The Mourning After
Part II Chapter III
Thank you all for the review!! I am so sorry for the long delay, if you read my other stories, you would know how busy I am and how I decided to just concentrate on Winners and Losers for now. It sucks that real life has been so time consuming and my energy for writing keeps coming and going, more going than coming but inspiration came to me yesterday and decided that now was as good of a time to get it down on paper sort of speak. Again I am so sorry for the delay, here's a quick recap of what's happened so far.
I also thought it was appropriate given that we are getting a season 7 !!!!!! YES!!! Praise the lord! All I have to say is that I can live with a reduced role for Lucas, but without Naley, I'm not watching. So I'm totally down with season 7 although I do hope that Chad does sign up. I mean, it's not like Chad is making hit movies, if anything I thought Sophia would go, which I actually wouldn't mind. I love Brooke, but they are blowing her character up way too much. But whatever, I have my Naley for another season, yes!!!
I suggest reading the recap so that way you guys can refamiliarize yourself with the story. In Part I, Nathan and Haley were on the rocks and after the school shooting, Nathan fought to get Haley back. Unfortunately, Haley got caught up with Daunte, where Nathan also got involved. In the end, Daunte struck Nathan with his car while a now pregnant Haley looked on. Nathan faked his death for reasons yet to be determined, only Dan and his Doctor are the only ones revealed to know the truth. He's living in hiding and going by an alias, James Lafferty. The start of Part II shows Haley coming first to face with Nathan after over 2 years. The story now goes in to flashback mode, where the chapters lead up to that moment. So far, Haley continues to mourn for her husband but the pain of losing him is sometimes too much and she takes it out by being an absentee mother, it's a cycle she wants to break but hasn't reached it yet. Lucas has brought it upon himself to help take care of his nephew but at the cost of his relationship to Brooke and Haley. So far the only good things going on with him is a closer relationship to his father who he now calls Dad and pursuing his writing, although he's having some writer's block (much like this author lolz). Brooke is in NY focusing on her fashion line especially since her and Lucas broke up, to which she is still sore about. Peyton hasn't been mentioned too much but so far she is with Jake and Jenny and is happy.
I hope that helps bring everyone up to speed sort of speak, feel free to re-read the story, I'm trying to pick up the pace so that way we can have that Naley reunion we saw in the beginning of Part II … and again please review!!
. . . .
After saying a silent prayer, Peyton stood up and grabbed the other bouquet of flowers she brought with her. She took in one more look of her mother's headstone and then got and started making her way across the cemetery. She reached her destination a moment later and her fingers traced along the edges of the cold block of fine granite. Placing the flowers down, she began to speak.
"Hey buddy.. it's me.." Peyton softly spoke. Some people might find her crazy for speaking to herself but she'd like to think that every time she visited her mom and talked to her that she was listening to her, much like now, speaking to her dear friend Nathan Scott. "I'm sorry it's been so long.. I've been so busy… I don't know if you heard but Jake and I are back together.. I think moving to Savannah was the best decision I ever made and I have you to thank for that.. as sad as it was loosing you Nate, you made me realize that life is too short not to go after the things I want. For so long, I let my mom's death hold me back, making me see life as half full .. I mean, have you ever seen a goth-rock cheerleader.." Peyton laughed. "It wasn't until after you died and I saw what happened to everyone that I realized I needed a change.. as hard as your death was you helped me find happiness.. Jake has just been so wonderful and Jenny she is growing up so fast.. she's getting so big now and she's so smart.." Peyton's voice started to crack as she thought of Nathan's own son. "It's like a little miracle every time she learns something new or when she laughs or smiles.. I wish you could've experienced that for yourself Nate.. Jamie's getting bigger each day and I swear every time I see a photo of him, he looks more and more like you.. now some people say he looks more like Lucas because of his blond hair and blue eyes but Lucas' eyes are lighter than Jamie's and Jamie clearly has your eyes and your smile.." Peyton had to pause to compose herself. She didn't want to become this emotional but she just open the floodgates and there was no choice left but to let everything pour out. "I wish you were here.." Peyton said softly. "Jamie really needs his daddy and Haley.. oh my God Nate.. she's so lost without you.. I talked to Lucas.. she isn't do so well.. she still grieves for you everyday Nate.. I don't know what we can do for her.. if you can hear me .. please.. please help her.. Jamie needs her now more than ever…"
"I know he does.." A voice said softly behind her. Peyton quickly turned around to wipe away her tears. Her vision was a little blurred due to the tears but she blinked away and stood in shock.
"Haley.." Peyton muttered.
. . . . .
Lucas knocked on the door, hoping the gift he brought would appease his editor.
"Come in." He heard someone call out and slowly he entered, his hands behind his back.
"Lucas Scott." Lindsey narrowed her eyes at the tall blond. "What's that you're hiding? I hope it's the finished copy."
"Actually.." Lucas gave smiled, "it's something else for you." He held out a small cactus plant. It was lame, he knew it but it was either that or some wilted roses. Where the hell are all the florists in New York City. He thought to himself.
"It's supposed to bring good luck."
Lindsey accepted the gift and placed it on her window sill. "I bet." She said unconvinced but happy for the gesture.
"So.." Lindsey said as she sat down on her desk and rubbed her hands together.
"So.." Lucas repeated, taking a seat in front of her.
An awkward silence hung over them before Lindsey spoke up.
"Oh God, you still haven't wrote anything!" She put rested her head against her desk, wanting to bash her head against it.
"I'm sorry." Lucas quickly came out.
"Sorry is not going to cut it .. and unfortunately for me I can't get fired because I'm the bosses the daughter.. no worse.. I'll just be looked down upon as some sort of joke who only became junior editor because daddy made it happen."
"Lindsey, you worked hard just like everyone else here."
"You don't get it Luke, being the bosses daughter, I'll always be judged a lot harder than everyone else .. I'm staking my career in this company under your unfinished book.."
"I know.. but the book is complete."
Lindsey shook her head, she was tired of his excuses.
"No, Luke it's not." It was time she put her foot down. "I remember when I read your book the first time, I fell in love with it, something about the people and the characters drew me in.. I knew it was far from finished but I knew it would be great once we roughen out the edges."
"Lindsey, the book is done, I don't understand why you need me to add more, everything is in there."
"Luke, going over your brother's death in what, two-three pages is not going to cut it."
"Lindsey.." Lucas was tired of having the same argument but knew it was going to be futile.
"Damn it Luke, you wrote a book about your life and Nathan's death was a big part of it. My God, you, Haley and Nathan are the main characters. There is no way, the book is going to get published if you just glance over it. I know it's a hard topic to talk about, I know believe me but as it is right now.. it leaves the reader feeling cheated by just glossing over his death, learning about how you two became brothers, the love and passion he shared with Haley.. God I can still quote the line."
"My friend Marvin "Mouth" McFadden interviewed most of the guys on the team, asking them how they felt about our state championship. During our celebration at Karen's Café, he went up to my brother to get the captain's input. He simply smiled and took Mouth's notepad and pen away from him. To this day, I still have that small yellow strip of paper:
In that moment my triumph was not a state championship, but simple clarity. The realization that we had always been meant for each other and every instinct to the contrary had simply been a denial of the following truth. I was now and would always be in love with Haley James Scott .. and our unborn child."
"Its hard okay!" Lucas exclaimed and then looked away from her. Memories came flooding back to him and it still amazed him that his brother had a knack for words. He thought he was born with the literary talent but he was mistaken. But then again, with Haley involved, Nathan could do anything.
"It's still hard." He mumbled to himself. He didn't need her to quote his pages, he knew them by heart. Lindsey backed off for a moment, knowing how sensitive the topic was, which was the main reason why he delayed in writing it. She had met Lucas during college. She was a few years older than him and TA'ed for one of his classes. A friendship formed and when he mentioned that he wrote a book, she begged him to let her read it and the rest was history. When she started working for her dad's publishing company, she knew what she wanted her first work to be. It was a lot of hard work but they were nearly at the end.
She could never have imagined how hard it was working with authors, and she was friends with him. She wasn't going to lie to herself, she found Lucas attractive and a part of her wished they would be more, but she knew he wasn't ready. She witnessed first hand how he put helping his best friend and nephew in front of his high school girlfriend Brooke Davis and was there for him when their relationship slowly deteriorated. There was talk about putting that in the book but they decided to end the book when Lucas graduated from high school.
She got up from her chair, letting him have a moment to recoup, no doubt the memories of his brother's death were ever present. "You're a gifted author.." Lindsey commented as she made her way to her filing cabinet. "But this book needs to get finished, I already have a second book I am working on."
"You're moving on without me!" Lucas mocked hurt.
Lindsey just rolled her eyes as she opened the drawers up. "It's actually quite good, the author reminds me about you a little bit in the way you guys are so passionate you're your writing… I actually wanted you to read some of, I think you'd enjoy it… I figure reading someone else's work might get you motivated to actually finished yours."
"Ha ha .. very funny."
"No .. not funny Luke, please get it done."
He took a deep breath and knew he had to keep putting off the inevitable. "Yeah I know.." He said softly.
"Dammit, where is it." Lindsey said as she kept looking. She went over to the other drawer and started to look for her files. "So how long are you in town?" She said while flipping through folders.
"Just until tomorrow.."
"You know Brooke is in town.."
"Yeah.. I know." He said softly. "Peyton e-mailed me and told me about how she's opening up her store tonight in midtown."
"Wow, that's great, are you going to go?"
"I don't know.." He said hesitantly.
"Luke, I know you guys are broken up but that doesn't mean you can't be there to show your support. I'm sure she'll appreciate it."
Lucas nodded. "Yeah.. I'll think about it."
"A-ha, here it is." She pulled out the file. "You know we already butted heads over the title, he wanted to call it Haley's Comet, I'm still trying to talk him down to just having it be The Comet."
"Hmm.." Lucas eyed her suspiciously. "I'm not a big a sci-fi guy, who's the author by the way?"
"First of all it's not a sci-fi book and he's actually still in school over at NYU.. I've never met him personally yet but we're supposed to meet for the first time right after our meeting, his name is James Lafferty, ever heard of him?"
Lucas shook his head. "Nope, can't say I have."
. . . .
"I know he does.." A voice said softly behind her. Peyton quickly turned around to wipe away her tears. Her vision was a little blurred due to the tears but she blinked away and stood in shock.
"Haley.." Peyton muttered.
"Sorry I didn't mean to intrude." Haley offered a small smile.
"No not at all." Peyton went up to her and gave her a hug. It didn't go unnoticed by Peyton how stiff and uncomfortable Haley looked. The truth was that standing ten feet away, this was the closest she's been to Nathan's grave since the funeral. She had never let herself to go further.
"I didn't know you were going to be in town."
"Yeah, me either but I was passing by and I figured I'd stop by and visit my mom and I came here .. I was going to call you tonight but I wasn't staying long and I didn't know how busy you were.."
"Oh.. it's okay.." Haley started to back away from Nathan's grave, with each step further, she felt a little better. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop." Haley said a moment later, once they were a good distance away.
"No.. it's okay. Umm.. how have you been?"
"Okay." She offered lamely, even though that wasn't truth.
"I spoke to Lucas.."
"Don't." Haley warned. "The last thing I need is another lecture."
"Haley, he cares about you, we all do."
"If you care for me then just let me be .. look I'm not going to lie, things are hard, this wasn't how everything was supposed to turn out but I'm dealing with it, I'm fine."
"Bullshit, Haley." Peyton called her out. Her and Lucas kept in touch regularly so she knew what was going on with Haley.
"Look, you have .."
"No idea what you're going through." Peyton finished her sentence for her. "Look, Hales I know first hand how hard it is to lose someone you loved.."
"No, you don't!" Haley turned away.
"I may have shared a different type of love with my mom than that you had for Nathan, but it was love nonetheless and when she was taken away from me, it still hurt all the same."
Haley stood still, of all the people to call her out, Peyton had the most leg to stand out. She couldn't fight or bitch her way out, there would be no use. Out of all the people she knew, Peyton, next to Whitey, could relate to her loss.
"Haley, I get it okay… I know believe me… I was a ten year old when no care in the world and then one day, some drunk driver runs a red light and just like that she was gone.. I didn't even get to say goodbye, I was in the backyard playing with Brooke when she called out from the kitchen that she was getting some things from the grocery store and the next thing I knew I'm in the hospital next to my dad with the doctors telling us that she was already gone." Peyton fought back her own tears.
"It hurt so much Haley," Peyton couldn't hold it back as a tear fell from her eye. "For so long I tried to bury it and put on a brave face but it was always there, building inside of me, eating me alive.. I lashed out in ways I'm not proud of.. but it does get easier."
"No, it's doesn't!!! Jamie's already almost two and it's still not getting easier.. in fact it's getting worse.." Haley admitted, her own tears falling. "How did you get passed it?" She looked up.
"I didn't get passed it, you never could get passed it, it still hurts after all these years, but it just gets easier to deal with .. trust me Haley, it'll come for you too.."
"But.. how.. how did you do it?"
"When my mom died, I blamed the world and I was hurt and angry. Ironically, it took another death to snap me out of it. With life comes death and with love there comes loss and I was tired of losing out on the things I wanted. I saw how you and Nathan were together and it killed me to know that you would never have that and I thought to myself that my Nathan was still here, that he was in Savannah and I was wasting all thie precious time by not being with him. So, I said forget about all the drama with Nikki and Jenny, I love Jake and so I went after what him."
Haley cracked a smile, the first genuine one she had in such a long time. At least in her misery, one of her best friends took that and turned it into a positive. Maybe it was time for Haley to do the same.
"Look Haley, I can't imagine what you're going through but trust me, holding in all this in will only make it worst and I would say fine.. do whatever you want but there's Jamie to consider .. I mean take it from someone who grew up with a single parent.. Jamie is going to need you."
This time Haley couldn't back anymore as she cried hysterically into Peyton's awaiting arms.
"It's so hard.. it's so hard.." She cried out. Taking a step back, she wiped her eyes. "I'm a terrible mother.."
"No, Haley.. you're not."
"Yes.. I am.. I can't.. I can't even be there for him."
"You can now.."
"God, Peyton, I'm such a mess, how can I take care of my own son when I can't take care of myself?!?"
"Look, you have a great support system here with Dan, Deb and Lucas, even though I know both of you butt heads a lot .. but you're right.. you need to do you first but that doesn't mean you still can't be there for your son."
"You're right Peyton, I know that.. I need to move on with my life .. it's just that.. when I do .. when I take that next step.. it's going to be without him and I .."
"I know.. I know.." Peyton hugged Haley again. "One step at a time.."
Haley sniffled and wiped her eyes. "Actually, I always wanted to go to college.."
"Haley, I think that's a great idea."
"My dream school was always Stanford but after Nathan, I couldn't imagine going anywhere but Duke with him.. and now.. now I don't think I can handle going to either one.."
"Well there are other schools, like UNC or you can go out of state, start off fresh."
"Well my parents finally stopped moving around and settled with my sister Quinn to help her with my niece in New Jersey right next to New York City… they're always begging me to go up there with them.. maybe I could go and check it out."
"I think that's a great idea Hales and you'll be with your family, I know you love the Scotts but I also know how much you miss your own family, they could help you with Jamie.. I mean you got some great schools up there like NYU, Fordham, Columbia.."
"Before Duke and Stanford.. I did consider Columbia or NYU .. I don't think I would leave Tree Hill but I mean it won't hurt to look right?"
"No, it won't." Peyton assured her, glad that Haley was actually considering doing something productive for a change.
. . . .
"Hi, I'm here to see Lindsey Strauss."
"Your name sir." The receptionist looked into the man's blue eyes.
"James.. James Lafferty.."
"Mr. Lafferty.. yes I see you on the appointment sheet. Give me one second, I know Ms. Strauss had another meeting." Reaching to her phone, she dialed Lindsey's extension.
"Hi, Miss Strauss, are you still with Mr. Scott?"
Scott, James thought to himself.
"Okay… okay.. bye." She hung up the phone and looked backed up. "They are just finishing up, her office is just down there, she gestured to Lindsey's door."
"Umm.. you said Scott.. do you know who she was with?" James asked curiously.
"Another author like yourself.. I think his name is Lucas, Lucas Scott."
James smiled and walked down the hall. No, there was no way in hell that it could be that Lucas Scott, he thought to himself.
. . . .
Putting down her phone, she glared at Lucas.
"Okay the guy is here, for the last time, it's not a sci-fi book… look you don't believe me fine.. but just read the ending.. it's a story about love, longing.. it's really quite romantic."
Lucas looked at the manuscript and read it aloud:
"It was more than just a comet because of what it brought to his life: direction, beauty, meaning. There are many who couldn't understand, and sometimes he walked among them. But even in his darkest hours, he knew in his heart that someday it would return to him, and his world would be whole again... And his belief in God and love and art would be re-awakened in his heart."
Lucas looked at the page for a second before turning up to look at Lindsey. "That's.. that's actually pretty good."
. . . .
As James, walked closer to Lindsey's office, his heart started beating faster. This was the last thing he should be doing but he was going crazy and somehow putting his frustrations on paper seemed to help him. He shook his head, there was no way in hell that Lucas Scott, that Lucas Scott would be here in New York City, but when he peaked through the glass window on Lindsey's door, there was no mistaking the blond hair man that sat across from the young woman. He'd recognized anywhere, he should, after all, Lucas Scott is his brother. Nathan saw them both standing up and heading for the door. His mouth dropped but he had to think fast or risk blowing his cover.
To Be Continued . . . .
In case you guys had any doubts, James Lafferty is Nathan (duh!). I still have my overall idea with this story intact but it dawned on me that using the books would fit well with this story. I know that those quotes are Leyton but whatever, Naley all the way!! Please review!!!!