Prologue
The bus ride was a long one but it gave Haley plenty of time to think. As she rested her head against the window, the thumb and forefinger of her right hand toyed with her wedding ring. Feeling the tears prickling behind her eyelids, she squeezed her eyes shut and fought to stop them falling. In her chest her heart ached to the point where she felt like it was shattering into a million pieces. She had heard of people dying of a broken heart but she had never completely believed it. Until now that is.
It was almost two weeks since she had last seen or spoken to Nathan. In all the time they had been dating they had never gone that long without talking to or seeing each other and it felt so foreign for her to be apart from him. Unfortunately, she had no one to blame but herself for their separation. She couldn’t blame him for not calling her, not when she had made her position clear by just leaving without saying goodbye. Saying that though, a tiny part of her couldn’t help hoping that maybe he would have called. Several times she had dialled their home number and listened to his voice on their answering machine but had hung up without leaving any message. She was too scared to let herself wonder why he wasn’t answering the phone himself.
Feeling a tear slide down her cheek, she wiped it away with the back of her hand. This past couple of weeks her thoughts had been taken up by him and nothing else. At night she couldn’t sleep and so she would lay awake wearing that fleece sweater of his that she had made sure to pack and which still bore his scent while flipping through the photos of him she had stored on her cell phone.
Even when she was performing on stage, Haley’s thoughts were dominated by him. Her eyes would scan the audience in the hope that he had come to see her but she knew that was just wishful thinking. After the shows, the group would arrange to go out to grab some food but she would always refuse. The last thing she felt like doing was hanging out and acting all happy when deep down she was crying inside.
The tears were falling faster now and putting a hand over her mouth to muffle any noise, she let herself cry. The last couple of days were finally catching up with her and she realised that Nathan had been right about Chris. While as far as she was concerned their friendship was all about the music, she now knew that the same couldn’t be said for him. One of the other reasons she hadn’t socialised with the others after the shows was because it meant hanging out with him. Hearing him insult her marriage and belittle the vows she had taken made her blood boil. She couldn’t believe she had defended him to Nathan when he had told her that he was trying to come between them. God, how stupid could she have been.
Leaning forward, she picked up her bag from the floor and took out some tissues to wipe away her tears with. Looking around her, she saw that the bus had emptied out some and she was grateful that she hadn’t had somebody sitting next to her. The last thing she wanted was to have to make small talk with a stranger. Checking her watch, she saw that she had at least another hour to go before she arrived back in Tree Hill and she decided to try and catch up on some sleep. She had a feeling she was going to need all the strength she could muster for what would be coming.