At the Carousel

He sat on the bench and watched the Carousel go around, feeling a little like the creeper people said he was. He shoved his hands in the pouch of his hoodie to warm them while he resisted the urge to look around for Haley; he took a deep breath and released it in a puff of white in the cold night air.

Haley walked towards the carousel with her earbuds in her ear. Somehow, it always made her feel safer when she was walking in New York alone. Nate had yelled at her numerous times for it, but she still continued to do it. She spotted Jack sitting not far from her and Haley quickly removed her earbuds from her ear. Haley jogged over to him and smiled when she sat beside him. "Hey there stranger."

He hadn't noticed her so when she sat next to him, he gave a bit of a jump. He laughed, smiling widely at her. "Hey." He was itching to give her a hug but he didn't want to be weird. Er. "Long time, no see." What the hell? He wrapped her in a quick, loose hug.

Haley blushed slightly and hugged him back, "Too long if you ask me. I was hoping you would have come up with Vanessa and Nate."

"Sorry. I wanted to but I didn't want to leave CG here alone." Not on Thanksgiving. "Did you guys have a good Thanksgiving though?"

Haley nodded, "Except for my friend Mischa calling Vanessa a bitch, yeah, it was pretty good."

His jaw dropped a bit. "I'd ask what happened before that but it'd sound too much like me fishing for gossip. Did everyone come out alive and unharmed," he asked, wincing a bit at the myriad of possibilities racing through his head.

"Mischa was under the impression that Vanessa and Bri were the reason why I left New York and she's a bit over dramatic." Haley said with a shrug.

"Wow." He shook his head with a laugh. "Sounds crazy. Glad you had a good holiday though, aside from the violence."

Haley nodded and smiled, "I wasn't expecting Nate to show up like that. It was a nice surprise."

"Sounds like he's a good guy," Jack murmured a little awkwardly. "So, are you enjoying yourself up in New Haven? I mean, you've mentioned new friends and you're in a play, so you like it up there?" He feels like kicking himself.

Haley nodded, "I like it a lot. It's so different than here." She shrugged, "I feel like I can finally figure out who I am."

"And have you," he asked quietly, peeking at her out of the corner of his eye. "Figured it out, I mean?" He was blushing like always whenever she was concerned.

"I'm starting to, that's for sure." Haley said with a nod.

His smile is bright. "Good," he nods. "I'm glad to hear it." He almost adds a but, almost adds what he's thought she was all along but she probably doesn't want to hear it, him rambling on about his image of her when she's trying to figure out who she is for herself.

"Mr. Torry," She said, bringing out her southern accent as best she could, "It looks as if you have something to say."

His blush deepened and he hung his head a bit. "I might. But I mean..." He sighed and sat back on the bench. "It just seemed to me that you were still the same person. Bright, funny, smart, strong. You didn't put up with crap and you didn't put up with crap being slung at other people." He knew his face was deep red and was a little happy it was dark so maybe she couldn't really see it; but she was going to hear the twang, that was for sure. "I mean, I know hearing what someone else thinks of you isn't want you want to hear right now. I'm sorry."

Haley smiled broadly as she blushed. "I don't believe Rhett Butler himself could have said something that sweet. You always seem to think the best of me."

"It's not that hard to do," he said quietly. "You always gave me something good to think about you." He looked up at her, a bit panicked. "I don't mean that in a weird way, I swear."

Haley smiled and kissed his cheek, "At least I can always count on you to be my fan."

"I love you, Haley." The words were soft and his hands were shaking a bit but he meant them with every part of himself.

Haley looked at him, "Do you remember the first time we talked?"

His brow furrowed a bit; had she heard him or was she ignoring him... "You were crying over something Blair had said." Like he could forget.

Haley smiled and nodded, "You told me that Blair made my life Hell because she knew that she would never have the grace and poise that I had. No one had ever tried to make me feel better. They turned a blind eye to what Blair was doing."

"Everyone did," he said, his hands fisting inside the pocket of his hoodie. "It wasn't right. But then again, up here, a lot of things happen that aren't right..."