Chapter 18

"Dad, do you have to go?" Ollie asked her father for like the thousandth time as she ate breakfast the morning that her dad was leaving to go with the Ravens to Herons Beach.

"Yup"

"Aww why cant Wilson just go?" she whined not wanting him to leave.

"Because I'm the coach", he said it as if it was a shocking revelation.

Giggling, she rolled her eyes at him.

"Besides Ollie, you'll have Brooke here all to yourself since Ephraim and Chase are going back to New York for the weekend."

"They're going too. So like nobody in town is going to be here this weekend?"

"No. Jess, Brooke, Luke and Peyt and stuff will be here." Nathan told her.

"Jess is going to Herons for cheerleading and Luke and Peyton are taking the kids to visit Peyton's dad." She pointed out to him. Before he would always have known if Lucas was going away, but since He and Peyton had gotten closer to Haley, Lucas and Nathan had seemed to talk less and less.

"It's only three days, then everyone will be back." He reassured her. She always tried to talk him out of it when he was going away which was fair enough considering.

"I guess." She sighed. "I have to go to school. Have fun." She said as she gave him a hug goodbye.

Padding down the hall she could hear a soft drum beat coming from Ephraim's room as she approached. She poked her head in the door.

Ephraim looked up from his drums, "Ready yet?" he asked her. He had been getting in some drumming while waiting for her to finish getting ready for school.

"Yup." She answered as he hopped up and grabbed his bag to follow her out of the house. "So, what was that you were playing?"

"Just a beat to some lyrics I wrote."

"Cool, it sounded great." She told him.

"It would sound better with a guitar over it," he looked at her suggestively. It hadn't gone unnoticed by him that she had yet to pick up a guitar in weeks and he didn't want her to give up on music completely.

"Yeah, you should get that guy Jeremy in our math class. He's really good." Ollie suggested, knowing that he meant herself but completely ignoring it.

"Ollie." He groaned.

"What? He is good." Ollie defended.

Ephraim rolled his eyes, "I know but... ugh never mind." He figured it wouldn't be him that would convince her to start to play again.

Satisfied that he decided to drop it, she asked, "So why are you going to New York this weekend?"

"Chase has some business stuff at the fashion line and I'm going to catch up with some of my mates from there. You know, have a guys weekend."

"So you're pretty much going there to watch sport and play video games?" She knew what went on at 'guy weekends' and that was about it.

"Yeah pretty much, oh, and to eat. We'll eat while watching and playing." He said chuckling.

"You're such a guy." She laughed as he shrugged.

"I know, its great right." He said cockily raising his eyebrow.

"Yeah sure, just keep telling yourself that buddy." She mocked him as she hit him on the arm.

"Oooh, Better watch it or you'll get another cut up lip." He joked, he found it quite amusing that she had got into a fight with a cheerleader.

"Oh yeah sure Rai, hit a girl. That's really chivalrous," She laughed knowing he didn't mean it. She smirked, "Lauren probably hit harder than you could anyways."

His jaw dropped in fake offended-ness, "That hurt Ollie" he said putting his hand over his heart.

She rolled her eyes, Ephraim always managed to make everything seem funny, even when it was a whole lot of bad stuff he was making light of. "I am so sorry Ephraim. I didn't mean to hurt your very masculine feelings." She apologised sarcastically.

He chuckled, "Yeah I think I can forgive you this time." He nodded thoughtfully as they arrived at the school.

Ollie nodded and glanced around the campus making sure Haley was no where in sight. Since Tuesday afternoon when all the stuff between them had been said, Ollie had been avoiding her completely. For, although some of the anger and hatred that she'd had faded, Ollie still didn't want to face Haley.

Seeing that the way was clear, the two headed into the school.

Around 12:30pm Nathan arrived at the school to herd together the team so the bus could leave in an hour, most of the teenagers were still in class as lunch period wasn't for an hour. He set off toward his office to meet Wilson and the team who no doubt would show up, pumped as ever, in the next half hour or so.

In the empty corridor, he strolled along toward his office, Whiteys old one that was attached to the boys locker room. As he walked, he could hear the sound of guitar coming from one of the wings classrooms. He slowed and came to a stop outside the door. Glancing in through the small window he saw Haley, sitting alone in the empty music class idly strumming the acoustic guitar on her knee. Quickly, he stepped back from the window, breathing a sigh of relief that she hadn't looked up at that moment and seen her.

Subtly so that even if she did look up, she still wouldn't see him, he peered in the small window at her. This was the first time he had let himself look at her, really look at her since her return. Also, since the day of Brooke's arrival, not one word had been exchanged between them. When he was at school to coach and he knew there were no classes on, he always took the back halls and long ways to avoid her.

She was hunched over the guitar softly strumming a slow tune. He noticed that she still looked much the same as she had before she left. Her hair was still its golden brown colour and still she was tiny. The small wrinkles on the forehead that people got when they aged were starting to softly appear. Only a little of her eyes could be seen where he was standing, he had missed her eyes and the honesty and love that always shone in them. Now all he saw in them was sadness and loss. To him though, everything about her was still breathtakingly beautiful.

Unwittingly, his hand rose slowly to the handle to rest gently around it. She had him mesmerized and he didn't notice what he was doing. But then a glint from her left hand caught his eye as the sun streaming through the window collided with it. Upon her left finger was the ring that he had given her, her wedding ring.

Roughly he drew his hand back from the door handle, suddenly horrified that deep down, he had wanted to enter. As he had pulled his hand back his sleeve snagged on the handle, causing it to twist down before jumping back into place with a snap. Hearing the sound, Haley looked up. For just a second, there eyes locked through the glass before Nathan abruptly stepped away and hurried off down the corridor.

Jumping from the seat, the guitar fell from her lapto the carpeted ground. Running to the door she excited the room and peered down the corridor to see only his back disappearing.

"Nathan?" she called down the hallway praying he would stop.

And he did, for barely a second he turned back around and looked directly his eyes burning with confusion but intense sad passion at her for the briefest moment before turning and continuing on away from her.

Once he was a safe distance away he glanced back behind his shoulder, he had thought for a second that when she had called out that she would follow him, but there was no one behind him no. Relieved, he approached and pushed open the coaching office door.

Sinking down into the swivel chair at his desk, he let his head drop into his hands and massage the stress away from his forehead. For the life of him, he couldn't figure out why she would be wearing the weeding ring. Probably to taunt him and to rub everything in his face. Since she had left, there had been no one else for him, but he was sure there had for her so she had no right to be wearing the ring that signalled their connection. Digging his hand into his back pocket, he pulled out its remnants. In his hand lay his own gold band, which he also, never had put away. But now, seeing that even in her unfaithfulness, she still wore hers, he no longer wanted any association with his ring.

Yanking open the draw at his desk, he twirled it round in his hand once more before flinging it deep into the draw. It wobbled and then with a clunk settled at the bottom. With that he slammed the draw shut.

For the past 15 years, Nathan Scott hadn't been ready to move on, and even though, deep down he knew he still wasn't ready and probably never would be, he was going to move on anyway.