The door behind Brooke had just closed and Nathan and Haley were standing in her living room dumbstruck.
Nathan said awkwardly, "well you wanted to talk."
"Yeah," Haley said back just as awkwardly, taking a seat on the couch as he sat on the chair next to the couch. "This morning," she paused. "I'm sorry. I don't know what that was. I just… I just freaked," she said not looking at him. She hadn't really looked at him since he told her he wasn't going anywhere. She was afraid to look at him, afraid of how she'd feel of how she'd react, especially when her reaction could potentially make a complicated situation much more complicated.
There was a long air of silence. Then Haley spoke again, "what happened this morning? I mean I ruined us right? I walked away from you for the second time. This time I was gone much longer and when I see you for the first time again, I freak out. Then I go and tell you that seeing you doesn't hurt the way I thought it would. That basically the reason I stayed away was crap and probably had been for a while. That should have hurt you. You should have left, walked away, but instead you tell me you aren't going anywhere. So, now what? Where does that leave us now?"
"I don't know, Haley," he paused. "I can't answer that for you," he said. When she heard that she put her head back and closed her eyes. Suddenly she felt his presence so strong and then she felt him take her hands. She opened her eyes and looked at him; he was kneeling in front of her so they were almost face to face. "All I can tell you is that I never blamed you for leaving, not this time. I wasn't mad at you either. I promised to love and protect you always and instead my actions almost got you and Keith killed. I wished, still do that it was me not you, that I had seen the car and pushed you out of the way. I have regretted dealing with Daunte everyday. I even said at the hospital the night of the accident that I wish I had died in the water after our second wedding. If I had, Daunte and the accident wouldn't have happened, you and Keith wouldn't have been in danger and you wouldn't have left me. But I learned to live with it, learned to live with all of it, what I had done, the fact that you left, that I ruined us, I did, not you Hales. Although I hated it, I got used to my life, I made my bed. I knew it was unlikely but I prayed everyday for the day you'd look at me and not see what I had done. And then this morning my prayers were answered. You told me when you looked at me you didn't see what you almost lost but what you had lost. And it did hurt, Haley, it broke my heart all over again but it was accompanied by something, by hope. I had hope for us and that's why I told you I wasn't going anywhere. Please don't tell me I was wrong," he was crying, he had been since the middle of his speech she too.
Haley pulled his hands back toward her waist and pulled him into a hug with her chin resting on top of his head, "what do we do now? We can't just pick up where we left off, too much has happened and we can't confuse Keith."
"I know," Nathan said pulling out of the hug and resting his hands on her knees as he looked at her. "So we'll take things slow, as slow as you need. I mean it, Hales, I'm not going anywhere," he said as he hugged her again for what seemed like forever. Between the conversation and the hug it had been a while and Brooke wasn't back but Nathan had forgotten about Brooke. When they broke from their embrace Nathan stood up, "I should go," he said as he turned for the door.
"You can't go," Haley laughed, "Brooke has your car, she was supposed to come back for you, I have barely any gas, Keith's sleeping, you're not walking with that stupid boot on your foot, besides it's late. You can stay here," she said and headed for the stairs. He knew better than to argue with her so he followed her upstairs.