I know...I suck. I was planning on updating much sooner, but this week has just been so hectic. I have finals coming up and prom and graduation, so it's been kind of crazy lately. I just want to say THANKS FOR ALL THE REVIEWS!!!! They seriously made my day, better yet my year. lol.
Summery: Haley James has it all. The perfect boyfriend, great friends, and a career that is about to skyrocket. But what happens when her past catches up with her, and people left forgotten are suddenly back in her life. AU Naley
Disclaimer: I own nothing associated with One Tree Hill or the CW.
---Flashbacks are in Italics----
Chapter 2- Road Trip
Haley opened up the latest issue of People magazine and flopped down on her couch. Turning the pages, she absentmindedly looked through the articles. She saw the usual 'Brangelina' headlines and the occasional story on Britney Spears' new scandals. However, she was not expecting to turn the page and find herself, Brooke and Antonio in the magazine. The picture had been taken about a week ago, as they frantically were putting together the last finishing touches to their fashion show. There were even pictures of Haley and Robert, smiling happily at a charity event.
Haley closed the magazine immediately, a small frown forming on her face, which upset her. Today was supposed to be one of the happiest days of her life. She had just gotten engaged, and had put on a successful fashion show, and was finally getting the recognition she deserved. But Haley wasn't happy at all.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't my lying best friend Miss Haley James. Or should I say Mrs. Haley James-Scott." Brooke asked as she made her way into the living room and sat down on the couch, purposely putting as much room between Haley and herself as possible.
"Brooke---"
"No really Haley, which one is it. 'Cause I have been under the impression that you were divorced all this time, but nooo, it turns out little Haley James has 'secrets'. Secrets that her best friend obviously didn't need to know."
Haley opened her mouth to speak, but was quickly cut off by Brooke again.
"I mean I was there Haley. I was right there when you got those divorce papers. Hell I was even there when you signed them. I was under the stupid impression that we were all done with our ties to the people that reside in Tree Hell, but I guess I was wrong."
"Weren't you just talking to Rachel yesterday, Brooke?" Haley stared at Brooke with a questioning, but her voice was full of amusement.
"That doesn't count. Rachel lives in California now Haley, not Tree Hill." Brooke answered as if Haley's question was the most trivial thing in the world. "Next thing you're gonna tell me you have secret phone conversations with P. Satan and Pucas."
"P. Satan and Pucas?" Haley teased, trying to ease the tension between the two.
"It's so not funny Haley."
"Okay, so how long are you going to stay mad at me?" Haley asked with her best puppy dogface.
"I don't know yet…you know how petty I can be."
"That I do know." Haley responded with a nod of her head, causing Brooke to throw a pillow at her.
Laughing at her friend's antics, Haley picked up the pillow and sat back on the couch next to Brooke.
"But seriously Brooke, I'm sorry. I know I should have told you. I just didn't know how to say it. I mean I wanted to tell you, but there's no easy way to bring up the fact that you're still married to your high school sweetheart." Haley stated sadly.
Brooke wildly threw her arms into the air and scoffed at Haley. "How about 'Guess what Brooke? I'm still married.' Yeah that would've worked Haley."
"Brooke! I said I was sorry. I don't know what else you want from me." Haley sighed loudly and buried her head in her lap.
"So tell me now." Brooke suddenly said, repositioning herself on the couch to get more comfortable.
"Tell you what?" A skeptical Haley asked as she too got into a more comfortable position.
"Tell me how you and the infamous Scott are still married."
Taking a deep breath, Haley tried to find the words to say. She had replayed the day over and over again in her head so many times, but it all seemed so much more real now that she had to actually talk about it and say it out loud. Sighing, she closed her eyes, and went back to that day, six years in the past.
"Haley! I swear I am going to personally kill you if I step over another one of these damn books! I know you're like a super nerd, but that doesn't mean you have to scatter these books all over the damn apartment!"
"Good morning to you too Brooke." Haley replied nonchalantly as she continued to study, not even bothering to look up at her friend.
"Why are you studying anyways? The final isn't until Monday."
"Did you seriously just ask me that Brooke? Today is Saturday. Which means the final is in two days."
"I know what day it is Hales. Which is exactly why I am not going to be holed off in the apartment studying. God, you can be so clueless sometimes Haley."
"Well Brooke someone has to run your future clothing line. What was it called again, 'STD'?" Haley asked as she tried to stifle a laugh.
"Very funny Hales, but it is going to be called Scott, Thomas and Davis. You know me, save the best for last."
"I don't know why you insist on attaching Scott to my last name Brooke. Nathan and I aren't together anymore."
"Yes, but you're still married girlie, so therefore the Scott will remain."
"Okay, suite yourself. But no-ones going to know who the hell you're talking about when you have Scott on there, not even Antonio, who by the way would not like his name being in the middle."
"Yeah, yeah…keep telling yourself that." Brooke told her as she heard the apartment door open; knowing that only one person besides the two of them had a key to their home.
"Ladies, you're looking mighty good today." Antonio told them as he walked over to them.
"Of course we are Tony, what did you expect." Brooke told him, her voice full of conceit.
"Classy Brooke. Very classy." Antonio said sarcastically.
"I try." Brooke responded, clearly not catching on to his sarcasm, causing both him and Haley to laugh.
"So what's up Antonio?" Haley asked after a brief pause. "You come to tell me I shouldn't be studying too."
Grabbing his heart in an exaggerated manner, he looked at Haley as if she were crazy. "Oh God no, I actually came over to get your notes from Design class."
"See Brooke, I told you that everyone's going to be studying this weekend." Haley told her excitedly as she went to go and find her notes.
"Yeah, yeah." Brooke mumbled as she noticed that Antonio had papers in his hand. "What's that?"
"This my dear, is the mail. I ran into the mailman on my way up. Sooo hot by the way."
"I know right." Brooke told him with a wink as she began to fan herself. "I bet mail's not the only thing he knows how to deliver."
"Eww Brooke, no-one wants to hear about your nasty mailman obsession." Haley said as she re-entered the room with the notes for her Design class.
"Whatever Haley, you know you want him too." Brooke challenged.
Haley scrunched her nose up and made a disgusted face at Brooke. "He's like 40 years old Brooke. He probably has kids our age."
Brooke shrugged her shoulders and turned her attention back to Antonio. "So what's in the mail?"
"Let's see here. We have a letter for a Miss Brooke Penelope Davis, another letter for Brooke, and one for Miss Haley James." He handed each girl their mail and retrieved his class notes from Haley.
"And one more for a Mrs. Scott." Antonio said confused. Haley's head shot up as she heard the name being read.
"Well the mailman might be hot, but he sure as hell doesn't know how to deliver mail. I'll just leave this one here. Just make sure you run this down to the mailman when you see him next time." Antonio told them as he sat the mail down on the table and made his way out of the apartment.
"Bye Tony!!" Brooke yelled to him as he walked out of the apartment. "Well what do we have here, Mrs. Scott?"
"A letter Brooke." Haley told her as she continued to stare at the envelope on her living room table.
"No shit Sherlock, I meant I wonder who it's from. You haven't used Scott at the end of your name for two years."
Haley shrugged and continued to stare intently at the envelope. She really didn't know who it was from, and she wasn't sure she wanted to find out either.
"Well, aren't you gonna open it?" Brooke asked, breaking Haley out of her staring contest with the envelope.
"No."
"Why the hell not!"
"Can you open it for me Brooke?" Haley asked in a tranced state, causing Brooke so slightly raise an eyebrow at her.
Brooke stared at Haley for a moment before grabbing the yellow envelope off of the table. She slowly opened the letter and took out the stack of papers that it contained. After looking at the first page Brooke had seen enough, she knew exactly what this was.
"Umm…Hales, it's, it's--"
"What is it Brooke!?"
"Divorce papers." Brooke answered sadly.
Haley gasped and snatched the papers out of Brooke's hand. She surveyed the papers and looked back at Brooke.
"This son of a bitch is trying to divorce me. Me!! Well you know what, I'll give him what he wants. If he wants a divorce, after everything he put me through then fine." Haley quickly scanned the document to see where she had to sign and put the papers back in the document without even looking at the rest of the papers or Nathan's signature.
"Hales, maybe you should talk to Nathan abou-"
"What! I refuse to talk to him. He hasn't tried to contact me in the past two years, and has the nerve to send me divorce papers! How the hell does he know where I live anyways?"
"I already knew all of that Haley, I was there. That doesn't explain why the hell you're still married though." Brooke cut in, bringing Haley out of dazed set of storytelling.
"Okay, so I signed the papers and put them in the mailbox." Brooke nodded her head, urging her to continue. "But about two weeks later it was sent back to me. It said something about not being able to be processed in the system because the signature was wrong."
"But how could the signature be wrong? They must have made a mistake or something."
"That's what I thought too, until I took out the papers and looked over the whole document. I don't know why I didn't read the whole thing the first time I got the papers, I guess I was a little mad."
"A little mad, Haley? You practically ripped my fingers off when you took the divorce papers out of my hand!" Brooke said, visualizing the image.
"Ha ha-the point is that when I looked through the document, I saw that Nathan was the one who's signature wasn't right. He wrote something there, but he didn't sign his name."
"So what did it say?"
Haley sighed loudly and turned to Brooke. "Always and Forever."
Both girls were quiet for a moment, before Brooke finally spoke up. "Why did he send them in the first place then?"
"I don't know, but after I read that I didn't have the heart to even resend them."
"Alright, so let me get this straight. Nathan sends the divorce papers, completely out of the blue, but he didn't want a divorce. And then you get the papers back again, but instead of contacting Nathan for an explanation, you just keep them." Brooke asked, sounding more confused by the minute.
"Pretty much."
"And what does Bobby have to say about all of this?"
"That's the problem. Robert doesn't know anything about my life in Tree Hill. He doesn't know about me being married in High School or anything about Nathan. All he knows is that I'm from a small town somewhere in North Carolina. And oh my God, what will his mother say!" Haley yelled as she stood up from her position on the couch and began pacing across the floor.
She couldn't for the life of her figure out why she had never told Robert about her relationship with Nathan. It wasn't that she was afraid to bring him up, she just chose not to, and now her whole relationship with Robert seemed like a lie.
"So what are you going to do about this?" Brooke asked and picked up the magazine Haley had previously been looking at.
"I'm going to get a divorce Brooke. It's the only thing I can do." Haley shrugged. "I don't love Nathan anymore and he damn sure doesn't love me so there shouldn't be any arguments there."
"You think you can just get a divorce now Haley? After all that's been going on in our lives for the past year." Brooke asked her cautiously.
Haley sighed and sat back down on the couch. Brooke was right; there was no way she could get a quiet divorce from Nathan now. She had already made a name for herself in The Big Apple, and on top of that she was engaged to the mayor's son. There would definitely be too much publicity around her right now to try and quietly get a divorce.
"So what do you suggest I do about it Brooke, wait until it's time to say 'I do' and then tell him that I'm still married?" Haley asked, growing agitated at Brooke's 'know it all' attitude.
Brooke laughed at Haley and continued to read the new issue of People. "Nope. The press will have already found out by then Hales." Brooke answered as she pointed to their pictures in the magazine. "You need to go back to Tree Hill and take care of this; nobody in their right mind gives a fuck about that place."
Haley rolled her eyes at Brooke before sighing. "I haven't been to Tree Hill in eight years or even talked to anyone from Tree Hill. I can't just show up at his door step out of the blue to get a divorce."
"Why not? That's what he did to you," Brooke said as she closed the magazine and looked over at Haley. She knew that she was pushing Haley into something she obviously didn't want to do, but she knew these words needed to be said. They had to do something about this; there was no way she was going to let the public find out about Haley's past in Tree Hill until they had already handled the situation.
"Alright Brooke, I'll go to Tree Hill and take care of this. But you have to come with me, there's no way I'm going to do this alone." She opened her eyes to find Brooke smiling at her. "What?"
"Road trip!" Brooke yelled at the top of her lungs as she ran from the couch to her bedroom. "I have to call Tony and tell him we're leaving. You girlie, need to call your hubby to be."
-----------------------------------------
Haley let out an annoyed sigh and rolled her eyes for what had to have been the 20th time so far. Whoever said road trips were fun had obviously never been on one with Brooke Davis. Haley didn't too much mind the company; it was the constant offbeat singing and trifling chitchat that was started getting to her. Haley loved Brooke with all her heart, but there was only so much a girl could take. She was sure that it was Brooke's carefree attitude that had her feeling agitated. They had both ran out on their hometown a long time ago and had never looked back; yet seemed like Brooke didn't have a care in the world. She knew that Brooke had to be just as nervous as she was about returning, but in all the years she had known her, she had never one to express her feelings, so Haley too decided to try and calm herself down and just concentrate on the road.
Four hours into the drive, and about four Britney Spears albums later, Haley had been saved by her cell phone ringing. She quickly looked at the caller ID and cursed aloud, causing Brooke to stop her horrible rendition of 'Hit Me Baby One More Time' and inquire about who was calling. Haley shot Brooke a look that told her all she needed to know before answering the phone.
"Hey honey," she said as she answered the phone, "I miss you."
"I miss you too Hales. A lot. You don't know how boring it is being here in New York all by myself. My mom is driving me nuts. She keeps asking me all these questions about when we're gonna get married and set a date."
"So what did you tell her?"
"I told her that I'd set the date when I felt like it. Oh, and to stay out of our damn business. I had to set her straight, ya know? Let her know who's really running things."
Haley laughed on the other end of the phone. "So what did you really tell her?"
Robert chuckled before answering. "I told her that as soon as I knew the date, she'd know the date. So…have you made it back home yet?"
"Almost. Brooke drives like a bat out of hell so I'm sure we'll be there in about an hour or less." Haley said, causing Brooke to stick her tongue out at her and put in yet another Britney Spears album to sing along to.
"I really wish I could have come down there to tell them about the engagement with you Hales. I'd love to see where you grew up."
"I know, it's just that I haven't seen my parents in seven years, I just thought this should be something I tell them in person, and by myself."
"I understand. But look babe I have to go, duty calls. Tell your family I said hi and I can't wait to meet them."
"Ok…I love you."
"I love you too. Oh and one more thing. Tell Brooke to stick to designing clothes, she sounds like someone is strangling a cat to death."
Haley closed the phone, laughing at his last remark.
"What's so funny?" Brooke asked her as they passed the 'Welcome to Tree Hill' sign.
Haley, who had suddenly found herself becoming even more nervous as she began to see familiar sights could only muster one reply. "Nothing…nothing at all."
"Yeah, well welcome back to Tree Hell."