Title - Running Out of Time
Rating - PG 13
Disclaimer - I don't own any One Tree Hill characters although I would love to own a certain pair of Scott brothers...muhahaha...anyway I own nothing.
Summary - Pure fluff. Nathan and Haley are spending their first Christmas married...and together. She's gotta Christmas shop, he wants to play. She's gotta cook, he wants to play. She's gotta get a tree and send out cards and pay a few bills, he wants to play. Will things be ok for their first Christmas. 3 CHAPTER STORY!
Author's Note - I don't usually write Naley, but so many people are beginning to hate them that I just felt the need to put this out in spirit of the holidays. So, let's get started on the first chapter...I repeat 3 CHAPTER STORY!
The cold morning dawned on the apartment as the two teenagers slept lazily at eleven o'clock. The middle of December twentieth was approaching fast. Haley was the first to groggily flutter her eyelids and look over at the alarm clock that sat crookedly on their night table.
"Shit!"
She immediately pushed herself out from under the sheets and pulled on Nathan's huge sweat pants and one of her own sweat shirts. She looked over at the bed to find her husband, shirtless, still sleeping under the flannel sheets they had purchased.
"Nate," she whispered, not wanting to startle him. "Nate!"
He woke to Haley's high pitched shrieking and sat up wide eyed. She giggled at his disheveled appearance before plopping herself down on his lap and looking up at him with the most innocent eyes she could muster. 'She wants something' he thought and let his head fall lazily back to his warm pillow.
"What do you want, Hales? I just woke up," he whined and she worked her way up his chest so she laid on him, looking directly into his eyes.
"We gotta go Christmas shopping!" she chirped and elicited a groan from the dark haired boy beneath her.
"Do we have to? You know I don't like shopping, and I definitely don't like shopping in huge crowds that are all looking for Tickle Me Elmo or something like that. They're all on a major coffee fix and they're just plain mean...I refuse to go, Haley," he retorted turning his head so she wasn't able to see his expression.
"Ok, number one Tickle Me Elmo was so nineties. Two, you can have some coffee made by the wonderful me so you'll blend in with the crowd...please Nathan," she pleaded, giving him a puppy dog face and letting her fingers brush past his nipple ring here and there.
"Ugh...fine I'll go but you've gotta promise me that when we're done I get to pick what we do next," he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and she downright laughed at him.
"This shopping is probably gonna be a while. It wouldn't take so long if you had gone with me when I first said we needed to but all you do is procrastinate...I'm going to get a shower so we can head out. You can join me if you'd like because I'm not sure what you'll be getting later," she told him and sauntered towards their bathroom. Not surprisingly he was right on her heels as the door shut.
Nathan trudged on behind the brunette as she peppily trotted through the mall. As he walked he went over and over in his head as to why in the hell he agreed to go with her. Then he remembered the time they had in the shower and he quickly ran to catch up with the girl in front. He made his way to her side and just as he approached, another person walking the opposite way ran into his shoulder, shoving him backwards and making him spin in a circle before catching his balance with the wall.
"Moron!" he yelled back after the person and minutes later he found himself face to face with the huge full grown man that had walked into him.
"What did you just say?" he growled.
"I called you a moron! Are you deaf?" Nathan retorted to the man, his short temper quickly getting the better of his level head.
"Little man, you better get your act together before you get beat up. You're lucky I'm lettin you off this time...any other guy would beat you to a pulp right here but I'll be nice. I'm just gonna walk away because you're just a kid." As the tall man went to walk away he quickly threw a punch right to Nathan's stomach leaving him doubled over, trying to catch his breath.
"Nathan!" Haley ran to him as soon as the little excursion ended and knelt down beside him. "You're the moron for doing that," she scolded.
"Haley, I don't need a lecture. I'm kinda hurt here," he grumbled and she stood up again, proceeding towards the next store. "Wait! Don't leave me!" he ran after his wife as she strolled into a store with kitchen utensils and examined the articles.
"What are you doing here?" he questioned receiving no answer. "You're not talking to me now? Ok, I'm sorry. Are you happy?" She nodded and he just rolled his eyes in return. She picked up an egg beater and scrutinized every piece of it before setting it back on the shelf and continuing her business.
"Haley, this is so boring. Why don't we spice things up a little," he suggested and in one swift motion pushed her backwards against the shelf and crushed his lips to hers. It took a second for things to register and for a minute she kissed him back. Finding her hands around his neck and through his hair. His hands, quietly roaming along her back and up her shirt. Finally, catching her bearings she pushed him backwards.
"Nathan! We are in the mall! I don't believe you!" he smirked while she pushed her hair back down and into place. She stalked off, egg beater in hand, and at the register he saw her blushing furiously at her appearance. His smile grew wider at the thought that if even for a minute she had enjoyed it.
They pulled into a Target parking lot and she still refused to get a good look at him. Christmas shopping needed to get done before play. They were supposed to be mature teenagers while Nathan wanted to have sex in the aisle of a kitchen store. She refused to admit that she might have enjoyed the spontaneousness, or at least not to him anyway.
"Nathan, you've got to behave in this store. We are 17 years old, we are going to act like it!" she demanded but he just chuckled in return. "What was that?"
"What was what?"
"We're not playing games, Nate."
"I'm not playing anything. What're you talking about?"
"Grrr, nevermind!" He laughed again at how serious she was with Christmas shopping. He found it to be idiotic and pointless. Why could he just put money in a envelope and ship it off? That would be the easy way. But his wife found the need to shop for every person they met. He could've sworn that someone they met at an away basketball game was on the original list she made.
He ran to catch up again and grabbed her hand while she glared at him. He fell into step with her as they entered the packed store and he just rolled his eyes once again. Yet again, people continued to crowd around him while he looked at the newest Eminem CD and bounced along between the movies. He was pushed and shoved, nearly tripped, hit, pushed and shoved some more. By the time that perky Haley came back into view he was nearly strangling the whole aisle of people around him.
"Can we leave?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"I'm not done."
"Hales, who else can you possibly be buying for?"
"I still have to get Andy and Jules gifts," she replied simply.
"Who?"
"Karen and Keith's...significant others."
"Oh my god! You don't even know them...you've met them, what, like once?"
"No, twice. For your information these two people practically raised me so I'd like to see them both happy," she stated before browsing the movie titles.
"Well, who cares. They both need to get over it and just get together. Everyone knows they like each other so why this whole boyfriend/girlfriend situation?"
Haley shrugged again and Nathan stepped closer so that his hands traveled very lightly up her back and his breath hit her neck.
"Why don't we get outta here?"
For the briefest of seconds Haley contemplated jumping into his arms and just taking him right there on the floor in front of the crowd. Her brain finally decided to take a dive and tell her that wasn't the best decision.
"Nate, I don't wanna yell at you every Christmas. I sound like your mother and I think it'd be plain wrong to be having those fantasies you're thinking about your mom so why don't you just shut up and let me finish!" she insisted and he walked back to the cd's, dejectedly.
Half an hour later Haley found him with headphones on, bobbing his head along with the beat that she could hear, faintly. Now she felt bad, he looked cute sitting all content with his music. She slipped up behind him and let her cold hands trail up the small of his back. He jumped and turned to find her smiling guiltily up at him.
"So you're sorry eh?"
"Yes. I'm sorry for yelling but if we wanna make this work you've gotta help. Christmas comes once a year and the shopping's fun if you'd get into it a little. Maybe, if you had a better attitude about it, I'd have a better attitude about the whole making out in the aisles thing," she winked at him and he flashed a cocky smirk before kissing her. She pulled away and shoved the bags in his arms and walking ahead of him.
"C'mon, let's get home and have a little fun...then we gotta get a tree tomorrow!"
"Oh great! I'm so excited!"
"You should be, it's supposed to snow and we can go cut it down."
"Haley, sarcasm babe. Can't we just go to Lowe's or buy a fake one...I'll pay for a huge fake one that you can decorate with popcorn," he begged but she just laughed at him.
"Nate, when we have kids don't you want them to have a real tree to decorate? I had a fake tree from the time I was five and I remember everyone else talking about their real one. I hated that, I begged for a real tree but I never got it...I'm married and have an apartment and I want a real tree," she explained and he knew there was no way to say no to that. 'Damn it!' he told himself.
"Ok, I give up. We'll go get a real tree tomorrow and I'll cut it down and everything. I'll lay in the grass and mud and take out my saw and cut down a tree for you."
"Yay! Thank you so much!" she jumped into his arms and he twirled her around, the bags cutting off circulation in his hands all the while. She laid a kiss on his lips and he responded with ease.
"I love you."
"I love you, Nathan," she whispered back. He packed the bags into the trunk of his small car and they headed back to apartment.
Haley was seated on the floor with the phone against her ear, wrapping paper, tape, scissors, bows, and tags spread out around her. She giggled incessantly into the receiver as Peyton said something to her and Nathan rolled his eyes. He continued to concentrate on his basketball skills through the virtual world of NBA 2K5. He was up by 4 points to Philadelphia. He was going up for the dunk and slamming on the controller when the brunette plopped herself on his lap with a huge smile upon her face.
"Why do you have to give me that smile every time you want something? And every time you do it I'm trying to do something important...this morning I was sleeping, I was going for the game point right here and completely missed the basket by like five feet."
"Because Lucas and Peyton are coming over! I want you to get up off the couch and go get a pizza," she explained to him and he once again rolled his eyes.
"Why can't we cook?"
"We have no food because you refused to go shopping with me last week," she pointed out.
"Haley, it was nine o'clock in the morning. I cannot be seen at the grocery store with all those old people."
"Nathan, I wanted to beat the crowd. It was Saturday morning," she retorted and he stood up, leaving her high and dry on the couch cushions.
The door was tapped on and he quickly pulled it open revealing his brother and ex girlfriend who were currently dating/good friends. They had never classified what they were doing but they acted like a couple. Yet, whenever asked they would both say they weren't together and that they were best friends and nothing would ever happen between them. Yeah right, Nathan had told Haley six million times. He told her they made out all the time and at a party he'd seem they go giggling off into an empty bedroom. If that wasn't together then he was a monkey's uncle. She'd hit him in the arm and laughed at his expression before going to eat more ice cream.
The two blondes made their entrance into the apartment and Peyton flopped down on the floor next to the petite brunette and began to help wrapping. Lucas followed with a bag of presents that Nathan assumed to be Peyton's bag of things to wrap.
"Shopping," Nathan stated with no emotion. Lucas shook his head, yes, and heaved a sigh towards his brother. "I know what you mean," Nathan responded.
"So, wanna go get a pizza boys?" Peyton asked sweetly and Lucas turned to face the taller boy.
"C'mon," he said heavily and the two brothers walked out the door and to Lucas' car. The girls sat in the pile of debris on the floor with wrapped/brand new presents between them, giggling about everything. They had brought up the Lucas/Peyton situation but Peyton was giving no information on it. She was tight lipped. Then they talked about plans for Christmas and New Years. The girls decided their plans for New Years would be a party at Nathan's and then Luke and Peyton would crash there for the night.
Forty minutes later the boys strolled in with a mildly warm pizza and disgruntled looks upon their faces. Peyton tried to hold her straight face but instead burst into laughter and Haley soon after followed suit. Haley stood and pulled the pizza cutter out of the cluttered drawer in the kitchen while Nathan fetched paper plates from the cabinet.
Peyton walked up to Lucas and wrapped her arms around his neck, nearly kissing him but seeing Haley eyeing them before anything actually happened. Haley huffed and Peyton smirked, Lucas missed the whole exchange. They all sat down at the island in the kitchen and the boys proceeded to talk about basketball and anything else that could possibly relate to sports.
The girls on the other hand were gossiping. It was a bad habit that Brooke had bestowed upon them as time wore on. She was currently in the dating column with Jake. She and Felix had broken up when he and Anna moved again, and though she was heartbroken she moved on. Jake came back shortly after with Jenny and with each of them being alone and lonely they formed a friendship that evolved like wildfire. Jenny and Jake were good influences on their wild friend.
"I so saw that, Peyt," Haley exclaimed and Peyton made innocent.
"Saw what? There was nothing to see," she explained but Haley was buying none of it. She nodded her head before letting the silence overcome her.
"So, Lucas...when you gonna fess up to getting with Peyton at that last party at Tim's?"
Lucas spit his soda out across the kitchen before gasping for air. Peyton's eyes expanded like balloons and Nathan just turned around, pretending to look for something important so they didn't see him laughing.
"What?!"
"Well, we all saw it. Me, Nathan, Jake, and Brooke all saw you two sneak off half way through. I was with Peyton in the beginning and believe me she was drinking like a fish but then I met up with you and you were inhaling the Heineken. Around 11 you both disappeared and we all saw the two of you giggling like school girls and falling backwards into the empty room...need any more reminders? So spill."
"Oh, um, uh...nothing happened we were just talking," he stuttered but Haley rolled her eyes and a small scoff could be heard coming from Nathan who was still busy going through cabinets. Peyton agreed and nodded along, still progressing to eat her pizza.
"Give it up you two...no one cares. I mean really I find it pretty annoying that you two just won't get together. It's obvious, you two are inseparable, constantly looking at each other through class and across the room, you laugh with each other all the time, I've never seen either one of you happier," she pointed out and Peyton blushed furiously from her seat.
"We're friends. We're best friends, nothing more nothing less," Peyton butted in and Haley just laughed that explanation off.
"Well, whenever you guys decide to come clean I'll be waiting. I wanna be the first one informed!"
Lucas quickly stole a glance at the other blonde when Haley threw her plate away and Peyton smiled back at him. He winked and she nodded, it was going to be a good night.
The bed was warm when Haley buried herself under the flannel sheets. The other two had left half an hour before. She was still convinced that their story was a load of bull, but they were embarrassed enough so she quit picking on them. She had officially finished shopping and wrapping, so that was another load lifted from her shoulders.
Nathan crawled in minutes later, fresh from his second shower. He opted to take another shower after spilling soda down the front of him and Haley smashing the last piece of pizza in his face. She had laughed and ran to bed while he cleaned up.
"Good day," she mumbled from deep inside the covers.
"Yea, that was real fun," he responded, the sarcasm evident.
"It was. I had fun with Luke and Peyt. Even though they still won't give it up...and I had fun shopping with you," she peeked out from under the blankets and he stole a fast kiss from her.
"I had fun with those two. I don't see why they don't get together but I definitely did NOT have fun shopping."
"Well, we get to go get a tree tomorrow! We could see if Luke and Peyt wanna come so you can have some manly company," she told him, puffing her arms out and speaking deeply to imitate him.
"You think that's manly?" he questioned, jumping on top of her, pulling away the blanket and tickling her. She laughed and pushed him off but he pushed. He was a person who loved to push people.
"No! Nathan! Stop!" she screamed and he let his hands fall to mattress beside her before letting his head fall and capturing her lips in another searing kiss. She smiled into him before he collapsed lightly and pulling the blankets over himself, her underneath.
"I like this better," she breathed as he pulled her t-shirt up over her head and fell into oblivion with his wife. If he was gonna cut a tree down for her tomorrow, she was gonna give him happiness tonight.
Thanks for reading! Tell me if you liked it, if you do I'll get to posting the other two chapters soon! I'm not used to writing humor or fluff so tell me if it was any good. I'm usually more towards the angst so this was new for me. ReViEw!!