Chapter 27: Always Been There, Always Be There
"Vitals are good... blood pressures good... as long as you promise to rest, you can go..." The nurse smiled. She was still looking at Haley's chart when she left the room. Brooke was happily sitting on the chair, smiling brightly at her. Lucas was standing behind her, his arm on her shoulder. Haley could see this spark between them, one she had noticed them trying to hide, but she wasn't sure how long they'd be able to do this.
"How's Peyton? You guys haven't talked about her much lately?" Brooke raised one eyebrow at her, trying to figure out how she could act like she wasn't excited at all.
"She's good... the doctors managed to remove all of her cancer so... she's going to be fine. Her and Jake are getting married in the fall." Brooke smiled. Then she waited for Haley to say something about what the nurse had just told them.
"Haley... you can go home, aren't you excited?" Luke spoke up, as if he were reading Brooke's mind.
"Not really..." Haley admitted. " I don't want to go back there..." She whispered. Brooke got out of her chair and sat at her side, and Lucas sat at her other side, both of them hugging her.
"You don't have to! Ever!" Brooke assured her.
"Brooke.. I do... where else am I going to go? My parents are gone... to Europe or... somewhere." Haley whined. The truth was, she was afraid to be alone for even a small second. Because of Mark, and because she didn't like to be left alone with her thoughts of Nathan. "Where'd Nathan go?" She asked sadly.
"He went home... with Cara... Im sorry." Brooke rubbed her knee and tried to comfort her, but it couldn't stop the pang of regret the was running through her body. If only she hadn't made him leave, and if only she wasn't so afraid of him, or how he made her feel.
"Gosh... I really scared him off didn't I... rule of life number one, never tell the person you love how you feel, it pushes them further away." Haley whimpered. When Brooke heard that Haley told Nathan this, she looked over to see Lucas, to see if there was any pain on his face from hearing how she felt about his brother. And there was, but it wasn't what she expected. The pain was for Haley, he felt bad that her brother hurt her, but not that he couldn't have her. But Brooke took Haley's words into consideration. The last thing she wanted to do was drive Lucas away. "Im still going to have to go back there, you know... to get my things..." Haley said again, trying to change the subject.
"Let me take care of that... okay?" Brooke smiled. Haley nodded, then Brooke and Lucas hugged her and left the room. She was alone. One thing she never wanted to be was alone, her thoughts eating her alive. She could almost feel them choking her.
"Wow..." Brooke breathed when her and Lucas got outside. "That upset you?" She asked Lucas.
"Yeah... of course... I hate to see her hurting." He answered.
"No, I mean... that she loves him." Brooke choked out. She hadn't wanted to be so persistent with the question, but she couldn't help it, she needed to know.
"No... you think I still have a thing for her?" Lucas gasped. Brooke looked at him nervously, not wanting to admit that she was praying he didn't. She nodded, but didn't make a sound. "Oh Brooke... do you think that if I had a thing for Haley, I'd spend day and night with you? I mean, any person would be able to see that I've chosen you..." He hadn't realized how far he was going to go with that, with choosing her. But he admitted it then, that he had chosen her, and it was his final choice.
"You choose... me?" Brooke questioned, wanting to make sure she had this right.
"Yeah. And I know you love me, because there is no way im the only one feeling this. You've always been there, and I've always been... Elsewhere. But Im here now. After what Haley just said, I knew you wouldn't take the step, so I figured I should. I've been so blind, Brooke..." Lucas smiled and walked close to her, leaning his forehead against her's and wrapping his arms around her waist. "You've Always Been There, and I'll always be here."
He leaned down and kissed her, wiping away the few stranded tears on her cheeks, She smiled through his lips, and kissed him back, not wanting to speak, not wanting to ruin this.
"Haley?" Brooke said quietly as she politely knocked on Haley's room door before entering.
"Brooke... come in... my leg is broken so it's not like I can come answer the door." Haley laughed. She was surprised with herself, that she could manage to joke at this time, and joke even with understanding what got her here.
"Right..." Brooke laughed as she opened the door. She rolled her eyes at herself and then pushed a wheelchair in with her. Lucas was standing behind her, hands on her hips. Haley looked at them, how happy and glowing they looked, and smiled.
"You guys... you're together!" Haley gasped. She smiled and reached out to hug Brooke as Brooke walked over to her. Brooke let a breath of relief out when she saw that Haley was okay with it.
"Yeah... we are!" Lucas smiled. He went over and hugged Haley as well, just like he did whenever he saw her now. "How you feelin'?" He asked her. She smiled and sighed.
"Better, actually... Im still a little uncomfortable... this hospital probably makes profit from back injuries in these beds!" Haley complained.
"Nathan didn't find it too bad..." Brooke said casually as she dug around in her purse. Haley just looked at her with confusion. "Anyways! The reason I brought this wheelchair is because we are bringing you for a little walk... except.. You won't be walking!" Brooke grinned. Haley gave her a glare and then laughed at her.
"So get off your ass... Brooke's going to help you dress, and I'll meet you in the waiting room." Lucas smiled. He kissed Brooke's cheek as Brooke pulled Haley up until she was out of bed and hopping on one foot.
"Watch your shoulder..." Brooke whispered as she help Haley change her shirt.
"Okay, you guys... are... wow." Haley exclaimed. "You look really happy." Haley smiled at her.
"Yeah... I am... and now to top it off, we need you to be happy, so that's what we're doing, making you happy..." Brooke smiled. Haley gave her a daring look as she tried to figure out what was going on.
"Where are we going?" Haley whined. Brooke helped her into the wheelchair and then pushed her out the door to meet Lucas.
"Stop whining and wait..." Brooke snapped sarcastically. The she laughed at Haley's impatience.
Lucas opened the door to the rooftop and pushed Haley's wheelchair out. It was dark there, and Haley could barely make out the silhouette of a tall figure in front of her, standing at the edge of the building, over looking the bright city lights. Haley turned to speak to Lucas, when she noticed him and Brooke slip out the door again, shutting it behind them. She was completely alone with this tall 'stranger'.
The man turned towards her, and her heart start pounding, she couldn't see him. The night was cloudy and all the lights in the city seemed to distant. All she cold think of as he walked near her was Mark. She was terrified that when she finally saw this person's face, he'd have that same anger that mark used to have on nights like these. The man got closer, then walked over and flicked a switch. Lights around her all came on, and she could see Nathan clearly. Around them, he had created a golf course, just like the one they had when they were best friends. Colorful lights were streamed everywhere, and Nathan just stood there grinning, his hands shoved in his pockets. On one side of her, she could see a banner lit up by a soft pink light, the words 'I Love You, Haley James.' Written vibrantly across.
"Is this how you pictured it?" Nathan finally spoke up while Haley looked at the banner with tears in her eyes. "Is this what you wanted me to do?" She could hear so much emotion in his voice, and finally walked out in front of her. "This is the kind of love you wanted right? In your letter, this is what you said."
"Letter?" Haley asked him, not being able to remember herself at first. But then she did, and she couldn't see how he could possibly remember their notes in high school.
"When we were home, in highschool, you wrote me back and said this was what you wanted... this kind of love... and..." He sighed nervously, not used to being the romantic type of person. "And.. I want to be the one to give it to you." Haley chin quivered as she nodded. Mark had hurt her in so many ways, and even though she loved Nathan, she couldn't possibly see how she'd be able to trust anyone again. "Im not going to hurt you, I'd never do what he did to you.." Nathan pleaded her.
"I know..." She finally spoke up. She didn't say anything else, just looked around at the effort he had put into making her so happy, and she knew that while she thought he had left her, this was what he was doing all that time.
Nathan reached down and pulled the note from his jeans pockets. He began to read it to himself. Then smiled at her. "You wanted a love that could be shouted from the rooftops. WELL HERE I AM!" He yelled, "and I LOVE YOU!" He yelled again. He kept repeating it over and over, his arms flung out wide as he yelled. Haley sniffled and laughed through her tears.
"Okay!" She finally yelled back at him. She smiled and nodded at him. "I love you too...but..." She sighed and stared at him as he rushed over to her, kneeling in front of her and kissing her hands. "What about Cara?"
"Cara? I think she gets it... I think everyone gets us... she just, she's not you..."He simply explained. "I love you Haley, I always have. We're going to take you home...to Tree Hill. Brooke has your things already. We're going to take care of you... and I promise you, if you'll have me... I will never hurt you." He choked out. He had never saw himself as the emotional type person, but with Haley he was never the person he thought he was, he was someone different, someone he thought he could be without her, but only now has he realized he's no one without her. "Please... give me a chance..." He begged her after she didn't answer. He rested his forehead on her lap and kissed her hands again. She smiled and ran her fingers through his hair.
"Of course..."She finally breathed. "Oh God... " She sighed heavily. "I love you! But Nathan, don't you get it? I don't need all of these material things, I just wanted you. Even if this had never happened, I just wanted you to want people to know how you felt. But this? This is much more than I expected."She coughed a little, and held her ribs as she did so. "This is... wow... I never thought any guy would go this far just to make me happy..."
"I would, and I want you to know that... I'd do anything for you..." He whispered with his head down. "I just... love you so much... it's insane... it's... impossible..."
"Insane? I know, because I feel the same way. I dont think you'll ever understand how much I love you...but Im still afraid..." She choked out. He looked up at her, seeing that she was telling the truth by the sadness on her.
"I told you... I'll never hurt you... not like he did." Nathan whispered, he reached up and ran his thumb across her face.
"He said that too..." She recalled. Nathan dropped his head and shook it, unable ti believe how emotionally hurt Mark had caused Haley to be. "But... He's not you... and I get that now... what Im scared of, is losing you... again." He lifted his head and looked at her, and she hungrily grabbed his face and pulled it towards her's, kissing him passionately. She laughed as they broke away. "Ouch..." She winced as she tried to move and make her shoulder more comfortable. He was still knelt in front of her, and he had one hand on her face.
"Im not going anywhere... I promise you..." He whispered into her hair as he hugged her. He pulled back and saw her smile and nod.
"I know that now..." She smiled. She leaned down and placed her forehead against his.
"I guess Faith was right. We did end up together." Nathan whispered to her. She nodded and then he leaned up and kissed her again, this time softly. As Haley kissed him she wondered how for so long, whenever Faith spoke of them together, she hadn't really seen it. Only now could she see, that the love and need for each other has Always Been There, and will Always Be There. Always and Forever.
There you go. Thats The Very End sadly...:( I really hope you guys liked this fanfic... and... dont forget to read my other ones! Review please! One last time...
Michelley P.