Chapter Twelve
The knock at her front door woke Haley out of her peaceful sleep and glancing over at her alarm clock, she saw that it was only six-thirty. Who the hell could it be at her door at this time of the morning? Pushing the covers aside, she climbed out of bed and grabbed her robe from where it hung on the back of her bedroom door. Shrugging it on, she made her way towards the front door and keeping the chain on, she opened it slightly and peered around it.
“Good morning.”
“N-Nathan? What are you doing here? I thought you weren’t coming over until seven-thirty.”
“Yeah, I know but I had an idea this morning and--”
“And you couldn’t have called first?” she joked.
“Sorry about that,” he said sheepishly. “Can I come in?”
“Oh, sure. Hang on a sec.” Closing the door, she removed the chain and then opened the door wider so he could enter the apartment. Once he was inside and she had closed the door, she asked, “Can I get you something to drink?”
Nathan shook his head. “No thanks.”
“Okay. So, uh, what are you doing here so bright and early, waking me up from a very nice dream involving Orlando Bloom?”
“That pretty boy?”
She laughed. “Seriously, what brings you over here?”
“I realised that if you got ready at my place that it would mean us driving to Charlotte with you in your wedding dress and it’s not exactly a twenty minute ride, so I figured I’d rent a couple of rooms in a hotel in Charlotte and we could get ready there and not have to rush and worry about traffic. What do you think?”
Haley smiled at him. “That’s actually a pretty good idea. I don’t want the dress getting badly creased and it would be if I wore it on the journey, not to mention it’s not the most comfortable outfit to wear on a long car ride. Have you booked a hotel yet?”
“No, I wanted to ask you first. I did pack a bag though and it’s in the trunk of the car,” he said, smirking at her. “All you need to do is gather your stuff and we can be on our way.”
“Do I have time to grab some breakfast?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.
“Sure, but don’t eat too much.” Seeing the outraged look on her face, he quickly added, “I just meant that I still want us to have breakfast together. I figure we’ll be at the hotel by say ten/ten-thirty and I can let them know we’ll want breakfast when I book the rooms.”
She felt her insides melt at his thoughtfulness and she smiled. “That sounds nice.”
Nathan returned her smile and couldn’t help letting his eyes wander over her. Even first thing in the morning she looked gorgeous with her tousled hair, no make-up and wearing a simple purple and white plaid dressing gown. With it being fairly long and hitting her past her knees, he couldn’t help wondering what she was wearing underneath it.
He watched as she wandered into the kitchen and filled the kettle with water before getting a mug out of the cupboard and spooning some instant coffee into it. Walking over to her, he said, “Hey, why don’t you go start getting ready, and I’ll make the coffee while I call a hotel and make the reservations?”
Haley nodded. “Okay, thanks.” Placing her hand on his wrist, she gave it a gentle squeeze and then went to go and start getting ready for the day ahead.
After doing what she had to do in the bathroom, she went into her bedroom and got dressed into her black pants and dark green sweater and then ran a brush through her hair. She had already packed her bag the night before with all of the things she was going to need to get ready for the wedding so she was pretty much all ready to go. Looking around her sparse room, she knew she wouldn’t miss it at all.
The previous day, they had moved the rest of her meagre belongings into his house and so the apartment looked even emptier than it had done already.
Taking a deep breath, she picked up her bag and went back into the living room where Nathan was just finishing up his phone call. Picking up her mug from the kitchen counter, she took a small sip of the hot liquid and let the caffeine begin its work in reviving her from her still sleepy state.
“Well, that’s all booked,” he told her as he watched her drinking her coffee. “And I was thinking, we can hit a drive thru on the way to Charlotte.”
“Seeing as there isn’t anything here, that sounds good,” she told him with a chuckle.
“So, how did you sleep last night?”
“Like a log until someone woke me up at the crack of dawn.”
He laughed. “Sorry about that. I don’t know why I didn’t think of us getting ready in Charlotte before.”
“It’s okay.” Finishing off her coffee, she tipped the dregs down the sink before rinsing her mug and leaving it on the side. “Right, I’m ready when you are,” she said going over to grab her jacket which she pulled on and then picking up her bag.
Nathan returned her smile and took the bag from her before going over to the door and opening it. He watched as she took one last look around the place before she followed him out and taking her hand in his free one, he said, “Let’s get this show on the road.”
* * * * *
“So tell me again, where exactly are we going?”
Lucas Scott inwardly sighed at his wife’s question as he drove her and their daughter to meet with Nathan and Haley. “I told you babe, we’re meeting Nathan and Haley in Charlotte.”
“I know that, I meant where exactly in Charlotte. And why do they want us to meet them there anyway?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“What do you mean ‘you don’t know’? Surely you know where we’ll be meeting them.”
“Not exactly,” he lied. “He just told me where I should park the car and that he and Haley would be there to meet us.”
“I don’t get any of this,” the brunette said shaking her head. “I don’t get what the big secret is and why we had to get all dressed up. It makes no sense.”
“I guess we’ll find out soon enough, honey.” Glancing in the rear view mirror, he smiled as he watched his daughter sleeping peacefully.
“Does Deb know what’s going on? Is she going to be meeting us there too?”
“Uh…not as far as I know.” Yeah, as if his cousin would be mentioning this to her, he thought to himself. From what Nathan had told him, his aunt wasn’t exactly thrilled with him dating Haley. God only knew what she was going to say when she found out what her only son had gone and done. He only hoped he wouldn’t be anywhere in the vicinity when that conversation took place.
“Are you sure you don’t know what’s going on, Luke?”
He mentally cursed himself for having to lie, something he hated to do and especially to his wife, but in this instance he had no choice. “I haven’t got a clue,” he finally said giving her a quick glance before his eyes returned to the road.
Brooke’s eyes concentrated on her husband’s face as she tried to tell if he was keeping something from her but when his expression remained passive, she felt sure he wasn’t and she relaxed in her seat. Oh well, she’d know soon enough.
* * * * *
As Haley sat in her hotel room getting ready for her wedding, the butterflies in her stomach were fluttering full force and she actually felt a little queasy which probably also had something to do with the huge breakfast she had eaten when they had first arrived.
On the way to Charlotte they had hit a drive-thru McDonalds and ordered something to get them through the journey, but once they had arrived at the hotel, Nathan had ordered a ton of stuff for them to eat up in their room. The pastries and croissants had literally melted in her mouth as she had eaten them, but now she was paying the price as they threatened to reappear.
Going over to the French windows, she opened them and breathed in the fresh air that instantly blew in her face. Slowly, she started to feel a bit better and, leaving the doors open, she went back over to the vanity unit and added the finishing touches to her make-up. She had never been one to wear a lot of make-up and, in keeping with that, she had kept it light so that she felt comfortable with her appearance. Her hair was piled up onto her head and secured with some delicate butterfly clips and a few loose curls hung down and framed her face.
She sprayed some of her favourite perfume onto her wrists and parting the robe she was wearing a little, she spritzed a little onto the base of her neck. Standing up, she walked over to where her dress was hanging up and as she did so, she couldn’t stop a tiny smile from creeping onto her face as she looked at the beautiful garment.
Removing it from the padded hanger, she slipped it on and then instantly remembered that she was going to need some help fastening it. Going over to the door which would lead out to the rest of the suite, she opened it and popped her head around it.
“Nathan?”
The man in question was sitting on the couch flicking through the TV channels and turning his head slightly, he replied, “Yeah?”
“Um, could you come here for a second, please? I need a little help doing my dress up.”
Pushing himself up off the comfortable couch, he smiled as he headed towards her. “So much for me not seeing the dress before the ceremony, huh?”
Haley giggled. “Yeah, but it’s not that far until the ceremony so it doesn’t count,” she offered, giving him a wink. Opening the door wider, she took a step back so he could enter the room and she frowned at the look on his face. “W-What is it? It doesn’t look good, does it?”
“What? No Haley, that’s not why… You…you look amazing,” he managed to choke out eventually. When he had first seen the dress in the store, he had known it would look perfect on her, but now perfect didn’t even begin to describe the way she looked in it. The ivory white silk look fantastic against her lightly tanned skin, and the bodice fit her upper body like a glove, pushing up her ample cleavage and displaying it very nicely. The long skirt flared out and he could just make out her pink painted toenails peeking out from underneath it.
“Really?” she asked shyly as she looked down at the dress.
Closing the gap between them, Nathan placed his fingertips under her chin and brought her face up so he could look into her eyes. “Really. I knew you’d look beautiful in that dress, but you look even more breathtaking than I could’ve even imagined.” His fingers moved from her chin to cup her cheek and he cradled it tenderly in his palm.
Without thinking about what she was doing, she leaned into his touch and closed her eyes at the sensation of his warm skin touching hers. A few seconds later she felt his mouth press against hers and instinctively she parted her lips, allowing his tongue entrance inside. Wrapping one arm around his neck, the other wrapped around his waist as she kissed him back; tentatively at first but increasing in passion with every passing second.
He broke the kiss several moments later and leaning his forehead against hers, he smiled. “I don’t know whether to apologise for that or not,” he confessed.
“Do you want to apologise for it?” she asked in a quiet voice.
Nathan shook his head. “No. Do you want me to apologise?”
“No,” she replied instantly, her fingers playing with the short hairs at the nape of his neck.
“I’m glad. I…uh…I don’t know what this means, Haley, but--”
Haley felt a swirl of disappointment hit her right in the gut, and she was instantly reminded of his words about this just being a business relationship between them, but she didn’t let her disappointment show on her face. Instead, she took a step back from him and forced herself to smile. “It doesn’t have to mean anything. We just got caught up in the moment. It’s no big deal.” Taking another step back, she turned around so her back was to him. “Can you zip me up, please?”
Hearing her words, he felt as though he had just been punched in the chest. It was a big deal…to him at least. And he could have sworn the same could be said for her but now he wasn’t so sure. With trembling fingers, he drew the zipper up the back of the dress before dropping his hand back to his side.
“Thanks,” she muttered quietly as she began walking away from him. Before she could get too far, his fingers had grabbed her wrist and he had spun her around to face him. “Nathan? Wha--”
His mouth was back on hers before he could think about what the hell he was doing. He was careful not to mess up her hair, knowing that they needed to get going soon, but his fingers danced along the back of her neck and trailed down her bare back, revelling in the silky softness of her skin which just smelled so damn wonderful.
Haley didn’t care about Nathan’s hair as her fingers buried themselves in the thick, dark mass. Her tongue explored every nook and cranny of his mouth, familiarising herself with it and making mental notes of what earned the loudest gasps and moans from him.
Breaking the kiss to breathe in some air, she buried her face against his neck as she slowly allowed herself to calm down. Her entire body felt overheated and her heart was racing wildly in her chest. The fact that Nathan’s fingers were stroking over her naked back and shoulders wasn’t helping to calm her down at all.
“Just so you know, that wasn’t me being caught up in the moment.”
Moving her head so she could look up at him, she bit her lip before admitting, “It wasn’t for me either.”
“B-But you said…”
“I know,” she quickly interrupted. “I thought I’d get in first before you said it.”
“I wasn’t gonna say it.”
“I-I know that now,” she said shyly. Taking a small, deep breath, she asked him the question that had entered her mind the moment his lips had touched hers that second time. “Not to sound all girly, but…uh…what does this mean?”
Taking her hand in his, he stroked his fingers over her knuckles. “I don’t know but I’d like to find out. And I know this couldn’t have happened at a worse time what with us about to get married, never mind the fact that Brooke is about to land on us, but--”
Haley stopped his ramble by pressing her lips to his and kissing him softly. “I’d like to find out, too.”
Nathan couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across his face. “Really?”
“Really,” she said returning his smile. “Look, we’re going to be getting married regardless of…what’s going on with us right now so how about we put that to the backburner, just for today?”
Wrapping his arms around her waist, he nodded. Kissing her mouth lightly, he pulled back and said, “That’s a good idea.”
“Okay then, we’d better finish getting ready because I’m sure Brooke and Lucas will be arriving soon, and we’re going to be facing a million questions from her as it is without worrying about everything else.”
“You’re right, and speaking of the two of them, I called Lucas just before and told him our room number so they can come up here. The last thing we need is her shouting the odds in the lobby or worse, in the street.”
“Good thinking. By the way, I forgot to tell you before, but you look very handsome in your suit.” From the moment she had seen him in it, she had had even more trouble than usual taking her eyes off of him. Black was a great colour on him and the pale blue shirt and darker blue tie brought out the colour of his eyes which was an added bonus.
“Thanks,” he said giving her a nod. “I’ll, uh, leave you to it and…”
“Okay. I’m pretty much ready so I’ll be out in a few minutes.”
They stared at each other for a few more moments, smiles tugging at their lips before he finally turned and left the room, closing the door behind him.
Once outside, he leaned his back against the wood and breathed a huge sigh. What the hell had just happened in there? He didn’t regret kissing her for a second but it was just so unexpected. Yeah, he felt attracted to Haley and had from the moment he had met her, but this…this wasn’t supposed to happen. He had been the one to tell her from the outset that this was purely a business arrangement between them and now he’d gone and kissed her. Fuck!
Walking over to the couch, he slumped back into his seat and stared at the TV that was still playing. He was intrigued to find out what this was between them but in all seriousness, could he afford to do that? So much was at stake. What would happen if things didn’t work out between them; could they continue living as husband and wife for the next three years while being at each other’s throats? He had never been in a long term relationship so the prospects didn’t exactly look good for him.
Leaning back, he closed his eyes and immediately a picture of Haley in her wedding dress popped into his head and he instantly smiled. There was just something about her that seemed to be able to calm him down while still raising his temperature, amongst other things. She was such a good person with a generous heart and the last thing he ever wanted to do was hurt her, yet he couldn’t help thinking that he would end up doing just that. And the other thing was that she was so much younger than him. Maybe Lucas had been in the wrong introducing him to her and—
The knock at the door cut off his internal dialogue with himself and getting up from the couch, he made the short walk to the door and with one final deep breath he opened it and saw his family standing there.
“Hey Luke, Brooke, come on in.” He opened the door wider and stepped back allowing them to enter. His cousin was carrying a sleeping Gracie in his arms and he was sort of hoping that would mean no shouting as he was sure Brooke wouldn’t want to wake her daughter up unnecessarily.
“What’s going on, Nathan? Why are we all here in Charlotte and why are we all dressed up?”
“Which question do you want me to answer first?”
“Don’t get smart with me. Lucas may not have asked any questions, but I sure as hell am. So, what’s going on and, by the way, where’s Haley? I thought she was supposed to be here too.”
“Don’t worry, she’s here. Let me just go and get her and then we’ll answer all of your questions.”
“Fine,” the brunette replied as she took a seat on the couch beside her husband and smoothed down the skirt of her dark pink dress. She watched as her cousin-in-law disappeared through another door and she tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for him to return with Haley.
“Look, just remember to keep your voice down,” Lucas said quietly as he cradled Gracie in his arms. “We don’t want to wake her up yet.”
“Well, it’s almost time for her feeding, so she’ll be waking up soon anyway.”
“I know, but let her wake up on her own. You know cranky she gets if she wakes up before she’s ready,” he reminded his wife.
“Tell me about it,” she said, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. “Karen told me she gets that from you.”
“Very funny. You know--”
The words died on his lips as he saw a flash of white and looking up, Lucas saw Haley enter the room dressed in a white wedding gown. Well, this would leave Brooke in no doubt as to what they were here in Charlotte for, he thought to himself. And he mentally prepared himself for his daughter to suddenly be woken up because there was no way in hell his wife was going to be quiet now.
“Luke? What’s wr--”
This time it was Brooke who was rendered speechless as she turned to see what her husband was looking at and she saw Haley exit the room Nathan had just a few minutes ago entered. Her mouth dropped open as she took in the particular type of dress her friend was wearing, but she couldn’t fail to notice how beautiful she looked in it.
Standing up, the brunette walked over to where the young woman was and it didn’t take a genius to figure out how nervous she looked. She was wringing her hands together until Nathan took them in his and rubbed his thumbs over the tops of them. Almost instantly, she seemed to calm down and Brooke stared at the couple before her in fascination. Never in all the time that she had known Nathan Scott had she seen anything like this. She couldn’t remember him ever holding a girl’s hand period, and that was saying something considering the number of girls he’d hooked up with during their high school years.
“Brooke, we…”
“How long?”
Haley looked to her fiancé for a moment before her gaze returned to Brooke’s. “What do you mean?”
“How long have you been planning to get married?”
“Um…” She paused and looked to Nathan who simply nodded his head and so she replied, “A few weeks.”
“So all those times we’ve seen each and hung out together you’ve been keeping this from me? I thought we were friends, Haley.”
“We are friends. You’re the first real friend I’ve made here and our friendship means a lot to me. I…we wanted to tell you but--”
“But what?” Shifting her gaze to Nathan, she said, “I’m part of your family, Nathan. Don’t you think you could have told me…told Lucas, your own cousin for that matter?”
“Brooke, you can be pissed at me as much as you can, that’s fine. But don’t take this out on Haley, okay. I’m the one who wanted to keep this quiet and the main reason for that is that I didn’t want my Mom to find out.”
“I don’t understand. She’s your mother and she loves you, so wh--”
“She doesn’t approve of Haley,” he said simply. “She’s pretty much just tolerating us dating because she thinks I’m going to get bored and move on; plus there’s the whole fact that I don’t even live in Tree Hill anymore which has her thinking that I’ll be going back to Chicago soon and leaving Haley behind.”
The brunette’s head was in a spin at everything she was hearing and she stared at both Nathan and Haley in turn before moving back to sit on the couch. “I think I need a drink.”
“Remember honey, you’re still breastfeeding,” Lucas pointed out.
“Thanks for the reminder, Sweetie,” she replied sarcastically. “So how do you think Deb’s going to feel when she finds out you got married without her being there? She’s going to be devastated.”
“Are you kidding me? She’s going to be pissed off beyond belief and if she’s devastated it’ll only be because I’ve gone and married a waitress and not one of the socialites she’s always envisioned setting me up with.”
Turning to look at her husband, Brooke asked, “Aren’t you going to say something?”
“What do you want me to say? They’re adults, honey, and there’s nothing we can do or say to stop this.”
Titling her head to one side, she regarded him closely. “You knew about this, didn’t you? You knew exactly why we were coming to Charlotte today?”
“What!? No, I didn’t. I thought we were just coming here to have lunch with them or something. Seeing Haley in a wedding dress is as much a shock to me as it is to you,” Lucas told her, happy that at least part of what he was saying was true. Despite knowing he was going to be attending his cousin’s wedding today, the last thing he had expected to see was the bride-to-be dressed in a full wedding gown.
“We wanted to tell you both but we couldn’t risk Deb finding out beforehand. There’s no way she would have let this take place,” Haley told them, focusing her eyes on Brooke’s face. “Initially we were going to have strangers as witnesses, but then we changed our minds because we wanted to have you be a part of our special day.”
The words went to Brooke’s heart and she felt a smile tug at the corners of her lips. “I’m glad you changed your mind,” she said getting up off the couch and moving towards her friend and gathering her in a hug. Releasing her after a few moments, she stepped back and looked Haley up and down. “You look beautiful, and that dress is just gorgeous.”
Blushing, the auburn haired young woman smiled shyly. “Nathan bought it for me as a surprise. We were just going to get married in our normal clothes, but it was another thing we changed our minds on.”
Brooke stared at her outraged. “You were going to get married in your normal clothes? No, no, that would have been so wrong.” Taking the younger woman by the hand, she began leading her towards the door that she had come through a few minutes earlier.
“What are you doing?” Nathan asked.
“I’m just borrowing her for a few moments so don’t get your boxers in a bunch,” she teased before she and Haley disappeared through the door and she had closed it behind them.
Walking over to the couch, Nathan dropped down beside his cousin and sighed loudly. “I’m sorry you got caught up in all of this, man.”
“Don’t worry about it, at least she knows now and she seems to believe I didn’t have a clue which is good news for me. The last thing I want is to end up in the spare room back home because she’s kicked me out of our bedroom.”
“Yeah. Hey, do you want a drink or something before we head out?”
“Sure, I’ll get it though. You take Gracie for a second since my arms feel like they’ve gone to sleep.”
As gently as he could so as not to wake her up, Nathan took the sleeping baby from his cousin and cradled her in his arms, marvelling at the way she snuggled against him. He trailed one finger down her chubby little cheek and lowering his head, he kissed her on the top of her head.
From where he stood at the mini bar, Lucas watched his cousin and daughter and he smiled at the scene in front of him. If certain people could see him now, his reputation would be cut to shreds since this was as far removed as you could get from the tough businessman persona that he usually portrayed.
“And what are you smirking at?” Nathan asked as he caught Lucas’s eye.
“Nothing, nothing at all.”
Meanwhile, inside the other room, Haley sat on the bed while Brooke stood in front of her.
“Why did you bring me in here, Brooke?”
“I just wanted to make sure you know what you’re doing? I mean, are you seriously telling me you want to marry Nathan?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Look, I know I haven’t been seeing him for long but I-I…”
“You what?”
“I love him.” As Haley said the words, she realised that she wasn’t exactly lying to her friend. While she might not be in love with him completely yet, she was definitely falling in love with him and she knew that it probably wouldn’t be long until she was head over heels.
“But, he…uh… He…”
“What? I know this seems crazy fast but it feels right for both of us. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before and I know he’s the one for me.”
“I just can’t help feeling that you’re making a mistake, Haley. You don’t know him like I do, like the rest of us do and--”
Haley could feel herself getting angry. This was exactly the sort of thing Brooke and Deb used to talk about before she had met Nathan and thanks to them she had conjured up an inaccurate picture of what he must be like. The man she had met and come to know was nothing like what they had described to her.
“Actually, you don’t know him like I do. He has been nothing but sweet and kind and generous to me and before you say it, this has nothing to do with me wanting to get my hands on his money so don’t even go there. You know, if you can’t be happy for us and share in our day, then maybe you should go back to Tree Hill.”
Turning her back on her friend, Haley took a few deep breaths as she fought to calm down. The last thing she wanted was to fight with Brooke but she hated having her concentrate on the bad parts of Nathan, the parts that he had left in his past and had successfully moved away from.
“Haley, I’m sorry. I-I just care about you and I don’t want to see you get hurt, that’s all. You’re right though, Nathan has changed and it’s unfair for me to always be talking about the way he was in high school.” Walking over to the younger woman, she placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.
“I’m glad you care about me… I care about you too,” she told Brooke as she turned around to face her and once again they hugged each other. “We’d better get back out there before Nathan thinks you’ve managed to change my mind.”
“Sure, but before we do I want to give you something.” Unclasping the silver cross necklace she was wearing, the brunette placed it around her friend’s neck and refastened it. “There, that can be your something old since I’ve had it forever and your something borrowed.”
Tears welled up in Haley’s eyes and she hugged her friend again, grateful for the sweet gesture. “Thank you.”
“No thanks necessary,” she told her before asking, “Do you have a something new and something blue?”
She nodded. “Well, the dress is new so I guess I can go with that and, um, I have a blue garter on.”
“Nice. I’m sure Nathan will appreciate that. Um, I sort of have one last question to ask about what the two of you are doing and after that I promise not to bring anything up about it again.”
“Uh, okay. What is it?”
“Are you getting married because you, uh, need to or because you want to?”
Haley frowned at the question until the penny dropped and she realised exactly what it was Brooke was getting at and she could feel herself blushing. “Oh! No, it’s not what you’re thinking. We’re getting married because we want to,” she replied, knowing that it wasn’t strictly true but then again, it definitely wasn’t for the reason that her friend was thinking. Brooke probably wouldn’t believe her anyway if she told her that she and Nathan weren’t even having sex.
“Okay, good. I just didn’t want you to feel that you had to get married for that particular reason because, you know, these days it’s fine to be unmarried if you’re pregnant.”
“Not for some people it isn’t.”
“You mean like your parents?”
“No, I was referring more to Deb. While she’s not exactly thrilled at her son’s choice of girlfriend, I think it’d be a million times worse if he’d knocked me up,” she said chuckling.
“Unfortunately, you’re not wrong. You do realise things are going to be pretty bad when she finds out what the two of you have done, don’t you?”
Haley nodded. “Yeah, but this is Nathan’s call. And anyway, we’ll be going to Chicago in a few weeks time so I won’t have to see her much.”
“That’s true. I’m going to miss not having you around here,” Brooke told her.
“I’ll miss you too, but we can talk on the phone, and I’m sure we’ll be coming back there often. And, of course, you can come up and see us.”
“I know, it won’t be the same though.”
Instead of saying anything, Haley embraced her again and released a quiet sigh of relief at the fact that her friendship with the other woman hadn’t been affected, although should the truth ever be revealed, that would probably be another story entirely.
* * * * *
Less than an hour later, Nathan and Haley were standing before a Judge in the local courthouse with Lucas, Brooke and a now wide awake and gurgling Gracie as their only witnesses. Her nerves were a jumbled mess and glancing over at Nathan she saw he was already looking at her and she felt herself immediately relax.
“Are you okay?” he whispered and she could hear another question mixed in with that one.
“Yeah, I’m fine. You?”
“I’m fine, too.”
She smiled warmly at him and linking their hands, they waited for the Judge to start the ceremony.
“Are you both ready?” The Judge asked a moment later and upon receiving a nod from the couple standing before him, he started the proceedings.
“Nathan and Haley, today you celebrate one of life's greatest moments and give recognition to the worth and beauty of love, as you join together in vows of marriage.”
Nathan could feel the tremble in Haley’s hand, and he gave it a light squeeze as he listened to the older man’s words.
“Nathan Daniel Scott, do you take Haley Marie James to be your Wife?”
Turning and giving her a smile, he replied, “I do.”
“Do you promise to love, honor, cherish and protect her, forsaking all others and holding only unto her?”
“I do.”
"Haley Marie James, do you take Nathan Daniel Scott to be your Husband?"
Returning his smile, she replied, “I do.”
“Do you promise to love, honor, cherish and protect him, forsaking all others and holding only unto him?”
“I do.”
Taking her hand in his, Nathan held a thin white gold band at the tip of her wedding ring finger as he said, “I Nathan Daniel Scott, take thee, Haley Marie James to be my Wife. To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, and I promise my love to you.” Slowly pushing the ring down, he added, “With this ring, I thee wed.”
Removing a matching white gold ring that she had placed on her thumb for safekeeping, she placed it at the tip of Nathan’s finger as she repeated the words he had just said. “I Haley Marie James, take thee Nathan Daniel Scott, to be my husband. To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, and I promise my love to you.” Sliding the ring down to the base of his finger, she too added, “With this ring, I thee wed.”
Haley couldn’t help sneaking a look behind her and she saw Brooke smiling along with her as she gently rocked Gracie in her arms. Turning back to face the Judge, she listened to the words he was saying.
“Nathan and Haley, just as two very different threads woven in opposite directions can form a beautiful tapestry, so can your two lives merge together to form a very beautiful marriage. To make your marriage work will take love. Love should be the core of your marriage, love is the reason you are here. But it also will take trust - to know in your hearts you want the best for each other. It will take dedication - to stay open to one another; to learn and to grow together even when this is not always so easy to do. It will take faith - to always be willing to go forward to tomorrow, never really knowing what tomorrow will bring. And it will take commitment - to hold true to the journey you both now pledge to share together.”
“Nathan and Haley, in so much as the two of you have agreed to live together in Matrimony, have promised your love for each other by these vows, I now declare you to be Husband and Wife.”
“Congratulations, you may kiss your bride.”
In that moment, everything around them disappeared as they looked into each other’s eyes and smiled. Nathan’s hands came up to cup Haley’s face and he simply looked at her for a moment before he covered her mouth with his and kissed her softly.
His heart which had been thumping wildly in his chest instantly seemed to return to its normal beat as he kissed his new bride. Something about this felt…it felt right and he made a silent promise to himself that whatever happened between him and Haley, he would never hurt her.
Breaking the kiss, Haley felt herself blush as she looked into her husband’s eyes. Husband. God, just thinking it felt weird. Turning her gaze to the Judge, she thanked him after Nathan, did and together they signed the marriage certificate. The older man again congratulated them before walking away from them and leaving them alone. They were just about to walk over to where Lucas and Brooke were waiting for them when a thought occurred to her and she whispered her question to him.
“I thought the ceremony wouldn’t have been so…um…”
“Romantic? Yeah, I know. It wasn’t supposed to be but after what happened…you know, between us earlier on, I wanted it to be a bit more, uh, special. Was that not okay?”
She quickly shook her head. “It was perfect, Nathan. I’m glad you did that.”
“Good,” he said before leaning down and kissing her again.
“C’mon you two, you’ve got plenty of time for all that mushy stuff later,” Lucas teased.
“Ignore him,” Brooke interjected. “He hasn’t got a romantic bone in his body.”
Knowing how the two of them could be, Nathan quickly interrupted. “How about we get out of here and go celebrate? I booked a table at an Italian restaurant not too far from here.”
“Great, I’m starving,” the brunette said. “Do you want to go back to the hotel and get changed, Haley?”
“Uh, I--”
“Leave it on,” Nathan said jumping in. “Unless you want to get changed.”
“No, it’s okay, I’ll leave it on. I’ll get changed before we head back to Tree Hill.”
“Wait, you’re coming back home today? I figured you’d book yourselves into the honeymoon suite or something and celebrate. Speaking of, where are you going on your honeymoon?”
Haley quickly looked to Nathan who looked as stunned as she did at the sudden line of questioning.
“We, uh, couldn’t get the honeymoon suite and as for a honeymoon, getting married was a little last minute plus things are a little crazy with work so we’re going to organise something later,” Nathan said hoping that would satisfy his cousin-in-law.
“Oh, okay. Well, I’m sure you could manage to stay overnight at the hotel and enjoy your wedding night at least.”
“You’re right. I’ll get right on that,” Nathan quipped which caused the others to laugh.
“It’s fine, Brooke. The beach house is gorgeous and I’m looking forward to getting back there tonight. And like Nathan said, we can arrange a great honeymoon for when things calm down.”
Exiting the courthouse, Lucas took the camera he was holding out of its case and gestured for them to gather together on the steps. “C’mon, let’s get a shot of the happy couple.”
Moving closer together, they wrapped their arms around each other and smiled for the camera. Thinking that Lucas had finished, they turned to look at each other and didn’t even hear the clicking of the camera as he snapped a few more shots.
“Okay, Brooke, Gracie, you get in there with them.” He took a few more pictures and when a middle-aged couple was about to walk past them, he asked if they’d mind taking a picture of all of them. He quickly moved to stand beside his wife, and they smiled happily as a picture was taken of all of them.
After they had thanked the couple, they began walking towards the restaurant that Nathan had booked a table at.
“So listen, we’d appreciate it if you kept this whole thing to yourselves for a while. We’re planning on speaking to my Mom as soon as we get back, but we don’t want you to assume we’ve done it so until you hear from one of us that we’ve told her, don’t say anything.”
Lucas nodded. “Sure. Your secret’s safe with us, right honey?”
“Of course. I won’t say a word to anyone.” Seeing the incredulous look on Nathan’s face, she gave him a scowl. “Hey! I know I like to gossip, but I wouldn’t do that to you guys.”
“Okay, thanks. We’ll probably go and see her tomorrow evening and do it then.”
“Good luck with that.”
Haley felt a sudden attack of nerves at the thought of telling Deb what they had just done and her hand which was holding Nathan’s squeezed his tightly.
“Hey, it’ll be okay. And besides, we won’t have to see her for too much longer since we’ll be leaving for Chicago in a couple of weeks time.”
“I know, I just know she isn’t going to take it well.”
“Well, that’s her problem, not ours.”
Reaching the restaurant, Nathan held the door open for Haley and the others but before she could walk through it, Brooke stopped her. “Why don’t you boys go in and get the table? Haley and I will follow in a minute.”
Seeing Nathan’s hesitation, Haley nodded at him and after he had kissed her on the cheek, he followed his cousin who had taken Gracie out of Brooke’s arms.
“I just want you to know that I’ve got your back. Actually, we’ve got your back, you know, regarding the Deb situation. I know I’m close to her, but you’re one of my best friends, Haley, and she won’t influence that. Seeing how nervous you are about what might happen, I just wanted to tell you that now.”
Haley felt tears prickling at her eyelids and she squeezed them shut for a moment as she willed them not to fall. Holding out her arms, she hugged the other woman for a long moment. “Thank you, Brooke. That means…it means so much to me.”
“You’re welcome. Now, let’s get in there and order up a storm. I’ve a feeling you’re going to be needing your energy tonight.” Seeing the blush on her friend’s face, she laughed. “Aww, that blushing thing is so cute.”
Shaking her head, Haley giggled while she tried to ignore the flip her stomach had done at what Brooke had insinuated. Right now, she was just going to enjoy having lunch with her new family and celebrating her wedding. There was time to worry about everything else later.