Chapter Six
Disclaimer: Not mine!
Nate once more glanced down at the photo-album before him, his bright blue eyes flicking the page as if it were the most important thing in the world. It was an image of him and Haley. His arms were securely fastened around her waist and she was grinning up at him with love in her honey eyes. He felt the familiar stab seize his heart in an iron grip. He ached for her, yearned for her and regretted it every day that his stupid pride had pushed her away, into another man's heart and another man's life.
Jesse didn't deserve her. Nathan knew this; he just wished that he could prove it. There was just something about the blonde man that Nate didn't trust, something in his eyes when he'd looked at Haley the night before. Something hidden that Nathan just couldn't read. Closing the photo album he glanced up the clock and noted that it was by then 8:30am. He had awoken about an hour before with the killer of hangovers and had instantly reached for the painkillers and taken a hot shower. Now three glasses of water later he was ready to face the day.
It was then that it struck the young man that Lucas was yet to return from his late night outing. Standing up from where he had been perched on the sofa he reached for the phone. Pressing 2 he heard the speed dial begin to work, then the ringing began. Nathan didn't let Luke get a word in after he picked up the phone. "Where are you?"
"Good morning to you too Nate."
"Where are you?"
"Just about… why?""Are you with Hales?" Nathan's voice raised pitch when he spoke her name, making it sound strangled. There mere thought of her had such an effect on him it was almost scary.
"I'm not going to lie… I am." Nate felt his temper rise in his chest at the thought that it was his brother, not him, sitting or whatever, with the love of his life.
"Is she ok? Does she hate me?"
"Wait one minute… I'll ask her…" The line went silent for a moment and Nathan could hear Luke repeating his questions. Then he heard her. He heard her clear as day as she asked Lucas to hand her the phone. Nathan wondered why she would want to talk to him after what he did to her the night before. It obviously didn't take her long to talk Luke into handing over the mobile because the next moment her beautiful voice was chiming in his ear. The mere sound seemed to dull the pain in his head and the sting of his heart. He silently wished he could record the conversation just so he could hear her again and again. "In answer to your question I am just fine and no I don't hate you."
"I'm really sorry Haley."
"I know you are… But you've got to move on Nathan…""I can't… And I won't," he assured her and his tone was one to prove he was completely serious. Over on the other side of town Haley shivered at the set voice and knew he had slipped into his stubborn mode.
"You have to Nathan… I'm getting married."
"I know," it was a simple two word sentence but all Haley could hear on the other side was the pain in his very soul. She still caused that? Her mind was running away with her and she decided it had been a bad idea to ask to speak to Nathan. She handed the phone back to Lucas as they had a short conversation but she was too lost in her own thoughts to pay attention to what they were saying.
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Haley's head was going crazy as she made her way through the winding corridors of the Hotel. She just wanted to forget the sound of Nate's voice in her ear and the pain she had read, but it rang around her head like an annoying song. She needed to sleep, she needed to clear her head, and she needed to forget. Therefore she headed for her room.
For many months later she would wonder about what would have happened if she hadn't gone into that room, if she had chosen to go and get a drink instead. For when she opened the door to her suite the sight that she witnessed was one of the worst she would ever have to. Her heart ripped from her chest and shattered onto the floor.
Jesse was in bed with another woman.
For a moment she stood there stationary, her mouth hanging open and her blood pounding in her ears. It was when she dropped her jacket to the floor in horror that the two realised she was there. Jess turned to face her, expecting it to be a maid he could pay not to say anything, but upon seeing it was his fiancée his face fell to his knees. "Haley…" He began but she didn't let him say anything before she raced from the room. Tears obscuring her vision as she ran and ran and ran.
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Crashing out into the street she headed for the nearest park, the rain was beating down on her but she just kept going. She wanted to run to someone, she wanted to feel protected and safe. Haley knew the only person who could make her feel like that was ready and waiting. But could she still run to him after all that she had done and he had done? Or was it just too late to heal the scars she had created on herself and him?
Coming to a stop in the park she looked down at herself. Soaked to the skin and heartbroken her hand reached for her phone. Dialling a familiar number she waited for the voice to ring in her ear. "Hello?" She was silent, not sure if she could say anything. "Hello?" His voice once more ran through her senses and she managed to speak in a weak, her tears still mingling with the rain. "Nate…"
"Haley?! Haley is that you?""Yeah…"
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"Yeah…" Sitting in his hotel room Nathan Scott sat in silence for a breath of a second. Her voice was strained and weak against his ear and he knew something was wrong. "What's wrong Haley?" "He's not who I thought he was…""Jesse?"
"He… He…""Haley? Haley speak to me baby… Has he hurt you?"
"No… No he hasn't hurt me… At least not physically…""Where are you?"
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"Where are you?" Haley looked around her for the name of the park she was in but couldn't find it. She spied a Starbucks over the road and thought it would be easier for him to figure out where she was. So she went to cross the road.
"I'm just going into a Starbucks by a…" She was too preoccupied with talking into her phone that she didn't see the car come around the corner far to fast. In fact she didn't even register it in her mind until it impacted with her. The last thing she was aware was immense pain and the sound of his voice. "Haley? Haley? Haley!!!"
Her body crashed to the floor, having flipped over the bonnet of the car and landing behind it. Blood seeped from a deep wound at the back of her head. The world around her was black as her life slipped from her body. A faint scream in the background, the feeling of weightlessness. People rushed from the sidewalk to see if they could help. Soon the sound of an ambulance's siren could be heard blaring towards them. And through it all Nathan had to listen from the other side of the phone to his world falling away…
A/N I know you probably hate me lol. Reviews will make me write faster…