Ah, the drama . . . ;p ----Sera
Haley sat by the bedroom window that night, watching two couples kissing outside, as if it was the end of the world.
A small tear trickled down her cheek. She remembered how things used to be – how she and Nathan were always like the couple outside. Now, it was like the fire just died, leaving nothing but a useless pile of ashes that you couldn't light anymore.
She heard light footsteps heading towards the bedroom. She turned to see Nathan standing in the doorway.
"Oh, you're still up?"
Haley stood, walking to him. "Yes, Nathan Scott, I am still up and do you want to know why? I'll tell you why; because I would naturally wonder why the hell my husband is still not home at past midnight!"
"Chill, Hales – I just went to take a walk." Nathan said, turning so he could take off his jacket.
"A walk?!" Haley repeated. "You expect me to believe that you took a walk?"
"Well, yes because that's what I did."
"Who takes a walk at one in the morning?!"
"I do."
"Why can't you just say that you're seeing someone else instead of going through all the trouble of lying?" Haley demanded.
Nathan stared at her in disbelief. "How could you even say that? I would never cheat on you."
"Oh, you mean like the time you said that you would never lie to me about your past and that you would never make things difficult for me?"
"Haley, the only reason why things are difficult for you is because you make it difficult."
"So what do you do? Sit back and watch it all happen?"
Nathan shook his head in exasperation. "You're obviously PMS-ing so I'll just let this go."
Haley let out a gasp of indignation. "I was just worried about you!"
"I'm alive, aren't I?" He asked irritably. "Look, I know that you're having a hard time right now but you don't have to take out your frustrations at me."
"See, this is why we always argue. You always blame me on everything! When the bills come and they have a big, red stamp that says overdue, it's because I'm not working hard enough. When you come home and the house is a mess, it's because I didn't clean. When there's no hot meal for you to come home to, it's because I was too lazy to bother cooking. What else are you going to blame me on? World hunger? Puberty?" Haley said shrilly.
"You know what Hales, I think you're just trying to find a reason to argue with me." Nathan said accusingly.
"I am not trying to find a reason, Nathan! You never help around the house, you always make a huge mess, and you always complain that your job sucks but what about me? I study, I work, I clean, I cook and I tend to your every need but it's still not enough for you!" Haley screamed.
Nathan glared at her. "Do not make this my fault, Haley."
"My fault, your fault – is it always going to be this way?!" Tears were spilling down Haley's cheeks now. "We used to be happy, Nathan! We used to talk, and laugh, and tease each other! Now, you don't even bother to talk to me."
"That's not true –"
"Yes, it is! I wake up in the morning to cook you breakfast and when you come out to the kitchen, you don't even kiss me good morning! When we drive to school, you don't say a word! When I see you down the halls, you don't even notice me! When we come home, you just throw yourself on the couch and watch television!" Haley cried.
Nathan reached out to hug her but she pushed him away in anger.
"I don't know what happened, Nathan. I try to make things work out but you always just push me away. What did I do wrong, Nathan? Just tell me!"
"You didn't do anything wrong, Haley."
"Then why are we like this?! Are you tired of me?" Haley asked hysterically.
"No –"
"Are you tired of this marriage? Are you tired of us?" Haley turned to the window.
He wrapped his arms around her. "Maybe we should just sleep on this . . ."
She spun around to face him. "It's always going to be this way for you, isn't it? You're just going to let this go and pretend that I'm not miserable?"
His jaw dropped.
"Surprised, aren't you? Well, I am miserable. This whole thing makes me miserable. I miss you Nathan, I really do, but this marriage just seems to be a joke to you!" Haley cried.
She closed her eyes tightly, letting the tears fall some more. "Maybe we just rushed into this marriage –"
For the first time that night, Nathan actually looked like he was about to cry. "Haley, no . . . we could make this work –"
"I'd like to believe you Nathan, but my heart was already broken a long time ago. I don't know if we could."
"What – what are you trying to say?"
"I'm saying that it's over."
Nathan pulled her into his arms. "No, Haley – no, it isn't –"
She shrugged him away. "It's over, Nathan."
"I love you, Haley. Please don't leave me."
"It's over, okay? It's over!"
Somewhere, a voice that seemed to be very far away, was calling her name. "Haley . . . earth to Haley, can you hear me?"
She snapped out of her reverie to see Brooke and Peyton standing in front of her. "What's going on?"
"You were supposed to be getting changed into your uniform but when you were taking too long, we went to check up on you. Are you okay?" Brooke asked worriedly.
Haley shook her head. "Actually, no. Nathan and I had a fight awhile ago and I can't stop thinking about it."
"What did he say?" Peyton asked.
"He said that he never wanted the divorce. That fight we had was pretty awful and it was just blown all out of proportion. I was so mad and so lonely that I wanted it to end. Then when I realized that it was just a mistake, I tried calling him a million times. He never answered. Then he sent me those divorce papers and that's when I thought that it was really over. And now, I'm just so confused." Haley buried her face into Brooke's shoulder, sobbing.
"Oh, Hales –" Peyton hugged her. "You should talk to Nathan. You know, try and fix things."
"What if he won't listen to me?"
"Of course he will. Otherwise, he wouldn't have made out with you in the tutor center." Brooke said.
Haley looked up in surprise.
"I was passing by." She explained.
"Anyway, you could talk to Nathan after practice and you let us know how it goes, okay?" Peyton said.
"We're here for you, Tutor Girl." Brooke added.
"Thanks you guys. I love you both." Haley said gratefully, hugging them both.
All throughout cheer practice, Haley tried her best to ignore Nathan, who was only a few meters away from her, but she couldn't take her eyes off him.
One was because she was thinking how hot he looked in his uniform, and the other was because she was trying to prep herself up talk to him. It was mostly the first part, but even so . . .
"Alright ladies, practice is over! Hit the showers before you stink up the place!" Coach Whitey called loudly, clapping his hands.
The team began to head out of the gym. Haley began to approach Nathan when Whitey intervened.
"Nathan, get your ass over here."
"Yeah, coach?"
"Tomorrow's game is going to be our ticket to the finals so I need you to get some rest and stop thinking about things you shouldn't be thinking about in the first place, do you hear me?" Whitey said sternly.
"Yes, sir." Nathan nodded.
"And get that head out of your ass. I want you to be able to shoot baskets tomorrow." Whitey added.
Nathan nodded again and left.
Haley watched him walk away, as if rooted to the spot where she was standing.
"What are you doing? I thought you were going to talk to him!" Brooke demanded.
"I can't talk to him, Brooke! The game's tomorrow and he might get even more upset and they'll lose for sure!" Haley explained.
"You have to talk to him! Otherwise, he'll think that you didn't even bother to try and talk to him! At least if you talked to him and he turned you down, he'll realize that you made an effort." Brooke insisted.
Haley still looked doubtful. "I don't know . . ."
"Hales, how many times in your life have you regretted not doing something in the right time?"
Brooke made a very good point.
She sighed in surrender. "Okay. I'll talk to him tonight."
Knock, knock
Nathan opened the front door and saw Haley standing on his doorstep.
His initial reaction was to close the door but he was too stunned to do anything, much less say something.
"Nathan, we need to talk." Haley said.
"Look, I'll reschedule our tutoring tomorrow to next week, so it's no problem –" he began.
"It's not that. I want to talk to you about us – our divorce." She said, looking him straight in the eye.
"There's nothing to talk about." Nathan said gruffly.
"Yes, there is! Nathan, please. Let's just talk about this." Haley pleaded.
He stepped aside so that she could walk in.
When they were both seated on the couch, Haley began, "I thought about what you said today. Is it true?"
"Yes, it is! Don't you remember that night when we fought? I was practically begging you to change your mind!" He cried. "I never wanted us to be over. Never."
Haley lowered her head, tears streaming down her face. "I didn't, either."
"Then why did you say it was?!"
She stood up, her back turned from him. "I didn't really mean it to be over. I was furious that night. I was lonely and I desperately needed you but you were never there. I felt like we were falling apart and it hurt me more than anything that you could just go on disregarding me – us."
He pulled her into his arms, her head resting on his chest. "I'm sorry, Hales. I just – I didn't want to be unappreciative. I didn't even realize that I was. I'm so sorry that I had to put you through all of that when you deserved so much more. Maybe the divorce was really for the best –"
"No, it's not! Nathan, when I kissed you in the River Court, I felt more alive than I ever have in so long! I don't know if I sound ridiculously stupid but maybe this divorce was meant to show us that we're meant for each other – that even with all that arguing and all that loss in communication, we could give us another try." Haley said.
"You're serious? You want to give us another try?" Nathan asked in disbelief.
She nodded against his chest. "I still love you."
"I've always loved you, Haley."
Haley looked up into his eyes, her longing mirrored in his.
Nathan leaned down and kissed her, feeling the familiar surge of happiness once again. The kiss immediately became more passionate as his mouth moved over hers with unbridled desire. His hand began to slip beneath her shirt as he lifted her up towards the bedroom.
Haley suddenly stopped kissing him. "Where are we going?"
"To the bedroom." Nathan answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"I know, but we can't."
"What? Why the hell not?"
"Nathan, you have a game tomorrow. You need to rest." Haley informed him primly.
"Yes, but I could also use the exercise. Don't you know that exercise should be done regularly?" Nathan began to playfully kiss her earlobe and moving down. "And by regularly, I mean over and over and over and over –"
Haley lifted his face to hers and whispering, "We get the idea."
Any thoughts? Please let me know . . . thank you!