Brooke and Julian were stood in the courthouse, looking deeply into each other's eyes, declaring how much they love one another.
"I now pronounce you Mr. and Mrs. Baker," the judge declared.
"I love you, Brooke!"
"Whatever, just kiss me already!" Brooke exclaimed. Julian wrapped his arms around her and kissed her passionately to the applause of Sam and the Judge.
"We are finally married," Julian proclaimed and kissed her once more.
"Thanks, Kayla, we won't be gone too long," Haley said as they were walking out the door.
"Remind me to raise your allowance this week," Nathan added.
They walked down the driveway to the car. Nathan opened the passenger side door for Haley and then ran around to the driver's side. He started the car and began down the road.
"You ok?" he asked, noticing that Haley seemed distant.
"Yeah… I guess…"
"I don't buy it. What's wrong, Hales?"
"I'm just worried about Jamie… that's all…" she replied quickly as she wiped a tear from her check, hoping that Nathan hadn't seen it.
"Haley…"
"I just don't understand how just a few months ago, everything was perfect. You were in the NBA, Jamie was healthy and Allie was alive… I don't understand how everything got so messed up…"
He intertwined one hand with hers while keeping one on the wheel. He rubbed his thumb back and forth against the back of her hand, trying to calm her down. "I have an idea," he said, his voice raspy and uneven, feeling as though he, too, was about to lose it at any minute.
"Where are we going?"
"First, we are going to get Chinese takeout… then, I'm taking you somewhere I know will cheer you up."
Peyton approached the motel that she had discovered Jake was staying at in Charlotte. She walked up to the desk and talked to the concierge.
"Hi. I'm looking for Jake Jagielski. I'm wondering if you could tell me what room he is staying in…" she explained.
"I'm sorry, but we can't give out room numbers of our clients… it's against confidentiality."
"No, but he is my friend… He'll be okay with it."
"Look, Lady, I can't give out personal information. That's it. End of story. I'm sorry, but I can't help you."
"Peyton…" she heard a male voice call from behind her.
She turned around to find the old friend she was looking for, "Jake…"
Nathan and Haley walked hand in hand into Brooke's store. Nathan was carrying the Chinese food and Haley's eyes were still red and puffy. As they entered the store, giddy Brooke approached them.
"TutorGirl! You are just the girl I want to see right now!" Brooke threw herself on Haley into a big bear hug.
"Hey, Brooke…" Haley murmured.
Noticing Haley's somber demeanor, she pulled back and studied her face. "Hales, what's wrong? What happened, honey?"
"Um… it's nothing… I'll be fine," she wiped her cheeks that were once again sopping wet. "Just… can… um… Nathan and I… can we borrow the roof?" She asked, motioning upstairs.
"Of course, Hales," she agreed and rummaged through the drawers behind the counter to find an extra pair of keys. "Here, I was actually about to close up, but take the keys and lock the door when you are done. Stay as long as you need, you guys." Brooke handed off the keys and Nathan and Haley headed upstairs.
"Jenny, honey, why don't you go upstairs to our room and play with your toys while I talk to your aunt Peyton," Jake commanded his little girl.
"Ok, Daddy." The girl replied obediently.
"Here, come sit down," Jake motioned to some couches in the lobby and ushers Peyton over to them.
"Jake, what is this?" Peyton asked.
"What is what?"
"This! You leaving! This crappy motel! Everything…" Peyton replied weakly, her voice starting to become shaky.
"Look, I told you… it was time for me to leave Tree Hill."
"It's bullshit…" she argued under her breath.
"Excuse me?"
"I said it's bullshit! Ok?" this time it was loud enough for everyone in the surrounding area to hear.
"Peyton, you said it yourself… People always leave… remember?" he said in a defeated tone, "well, it was my turn."
"It's just that… I haven't believed that in a really long time…" she admitted, " and then you cam back… and I believed it again… you left and Jamie is dying even though nobody wants to admit it and nothing is right… and I believe it again… people always leave."
"Peyton, I need to tell you something."
Haley was opening the boxes of Chinese food on the picnic table while Nathan was pacing around the roof.
"What are you looking for?" Haley questioned curiously.
"Your stash," he replied casually.
"My stash of what?"
"Water balloons…"
"Oh, they are right here." She walked over to the corner of the roof and slid off one of the floorboards to reveal a plentiful supply of not yet loaded water balloons. They dug through the box to find some that they thought are suitable for throwing and filled them with the hose faucet in the wall. They sat on the edge of the roof for a long time, waiting for someone to walk by. Finally, they saw a woman with dark brown hair emerge from the store. Without even stopping to think about it, Haley let the balloon drop from her hands. As the balloon hit the ground a shriek came from the brunette below them.
"OH MY GOD!" Brooke screamed and looked up to the roof.
"Crap! That was Brooke!" Haley screamed and giggled at the same time.
"Ok. Fine. Feeling better now, TutorGirl?" Brooke called up to the roof, an air of annoyance in her voice.
"A little," she replied sheepishly.
"Good. Just be careful. Try not to hit any customers," Brooke huffed and got in her car.
As soon as Brooke was in her car, Nathan and Haley bursted out laughing. They could hardly control themselves. The reaction from their friend was priceless.
"This is good," Nathan said, barely catching his breath. "We needed this." He pulled her into his embrace and planted a light kiss on the corner of her forehead. Haley's weight fell into Nathan, letting him hold her up. She felt comfort in his strength. Nathan lifted his head so that Haley fit under his chin and traced lazy circles on her lower back with the tips of his fingers. Slowly easing out of his embrace, she lifted her palm to cup his cheek. "I need to show you something," she muttered and placed a soft kiss on his lips. Interlacing their hands, she led them over to the wall that contained the loosened brick. She removed the brick from it's home and pulled out the tin canister containing the wishes and dreams from most of her childhood. She pried open the metal container and unfolded the piece of paper sitting on the top.
"Um... a few days ago," she started, "Jamie wrote this… I told him he could make a wish and it would come true…" She handed the battered paper to Nathan as his eyes settled on his young son's writing.
"Momma and Daddy will be able to fix me," Nathan read out loud. Tears reappeared in silent streams on Haley's face while Nathan's eyes became swollen and red.
"Nate?" she whispered, "what if I can't fix him? ... Even after everything he has been through, he still has faith that we can fix him… what if we can't? What if it doesn't work?" Haley scrunched her face, trying to prevent sobs from escaping. Pulling her back to him, he held her as tight as he could, calming both of them down.
Once their breathing had returned to normal and the water leaking from eyes subsided, Nathan whispered, "Hales… I don't have an answer for any of this, baby… I don't know how to fix him… I don't… I don't even know if we can fix him… but, I'll tell you what I do know… I know that the moment we start losing faith or believing that he won't get better is the moment that he will stop believing to… we can't let that happen, Hales… we can't…"
After several moments of silence in each other's arms, Haley replied, "I love you. I promise… I will never stop believing… never." Haley perched herself on her tip toes and kissed him deeply several times on his lips and down his neck.
Haley's phone vibrated in her back pocket, interrupting what had turned into a heated make-out session. Seeing that is was Kayla, she answered it quickly.
"Hey, Kayla. I'm sorry we lost track of the time. We are on our way home…. What?... oh my god… did you call 911? …ok, we are on our way home…."