll miss you."

Haley let out a little laugh and put her hands on his shoulders, "I'm not going anywhere." She laughed again, "I just won't…" Before she could finish she choked on her words. She wiped her eyes and looked up at him, "I just won't be there when you wake up anymore." She paused for a moment, "When we were living together and things were great…" She wiped her eyes again, "Those were the happiest days of my life. I just wanted you to know that."

"So this is really it. This time is different isn't it?" Nathan asked as he sat down on the bench.

"Yeah," She said, stretching the word out making sure it was the right answer. "This is it." Haley leaned down over Nathan and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll see ya," She said as she winked at him.

He gave her a small smile and watched her walk away.

She looked down at the ground and felt the phone in her pocket vibrate. She pulled it out and looked at the name. Lucas. "Hey." She said, slowly and almost in a whisper.

"Hey you." He said in a breathy voice.

"I did it." Haley told him as she opened her car door. "I told him…" She paused, "It was hard, but I told him..."

Lucas ran his hand over her leg as he listened to Haley's words on the other end of the phone. He took a deep breath and looked into her eyes. They were green. They were green because she had been crying. He hated that he had let Haley down. He didn't know what to say.

"Haley… wait…"

She narrowed her eyes at him. He shook his head and the winked at her. He ran his hand over her leg. "Haley, I'm sorry…" He closed his eyes, imagining the look of let down on his best friend's face. "You shouldn't have done that."

Brooke stood up from her seat and walked across his bedroom to stand in the doorway, "What's going on?"

He shook his head at her. "Hales, Brooke and I are back together."