Hey there!

Just a short author's note.

AN: This chapter is coming out at a very ironic and coincidental time. You'll see what I mean after you read the fic. So have fun and don't hate me too much!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything...

Haley James sat at the table. The table settings were perfect, the table cloth was in place and the food was staying warm in their serving dishes. Just one thing was missing, or one person to be more precise; Nathan Scott, her fiancé.

For the last hour or so she had been in the kitchen, slaving away on a supper that he had asked her to make that night. She had even made his favorite, Prime Rib, with all the fixings. And he wasn't even there yet!

They were supposed to be discussing their impending nuptials. They needed to start planning everything. The only thing that they had done so far was set a date, which was not this coming May but the next.

She was so excited to get to planning and contrary to popular belief and the norms of the culture, he was too. Nathan was not like other guys, he wanted to be completely involved and in the loop when it came to all things wedding. Everyone that Haley knew that had to plan a wedding did not have their future husband wanting to help with every little detail, like hers did. He wanted to be a part of everything. He even had a say on the dress, which to most bride's was unheard of. How did she get so lucky?

The couple had known one another their whole lives. Their dad's, Jimmy James and Dan Scott, were best friends who also grew up together. They had started their own business, Scott Motors, together in their hometown of Tree Hill, North Carolina. They were the best men at each others' weddings.

For as long as they could remember the engaged couple was a part of each others' life. They went to preschool together. When it came time to go into Kindergarten, Haley cried because she wasn't in the same class as Nathan. Her mom thought it was adorable, the two were inseparable.

And ever since then, the two were always in the same class. When it came time for them to enter high school, their schedules changed only a little. He tried out for the basketball team, although the tryout was pretty much a moot point. He was after all the son of the legendary Dan Scott, the leading record holder of everything regarding the game of basketball. She was more into her studies and became a tutor for those that were less fortunate, grades-wise. But they made sure to make time for each other. She went to all of his games. He waited for her after practice and they would walk home together from school everyday.

After a few dating mishaps with other people, they threw in the towel and finally got together at the end of their junior year. They went to college together, both with scholarships to Duke University, hers in academics and his in basketball.

While at Duke they broke up for a year and half, wanting to explore other options but eventually came back to each other before graduating their senior year. They had been together ever since, moving in together after college.

...

She looked over the table thinking something else was missing other than her elusive fiancé. She jumped up from the table then quickly made her way to the spare closet. She found the candles and brought a few out that matched the impeccable table settings. Once she had them set up on the table, she leaned over to light them. She straightened up, glancing back at the clock. It seemed like it hadn't even changed for the few minutes that she had been gone. It was five til eight and he should have been there by now. He was almost thirty minutes late. She decided to grab her laptop while she waited and get some work emails out of the way.

But Haley wasn't a particularly patient person. Every few minutes she would glance at the clock on the wall, as if it would tell her something different than the one right in front of her face on her computer. The minutes seemed to tick by too slowly for her taste, either way. She sighed as she noticed it was now only eight O'clock. She was astonished to see that it had only been five minutes.

At that moment she heard a car go by on the road in front of their modest two-story house and proceeded to look out the window. They lived in a quiet neighborhood, a cul-de-sac that usually only had a few cars go past. Those cars more than likely belonged to their neighbors, usually. This particular car did not slow down, and she sighed again as she noticed it had turned around and gone back the way it came. She waits a little longer, again looking to her computer for a distraction.

After answering the brunt of her emails from that evening, she peered at the clock on the wall. It read 8:30. She was surprised she had been able to distract herself for that long. Now she was officially getting worried. They had set their dinner for 7:30 and he was now an hour late. Nathan Scott was never late. If he was going to be late, he always called to let her know. Plus, before he left he said he would be home to help her cook as well.

She gets up from the seat at the table in front of the window to retrieve her purse where she had last seen her phone. She rummages through the messy bag and finds her phone at the very bottom. She holds her breath as she presses one on her speed dial. She listens with bated breath as it goes straight to his voicemail.

"Come on, Nathan. Where are you?" She couldn't help but comment aloud, as she tried again. She nervously ends the call when it went to voicemail once again.

She thought for a minute. 'Maybe Clay knows where he is. Yeah, he'll know.' She looked through her contacts and clicked on the correct name.

The young man answered on the first ring. "Hey Hales. How's it..."

Before he could finish his question she blurted out, "have you seen Nathan, by any chance? He was supposed to be here an hour ago and he hasn't shown up yet."

"Sorry, Haley. I haven't. We called it quits at the office a while ago." He mentioned and went on. "But he did say that he was going to stop by his brother's for a bit."

"Thanks Clay." She commented as they said their goodbyes.

Clay Evans was Nathan's business partner. Soon after Nathan's college basketball career had ended, he had been approached by a sandy-blonde smooth-talker who wanted the college athlete to come work for him at his newly acquired sport's agency. Nathan still had dreams of the NBA in his future. After that was ruled out as a possibility, the raven-haired baller decided to give the agent thing a try. He finished his degree after a few more years and went to work with Clay, the two becoming fast friends. Soon, Clay wanted to make him a partner and give him half of the agency's profits as well.

Nathan jumped at the chance to take on more responsibility, and it seemed as if everything was going smoothly for the two partners. They had a great roster of athletes and plus, had just signed a potential first-round draft pick, a quarterback out of Texas A & M. They had their eye on a few up and comers on the basketball D League circuit as well as a few other potential college athletes. A young junior named Quentin Fields was sure to do great things based out of the University of Miami.

Clay had been there for him in a time that she hadn't been and for that she would always be grateful to the self-confessed ladies man and perennial bachelor. It's not that she didn't like him, she loved him. It was just his man-whorish ways that she had a problem with. She knew that one day he would meet his match and she for one could not wait for that day.

Next she dialed another familiar number. The man on the other end picked up on the third ring.

He started off the same way Clay had and was interrupted in an almost identical manner.

"Have you seen Nathan? Clay said that he mentioned he might stop by your house on his way home."

"Sorry, Hales. I haven't seen him." He began and after a pause went on, "why? Is something wrong?"

"Oh, no. It's alright, Luke. I'm just a little worried. He said he would be home before dinnertime and it's already past 8:30."

"Well, let me call around and get back to you." He commented.

"Thanks, Luke. You're the best."

"I know, I know." He continued, "alright. I'll call you back in a few."

She hangs up and goes to put her phone down on the table, but before she lets go of it, it rings. She lifts it, hoping to see Nathan's face pop up on the screen. It's a number that she doesn't recognize.

She slides the screen to answer. The voice on the other end asks her if she is speaking with Haley James. She answers "this is she." The conversation is mostly a blur to the young woman. All that registers in her mind is when the voice says, "something's happened. You should come right now." Her eyebrows lift with anxiety at that as she stands to absentmindedly grab her purse and ask "where?" She is given an answer as she heads out the door, remembering at the last second that the candles were still burning.

As she heads to the place in question, her mind goes back to this past December. She remembers the day so clearly as if it were yesterday...

Just another ordinary December day...

The day was a little dreary, no sun shining seeing as how it was the middle of December. The day was cold and rainy at times, but that really didn't bother the young couple. They didn't mind the rain at all. In fact, they have had some great days in the rain. This day would shape up to be no exception to that.

She, in particular, loved the rain. She loved the thunder and lightning that usually came along with it. She loved the pitter-patter of the rain hitting the eaves of the house. She loved playing in the puddles along the side of the road after a good rain storm. She loved wearing her yellow rain jacket and matching boots because she did not like how wet she would get if she didn't. She even loved her quaint umbrella. But what she loved the most about the rain was the smell.

After a storm, like the one that was happening today, she would go outside and inhale. There was just nothing like the crystal clear smell of rain. It was wonderful!

And after pointing out this fact to him, he grew to like that aspect about rain as well.

The couple was inside sitting on the couch, after a wonderful meal, sipping the last remnants of their wine. They could hear the rain outside, because Haley had insisted on opening a few windows.

He had his arm rested against the couch, very loosely touching her shoulders. He looked at her and spoke first. "We should go for a walk." He begins and then a moment later continues with, "want to?"

She lifted her eyebrows in surprise, glancing his way and stated, "it's pouring outside."

"Exactly." He smiled at the look on her face.

The two propelled themselves off of the couch, setting their empty glasses down. They took a few minutes to grab any rain paraphernalia they might need while they were outside.

Once they were ready, he grabbed the large two-person umbrella by the door. The two walked out the door arm in arm. As they walked down the front steps he leaned over and gave her exposed neck a smooch as she squeezed his arm and smiled.

They walked around the block in a comfortable silence.

Before leading her back into their yard though, he stopped her looking deep into her eyes. He handed her the umbrella as he took one of her hands in both of his. He bends down on his knee.

Haley could only watch on in mild amusement and slight shock. "Nathan, you're gonna get soaked."

He ignored her comment and said, "Haley, there are very few moments in my life that I really remember. And those that I do have always had one thing or person in common. That person was and is still you. I want you forever-forever and always. Through the good and the bad and the ugly. I want to grow old with you."

"Yes, forever and always." She answered before he could go on and without even hearing the semblance of a proposal.

She pulls him up as he raises to meet her lips in a searing and passionate kiss. The umbrella was completely forgotten as they both get lost in the other's embrace, not even caring that they were getting soaked by the rain.

...

Without realizing it, she had arrived at her destination. She pulls up to the entrance of the emergency wing at Tree Hill Memorial Hospital. She runs inside not even bothering to properly park her car. As she makes her way quickly to the front desk she can feel many eyes on her, but she doesn't care. All she cares about is seeing him, seeing Nathan. She wonders what happened and if he's okay.

When she reaches the front desk, she rambles out that she received a call on the behalf of her fiancé, Nathan Scott.

"Oh, right. Haley?" The elderly nurse asks and when the young woman in question nods she asks her to follow her. She leads the young woman through the hospital. To Haley it feels like there's a million halls, a maze that's never ending.

They stop in front of a closed door. Haley can feel it, him. He is on the other side of that door. The nurse reaches out and touches her on the arm to get her attention. So while Haley looks at the the nurse, she is not taking anything that she is saying in. "Your fiancé... hi... his car was t-boned tonight..."

It does register in her mind that the accident was a bad one. The nurse's face says as much. She can feel the tears prickling at her eyes, threatening to fall, but she holds them in as the nurse says, "you can go on in now."

It's bad. She can see that now for herself. The tubes exiting from every orifice imaginable and all the machines with the constant beeping, letting the professionals know what is going on inside his body. Her mind is blank and all she can do is stare at his body laying on the hospital bed in front of her.

She can't imagine how he must be feeling. His eyes are closed at the moment so she stands very still, hoping not to disturb him. But he must feel her presence as she felt his because a second later his eyes effervescent blue orbs turn to find her warm chocolate eyes. If he feels the pain, she can't tell from his sparkling eyes.

It's as if her feet are frozen to the floor. She drags her lead-like extremities over to his bedside and sits in the available chair there, their eyes never leaving the others. Her hand automatically reaches for his and her thumb immediately starts to stroke the outside of his hand.

She doesn't know if she should lean over and kiss him or not. It's what her heart and her body are telling her to do, to feel his lips on hers.

She doesn't realize it but she tightens her grip on his hand. "Hey Hales, you're death grip is a tad too tight." He reminds her with a smirk.

The smile only touches half of her lips and she loosens her hand from around his. Her head hangs low as she comes to terms with the fact that he is laying in a hospital bed with too many injuries to count.

To Haley it feels like hours later, but in reality was probably only minutes, when he reaches over with his other hand and lifts her gaze to his once again. "Hey, it's alright. I'm okay."

She lets out the shaky breath that she didn't realize she was holding in. He really was something.

...

"So, I think now is as good a time as any to talk about where we want to live."

"Nathan. You really think now is a good time to talk about this?"

"Hell yes. I want a big house, with lots of rooms, on a hillside." He said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, a big house." She remarked as he chuckled. "I wonder what we would do with all those rooms."

"Well, those are for the kids, of course." He looked at her as if she had grown another head since the last time he glanced at her.

"Oh right." She acquiesced. "And how do you suppose we will have all of these kids? I'm not sure that I would be able to handle all of them."

"Oh, don't worry. You'll be alright. Plus, you'll have me..." He trailed off as one of the monitors let out a weird noise, that neither one had heard before. A second later it resumed it's monotone drone. "It'll be a good life. We'll stay there forever and always, through the good and the bad and the ugly. That's where we'll grow old together, and always remember, whether rich or for poor or for better. I just know we will be that old couple that will still love each other when we are old and gray. Forever and always."

She couldn't help it then. His words were so heart-felt and sure that she had to lean over and kiss him as if her life depended on it. She did just that. He put everything that he had ever felt for her behind that kiss as did she. He held her face between his hands as she clasped one of her hands around his wrist, the other tangled up in his black as a raven's wing hair.

When they pulled away from each other, they were both breathless. His monitor was going wild with activity. They both laughed at the sounds that it was making until it was returned to normal.

She suddenly jumped up from her seat with a gleam in her eye, pressing the call button for the nurse. Not even a minute later, the door opened and in walked a petite young woman, around the same age as the couple occupying the room.

Haley turned towards the door to leave with the young woman, but stopped short of the door and just about ran back to Nathan's side. She mumbled out an "I'll be back in a few minutes," and gave him a peck on the lips. As she left the room with the nurse, Nathan heard her say, "I need a favor." And with that he was left alone with his own thoughts.

Outside in the hallway, Haley was telling the nurse her idea and asking if it was possible to do on such short notice.

The young woman said with a smile on her face and a gleam in her eye, "we'll see what we can do..."

A few minutes later, when Haley walks into the room again after talking with the nurse, Nathan knows something is about happen. She props the door open, walks over to her seat and sits right down as if nothing is wrong, leaving Nathan none the wiser to her plan.

He patiently waits as she settles and clasps her hand to his when he offers it. "So, what's goin' on Hales?"

"Oh, you'll see." She answers vaguely.

...

A few hours later, Haley finds herself slipping into the bed beside Nathan and curling up on her side, facing his chest. She proceeds to draw designs on his gown-covered pectoral muscles just to see if he can guess what they are. His eyes are closed at the moment as he concentrates. He is having a hard time focusing on her drawings because the sensation is so very calming. He can feel sleep overtaking him as he tries to stay alert in her presence. But within seconds of thinking that he succumbs to the overwhelming tiredness that has overcome him since he left work earlier that day.

Haley notices his breathing has evened out, as much as it can with all of the machines and tubes surrounding him, and gently places her hand over his heart and follows him into the land of dreams. It seems like only a few minutes but Haley is awakened by a soft knock on the door. Careful not to wake her sleeping fiancé up, she lifts her head and looks to the door, trying to register what it is she is seeing with her sleep-heavy eyelids. Standing there is a man dressed in black robes, carrying a leather-bound book in his arms. With him is the elderly nurse that welcomed Haley into the hospital and the young nurse that she had talked with only a few hours earlier.

The young engaged woman gently extricates herself from around her fiancé and makes her way to the door, wondering what is going on. "Haley, this is the hospital Chaplin, Greg Young. He would like to speak to you and Nathan for a moment."

That's when Haley remembered why this was all happening and that it was she that had set this all in motion. She couldn't wait to tell Nathan.

Her happiness turned to alarm as she heard the beeping of a machine in the room behind her turn to one long constant ear-piercing tone. The hospital personnel around her ran into the room, alerting her that something was wrong. She ran to the door as well just as she heard someone, a doctor probably, say "he's flatlined. Code Blue. I need the cart."

Haley called out, "what happened? What's happening?" Of course no one was listening to her, they were all busy trying to resuscitate the man laying in the hospital bed. They had wheeled in a cart with the defibrillator machine and where just getting it powered up.

The man using the paddles turned to one of the nurses and said, 'get her out of here, now." And with that she was ushered from the room with tears falling from her eyes. The young nurse that helped her stood with her and let her know what was happening. It didn't assuage the young woman's fears of her fiancé's well-being but it did calm her down a little bit.

...

The next afternoon...

Haley was holding onto Nathan and she didn't really feel like letting go. She had been so scared when he had flat lined the night before. She was sure nothing else in her entire life would scare her so much. She hated to think of not getting to say goodbye. But she had the chance now.

When the couple was ready, the Chaplin came in with his bible in hand. He opened up the old leather-bound book and read a few verses. "Love is patient, love is kind..." Haley drowned out the words that he was saying as she glanced at her future husband in the making. He was also looking her way and their eyes locked. He mouthed the words, 'I love you' and she finished with 'forever and always'. Nathan brings a hand up to her face and using his thumb, wipes away a fallen tear, his touch as light as a feather. She chuckles and lets her tears fall, knowing that they are happy tears.

The couple is brought back to the ceremony, when they hear laughter at the doorway. They had an audience. A few of the nurses on that floor were standing there as well as some patients. The Chaplin had thrown in a few jokes about his health for good measure.

The man dressed in black asked them a question then. "Did you two want to say your own vows? I know this is sort of spur of the moment but if you would like to say a few words to each other, now would be the time. Oh and do we have some rings."

Nathan was just about to answer, 'no,' when Haley beat him to it. "I actually borrowed these from the couple in 104c." She held out her hand that was not clasped with Nathan's and lo and behold there were two modest wedding rings in her palm. One was solid gold and the other, matching gold with diamonds encased within the band. She looked to the doorway and there they were smiling at the young couple in the room next to theirs.

She turns back to the man of her dreams, locking her eyes with his once more, and says,

"I want you forever, forever and always
Through the good and the bad and the ugly
We'll grow old together, and always remember
Whether happy or sad or whatever
We'll still love each other, forever and always
Forever and always, forever and always."

He mouths along with her as he feels his strength start to wane. His body is giving up. From the corner of Haley's eye she can see some of the nurses ushering the others away from their doorway, to give them a little privacy. The Chaplin and young nurse stay behind and stand back from the couple. The nurse walks over to the heart monitor, assessing the beeps as they slow. His voice is low as he says,

"I love you forever, forever and always
Please just remember even if I'm not there
I'll always love you, forever and always."

Haley's tears, no longer happy, flow freely from her chocolate orbs. The machine monitoring his heart lets out that heartbreaking tone that signals his heart has stopped beating. The young woman at his side keels over his body, her face meeting his, her lips kissing his for what looks to be the last time. Her tears are falling on his face, making tear tracks of their own as they follow the contours of his visage to the sheets underneath him.

Haley notices the silence in the room a moment later, imagining that tone in her head still. She thinks in the very edges of her mind that the nurse probably turned it off. The also notices that no one is in the room with her anymore. They must have left to let her show her sorrow to no one but her late husband. She wouldn't have cared if they had stayed or not. It didn't really matter to her who saw her tear-stained face, her red rimmed eyes and sniffling nose. She didn't care about anything at the moment.

She sat in that hospital room for what felt like hours until she had cried all of her tears, or so she thought, for the thought of him would bring tears to her eyes for the rest of her life. Most of the time they would be happy tears but on her off-days she was so overcome with sorrow, she felt like she would die. Sometimes she felt like she couldn't go on, but she always seemed to pick herself back up. One day many years later, when nothing but the good times remained in her memory, she looked back and tears of joy would come to her eyes.

She promptly feel asleep, having pulled herself into the bed with him and slept soundly as if nothing had happened.

...

A month later...

Haley sat up in her bed, alone. The life inside of her dream slipping away from her mind, letting her know how much she had lost.

Today was the day. Today she would go visit him. She glanced over to the alarm clock on the bedside table, noticing the time. It was later than she thought. She pulled herself out of what used to be their bed and went about getting ready for the day ahead of her.

They had interred his body into the family plot a week after he had passed. To her it still felt like yesterday. It seemed to her that anything and everything reminded her of him. Just the other day, she found a pair of his socks under the bed and she cried her eyes out.

Most of the time, she was too numb to really feel that the situation she was in was real. That she would never see his face again, never see him smiling back at her with that charming smirk of his or his secret smile that was meant only for her eyes. Reality would sweep over her and she would be a mess once again.

Today, though, she knew she had to change and change quickly, because whether she wanted it to or not, life went on; hers would go on without him.

An hour later or so, she was ready to go. She grabbed her bag and made her way out the door. Before she locked up though, she remembered she wanted to set something at his grave and figured that he wouldn't have liked flowers, unless...

On her way to the cemetery, she stopped at the beach to pick some wildflowers, the purple ones that she knew he liked. She took the hair tie off of her wrist and wrapped it around the bunch as she made her way back to her car. It was really his car, he had bought it in high school. And even then it was considered an older model. It was a wonder it had lasted this long. But she wouldn't change it for the world because it reminded her of him.

She noticed as she drove that the day was cloudy but her window did not feel too cold. It looked like it might rain. When she opened her window there was a slight breeze in the air.

In a matter of minutes she was walking among the headstones at the local cemetery, flowers in hand. Once she had reached the appropriate spot she propped the makeshift bouquet of flowers on the headstone in front of her.

Nathan Royal Scott
August 15, 1988- March 4, 2016
"Always and Forever"

She sat in silence for a few minutes with her eyes closed, remembering and finding the right words to say. The breeze picked up at that point and she felt a few raindrops against her skin. Her hair billowed in the breeze as she opened her eyes. At that moment the clouds broke allowing in a little sunshine and she found the courage to speak.

She looked at the headstone again and without realizing it, placed her hand against her stomach. She glanced down to where her hand rested and said, "It looks like I might need that house on the hillside after all. Nice work daddy."

I hope you liked it! It's a super sad song but I thought it would make a perfect one shot. Now I can tell you why it was ironic. I just have a lot of death and sadness going on around me at this moment in my life. But it's also a time of great success for me personally. I am graduating from college come the middle of May! And I have many job prospects and so little time to make up my damn mind...

I know there were a lot of breaks in the writing but I just couldn't come up with more between the bigger moments. And I hate ending things on sad notes so I had to add that last little bit, even if it was a little bittersweet.

I really wanted to get this out a few days ago, when it was still April. But alas, I wasn't quite finished then and I still needed to edit and make sure it
flowed and made sense. It also ended up being way longer than I intended it to be, so I changed it at the last second to be a little shorter. If anyone does want the longer version please let me know and I will work on it some more, because it wasn't quite done... So now that you have read, please review! It would mean the world to me...