Ep. 9
"Haley," Nathan called to her the next morning in the hallway as he stepped up behind her grabbing her hand and pulling her into an empty classroom, taking over her lips with his own quickly.
"Mmm, uh, we can't do this here right now," she giggled, slowly pulling back from him, laying a hand on her chest.
"We just did," he laughed back, "alright, I'll kiss you later."
Haley smiled peering out of the classroom as Nathan dodged the bodies colliding in the hallway. "What is that for?" Lucas startled her. She turned to find him with a disapproving look on his face.
"It's a good morning," she replied, grinning before taking off down the hallway herself, she knew Lucas couldn't really be anymore upset.
Nathan groaned inwardly blocking out half of Whitey's speech, he knew his goal for this game was to score the 43 points it took to replace his father's record. He had a goal to methodically erase Dan's records in both basketball and fatherhood, beginning with this point record.
"So you and Haley are a thing now?" Lucas asked as they entered the locker room, both boys had decided independently to try and get along for Haley's sake if nothing else.
"Yeah," he nodded, removing his shirt as he pushed his locker open, "and I'm not apologizing for it, and I'd appreciate if you don't make her feel guilty over it." Lucas stared after his younger brother in silence amazed he hadn't made a jab about taking Haley from him, he figured that'd be Nathan's first move.
"It's cool okay?" Lucas sighed stepping up next to Nathan at their lockers after showering, "I just want her to be happy and if you can do that, then I have to live with it. But you hurt her…"
"I don't think Tommy would forgive me," Nathan chuckled, "you might as well know, he's my son."
"I guess you aren't Dan after all," was all Lucas could think of to say before silently turning back to his own locker.
"What are you doing in here?" Nathan asked as he stepped back into the gym grinning when he saw his girlfriend holding a basketball, looking pensive.
"Well you did promise that you were going to kiss me later…" she trailed off blushing at her own forwardness.
"We should fix that then," he leaned forward pecking her lips, and when he leaned back up, she followed ending up on her toes as he pulled completely all the way back. He laughed at the pout she displayed, "not what you had in mind?"
"Not really," she giggled pulling down on his neck with her free hand and his lips easily molded to hers.
"So, not to cut this short," he started, "but I need to get back to the house, Carrie has an appointment this afternoon and as you know Mom is working, and lord knows Dan wouldn't watch him if either of their lives depended on it."
"Okay," she sank back onto her heels, releasing his neck and allowing her hand to drift to his bicep, "I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?"
"Or you could swing by later tonight and join us for dinner?" he offered hopefully.
"I'll see you tonight then," she promised, bouncing on her toes before turning around, but she quickly turned back tossing him the ball she had been holding and with a grin she was gone.
"How's your sandwich?" Dan asked from his seat across the counter from Haley and Nathan that night.
"Almost warm," Nathan replied taking Haley's before she could even get a bite and walking toward the microwave to warm them.
"I didn't even get to taste it," she pouted, smiling when Tommy placed his hand on her knee as if in comfort, she had to admit he was totally stealing her heart…just as quickly as his father.
"Well, I'll start cooking again. Unless your mother comes to her senses," he spoke to Nathan before turning to Haley, "we'll see if Haley can handle a Scott dinner."
"Dad," Nathan's tone was a firm warning as he pulled their sandwiches from the microwave.
"Sorry," he insincerely retorted, "Hurry up, we can get in one more good work out before dark."
"I'm sorry…about him," Nathan sighed, when Dan finally left the kitchen.
"It's okay," she smiled, handing Tommy a fry, "it's not your fault, so I guess I should get out of here, so you can practice."
"Haley," he sighed, "you didn't even finish your sandwich."
"It's okay," she promised, "I'll see you tomorrow, bye Tommy," she placed a kiss on the little boy's hair line before turning to Nathan smiling when he came down to her for a long slow kiss, "Okay I'm leaving, have fun boys."
"Loads," Nathan remarked dryly, sitting once again, starting his sandwich.
"Cove City game's coming up," Dan remarked, stepping back into the kitchen moments later.
"Yeah. Whitey said something about the sun not rising if we lose," he mumbled, chuckling when Tommy threw a fry towards his father.
"Teach the kid not to throw food," he snapped, "And that old bat might actually be right for once. Of course, you know who scored the most points against the Cavaliers, right? 42," he finished after Nathan nodded acknowledging his father's legacy.
"Yeah. I'm looking to top that this week," he smirked, cleaning up the mess of fries on the floor and counter.
"No. You won't. You want to know why? Because you're not tough enough inside. I got coverage on buckets you'll never get because you can't bang down low like I did, that plus the fact that your conditioning is crap. I never left the floor during a game," he snarled toward him, just as Deb walked in.
"Hey, guys," she smiled at the three males in her kitchen.
"I'm happy, Mom. Dad loves me," Nathan responded dryly leaving the mess and taking Tommy with him he took off to his room.
Nathan didn't even think as he called Tim and requested some form of enhancer to help him get through the next few days and the game on Friday night. He sighed, dropping onto the chest at the foot of his bed, Tommy was busy on the floor gumming the edges of one of his books.
"Hey buddy," Nathan slid down on the floor next to him, "I'll trade you?" he offered holding a rubber pacifier out to him and pulling gently on the book. Tommy grinned, Deb and Carrie had been trying to wean him from the object but Nathan still gave it to him. He'd been making notes about what to ask the doctor next week and that was at the top of the list, "I can't believe you turn a year old in less than two weeks."
"Dada," he laughed, pulling the pacifier from his own mouth to place a slobbery wet kiss on Nathan's cheek, before popping it back in.
"Thank you," he pulled him into his lap, his little boy had managed to erase every evil thought and feeling his father had given him earlier, "can I talk to you?" Tommy's blue eyes held Nathan's as he scooted to lean back against the side of his bed, "Like you're going to answer right?" their eyes sparkled in unison as if both knew Nathan's words were true but they still understood each other, "you like Haley?" those little eyes sparkled again and Nathan could make out the upturned lips around his rubber toy, he recognized and associated that correctly. "Yeah, I like her too. You think she likes us? I don't know, buddy. I think we may too much for her, plus she's Luke's friend and we still don't like him."
Tommy seemed to give his father a disapproving look, "Okay, so we like him a little," Nathan conceded, "I think it's time for somebody's bath," Nathan checked his watch as Tommy yawned allowing the pacifier to fall from his lips, "we'll talk again tomorrow?" Nathan checked as he carried a tired Tommy into his room after his bath. The little boy didn't hear though, he was already asleep; Nathan gently dressed him afraid of waking him. He held him tight breathing in the clean baby smell. He knew it wouldn't last much longer, and he realized he needed his son to stay young so he could as well. "Goodnight Toms," he left a lingering kiss on the dark mass of hair before placing him into his crib and pulling the royal blue blanket up to his chest.
Nathan was going through the motions that morning, accepting the amphetamines from Tim and downing one every couple hours. Haley'd caught on to something weird though, and she wasn't all that thrilled about inviting him to her house that night when both knew that her parents weren't going to be there. Carrie had been able to watch Tommy that night too, there was nothing stopping them and that worried Haley more than she cared to admit.
"What's bothering you?" she huffed finally fed up with all of Nathan's anxious pacing and twittering, he'd been at it for over half an hour he had to be tired.
"You know we play Cove City tomorrow, right?" he tucked his hands under his thighs trying to keep them from shaking and continued on without an acknowledgement from Haley, "my Dad has the all time scoring record against them and I need to beat that."
"Nath--" Haley started moving to stand in front of him.
"You don't understand Haley, I have to do better than him, in his mind I'll never measure up especially having Tommy as early as I did," he stood moving away from her, those drugs were messing with his libido.
"Nathan you've already beaten, you're taking responsibility for your son, and believe it or not that's more important than who has what record in basketball. Don't let him do this to you," she stepped in front of him again taking his hands into her own, "You're a good Dad, and a good ball player…a good person."
"Not good enough," he hissed pacing away from her, "I'll never be good enough for him…hell I'll never be good enough for you."
"Nathan…what?" she asked confused, she had no idea how they'd moved from him not measuring up in Dan's mind to her.
"Let's be honest, Haley. No girl in high school wants to date the guy with a kid, unless they want one of their own or well…sex and you don't want either," Haley started to interrupt him, "that's good Haley, a lot of 16-year-olds don't. You're a good person Haley and I'm the bad boy with a son, this won't work, we both know it," his voice continued to get louder as he ranted and suddenly it was silent. Haley gave him a perplexed look and he couldn't take it anymore, "I need to go."
"Nathan, wait," she tried to stop him, but he was gone. And she was confused, 'was this about sex?' She thought incredulously, they could talk about this stuff; he didn't have to go off the deep end. She wasn't positive but she was pretty sure the relationship had ended…before it'd even started.
They'd managed to avoid each other Friday at school. Haley would've opted for ice cream and romantic movies so she could wallow, but she wanted to support Lucas, plus he'd begged her to come. So she sat next to Keith Scott like she did every week avoiding Nathan's gaze as it drifted to her during pre-game warm-up, and she watched him stab away at his father's record at a rapid pace. If he kept playing that way he'd break the record before the third quarter was half way through. He looked tired though and he kept shaking and she knew something wasn't right.
Watching him fall to the floor had been one of the hardest things she'd ever have to see. His head seemed to bounce off the floor unnaturally. She gave Lucas an apologizing look and followed the stretcher out to the parking lot, once she'd heard the EMT tell where they were going she started toward the bus stop, checking her watch to mentally calculate the next arrival. The bus must have been half way through town when she realized Deb was still at the café. She got a few menacing looks when she pulled the emergency stop lever above her head, nodding to the driver as she bounded down the steps and hoofed it as quickly as her short legs could go to get to the café.
"Hey. I was on my way to check on him, and then I realized you were here, so I turned around and came back. You should go, how is he?" she was taking deep breaths when she barged into the empty café. She'd never understood why they didn't just close early on Friday nights during basketball season; everybody was at the game anyway.
"What?" Deb looked up from the book she was reading to Tommy, who was comfortably settled in her lap, "what happened?"
"Nathan collapsed at the game," she rushed out, going behind the counter to get Deb's purse and jacket, "go."
"I…Tommy…" she stuttered handing him to Haley as she pulled her jacket on quickly.
"I've got him, I'll bring him by the house in the morning, go," she held the door open, for Deb.
"He's got diapers, formula, and a change of clothes in his bag, and he'll need a bath tonight…" she trailed off think rapidly as Haley followed her to her car.
"I'll figure everything else out," Haley promised waving as Deb pulled away from the curb. Going back inside she put Tommy in his playpen behind the counter, "I'll lock up and then we can go," she promised, when he started whimpering reaching up toward her. She needed to wipe down the counter and get all the chairs up before they could leave but she couldn't just leave him whimpering. Searching his diaper bag she came up with a blue pacifier with basketballs decorating it, "this work for you?" she asked popping it between his lips. She wiped gently at his tears before turning back to the café giving it an appraising look.
Taking care of the youngest Scott had actually been a good thing, Haley'd decided as she played with Tommy during his bath. This was only a good thing because it allowed her to take her mind off worrying about Nathan and on worrying about his son. She wasn't sure she'd quite wrapped her mind around the fact that her sort of boyfriend was a dad, until this night when she'd done everything for him, including the story she was currently reading as he emptied his bottle. His eyes were glued to her face taking in every movement she made as she rocked gently, quietly murmuring the words to the story.
"You look perfect," a soft voice called from her guest bedroom door, she looked up surprised to find Nathan leaning in the doorway, "No one answered the door."
"They're gone for the weekend," she replied closing the book she still held in her hand and laying in to the table next to her, "you okay?"
"Not really," he sighed moving from the doorway, he sat next to her feet resting his chin in her lap, "I'm sorry about last night, I wasn't really myself."
"What happened? You were fine and then you just freaked out on me," she sighed, Tommy moved his head snuggling further into her breast and she sighed again running a hand through the little boy's hair waiting for Nathan's answer.
"I let my Dad's pressure consume me and instead of trying to overcome him, I called Tim and got a hold of some enhancers," he paused and she was bout to interrupt, "I know it was stupid, okay? I'm not going to do it again."
"What did the doctor say?" this time her hand drug through his hair.
"I didn't do any permanent damage," his eyes closed as she seemed to massage his scalp, "but I'll probably be nauseous for the next 24 to 48 hours."
"Well come on, I'll put Tommy down and then we'll go to bed," she decided, "You are staying, right?"
"Yeah," he smiled, "actually can he sleep with us?" he stopped her when she was about to put him in the crib.
"Yeah," she repeated his answer following him through her home.
"So why do your parents have all this baby stuff anyway," he asked when she joined them from the bathroom a little while later. Fresh from her shower she'd changed into cute pjs and a small tank top.
"I have six older siblings and so far three nieces and nephews, well four actually, that's where my parents are," she answered, lying next to him. Both were lying flat on their backs, Tommy lying on Nathan's bare chest, sound asleep.
"What are you doing all the way over there?" he asked grabbing her hand and rolling her towards him, so she ended up on her side. Her head on the other half of this bare chest, and her breasts pushed into his ribs, "this isn't about sex Haley. I just want you to lay here with us."
"But it was sex with Peyton?" she asked quietly straining her neck to look up, but her eyes only met his chin as he continued to stare at the ceiling.
"I didn't know about Tommy, when I started sleeping with Peyton. I thought I could make the relationship more after that, but it wasn't what we needed. The next time I go that far I want it to be meaningful and we aren't there yet, so it's not about sex Haley."
"Okay," she settled her head back comfortably, staring at Tommy's face, "who's his mom?" she let the question slip, almost without realizing it, "oh, you don't have to answer that?"
"Haley, its fine," he breathed, "she contacted me after he was born; I didn't even know she was pregnant."
"So how exactly…well not how—I do know th--" Nathan tugged lightly on her hair, getting her head to tilt back so he could kiss her, "Rambling? Sorry."
"It's okay. Ashley and I met at basketball game two summers ago, she was the camp director's daughter actually," he snorted, "she was 17 and I was 14, we just ended up hanging out all summer, it wasn't until we met up again on New Years in Charlotte that we started sleeping together," he sighed running a hand through her hair, "we were exclusive and I was actually proud of the relationship. She came up the week of my 15th birthday and we spent the entire week together. My birthday was on a Saturday that year and Mom had had to leave town and Dad ended up working the entire day, so we spent the entire day alone in bed. Anyway she called me about three weeks later and broke it off. I didn't hear from her again for six months, October 25, hours after he was born. She told me I needed to come to Charlotte to see my premature son and sign away my rights so he could be put up for adoption."
"Nath--" she tried to stop him, when she heard his voice crack.
"I took one look at him, curled up in an incubator because he was too small to keep his body temperature, a diaper two sizes too big the only thing he wore and multiple tubes running in and around him, and I couldn't give him up," he took a deep breath, clearing away the roughness from his voice, "I drove back and forth for almost three months, every weekend I showed up took lessons from the nurses, and when I finally brought him home, I kept him hidden. I think I was afraid of losing him more than protecting myself, I was lucky he even made it that far in life." This time his deep breath was shuttering and Haley looked up wiping at his tears and they both smiled gently, "anyway Peyton never knew, I didn't want anybody to know, because somebody could take him. But you for some reason I wasn't afraid for you to know."
"Thank you," she whispered, "for telling me, can I asked another question?" she glanced up at him and he gave a small nod, "where is…Ashley?...now?"
"I don't know, she signed over her parental rights, but the court did order that she pay a monthly support. I have no idea where she is physically or mentally though. She was my first love and the mother of my son but if I never see her again it'll be too soon."
They settled into silence, both slowly drifting off, to what would come to be one of Nathan's best nights in a long time. Haley knew she wanted to stay like this with Nathan and Tommy for a long time…forever if it were possible.