Wiping down the tables before her shift ended, Haley looked up and noticed Nathan standing outside the cafe door. She blew out a breath, walked toward the door, and unlocked it to let Nathan in. "I thought you were coming when I was on my break," she said as she continued wiping down the tables.
"Sorry, I was still waiting for Renee to get home," Nathan said, standing a few feet away from Haley with his hands in his pockets. He would rather have reached out and touched her again. But instead, he kept his hands to himself to keep himself under control.
"Does she know that you're here?"
"No, I told her that I was going over to Clay's."
Haley nodded a little as she walked around the counter and started wiping it down, wanting to keep some distance between her and Nathan. So Haley figured that if she stayed behind the counter and away from Nathan, she would be safe.
"So, are we ever going to talk about that kiss?" Nathan asked, breaking the silence between them.
Without giving Nathan a glance, Haley shrugged her shoulders. "I guess so. I mean, do you want to talk about it?"
"It's the main reason why I'm here," Nathan answered as he walked over to the counter. "Just for the record, I'm not guilty of what happened."
Haley sighs deeply as she stops wiping the counter. "Well, that makes one of us. Because I do feel guilty about it happening. I feel even more guilty that I let it happen." She said softly. Haley hates herself for feeling this way, especially since it's Nathan, and a part of her did actually enjoy the kiss. But they're not married anymore, and there are other people involved.
"Then why didn't you push me away? Why did you kiss me back?"
Haley shook her head as she looked up at him. "Because I was caught up in the moment, and kissing you felt good and familiar. It's something that I've missed. But it shouldn't have happened, Nathan. You're with Renee, and I'm with Chris now. That kiss was a mistake."
"You don't honestly believe that, do you? Because I don't. I don't believe that it was a mistake, Hales." Nathan said as he reached over and grabbed her hand. "I've been dreaming of kissing you again after all these years. This could be a second chance for us."
"But don't you see, Nathan? There's no chance for us, and there hasn't been for a long time. There isn't even an 'us' anymore, Nathan, and honestly, I don't think there ever will be an 'us' again." Saying those words out loud hurts even more than it does when she thinks about it.
"Hales..."
"I think it's best for everyone if you and I aren't around each other," she said softly, looking down.
"What? Are you saying that you don't want to be around me anymore?" Nathan asked in confusion, not understanding what was going on. He was even more confused by her behavior.
Haley nodded as she removed her hand from his. "That's exactly what I'm saying, Nathan. We can't be around each other anymore. We need to keep our distance." She said sadly.
"What about Jamie and Lydia? How am I supposed to see them if we can't be around each other?"
"Well, I could drop them off at Deb's on the weekends, and you can pick them up from there. I will pick them up Sunday nights from your mom's. But we can't see each other."
"This is crazy, Haley. We live in the same town, and not to mention, we share the same friends. How exactly are we supposed to keep our distance from each other?"
Haley shrugged. "I'll just hang out with them when you're not around."
Nathan exhales deeply and nods his head slightly. "I don't agree with this. But I will give you your space and keep my distance."
"Thank you, Nate. I really appreciate it." Haley just hopes that she's doing the right thing by staying away from Nathan. She's also hoping that she didn't just make the biggest mistake of her life.
Walking into the kitchen the next morning, Nathan smiled slightly as he found Renee sitting at the kitchen table feeding their son. "Good morning," he said softly, leaning down to kiss Renee on the lips gently and then the top of Nathan Jr's head before walking towards the coffee machine to pour himself a cup.
"You got in pretty late last night. I hope Clay didn't bore you to death," Renee said as she chuckled softly, wiping Nathan Jr.'s face and hands.
Nathan shook his head as he took a sip of his coffee. "It was nothing like that. He just wanted to go over some plays for the next game, which is coming up in a few months." He said, taking another drink of his coffee and leaning back against the counter.
Taking Nathan Jr out of his high chair, Renee held him against her hip as she walked towards Nathan. "So, I was thinking that maybe you and I could go to Tric tonight for a few drinks and maybe some dancing," she said, biting her lip gently.
"You really want to go out tonight?" Nathan asked, raising his brow for a moment.
Renee nods her head. "Yeah, I know we haven't really had a chance to go out together in a while. With me working and you always practicing with your team or at home taking care of the kids, we barely have time for each other. So I figured tonight would be a good night for us to go out."
"Who's going to watch Nathan?"
I'm sure your mom won't mind watching him tonight. Come on, Nate, I really want us to go out tonight. So, what do you say? Can we please go out tonight?
"Sure, we can go out tonight. I'm going to meet up with some of the guys at the River court," Nathan said as he set his now empty cup in the sink and kissed her cheek before walking out of the kitchen and back upstairs to get ready for the evening.
Watching Nathan walk out of the kitchen, Renee scoffs and shakes her head, unable to understand why he's in such a bad mood all of a sudden. She would have at least thought that Nathan would love the idea of going out tonight.
Walking into Clothes over Bros after dropping Jamie off at school and Lydia at daycare, Haley walked over to Brooke and sat down beside her on the couch. "Hey, I need to talk to you," she said right away. All night, Haley couldn't sleep mainly because she couldn't stop thinking about her conversation with Nathan and kept wondering if she's going to regret it.
Brooke looked up from her sketchbook and nodded her head. "What about?" she asked as she went back to working on the sketches.
"It's about me and Nathan."
Once Brooke heard those words coming out of Haley's mouth, she quickly stopped working and put her sketchbook to the side, giving Haley her full attention. "So, are you two finally getting back together?" she asked with a huge grin on her face.
Haley sighed exasperatedly, rolling her eyes. "No, we're not getting back together. As a matter of fact, I told him last night that we shouldn't be around each other anymore." She said, looking down.
"What? Why would you say something like that?" Brooke asked in confusion.
Haley sighs deeply. "Because of the kiss that happened last week."
"What! You guys kissed? When did this happen?" Brooke asked in shock.
"It was after I left Deb's barbecue." Haley answered softly.
Brooke winced a little as she remembered what Renee said to Haley. She so wanted to punch that bitch in the face. But, of course, Peyton beat her to it. "So let me get this straight. You and Nathan shared a kiss, and not just any kiss, but a Naley kiss, I might add. But you two aren't getting back together, and you want to keep your distance from him?"
Haley nodded her head. "Basically, yeah."
"Are you crazy? Don't you see that this totally changes everything? You two are getting back together."
Haley rolls her eyes. "What makes you think that?"
"Because, Tutor Mom. This is about you and Nathan. You two are meant to be together, and you guys are Naley. You belong together, and once you stop being stubborn, drop Chris Kellar, and go back to Nathan, I would be happier." She said with a huge grin.
Haley snorted, nodding her head. "We'll see." Haley isn't saying that she and Nathan would actually get back together. But who knows what's going to happen in the future.
AN: It's been months since the last time I updated this story. Hopefully I still have readers for this story. Also I hope this new chapter makes up for my absence. Will update again soon.