Forever and Always (A Naley fanfiction)

Chapter One

Haley admired the beautiful sunrise as the bus drove down the highway. It had been so long since she could admire the small beautiful things in life.

Emma laid fast asleep in her lap. Emma truly was Haley's little angel. Her saving grace. Had it not been for Emma, Haley would have given up on life and hope long ago. The little girl was as sweet and precious as it could get.

The little girl was also a near carbon copy of her father, Nathan.

Nathan... Haley had not seen him in over five years. She often found herself thinking of him. How was he? Did he make it to the NBA? Did he ever think of her or the baby?

She knew he believed her to be dead like like the rest of the world, but she still hoped to find her way back to him. She wanted nothing more than for Emma to know her daddy and for Nathan to know her. It broke her heart that he could not see the product of their love.

Haley did not know how, but they were all going to be a family one day. She was determined to make that happen.

She just had to make sure it was safe first. That was the only thing stopping her from running back to Nathan and her friends. Whoever had kidnapped her was still out there. She couldn't risk putting Nate in any danger, so as much as it killed her, she had to stay away for the time being.

Haley was so lost in her thoughts that she had not realized they had stopped.

They had been on the bus long enough that Haley figured they were probably safe at this point.

She gently shook Emma's shoulder "

"C'mon sweets time to go." She said quietly.

Emma's blue eyes fluttered open "Where are we?"

"I don't know, but let's go find out," Haley said giving Emma a small smile.

They stepped off the bus to find it was cloudy but warm.

They wandered into a nearby tourist shop, and a postcard told Haley that they were in Brookfield, Georgia. A map told her they weren't far from Savannah. This seemed like a good place for them for now. They were safe here.

Haley bought two cheap sandwiches and two bottles of water. She leads Emma to a nearby bench to eat. Emma surprisingly was not very talkative.

Haley sadly figured she was still shaken by the events of the last couple of days.

They spent the rest of the day wandering around the small town. When night came, Haley used the last of her money to get them a very cheap room to stay in for the night. It was very run down, but at the same time, it was something.

Later that night Haley found herself watching Emma sleep. The poor little girl had been through so much in her short lifetime that it broke Haley's heart.

"It'll get better baby" Haley whispered to her sleeping daughter "Mommy promises."

Haley was reassuring not just her daughter, but also herself. Little did she know that a man laid awake in bed 300 miles away in Tree Hill, North Carolina. He laid awake longing for her, missing her, and thinking over and over that he would give anything to have her back.

**********

The next day they wandered around some more. After a while, Haley spotted a small diner and had an idea. She leads Emma inside.

"Excuse me are you guys hiring by chance?" Haley asked the woman at the counter.

"Well, we have been kind of busy..." The woman responded, "Do you have any experience?"

"Yeah, I used to waitress," Haley replied thinking back to her days at Karen's Cafe.

"Well, when can you start?"

"Today," Haley said quickly.

The woman looked taken aback but agreed.

Haley spent the rest of the day training at the diner while Emma colored at the counter.

************

Meanwhile, in Tree Hill, Nathan Scott sat alone in the home that had once belonged to him and his wife. Surely since he had much more money now from playing in the NBA, he could buy something bigger and better, but he had not wanted to. Not with his wife and child by his side.

He had been doing somewhat better since his friends and family had forced him into seeing a shrink, but he would never completely heal.

Nathan had started to accept that Haley would not want him to be as lost as he had been since she had been kidnapped and murdered. At this point, Nathan was merely just trying to get through each day.

As he was getting up to begin packing a bag for trading camp, he heard a knock at the door.

He opened it to reveal his half brother Lucas on the other side.

"Hey man. What's up?" Said Nathan.

Lucas shrugged "Just wanted to see how you were doing"

"Fine, I guess."Nathan shrugged and moved aside to let Lucas into his apartment.

So are you excited to start off a new season?" Luke asked as Nathan wandered around packing his bag.

"It'll keep my mind off of everything. So yeah"Nathan replied.

Lucas was happy Nathan still had basketball. Like he said it kept his mind off Haley and it was one of the few things he still had to make him happy.

Nathan was slowly starting to do better lately. It was small, and you had to know him to notice it, but he was slowly healing as much as he could. Lucas wished he could do more for him.

"How's the wife?"Nathan asked.

"Brooke's okay"Lucas responded "She's excited about Peyton and Jake coming to visit. We were hoping that maybe you would want to join us all for dinner when they get tomorrow."

Nathan stopped what he was doing. Being around happily married couples and families was not easy for him. It only reminded him what he had lost. At the same time though he was trying to get better.

Lucas watched Nathan debate with himself for a minute or so. Finally, he responded.

"Yeah sure guess I could come."

"Really?" Lucas responded surprised. Nathan usually said no to these kinds of things. "Nate that's great!"

"All about moving forward right?" Nathan responded with a small smile.

"She'd be happy for you Nate," Lucas said gently.

"I know." He responded quietly

Lucas quickly changed the subject "So I'll have Brooke text you all the details and see you tomorrow night?"

"Yeah nice to see you man," Nathan said as Lucas opened the door and left.

Nathan continued to pack his bag but stopped for a second to glance longingly at the framed picture of the table of Haley and him.