"I can't believe my baby is starting kindergarten today," Haley choked back tears, as Nathan pulled his car into the Tree Hill Elementary School parking lot.
"Mama, I'm not a baby," Jamie insisted, grabbing his basketball backpack, which was almost as big as he was, as he hopped out of the car. He was wearing his autographed Nathan Scott Bobcats jersey, which was a little too big for his small frame. Haley had tried to get him to wear something else, but had ultimately had to pick her battles, and this wasn't one she wanted to start.
As they walked towards the school, Jamie was walking between Haley and Nathan, holding each of their hands. They did their best to shield him from the flashes of the few photographers' cameras who were standing across the street from the school. There were still a few leftover vultures in town from the gala yesterday.
Jamie's teacher, Miss Lauren, was standing outside with a group of kids, waiting for the rest of the class to get there. She saw Jamie and smiled, waving him over.
Haley bent down to Jamie, tears still in her eyes, "Alright Jimmy Jam, be good today. Make sure to eat the carrots in your lunch and…"
As Haley was bent down, her shirt creeped up in the back, allowing Nathan to see a very familiar number taking up residence there. His eyes widened in shock.
"Mama, can I go now?" Jamie asked impatiently, looking over to where Andre and Chuck were waiting with Miss Lauren.
"Of course baby," Haley forced a smile, "I love you."
"I love you too Mama," Jamie said, hugging her, before turning to Nathan, "Bye Nathan."
The two exchanged a fist bump, which had become their thing, before Jamie ran off.
Haley stood up, wiping the tears from her eyes, before wrapping her arms around Nathan as they began to walk back to the parking lot, Nathan not saying a word.
Arriving at Nathan's beach house, Nathan asked Haley, "You hungry?"
"Oh, I'm hungry for you," Haley smiled, "I have a few hours before I have to head into the café, and I could think of a few things that could occupy my time."
Her smile turned devilish as she reached to wrap her arms around Nathan's neck.
Nathan ducked out of her embrace as he said, "No I'm serious. We could heat something up, or go out for breakfast, if you want to."
Haley's face took on a concerned look, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I'm just hungry," Nathan replied matter-of-factly.
Haley took a step closer to him, a small smile appearing, "I don't buy it. Talk to me."
"What? I just don't feel like making out, that's all," Nathan shrugged, hardly able to look her in the eye.
"You realize that you, Nathan Scott, just said that right?" Haley questioned, a chuckle in her voice, "Since when?"
Nathan sighed, "Since you got my jersey number tattooed on your ass."
Haley's face fell, "Oh," she quietly said, turning away from him for a moment before turning back, "Above my ass actually. When did you see that?"
"When you were talking to Jamie this morning," Nathan answered, now looking at her.
Flashback
Haley sat at the counter in the café, toying with the tea bag in her cup, as Peyton opened the door, sending the bells jingling. The closed sign was up in the window, had been for a few hours, but Haley remained seated in the café.
"What's going on Hales?" Peyton asked, "Still recovering from our wild night?"
Haley smiled, "Most of that I can't remember. Which is probably a good thing."
"We were totally plastered," Peyton laughed, "What about the tattoo thing? Do you regret it? I mean, it is a little crazy."
"Ugh, what am I going to do Peyton?" Haley sighed, "I hate being away from him. I think about him constantly. You know, we had a crazy busy lunch rush today, and I just completely zoned out on him. Maybe we aren't going to be together for the rest of our lives, but right now, I'm in love, real love, for the first time, and twenty years from now, if I look at this tattoo and it reminds me of how I feel right now, I think I'd be okay with that."
"You're in love Haley James," Peyton smiled, "And I'm happy for you. Both of you."
Haley paused for a moment before speaking, "Does that bother you?"
Nathan's anger couldn't be held back any longer.
"I'm just confused as hell," he snapped, "I mean, you'll go and do something that permanent, but you won't have sex with me?"
Haley narrowed her eyes, "You can get a tattoo removed Nathan. Sex is a really big deal for me."
"I get that," Nathan uttered, "That's why I haven't been pressuring you into it."
"Oh, the way you're not pressuring me right now?" Haley retorted, her arms crossed in front of her chest.
Nathan sighed, still upset, "I'm going to go heat up some food."
He turned and walked into the kitchen, expecting her to follow him, continuing the argument or just forgiving him right away.
"Yeah, well, good luck with that," Haley huffed, walking towards the door.
"Haley, where are you going?" Nathan yelled, as he ran to the door, seeing her hurrying down the stairs.
"Oh right, I don't want you to be confused," Haley snapped, turning to look up at him, "I'm walking home. Don't follow me."
It had been three days since Nathan and Haley's fight. He'd called her about fifty times, left dozens of voicemails and texts. He'd even stopped by the café, but the icy glare he'd gotten from her through the window had him backing away slowly, not wanting to make things any worse than they already were.
Why had he said that? Nathan asked himself. He loved her. It wasn't so much about the sex, even though he'd made it out to be that way. He realized that when he saw his number inked forever on her skin, it made things feel permanent, like that ink, and that scared him a little. His time in Tree Hill was rapidly expiring, and the two of them had barely talked about what was going to happen when he left. Regardless, he loved her, and he had to make things right.
Three days. That's how long it had been since Haley had seen Nathan. Since he'd seen her tattoo and freaked out. She hadn't thought it was that big of a deal. They were in love, and people get tattoos for the people that they love. Maybe she should have done it when she was sober, and could think straight, but she honestly didn't regret it.
She had been so tempted to pick up the phone when he called or texted, to answer. But she'd stopped herself. She needed time. She thought that he understood why she didn't want to have sex right away. She had told him that Chris was her first time, her only time. She'd promised herself that the next time she slept with someone, it would be when she was in love, maybe even with her husband.
Jamie had been begging to see Nathan the past few days, but Haley made excuse after excuse about why he couldn't come over, or why they couldn't go to his house. The two of them had grown extremely close over the past months. The three of them had basically been inseparable since Nathan and Haley had gotten together. And now, things were changing. Nathan was leaving in a week, back to Charlotte and his NBA celebrity lifestyle. How was Haley, a single mom who worked in a café, supposed to compete with that?
The rain poured down hard as Peyton gave Haley a ride home from the café. Her car was still broken down, and Keith wasn't so sure he'd be able to fix it this time. As she pulled up in front of Haley's house, they both noticed Nathan sitting on the front steps, soaking wet.
"Are you going to be okay?" Peyton asked, looking at Haley, who suddenly looked nervous.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she quickly answered, "Thanks for the ride Peyton."
"I'll pick up Jamie after school," Peyton said, "Jake owes him ice cream. I told him to stop betting over NBA Live, but it's his fault for losing to a five year old."
Haley ran out of the car, into the rain, as Nathan stood to join her, "Nathan, what are you doing?" she asked.
"I just went for a run to clear my head," he replied, "I guess this is where I ended up."
Haley shook her head, moving to go around him into the house, before he stepped into her path.
"Look, Haley, I'm sorry about before," he said, trying to get her to look at him, but her eyes remained fixed on the ground, "What I said, it was wrong. I don't know what I was thinking. And it's not about the sex, okay? I guess when I saw the tattoo, it made me realize that this, our relationship, is like the ink. It could be permanent, and I guess that scared me a little."
"Is that it?" Haley questioned, finally looking into his eyes.
"You know, my pride says yeah, that's it. Just walk away and let Haley deal with the fact that she's clearly threatened by a sexual relationship," Nathan stated, "But my heart says, just forget about your pride, you idiot. You love this girl. And even if you're going to catch pneumonia, your ass is going to stand out here, in the rain, until you convince her to forgive you. So, come on Hales, just, meet me halfway here?"
"Why should I?" Haley quickly replied, still unable to look away from his icy blue eyes.
"Because I'm sorry," Nathan paused, "Because I love you. And because, you're looking really hot standing out here in the rain, and I'm thinking, I have to kiss you."
Haley ran her hands through her wet hair, sighing, "Well, if you have to."
They both smiled as Haley stood on her tiptoes, capturing his lips with hers. His hand cradled her face, his thumb stroking her cheek.
The two laughed as they ran into the house, soaking wet, dripping water everywhere.
"Come on!" Haley smiled, running into her room, grabbing some towels from her bathroom.
Nathan dried his arms and legs before taking a seat on the edge of her bed, peeling off his wet t-shirt. Haley was trying to dry her hair, before she stopped, as the sight of Nathan's chiseled abs made her eyes glint. She smiled, throwing the towel onto the floor, as she looked into his eyes, that glint still in her own.
"What?" Nathan asked, as he sat on the edge of his girlfriend's bed, trying to figure out how he had managed to get this beautiful girl to fall in love with him.
Haley peeled off her wet shirt, throwing it off to the side, leaving her in her bra and jeans, standing before him.
"Haley," Nathan began, shaking his head. He didn't want the conversation they'd just had to make her think they had to have sex now.
"No, it's okay," she smiled, kissing him as they both fell back onto the bed, her on top of him.
A few minutes later, the room was getting pretty steamy, as the two explored each other's bodies, not yet fully unclothed.
As they kissed, Nathan whispered, "I could love you forever."
Haley smiled, kissing him back, "So could I."
"I never want to lose you," Nathan looked at her, a look in his eyes that she hadn't seen before.
"You won't," she tried to assure him, but this didn't change the look on his face, "What?"
"Marry me," he said, rather matter-of-factly.
"Stop it," Haley laughed, sitting up, thinking he was joking.
"What, would you?" Nathan asked, looking at her, as she saw the serious look on his face.
"Nathan, that's crazy," Haley began, pausing before finishing with, "Is this about sex? Because I want to wait?"
"Nah, I can see you caving on that one already," he replied, his famous smirk adorning his face.
"Maybe so, but, Nathan, people don't get married when they've only known each other for a few months. It's not normal," Haley insisted.
"So?" Nathan countered, "I'm not normal. What I'm feeling for you is definitely not normal. To be honest, Haley, I don't ever want to be normal. Not with you. I'm serious."
Haley smiled, looking at him and intertwining their fingers, "I know you are."
"OK, so I'll say it again," Nathan began, "I could love you forever."
"Nathan, so could I but," Haley started, before Nathan cut her off.
"So then why can't forever start right now?"
A shorter chapter for you guys, but I am working on the next one already and it will hopefully be up later tonight or tomorrow!
Hope you all enjoyed the twelfth chapter of Show Me How to Live!
Leave a review with any suggestions, comments, or ideas you want to see in future chapters!