With Arms Outstretched

Summary: Nathan comforts Haley after finding out bad news from her mom and takes a trip down memory lane. Set during episode 7x16.

Thank you OTH for finally giving me some inspiration to write about. After watching, I just had to write this story. Nathan was so under utilized in tonights episode but it's okay I made for it in this story. If they would've done a little bit more with his character tonight, it would've been a perfect ten but we can't get them all. This was based off tonight's episode (7x16)and it tugged at my heart because cancer has plagued my family and so I can totally relate to everyone affected by Lydia. With Lydia on the show, I really do miss the adults of the show so this was a great chance for me to incorporate some characters that are no longer with us. I'm basing this timeline off the fact that Jamie is currently 7. There's a couple of references to things previously mentioned on the show, hope you catch it.

I also updated the Mourning After yesterday please check that out.

Enjoy and please review!

. . . . . .

"How you doing?" Nathan asked softly, coming up from behind Haley. He put a comforting hand on her shoulder, not really sure what to do.

"Taylor's gone. She left." Haley sighed, leaning against the pillar. "My mom says I'm my sisters' keeper but I couldn't make her stay." Haley paused.

"I'm not the glue." Haley shook her head. "My mom is and when she's gone, everything's just going to fall apart." Haley couldn't fight back the tears anymore as she started to choke up. Nathan grabbed her and pulled her close to him.

"I'm scared." Haley admitted, burying her tears against Nathan's chest, holding onto him as if her life depended on it. And in a way it did.

Nathan wanted to find the right words to say, anything but nothing would come out. He just took a deep breath and let his wife cry because he knew that's she needed to. And he held her, just like the first time.

Five Years Ago

"Suicides now!" Lucas blew his whistle and turned to Whitey.

"How was that?" Lucas smiled.

"Pretty good, seen some of the freshmen kids frightened up." Whitey joked. The season was in full swing and Whitey dropped by Gilmore for a few days to see how the team was holding up. He had only been the coach for one year before handing it off to Lucas but in that year he'd grown close to the team. He hated to admit it but he missed the Scott brothers as well. They were the sons he never had and knew he was enjoying how far both men had come.

The doors swung open and Lucas and Whitey whipped their heads to find Haley strolling in with little James Lucas Scott in tow. Whitey's face immediately lightened up. That little boy was a little ball of energy this old man needed.

"Haley, so nice to see you and the little one again." Whitey smiled. He had dinner with the Scotts last night and it was great catching up with everyone.

"You too Coach." Haley smiled politely and turned to Lucas.

"You know Hales, you're distracting the guys." Lucas joked as all eyes were on them. He could already feel Nathan's glare at his other teammates. He chuckled inside, remembering when Nathan nearly flipped out when he heard one of the guys call Haley a MILF.

"Hey, Luke, you think I can talk to Nathan?" Haley asked, a slight tremble in her voice.

Lucas squinted his eyes and looked at her carefully. Something was up, he knew it. "Nathan!" He called out as he blew his whistle and motioned his brother to join them.

"Are you okay?" He turned back to Haley.

Haley just shook her head. "Can.. can you guys watch Jamie?"

"Yeah, no problem, Haley." Whitey spoke up, sensing this was serious. Whitey took a hold of Jamie's hand and led him away from Haley.

Nathan came jogging up. He was wiping the sweat off his brow with a towel. He gave a quick kiss to Jamie and then came up to Lucas and Haley.

His smile faded as soon as he saw Haley's face.

"Hales, you okay?" Nathan asked, nothing but concern on his face.

"…"

Nathan turned to his brother but he only shrugged. Lucas was just as clueless as he was.

"Ca.. can go somewhere to talk?" Haley said softly.

"Sure." Nathan took a hold of Haley's hand and looked back to his brother. Lucas gave a nod, telling him to take all the time he needed.

Nathan led Haley out the gym and into Lucas' office nearby.

Haley sniffled and started to pace the room. "My parents are with my brother." She started to speak. "My brother bought this vintage 1968 Mustang that my father had to absolutely see. My dad loved old cars, it's how I met Lucas." She continued to pace back and forth. She waking Nathan nervous with worry.

" I remember when I was a kid, my dad took me to Keith's shop to grab some parts for his car. But you know my dad, he saw Keith working on some old hot rod and before you knew it, he and Keith were talking up a storm. I was so bored and that's when I noticed Lucas. The next thing I knew, Lucas came up to me and we started talking and he pulls out this walkie-talkie set and asked if I wanted to play. And so we did and my dad and Keith.." Haley sighed. "My dad loved cars." Haley stopped in the middle of the room and lowered her head.

"Hales.." Nathan prodded slowly. He walked closer to her and noticed a few tears down her face. He lifted her chin up to face him and wiped away a tear. His eyes bore into hers, asking her to explain what was going on. Either way, he knew this wasn't going to be good.

"They were in the garage working on the car. My brother was under the hood and asked my dad to pass the wrench. My dad didn't respond and when my brother turned around, he found my dad on the ground clutching his chest." Haley choked out.

"He had a heart attack, Nathan." Haley finally choked out. "He.. he didn't make it." She cried out and Nathan instantly pulled her into his chest. He wished he wasn't so sweaty and grimy at the moment but that didn't matter. All that mattered was that his girl was hurting and he couldn't do anything to stop it. He never felt so powerless in his life.

"Oh Hales.." He kissed the top of her head and held her close as she cried harder and harder.

"He's gone. He's gone!" She cried out.

He didn't know how long they stood there but Haley just kept crying and he kept rubbing his hand across her back.

Finally, there was a knock on the door and Lucas entered with a cell phone on his hand.

"Your brother called me Hales.." Lucas said softly. "I'm so sorry."

Haley sniffled her nose and went to Lucas and hugged him.

"Luke watch her, I'm going to grab my stuff and then get Jamie." Nathan touched his wife's shoulders as Lucas held her. For once, he didn't mind Lucas stepping in. She would need the both of them now.

One week later.

Nathan lifted Jamie in his arms and went upstairs to the spare bedroom they were staying at. Haley's family was downstairs, the funeral ended a few hours ago. Jamie was exhausted and put the little guy down for his nap. He watched his little boy sleep and he regretted how they didn't get to see Jimmy that much and how Jamie would never know his grandpa.

Reaching for his phone, Nathan dialed Lucas up.

"Hey, how's it going?" Lucas answered. He went to the wake but unfortunately couldn't make it to the funeral because the team had a game.

"I'm hanging in there." Nathan paused. "All this dad stuff.."

Lucas sighed. "Yeah I know."

"You ever think about him?" Nathan asked. He remembered that party after they graduated high school. They decided that they were never going to see Dan. They never talked about him. He was gone, out of their lives, or so they thought."

"Sometimes." Lucas reluctantly admitted. "I always wondered how it would be like having a dad, it was a shame I wasted my time on Dan when Keith was there all along, I just.. I just never took the time to appreciate him."

Nathan nodded. "Yeah I know.. Everyone keeps talking about how great Jimmy was.. what a great dad." Nathan shook his head. "I.. I wish I could say the same thing about our dad." Nathan admitted.

"Me too." Lucas agreed. "Me too."

There was a long pause before either of them spoke up. Even after all this time and tuck away behind bars, Dan Scott could still turn his grown sons into little boys, wanting nothing more than the love and attention of their father.

"How's our girl doing?" Lucas finally asked, changing topics.

"You mean my girl." Nathan tried to joke. He could already picture Lucas rolling his eyes.

"Funny." Lucas deadpanned.

"She's okay I guess." Nathan sighed. "I don't know, she's a mess, her whole family's torn. Jamie's only two but even he's upset too. I .. I just don't know what to do." Nathan said frustrated. There were very few times in his life where he felt out of control and out of his element. This was one of them.

"Nathan, you're doing great, just be there for her."

"But how?!" Nathan raised his voice. He'd never seen Haley cry so much and it was eating him up inside. "I just feel so helpless." Nathan finally admitted after a moment of silence.

"We're all helpless when it comes to this." Lucas replied carefully. "But Nate, you're doing exactly what Haley needs right now."

"Which is what? Nothing, baby sitting Jamie."

"I wouldn't call that nothing." Lucas quickly replied. "But yes, Nate, just being there for Haley, that helps."

"When it comes to these things, it's me leaning on her, not the other way around.. I .. I don't know what to do. This was her dad, Luke." He remembered how it was when Keith dad. They both mourned Keith's death and they both turned to each other. But Nathan didn't know Jimmy like he knew Keith. He was grieving yes but not the same way Haley was.

"Nathan, believe me when I tell you that it goes both ways. Remember when Haley was freaking out with finals and you stayed up with her and made coffee or when Jamie had the fever last year and Haley was worried sick but you kept telling her that everything was going to be okay. The doctor gave you guys medicine and said it wasn't a big deal but Haley still freaked out. You were there Nathan."

Lucas switched the phone to his other ear. "Look you're a better husband and father than I thought you could be and I'm not trying to be funny. You're a good guy Nate, just be there for Hales. That's all you can do for her. Whether you believe it or not, she leans on you too. She needs you."

Nathan took a deep breath and gathered his thoughts. "Thanks, Luke, but by the way," Nathan paused, "she needs you too."

. . . .

5 years later . . . .

"Hey Buddy, it's time for bed." Nathan walked into Jamie's room.

"Okay." Jamie sighed and put his laptop away.

"Dad, I was thinking that when I grow up, maybe I want to be a director instead of a basketball player.. or maybe both."

Nathan just smiled. "Just as long as your happy." Nathan tried to keep a good face. It was funny how the day turned out. Being on set reminded him about Lucas and apparently so did Jamie remembered as well. Jamie talked about all the people he missed and Nathan hated to admit it but he missed them too. It was ironic how the day ended. God, he didn't even know what to tell Jamie about his grandmother. It was something he and Haley agreed to tell him about tomorrow.

"Is mom coming up?" Jamie asked.

"Your mom is spending sometime with her mom tonight, okay. Goodnight." Nathan smiled once more before turning the lights off.

Nathan walked into his room and sat on the foot of his bed. He sighed and was about to go to prepare for bed but he reached for his pockets to grab his phone.

"Hello." The voice said on the end of the line.

"Hey mom." Nathan smiled.

"Hey honey, what's up?"

Nathan paused. "Nothing, I just wanted to see how you were doing?"

Deb smiled as she put the phone closer to her ear. "Well, everything is going great, I'm in Phoenix right now but I think we got the bid and more importantly, we had a lot of people open up their wallets at the fund raiser." Deb laughed and talked about her job and her travels. She was back working for the non-profit group she worked for before when Nathan was still in high school and was enjoying herself.

"Is everything okay?" Deb asked.

"Yeah, mom.. everything's fine." He didn't want to talk about Lydia's cancer just yet.

Deb didn't sound convinced. "Look, I have to get going but I'll call you tomorrow. Good night sweety, tuck Jamie in for me."

"I will and mom."

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"… Now I know something is up." Deb joked. "I love you too sweety, bye."

. . . . .

Nathan watched as Haley scurried in the room and hope into bed. She instantly curled up next to him and he hugged her tight.

"How's my girl doing?" He asked softly.

"Not so good." She muttered.

"You wanna talk about it?" Nathan asked.

"…"

Just then Nathan's cell rang and he reached for the nightstand and grabbed his phone.

"Hey.. thanks for getting back to me.. yeah.. she's right here."

Haley sat up and wondered who was calling so late.

"It's for you." Nathan handed her the phone.

"Who's this?" Haley wondered but then looked down at the caller I.D. Her heart skipped a beat and she smiled warmly at her husband. Nathan felt good to finally see a smile on Haley.

"Thank you." She said softly, pressing her lips against his.

"Thought you needed him." Nathan replied and wrapped his arms tightly around her.

Putting the phone on her ear, she took a deep breath.

"Hey Luke.."

The End.