Always (Nathan Scott Fan Fiction) [2]

What Could Have Been

"Haley, I screwed up." Claudia stated as she sat on the phone to Haley. Haley sighed on the phone.

"Look Claudia. Some of it was Taylor's fault. Also you should be allowed to chase your dream." Haley explained and Claudia shook her head.

"No Haley. I did it all. I shouldn't of chased my dream, I should of let Nathan's had his. I was being selfish." Claudia explained running her hands through her hair.

"This isn't the Claudia I know?" Haley sighed and Claudia looked at herself in the mirror. She looked tired and broken, she had hardly slept since Nathan arrived to visit her then left. "The Claudia I knew fought for what she believed, did what she wanted. The Claudia that I knew did not give up on her relationship with Nathan." Haley stated sternly.

"Haley, I do-uh. I don't know what to do. He told me not to go home. He told me to chase my dream but it took me this long to realise that he is my dream. Wherever he is I belong." Claudia explained and Haley smiled to herself.

"Claudia, you just rested your own case. Look. I don't want to tell you what to do but you need to go home. You want to go home, he wants you to go home. But if you want to stay on the music tour then do it." Haley replied and Claudia nodded her head.

"That settles it. Tonight is my last show." Claudia said as she looked down at her wedding ring before she spun it. 

___

"What is this, divorce paper?!" Nathan asked angrily as he looked down at the document his dad just placed down on the counter.

"Annulment. Any judge who sees how young you are will say you weren't in your right mind when you married." Dan explained and Nathan scoffed.

"Oh, so now I'm crazy?" He argued back.

"You are if you don't sign those papers." Dan replied and Nathan looked away pained. "Why drag Claudia down with you?" Dan asked and Nathan looked back pissed. "As long as you're married to her, she's also responsible for you debt." Dan said and Nathan shook his head.

"You don't give a rat's ass about Claudia. This is what you want!" Nathan scoffed.

"It's also what's best for you." Dan replied seriously. 

"She made her choice and it wasn't you. Why hang on?" Dan asked and Nathan angrily pushed the papers back at him.

"Get out!" Nathan shouted.

"You have a chance, right now-" Dan said before he was cut off by Nathan as he grabbed the papers.

"I hit you once, dad, alright? I don't have a problem doing it again." Nathan warned walking towards his dad.

"Listen, you wanna wallow in self-pity, fine! But she's ready to move on, I think you know that." Dan stated and Nathan looked away, he placed the papers on the counter. "Just in case." Dan jabbed before he left. Nathan looked at the annulment form, he turned it slightly and read the heading again. 

___

Claudia walked up the BackStage guy, she looked better than she did. She looked happy- to an extent.

"Listen, um,... I need some time off. There's some things going on with my husband-" Claudia began to say before the backstage guy cut in.

"Again?" He asked laughing and Claudia glared at him. "Claudia, look, I like you... I mean you've been a major pain in my ass, but in a good way. So, I mean, if you gotta go, I can't stop you. But... I may need to replace you." He explained and Claudia looked torn.

"Are you serious?!" Claudia exclaimed confused.

"The question is 'are you'? Come on, I mean, you got talent. I mean, you could be more than just a duet girl." He reasoned and Claudia thought to herself about it all. 

"I know but I've-" Claudia said before the guy interrupted her.

"Look, this is a business, Claudia, and I will work like hell to make you a star, but you gotta make a decision; how bad do you want the big time?!" He asked cryptically and Claudia sighed as he walked away. She had no idea. 

___

Claudia walked up to the backstage guy, he just got off of the phone and was grinning at Claudia.

"Great news: Gavin's manager is excited about you as a solo act." He exclaimed and Claudia is delighted and speechless. "We should record a demo." He said and Claudia looked at him sympathetically.

"I'm sorry, um,... tonight's my last show." Claudia replied uncomfortably. 

"No, no, Claudia, no, no, you gotta think about this." He stated sternly.

"I have thought about this. I'm going home to my husband." Claudia said assuringly.

"What if you're making a mistake?" He asked and Claudia shook her head.

"Well, the mistake was leaving him in the first place." Claudia said as she walked past him.

"Claudia!" He hissed but she continued to walk away from him, the backstage guy just sighed,

___

"Thank you, goodnight my lovelies." Claudia shouted before she walked off the stage and handed the microphone to the microphone guy. The makeup artist walked up to Claudia smiling.

"Hey, Claudia?" She said and Claudia turned to face her. "There's a tall, dark, hottie waiting in the Green Room. Say's he's your biggest fan." The makeup artist said and Claudia smirked to herself, she knew it was Nathan. 

"Thank you!" She shouted delighted before she ran off into the Greenroom. She grinned hoping it was Nathan, but it was Dan. Her smiled faded.

"Caught the show." Dan said not looking at her, he turned around wickedly. "Who knew you actually had talent?" He said tauntingly. "Like the hair and a nose piercing to wow. I always knew my son had a thing for hookers." Dan smirked and Claudia rolled her eyes before sighing.

"What're you doing here, Mr. Scott?" She asked trying to be polite.

"I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. And since you're clearly gonna be a big star I want your autograph." Dan said cynically as he held out the annulment papers. Claudia read the heading pained. 

"Petition for annulment?!" Claudia gasped as she snatched the papers from him. 

"It'll be like the marriage never happened." Dan smirked and Claudia looked up at him with a mixture of pain and anger in her eyes.

"My marriage is none of your business! And when Nathan finds out that you went behind his back to get this- " Claudia rambled on angrily as Dan flipped the page so she could see Nathan's signature.

"I'm not hiding anything from him." Dan said and Claudia looked at it shocked. "It's over, Claudia." Dan stated and Claudia did not move a muscle. She was physically frozen. "Why else would Nathan have asked me to come?" Dan asked, he was loving this. Claudia had tears in her eyes as she considered the truth and implications of the annulment. She did not say anything as she looked at the annulment papers. 

___

The petition for annulment is on a keyboard. Claudia sat at it depressed, the backstage guy came up behind her.

"I thought you were going to see your husband." The backstage guy said as Claudia wiped the tears leaving more tear stains down her face. 

"What husband?" Claudia asked confused as he walked past her and way. Claudia continued to play the piano. All she could think about was how she ruined her life, she choice the wrong guy.