So. Uh, well I have like a ton of fics in progress, but well I just cannot help myself. I think of something, and its bam! New story time. It's an unhealthy obsession, and I can't help but feed it. It's a terrible thing, I'm a terrible thing…just please…don't plot to kill me. This is a Romeo&Julietesque fic. It might be a fairytale, it might be a tragedy. Reviews warm my heart like it's never been warmed before, be nice and do that…warm my little heart. Fatima will love you forever. Lucky bastards. ENJOY!
It's the truth when they say; love conquers all, it truly does. Love is the greatest gift a person could recieve. If only the world could stop for a second, and see that.
DROWNING, KISS BY KISS
If only tears were laughter
If only night was day
If only prayers were answered
Then we would hear God say
No matter what they tell you
No matter what they do
No matter what they teach you
What you believe is true
No matter if the sun don't shine
Or if the skies are blue
No matter what the end is
My life began with you
I can't deny what I believe
I can't be what I'm not I know,
I know I know this love's forever
That's all that matters now
No matter what
1.
Lonely
It was a chilly, Sunday evening, in late October. The sun was setting, leaving a beautiful pinkish, orange glow in its wake. Children were playing on the streets of the small and serene town and their parents were sitting on their front porches, exchanging words with one another, animatedly. They gazed at their children, once in a while to make sure they were okay. But truth be told, that sort of thing didn't need to be done, in the town of Tree Hill. For most, it was the type of place where, everybody knew you. People were friendly and your neighbours were people you could trust, with all your heart.
On the edge of the street, stood a huge white, Georgian mansion with lush greenery surrounding the grounds and huge iron gates surrounding the house. Inside this house, sat a lonely, young girl at a piano. Haley James. Anybody who would look at her, would immediately know that she was definitely a member of the lonely hearts club. She had her family and she had her friends but, it was obvious to the world that she needed more. She was a lonely girl. And there was an emptiness in her, that needed to be filled.
Haley pressed a key on the piano and then another, and soon enough the melody filled the quiet room.
Nobody knows
Nobody knows the rhythem of my heart
The way I do when I'm lying in the dark
And the world is asleep
I think nobody knows
Nobody knows
Nobody knows but me...
Me
The door to the room creaked open, slightly, this going unnoticed by Haley. On the other side of the door, stood Haley's best friend - Peyton Sawyer. Their friendship was one that had started from infancy and was still going strong. Even though, they were both alike in many ways, Haley and Peyton had their differences, like most strong and true friendships do. Peyton was more 'out there' than Haley, even though she shared the familiar emptiness like her best friend. Peyton believed in herself, much more than Haley ever had done.
Peyton watched Haley for a couple of seconds longer, before deciding to make her presence known. She cleared her throat and Haley jerked her head upwards.
"Didn't mean to startle you." Peyton apologised, with a smile.
Haley simply shrugged. "Hey." She smiled at her.
"So… Your folks are going out to that, dinner party thing tonight, right?" Peyton asked.
"Umm, yeah. They are. Why?" Haley said, as she ran her fingers across the smooth black and white keys.
"No reason, really." Peyton shrugged. "Actually, I think I'm going to go and get a bite to eat. You wanna come with?" Peyton asked Haley, eyeing her as she did.
Haley considered the invitation for a couple of seconds, whilst Peyton raised her eyebrows at Haley, questioningly.
"Yes. Okay." Haley answered, raising her hands in defeat. She got up off the chair and pushed it back under the piano.
"Here, you'll need this." Peyton said, as she grabbed Haley's jacket, that was placed on the sofa. "It's getting a little cold out." She explained when Haley looked at her questioningly.
"Oh, okay. Thanks." Haley pulled her jacket on and followed Peyton out of the room.
On the other side of town, stood a small and cosy café, owned by one of Haley and Peyton's close friend, Lucas's mother, Karen Roe. She was a friendly woman, who everybody got along with, quite well. Karen's café. That was where, they were both headed now. As Haley pulled into an empty parking space, she heard Peyton sigh.
"Look who's here." Peyton pointed her head, in the direction of a few of their classmates.
"You're not usually bothered by them." Haley told her, as she also looked towards the group.
"Yeah, I know. That's you, not me but I mean just look to the left of Nate. Red head, annoying nasal voice, always has her nose in the air…" Before Peyton could carry on, with her own Rachel Gatina description, Haley spoke up.
"She's not that bad." She insisted, with a shrug.
Peyton looked at Haley, with a raised eyebrow. "Not that bad?" She asked. "Haley, she tripped you up in-front of the entire cafeteria. On purpose." Peyton added, nodding her head.
"Yeah okay, she is terrible. Thanks for the reminder of one of the most humiliating moments of my life though, I appreciate it." Haley smiled at her, sarcasm lacing her voice.
"No problem. Now let's go. I'm hungry." Peyton said, as she opened the door on her side, of the car.
"Yeah, okay." Haley replied, absentmindedly.
"Hales! Peyt!" A voice called.
Haley and Peyton both looked in the direction of the sound and saw Lucas motioning for them to come over.
"Oh no." Haley whispered. "Peyton, please. I don't want to go over there." She pouted, ready to get on her hands and knees and beg, if she had to.
"Haley, don't be silly. It's just Luke." Peyton scolded her.
"No it's not. It's…" But before Haley could continue, Peyton had taken hold of her hand and was marching her over to Lucas and the rest of them.
"Hey, guys." Peyton smiled as they neared towards Lucas Roe, Rachel Gatina and Brooke and Nathan Scott.
Nathan nodded at them both.
"Hey, you two." Brooke smiled at them both, from her place on Lucas's lap, who himself was sitting on a bench. Brooke and Lucas had been dating for a while now, thus the friendliness between them all. "Come sit." She motioned, towards the empty spaces on the bench.
"No, it's cool. We're gonna go in, in a bit anyway. Besides I need to ask your mom, about something Luke." Peyton explained to them.
"Oh, okay." Brooke nodded her head. "Well what's up with you guys? I was wondering if you both maybe wanted to…"
Brooke was interrupted though, by Nathan's voice.
"Damn it, Rachel. Just put some ice on it, will you." He muttered, angrily.
"Nate…" Rachel whined and Nathan glared at her, as she wrapped an arm, tighter around his neck.
"Ugh." Brooke said in disgust and Peyton glanced at her questioningly. "I so don't want to see my brother getting felt up by anyone, never mind Rach-ho." She told them, making gagging motions.
"Eww. Poor you. Hasn't he turned down her 'I'll-do-anything-you-want' offers like a hundred times, before?" Peyton asked Brooke.
"Yeah. She's just so desperate, it's disgusting and not just 'cause he's my brother." Brooke answered with a laugh.
"Hey, Rachel!" Brooke turned her gaze towards her.
"What?" Rachel asked, obviously annoyed.
"Well, one, if you so badly need to man-handle my brother could you please go elsewhere." Brooke asked with a sincere looking smile. Rachel glared at her and Brooke continued. "Number two. Could you please put your huge plastic jugs away? I'm begging you!" Brooke pouted dramatically. "And next time darling, remember- we never show our cleavage and legs, at once. It isn't a strip club babe." Brooke finished, with a satisfactory smile.
Rachel blushed, for what seemed like a split second before tossing her hair to one side, and glaring at Brooke. "Well you'd know all about strip clubs, wouldn't you?" She asked, while raising an eyebrow and smirking.
"Hey, that's enough." Nathan warned.
"Excuse me?" Rachel asked, as she laid a hand on Nathan's thigh. Nathan pushed it off. "I'm your girlfriend, Nate." She hissed.
"What!?" Nathan asked in disbelief. "Listen, Rach, please. Let's get something straight, I am not your boyfriend and even if I was, I wouldn't let you talk to my sister, like that." He told her, shaking his head. "And yeah, we fucked. Once. It was fun alright but it's done now, it didn't mean anything, get over it already." He warned her, abruptly.
Everybody went quiet and Haley winced inwardly. Rachel stood up and glared at Nathan menacingly. "You son of a bch. We're over!" She yelled.
"I didn't know we even started." Nathan said casually whilst placing his earphones in.
Rachel stalked over to Tim Smith and clearly demanded that he give her a ride.
"Eww. I wonder what she bribed him with." Brooke commented, absentmindedly. "Come to think of it, I don't want to know."
Peyton laughed. "Good one, Nathan." She commented.
"Thanks, Peyton. She had it coming." Nathan laughed slightly as he removed his earphones.
"Hell yeah! Thanks for that Nate." Brooke smiled at him and got up to hug him.
"Anything for my baby sister." Nathan smiled.
"Yep. Anyway, you guys want to go in now?" Brooke asked Haley and Peyton.
"Yes, come on." Peyton agreed as all three of them walked into the café, leaving Nathan and Lucas alone.
"So what was up with Haley?" Nathan asked Lucas, once the coast was clear.
"Why?" Lucas asked, sounding awfully suspicious.
"Well she's your friend, so I kind of figured that you'd know. That's all." Nathan told him, speaking as though it was something obvious.
Lucas looked at Nathan closely, for a moment before answering. "Oh. Okay." He nodded.
Nathan and Lucas had been friends for the longest time. Their mothers were close friends and when Lucas and Brooke had gotten together, two years ago, surprisingly their friendship had grown stronger. Nathan and Brookes father Dan, wasn't exactly a big fan of his two children's relationships with Lucas, simply because he knew that Lucas was a friend of one of the James children- Haley. And he would probably lock both Nathan and Brooke in the house and throw away the key, if he ever found out that they associated with Haley James. The same thing went for Haley's father, Jimmy, too. He had no idea that she sometimes spent her time with Brooke Scott.
Haley gazed out of the window in Karen's café, not really paying attention to what Brooke and Peyton were talking about. She could never make herself believe that she hung out with a Scott, if her father knew he would kill her, quite literally. Even though, Brooke and Haley talked and hung out at times, she had never exchanged words with Brooke's older brother of one year, Nathan and vice versa. Only the occasional small smiles and nods were passed between them, at times.
As she continued to look out of the window, she found herself staring at Nathan. He looked so…lost and lonely. She didn't know if those were the right words or not, but he looked like she felt and those two words pretty much summed that up. He was leaning back, on his car, one hand in the pocket of his jeans and the other scrolling with the buttons on his iPod. She continued to stare for a while when suddenly Nathan looked up.
"Oh, shit." Haley mumbled, to herself.
"What?" Brooke and Peyton both asked, in unison.
"Oh, nothing. I just uhh kind of umm pinched myself." Haley told them, unsurely.
Both Peyton and Brooke eyed her strangely and then they laughed. "You're too cute, Hales." Brooke commented.
"Thanks, I think." Haley replied, with a lopsided grin.
Once they had started their conversation again, Haley started to play with the salt shaker on the table and slowly she raised her head to look out of the window again. And when she did, her eyes were met with Nathan looking back, his eyebrows raised, and a slight hint of a smirk on his face.
Haley quickly looked away and felt herself blushing. He had caught her staring, yet again- that couldn't be good. She lowered her head onto her forearms which were, leaning on the table. Instantly her mind flashed back to the look on Nathan's face, before he noticed her staring. He looked as though he was angry but it was more than just that. He looked sad, almost broken. But most of all he looked lonely.