The Search for Something More
Chapter 14 - When It Isn't Like It Should Be
Sorry it took me so long. I was recently injured and my foot was broken and had to deal with that, work, weddings, and now I'm in the middle of moving, plus my laptop got a virus, so as you can tell I really fell behind. But thanks for your patience and to those that reviewed. I hope you guys are still reading. A couple of things happen in this chapter and things will get interesting. You guys keep me motivated with this story, so please share your thoughts.
But I want to say, yay for season 8 ! I'm so happy and now all we need to do is drop the dead weight of the show, then all will be alright. Lol.
Enjoy and please review!
. . . . .
"Why are we here again?" Nathan asked as he picked up a small stuffed animal. "You could've just left me at the arcade you know." He turned around at smirked at Haley.
Haley rolled her eyes. "I told you, I need to find something for my sister's baby shower."
"Can't you just get her a gift card or something?" Nathan put the animal down.
"Nathan, she's family, I can't just give a gift card, that's so tacky."
"Why? She can get whatever she wants anyways."
"That's not the point." Haley rolled her eyes again. "Men." She mumbled.
"Come on, the faster we leave the faster we can get back to your place." Nathan went up from behind her and wrapped his arms around her waste. "Didn't you say, you're parents were eating out tonight with some friends." He whispered into her hear sending Haley's stomach into a fit of butterflies.
"Down boy." Haley laughed and pulled away from his embrace and went over to another isle full of baby toys.
"What do you think of this?" Haley turned around carrying a small teddy bear dressed in a soccer outfit.
"Soccer?" Nathan grimaced. "Seriously Hales?"
"What, it's cute?"
"It's soccer." Nathan pointed out and picked up another stuffed bear dressed in a basketball jersey. "Now this is better."
Haley chuckled. "Of course, basketball."
"What else would it be?" Nathan reasoned.
"But the soccer bear's outfit is so much cuter."
"You've been spending too much time with Brooke." Nathan pointed out and put the stuffed animal back down.
"You act like I'm buying this bear for you, this is for my sister."
"Fine if you want to give that hideous gift but I'm telling you now Hales, in our kid's crib, I better not see any soccer teddy bears… or soccer balls in general." Nathan added. He stopped when he looked at Haley, who was looking at him curiously. It was then that Nathan realized what he just said.
"Our kid huh?" Haley raised her eyebrow.
"Well you know what I mean." Nathan mumbled and proceeded to walk to the next isle.
"Actually I don't." Haley followed him. "Do you really see us with a child of our own?" Haley asked.
"Well not now, I mean we're still in high school.. but yeah...someday. " He shrugged.
"Really?" Haley asked, her heart beating a little faster. She'd be lying to herself that she never imagined a life for her and Nathan and a house full of their kids.
"Hales, I can already hear that big brain of yours working." Nathan smirked.
"Do you really see yourself one day with little kids running around?" Haley asked.
"No." Nathan quickly replied, then his lips curled to a genuine smile.
"I see US."
Haley look down at the stuff animal in her hand and shook her thoughts of the past away. Nathan was late and he hadn't called yet. She still felt a little bit out of place in her new outfit. Instead of the loose tops she normally wore, this was a little bit more snug and hugged her growing belly. When she walked inside the baby store, the clerk greeted her and congratulated her on her baby. It was weird answering questions about her baby to an unknown stranger. The only people she discussed the baby with were a select few.
She was already nervous about going public with her pregnancy and even more nervous about announcing to the world who the father was. But in her heart, she knew this was the right choice. Nathan had his fair share of mistakes but he deserved to love this baby equally with her. She still felt guilty about not telling him about her mother or Dan for that matter but she honestly didn't know how. No one knew, not even Lucas. Everything between them had been so serious and heavy, she didn't want to deal with the drama, at least not now. Denial could be a very powerful tool.
"I thought we talked about this." Nathan came out of nowhere, surprising Haley as he took the teddy bear from her hands and putting it down.
"No way our kid is playing soccer." He smirked and picked up a small stuffed basketball and tossed it into the shopping cart he brought over.
"You and basketball." Haley shook her head. "You're late."
"Sorry but you know how Lucas takes forever in the bathroom."
"Lucas or you?" Haley quipped, knowing that both brothers probably took as much time getting ready as most girls.
"Cute." Nathan deadpanned.
"Nathan, I thought we agreed to buy a few items, what're you doing with a shopping cart?"
"Hales." Nathan whined. "The boy needs clothes, toys, let's not even get into the crib, car seat, stroller."
"Okay, okay. But I just wanted to pick up only a few items." Haley reasoned. Thinking about the future was something she also liked to tuck away, thinking about how they would have to buy two of everything, one for her and one for him. He heart grew heavier and she didn't want to think about that, right now, she'd settle for some outfits and maybe some toys.
"Are you sure you want to do this Hales?" Nathan asked a second later. "A couple of people already recognized me, it'll be a matter of time before the press gets wind."
Haley nodded. "No, I'm tired of hiding Nathan, plus we don't want to give anyone ammo to blackmail you. I still can't believe the nerve of some people."
"Well thank you for doing this." Nathan smiled and took her hand and kissed it. Before Haley could react, Nathan had already motioned for her to follow him.
. . . . .
Clay put the phone away from his ringing ears.
"Clay! Clay! Are you even there!"
"Yeah, Antwon I'm here."
"Don't Antwon me. I can't believe you're only telling me now that Nathan… Nathan Scott, one of our biggest clients, knocked some girl up!"
"Don't tell Nathan that. She's not some girl."
"Ex girl friend.. whatever! Point is, I should've been told."
"Look, I'm sorry Skills but Nathan didn't want everyone to know." Clay replied innocently.
"But now he does. I'm already pulling up pictures from the web of Nathan baby shopping from earlier today!"
"Damn, they work fast." Clay mumbled.
"Who is this woman, what do we even know about her?"
"Her name is Haley James, she was Nathan's high school girlfriend."
"An old flame, okay maybe we can spin this."
"There's nothing to spin Skills. From what Nathan told me, they both had a little too much to drink and well you know what happened."
"You sure she didn't get him drunk?"
"Skills, look, it's nothing like that."
"Really? Cuz what I see is some girl getting knocked up to a very wealthy and successful young man with everything to lose and she has only everything to gain." Skills pointed out.
"Skills, I'm telling you now, don't talk like that around Nathan or else he'll kick your ass. He loves her man."
"Love? Are you on crack?"
Clay chuckled. "I'm serious man, he loves her and I think she still loves him."
"Well that's just great?" Skills switched his phone to his other ear and ran his hand through his bald head. "Look, you can't just drop this bomb on me and expect me to be happy."
"Well you should be cuz Nathan is."
"Whatever, I still don't trust this James woman."
"You don't have to worry about Haley, from what I can tell, she's as straight as an arrow but what I need is info on this Rachel woman who tried black mailing Nathan."
"Don't worry, I'm already on it." Skills vowed. "Unless Haley is the one responsible for this Rachel trying to blackmail us."
"Skills." Clay rubbed his forehead. "I told you, Haley is a good person. She wouldn't do that."
"For Nathan's sake, I hope you're right." Skills mumbled.
. . . . .
Haley looked around to make sure no one was around.
"Don't worry Hales, I lost the press a few miles ago, we're good."
"You sure?" Haley asked as they approached her front door.
"Yes, now would you open the door, I'm starting to loose my grip on these bags." Nathan complained.
Haley shook her head as she opened the door. "Well maybe if you let me carry some.."
"Just open the door." Nathan whined as Haley opened the door and Nathan stepped inside.
"Just put it in the living room." Haley closed the door behind her and followed him into the living room. Nathan set the bags down and Haley took a seat on the couch and kicked off her shoes.
"Do you think we bought too much?" Haley surveyed the various bags on the floor.
Nathan shrugged. "You know how kids are, they'll be drooling and pooping away, we're going to need as much clothes as we can get."
Haley grimaced, she didn't need that mental image and headed for the sofa.
"My feet are killing me." Haley felt relieved to be sitting down. The pregnancy had made her feet a little swollen, she needed to start wearing more comfortable shoes.
"Here, let me take care of that." Nathan took a seat next to her and grabbed her legs so that they were over his lap.
"Nathan, what're you…" Haley nearly gasped as she felt Nathan's strong hands rubbing against her swollen dogs.
"Look you've had a long day walking around carrying our son, it's the least I can do." Nathan offered her a small smile as he continued to massage her feet.
Haley tried to protest, to tell him to stop but damn it felt good. Nathan's hands were always very .. skilled and she'd indulged herself for now. She didn't want to give him mixed signals. She may have forgiven Nathan but the last thing she wanted right now was to start a relationship with him.
"You were great today, you know that." Nathan stated.
"I'd hardly call smiling at the cameras hard work."
"No but I know how hard it was for you."
"Do you think the press will leave us alone now that they know?"
"Not anytime soon but eventually they'll get tired and move on. I already told Alex the situation and Clay's handling it. So long as none of us makes this a big deal then the press will get tired and they'll realize that there's no story here."
"I hope your right." Haley said softly.
"You let me worry about it. But I'm sure it'll be hard telling your family."
Haley tensed up. "Well my mom knows, I broke the news to her a few days ago. She's happy."
"But she would've been happier if I wasn't the father huh?"
"Nathan don't talk like that. She knows what you did but my mom is not the one to hold grudges .. that'd be me." Haley gave him a teasing smile.
Nathan chuckled and continued to massage her feet.
"But I told my mom that she can tell the rest of my family, I don't even want to turn on my phone yet."
"Yeah me too. God, I can only imagine what Dan has to say about this." Nathan shook his head. "I really don't want to face him."
"I'm sure he'll be happy for you." Haley said softly.
"Happy?" Nathan scoffed. "Hales, you're heart as always been too big, Dan Scott does not do happy. But I promise you that I'll do my best to keep him away from you and the baby."
"Nathan, that's not necessary." Haley cleared her throat as she wrestled to reveal to the truth about her mom's condition and Dan's involvement.
"Yes it is and Lucas agrees with me."
"Lucas?"
"Yeah, he'll be here to help you out while I'm gone." Nathan then took a deep breath. "Which will be pretty soon." He added.
"When are you leaving?"
"Tomorrow morning."
"That soon." Haley looked down.
"Yeah, the past few days have just flew."
Haley nodded in agreement.
"I.. I wish I can be here more."
"Me too." Haley accidentally blurted out and Haley looked up and saw Nathan's blue eyes curiously looking at her.
"So you'll miss me?" He smirked.
"The baby is getting bigger, it's just a shame you'll be missing out on that." She quickly recovered.
"Well I'll be back before you know it but I was wondering if you wanted to visit me?"
"In Seattle?"
Nathan shook his head. "We have an away game at Charlotte coming up, maybe you can go, I can get you and Lucas tickets? Shoot bring Peyton and Brooke too if you want."
"Umm.. is that a good idea?"
"I know there'll be a lot of people and press there but it's up to you. I'll understand if you don't want to go." Nathan looked down.
"I'll think about it." Haley replied, she could tell that Nathan wanted them to go. She figured that aside from Clay, Nathan never had anyone go to his games. Just then her stomach started to grumble.
"Hungry?" Nathan smiled.
"When am I not?" Haley joked.
"Want to do take out?" Nathan asked and Haley nodded.
"Chinese?" Nathan asked.
Haley's face scrunched up and she shook her head. Her baby definitely wasn't in the mood for Chinese.
Nathan chuckled. "Pizza?"
Haley's face lit up and she nodded.
"Okay, I'll order, what do you want?" Nathan whipped out his phone.
"Ohh.. get a pie with sausage and pinapple.. and get a side of garlic bread, baked ziti and calzones."
Nathan couldn't help but me amused. "Is that all?"
"Actually." Haley got up and headed over to the kitchen. "Let me get a menu."
Nathan got up and followed her. "Whatever you want."
. . . . . .
Rachel entered her apartment, her hands full of shopping bags.
"Where have you been?" Renee's voice boomed.
"Hello to you too." Rachel rolled her eyes. "If you couldn't already tell, I was at the mall." Rachel lifted her shopping bags.
"Why would you go shopping?" Renee questioned.
Rachel put her bags down and walked over to her and kissed her on the lips. "Because my love, we are going to be paid and I was doing some pre-celebration."
"You really think Nathan Scott is going to pay us?" Renee questioned.
"If he wants to keep his baby mama on the down low then yes." Rachel quipped. "Besides from what you told me, he's going to give in and we, my dear, will be rich."
"I hope you saved the receipts." Renee shook her head and turned on the television.
"Hello everyone, Maria Menounos here and boy do we have breaking news. NBA star Nathan Scott is expecting. You may remember Nathan who was last involved with actress Alex Dupre. It was only a short time ago that we learned of the sex tape between Chris Keller and Alex DuPree. Nathan claimed their break up was a mutual decision and quote:
I consider Alex a great person, a wonderful actress, and someone I consider to be a friend. Alex and I hold no grudge against each other.
But was Nathan Scott just covering the fact that he was expecting a child of his own. Our camera caught up to Nathan Scott in his home town of Tree Hill where he's shown here doing a little baby shopping with the mom to be. We have unconfirmed reports that the mother is an old flame from Nathan's past. The pair was seen leaving the store with a handful of baby clothes and toys. Reporters from the scene report that the pair looked happy and calm and that Nathan was beaming with pride.
On the phone right now is Clay Evans, Nathan Scott's agent.
"Hello, Clay are you there?"
"Yes, Maria, thanks for having me."
"Now I have to ask, what is going on? Nathan Scott is going to be a father? When did this happen?"
Clay laughed over the phone. "Believe me, we were surprised when we found out as well."
"So how did this happen?"
"Do you really need me to explain it?" Clay joked.
Maria laughed. "You know what I mean."
"The mother is indeed an ex girlfriend of Nathan's. She's from Tree Hill as well, her name is Haley James. Her and Nathan met up in town a couple of months ago when Nathan was visiting and well you know how what happened." Clay chuckled. "Like I said, this came as a surprise to all of us but Nathan is happy, the baby is healthy and we couldn't be more happier."
"So is Nathan and Haley an item?"
"Maria, this is the 21st century, these things happen and I can't speak for Nathan and Haley but I can tell you that they are very happy and excited about the baby."
"Listen Clay, I know you're a busy man, thanks for talking with us."
" Thanks for having me."
"You're welcome, give Nathan our best." Maria turned back to the camera and a paper was handed over to her.
"We are also receiving word from Alex DuPre's camp. In a message released from her publicist, she goes on to say:
I want to extend my congratulations to Nathan. He is a great guy and I know he will be a great father, I wish him the best.
"So there you have it folks, we have our panel here to weigh in on everything .."
Renee muted the television as Rachel's jaw was open and her veins ran cold.
. . . . .
"Thanks for having me over." Nathan said as Lucas put his car in gear and headed for the airport.
"No problem, let me know about those tickets."
"Yeah, definitely. And please keep an eye on Haley."
"You know I will."
"Thanks man, I owe you." Nathan waved off as he got into his rental.
"A new car would be just fine." Lucas smirked and Nathan smirked back.
"I'll think about it." Nathan chuckled. Nathan leaned back and his mind drifted to last night. They ordered dinner and he and Haley just hung out at Haley's house. After eating, they caught a movie on television but they both fell asleep to catch the end. Eventually, they both woke up and Nathan said his goodbye.
He could honestly say it was one of the best nights in his life. With out a doubt, he knew Haley was it for him. He could feel her walls coming down and knew that he just needed to continue proving himself to her. She had every right to be scared and weary of him but he'll show her.
They were passing by one of the main streets of Tree Hill now and was stopped at a red light. Nathan turned to his side and noticed a woman that look like Haley sitting in one of the coffee shops. It was then that he saw him and Nathan's eyes grew wide.
"Julian." Nathan muttered in a low voice and he saw Julian walk up to Haley. They shared a hug Haley motioned for Julian to sit. Nathan clenched his teeth and balled up his fist. He couldn't believe this, he thought they weren't even talking to each other anymore. Why was she meeting him? Has she always been seeing him? He was so confused. He continued to look on, even as the light turned green and the car started moving.
"Nathan!" Lucas' voice boomed.
"Huh?" Nathan was brought back to reality.
"You okay?"
"Yeah." Nathan cleared his throat.
Lucas squinted at his brother. "I was asking who you guys were facing next."
"The bulls." Nathan replied and looked back but he could no longer see them anymore.
"Hey Luke."
"Yeah?"
"Is Haley .. I mean.." Nathan tried to find the words.
"You can form sentences right?" Lucas teased.
"Look, is Haley still seeing Julian?"
"Where is this coming from?"
"Luke, just answer the question." Nathan rubbed his forehead.
Lucas chuckled. "No, she isn't. They broke up a while ago .. they haven't even talked in weeks."
Nathan's heart dropped. "Really?"
"Why?" Luke asked curiously.
Nathan shook his head, "Nothing."
"You sure you're okay."
"Yeah." He lied.
After getting dropped off the airport. He and Lucas shared their goodbyes. He dropped off his bags at check in but he was still in a sour mood. They're not together. He kept telling himself. They broke up a long time ago but his mind was still plagued. What if she decided that she wanted to be with him, what then? Nathan felt like he was about to loose it. He took a deep and tried to relax. He was getting himself worked up for nothing, but what Lucas said played over in his mind. It was clear that Julian and Haley still kept in touch, but the fact that she was hiding it from Lucas made him weary. Maybe she and Julian got back together and she didn't want anyone to know. Maybe that's why she was so okay with telling the world about her pregnancy. God, he waking himself sick.
Nathan continued to walk through the terminal to his gate and stopped dead in his tracks.
"I hear congratulations are in order."
"What're you doing here?" Nathan questioned.
"Seeing as you don't return any of my calls, I figured I'd stop by before you leave. Now come on and give your old man a hug.. dad." Dan smiled as he stepped forward and hugged Nathan.
Nathan took a step back, obviously shocked. He suddenly couldn't wait to get out of Tree Hill.
To Be Continued . . . .