Hey. Alright, I'm back. I FINALLY got my Microsoft Word to redownload, but in doing so I lost the two chapters I had saved. So... I had to re type them and blah blah blah. I lost all of my "Deleted Scenes" too, so maybe later on you'll get some of those, but they aren't really my main priority.
Chapter 14-
Part 1- Perspective
"I mean starting over." She corrected softly. Nathan's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He must of heard wrong. His head swivelled in shock to meet her gaze.
"You serious?" He questioned, pure doubtfulness was evident behind his stony and solid speech.
"No. I just said that to get your attention." She laughed sarcastically. She took his face in her hands. "I love you too, Nathan." She confirmed as his lips crashed into hers. Her breath caught in her throat. It was a odd feeling, refreshing almost. Invigorating, yeah. It was an invigorating feeling.
"So... what, are we dating now?" He asks, slightly confused.
"I guess dating would be the correct term. But, just, Megan has to be okay with this. She comes first, always." She clarified. Nathan smiled at her reassuringly, nodding in agreement. Her heart skipped.
"She'll agree with it. I have her wrapped around my finger." He smirked, still just inches from her face. He knew he should probably move away, but he felt if he did, the moment might end.
Haley snorted, "I'm pretty sure it's the other way around." She squinted and whispered at him, her face breaking into a smile. Her whole face had soon lit up, just the way he remembered it did. Her 'loving smile' as he referred to it and he felt proud to have it directed at him once again. "I mean, everyone says she takes after her mother... right?" She smiled innocently.
"Are you suggesting that you have me whipped?" He leaned into her. She could feel his breath on her face and she closed her eyes.
"Yes.." She whispered faintly. Capturing her lips with his he placed a firm hand on her lower back to keep them from falling.
-.-.
"How was grandma and grandpa's Jenny?" Jake asked as he buttoned Jenny's coat.
"Boring." She sighed dramatically. "All grandpa does is sleep."
"Yeah? Didn't you and grandma do anything fun?"
She shrugged, shimming out of her coat and starting the walk to her bedroom. "We made cookies and she took me on her doings." Ever since Jake could remember, his mother had referred to her errands as "doings."
"Was that fun?" He called to her then turned to Peyton. "Give me a few minutes with her. I think... you know, that I should be the one to tell her." He whispered.
Peyton nodded. "Yeah of course." She said at the same time Jenny yelled back. "A little."
When Jake reached Jenny's room she was struggling with getting her sweater off of herself. He stopped in front of her and helped her out of it. "I missed you and mommy though." She whispered.
"We missed you too, baby girl."
"What were you doing, daddy?" She asked innocently, craning her head to one side. She sat down on her small bed and waited for Jake to get her pajamas.
"We were talking about grown up things." He told her. He kneeled down in front of her. "And we decided to get married."
"Like Aunt Brooke and Uncle Lucas?" She asked, her face turning quizzical and confused.
"Yeah. Like them. Are you okay with that?"
She looks up at the ceiling and considers this for a moment. "Sure." She finally shrugs. "Do I get another pretty dress?"
"Yeah, you do." He smiled.
"Okay. Mommy and you are good together." She yawned as he pulled her night shirt over her light brown head.
"Yeah, we are good together aren't we?" He smiled to himself.
"Read me a story please, daddy?" She asked, sticking out her lip to beg.
"Alright." He said going over to her bookshelf. "How about Clifford?"
She nodded feebly as she dug her feet down underneath the covers. "I love you daddy." She whispered.
"I love you too, baby girl." He said opening the book. He read until about half way threw, when he knew she was completely asleep, and then he quietly crept out of her room. Peyton was waiting nervously, leaning against the kitchen wall when he found her.
"How did she take it?" She asked but already knew the answer from the look on his face.
"We're going to be okay Peyton." He whispered, bringing her in for a hug. "Nothing like a seven year old to bring perspective on your life."
-.-.-
"What did you do with Grandpa?" Haley asked as she led Megan to the car.
"We played games and den I won dem." She bragged, climbing into her seat. The ride home consisted of smiling glances back and forth between Nathan and Haley while Megan continued to boast about her day with Grandpa Dan. Pulling up to Haley and Megan's house, Nathan looked over at Haley.
"Are you telling her alone, or do you want me to come with you?" He asked.
"I'll tell her, but I'll see you at breakfast tomorrow right?" She reminded more than asked.
"Miss a chance to talk about basketball? Never!" He joked.
"Good." She smiled. "Don't be late. Come on, Meg. Out of the car."
"Daddy's not comin'? She pouted, sticking her lip out and batting her eyelashes.
Haley held out her hand to help Megan hop out. "Not today." She smiled.
Megan looked down at the ground sadly, then glanced woefully back at her father. "Bye Daddy."
Haley tugged on Megan's hand to make her follow her into the house. She threw a secretive smile and wave over her shoulder back at him and Nathan's heart melted.
-.-.
The next morning was especially hectic. Haley's stress level had risen to a breaking point. She had yet to tell Megan about her relationship with Nathan, the water heater broke, Megan refused to get dressed, and a credit card company had just called and told her they had not recieved her payment when she was positive she had sent it in two weeks ago. Her high heeled shoes clicked on the hardwood floor as she walked and when a strap of Megan's toddler bag slipped off her shoulder the contents fell to the floor. As Haley was picking up a green crayola crayon a loud thud resounded throughout the house followed by Megan's shriek. "Mommy!" She immediately dropped everything and rushed to her daughter. Megan's eyes shone with unshed tears and her lips quivered. Both of her small hands held her bleeding knee, and she spoke solemnly. "Mommy, I gots an ouch."
"It's not too bad. Do you want a Dora or Care Bear band aid?" Haley soothed while she pressed a warm, damp cloth on the cut.
"Dora..." She whimpered, leaning on her mother. Haley reached up into the medicine cabinet and pulled out the box of band aids. "Blue or purple?"
"Bue..." She said in her best baby face. Haley unwrapped the band-aid and pressed it gently against her daughter's knee. "Thank you mommy." Megan squeaked, looking her small arms around Haley's neck.
"Anytime, sweetheart." Haley's heart gushed.
During her pregnancy, she had an odd feeling of resent and bitterness toward the child she saw before her now. However, that feeling changed completely at Megan's birth. She started having pains while she was out to lunch with Lucas. Her water broke hours later while they were stuck in a traffic jam. Then at the hospital, with Megan being overdue, it took her even longer to fully dilate, and the nurses had no choice but to make her sleep half way threw. The delivery was hell, never in her life had she ever felt such physical pain, including the time her brother pushed the chair she was sitting in down the stairs. But the moment she first held Megan in her arms, it made everything worth it. It was such a feeling of pure joy that Haley had wondered how it was even possible for her to have doubted such a blessing. Even now, as she gazed into her daughter's eyes, she still wondered.
"Baby, mommy needs to tell you something." She proclaimed and Megan's tearful eyes looked up at Haley face expectantly. "Your daddy and I..." The phone rang and Megan took off toward it.
"Hey- woah!" Megan chattered into the phone. "Mommy! It's Aunt Peyton!" She yelled, throwing the phone hard down on the floor and running to her room, forgetting the previous tears.
"Peyton?" Haley sighed into the phone.
"Hey, Haley. You okay? Ya sound kinda down."
"It's just been a very long morning.."
"Oh." Peyton paused on the other end.
"What? You paused. What's up?" Haley crankily demanded.
"Well, I was going to ask if you could take Jenny home after breakfast, but you obviously don't need that so..."
"No, Peyton. It's fine. Jenny can come over. I was only going to do some baking anyways. She's always welcome."
"You sure?" Haley could almost see Peyton's hesitation .
"Positive." She clarified as she rubbed her tense shoulder muscles.
"Thanks Haley." Peyton sighed appreciatively.
"Anytime. See you at breakfast."
Haley looked around the room. For a moment, she felt relaxed with the peace and quiet.
"MOM! I'm hungweee!"
It was official. She was having a very bad day.
-.-.
Lucas awoke and quickly glanced at the clock. 8: 02. He tore himself from bed and sluggishly moved toward the bathroom. There was a pink piece of paper tapped to the mirror.
Mr. Scott–
By the time you are reading this it better be eight because if you are late to Deb's again I will commit Spousal Abuse... No. I'm not kidding. You need to pick Nate up too, so finish your shower quick then Lance Armstrong your butt over to his beach house. (That means quickly if you're slow this morning).
Love, Mrs. Brooke Scott.
P.S. tell Nate to be on his best behavior w/ Haley today.
He snorted in laughter then hopped into the steaming shower. Thirty minutes later he was at Nathan's house, honking the horn. "Jesus, Luke. I heard the first time!" Nathan grumbled as he opened the door to the car.
"Well, why couldn't you have just driven like everyone else?"
"I don't know. Brooke called me and told me you were picking me up. At six in the morning might I add." He shot back. "Am I allowed to wear these sandals? It's too hot to wear dress shoes." He added, bending over to tighten his brown sandals on his feet.
"They're fine." He mumbled. They sat in silence, just listening to the radio comfortably for a while. Lucas thought back to Brooke's note earlier. "So, uh. Have you talked to Haley lately?"
He tried to hold it in, but a grin spread across Nathan's face. He turned toward the window to conceal it. "Yeah. Last night. She helped me pick out some stuff for the house."
"I take it you two are talking now." He posed as more of a question.
"I think we're doing pretty good." Nathan nodded in agreement. His relationship with his brother combined with his pride made him stop there. They had never really talked about much anything outside of basketball, and when they did, it stopped abruptly. Lucas had similar feelings towards their relationship, but his curiosity and platonic love for Haley got the best of him. He shot a questionable stare at Nathan as he drove onto Deb and Dan's street.
"What aren't you telling me?" He asked.
Nathan shrugged. "Nothing important."
-.-.-
"You are late, boys. What a shocker that was." Deb dead panned widening the door so they could walk threw.
"Nice to see you too, mom." Nathan smirked, bending down to give her a kiss on the cheek.
Lucas rolled his eyes. "Good morning, Deb. Is Brooke here yet?"
"Just arrived." She nodded. She placed her hand on Nathan's back and gave him a push toward the backyard. "You two go on. I'll be out in a minute. I need to get the orange juice from the fridge."
Stepping out onto the back porch, they had to shield their eyes from the beaming sun and Nathan immediately thought of how ridiculous it was that they weren't eating in the dining room. In air conditioning. He scanned the porch and saw that Peyton and Jake were seated already at the table as was Brooke. Jenny was coloring at the plastic picnic table, and his father was standing at the barbecue, relentlessly turning over the sizzling bacon. He was more than disappointed that Haley wasn't there, she said she would be.
"You're late." The group rolled their eyes at them in unison.
"So apparently is Ms. Punctuality though, so I think we're okay. Speaking of, where is the lovely Haley?" Lucas asked. He placed a small kiss on Brooke's lips before taking his seat next to her.
"I talked to her on the phone this morning. Sounded like she was having a rough morning." Peyton sighed sympathetically.
"Alright. Who wants Orange Juice?" Carrying a pitcher of juice, Deb smiled.
At that same moment, the backyard fence gate swung open and a little brown haired girl with a Care Bear band- aid on her knee skipped in. "I'm HERE!" She announced, swinging her arms for effect. She was dressed in a light purple undershirt and khaki skirt overalls.
"And we're all so excited!" Deb laughed, over- exaggerating her moments as well, which omitted a small laugh from the child.
Soon after a tired, slow moving Haley came threw the gate. "Sorry we're late, Deb. She wouldn't get dressed, and then she fell and then-" She rambled wearily.
"Don't worry about it honey. We're not even close to being ready to eat yet, anyways."
"Tutorgirl, are you okay?" Brooke asked.
"Yeah, I'm just going to go use the bathroom. Megan, stay at the picnic table where you can be seen, okay?" Megan nodded indistinctly, caught up in Jenny's story. Haley was still very much afraid of leaving Megan alone. Megan had unfortunately inherited Haley's trait of clumsiness. A stroke of pure misfortune for Haley's worrisome mind.
Nathan watched her retreat into the house and wondered if he should follow her. He glanced at Megan who hadn't said a word to him yet. He figured either she didn't know yet, because he was positive a four ("and a half!") year old would want her parents together.
"Well, guys we're almost ready to eat. Five more minutes maybe." He smiled.
Nathan forced a small smile at his words, but it was feeble and clouded by his thoughts. Around him, the table murmured with thankful words. Shortly after, he saw a short brown head moving toward him.
"Daddy, I gotta go potty, but mommy won't let me." She whispered. He chuckled at the serious tone in her small voice.
"Come on, I'll take you."
As Nathan and Megan walked down the hall that contained the closest bathroom, the door swung open and Haley appeared. Immediately, Nathan and Haley made eye contact and Haley gave him more of a recognition smile than anything else. Megan walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. Haley and Nathan stood silently in the hallway, until Megan was heard humming from inside the bathroom.
"You can go, I'll wait for her." Haley told him. This situation was more awkward than she had expected.
He stared at her hard for a moment, ignoring her previous statement. "You didn't tell her."
"I tried, but she wouldn't stay still this morning." She offered as an excuse. He took in the tired expression on her face once more and sighed internally. Part of him wanted to be mad. The other part wanted to make her feel better.
"I could tell her."
"No, you can't." She denied.
"Yes. Trust me I can." He smirked. From inside the door they heard the toilet flush and the humming stopped. The water ran.
"No. Nathan, she'll be-" Haley whispered urgently as the door creaked open.
"Megan, your mom and I are dating." He blurted out. Haley let out a breath.
"Dating?" Her young face screwed up in confusion.
"Yep. It means we're kind of together, I guess." He added as clarification.
"Oh, that was a great definition, Boy Wonder." Haley rolled her eyes.
"Do you have something better!" He implored, but she shut her mouth. "That's what I thought."
"Togever? But all you do is get mean at each ofver." She said, walking back toward the screen doors. Nathan and Haley stopped and stared at each other.
"Why exactly are we angry at each other?" Haley asked.
Nathan shrugged and whispered, "Why didn't you tell her Haley?"
She looked down at her feet. "What if it doesn't work out? I don't want her to get hurt."
He shook his head. "You're scared you'll get hurt." He protested, taking a step toward her. His rough hand brushed her cheek and he promised, "I won't hurt you again, Haley."
"I love you." She whispered.
"I love you too." He crushed his lips into hers.
-.-.
"We have an announcement to make." Jake declared during breakfast. He intertwined his fingers with Peyton's and a grin grew on her face.
"We're engaged!" She screeched holding her hand out for everyone to see her engagement ring.
"P. Sawyer! I am ecstatic! Now we get to plan YOUR wedding!" Brooke shrieked. The table groaned playfully as they offered their congratulations.
"I get another dress!" Jenny piped up from behind them.
"I wanna dress too!" Megan exclaimed in following.
"YOUR parents aren't getting married!" Jenny rolled her eyes.
"So, they are dating!" She shouted. A collective gasp sounded throughout the table and smiles faded from their faces. Haley and Nathan looked at each other, panicked.
"Is this true?" Deb asked.
"Yes." Nathan said firmly.
"Oh lord." Brooke shuddered. "Uh, well. Deb, you probably need help with these dishes." She said, gathering a few plates.
"And you're going to do them?" Lucas laughed, avoiding eye contact with Haley and Nathan.
"Shut up Lucas." She glared.
"Ookay! Shutting up." Even he, didn't want to feel the wrath of a pregnant Brooke.
"You don't have to Brooke. I'll do them. You should probably be going, you don't want to miss your appointment." Deb laughed nervously.
"Uh, yeah right. Luke we should get going."
"Yeah, us too, Jake. Come on Jenny, get your stuff together, we're leaving." Peyton said awkwardly.
"Aw, but-"
"No 'Aw, but''s allowed, let's go." She pushed Jenny toward the gate, waved goodbye and thanked Deb and Dan, followed by Brooke and Lucas.
"Did we just seriously scare away our family?" She laughed humorlessly.
"I think we did."
-.-.-
So, it wasn't supposed to end there, not really, but I figured, you had waited long enough.
Up Next:
- Brucas Baby news
- 4th of July Family Outing
- Everyone's against them. How will they deal?
- Visitors, memories and fireworks.
Shout Outs:
2060mipy: You're a good kid. You have spunk, andI like it.Nathan's character will eventually getto be hopefully where you like him again. You'll see in the upcoming chapters how he will kinda "protect" his relationship with Haley, even when she feels it may be over. Maybe I've said to much. I do that alot...
Beachiegal: I was referring to Nathan & Haley when I said guess who's back, but are they back for good? Hmm... but in the next or maybe the one after next chapter someone new will be coming 'back' to visit. The character has been mentioned before, but hasn't made an appearance. Yet.
Nicolec: Dan might not get, evil, per say. But it is a definite possibility that in the next few chapters he clamps down again.
RoseRows: I don't think I'll ever get sick of telling you this, I really like you. You asked about my feelings, AND reviewed. That was a nice touch. :) Ha, so anyways, I know you're probably mad at me for the length in between updates, but like I said, my computer was being retarded and would freeze every time I tried to open Microsoft Word. Im sorry about the cliffhanger and the wait.
Miki012: Thanks,I think you rock too.
HaleynNathan23- I like new readers, especially ones that review.Im glad you enjoy my story andnow you get a shout out, how lucky are you!
Cadi Cay: Hey, new reader, you're cool. You must read pretty fast though. And that's cool, I read super fast too.
Nathanlvr: I love Naley, but I don't let it cloud my story because I hate all fluff stories.
LOVE YOU ALL Katie