He drove all night and had just reached New York City when the sun broke over the distant hills. Her tour was supposed to have played in the city the night before and he hoped that she was still there. It hadn't been too difficult to locate her – just a few phone calls placed to some choice hotels where everyone was buzzing with the news that Chris Keller was in town. If Nathan heard that name one more time he was either going to kill someone or throw up. He hadn't decided which yet.
He reached the hotel where they had said she was staying and walked up to the desk. "Haley Scott?" he demanded, Tyler squirming in his arms.
"Um, we don't have a Haley Scott staying here," stated the clerk, scanning her finger down a long list. "I'm sorry." She smiled sweetly at him as if to say that it was still okay. It wasn't okay. Nathan was about to wring her neck just to get that stupid smile off her face.
"James. Try Haley James," he said impatiently. This time, her finger stopped halfway down the list.
"We have a Haley James. But it says here she doesn't want any visitors. I'm sorry, sir, you'll just have to –"
"I'm her husband, damnit!" cried Nathan. Tyler jerked at the loud voice and started to cry. Nathan bounced him in his arms and whispered an apology into his soft hair.
"Oh," stated the clerk, looking rather uncomfortable. "I was under the impression that she was with Chris Keller." Nathan's glare was enough for her to quickly give him the room number and scurry away muttering about "People these days!"
He banged his fist on the hotel room door incessantly.
"Hold on, I'm coming, I'm coming," came a voice, a male voice. Chris.
As soon as the door opened, Nathan reared back and landed a right hook just under Chris' eye.
"What the fuck?"
"You asshole! She's my wife!" screamed Nathan.
"Cool it, dude," answered Chris from the floor. "We're just splitting the room cost. I crashed on the floor."
"Right. Chris Keller, sleeping on the floor. Do you really expect me to believe that?"
"He did, Nathan." Nathan looked up from Chris to see Haley walking out of the bathroom. She looked just as good as ever. Her just washed hair hung loosely over her shoulders in beautiful honey curls. Nathan watched as she approached, amazed that even after so much pain and hate he could still be this breathtaken by her beauty. She smiled at him, and then at the little boy in his arms.
Haley reached out for her son, but Tyler whimpered and buried his head in Nathan's chest. He had been so little when she left, and he hadn't seen her for so long. Tears came to Haley's eyes as she realized the impact of her choices on her family. She dropped her arms and said softly, "You've done a good job with him, Nathan. You're a good father." She paused. "I'm glad that even if I couldn't be there –"
"Couldn't?" demanded Nathan. "Or wouldn't? Do you realize what we've gone through since you left? A year, Haley. It's been a year. Lucas nearly died, Haley. Did you know that? Did you even care?"
"Of course I care, Nathan," came the soft reply. "Do you think that it's been easy for me? But this was too good an opportunity to pass up. Working with Chris has been –"
"Yeah," interrupted Nathan. "Working with Chris."
"Hey, man. She's good. Real good. She's got a shot at making it, and she can't do that from Tree Hill," spoke up Chris. He brushed himself off after Nathan's punch. "No hard feelings, man?"
"LEAVE!" yelled Nathan. He held Tyler tightly with his little head pressed to Nathan's chest so he wouldn't be frightened. Chris scrambled to his feet and into the bathroom before Nathan could punch him again. "Haley," Nathan continued more quietly, "Can we talk?" She nodded and grabbed a jacket from the closet before motioning him outside.
They walked around the nearby park, talking about everything – their lives in the past year, how lonely they had been, what the future could hold. Nathan told her how he had felt abandoned and Haley admitted just how many times she had called and hung up the phone or nearly gone home before Chris convinced her to stay. They spent the whole day in the park, just walking and talking. At one point, Nathan pushed Tyler on the swings and helped him slide down the playground slides. Slowly, Nathan and Haley let each other back into their lives, through the walls that both had built around their hearts. Just after dusk, as the orange lamps flickered on in the park, Nathan reached out and took Haley's hand. Neither spoke, but both felt the comfort of holding hands, of being together after so many months apart, of realizing that their love really could transcend the ache of loneliness and the regrets they both shared. And the family of three decided to try again, to make amends in the little town on the coast of North Carolina that they both called home.
Nathan opened his front door the following morning to see his brother, shaky but standing on his own. "You left," said Lucas. "I woke up and you were gone." Nathan nodded silently, unsure of how to tell Lucas the truth. He didn't get the chance.
"Nathan?" called Haley from the back bedroom. "Who's at the door?" She walked out of a back bedroom clothed in nothing but one of Nathan's old t-shirts. When she saw who was at the door, she squealed and ran into his arms. "Luke! I missed you!" Lucas stumbled backwards as she hugged him, grabbing the stair railing before he fell over completely.
Over Haley's shoulder, the brothers spoke with their eyes. "I'm sorry," said Nathan silently. "It just happened."
"But why? Was I not good enough for you?"
"Of course you were good enough, Luke. But Haley, she's my wife."
"I know. I guess we both knew it wouldn't last."
"Luke?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry."
"Me too."
Haley broke away from Lucas and asked, "Well, why are we still standing here? Luke, come in, come in."
But Lucas looked at her and then looked at his brother and shook his head. "No, I actually have to go. I – I'll just see you later." He owed it to his brother and best friend to give them a second chance.
Haley nodded and shut the door behind him. "It was good to see him again! But it seemed like something was wrong when he just left. What did he want?"
"Oh, he just had a question for me. It's okay, I'll drop by the café later," Nathan responded. He didn't look Haley in the eye, but she didn't notice and instead went to get Tyler up. Nathan sat down on the couch and put his head in his hands, wondering where the hell to go from here and if his life could get any more screwed up.