The opening of the front door was like the rising of the sun for Haley. At first she thought that she was dreaming it up, that her intense desire for Nathan to come home had conjured up the sound. Then she heard Deb and Dan reacting to what otherwise would have been her fantasy, and her relief quickly diminished to fury.

For the past couple of hours, she had tried to shuffle the tasks of cooking for, feeding, and entertaining her in-laws. It sounded simple, but for someone who wanted to be chopping up one of those in-laws rather than the vegetables under her knife, it was harder than boot camp.

She took the time to finish cleaning up in the kitchen before going out to greet Nathan with his parents, something that gave her time to collect herself and gave him time to get the initial pleasantries over with. She was going to butcher him when they had a moment of privacy.

The minute Nathan met Haley's eyes, he knew he was in trouble. He had seen it coming, known about it since the moment Cassandra walked into his office holding a file and telling him that there was a problem, but there had been nothing he could do to get around it. A client wanted changes; he was in no position to say no.

"Hey, Hales," he greeted her, smiling at her and pulling her in for a hug.

She squeezed tighter than he liked, hiding her frown against his shoulder. "You're late," she pointed out, but she only allowed a fraction of her aggravation to creep into her voice. To Dan and Deb, she sounded like little more than a slightly irked wife.

Nathan, however, had known her too long and too well to think she was okay with his tardiness. It was something that had driven her crazy when they were in high school, and in the time before their separation, late nights had become more and more frequent. She still hated to be kept waiting. "I know, I'm sorry."

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked politely, but her smoldering eyes said it was more of an order than a request.

Nathan gave his parents a smile and grabbed Haley's hand. "Sure. We'll be back." Keeping a grip on her hand, he lead her down the hall and towards their bedroom.

When he closed the door, Haley all but ripped her hand free from his grasp. "Where the hell have you been?"

"I had a little crisis to deal with at work."

"Little?" she repeated sarcastically. "You're more than three hours late. Your dad has been trying to pick me apart since they got here and I got within a millimeter of just jumping up and shouting at him. Do you have any idea how uncomfortable that was? At least when you're around I have someone else on my side, but when you aren't he pulls out all the stops! And besides that, somewhere in the back of my mind I couldn't help but thinking that something horrible had happened to you! I kept seeing you in a car accident, dying under a wrecked car or something."

He should have felt sorry for her. He of all people knew how tough his father was to deal with. Instead, the corners of his lips began to turn up in a teasing smile. "You were worried about me?"

Worried about him? Hadn't he heard a thing she'd just said? "I wasn't worried about you." How had she managed to let that concern slip through, anyway?

"Admit it, you were."

"You're kidding yourself, buddy."

"But you just said—"

"I was only worried that I would be left alone with your parents," she cut in defensively. "Why didn't you at least call to warn me? No, wait. Let me guess. They didn't have phones where you were?"

"I was busy, okay, and I'm sorry," he argued back. "But it wasn't like I didn't try my hardest to get here on time. If there had been a way to get around it, I would have taken it."

Haley nodded skeptically. "Right, because rushing home to see your father has always been on the top of your priorities."

"You think I did it intentionally?" he demanded, his voice rising inadvertently at the thought of it. At her annoyed glance at their closed door, a pointed reminder of what waited for them, he lowered his voice. "Believe me, Haley, I know more than anyone what an asshole my dad can be. I wouldn't wish quality time with him on an enemy."

Haley chuckled; she couldn't help it. He wouldn't wish it on an enemy but he'd subjected her to it. "Not on an enemy but on a wife?" she asked quietly. "Well, that's reassuring."

Nathan silently cursed. Everything he wanted to say always came out wrong around Haley, especially when things mattered. It had been seven years since they'd started dating and still she could fluster him in ways few other women could. She wasn't a vixen; vixens he could handle. He'd always been good with women—teachers, cheerleaders, bartenders—and yet here he was, screwing up and making himself sound like an ass, just because of a hard stare from those beautiful brown eyes. "That's not what I meant."

"I don't know what you mean anymore, Nathan." That was precisely the problem. She hadn't known for quite a while now.

"I just… I couldn't get out, Haley. I had to do it." It actually hurt to watch her sit slowly on their mattress, like she was suddenly exhausted. Her gaze was directed down at her hands, where she was twisting her wedding band around her finger.

He wished he could make her understand—make her see that all the work he did was a good thing. He was moving up in the business, and if he worked hard enough and long enough, they would be okay. His mom had helped them buy the house—without Dan's knowledge, of course—and that had grated on Nathan's nerves more than he would admit. Before he'd married Haley, he'd been a kid who didn't care about finances because he'd always had his parents to fall back on. Then he'd accepted responsibility and gotten a real job. Haley was the first girl he'd really loved, the first girl he felt the need to protect and care for, and he wanted to be able to do it.

And now it seemed like that desire was driving her away.

"I wanted to be here for you but—"

"I know," Haley interrupted. "But work was there. Work's always there." She sighed, sounding resigned, and pushed back a stray strand of hair from her face. "There's leftovers in the fridge and right now I need to collect myself before I'll be able to perform for your father again. It takes a lot of effort to play a worried housewife. Think you can handle your parents while I take a shower?"

He stared at her for a moment, noting for the first time that she had changed. When, he had no clue, but there was definitely a change there. The happy, idealistic woman he had known for so long had given way to someone more subdued. The sharp tongue was still there, he knew from experience, but it was as if something had been taken away from her.

He wondered if he looked the same way to her.

"Nathan?" Haley prompted when he hadn't answered, only stared at her.

"Yeah. Go ahead, take your time."

A corner of her mouth quirked upward as she got up and went to her oak dresser. "Oh, trust me. I intended to."

He laughed at her wicked expression and had the feeling in his gut that he would have a while to catch up on things with his parents. "Hey Hales?"

"Yeah?"

"I am sorry."

He didn't say what for and she didn't ask. In her head, she'd rather just assume it was in general, for everything that had gone wrong between them, and leave it at that. "I am too."