Chapter 25

Nathan was panting hard. He wasn't in the same shape as he used to be and the 5km run he had just been on had really taken it out of him. The heavy breaths were freezing in front of him as he made his way to the letterbox on the way inside. Pulling open the door to the box he was surprised to find a letter inside. They didn't usually get mail on a Sunday. Reading the front curiously as he headed inside, told him nothing, only that the sender had very neat writing.

"Hey Olls" he smiled as he entered the kitchen and noticed her eating breakfast at the bench. While the other night he had been a little, well a lot, pissed at the boy she was with, he wasn't angry with her.

"Hi" she replied looking at him as he sat down. "Good run?"

"Yep alright." He replied tearing open the envelope curiously.

It contained multiple pieces of typed paper but he didn't need to read through each one to know what it was about. He knew immediately. Staring at it numbly, he wasn't willing to take it all in. This was something that no matter how angry he got, he had never even considered. The papers fell from his hand to flutter down onto the bench.

"Are you ok dad?" Ollie asked, seeing his expression.

"Yeah it's nothing" he answered spaced out, then abruptly walking to his room and closing the door behind him.

"Weird" Ollie muttered to herself reaching for the papers feeling a little guilty for snooping.

Figuring out what they were took a little longer for her than it had for her father, but after a little reading she realised that they were papers for divorce. Papers with the initials HJS already signed. Suddenly knowing the exact reason for her dad's behaviour she too let the papers drop to the bench and walked to his room. Without knocking she pushed open the door.

Not wanting het to see this having an affect on him, Nathan quickly looked up at her and put a look of normality upon his face.

"Dad" she began gently sitting beside him, his fake expression not fooling her, even though they weren't as close as they one had been, she could see that even though her father pretended like it, truly, he didn't want a divorce. Also from the small amount of time she had spent with Haley, she couldn't believe that she did either,"You don't have to sign them."

"I know" he responded sombrely, fiddling with something in his hand, knowing she saw through to the feelings he refused to even admit to himself, for beneath all the anger, all he really wanted was to forgive Haley.

Ollie could see that it was a gold ring, "Is that hers?"

He nodded smiling wryly. "Yeah."

"Did you two talk? Did you let her explain?"

"No. It's over."

Ollie pondered for a moment before making the decision that if Nathan was still refusing to listen to Haley, she would just have to tell him herself. "Daunte"

"What?" he asked angrily fully facing her, "Where'd you hear that name?"

Ignoring his question, she continued quietly, "Everything is his fault, not Haley's."

"Ollie what do you mean?"

"I.. I think he threatened her just after I was born. He threatened to hurt us if she didn't leave." Ollie confessed to her father what she had overheard between Brooke and Haley as tears formed in her eyes.

Nathans eyes widened in shock and he pulled Ollie into a hug. He had been wrong in thinking Haley's reasons would be worth nothing. In fact, that tiny thing changed everything and now he couldn't believe he had refused to listen for so long.

Ollie leaned away from him and sat back up straight. "Dad? Can you please try and forgive her? Because... I think I want to know my mom, and I want you to be happy and that won't happen if you get divorced."

"Yeah" he whispered, still reeling from the mention of Daunte and the fact that everything he had believed about Haley for the last 15 years was completely false.

He felt Ollie place something next to him and leave the room. Once she was gone he looked down to see a slip of paper on his bed. Written across it was Haley's name then an address written in Ollie handwriting. Knowing exactly what to do, he grabbed a jacket, got the divorce papers off the bench, and with resolve got into the car ready to sort this out for good.


In the kitchen of her house, Haley was baking cookies. Since settling back in Tree Hill, baking had become a bit of a hobby for her. In a way she found the homeliness of it calming. As she pulled a batch of cookies that she would probably end up giving to Peyton's kids out of the oven, she was surprised to hear the doorbell ringing.

Hurriedly sliding the cookies onto a cooling rack she walked quickly to the door, not caring that she probably had flour on her face or in her hair. Swinging it open she did a complete double take seeing Nathan on her doorstep.

"What do you want?" she asked bluntly.

He fidgeted a little, nervously, under her stare, "What are these?" he demanded holding up the divorce papers.

"Divorce papers" she told him, not in the mood for nonsense, "it says it right there at the top."

Scowling he said, "Yes I know what they are Haley."

"Then what's the problem?"

"I don't want a divorce." He answered as if it were completely obvious.

Haley shook her head, Nathans mixed messages were starting to frustrate her. "So what the hell do you want then?" she demanded her voice becoming loud. "You obviously don't want anything to do with me and apparently you don't want a divorce. So what Nathan?"

Nathan gulped from nervousness as her voice rose. Glancing around the street awkwardly, he saw the neighbour in their window listening in from when Haley's voice rose. "Please, can we go inside and talk?"

Standing aside to let him inside, wondering whether he was simply doing this to hurt or not.

Nathan sat down on a stool in the kitchen and Haley sat down in another. There was a pause, he felt uncomfortable being in her house, and now that he was here didn't know how to say how he felt without being horribly hypocritical. He didn't want Haley to think he only wanted her when she didn't want him. For him, she had never been about the chase and now that he knew Daunte was involved, he wasn't so angry with her anymore for leaving, he just didn't know how to go about fully forgiving her

"Um, do you want a cookie?" Haley asked holding the tray in front of him, uncomfortable in the silence.

"Thanks", he answered solemnly, taking one.

"Sooo?" she pushed, wanting to know what was going on with him.

He nodded and met her eyes. A deep sadness and exhaustion lay within them, yet he still saw a small glimmer of love shining within them. "I know about Daunte. Ollie told me."

Haley, looking back into Nathans eyes saw exactly the same emotions as he saw in her own. "I'm sorry for not telling you back then." She whispered.

Locking his jaw, Nathan clenched his fist angrily. "No, don't be sorry. It's him. I'm going to kill him Haley, I swear."

The flash of pure anger coming out of Nathan terrified her. "Daunte's gone. He got his money and won't come back here. He's in the past."

"I know but if he does ever set foot here again, he's dead." Nathan told her, his jaw setting at the thought of Daunte threatening Haley with Ollie's life. His daughters life.

"Ok," she nodded, knowing there was nothing she could say, and nothing he wanted to hear to dissuade his anger for the man that had ripped them apart. "What now though? If you don't want the divorce.

"I don't know." He replied. And he really didn't. Deep down he knew he still loved her despite the anger that still burned within him, even if it was beginning to lessen due to finding out about Daunte's involvement. He didn't know if he could risk it though, only just was he getting his life back on track after his drinking problems that came with Haley's return. To him, letting her in again could mean having to face losing her again, and that was something he wasn't so sure he could handle a second time.

"Well we can't keep going like this."

"I know" he sighed, rubbing his hands wearily over his face "but I just don't know if I can trust you Haley. Not just with me, but with Ollie."

Haley looked him square in the eyes, urging him to see her honesty, "The last thing in the world that I want to do is hurt you or Ollie in any way. I promise you. Please just give me a chance."

Nathan hesitated for a moment, but then his eyes saw the sincerity shinning passionately in hers, and he could see she meant nothing but the truth. So he nodded,

"Ok".