Nathan
was sitting in a seat, surrounded by an elderly lady, and a young kid
on the plane. He picked up the airplane phone, and dialed Haley's
number.
"Hi, Haley's not available so leave a message and i'd
LOVE to call you back…"
---beep. "Haley, it's Nathan. I'm
sorry. I, i, I don't know what to say, but I am on my way to
Chicago. Please Haley, call me back okay. I should be landing soon,
so please, call me. I love you Hales…"
Nathan hung up the
phone, and sat back in his seat breathing deeply.
"What did you
do?" The nosy lady next to him asked.
Nathan was caught off
guard, "something that is too much to forgive."
"Your on
your way to see this 'Hales' lady?" She asked.
"Yeah,
Haley. She's my wife…atleast she was, before I slept with her
best friend while she was gone away on tour." Nathan explained,
residing that he had nothing to lose by telling the woman.
"Wow.
Well, that is quite a lot to forgive."
"Yeah…" Nathan
distanced himself a bit.
"Do you think she'll take you back?"
The lady pressured him again.
"No. I don't know. Probably not.
I'm going to fight for it though."
"I use to be married."
The lady explained.
"What happened?" Nathan stared at her, not
really interested.
"He passed away a few years ago. We use to
live in Chicago, and after he died I moved to New York. I thought
that the city would be a good distraction."
"So why are you
flying back?" Nathan seemed a bit more enticed.
"I promised
myself that on the anniversary of his death I would drive back to our
old house. I just drive by a few times, circle around the block. And
than I fly out the next morning."
"What for?" Nathan
asked.
The old lady stacked up her books. "Because even though
we had made our mistakes, we loved each other, and we made a
wonderful life together. It's nice to see a part of that ever once
in a while, to ease the pain." She smiled, and placed her hand on
his. "I'm sure she'll find it in her heart to forgive
you."
"Thanks." Nathan's eyes looked saddened, and as the
old lady opened up her book Nathan stared out the window.
"Wow,
great place you got here…" Peyton said sarcastically.
"Very
funny! I'm sorry it's a little small, but it's been just me for
years and…"
"I mean it's a mess, Luke." Peyton laughed,
and pushed some of his clothes, hats and basketballs out of the
closet floor.
"Yeah, yeah." Lucas grabbed a hold of her hips,
and twirled her towards his lips. He placed his gently on hers, and
held her hands in his.
"This is really good."
"What,
kissing?" Lucas asked humorously.
"Yes. That and us, and being
here, and seeing you and just everything. I'm happy, Luke. I told I
could be." Peyton said, as she walked out of his room.
"Where
are you going?" Lucas asked confused.
"Brooke…"
"Peyton,
let me come with you." Lucas started to walk after her.
Peyton
stopped him, and hugged him, than pulled away. "Lucas, I really
need to do this on my own, okay?"
"Yeah, sure. Uhh, i'll see
you back here in a bit then?"
"Yeah." Peyton grabbed her
jacket and car keys, and took off.
Brooke opened her door
to Peyton's face, and then backed away with the door open. "Hey!
You're here."
"Yeah. Can we talk for a second?" Peyton
asked, stepping into the doorway.
"Sure. Uhh, is Lucas at
home?"
"Yeah Brooke he is. Look, i'm here…for good. And I
wanted to thank-you for calling me, and I just want to tell you that
I have really missed you Brooke. I'm sorry about everything, and I
know it may not seem like it sometimes, but I am Brooke. I have
missed you so much, and this is all so perfect, but it's missing
one thing." Peyton said still standing apart from Brooke in her
doorway.
"What?" Brooke was smiling.
"You, my best
friend, my Brooke." Peyton said, smiling bigger.
Brooke walked
over to her, and gave her a hug, and held it for a minute. "I'm
glad your back P sawyer."
"I'm really glad to be back."
Peyton hugged Brooke again. "Listen, i've got to get back to
Lucas', plus it's late."
"Is Nathan at home, I should
probably go talk to him." Brooke asked.
"Actually he's in
Chicago."
"What?!" Brooke was shocked.
"Yeah, he went
to find Haley."
"Oh Gosh. Well, that's good I guess. Anyway,
thanks for stopping by."
"Hey if your not busy tomorrow, maybe
you can join Lucas and I for dinner?" Peyton asked, rubbing
Brooke's arm.
"yeah, i'd love too. I'll call you
tomorrow."
"Okay, goodnight." Peyton walked out the door,
and headed back to Luke's.
Nathan got off the plane, and
checked his messages…nothing. He called around to almost all of
Chicago's hotels, and finally around midnight he found out where
Haley was staying.
Nathan hopped a cab to Haley's
hotel.
Knock…knock.
Haley opened her hotel door, while on the
phone. Her eyes widened, and her mouth dropped.
"Excuse me a
second, some idiot is at my door." Haley placed the call on
hold.
"Haley…hey…"
"What the hell are you doing
here?" Haley asked rushed.
"Didn't you get my message?"
Nathan said, trying to force himself in.
"No. Nathan, i'm on a
conference call from Japan, get the hell out!"
"Haley I don't
have anywhere to stay. Please, i'm tired, I haven't been home all
day, please let me in." Nathan pleaded.
"Fine!" Haley opened
the door wider, and as Nathan stepped in, Haley grabbed the phone and
took off.
"Haley wait!" Nathan yelled, but Haley slammed the
door before he could chase after her.
Nathan stepped into the
shower to get cleaned up, and prepare for Haley to come back.
At
around 2am Haley walked in the door, as Nathan was nodding off in a
chair.
"Haley! Where have you been?"
"I finished up my
call, and than I slept with some guy…"
Nathan looked at her
weirdly. "What?"
"Kidding. My name isn't
Nathan."
"Haley!"
"Nathan, do not Haley me right now.
You sleep with Brooke, lie to me about it, than follow me to my hotel
room. Are you crazy? Just go home." Haley told him coldly, as she
leaned against the kitchen counter with her arms folded.
"Haley,
please listen to me."
"What do you want Nathan?
Forgiveness…there is no point. We've drifted apart, and you know
it. This isn't as much about Brooke as it is about us. This isn't
worth fighting for anymore. I'm going to finish up the tour, and
then i'm moving to New York to do some more recording. I'm not
coming back to Tree Hill Nathan, I never was." Haley looked sad,
and she turned away immediately.
"What? But you said-"
Nathan's eyes watered.
Haley turned her back to Nathan, and
started to pour coffee into a mug. "Nathan I have a career, and a
shot. And people like my music, and I like my music. I love my music,
Nathan. I'm sorry." She sipped her coffee, than turned around and
looked him in the eye. "You can stay here tonight, but please be
gone in the morning. I have a few meetings early tomorrow, so I
probably won't be able to say goodbye."
"Haley you can't
do this. How can you look at me and say this so coldly? Not a tear in
your eye. We've been married for 7 years. I love you Haley, and i'm
sorry that I hurt you, but you planned all this before that!"
Nathan stood up, and spoke softly.
"Nathan…" Haley put her
cup down.
Nathan walked toward her, and she held her arms out to
guide him away. "Haley, come on." He walked closer, and cornered
her into the centre of the counters.
"Nathan, please don't."
Haley pleaded, holding her head the other way.
Nathan grazed his
hand across her cheek. "I met this old lady on the plane ride here.
Her husband passed away today a few years ago, and she was going out
to visit there home. Even though they made there mistakes, they loved
eachother, and made a life for themselves. Don't take that away
from me, from yourself." Nathan backed away to give her her
space.
Haley stared into Nathan's eyes, and placed her hand on
his cheek this time. "Nathan, i'm not trying to take something
away from you. I'm doing this for you, you deserve better than a
wife for a weekend out of every year. I can't be your wife anymore
Nathan. And it kills me, and I love you, I just want to make this
easy on you."
"You want to make it easy on me?" Nathan's
raised his voice.
"Yes I do." Haley explained softer.
Nathan
pressed his lips against Haley's, and she kissed back deeper.
Nathan grabbed her sides, and pushed her, dipping her back onto the
counter top. He kissed her upwards, pushing on her stomach. She
pushed up, and guided him around the island, into the dark bedroom.
Nathan spun her around and guided her gently onto the bedspread. He
motioned her upwards, tugging on the material of her top. She pulled
his shirt off over his head, than her own. She eased backwards, and
pulled her mouth onto hers.
"I love you Nathan…" she
whispered in the darkness and silence.
