Haley hurried out of the café, into the warm summer night. Nathan was long gone, who knows where. His anger towards his mother had frightened her. Haley knew that his mother had abandoned him, but she was his mother. She couldn't wrap her head around his long-harbored hatred of her. He had a mother who, based solely on her actions tonight, seemed to care about him.
As she began to walk down the street, headed home, a voice called out from behind her.
"Haley, wait," Deb called, hurrying to catch up with her.
"Deb, I don't think this is exactly the best time," Haley retorted.
Deb sighed, "Look, I'm staying at the bed n' breakfast over on Elm. Can I walk with you? We don't have to talk if you don't want to."
Haley looked at the woman, who still looked visibly upset from her confrontation with Nathan, "Ok."
The two women walked in silence for a minute or two before Deb spoke up.
"So you and Nathan have been together for a few months now?" she asked, hoping Haley would answer.
Haley didn't answer for a few seconds, before she couldn't take the silence anymore, "Yeah."
"And your son? I saw a picture of him at Karen's. He's adorable," Deb smiled.
"Thank you," Haley politely replied.
"I know what it's like, being a young mom," Deb continued, "I had Nathan when I was 19. I had no idea what I was doing. But I wasn't as lucky as you've been. I didn't have the support system. My parents practically disowned me when they found out I was pregnant. All of my friends were too busy with drugs and alcohol to spend time with me. All I had were Dan and Nathan."
"Look, Deb, I don't need you to defend yourself to me, alright?" Haley snapped, before shaking her head, "I'm sorry. It's been a crazy night and I'm just worried about Nathan."
"So am I," Deb assured her, "Look, Haley, I know I have made too many mistakes over the years, but I've changed. I swear to you, I haven't touched pills or alcohol or any drug in three years. I'm sober. I've been in therapy. I've spent two and a half years in prison. All I want is a relationship with my son."
"Even if I wanted to, Deb, I can't help you," Haley replied, "This is between you and Nathan. It's none of my business whether you're here or not."
"Well, it looks like I'll be staying in town for a while," Deb said, "I've been living in Fayetteville for the past couple years. I worked at a furniture store, but it went out of business. When I saw the news about Nathan, I started planning to come here, to see him. But I got scared, which is why it took me so long to come. When I called Karen, she said you guys were shorthanded at the café. She offered me a job, if it was okay with you."
As much as Haley wanted to tell Deb off, she couldn't. The woman sounded completely sincere. Karen trusted her, and Haley trusted Karen's judgement. Plus, she couldn't deny the fact that they needed help at the café. With Deb working there, she'd have more time to spend with Nathan and Jamie.
They were now in front of the bed and breakfast, as Haley stopped and turned towards Deb.
"I'll think about it," Haley nodded, "Thank you, for walking with me and telling me all of that. I can tell how much you love Nathan."
"Thank you Haley," said Deb, "I just wish he could see that."
The next morning, Haley and Jamie were in their pajamas, putting together a puzzle in the living room when the doorbell rang.
Haley opened the door, to see a large bouquet of flowers, which then were lowered so she could see the face of the person holding them: Nathan.
"Hey Hales," he looked nervous, "Can I come in?"
"Um, yeah," Haley replied, as he made his way in and handed her the flowers. He was about to speak when Jamie ran in, clinging to Nathan's legs.
"Nathan!" he cried, "Did you come over to play? Can we go to the river court?"
"Why don't you go get dressed and put your shoes on," Nathan said, "I need to talk to your mom for a minute."
Jamie ran to his room, leaving Haley and Nathan alone.
"Thanks, for the flowers," Haley managed a small smile, putting them in a vase with water.
"I wanted to apologize for last night," Nathan sighed, "I shouldn't have blown up, and I'm sorry that you had to see me like that. It's just hard. I feel like I take a step forward, and then I screw up, and take two steps back."
"You scared me last night, Nathan," Haley said honestly, "If you can act that way towards your mother, then who's to say…"
"I'm sorry I scared you, Hales," Nathan replied, "But she stopped being my mother when she chose drugs over me."
"I'm not saying what she did is right, but she's here," Haley sighed, "She's making the effort. She seems really sincere."
"She only comes around when she wants something," said Nathan, "Haley, if you abandoned Jamie, would you expect him to forgive you?"
"I don't even want to think about that, Nathan, let alone talk about it," Haley fired back, "This is about you and your mom. She talked to me yesterday. She said she's been sober for three years."
"And that means that we should just play happy family?" questioned Nathan.
"No, but I think you should give her a chance, while she's here," Haley replied, "Your mom is here, Nathan. She loves you and all she wants is her son back."
"You said while she's here," Nathan realized, "Did she say how long she was staying?"
"Karen offered her a job at the café, if I'm okay with it," Haley replied, "She lost her job in Fayetteville a few months ago and we could use the help. I'm going to tell Karen that she should hire her."
Nathan sighed, running his hand through his hair before closing the distance between them, pulling Haley into his embrace.
"God, I don't know how you can be so strong and level-headed about this," he said, "What would I do without your voice of reason?"
"It's a gift," Haley smiled, as Nathan brushed his lips over hers.
"I'll talk to my mom, Hales," Nathan replied, "But I'm not going to forgive her. Not yet."
Two weeks later…August 8th
Haley was at the café, working with Deb. She had been doing really well in the past few weeks. She was great with the customers. Some of the old-timers began to flirt with her more than they would with Haley.
Jamie and Nathan were seated at a table, eating lunch. The two of them had been spending a lot of time together, as well as time with Haley. Deb walked over, filling up their glasses of water, smiling at the two of them, as Nathan found himself smiling back. The two had talked about a week ago, at Nathan's beach house, to clear the air, and for Nathan to get some much-needed answers.
"How am I ever supposed to trust you again, Mom?" Nathan questioned defensively, "You chose drugs over your own son. You abandoned me."
"Nathan, I am so sorry. I know that an apology won't make up for all the mistakes I've made, but it's a start," Deb replied, "I've been working hard, to prove to you that this time, I won't mess up."
"And to top it all off, you left me with Dan," Nathan continued, "You knew what he was like, how he could get. I spent my entire life playing basketball, getting good, so that I could finally be rid of him."
"Your father, I mean, Dan, he didn't even try to help me Nathan," Deb retorted, "He told me that I had to clean up my own mess. I know that he was abusive and I'm sorry that I let you experience that alone."
"Nothing's going to change overnight," Nathan sighed, running his hands through his hair, "I can't make you any promises. It's not like I can just pretend that nothing ever happened."
"I know, and I'm not asking you to," said Deb, "All I'm asking for is a chance."
"We'll see," Nathan replied."
As Deb walked back behind the counter, the phone rang. She answered it, with a smile, but her smile quickly faded as she listened to the caller.
"Yes, Haley is here," she said, listening to the caller's response, "Alright, I'll tell her."
She hung up the phone, turning to Haley, who was now next to her, "That was Lucas. Brooke's in the hospital. She's having the baby."
"Oh my gosh," Haley replied, wide eyed. Everyone knew that Brooke and Haley were practically sisters.
"You should go," Deb encouraged, "Really. Anna gets here in an hour. We can hold down the fort while you're gone. You should be there."
Haley sighed, "Thank you Deb."
Nathan sat in a chair at the hospital, as Haley paced back and forth. They'd dropped off Jamie at the youth center with Millie on the way, grateful to have such amazing friends who were always willing to help out.
They sat in the waiting room, with Keith and Karen, Jake and Peyton, and Skills. Brooke was not close to either of her parents, so they were not present. It had been a few hours, before Lucas came walking into the room, beaming from ear to ear.
"It's a boy!" he finally said, as everyone got up to hug the proud new father.
The group headed back to Brooke's recovery room, technically breaking the rules of how many people could be in the room, but no one seemed to care.
Brooke laid in the bed, a small blue wrapped bundle in her arms.
"Brooke, he's perfect," Haley smiled, as she leaned into Nathan's embrace.
"What's the little dude's name?" Skills piped up, as everyone turned to look at him, "What? I know ya'lls were thinking the same thing too."
Lucas sat on the edge of the bed next to Brooke, as they looked at each other and smiled before Brooke spoke up, "We decided to name this little one after the two most important men in our lives. Everyone, we would like to introduce you to Liam Nathan Keith Scott."
Nathan was shocked at the announcement. Haley looked up at him, smiling, tears brimming in her eyes.
He knew how close Brooke, Lucas, and he were, but he had never thought that they would do this: name their child after him. He suddenly felt this weight of responsibility, but not a bad weight, a good one.
"Thank you guys," Nathan finally managed to say, "It means a lot."
Everyone took a turn holding baby Liam before they left, until Nathan was the only one who hadn't.
Haley held the tiny baby, talking softly to him as Nathan sat next to her.
"It's hard to believe that Jamie was ever this small," Haley said quietly, as Brooke had finally managed to fall asleep.
Lucas had run home to grab a few things, leaving Nathan and Haley to watch baby Liam.
Just then, baby Liam began to squirm, his face turning red, as a small squawk echoed from his lips.
Haley immediately stood up, bouncing the baby boy lightly, shushing him as she said, "There's no reason to fuss. No, there's no reason to fuss baby. Shhh, you've got to let your mama get some sleep okay?"
This quieted baby Liam almost immediately, as he quickly quieted, looking up at Haley with his dark eyes.
"Woah," Nathan whispered, shocked, "How did you do that?
"Lots of practice," Haley smiled, before joining Nathan again, "Do you want to hold him?"
Nathan suddenly seemed really nervous and jumpy, as he began to whisper something about feeling a cold coming on.
Haley looked at him, a knowing look in her eyes, "Nathan Scott, you've never held a baby before, have you?"
"I'm an only child Hales," Nathan defended, "He's just so small. I don't want to drop him or hurt him or something."
"You are his uncle and you will be just fine," Haley replied, as she transferred the baby into Nathan's arms, "Just make sure you support his head…and look, you, Nathan Scott, are holding a baby, and you don't look too bad either."
Nathan smiled, as he looked down at his nephew in his arms. The boy was still awake, surprisingly, looking up at him. Nathan even thought he saw him smile.
"It's been a good day," Haley sighed, as she placed her hand on Nathan's thigh and rested her head on his shoulder, looking at baby Liam.
Baby Liam was home from the hospital now, a few days later. As expected, Lucas and Brooke were getting little to no sleep, which left them cranky and irritable.
Nathan was helping Skills with the basketball team, as Lucas was with Brooke and the baby. School started in a week, and the team would be doing conditioning and open gyms a couple times a week up until basketball season.
The gala fundraiser for the youth center was in two weeks, and the whole town was helping out, getting things ready for it. Nathan had secured a music act, but wouldn't tell anyone who it was. Haley was suspicious, and tried various methods to get him to tell her, but none succeeded.
Nathan and Haley had grown a lot closer over the past months. The unlikely couple was in love, and happy, though Hollywood, and Dan Scott, were keen to break the two up.
It had been a busy night at Karen's Café, but Haley was ready to head home. She'd sent Chef Jeff and Adam home already, choosing to lock up by herself. Nathan was waiting for her back at the house. He'd watched Jamie, and the two planned to stay in tonight and watch a movie.
As she walked out the door and locked it from the outside, though, cameras began to flash and voices streamed in from everywhere.
"Haley, is this just you trying to get famous again?" one person asked.
"Is your relationship with Nathan real?" another questioned.
Microphones were being pushed towards her face, as she threw her hands in front of her face to protect it from the flashes of the cameras.
"Has this been your plan since Chris Keller left you?" someone shouted, "Is Nathan just the next step on your ladder climb to fame?"
Suddenly, Haley was grabbed and pulled out from the circle. The cameramen and reporters were pushed to the side, as Peyton hurried Haley to her car. She had been leaving the music store across the street, and seen the commotion.
Haley was distraught, visibly shaking, as Peyton drove her home.
"Are you alright?" she, asked, looking at Haley.
"How did they know about Chris?" Haley asked, tears streaming down her face, "This can't get out, Peyton. It can't. What will it do to Jamie? And Nathan?"
"Everything will be okay Haley," Peyton assured her, "But I thought you told Nathan about Chris."
"I did, but, I couldn't tell him the whole story, Peyton," Haley explained, "I told him that the label offered both of us the tour, which they did, but I told Nathan that I said no and Chris left."
"You need to tell him everything, Haley, before he finds out some other way," Peyton insisted, pulling up in front of Haley's house.
Haley opened her front door, seeing Nathan waiting for her on the couch.
"Hey beautiful," he smiled, before noticing that she'd been crying. He immediately got up and walked over to her, "What's wrong?"
"There was press when I left the café," Haley sniffled, "They were in my face, asking me questions about you and Chris and I panicked. Peyton saw and got me out, drove me home."
"Chris?' Nathan questioned, before wrapping his arms around her, "Haley, I'm so sorry that you have to go through this. I never wanted this for you, for us."
"I know," Haley sighed, before looking up at him, "But I think we need to talk…..about Chris."
PEOPLE magazine was hot off the press, the cover displaying two photos: on the left was one of the shots of Haley and Nathan from the beach, they were looking at each other and smiling. The photo on the right, however, was from Haley's old MySpace page, of her and Chris. They were sitting against the brick wall of the school. Chris was playing the guitar, intently looking at it, while Haley was smiling at him.
The cover read:
HALEY JAMES: HUNTING FOR FAME?
"THE TRUTH BEHIND HALEY'S RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIS KELLER"
SOOO sorry for the length between updates! Posting this chapter now because I am going out of town for the holiday weekend and will not have access to wifi!
I know this is not my best quality work, but I wanted to get a chapter out for all of my loyal readers!
Hope you all enjoyed the ninth chapter of Show Me How to Live!
Leave a review with any suggestions, comments, or ideas you want to see in future chapters!