"Why did you do that?" Haley asked, putting her head in her hands. Lucas had told Haley about his earlier visit to Nathan's.
Lucas just looked at the ground. "I was trying to help."
"There's nothing to save, Luke. It's over," Haley replied. "As hard as that is for me to come to terms with, I have to let him go…I have to…so thanks, but no thanks."
Lucas shook his head. "Can I ask you something?"
Haley nodded silently.
"Why did you sign those annulment papers?" Lucas asked.
Haley sighed, taking a moment to speak carefully. "I signed the papers because it was clearly what he wanted…I knew that I made a mistake and I knew that I wanted him but above all else, I just wanted him to be happy. I walked away from him for the tour – he couldn't forgive me or maybe he just didn't want to…either way, he was ready to move on and clearly to do that, he needed to end our marriage. Why else would he have initiated those papers?"
Lucas was silent, not knowing how to respond.
"It's time for me to move on, Lucas. I need to let him go because he's already let me go," Haley said quietly.
Nathan lie back on his bed, throwing his basketball up in the air. He closed eyes, trying as hard as he could to rid his thoughts of her. It was absolute torture to see her in the hallways at school. The very minute he had seen her again for the first time in months, he literally thought he was going to pass out. He felt as though someone had punched him in the stomach and knocked the air from his body…he hadn't even known if she would be in school or even come back to Tree Hill at all, so her sudden appearance had been a shock to say the least.
Haley had always had a profound effect on him --her absence had almost ruined him and now her presence haunted him. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't escape her. If he was telling the truth, she had never been far from his mind, even after he filed for the annulment….
Dan had presented the papers to Nathan and had persuaded him to proceed with the annulment, convincing him that Haley was only a toxic element deeply in need of elimination from his life. Nathan had been so lost in his own grief and bitterness to think otherwise, so he had blindly followed his father's lead.
After he had found the signed papers in Lucas' backpack, Nathan had proceeded to the nearest corner bar with his fake ID in hand. Deb and Dan had received a phone call from the Tree Hill police late that night to pick up their intoxicated son. They found him unconscious and lying on a wooden table at the Riverfront docks, clutching a colorful plastic Cracker Jack bracelet.
Now, looking back, he realized that neither he nor Haley had tried very hard to fight for each other. In his mind, it had been a sign they just weren't meant to be but even that very thought had sickened him.
From the very moment, he had proposed, he had not been able to imagine his life without her…and now he had to come to terms with the fact that he needed to move on…just as she had done…otherwise, she wouldn't have agreed to the annulment.
That's why he had agreed to the double date with Rachel, Cooper and Jennifer in the first place. He knew that he had to find another way to deal with his loss – he needed to feel wanted again…but most of all, he needed to get her out of his mind because he couldn't be broken again.