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- Beth

Haley sat and strummed the stings on her guitar. She looked around her newly decorated apartment, to the naked eye there was no sign that Chris had ever been there, but not to Haley. Haley still saw him everywhere.

"So what do you think?" Chris stood in the empty living room, his voice echoing off the walls.

Haley slowly walked in, "It's…big."

Chris moved around excited, "Exactly! I mean look at this place…it puts that dump were in now to shame!"

"Hey!" Haley's voice lowered, "I like our dump…"Haley continued to walk around looking out the window, running her fingers along the walls, "I mean we don't have enough stuff to fill this place."

"Well I guess we'll just have to go out and buy some won't we?" He grinned.

Haley walked down the hallway and peered through the doorways, "Chris there's only one bedroom…"

"Ya I figured you'd notice that, but we never said for sure that we were going to sta-"

"No. I definitely said for sure and don't act like you didn't either." Haley folded her arms annoyed.

Chris ran over to her, "C'mon Haley, with this new job…I mean it wouldn't be fair to bring a kid into that…I mean I'd never be home." He looked around, "And this…this is just what we need."

"No, this is what you WANT."

Chris sighed and looked into her eyes, "Haley…please and besides it's not going to be forever…just until I get my feet wet and start making the real money. Then you can pick the biggest place in the city and we can fill it with all the babies you want."

Haley let out a defeated sigh, "You promise?"

"Would I lie to you?" He smirked.

The sound of the guitar filled the room as Haley continued to look around. It's amazing what life throws your way. She and Nathan had joked about the way their lives had turned out, but right now in this moment…it wasn't that funny. It was a haunting truth that she could no longer believe in words or promises, Chris had taken that from her.

"You cannot be serious!" Haley yelled.

"Haley don't start…" Chris blankly stated while walking to the bedroom.

"I damn will start! It's our anniversary Chris!"

"I didn't plan the trip Haley…it's not my fault! So stop acting like this is my choice!"

"How long do you plan on being gone?"

"A few days…"

"Fine! Do you what you want…" Haley answered, grabbing her coat and storming off.

A few hours later she walked through the front door, half expecting and half hoping he blew off his business trip and decided to stay with her. As she walked farther into the apartment it became all too clear. She threw her coat on the floor and collapsed into their oversized bed. Her hands covered her face as the sting of tears warned her they were about to fall.

She rolled onto the pillow where a crinkling sound pulled her hands away from her face, a piece of paper. She picked it up and slowly read…

I love you, don't be mad.

Happy Anniversary

Chris

She pulled the paper to her chest as the tears continued to fall, forming a small pool on her pillow.

The sound of her cell phone ringing pulled her from her daydreams, "Hello?"

"Hales?"

She weakly smiled, "Nathan, Hi."

"It's a girl!"

Haley's smile grew, "Congratulations. How's Peyton and Lucas doing?"

"Peyton's in recovery and Lucas is watching them clean her off…"

"Aww give them both my best and make sure to tell Peyton I'll be there first thing in the morning."

"I will…but I better get back I just wanted to make sure I called you."

"Thanks Nathan, I have to get to work, I'll talk to you later." Haley hung up the phone before Nathan did.

Nathan stood by the payphone in the hospital, he could tell by the sound of her voice that something was wrong.

*************************************

"Frank, please I'm begging you here…" Haley pleaded.

Frank Salvador continued punching numbers into his calculator, "I'm sorry Haley, I wish I didn't have to but I can't afford to keep you." His thick Italian accent made it hard for Haley to understand him sometimes.

"Frank I'm barely making ends meet as it is! The only way we were able to afford the apartment was because of Chris' salary!"

"Haley, I couldn't love you more if you were my own daughter, you brought us a lot of business…but I just can't afford to keep any of the acts. After tonight I can't keep you…I'm sorry"

Haley collapsed in the chair across from him, "Great." She closed her eyes and let out an aggravated sigh.

Frank stopped punching numbers in and looked over at her, "Look, I have a friend of a friend that owns a club up town…maybe he can help you out." He looked through his rolodex and handed her a card, "Tonight's pretty busy for him, but go first thing tomorrow. His name is Leo, tell him I sent you and he should see you right away…"

Haley smiled slightly, "Thanks Frank."

********************************

Haley tiredly walked into her apartment around one o'clock, she was physically and emotionally exhausted. She set her guitar case down and headed over to the answering machine…

"Hey Hales…I'm leaving the hospital it's around 11:30…sorry I couldn't be at the show tonight, but I'm sure you were great. Call me when you get in, bye."

Haley stopped the messages and walked over to the couch, she just needed a minute before she called Nathan back, but as soon as she put her feet up there was a knock on her door. She let out a small whimper before getting up to get the door.

She opened the door and standing in front of her was Nathan with take-out, "I figured you hadn't eaten all night." He smiled.

Haley flashed an appreciative smile before opening the door farther so he could walk in.

"How was your show?"

Haley yawned as she answered, "It was good…How's the baby and everybody doing?"

Nathan put his jacket and the food down on the kitchen counter, "She's adorable Hales, they named her Elizabeth after Peyton's mom…but she looks like a Scott."

"Aww poor child." Haley teased while she leaned up again the door frame to the kitchen, watching Nathan take the food out of the containers.

They carried their food into the living room and sat down on the couch, "Thanks for this Nathan…"

"Not a problem." Nathan watched her pick at the food in front of her, "Something wrong?"

Haley took a deep breath before she forced a smile, "No. Nothing's wrong."

"It just seemed lik-"

"Nothing's wrong. Ok." She snapped.

Nathan sat silent for a minute. He argued with himself whether or not he should keep on her until she budged or leave it alone, he went with the latter, "So did you write anything new for your next show?"

"No! Ok no I have no new songs and worked sucked! Anything else?"

Nathan starred at her intently, "Hale-"

"What…" her eye's watered, "What? What else do you want to know?"

Nathan put his food on the table and moved closer to her, his voice was soft and genuine "What is going on with you?"

She got up from the couch and walked to the other side of the room, bringing her arms across her chest, "Nothing…I jus-I think you should go."

Nathan got up and walked to her, "Not until you tell me what the hell is going on?"

"Nathan just stop ok! STOP!"

Nathan's voice grew, "I don't get it! What the hell did I do that was so terrible!?"

"Nothing. You did nothing wrong. I just need you to leave." She turned to have her back facing him.

"What is this!?" He grabbed her arms, forcing her to look at him, "Talk to me!"

Tears were streaming down her face, "What's the point!? It doesn't matter!"

"What are you talking about?"

"This. Us. There's no point! It's just gonna end…we'll end up lying to each other anyway, so why waste the time?"

"You don't mean that…"

"Yes. Yes I do…we both thought that we loved someone. We both thought we'd end our lives with those people…and guess what…it didn't happen."

"We are not them Haley."

"No, you're right we're not, but they'll always be there between us. In the back of our minds what THEY did will always be there."

Nathan became very defensive, "That's not true."

"Yes it is! You mean to tell me if we get together, I mean truly start a relationship…when you got out on the road you're not going to be wondering what I'm doing…or lets clarify WHO I'm doing?"

"Haley stop…"

"And do you think I'm honestly not going to be thinking the same thing about you?"

There was silence for a moment before Nathan stormed into the kitchen and grabbed his jacket, "Fine." He continued to the door, he opened it but right before storming out he stopped, "You know what!?"

Haley turned her tear stained face to look at him.

"If you want to give up on every good thing that comes your way because you married the wrong guy, fine. Do what you want, but I refuse…REFUSE to let one mistake in my life ruin the rest of it. I loved my wife just as much as you loved your husband, but they're gone. It's over." He stopped for a second and threw his hands down to his side, "You're the one that told me that."

"Nath-"

"And your wrong, I wouldn't worry every time I was away…because I know you. I know it sounds crazy and you can think what you want. But I do Haley. I know you…and this" he began pointing back and forth between the both of them, "Isn't just a fling or two people trying to be there for each other. This is real, but if you're too blind to see it then I don't know what else to say to you!" That was the last thing he said before he slammed the door behind him.