"Lucky One" - Post Monroe /
Another Friday night in a smoky bar. Haley's eyes are on the door when he walks in holding another woman's hand. The two vodka tonics she'd drank ignites a fire in her veins. He's wearing a stupid smirk- and the blonde on his arm looks a lot like wounded prey. He's the hunter proudly displaying his latest kill, another trophy on a dusty shelf.
Haley wants to laugh at the woman- but she doesn't. Pity is the only feeling she can pick out amidst the growing buzz. She wonders, briefly, if she should buy the nameless woman a shot. Haley figures she owes her a lot. When they lock eyes across the bar, the blonde's smirk is taunting. If Haley were a bitter woman, she would have been offended, hurt even. But she's not. Because she knows now, she is the lucky one. She is the one who got away before it was too late- before he could drain the life from her veins and mount her on the wall, among a long line of others. It is thanks to the other woman- a shiny, skinny distraction- that Haley was able to claw her way through his dangerous trap. Otherwise, she feared she'd still be there. Stuck.
But now, Haley was nothing but grateful.
No longer would she be up all night, pacing the floors with tear stained cheeks, wondering where he was. No longer would she have to weigh his words to see if they were coated in heavy lies. No longer would she feel weak while writhing beneath his painful grip.
She was free.
"Hey, baby. You ok?"
Haley turns and the past vanishes. As far as she's concerned, the bar fades along with it. All that remains is the future.
"Yeah. I was just thinkin'..." a sly smile crosses her red lips.
He wraps his arms around her waist. Her back fuses to his chest as she cranes her neck to look at him.
"Yeah? About what?"
Haley says nothing, her eyes fixed on his. They're the color blue found at the center of a flame- she didn't care if they scorched her. She'd stare forever if she could.
"Just how lucky I am."
Nathan's nose nuzzles her jaw. She shivers by the gentle scratch of his stubble scraping her smooth skin. "Why's that?"
"Because," Haley turns in his arms, leaving less than an inch between them. "What I thought was the worst thing to ever happen to me ended up being the best thing- it led me to you."
Nathan's smile lands on her lips. He knows her ex is in the bar, flaunting a woman nowhere near beautiful as Haley.
"You're not the only one who's lucky," the words are whispered breathlessly. "In fact," he adds, looking over her shoulder, "maybe I should thank him."
She grins, suddenly bashful. "I love you, Nathan Scott."
"I love you too, Haley James. And I'm never letting go of you."
