Pretty Baby
By AmericanBaby
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story, other than Lacey Scott; they belong to the WB or whatever. I just like writing about them!
Author's Note: I just want to say thank you to misstaraQ, 23OneTreeHill3, and lilmonkeygirl31 because they all encouraged me to write this quickly! Please tell me what you think of this chapter. Especially if you think that characters are out of place and whatnot. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon… maybe even by Wednesday morning-ish? I hope so, but we'll see! --Niki
Chapter 6, Nathan:
The Runaway
Haley, Lacey, and I sat at the table as we finished breakfast silently. I didn't know what to sat, and according to the silence neither of the girls did either.
"I think I'll go take a shower," Lacey said quickly as she placed her dishes in the sink. I watched her flee the kitchen and listened to her footsteps retreating up the stairs. Throughout the meal I had been stealing glances at Haley, hoping she wouldn't notice. As soon as Lacey reached the top step Haley turned and faced me. Our eyes locked and I felt something inside me spark but I just wasn't ready for that connection yet. I turned my head quickly and decided to clear the rest of the table.
"We're going to have to talk eventually," she said looking the same as I always see her in my dreams.
"I know," I said biding my time carefully. "I called Lucas and asked him to meet us at Karen's Café at 11. Long story short: Lacey is my sister. She needs to meet Lucas," I'm not sure why I blurted that out, it just happened. Haley was making me jumpy and I was having trouble thinking clearly when she looked at me. Haley tilted her head to the side as she examined my face. She gently placed her small hand on my own larger one, startling me.
"I know. I didn't mean we have to talk now. There's a lot going on. It can wait. I'm gonna go get ready, 11 is only 15 minutes away." Before I had gotten out a word Haley cleared off the table and headed up the stairs following the path Lacey had only minutes ago.
I knew that I would have to talk to her eventually, but whenever I was around Haley, my head started spinning and I felt like I wanted to tell her everything in the very second I started speaking. My heart said to forgive her for running away but my head said to take my time. I wanted to jump in and make everything back to normal. As normal as Tree Hill every got, anyway. When Haley was by my side every day and I didn't have to worry about not talking to her or being angry with her. When she was right there next to me when I woke up… Not half way across the country with some loser who is so full of himself that he talks in third person.
If you ran to the end of the earth
I would catch you and you would be safe
If you fell down the well
I would bring you a rope and take all the pain
All the pain, all the pain
That you hide from me everyday
If you're missing I will run away
I will build a path to you
If you're missing I will run away
Because I find myself in you
All of the days Haley was gone I thought about going after her. Every second we were apart I wondered what made her leave. There were times I wanted to go to her pick her up and physically carry her back to Tree Hill with me. It took every ounce of self-restraint in me not to. Even though I didn't understand why she left, I understood that she wouldn't have wanted me to come running after her.
If I woke up alone I won't stop till I'll find you and you are with me
'Cause by now, I know you better than you know yourself
and I know what you really need
What you need, or I need
But either way this is where you should be
Here with me, or I'll bleed so much that you wont believe
"Nathan? Nathan? We're ready to go meet Luke. Would you snap out of it?" Haley said bringing me back into the present. She and Lacey were standing side by side in similar outfits. Each wearing jeans and a green shirt. Haley's a t-shirt with white writing and Lacey's a thin strap top with beads. I looked blankly at them for a second reminding myself that Haley was here now. I didn't need a path to find her. But I couldn't concentrate I kept flashing back to the hospital after I crashed and told her not to come. She had ran away and I wanted to find her. Why couldn't it have been the other way around? Everything could have been back to normal already.
"Can we please get going? Karen and Luke are waiting. Nathan?" Finally I put the rest of the dishes into the sink and turned to Lacey and Haley who were ready to leave.
"Okay, let's get this over with…" I sighed as I followed them out the door. We all got into my car and the quick ride over to the Café was quite. Everyone lost in their own thoughts.
If you're missing I will run away
I will build a path to you
If you're missing i will run away
Because I find myself in you
You better not, you better not run
You better not, you better not run
If you're missing I will run away
I will build a path to you
If you're missing I will run away
I will find you
I will find you
I will find you
Chapter Title and Song Lyrics are from Something Corporate!