Smile Through The Pain
Title: Smile Through The Pain
Author: Diane
Fandom: One Tree Hill
Characters: Nathan/Haley
Prompt: 12 - Hurt
Rating: Teen Rated
Disclaimer: I don’t own a thing!
Spoilers/Warnings: This is a follow on from episode 6.03 ‘Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly.’ so you might not want to read this until you’ve watched it.
Summary: Haley felt tears prickling her eyes again at her son’s words and her heart swelled in her chest. He was such an amazing little boy with so much love and compassion for one so young.
Author’s Notes: This has been written for my fanfic table at 25fluffyfics.
Nathan leaned against the doorframe of their bedroom, watching as Haley ran a comb through her damp hair. She was dressed in her purple plaid pyjama pants and a plain purple tank top and, letting his eyes wander over her bare arms, he could see the lingering pinkness of her skin from the shower she’d just taken.
Walking over to her, he placed his hands on her shoulders and gave them a gentle squeeze. “I’ve ordered pizza for dinner,” he told her.
Her eyes shimmered as turned her head and gave him a grateful smile. “Thanks. Where’s Jamie?”
“In his room playing with Chester.”
“Is he okay?” she asked.
“Yeah, I think so. He’s a bit quieter than usual but, given the circumstances, it’s more than understandable. I think we’re all feeling that way.
Haley nodded. “Yeah.” She shivered slightly which didn’t go unnoticed by Nathan who began rubbing his hands up and down her arms before he stepped away and grabbed one of his sweatshirts from one of the dresser drawers.
“Here you go,” he said, handing it to her. He watched as she first ran her fingers over the soft jersey fabric before she pulled it on over her head and slipped her arms through the sleeves.
“Thank you.” She felt a tear slowly roll down her cheek and she bit her lip to stop herself from making a sound.
“Hales…” Closing the short distance between them, he cupped her face between his palms and lowering his head, he softly kissed her lips before resting his forehead against hers.
“I… I keep thinking about Quentin’s mother and his little brother…” Haley said, trying to swallow past the lump in her throat. “It was only a few days ago he was telling me about him and… about his hopes for the future…”
“Shh,” he whispered, one of his hands smoothing over her hair as he held her trembling body close to his own. His own eyes felt watery and he blinked in an attempt to try and stop any tears from falling.
“Momma?”
Hearing her little boy’s voice, Haley took a few deep breaths in an attempt to compose herself and drawing back from Nathan, she wiped at her tearstained eyes. “Hey, buddy.” Walking over to where he stood dressed in his space rocket pyjamas, she knelt in front of him and gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile as she brushed her hand over his sandy blonde hair. “Are you okay?”
Jamie shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know.”
Wrapping her arms around him, she hugged him tightly to her; pressing a kiss against his temple. “I know it hurts, baby, and it’s okay to feel sad and to cry if you want to. The thing is… I don’t think Quentin would want us to stay sad for long. He was always smiling and laughing and I think we should all remember him that way. What do you think?”
Jamie nodded. “I think he’d like that.”
“I do, too, buddy,” Nathan agreed as he watched his wife and son rub their noses together in the way they’d been doing ever since Jamie had been a toddler.
The doorbell suddenly chimed and Nathan started to make his way out of the room.
“Who’s that?” Jamie asked.
“It’s probably our pizza,” he replied, giving his son a wink.
“Can I give some to Chester?”
Haley chuckled. “Now, you know Chester isn’t allowed to eat people food like pizza.”
“Can I have his share then?”
“Hmm, so that’s your game, is it?” she said, tickling his sides gently.
Jamie squirmed and wriggled as he tried to get away from his mother’s teasing fingers. “Noooo!”
“Sorry, baby,” she said a moment later, biting back a laugh as she ceased her tickle torture.
“Momma?”
“Uh huh?”
“Is it okay to… to laugh?”
“Oh, baby…” Haley felt tears prickling her eyes again at her son’s words and her heart swelled in her chest. He was such an amazing little boy with so much love and compassion for one so young. “What happened to Q is so incredibly sad and we’re all hurting right now but it’s okay to laugh and to play.” Pressing a kiss onto his forehead and then his cheek, she once again nuzzled her nose against his.
“Hey, you two! The pizza’s starting to get cold,” Nathan called up the stairs.
“C’mon, let’s go downstairs and get some pizza before Daddy eats it all. You know how greedy he can be,” she teased and wasn’t able to hide her laughter at how fast Jamie moved to get downstairs. She was surprised though when he came back a moment later.
“Can I sleep in here with you and Daddy tonight?”
“Of course you can.” Taking his hand in hers, she gave his fingers a little squeeze as they went downstairs to spend some comforting family time together.
Fin