The doorbell rang at Haley's. Brooke had Keith all packed and ready for Deb. Brooke answered the door, "hi Mrs. Scott. How are you?"
"I'm very well thank you," Deb answered. "This was in the mail box," she said handing mail to Brooke.
"Oh thanks," Brooke said flopping it on the coffee table. She grabbed Keith from his playpen and handed him to Deb, "his bag's by the door and I'll fold the playpen for you. Tim," she called for him.
"Yeah," he yelled from the kitchen.
"Could you go grab Keith's car seat out of Haley's car for Mrs. Scott," Brooke asked.
He passed through the room and went out to the car. Once Deb left Brooke and Tim headed back into the house. Tim noticed the mail as they settled onto the couch, "I've been expecting something," he said as he grabbed the pile of envelops.
"Huh," Brooke asked confused.
"Oh well now that my grades are in the schools that I applied to transfer to can offer me financial aid, scholarships, whatever," he said. "So I had my mail forwarded here for the summer."
"Oh," she said, "so?"
"Here," he said pulling two envelops from the pile. He opened the first one, "U Albany," he paused, "gave me a scholarship for half the cost," he said excitedly then his tone changed, "but they have no other financial aid available."
"I'm sorry Hun," Brooke said putting her arm on his shoulder.
"My dad and Sherri said they weren't putting out anymore money for my education they've put out enough. With the amount of money they make I won't get much financial aid so I basically need a full scholarship," he said.
"That sucks," Brooke said, "there's another envelope though maybe this one's good."
Tim opened the next envelope, "San Diego State. Oh wow," he said, "they've offered me a full scholarship."
"That's awesome," Brooke said kind of half heartedly.
"You don't sound very happy for me," Tim said questioningly.
"No, oh, no, I'm happy for you," Brooke said kissing him on the cheek and hugging him, "it's just really far away."
"Oh yeah," he paused, "you know what I'm not going."
"What," Brooke shirked, "are you kidding. You're not giving this up for me." He didn't respond and neither mentioned it the rest of the night.
Nathan pulled up to the front of the admissions building. Haley was just finishing her tour. "So do you have any questions," Jessica asked her as Nathan got out of the car to join them.
"No I think you've covered everything," Haley said. "I'm just a little overwhelmed."
"Well you have a few more months before the application deadline so take your time deciding," Jessica said. "Hi Nathan," she said as she saw him.
"Hello Jessica," Nate said back, "Jessica was my admissions rep too," he said to Haley.
"Well I'll leave you two alone now," Jessica said, "have a lovely weekend. It was nice meeting you Haley and nice to see you again Nathan, good luck with the ankle, I hope to see you both in the fall."
Jessica entered the building. "So how'd it go," Nathan asked as he put his arm around Haley and they headed for the car.
"Well I wouldn't be able to start until the spring semester," she paused as they climbed into the car. "I would have to reapply for admission and I missed the deadline for the fall start. So, I don't know," she finished.
"Well," Nathan said as he began driving, "midway through spring semester I might be NBA bound."
"So I could be just starting as you're leaving," she said. "I still have another album to cut. I signed a three album contract. Maybe I should just hold off on school and focus on music."
"You could," Nathan said as he took her hand, "but I'd still like for you and Keith to be here with me."
"But where would we live. My house is in Tree Hill and it might take a while to find something out here," she said.
"I'm glad you said that," he said as he pulled over to the side of the road. "I have something to show you," he said getting out of the car and going to her side to open the door.
They walked up to the two story house Nathan had been to earlier. "Nathan what…" Haley began but he interrupted her.
"Shhh, just come on," he said. He headed for the door on the left and opened it then headed up the stairs. "I don't want you to give up the house in Tree Hill, that's home," he said, "but," he paused, "just come on," he said even more excited than the first time. This was the fastest she had seen him move since high school, because he still had the boot on of course. They got to the landing and he showed her around.
"Oh my God! Nathan this place is gorgeous," Haley said to him. "Is it yours?"
"Not exactly," he said taking her hand, "it could be ours though, if you and Keith move out here with me." She smiled at him, "there's a little bit of a catch though," he said. "When I went to college I was allowed limited access to my trust fund and I still don't have full access. With basketball I'm too busy to work and we're not allowed endorsements due to NCAA rules, so I could never afford it alone, but I want us to be a family."
"You want us to be a family," Haley half asked half sighed.
"Yes," he said pausing, "baby move out here with me, you and Keith, even if you don't go to Duke." She didn't say anything she just kissed him.
They got to the hotel and checked in. "Everything is all set with your room Mr. Scott," said the man at the front desk, "it seems Duke Athletics was unaware your wife was joining you but they still were happy to foot the bill. Enjoy your stay," he finished handing Nathan the key.
They headed up to the room. Nathan stopped at the door, "Hales are you sure you're ok with all of this," he asked her.
"What do you mean," she asked back.
"Well aside from that one night we've been taking things slow and now here we are I've just asked you to move to Durham with me in a few weeks and we're about to enter a hotel room where there's probably only one bed and we're spending the night," he paused, "I just want to make sure you're ok with all of this? I'll ask for a cot or something if this is too much."
"Don't be ridiculous," Haley said to him. "I've loved spending the last few weeks taking things fairly slow but maybe it's time we've made up for lost time," she said kissing him passionately. She took the key from his hand and continued kissing him as she opened the door. The lights were off but the room was lit. She stopped kissing him to look at the room. In the center of the room was a table lit by candles. "Nathan," she said almost breathless.
"I'm glad you said what you just said," he said taking her by the hand and pulling her toward the table, "I made the call to set this all up before you had even seen the apartment but I was hoping it would be a celebratory dinner. The food is from my favorite Italian place here. I think I'm one of the only people they'll deliver for," he laughed. They sat down to eat.
After dinner Haley called to check on Keith. Deb let her know that he was fine and that she was enjoying her time with him. Haley began to go into a rant about his night time and sleep habits but Nathan grabbed the phone, "he'll be fine I promise," he said to her then he spoke into the phone, "mom, thank you again for watching him. Give us a call if you have any problems. I'm sure you won't," he finished trying more to reassure Haley than Deb. He hung up and looked at Haley, "he'll be ok. It's only one night," he said taking her hands.
"You're right," she said pulling him down onto the bed.
"What's this," he asked with a smile.
"You wanted to celebrate," she answered kissing him.
As they lay in the afterglow, her head on his chest, she looks up at him, "Nathan come home with me tomorrow."
"I am coming with you tomorrow," he said to her laughing and kissing her forehead.
"No," she said, "I mean come stay with me and Keith, come home."
"Hales, I'd love to," he said and kissed her.