Chapter 10: Baby You're All That I Want

7 ½ Years Ago…

"Senior Ditch Day!" Brooke cheered as Brooke, Haley and Peyton drove to the beach.

"Yeah, you've said that already," Haley complained.

It was in fact Senior Ditch Day. When the majority of the senior class was going to a theme park, the six friends decided to head to a favorite spot of theirs, the beach.

"Can you believe senior year is almost over?" Peyton asked her two closest friends.

Brooke and Haley looked at each other before quieting down, "It scares me," Haley admitted.

Haley, Brooke and Peyton were all lying on the beach, trying to get a tan, while waiting for the guys to show up.

"Where is my boyfriend?" Brooke whined.

Haley and Peyton laughed before Peyton asked, "What are you guys going to do when college comes?"

Brooke smiled at her two friends, "I'm going to New York, and he's staying here."

Haley smiled, "She means with you two."

Brooke glared at Haley, "You already know, don't you."

Haley rolled her eyes, "Of course I do…he's my best friend."

Peyton smirked at Brooke, "Exactly and I'm yours so spill!"

"I decided not to go to New York," Brooke smiled.

"What!" Peyton screamed, "Brooke, that's your dream!"

Brooke shook her head, "No. My dream died when they didn't accept me."

Peyton stared at Brooke before she continued, "Peyt..you know signs are everything to me…and I took this as a sign."

Peyton sighed, "Signs are everything. Which is why I think I'm going to tell Nathan how I feel about him."

Brooke and Haley snapped their heads towards Peyton after she said that, "What?" Brooke asked.

"Nathan called me yesterday, and we were just talking and he came out and said that we really need to keep in touch after graduation. And I guess I just felt that that's a sign…for me to tell him," Peyton finished off laying back down.

Brooke decided to play stupid, "Where's he going, again?"

"NYU," Peyton answered.

"Oh, Hales…that's not to far from you," Brooke spoke to Haley, who was attending another college within New York.

Haley smiled and nodded her head.

Peyton looked up, "You better not make a move on my man, Hales," Peyton said jokingly.

Brooke's eyes widened at that and immediately started laughing before receiving a slap on the arm from Haley.

Peyton looked at her two friends, "Do you think I should tell him?"

Haley and Brooke looked at each other before Brooke started speaking, "Senior year's almost over…do you really wanna ruin it by telling him about a crush?"

"I…no," Peyton admitted.

"Then maybe wait until today's over," Haley cut in, "There might be some signs to see if you should or shouldn't."

"And what about you, Hales?" Peyton asked, "Any guys grabbed your attention?"

Haley looked at Brooke before smiling sadly at Peyton, "Nope."

"Still into Jake?" Peyton smiled.

"Ah, no," Haley laughed.

"Well, Ms. James, I'm so gonna look for some signs today!" Peyton laughed before putting on her iPod and lying down.

"If only she knew," Brooke whispered.

As Haley, Brooke and Peyton were now on their stomachs and untied their bikini strings to not have any tan lines, the guys showed up.

"Senior Ditch Day!" they heard Lucas yell.

Haley rolled her eyes and said, "You're just like your girlfriend."

"Are you guys topless?" Nathan came over asking, sitting down next to Haley.

"We just untied our strings so that we don't have tan lines," Peyton answered.

Nathan shrugged and grabbed one of Haley's strings, "So Hales, what would you do if I just pulled this string and you wouldn't have your top anymore?"

Haley turned her head to look at him, "Oh I'd kill you."

"Which means you'd flash me first," Nathan flirtatiously replied.

Haley laughed, "Tie me back up, Lucas!"

"How come I can't?" Nathan asked.

"Why do you think?" Haley said sitting up after being tied by up by Lucas who situated himself between Brooke and Haley.

"Lucas!" Brooke whined, "Your squishing me and Haley!"

"Hey, I just wanted to be in between my two favorite girls," Lucas said pulling his arms around both Brooke and Haley, who rolled their eyes.

"Yeah, Luke, but your big," Haley said, "You're basically kicking me off my own towel!"

"You can come on mine," Nathan said.

Haley turned around and looked at Nathan's extremely small towel, "Nate, you can barely fit on that."

"Well you can sit on top of me."

After spending a few hours at the beach, night time approached and the friends decided to return to the beach to just relax and enjoy each other's company.

Haley stood with her feet in the water, with her sundress on, when she felt someone approach her.

"What's wrong?" Nathan asked coming to stand next to her.

"She thinks I'm still into Jake," Haley responded looking towards Nathan.

"Are you?" Nathan asked.

Haley chuckled bitterly, "What do you think? I never was more then attracted to him."

"It's okay, Hales," Nathan replied putting his arm around her.

Haley's eyes filled with tears, "She's looking for signs, Nate…to see if she should tell her how she feels about you."

Nathan's eyes widened, "Wow. Um, and….?"

"I don't know," Haley replied, "Has she said anything?"

"No," Nathan shook his head, "But is she?"

"I don't know," she sighed, "What the hell would you say, Nate?"

"I have no idea," Nathan answered.

Haley looked down before looking into Nathan's eyes, "Would it change anything?" she whispered.

"What?" Nathan asked.

"Of how you felt?" she shyly continued.

"About you?" Nathan said smiling.

Haley nodded.

"Does it matter?" Nathan asked.

"To me it does," she honestly replied.

"Never."

Haley and Brooke sat on the beach while Nathan, Lucas and Jake through around a football, when Haley's eye turned to Peyton who was sitting on a rock by the ocean.

"I'm gonna…" Haley told Brooke, and walked towards Peyton when Brooke nodded.

"What's going on?" Haley asked Peyton sitting next to her.

"I've been looking for signs all day, Haley," Peyton said looking towards Haley and continued when Haley nodded.

"And all day, he's been around you," Peyton sighed.

"What kind of sign is that supposed to tell me, Hales?"

Present

"No way," Haley whispered.

Karen and Dan both stood up and smiled warm smiles toward Haley.

Haley's eyes immediately filled with tears when Karen went over and hugged her, "I've missed you so much, Karen…I'm so sorry I haven't…"

Karen cut her off- "What is this I hear about having a granddaughter?"

Haley smiled and nodded as she hugged Dan, "I missed you, girlie."

Haley smiled at Dan, "I missed you guys so much and I'm so sorry I didn't call or write I was just worried you'd tell Nathan about Nicole."

Karen and Dan shook their heads before Karen spoke, "We understand, Hales. When Nathan called us and told us all about your reunion we couldn't be more excited, and when he mentioned our granddaughter, I couldn't be more thrilled. We caught the first flight up here."

Haley burst in tears and sat on the couch, "I screwed up so badly."

Nathan, Dan, and Karen all looked at the broken girl in front of them. Nathan made the first move towards her and sat next to her, "I'm so sorry, Nathan. I can't imagine how hard this all has been for you," Haley got out through sobs, "I've never been fair to you."

Karen looked at her son who was staring at Haley, "Nate, have you two had a chance to talk since all of this has happened, and I mean just you two?"

Nathan shook his head, "No..I've been trying to get to know Nicky better and we've just been…it's been hectic."

"How about you introduce me to my granddaughter, and I'll get to know her, and you two can go talk."

Haley and Nathan were sitting in Haley's apartment on the couch for a few minutes in silence right after Nicole left.

"Nathan," Haley started in a whisper, "All throughout high-school, you wanted to be with me. And I never gave you the chance, because I was so worried about Peyton. If I would've known how things would turn out, I would've taken the chance to be with you."

Nathan smiled at her, "I loved you loyalty to her, Hales. And at times I hated the fact that that loyalty was what was keeping you and I together, but…in the end it just made me care even more about you."

"When I found out I was pregnant…I wanted nothing more than to tell you, Nathan…You don't know how many times I picked up the phone to dial your number so I could tell you," Haley admitted, tears filling her eyes once more.

"Then why didn't you?" Nathan asked.

"I was so scared," Haley got out, "I was terrified as it was…I was only 18 and pregnant with one of my best friend's baby. I was starting new in New York, with no friends, and we all decided to not be friends and…I just thought if I told you, you'd decide that I wasn't worth it, and that the decision stood. I didn't want to get even more hurt,"

"Weeks passed, and I promised myself that one day, I would tell you. Weeks turned into months, and months turned into years. And each and every day that passed, the thought of calling you just terrified me. Then the day came when Nicole asked me about you, and all I could think of was, "What have I done?"" Haley stopped when the crying became to much to talk, "And she was so affected by it, so one day I told her about you, and when she found out that you both shared a passion for basketball…she wanted to play ball everyday,"

"And I would think, I need to call Nathan, that he'd understand I'd made a mistake, and that nothing else would matter…"

Nathan looked at Haley who was sobbing in front of him, "Haley."

Haley looked up at Nathan, "Hales, I don't regret one bit the four years of me pining after you. I wanted to be with you so badly. But, if we did get together, Nicole might have never been here, and I know you don't regret her one bit, and even though I missed out on almost 7 years of her life, I don't regret the past few months and I wouldn't trade them for anything."

"What would you have done if I told you?" Haley asked.

"Been by your side, Haley. You don't even need to question that. I would've been there for you with everything."

Haley started sobbing, "Nathan-you can't imagine how sorry I am."

Nathan couldn't help but reach over and pull Haley into his lap, something he hasn't done in 7 years, and try to calm her down, "I know Hales, but that's the past now, and let's just focus on becoming friends again and making Nicole have the best life."

After a few minutes, Haley smiled and said, "So let's catch up."

Nathan smirked, "What do you want to know?"

"How your life's been," Haley asked, "You know what happened with mine, so it's only fair."

"Well, as you know I went to NYU and I played basketball, and might I add, I was awesome," Nathan laughed, "But, um, I stopped playing senior year because I messed up my knee. So, I became a physical therapist, and coached a few teams for high-school. And I haven't been in a relationship, since you."

Haley smiled and they sat in a comfortable silence for a while before Haley asked quietly, "Do you know the movie, The Notebook?"

Nathan looked at her, "Yeah."

"Do you know the part where Allie is asking Noah why he didn't write and Noah tells her that it wasn't over and it still wasn't over?" Haley asked.

Nathan had no clue where she was headed, "Yeah."

Haley smiled, "I used to imagine that you would tell me that."

Nathan smiled, "It's not."

"Not what?"

"Over."