Authors Note: I don't own One Tree Hill.
Summary: Nathan Scott and Haley James were best friends and were inseparable since they were toddlers. Now that they have grown up neither could ignore the fact that they wanted to be more than just friends. Could they ever cross the line from being friends to something more?
Hi guys, as promised here's another Naley story. I'm kinda nervous about this one seeing that Always & Forever did so well. I hope it will get as many responses. Let me know what you guys think ok. Cheers! ;)
Chapter 1
Haley James couldn't hide her excitement as the plane started its descend. She had been away from home for almost three months trying to make a deal with a few budding bands in Los Angeles and the wedding of her two of her best friends, Lucas Scott and Brooke Davis in two weeks was not one she wanted to miss. Plus, she knew they would literally kill her if she did. But most of all, she was excited to see Nathan Scott, her other best friend. Sure she had many close friends, but Nathan took the cake. For some reason she felt closest to him and he to her although they were as different as night and day. He was the basketball star back in high school and was the resident heartbreaker, while she was the responsible and cautious one. He was supposed to pick her up at the airport and she was hoping he wouldn't forget, knowing how dense he could be at times. She couldn't wait to break the news that they actually got the bands to Peyton Sawyer, her friend and business partner. She and Peyton had set up a record company in Tree Hill and had offices in LA and New York and so far, business had been really good.
Finally the plane landed and she scuttled through the crowd to get to her luggage, cursing under her breath when she found that the luggage was nowhere in sight. "Yeah, that happens a lot. I guess you'll just have to wait it out," a male voice next to her made her jump. She turned her head and found the owner of the voice, a tall handsome man probably about her age.
"Oh yeah, and you know so much about luggage claims why?" she asked a bit harshly. She was tired and in no mood for a chat.
"Catty today, aren't we?" the man chuckled. "Well, just so you know I work here."
"Good to know," she said rolling her eyes. "Oh there they are." She quickly grabbed her bags and made her way to the exit, barely hearing the man yell, "it's Michael by the way!"
"Hey Hales. Good to have you back," a familiar voice greeted her.
"Oh Nathan, thank God you're here," she said enveloping him in a big hug. He returned the hug, holding her longer than he had to.
He reluctantly pulled away and grinned. "Wow you miss me that much, huh?"
"Cocky much? You can be such an ass sometimes." Haley looked up to him and laughed.
"Ow that hurts Hales," he said pretending to be hurt.
Haley put her hand on her mouth and gasped. "Oh sorry, I should have said you can be ass all the time." It had always been like this between the two of them. The playful banters had always been their trademark. "Of course I miss you. But there was some guy at the baggage claim trying to hit on me and I was in no mood for that."
"What? Where?" He felt a pang of jealousy at the mention of someone flirting with Haley.
"Wow, did you remove your ears while I was gone? I just said it, at the baggage claim," she said slowly, as if to a five-year-old and laughed. "Come on Nathan, just take me home."
"Fine," he muttered, seething as he thought of another man looking at her.
They chatted easily on the ride home. "So you got the deal, huh? Good for you Hales. I knew you could do it. Just a thought, why didn't you send your goons in LA to do it?" he asked referring to her employees at the LA office.
"Nathan, they're not goons!" she reprimanded. "Anyway, when it comes to getting the bands, me and Peyton prefer to do it ourselves, and since Peyton's busy helping Brooke I volunteered to do it." She leaned back against her seat exhausted. "So, which one is she now? I've lost count."
Nathan pretended not to know what she was talking about. "What do you mean?"
She rolled her eyes and smacked him on his arm. "You know, your latest flavour-of-the-day?"
Nathan kept silent for a while before continuing. "There's no one Hales. Not since, you know."
It was Haley's turn to keep quiet. She knew only too well what he meant. She looked out the window, remembering the night before she left for LA.
Flashback
They were watching a movie at her place which she shared with Peyton. Peyton had gone out with her boyfriend Jake Jagielski that night, leaving only Haley and Nathan sprawled in front of the tv watching "Love Actually". She had wanted to do something fun before she went to LA. She sighed as the movie ended and heard him groan next to her. "Why oh why did I let you talk me into watching this? This is so chick flicky."
Haley laughed and threw a handful of popcorn at him. "Chick flicky? Is that even a word? Come on, I like it. And since you are only complaining at the end I'm thinking you like it too."
"How did you know I wasn't trying to spoil it for you, since you're so into it?" He asked brushing off some of the popcorn that had landed on his shirt. "Hey you're messing up my shirt!"
"Yeah right, since when do you care so much about how I feel? Come on, don't be such a baby. Haven't you heard of this wonderful invention called the washing machine? Here let me help." She edged closer to him and flicked a few stray popcorn off his shirt, at the same time trying to ignore the tingling feeling in her fingers when she touched him. She could hide it from everybody else but she couldn't lie to herself. She loved him. But she knew him well enough to know that he couldn't resist pretty girls. A guy who was constantly swarmed by girls was not her idea of an ideal boyfriend.
Nathan held his breath as he felt her fingers gently brushed his shirt. Lately, just seeing her sent butterflies fluttering in his stomach. He tried to brush off that feeling but it just wouldn't go away. He knew that he had always secretly loved her,he just couldn't bring himself to let her know. "Well, now's a good time," he thought as he caught her hand and laid it on his beating chest. He bent his head and kissed her gently, not sure of how she would react. She jerked her head and looked at him in surprise. He held her gaze and his heart almost exploded when she kissed him back, making them moan at the contact. They kissed passionately, tongue meeting tongue before she pulled away, much to his disappointment.
"Wow, what was that?" she breathed. As much as she enjoyed it, she knew they had to stop. "Must be the wine," she laughed nervously, trying to brush it off.
"Hales-"
"How about another movie? Gladiator? You like that, don't you? Yeah, I think we'll watch that one." she knew she was rambling but she couldn't, no, she didn't want to deal with what just happened.
He tried to hide his disappointment and said, "yeah, sure."
End of flashback
And that was the end of it. Neither of them had mentioned the incident until now. She switched on the radio to break the silence.
We watch the season pull up its own stakes
And catch the last weekend of the last week
Before the gold and the glimmer have been replaced,
Another sun soaked season fades away
You have stolen my heart Invitation only, grand farewells You have stolen my heart And from the ballroom floor we are in celebration You have stolen I watch you spin around in your highest heels
Crash the best one, of the best ones
Clear liquor and cloudy eyed, too early to say goodnight
One good stretch before our hibernation
Our dreams assured and we all, will sleep well
You have stolen my heart
You are the best one, of the best ones
We all look like we feel
You have stolen my
You have stolen my heart
(A/N: "Stolen" by Dashboard Confessional)
Haley closed her eyes and leaned her head against the car window as she took in the song. She could hear Nathan's sigh next to her and knew he was thinking about it too. He wanted so much to talk about the kiss but he knew better. "Tired?" he asked instead.
She nodded and gave him a small smile, glad that he gave her an opening to talk about something else. "Yeah, a bit. So how's everything going with Luke and Brooke?"
"I knew it! You were trying to escape being tortured by Brooke. Going to LA? Nice one Hales," he teased.
"What? I'm insulted Nathan Scott. You know I had work to do. Take it back or-"
"Or what? You're gonna kick my balls, just like you did when we were ten?" he said laughing. "Come on Haley. I know you too well."
She laughed along, amazed at how well he knew her. "Ok fine. My plan worked, didn't it? But it just so happened that the bands were in LA. So, tell me. What did I miss? And don't leave anything out." Nathan took in her laughter as he regaled her with stories of Brooke's wedding madness. "She did that?" she asked incredulously at one point.
"Yeah, she actually threw a glass of water at me for telling her that one of the guests' name in the invitation was spelled wrong. Any chance you're going away again before the wedding?"
"Very funny. Hey maybe I could make something up. You in?" she asked jokingly.
"Oh yeah, count me in." The car stopped indicating that they had arrived. "Here let me get your bags." He started to unload her things from the car and made his way to her door. "Oh and Brooke had strict instructions for you to come by her place as soon as you got home," he said as he struggled with her bags.
"Oh screw it. I'm gonna take a nap first. Could you make up an excuse for me please? There's a chance I might not wake up till tomorrow," she said batting her eyelashes, knowing that Nathan could not refuse her when she did that.
"Oh no you don't. Being thrown a glass of water was bad enough. I actually would like to live to see them get married. Sorry, you're on your own on this one. I'm gonna drag you there myself if I have too."
She smacked him on the arm and groaned. "Some friend you are. Fine, can you take me there please? And you're not leaving her place until I leave, got it?"
"Aaaaaaaaagggghhh!!" Brooke screamed when she saw the door gifts for the guests that Haley and Peyton had painstakingly made.
"Geez Brooke. What the hell was that for? And where's Lucas? Why isn't he here?" Nathan covered his ears. He couldn't believe he let Haley talk him into staying.
"These are the wrong colours. They're supposed to be pink and purple," she said picking up one. Peyton gave her the middle finger, making Haley and Nathan laugh. Brooke sighed. "I had a fight with Lucas and now he's brooding. I'm sorry guys. I know I've been a bitch these past few weeks but I just want the wedding to be perfect."
"You wouldn't know, would you Hales," Nathan muttered under his breath making her snicker.
Brooke rolled her eyes in frustration. "Oh my God, will you two get a room already?" she said.
"Hey!" Haley yelled in protest.
"What? Oh please, we're not dumb Haley. We've seen the way you guys look at each other. And trust me, it's friendlier than what you'd like to think."
Haley got up from the chair she was sitting on and gave Brooke and angry look. "I don't know where that came from but you know what, I came here after being away for three months working my ass off and this I came back to? You really stink as a friend you know that?"
"Yeah right, working your ass off. How do I know you didn't purposely go there to avoid helping me out?" Brooke said challengingly.
"Oh, you think you've got it all figured out, don't you? Well, figure this whole door gifts out yourself, you ungrateful bitch. I'm leaving. Come on Nathan."
Nathan watched the two friends' heated exchange in shock. He had never seen Haley lash out at anybody like this before. He nervously got up and carefully avoided Brooke's eyes as he followed Haley out.
"Fine, you do that Haley! Just leave!" Brooke screamed.
"Fine!" Haley yelled back as she slammed the door.
Peyton who had been keeping quiet through the exchange got up and flicked Brooke's forehead. "What the hell just happened Brooke? You actually looked kinda deranged justnow." Brooke covered her face with her hands and mumbled something. "What? I can't hear you," Peyton urged.
"I said she was right. I am a bitch," she said groaning. "I don't know what came over me Peyton. I just snapped." Peyton laughed. "It's so not funny! She's gonna hate me forever!" she wailed.
"You know she's not. She's just tired. She knows how stressed you are and for the record, I'm glad we finally got the Naley out in the open. It's about time. I don't know why they're holding back when they're so perfect for each other."
"I'm gonna hate her forever," Haley said as she entered her house. She was still seething with anger from her arguement with Brooke.
"Yeah, so I've been told for the hundredth time tonight. Seriously Hales, were you on drugs or something?" Nathan looked at her inquiringly. "Why were you so riled up anyway? Was she wrong, you know the thing she said about us?"
Haley looked at him despairingly. "You know what Nathan. I'm really tired. I don't feel like talking about it."
"Yeah, I'll bet. I know you've been avoiding this whole thing Haley, but guess what. The kiss did happen. You can put up that 'nothing happened' act but we did kiss," he said heatedly.
"So what? So what if we kissed? You're my best friend. We've kissed before," she said, still trying to avoid the issue.
Nathan looked at her disbelievingly. "You know that kiss was different. Why are you so afraid to acknowledge it? Does the idea of us being together repulse you that much?" he asked.
"No, it's not that Nathan. We're good as friends. Let's not spoil that ok?" She looked at him pleadingly. "I'm really tired. Now are you gonna let me sleep or what? You wouldn't want me to be all zombie like tomorrow, would you?"
Nathan had to laugh, knowing only too well that Haley just had to have her eight hour of sleep or she would be in a really bad mood. "Hales, zombies sound a lot better than a snappy bitch."
"You suck, you know that. I hate you," she retorted, sticking out her tongue at him, glad that they finally got off the topic of the kiss.
He laughed harder. "No, you don't. You know you love me."
She came over to him and flicked the back of his head. "Shut up. Now get lost before I throw your sorry ass out."
Nathan put up his arms in surrender. He really did miss her and their friendship. "Ok ok, I'm going. Breakfast tomorrow?"
"Ooooooh yes please. I've been craving for your mom's pancakes with that special syrup. Pick me up at eight ok?"
He gave her a wink and ruffled her hair playfully. "You got it. See you tomorrow kiddo." As if on autopilot, he planted a kiss on her lips. Just then Peyton and Brooke came in, their eyes bulging at the scene. They quickly pulled apart, hoping that Peyton and Brooke didn't misinterpret it.
"Oh sorry," Peyton said looking away.
Nathan looked at them embarrassed. "No, I was just leaving anyway. No hair pulling now ok girls?" he said jokingly to ease the awkwardness. It worked when Brooke gave him a hard pinch on his arm, making him yelp. "God Brooke. Does Lucas know what he's getting himself into?" he said rubbing his sore arm as he made his way out.
"Hey Hales," Brooke said carefully. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to lash out on you like that. That was way out of line." She nervously looked at Haley for a sign of forgiveness.
Haley didn't say anything. Instead she went over to the freezer and took out a tub of ice cream and held up three spoons. She later nonchalantly made her way to her bedroom without saying a word. Brooke and Peyton smiled, knowing it was an invitation to join her. Peyton and Brooke quickly ran up to her, jumping on her back making her squeal all the way to the bedroom.
So what do you guys think? I know it's nothing much but then again it's only the first chapter and the plot's gonna build up later on. Leave me some love ok? Cheers! ;)