Chapter Three
Haley wasn’t sure how much time had passed since she had broken down and Nathan had taken her into his arms. Having his strong arms wrap around her and feeling his familiar warm embrace had made her cry even harder. She had sensed the exact moment he had let his own defences down and started to cry and she had immediately wrapped her arms around his shoulders to offer him the same comfort that he was giving her.
The sea breeze had turned stronger as the evening turned into night and it caused her to shiver. She knew he had to be freezing given that he was only wearing his Celtics T-shirt and his black jeans. Her arms rubbed up and down his back as she tried to warm him up as best she could.
“Nathan?” She said turning her head to the side to whisper into his ear. “Maybe we should get inside out of the cold.” Instead of answering her, his grip on her tightened. Whispering his name again, she brought one of her hands up to rub the back of his neck soothingly.
“No,” he whispered into her hair.
“Why not? If we stay out here any longer you’re going to get sick.”
Drawing back from her slightly, he looked into her puffy eyes. “I’ll mess things up even more if we go inside.”
Her forehead creased in confusion as she unsuccessfully tried to understand what he was saying. “What do you mean?”
Releasing a deep breath, he replied, “If we go inside we’ll talk and I’ll end up saying the wrong thing. We’ll start fighting again and…and I’ll probably push you away by saying something nasty.”
“No, no you won’t. If you want to, we can leave the talking until tomorrow. It’s getting really late and we’re both tired so it’s probably better to leave the talking until after we’ve had a good night’s sleep.”
Sighing with relief, Nathan nodded his agreement. “Is it okay if we stay here at the beach house tonight? It’s probably better that I don’t drive us back to the apartment.”
“Do you still have your key?”
“Yeah, I’m surprised that they haven’t asked for it back yet.” Releasing his hold on her, he got up and dusted the sand off his pants. Holding his hands out, he helped her to her feet and keeping one of her hands in his, he led her towards the house. Once inside, he immediately started for the stairs but he paused when she tugged on his hand.
“What?” He asked as he turned to look at her.
“Do you want me to make you something to eat? I mean, you were drinking and…”
“I’m not drunk, Haley,” he interrupted. “I got that bottle from my dad’s cabinet and it was already half empty. You arrived before I had a chance to do some real damage.”
“Oh, okay.” She was relieved to hear him say that and was glad that she had turned up when she did.
He gave her a crooked smile before saying, “C’mon, let’s go and I’ll get some clean sheets for the guestroom.”
Haley followed him up the stairs as she pondered what he had just said. “Um, you don’t want me to share your room with you?” She queried when they had reached the landing and he stopped at the laundry closet.
“I, uh, didn’t think you’d want to share a room with me,” he confessed quietly.
Inching closer to him, she wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest. “Of course I do. You’re my husband and I love you. I’ve spent the last two weeks sleeping alone and that’s the last thing I want to do tonight, not when we’re finally back together under the same roof.”
His arms automatically went around her waist, one hand resting just above the patch of skin where she bore his jersey number. “Me either.” Kissing the top of her head, he released his hold on her and once again took her small hand in his much larger one and they walked side by side towards his bedroom.
When they reached his room, Nathan paused in the doorway. As his eyes fixed on the large bed, something suddenly didn’t feel right about them sharing it together. It just felt too soon after what had transpired between them. He stood there frozen to the spot a moment or two longer before her soft voice broke the silence.
“Nathan, w-what’s wrong?”
Turning slightly, he rested his back against the doorframe as he looked down at her. “I can’t do this, Haley.”
Her breath caught in her throat as she contemplated what it was he was actually saying. “Can’t do what?” She finally asked.
“I can’t share a bed with you…not yet. I-I’m sorry but it doesn’t feel right, not after what’s been going on with us. Before tonight we hadn’t even spoken to each other in two weeks and that’s something I’ve had major trouble dealing with.”
“So have I,” she told him as she brought her free hand up to his face and cupped his cheek.
“I know and I’m not trying to say I’ve been more hurt or upset than you have, but I can’t just get into bed with you tonight and act like nothing’s happened.”
“I’m not asking you to, Nathan. I just want us to be close again,” she confessed.
Lowering his head, he kissed her forehead. “I know and I want that too. I don’t want us to rush though because I couldn’t handle something like this happening to us again.”
Raising herself onto her tiptoes, she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. “Me either.” Kissing his cheek, she then released her arms and took a couple of steps back. “I’ll go and make up one of the guestrooms. See you in the morning, okay.”
He nodded and watched her walk away before he entered his room and closed the door behind him.
* * * * *
In the guestroom she had chosen, Haley was wide awake. She had lost count of the number of times she had turned over in an attempt to get comfortable and fall asleep. Every time she closed her eyes she would see Nathan’s face just a few hours ago when he had told her he wasn’t ready to share a bed with her again. What the hell had she done, she thought to herself as her eyes grew blurry with unshed tears. Squeezing them shut, she forced herself not to cry. That wouldn’t solve anything. No, she had to be strong and make Nathan see that hurting him was the one thing she would always regret.
Knowing that sleep wouldn’t be coming to her anytime soon, she reached out to the nightstand and flicked on the lamp. She blinked her eyes a few times to adjust to the light that now illuminated the room before sitting up and swinging her legs over the side of the bed. Getting up from the bed, she padded over to one of the large closets in an attempt to find a robe or something similar because walking around the Scott’s beach house in just her underwear didn’t sit right with her. It didn’t matter that she knew Nathan was its only other occupant tonight because knowing her luck, Dan or Deb would suddenly pop out from the shadows.
Finding a terrycloth robe, she pulled it on before quietly opening her door and heading downstairs to the kitchen. The room was in darkness and she decided against putting the light on. Going over to the fridge, she opened it and the light from it caused her to notice a shadow sitting at the counter and she shrieked in surprise.
“It’s just me, Haley.” Nathan’s voice reassured her and she felt her heartbeat calm down.
“Why are you sitting down here in the dark?” She asked in little more than a whisper.
“I couldn’t sleep so I came down here. It was kinda nice just sitting in the darkness.”
“I couldn’t sleep either so I thought I’d come down and have some hot milk or hot chocolate if there’s any in the cupboards.”
He smirked. “I don’t think you’ll find anything to make hot chocolate with. It’s not really something my family drinks much of.”
“Yeah,” she whispered. “I guess I’ll just make do with a glass of water then.” She was having trouble keeping her eyes off him as all he was wearing was a pair of black boxer shorts and so she busied herself with getting a bottle of water out of the fridge and then opening it.
Haley debated whether to stay in the kitchen with him or to go back upstairs to the empty guestroom. In the end, he made the decision for her.
“I’m going to, uh, go back upstairs,” he told her as he got up from his stool.
“Okay,” she said as she watched him leave. Turning away, she went over to the counter and took a seat there as she sipped her water. Placing the bottle down, she stared forlornly out of the window.
Nathan stood in the doorway watching her and he felt his heart constrict at the sight of her petite form hunched over the counter. He wanted to say something but he couldn’t seem to form the words so he just continued to watch.
“You want to know why I can’t sleep?” She asked him a few moments and she knew she had startled him.
“How did you kn-”
“That you were still there?” She finished for him. “I always know when you’re around.”
Without meaning to, he found himself smiling at those words. “So why can’t you sleep?”
“I can’t sleep knowing you’re so close to me but yet I can’t touch you. Being under the same roof as you but not being in your arms hurts, Nathan. I never thought it could hurt this much.”
“Haley…”
“I know. I know it’s too soon for you and I’m not going to force things. I can’t afford to push you away from me even more than I have done already.”
Rubbing a hand over his face, he stood there for a minute more as he mentally went back and forth over what he should do. Finally, he walked over to her and taking her hand in his, he tugged on it. “C’mon.”
Haley turned her head to look at him and she could hardly see his face through all of her tears. “What?”
“Let’s try and get some sleep.” He tugged on her hand again and this time she got up off the stool and followed him. She was sure he was going to take her back to the guestroom and so was more than a little surprised when he walked past it and headed for his own room.
“Nathan...”
“Shh. We both need some sleep, you probably more than me knowing you’ve been travelling constantly over the past couple of weeks. If the only way you’re going to get that sleep is by sleeping in my bed, then that’s what we’ll do.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, now get in.” He scolded gently which earned him a small smile from her.
They looked at each other awkwardly before Haley finally climbed into the large bed and pulling the comforter over herself, she waited for Nathan to get in which he did a minute later. At first, they each kept to their own side but it was as if a magnetic force was pulling them together because it wasn’t long before their bodies had naturally moved in closer.
Raising his arm in invitation, Haley slipped under it and rested her head in the cradle he created for her, her hand resting on his bare chest. Their legs tangled together and it wasn’t too long before the pair of them had succumbed to the pull of sleep.
* * * * *
Despite the late hour of when they had gone to bed, Haley woke up just before dawn. She was lying on her side with Nathan’s chest pressed against her back, his left arm flung over her waist holding her to him. Seeing his hand in front of her, she remembered something and gently raising her head, she lifted her right arm out from underneath it. Nathan’s wedding ring glinted on her thumb and removing it, she took his left hand in hers and slipped the ring back onto his ring finger. Raising his hand to her lips, she pressed a kiss onto the gold band.
“I’m sorry I took it off,” he said quietly. Moving closer to her, he rested his chin on her shoulder and kissed her cheek.
She snuggled back against him before asking, “Why did you?”
“I guess because I felt so angry…not just with you but with myself too. I should never have given you that stupid ultimatum and…”
“Nathan…you don’t ha-”
“No, let me say this. Please?”
“Okay.”
“As soon as I said those words I wanted to take them back but I couldn’t seem to make myself do it. I knew I wasn’t being fair but I just felt so angry knowing you’d be with spending even more time with him, especially after you had just admitted that you’d kissed him.” He sighed before continuing. “I walked around for a while and I ended up at the exact spot we had our first tutoring session and as I thought back to that day and everything that had happened since then, I knew I’d be making a huge mistake if I just let you leave like that so I ran back to the apartment. But I was too late. Taylor told me that you’d already gone.”
Haley started to turn in his arms so she could face him but he stopped her. “No, not yet. It’s easier for me to say all this if we’re not facing each other.”
Understanding what he meant, she nodded her head before rubbing the side of her face against his head which was resting against hers.
“I’ve done some really stupid things this past couple of weeks. Well, not all of them were stupid,” he added.
“What do you mean?”
“I punched out my dad when he insulted you and our marriage.”
“Oh god. What happened?
“Let’s save that one for later. It was probably for the best that Lucas was there when it happened because otherwise I think I would have kept going. That’s not all though. I-I was drinking in school and I more or less called one of our teachers a slut. That didn’t go down too well.”
“Nathan…”
“I know. How could I be so stupid, right? I’ve apologised to her but the Principal decided to suspend me and I can't say I blame him. Not with the way I've been acting lately. But I guess the worst part is I got myself and Lucas arrested.”
A distressed sound made it’s way out of Haley’s mouth and she turned her head away from his so she could bury her face into her pillow. “This is all my fault,” she whispered.
“No, it’s not.” Releasing his hand from hers, he ran it up and down her arm in a soothing gesture before stroking over her soft hair. “We’re both to blame for letting things get out of control. We’ve let people come between us and kept secrets from each other an…”
“But…”
“Hey, I’m not going to let you take the rap for everything that’s happened.”
When his arm slipped around her waist, she placed her hand on top of it and squeezed. “Are you really okay now?” She asked quietly.
“I’m getting there.” He replied, the honesty of his answer clearly evident in his voice.
As Haley listened to him, she twined her fingers with his and squeezed. “I guess it’s my turn to talk now. You were right about Chris. I found out on this tour that his interest in me had little do with music and more to do with him wanting to come between us.”
“What do you mean?” He asked through gritted teeth. Oh, that punk was so dead if he’d laid a finger on his wife, he thought to himself.
“Nothing happened,” she reassured him. “I wouldn’t have let anything happen. It was just that he kept putting down our marriage and saying how happy he was that I’d finally seen sense and left you. I kept telling him that just because I’d come on the tour didn’t mean my marriage was over but he just laughed.”
“Oh did he? Well, if I ever see him again we’ll see who’ll be laughing then.”
She couldn’t help the giggle that bubbled up and escaped at hearing those words and turning in his arms, she softly kissed his lips. “I don’t think we’ll be seeing him again. I made it clear when I left that I don’t want to see him ever again.”
Nathan froze the moment her lips touched his, being as it was the first kiss they had shared in almost two weeks. He noticed the moment she became aware of that fact too and without either of them saying a word, they both moved closer together and pressed their lips together. As soon as he parted his lips, Haley’s tongue slipped inside his mouth and stroked against his. The kiss started out as a gentle exploration, reacquainting themselves to what the other tasted and felt like, but it soon turned passionate.
As they surrendered to the heat of the moment, Haley rolled him onto his back and then moved closer so that she was lying half on top of him. Her mouth devouring his, she let her hands wander all over his arms and his chest. A few moments later she broke the kiss and looked into his eyes. Seeing all the love he obviously still felt for her was her undoing and she felt the tears well up in her eyes.
“Shh, it’s going to be okay,” Nathan told her as he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. “But we still need to talk. We can’t…we shouldn’t do this Haley, not yet. Not before we’ve talked about everything. What’s happened can’t be brushed aside because it’ll just end up coming between us again.”
She nodded against him and after composing herself, she drew back from him and gave him a crooked smile. “I know and that’s the last thing I want,” she whispered.
“It’s the last thing I want either,” he agreed. Gently, he maneuvered them so that they were once again on their sides facing each other. “Do you want to go first or should I?”
“I’ll go first. The first thing you have to know is that I never felt anything for him. I guess I was flattered by the attention he gave my music to the point that I didn’t think there could be anything more to it. I love you more than anything and you are the only guy I will ever want so…” She paused to take a deep breath before continuing, knowing that he wouldn’t like what was going to say next. “When he kissed me it was just so unexpected.”
Nathan flinched at hearing that but he stayed quiet. The hand that wasn’t holding hers had immediately formed into a fist and his mouth was set in a firm line.
Sensing that he wasn’t going to interrupt, she continued. “He, uh, he kissed me on two occasions and they both took me by surprise. He went on about us there being a chemistry between us but I never felt it. And I never came on to him. I swear I didn’t, Nathan.”
Hearing her say that the bastard had kissed her twice made him feel sick and he had to look away for a moment. “You should have told me as soon as the first kiss happened.”
“I know, and I wish I could turn the clock back and not make the same mistake but I can’t. All I can do is promise that I’ll never let something like that happen again.”
The conviction in her voice made him look into her eyes again and he saw the truth reflected there. “I believe you Haley, but it still hurts that you didn’t believe me when I told you that he was into you for more than just your music. You took his side over mine.”
“I know and I’m sorry. You don’t know how much I wish I could go back and change that.” Her thumb stroked over his knuckles as she watched his face. “I was so stupid.”
“Hey, you’re not stupid.”
“That’s not what you said earlier tonight,” she reminded him and he looked away sheepishly.
“I know and that’s something I wish I could take back. You are the smartest, kindest, most gentle person I know and it’s in your nature to believe there’s good in everyone. Hell, if you didn’t, we wouldn’t be here now.” His lips curled up in his usual smirk and she smiled back at him.
“True,” she teased.
Leaning forward, he rubbed his nose against hers before resting their foreheads together. “Now, why don’t you tell me why you’re back so early? I mean, the tour was for twelve weeks, right?”
“Yeah,” she whispered. “I’d had enough. Enough of him smiling like the proverbial cat who’d caught the canary every time he looked at me. Being away from you hurt and down on the beach earlier I was telling the truth when I said that I hadn’t slept in the whole time I was gone. He had the gall to tell me I looked like crap and I needed to pull myself together. That if he’d known I was going to act like a homesick little girl he would never have brought me along.”
“That son of a bitch. Who the hell does he think he is?”
“Anyway, after a really crappy rehearsal this afternoon, I decided that was it. I managed to see Michelle and Jessica and I told them I couldn’t finish the tour and explained why. They were really nice about it and so once I’d done that, I went to see him. Let’s just say he wasn’t as nice as they were. I told him that I was grateful for the help he’d given me but that I was going home, back to my husband. I told him a few other things too… You’d have been proud of me, Nathan.”
“I’m always proud of you,” he told her, kissing her forehead tenderly. Releasing his hand from hers, he brought it up to her face and stroked her cheekbone with his thumb. “Listen, I don’t know if it’s too late or anything, but if you want to finish the tour, then I’ll back you up.”
Throwing her arm around his neck, she hugged him tightly and shook her head. “No,” she whispered against his skin. “I don’t want to finish it. Being up on stage without you there watching me isn’t the same. And I don’t want to be away from you for another ten weeks.”
“Hales…”
“I’m serious, Nathan. I came home because I wanted to, not because I felt I had to. Being married to you means everything to me. You’re the one who gives me the confidence and courage that I lacked before. If it wasn’t for your encouragement and your support, I would never have gotten up on stage at Tric in the first place and performed in front of all those people.”
“I just wanted everyone to see how talented you are,” he confessed. “Seeing you up on that stage… You belonged up there and I don’t want you to give that up, not for me.”
Haley dropped kisses all over his face; his forehead, his nose, his cheeks and then finally his mouth. “I’m not giving it up. Look, I’m still in high school and then there’s college to think about after that. Maybe I’ll have a career in music and then again, maybe I won’t. For now though I’ll be happy just performing occasionally at the club.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive. It means a lot though that you’re willing to support me in this.”
“I just want you to be happy,” he told her.
“I’m more than happy now I’m back with you.”
“Good because I’m not letting you go again, at least not without me. I could always be your roadie.”
“Ooh, I hadn’t thought of that.” Entwining her hand with his, she brought it up to her lips and kissed each knuckle. “We still need to talk about High Flyers,” she reminded him.
“Yeah, I know. But that can wait until later.”
“I think we should talk about it now.”
“You’re a pushy little thing, aren’t you?”
“Yep,” she agreed and stuck out her tongue at him.
“You really want me to be away from you for two months?”
“No, but if it’s something that’s good for a future career in basketball, then maybe you need to seriously consider it.”
“There’ll be other opportunities.”
“I’m sure there will but maybe you just need to look into this one a little more.”
“Okay, fine. I’ll arrange to see someone from the team and find out more about it. But if I’m going, then you’re coming with me.”
“Nathan, I…”
“No, don’t ‘Nathan’ me. It’s being held in the summer so you can come down with me and we could take a vacation. It could be like a belated honeymoon or something.”
Haley smiled at him. “Hmm, I never thought of it like that. I don’t think I could get away for the whole two months what with us needing to keep our jobs to pay for the apartment and stuff, but I’m sure we could work something out once we know more about it.”
He smiled back at her before capturing her lips with his and kissing her deeply. “You’re not the only smart one in the family then.”
“Nope, never thought I was,” she said breathlessly. “So, what would you like to do this fine Sunday?”
“I think you know the answer to that already.”
“Mmm, maybe you’d better show me anyway.”
His smile turned into a smirk as he closed the small gap between them and rolled her onto her back. Their kisses became more heated and intense the longer they continued. Haley moaned her disapproval when he broke the kiss and raised himself up on his forearms and looked down at her.
“What?”
“I, uh, I don’t want to do this here. I want us to go home…to our own home.”
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled him down so his weight was pressing her into the mattress. “I agree.” Giving him another kiss, she gently pushed him over to his side of the bed and quickly climbed out before he could grab her. “C’mon then, let’s get dressed and go home.”
Nathan couldn’t help laugh when he saw her eagerly run out of the room in her underwear to go to the guestroom where she had taken off her clothes last night. A few minutes later she came back dressed in her jeans and T-shirt and when she gave him that look, he followed suit and got dressed. After making sure they had left the room in the same state it had been when they had first arrived, they left the beach house and made their way to his car. It was when he put his hand into his pants pocket to fish out his keys that he touched the object he had been carrying around with him since she had been gone and he pulled it out.
Haley watched confused as he stared at something in his hand and when she saw what it was, her lips curved up into a bittersweet smile. Holding out her hand to him, she watched him smile back at her before slipping the Cracker Jack bracelet back onto her wrist. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he brought her in tighter to his body and lowering his head to hers, he kissed her softly.
Drawing back from her slightly, he placed his hands on her hips and looked into her eyes. “You know we’ve still got lots of things to work though when we get home, right? The only way our marriage is going to work, Haley, is for us to be totally honest with each other from now on. If we can trust each other completely, then nothing and no one can ever come between us again.”
Her smile turned into a serious look and she nodded her agreement. “I know. What happened here last night and this morning is just the first step for us. I need you to be able to trust me again and I’m going to make sure that happens. Let’s make a pact here and now that we’ll tell each other everything, no more secrets.”
“No more secrets,” he repeated. Bending his head, he covered her mouth with his and kissed her tenderly, effectively sealing their pact. “C’mon then Mrs Scott, let’s go home.”
Fin