Author's Note: I struggled writing this chapter, so hopefully it's up to par with the previous ones. It's not that long, but enjoy!

Chapter Four: Just For Tonight

Hours earlier….

His daily run never failed to clear his mind of any concerns; waking up at 8am everyday and leaving his problems behind for an hour. Taking a detour on his usual route, he slowly halted at the sight of Karen's Café before his eyes. Opening the door, he greeted the woman in charge.

"Hey, Karen."

Her attention diverted from the coffee machine slowly ending its brew to the man on the other side of the counter, a grin plastered on his face, "Nathan! What a surprise. What brings you in here?"

"Oh, you know," he shrugged, as if the answer was already obvious, "grabbing something to drink. How've you been?"

She smiled, "Working as usual. Your uncle's out back if you wanna say hi."

"Nah," he held up a hand to stop her from retrieving him, "I'll just grab a drink and go." She handed him a bottled water, as well as a bag of Hawaiian Hazelnut coffee for Brooke, and she waved off the dollar he handed her.

"Tell your wife to stop by when she's not so busy. She promised to make me some dessert and I'm still waiting on it." Karen reminded him before her eyes turned to the customer that had walked in.

"Hey, Karen!" The cheerful voice caused Nathan to whirl around and come face to face with Haley once again. Her eyes met his momentarily before Karen engulfed her into a hug, "My god, Haley! Oh, it's been a really long time! I didn't know you were back in town."

Haley released herself from the embrace and placed both hands on Karen's shoulders, "God, Karen, it's so great to see you. I'm only here for a while taking care of family stuff."

"Well, it's nice to have you home even if it's only for a while." Karen shot her a smile and returned behind the counter, with Haley following the lead and taking a seat on the stool opposite from her.

Nathan was still standing there.

"So what can I get you?" Karen offered her a menu but Haley declined, "I'll have a few things to go if you don't mind. Just the usual." Karen nodded and retreated to the kitchen, leaving the two behind.

Haley waited for Karen to disappear before spinning the stool around to face Nathan, "Fancy seeing you here, Nate." Her eyes scanned his body, pausing at his muscular arms.

He shifted in his position, contemplated saying something to her, but turned his body to walk away. Walking down the steps of the café, the sound of Haley's voice chased after him, "Nathan."

"What?" He turned to look at her, discomfort written all over his face, "What do you want?"

"What crawled up your ass?" Nathan rolled his eyes and Haley placed a hand on her hip, "Okay, don't pretend like you weren't happy to see me. Otherwise, you would've walked out as soon as I walked in."

"Don't flatter yourself, Haley," He replied, "Like I said, what do you want?"

Haley shook her head at his hostility, and clapped her hands before holding them together in place in front of her, "I need to talk to you."

"We're talking." He pointed out, "But make it quick 'cause I don't have time for this."

"Ok, seriously, Nathan," She stepped closer to him, "Quit being a jackass for two seconds and listen to me." Nathan kept his mouth shut, but was clearly being impatient. "It's really important that you and I talk."

"About what?"

"About…" she paused, her eyes unable to keep steady from looking into his, "what happened four years ago."

His expression showed no recollection of what she meant and she stepped closer. Her eyes burned into his, begging to be recognized from the years prior, but Nathan showed no sign of it. Becoming irritated at the situation, Nathan stepped back and slowly began to turn away.

"Nathan, please," she walked after him, finding herself trying to keep up with his attempt to hurry away, "the least you can do is talk to me after you disappeared that night!"

"Look, Haley," he stopped in his tracks, "whatever scenario you have built in your head--it didn't happen, okay? So just back off and leave me alone."

"It didn't happen?" she scoffed, "Trust me, Nathan, if nothing happened I wouldn't be here right now asking you to have a decent conversation with me. Something happened," she placed a finger on his chest and continued with a firm voice, "now if you don't want me to go across the street to your wife's precious little store and tell her instead, you better pay the hell attention."

Nathan's eyes glanced at the Clothes Over Bros boutique opposite Karen's Café and then glared back at her, but he obeyed, "Then tell me."

"Not here," she removed her finger, "have dinner with me tonight and I'll tell you everything."

Nathan scoffed at the idea, but Haley's eyes reminded him of her threat, "You're serious?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

Everything inside of him wanted to burst into flames from his decision to agree with the dinner plans. Haley grinned in his acceptance and she placed a hand on his bicep before returning to the café. Nathan looked down at the ground for a few seconds before his body finally reminded him to start walking back home. He'd spent the entire walk trying to come up with a good enough reason to tell his wife he won't be home later that day, then slowly cursed himself for trying to come up with a lie to his wife. He made his way to the bedroom after putting away the bag of coffee he received from Karen, and sat on the bed, fiddling his fingers. On the night stand, he reached for his cell phone and sent Brooke a text message. Well, that run achieved nothing. Upon pressing the SEND button, he shut his phone before heading to the shower.

Present time

The clock struck midnight and two pairs of eyes looked at him, waiting for any type of explanation. He'd been sitting in the dining room for the last hour, a bottle of beer in his hand and a weight of guilt on his shoulders. On his left sat Peyton, who was tapping her fingers on the table, and watchful eyes on her best friend's husband. On his right, Dean watched Peyton's fingers tapping, slightly annoyed at the only sound that occupied the room. That and the occasional sigh from Nathan.

"Well," Dean started, turning his attention to Nathan, "it's been fun playing silent-treatment-with-the-bad-husband, but I think I'm gonna tap out." He stood up and straightened his shirt.

Peyton tightened her lips and raised both eyebrows at him, indicating she wanted to do the same, but Nathan suddenly spoke up.

"I'm an idiot."

Dean's eyebrow arched and he slowly took a seat once again, "Nevermind, I'll stay for this one.."

"No, seriously," Nathan leaned back against the wooden chair, still holding a beer in one hand, "I'm an idiot. I should get a pat on the back for being the biggest idiot ever."

Dean shrugged both shoulders and patted Nathan on the back. Peyton fought the urge to chuckle at the gesture, knowing full well Dean was trying to make light of the situation, but immediately caught herself. She looked back at Nathan, who was giving Dean a glare for actually patting him, "So why don't you tell us why you're an idiot, Nate."

"Because," his voice heightened, but he slowly lowered it, "I went to see Haley tonight and look what happened."

"Why did you see Haley?" Peyton leaned forward in curiosity, both hands clasped before her, waiting for Nathan's answer.

"I bumped into her at the café today and she said really needed to talk to me. So I met up with her for dinner, and I only planned to be there a few minutes--"

"Whoa, whoa," Dean interrupted, "you went out to dinner with your ex-girlfriend?! Can I give you repeated pats on the back?"

"Dean!" Peyton looked at him, "Let him talk." Dean held up his hands and urged Nathan to continue.

"Anyway," he sighed, "she said she had something really important to tell me. And…" Nathan shifted in his seat and took another drink, stalling before he could continue with the story.

Dean, clearly getting impatient, snapped his fingers, "And?"

Nathan held his head back, closed his eyes, and cursed anyone up there who could hear him.

Flashback

"All right, I'm here." Nathan made his presence known as he walked toward the table that Haley had been sitting at for the last ten minutes. She smiled back at him as she unfolded the linen napkin and placed it on her lap, "Oh, well, nice to see you too." Her eyes glanced at his outfit, he didn't even bother to dress up, compared to her. He'd simply thrown on a pair of basketball shorts and a Nike t-shirt, whereas she was decked out in a little black dress with a French updo to match. Clearly, he didn't care much for the event.

"So," he kept a firm voice and fixed his eyes on hers, "what's this all about?"

"Oh, well, there's just a lot of things we need to catch up on," she began, crossing her legs underneath the table, "like, for instance, your child."

Nathan's eyebrow arched in confusion. Why would she possibly care about his baby? "Sophie? Well, she just turned a year old over the weeken--"

Haley quickly interrupted him, "Not that one. Your other child."

Nathan looked as if he had hit been frozen in time, his eyes fixed on Haley's, and his movements completely stopped. He had to remind himself to keep breathing. She tilted her head slightly to the side and waited for his reply. He didn't make a move.

"Nathan?"

He shook his head to snap out of his trance and blinked his eyes, "I'm sor--, what?" He leaned forward and his voice softened, "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about," she leaned in closer, his face only a couple of inches from hers, "our daughter."

Nathan searched for any hint of lies in her eyes, but her face stayed serious and it only confused him even more. He slowly leaned back into his seat and narrowed his eyes at her previous words, his voice practically a whisper, "Our daughter?"

"Mmhmm," she licked her lips, bit her bottom lip before beginning to clarify to the dumbfounded man before her, "Four years ago, Nate. Does it ring a bell?"

His eyes scanned the table between them, trying to recall the last few years. No more than a few seconds later, he immediately shut his eyes at the memory and he shook his head. Taking a deep breath he pushed his chair back slowly and returned his eyes to Haley, "I gotta go."

"What?" Haley raised her voice, "No, Nathan, don't walk away from this! You need to know about her!"

Various patrons in the restaurant turned their attention to the pair, and Nathan's eyes looked around the room as Haley pleaded for him to stay. "She's your daughter, Nath--"

He quickly stood up from his chair and walked off, leaving Haley sitting with all the attention on her. She took a deep breath and let out a frustrated sigh, placing one elbow on the table, and her head strategically onto the palm of her hand.

End flashback

Peyton's eyes widened. Nathan attempted to avoid looking at her. Dean shook his head, "Dude, no wonder you were at the River Court."

Nathan turned to him and without saying a word, Dean got the hint that it wasn't the right time to make any more jokes. Peyton's voice quivered as she began to open her mouth, "Is it true, Nathan?"

He looked into her eyes, finding it difficult to look away regardless of the tears that began to form. Tears that were meant for her best friend; tears that expressed the disappointment she had in the man she used to be proud of. Dean could only watch them as his mind wandered to the effects of Nathan's actions on Brooke.

"I don't know," Nathan's voice was down to a whisper. Looking at Peyton right now reminded him of the way Brooke looked at him, and it damn near broke his heart once more, "I just--I messed up. It was a long time ago--"

"Nathan," she stopped him, placing a hand on his arm that had found itself closer to her on the table, "look, you're like a brother to me. And you know how much I love you, and trust me, I know all about mistakes. But it's not me you need to explain this to." Her eyes blinked away tears as he pulled away from her touch, glancing at Dean who simply nodded in agreement with Peyton.

"Go home to your wife, man. Fix it."

There was nothing more frightening to Nathan than facing his wife after the events of the night unraveled in his head. Standing outside their bedroom, he stared at the door, wishing everything that had happened in the last few days were just a figment of his imagination. Wishing his stupidity from years prior had never occurred. He closed his eyes and hung his head in shame, but the sound of the door opening interrupted his self-torture.

Brooke stood in front of him, clutching her arms that desperately held onto herself, and her lips quivered at his presence. Her eyes had finally dried from crying, and the evidence of puffy eyes displayed on her face. Nathan's heart ached at her appearance, desperate to reach out and touch her; but his body failed to respond to his needs.

She slowly walked away from the door and returned to the bed. He followed her, closing the door behind him, and he entered the darkness as she settled herself in the bed. He claimed the position next to hers and she turned her body towards him, nestling her head in the familiar spot on his chest. He stroked her hair with one hand, listening to her slowly breathe.

"Brooke--" He began.

"Ssh," Her voice was in a soft whisper, "Just for tonight, Nathan. Please."

He complied, settling his head comfortably in his pillow, looking up at the ceiling. Her hand was slowly tracing his abdomen, in tune with his stroking of her hair. He pulled her closer to him, wanting every inch of their bodies to be in contact with one another. She obliged and rested her body against his. They were exactly where they wanted to be. In this moment, their troubles escaped them.

Even if it was just for tonight.