The Search for Something More
Chapter 27 – Somewhere A Clock is Ticking
Thank you all for the reviews! I know you are all eager to know what comes next so I won't keep you. I wanted to make sure I had next chapter mostly written up before I post this one. Hope you enjoy this one. Leave me some love!
"I'm going to ask Nathan to marry me tonight!" Haley proclaimed with a huge grin on her face.
Brooke looked at her for a second, her jaw practically on the floor before she squealed and started jumping up and down towards Haley. "AHHH!"
"AHH!" Haley couldn't back her excitement either and would've joined Brooke but her feet would hurt and it was probably not the best for the baby.
"Okay Tigger calm down." Haley laughed.
Brooke finally got a hold of herself. "Sorry, you know me, weddings always gets me excited .. but you.. I mean.. how.. what.."
Haley was about to answer but paused, someone else was missing. "Where's Peyton?"
A short time later, the duo made their way over to Peyton's house in Tree Hill.
"Talk about a wake up call." Peyton yawned as she handed Haley a cup of hot chocolate, her and Brooke having coffee this morning.
"P. Sawyer, how can you not be excited? Tutor girl's getting married!"
"I'm not getting married yet." Haley clarified.
"Oh please, like Nathan would ever say no." Peyton laughed and Brooke nodded in agreement. Peyton took a took a seat and took a sip of her coffee. "Of course, I'm excited. I'm so happy for you Hales." Peyton squeezed Haley's hand.
"Now." Peyton stated, the caffeine kicking in. "I want all the details."
"Yes, Tutorgirl." Brooke turned to Haley. "What changed?"
Both girls eager to find out what made Haley change her mind about marrying Nathan.
Haley paused for a second. "I've always loved Nathan, even when I denied it, I was… am."
"We know." Peyton turned to Brooke.
"You did?" Somehow Haley was surprised.
"Yeah." Brooke sighed. "As much as I hated the bastard, we all knew that deep down you still loved him, which made me hate him even more after he left you."
"And I was scared he'd leave me again. He bought the ring in high school and he still left me. I know it's silly to think that, especially after all we've been through but it was there. I've forgiven him. I really have but the fear just kept gnawing at me."
"And now?" Peyton asked.
"Oh I'm still scared." Haley gave a small laugh "I think this whole time I was waiting for the fear to disappear but I don't think that ever will." Haley admitted. "But last night I realized something else, that I'm more scared of not having him in my life."
"Awww." Both girls cooed.
Haley blushed. "I had a dream that the baby was born and that Nathan and I were together but still not married. We were watching Nathan play basketball and he collapsed on the court and died of a heart attack." Haley could feel the tears well up as she relived the dream. "It felt so real, one minute he was there.. the next he was gone,." Peyton and Brooke clutched onto Haley, their hearts breaking at Haley's words.
"But life is short you know, after my dad's death, my mom's cancer, I think it's time to stop being afraid.. or not letting it control me. So I'm ready to take the next step with Nathan. We love each other, we're having a son, I'm ready to start the rest of my life.. and I'm ready to start it with him." Haley proclaimed.
"Damn you Haley." Peyton wiped away a few tears.
"You're totally ruining my make up." Brooke sniffled.
Haley laughed and wiped away her own tears.
"So when does boy toy come back?" Brooke asked.
"Yeah?" Peyton added.
"He said he'll be there for the shower."
"Oh we need to make tonight, extra special." Brooke added.
Haley nodded in agreement. "I'm thinking about going back up the roof, we can get candles and light the place up."
"That sounds like a great idea." Peyton complimented.
"Okay ladies, finish your drinks." Brooke announced. "We need to go shopping for candles, a new killer outfit for Haley and I'm going to book our hair and nails appointment." Brooke got up and started to make some calls on her phone.
Haley and Peyton laughed, Brooke was something else.
"Nate, there's something I need to tell you." Lucas said softly.
"That Clay's an idiot." Nathan huffed out. "Yeah I already know that."
"Nate.." Lucas was about to speak up but Clay interrupted them.
"Good news." Clay came up to them.
"What?" Lucas asked.
"You found us a car." Nathan replied.
"Sort of." Clay remarked. "I did get us a ride… he can take us as far as Charlotte."
"That's not bad." Lucas replied.
"Yeah Charlotte's, not that far from home." Nathan replied. "Another five minutes here and you were going to give me a piggy bag ride."
"Funny, how you mention that." Clay added.
"Huh?" Lucas squinted over at Clay.
Clay took a deep breath and pointed to a truck nearby, the back was open and full of pigs. "That's our ride."
"Please tell me there's space inside the actual truck." Lucas replied but Clay just stayed quiet.
"You're going to see how much I love Haley." Nathan shook his head and made his way over to the truck.
"Care to explain?" Dan cracked his knuckles.
"Umm.. I.. " Renee tried to form words but none could come out.
"It's okay because I've done some digging around on my own and looks like you were trying to two-time me."
"Mr. Scott.. I needed the money.. we needed the money." Renee said desperately.
"I thought I paid you plenty to just sit back and look after my sons but it seems that wasn't good enough for you." Dan replied coolly. "Apparently, trying to blackmail my son paid out more."
"Mr. Scott, I didn't know Rachel was going to do that."
"And how did Rachel know about the pregnancy? This was supposed to be between you and me."
"She's.. she's my girlfriend. I had to tell her."
"Did you also tell her how good the cake was at Andre Field's birthday party?" Dan pulled out another photo. The more info he dug up about Renee, the more he discovered. Quentin Fields posted some pictures online from his son's birthday party and he discovered Renee in some of the pictures. He paid her to keep an eye on Nathan. He'd been left out in the dark ever since Nathan cut him off a few years ago. After Nathan's accident, Dan was even more determined to get back in touch with his son.. both his sons, especially after learning about his HCM. What he didn't expect was to find that Haley's mom had cancer and that Haley herself got pregnant by Nathan. This turned out to work in his favor as it allowed him to an in to get back into his sons' lives.
"You're job was to look after my sons.. to tell me what they were up to not to talk to them. And certainly not try to blackmail them." Dan pounded his fist on his desk.
"Mr. Scott.."
"No, Renee I'm done with you." Dan gritted through his teeth. "And you're little friend Rachel."
"I feel bad man.. because I looove bacon and I love porkchops and I love ham but then I met you .. now I'm conflicted." Clay spoke to the pig he was currently sitting next to.
"I know you plan on falling insanely in love with that pig, but can we please talk about something else." Nathan replied annoyed. Lucas snickered next to his brother, the dude had a weird fetish with pigs.
"Sure." Clay replied and leaned back. "So tonight's your baby shower."
"Yeah." Nathan replied. "Haley's expecting me to be there."
"Brooke's going to kill me." Lucas replied. Clay and Nathan looked at Lucas.
"I was supposed to pick up some of the food." Lucas replied and then looked down at the pig. "Brooke ordered pork ribs." Lucas grimaced and all three shared awkward looks at each other.
After a few seconds of awkward silence, they felt the truck slow down to a complete stop.
"What happened?" Nathan jumped off the truck, traffic was backed up and no one was moving.
"The bridge is out.. probably flooded due to the deluge we had last night." The driver remarked.
"See what, I tell you." Clay looked over to Nathan.
"You have a map?" Nathan turned to the driver. A few seconds later, the driver whipped out a map and Nathan started to go through it.
"Do you know what you're doing?" Lucas asked.
"Let's see, we're here.. and if we hike a few miles north, we can make it to the next highway.
"You sure that's a good idea?" Lucas asked. "What if we get lost?"
"Yeah, maybe we should just stay here."
"Dude come on, I'm like a human compass." Nathan motioned for them to follow him.
"I'll .. I'll have your money.. it's just taking a little bit longer than expected. Yes, I know.. don't worry …. Hello.. Fox.. Hello." Rachel looked at her phone and it looked like he hung up.
"Who was that?" Renee asked.
"Someone who's pissed.. just like me." Rachel put her phone away. "I can't believe he fired you!" Rachel paced back and forth.
"I told you that blackmailing Nathan was a bad idea."
"And I can't believe you let him take back the little money we had left."
"Rachel, I was trying to protect us. It's already bad enough he fired me. Let's just leave town. I have a bad feeling about this." Dan all but told her to get the hell out of town. "Believe me, you don't want to mess with Dan Scott." Dan Scott gave her the option of never coming back. Frankly, he had so much dirt on both of them that it would be pointless trying to go after him.
"Well Dan Scott never messed with me." Rachel proclaimed.
"The high way is this way… I think." Nathan continued to walk. The sun was starting to set and frankly, he didn't want to get stuck in the creepy woods at night.
"Hey Nate, look at the bright side. If we actually lived through this thing, think of the endorsement deals from GPS companies. I never would've gotten lost if.."
"Shut up." Nathan exclaimed. "Would you just shut up?"
"I'm just trying to have a conversation."
"That's the thing, you're always talking."
"Oh I'm sorry." Clay fired back. "I didn't know the human compass needed complete silence to concentrate." They came to a complete stop now. "Maybe we should've stayed with the pigs cuz it seems to me that you have gotten us lost."
"ME? We wouldn't be here if you haven't insisted on a guys road trip, if you haven't taken the wrong exit or if you didn't drive over those spikes, I would be home right now!"
"Nathan, Haley will understand."
"She shouldn't have to Clay!"
"Clay, Nathan asked Haley to marry him. She said no." Lucas finally spoke up. He'd been mostly silent, lost in his own thoughts but things were getting heated and he needed to diffuse the situation. He knew his brother was on edge and he doubt Clay knew the real reason why.
"Nate?" Clay looked at Nathan confused. He was a little disappointed that he only found out about this now. He thought they were friends. "How come you didn't tell me?"
"I'm sorry if I didn't want to advertise that the love of my life.. the mother of my son, doesn't want to marry me." Nathan ran a hand through his hair.
"Nathan, what's wrong?" Lucas asked.
"The last conversation I had with Hales, it got heated. I think I maybe have given her an ultimatum."
"What do you mean, you think?"
"I told her that she has me .. all of me and if that's not enough, then maybe I'm not enough for her." Nathan looked down. "Look, I just don't want her to think that if she doesn't marry me that it's over between us. I'll wait forever if I have to."
"Hey Clay, can you hike up that way?" Lucas pointed out. "I thought I saw some lights. I need a moment with my brother."
"Yeah." Clay nodded and started to walk away. "I'll be back."
As soon as Lucas was out of ear shot, Lucas turned to his brother.
"I'm a screw up, I know." Nathan spoke first.
"You're not a screw up Nate. And believe me when I say that I think everything will work out with you and Haley."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because.. you're Nathan and Haley." Lucas laughed. "You guys bring out the worst in each other but also the best out of each other. You two are what all us fools are looking for. You have it Nate and I know that things are rough right now but you two love each other, just remember that and everything will work itself out."
Nathan gave a small smile. "Thanks Luke."
"Look, there's something else." Lucas shifted his feet. "I heard back from the lab."
"Shit, and you're only telling me this now."
"I didn't want to say anything in front of Clay."
"Well what the hell man? What did they say?"
"You're good. You don't have HCM."
"Oh thank God." Nathan gave Lucas a hug but quickly pulled back. "You're okay too right?"
Lucas gave a warm smile. "Yeah, me too. We're going to be fine little brother." Lucas padded Nathan on the back. Nathan stood there for a moment, taking it all in, at least this was one less thing to worry about.
"Aww how cute." Clay commented.
"That was fast." Lucas turned to him.
"You were right, the highway was just up over that hill." Clay motioned for them to come over.
Haley checked her phone and saw no missed calls.
"Still no word from Nathan?" Brooke asked.
"Nope. I'm getting worried." Haley replied.
"Don't worry, I'm sure they're fine." Brooke smiled. "I don't know if I can say the same thing for Lucas."
"Why what happened?" Haley asked.
"He was supposed to pick up the food, luckily I got Junk to get it last minute." Brooke continued to fix Haley's hair.
"I got the candles!" Peyton came walking in with two shopping bags full of candles of various sizes.
"Yay." Brooke clapped her hands. "Okay Hales, Peyton and I are going to head to the café and help Karen finish setting up. And remember when you arrive, act surprised."
Haley laughed. "I will." Brooke and Peyton left and Haley turned back to the mirror. Her hair flowed down in loose curls and she was wearing a dark brown dress with a nice v neck and the hem went down to her knees. It also fit her very well, showcasing her belly. Haley picked up the black box with the ring inside from the vanity and smiled. She opened the box up and removed the necklace she was wearing. She placed the ring on her necklace and smiled. After tonight, she hoped it would be on her finger.
The trio made their way to the highway and Nathan sighed in relief.
"Hey Clay, sorry if I was being an ass back there."
"Don't sweat it Nate.. and besides you'll probably want to kill me later anyways."
"What? Why?"
"I had the contract you signed over night-ed to Skills. The Sonics were going to call today for an update and if they do, Skills was going to hand the contract over to them."
"Wait, you're going back to Seattle?" Lucas asked.
"Charlotte turned me down. They're the only team that wants me." Nathan replied.
"Damn. That sucks, so when do you have to leave?" Lucas asked.
"Well, I'm not going to leave with out Haley. I know Haley said it's cool to go to Seattle so I'm going to leave it up to her."
"But Nate, you signed the contract." Clay pointed out.
"I did but I post dated it." Nathan replied.
"To when?"
"To the year 2110." Nathan smirked. "And you know how anal lawyers are. They're just going to send the contract back for me to sign appropriately."
"Giving us another extension." Clay smirked.
"Yeah, it'll give me one last chance to talk to Haley and make sure she's cool with it before going through with it."
Clay laughed. "Pretty sneaky Scott."
"I have my moments."
"Wait, there's a car!" Lucas pointed out and started waving his hands about. The car was a white Escalade and the windows rolled down.
"You crazy white people, what the hell are you doing here?" Q smirked.
"Q! Thank God." Nathan proclaimed.
"Q, what're you doing here?" Clay asked. He was the last person he expected to see.
"I was heading to Tree Hill because this one here." Q motioned to Nathan, "invited me to his baby shower last night. I didn't think I was going to make it but my meetings ended early so I decided to just go. What the hell are you guys doing?"
"We'll explain on the way." Nathan replied.
Haley checked her watch, still no Nathan. The shower was in full swing now and while she was grateful for everyone here, she was still worried about Nathan. He and Lucas hadn't contacted anyone yet.
"The guest are getting restless." Brooke went up to Haley.
"How about we start the games?" Peyton asked.
"Brilliant idea, P. Sawyer." Brooke smiled and then started clapping her hands to get everyone's attention.
"Here Hales, sit right here, you'll have front row seats." Peyton guided Haley over to one of the chairs.
"Okay folks, we need teams of three." Brooke announced and then proceeded to go through the items left on a table they set up earlier. "This is a modified relay race." She smirked. "The first person on the team will have to put diapers on this stuffed animal.. blindfold… then after that's done, the next person has to finish this bottle of baby food.. and then last, someone has to finish this baby bottle by sucking through the nipple, just like a baby." Brooke grinned. "By the way, if any of you are pregnant, don't drink this." Brooke added.
"Now, Mouth, Junk, Fergie, you're team #1" Brooke announced when she noticed no one forming teams.
Q couldn't help but laugh. "I can't believe you guys hitch hiked on a truck full of pigs."
"It wasn't that bad." Clay remarked from his spot in the front seat.
"Well you smell bad." Q laughed.
"I think Clay found the next love of his life." Nathan added and both and he and Lucas laughed from the back.
"Huh?" Q asked.
"Let's just say, Clay met a friend." Nathan replied. "But can I borrow your phone, I need to call Haley."
"Yeah sure." Q reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone.
"Thanks." Nathan grabbed the phone. He looked at it and paused.
"What happened? Lucas turned to him.
"What's Haley's number?" Nathan realized he hadn't memorized her number.
"I can't believe you don't know it." Lucas rolled his eyes.
"It's saved on my phone ass, just give me her number." Nathan rolled his eyes.
"It's 919… shoot." Lucas shook his head. "I don't know it either. I know her old cell number."
"I can't believe you don't know it." Nathan replied sarcastically. Who remembers people's numbers anyways.
Q and Clay laughed from the front seat.
"Give me, I can call the café." Lucas took the phone and started to dial. "Great, we have no signal."
"Of course." Nathan replied, this was just his luck.
"Oh wait, I finally go through." Lucas announced after trying three more times and motioned everyone to be quiet. "Hey mom, it's Luke… yeah we're fine.. yeah flat tire but we're on our way back to Tree Hill now.. wait what did you say? I have bad signal… hello.. wait what?… Hello.. hello." Lucas looked down and saw that they lost signal again.
"No signal." Lucas announced.
"But you spoke Karen right?" Nathan asked.
"Yeah, the party is in full swing but at least they know we're coming."
Nathan nodded, at least that was something. He'd see Haley soon enough and he couldn't wait to tell her news about the HCM.
"Hey Q, this your son?" Lucas looked back down at his phone.
"Yeah.. handsome like his dad right." Q smiled.
"Yeah, he's a cute kid. Is that Nathan I see in the background?" Lucas showed the phone to Nathan.
"Oh yeah, that's me." Nathan looked at the image. The photo was of Andre about to blow his birthday cake. "This was from his 5th birthday. Clay and I went."
"Yeah, scroll through the pics, I have a couple in there from the party." Q replied.
A second later, Lucas found the photos.
"You should see his backyard, it's sick." Nathan commented.
"I can tell." Lucas saw some of the pics. "It's huge."
"That's what she said." Q replied causing everyone to laugh.
Lucas scrolled through some of the pics, most of it was of Andre but there were some of Lucas and Q and Clay. He stopped though at one picture. It was another one of Andre but he saw Nathan in the background talking to as girl in a blue dress and blond streaks. She looked really familiar, Lucas thought to himself.
"Haley, Lucas called. He and Nathan are fine, they're on the road and on the way here."
"Oh that's good to hear." Haley sighed in relief. She was so worried that she hadn't heard of anything yet. "Where are they?"
"Lucas had bad signal but I think they should be here soon."
"Thanks Karen."
"Haley, we have a winner!" Brooke announced, raising Mouth's hand, which held a piece of string. Everyone cut a piece of string to estimate the size of Haley's belly. The closest one to Haley's actually size won.
Haley laughed, feeling a lot more relaxed now that she knew Nathan was okay.
. . . . .
Nathan rushed through the doors of the café, not bothering to acknowledge the guests there trying to greet him. His eyes instantly looked for Haley.
Haley spotted his blue orbs from across the room and she instantly made her way over to them.
"Oh I missed you." The two hugged each other tight and Nathan kissed the top of her forehead. He could definitely get used to a greeting like this.
"You stink." Haley pulled back.
"I know, I'm sorry about being late. Clay took the wrong exit then ran over some spikes.."
"No I mean you smell."
"That's cuz we had to hitchhike in a pick up truck full of pigs."
"Seriously?"
"Long story." Nathan shook his head. "Hales, this is my friend Q. He eventually picked us up and was also in Atlanta."
"I finally get to meet you in the flesh. Pleasure to meet you Miss James." Q stuck out his hand.
"Nathan's talked so much about you. Nice to meet you." Haley shook his hand.
"Oh good. You're finally here." Brooke tugged on Nathan and Haley's hands. "Time for gifts."
"But Brooke."
"I have P. Sawyer lighting up the candles upstairs." She whispered into Haley's ear. She turned to Nathan and took a whiff.
"Luckily for you, I had Haley bring you some extra clothes. Since she told me you were going to be late, I didn't want the risk of you showing up in sweats."
"Go on." Haley smiled and Brooke led Nathan to the back so he could change.
Five minutes later, Nathan came out with a fresh baby blue dress shirt and a new pair of slacks. He felt better being out the clothes he'd worn all day. He made his way back to Haley and the two were now seated against a mountain of gifts.
"After this, we need to talk." Nathan whispered over to her and smiled. Haley smiled back.
"Yeah." Haley agreed.
"And our first gift." Brooke announced.
. . . . . .
Almost all the gifts were opened and Karen was busy jotting down who gave what. Peyton came back from downstairs and whispered something over to Brooke. Haley looked at them curiously. Luckily, Nathan was talking to Lucas ogling over some of the basketball items they received as gifts. You'd think it was for them.
"We'll be back." Brooke winked at Haley and the two women were off. She felt her necklace from underneath her dress. Haley was nervous. Once she got the green light from them, she was going to take Nathan upstairs and ask him.
"I'll be right back." Nathan whispered to Haley. Haley followed Nathan's line of site and through the café's glass windows, she noticed Dan lurking outside.
"What's he doing here?"
"I had lapse in judgment and invited him."
Haley gave him a weird look. "He's dying Hales, I mean I should try right?"
Haley nodded and kissed his cheeks. "Come back soon." Nathan nodded got up and headed outside.
"I know I'm late but I brought a gift." Dan held a small box that was wrapped in baby blue gift wrapping.
"Thanks." Nathan took the gift.
"And I want you to know I took care of Rachel. She shouldn't be bothering any more."
"What did you do?" Nathan asked.
"I flexed a little mayoral power. Let's just say that the next time she's in Tree Hill, the police will arrest her."
Nathan snorted. "At least that's something. Thanks dad."
"No problem son. I'm .. I'm glad you came to me with this."
Nathan nodded.
"But enough about this. You should be celebrating. Tonight's your night."
Nathan nodded. "You want to come in?"
By this time, Dan noticed Lucas looking at them curiously. "I better not. I just wanted to drop the gift off. I'll see you around."
"Okay." Nathan nodded his head and went back inside.
He placed the gift next to the others.
"What was that about?" Lucas asked softly.
"Nothing. He took care of Rachel."
"Do you trust him?"
"I don't know but he's still our dad and it's too tiring hating him all the time, especially now that I'm back home."
Lucas nodded in understanding. He still didn't trust Dan though but he got where Nathan was coming from. There was a time when Dan wasn't a monster and when Nathan looked up to his dad as his hero.
. . . . .
"We have a problem." Peyton said.
"A small problem." Brooke added.
"What?" Haley asked.
"It's a little windy upstairs and so all the candles keep getting blown out." Peyton replied.
"What?"
"See, you should've gotten the one with the holders to block the wind off." Brooke admonished.
"I didn't know!" Peyton defended herself.
"It's okay. Just turn on Christmas lights." Haley said.
"It deluged last night and now the electric prongs are rusted and only half of them work." Brooke winced. "Sorry Hales, I know how you wanted it to be perfect."
"It's okay. I'll think of something. Thanks guys." Haley headed back to the party and saw Nathan talking to Lucas.
Nathan saw Haley approaching them and motioned Lucas to scram. He just told his brother how he wanted to tell Haley the good news.
"Hey, let's talk." Nathan whispered into her ear and took a hold of her hands.
Haley nodded. "We can talk on the roof."
. . . . .
"Who did this to you?" Renee demanded. She got a cryptic message from Rachel to meet her at the back of Tric. Rachel was in a table in the back, a drink of scotch in one hand and a black eye she tried to cover with her hair.
"Did you get into another fight?" Renee asked.
"I owed some guy money. This is how I got my extension." Rachel looked away.
"Oh my God, Rachel what did you do?"
"Nothing." Rachel got and reached for her car keys.
"Where you going?" Renee chased her outside.
"Following your advice from earlier, leaving this place." Rachel got into her black Buick.
"Rachel, you're drunk… Rachel!" Renee called out but Rachel went into the car anyways. "Give me the keys." Rachel ignored her
Rachel sighed and handed her the keys. "Look let's just go home and leave this place."
Renee agreed and got into the car.
Rachel looked out the window as they drove. They were stopped at a red light and Rachel noticed someone a block ahead. The light turned green and the car started moving.
"Scott." Rachel gritted out as she got closer. "Pull over!"
"Huh?" Renee asked.
"I said pull over!" Rachel demanded.
. . . . .
Nathan looked around and saw all the people blocking the stairway to the roof. He knew he'd be plagued by people wanting to talk to them. He didn't want to be rude but he really wanted some alone time with Haley. He did see that the exit was all clear. He tightened his grip on Haley's hand and led them out of the café.
"Follow me." Nathan led the way.
"So what was your dad doing here?" Haley asked once they were outside.
"He got some info on the girl who was trying to blackmail us. He took care of it."
"That's good right?"
Nathan nodded. "Yeah that's very good. But that's not why I wanted to talk you." They started walking.
"I got good news, I don't have HCM."
"Are you serious?" Haley stopped in her tracks.
"Yes. Lucas doesn't have it either. We found out today."
"Oh thank God." Haley hugged Nathan tight and they shared a tender kiss.
"I'm so happy you two are okay." Haley replied.
"Yeah me too." Nathan wrapped his arms around her and started to cross the street. She knew exactly where they were walking to, the docks. It would always be their place.
"There's something else."
"What?" Haley asked.
"Charlotte turned me down."
Haley stopped.
"So what does it mean?"
"It means the Sonics are the only team that'll have me. It's just, I know you said you were okay with me going to the Sonics but I don't want to leave you."
"You won't leave me Nathan, I'll be with you. As soon as me and the baby can fly, we'll head out to Seattle."
"You sure?" Nathan asked. He wanted to be certain. "Because I don't have to go to Seattle."
"But where will you go?"
"Nowhere, I can be here in Tree Hill."
"But basketball."
"Basketball can wait Hales, we have a son coming. You and him are the most important things in my life."
"Nathan, it doesn't matter where you play or not play, as long as we're together. That's what I want, that's all I've ever wanted."
"Me too." Nathan smiled.
"I want to be with you, Nathan." Haley took a deep breath and reached for her necklace and pulled it up from under her dress. Nathan instantly noticed the diamond ring and the reflection of light it gave. And before he can say anything else, he noticed the light getting brighter.
"Nathan!" Haley screamed as she lunged towards Nathan, a black car heading their way.
. . . . . .
"I said pull over!" Rachel demanded and tried to grab the steering wheel from Renee.
"Rachel stop!" Renee demanded trying to take control of the wheel.
Dan was inside his car about to start the engine when he noticed a black buick driving erratically. He got out of the car and watched in horror as the car continued to swerve and the next thing he knew, he sees Haley and Nathan in the middle of the street, the car barreling their way.
He started running, running as fast as he can. He sees Haley lunge forward towards Nathan and they both fall on the ground, the car narrowly missing them but the car hit a couple of parked cars before crashing into a lamppost.
"Are you okay?" Dan asked out of breath once he reached Nathan and Haley.
"Yeah." Nathan started to get up, Haley on top of him, "Hales you okay?"
"Yeah." Haley nodded and tried to get up but Nathan held her steady. He was so glad she was okay.
"Stay with her Nate." Dan ordered as he ran towards the crashed car.
Lucas came running out of the café. "I saw what happened, are you okay?"
"I'm just shaken up." Haley steadied herself up against Nathan. Nathan knew his back was probably bruised up. That was a hard fall but at least they were okay.
"Help Dan." Nathan nodded over to the crashed car. "I got her."
. . . .
"Are you okay?" Dan reached the passenger door, slightly out of breath. But he felt nothing but rage when he saw who was inside. Renee was in the driver seat and Rachel next to her, both of them unconscious. "YOU!" Dan gritted out and opened the door and yanked Rachel out. Clenching his fist, he was about to strike but felt a pair of hands stop him.
Dan looked up and saw his oldest son looking down on him. It was then that Lucas noticed the two passengers. Instantly, he recognized Rachel and the other as the girl from Q's picture and looking at Dan, he realized that she was his secretary as well. He knew he recognized her, he saw her with Dan at a few public appearances.
Before Lucas could say anything further, he felt Dan shake slightly. Dan felt his left hand go numb and a sharp pain coursing through his left arm.
"Lucas.." Dan muttered before shaking slightly and falling on the ground.
. . . . .
"You sure you're okay?" Nathan steadied Haley on her feet. She didn't look so good.
"Yeah." Haley muttered, her head feeling dizzy. Nathan wiped away her hair and didn't notice any bumps. He looked down and saw blood on his slacks. It was then that he noticed a pool of blood on the floor, the blood dripping from Haley's thighs.
"Oh God Hales." Nathan said panicked. He looked at the crowd gathered outside the café. "Call 911!"
"Nath…" Haley closed her eyes and was about to fall down. Nathan held onto her and as gently as he could, guided her down to the ground.
"Haley!" Nathan tried to wake her up as he held onto her tight.
"HALEY!…. HALEY!"
To Be Continued . . . . .
Please don't hate me lol. Please review.