Title: In Your World
Author: Anni
Email: asleeper@email.arizona.edu
Rating: PG-13 for language and eventual sexual situations
Summary: A prank played by Nathan's friends finds him more in Lucas's, and by default, Haley's lives than he could have ever dreamed of.
Notes: This takes place after Crash Into You, except Lucas never found Haley's hat and he still has no clue that she's tutoring Nathan.
Another Note: I suck at titles, so this one is subject to change should something else hit my fancy. This is a Nathan/Haley fic, but there will be quite a bit of interaction between other characters and pairings. I'm going to try to be consistent with my updates so that I can have the story finished by the end of my Christmas break in one month, but I wouldn't hold my breath about that. I work 40 hours a week and I'm not very disciplined when it comes to writing. And I think that's about it for now. I hope you enjoy!
Chapter One:
Haley closed her textbook with a thump and looked across the table at Nathan expectantly. "So, you're gonna ace this math quiz, aren't ya?"
"Well, I wouldn't go that far." He smiled as he slid his things back into his backpack. "But I'm confident on the whole not flunking front."
"Not flunking? I'll take that." Haley felt a soft warmth pool in her belly at his slight laugh. She lingered at their table on the docks for a moment longer, not wanting their morning tutoring session to end.
It was weird. It had been two weeks since that party at his beach house, and after hearing about his accident in Peyton's car, Haley had tried even harder to steel herself against his charms, but it really wasn't working. There was just something about Nathan that seemed to be worming it's way into her heart.
And that wasn't a good thing.
She knew that there was nothing good in this world that could come from her developing crush on her best friend's worst enemy of a little brother. Lucas would be hurt, and it was a big enough betrayal for her to be tutoring Nathan behind his back in the first place, even if she was doing it for him. She didn't know that Lucas could ever forgive her if it went any further than that.
And then there was Nathan. She watched as he stood from the table and held out his hand to pull her to her feet. A few weeks ago, Haley would have ignored the gesture, but as his fingers wrapped around hers, she felt a tiny jolt of electricity shoot up her spine.
Mentally chiding herself, Haley realized that Nathan probably had that effect on a lot of girls, and the problem with him was that he knew it and he loved it. Even if there wasn't a Lucas and there wasn't a Peyton, whom he was still struggling to get over, she knew that she would just end up getting hurt.
Because despite all of the good things she had learned about him over the past month of tutoring, for better or for worse, Nathan Scott was a heartbreaker.
Haley dropped his hand, immediately losing his warmth to the chilly fall morning. She tried to keep her face straight and hoped that he would just attribute the red in her cheeks to the frosty air.
Nathan smiled down at her as they ambled slowly toward his truck, his voice pulling her from her thoughts. "So, are you coming to the game tonight?"
"Oh, yeah. Of course." Her heart skipped a beat at the small smirk that he shot her way. "Yeah, Luke was telling me that Williams is a pretty good team, so it should be a fun game. He seems to really be gelling with the team lately."
The smile wavered on Nathan's face at Lucas's name. "Right," he answered her.
Throughout their weeks of tutoring, Haley had pretty much avoided talking about Lucas around him, and Nathan liked it that way. He tried to remind himself that his bastard brother was the entire reason he was hanging around Haley in the first place, but the more he got to know her, the more he wanted to forget that Lucas had her first.
Things were just so screwed up lately, from the fact that Lucas was in his life in the first place to the way that his dad was riding him even harder than normal because of it. Then, there was his mom, still pissed off about the whole car wreck thing, who had the sudden desire to be very best friends with him. And, to top that off, he and Peyton should have already been back together, but she seemed intent on avoiding his calls and spending her spare time with Lucas.
Lucas: the alpha and omega of all his problems.
He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye to find that the smile had dropped off her face as well. It was just that, with all that was going on, his mornings with Haley had become his one real escape. When he was with her, he was able to forget, even if it was just for an hour, and some stupid voice in the back of his head had him wishing that things were different and she was on his side instead of Lucas's.
"But you know," she started, looking up at him with those big eyes as if she knew on some level that he was hurt. "I like watching you play, too."
Nathan almost laughed as her face flooded with color, the blush spreading across her cheeks and around to the tips of her ears. It was lame, but just that one little thing made him happy. "Well, of course. Everybody likes watching me play."
Her embarrassed smile spread into a wide grin and she rolled her eyes. "Not at all full of yourself, are you?"
He stopped beside the door to his truck and looked down at her. "What can I say? I'm a truth teller."
"That'll be the day," she scoffed back playfully.
He laughed as he opened his door and gestured inside. "Do you want a ride?" He asked her that same question every morning, and always got the same answer. "I could drop you off a few blocks from school."
Haley shook her head and took at step back. "That's alright. I'm meeting Lu- I mean, I like the walk." She gave him a little wave as she turned away. "Good luck with the game tonight."
Nathan watched as she walked along the dock and towards the street, not looking back at him once. Shaking his head, he took a deep breath and hopped into his car.
******************
Nathan lay on his bed, tossing a baseball up into the air and waiting for his mother to finally go to bed. Her decision to become more of a stay at home mom had come complete with a midnight curfew for him, just another way that she had become a thorn in his side of late.
The game against Williams had been one of his best games of the season, having scored 37 points to Lucas's 16. His dad had been happy, hell, even Whitey had congratulated him on it, and now, that adrenaline rush was still lingering in his veins and giving him the intense need to get out of the house.
The light streaking through the cracks of his doorway flickered off and Nathan could hear his mom as she headed to her room to go to bed. He knew that it would be just another fifteen minutes or so before she would be asleep and he would be free to release this pent up energy.
Of course, at nearly 12:30, the guys were probably already drunk and out causing problems. He would most likely be able to only catch the tail end of whatever they were doing, but whatever it was, it was okay with him. He needed something to take away the agitation boiling in the pit of his stomach.
Yes, the game had been good. He had outscored, outrebounded, and just outplayed Lucas all together. But, after the game, he had watched as the lanky blond boy was surrounded by his mother and uncle, and then taken into a giant bear hug by Haley. And, as Nathan climbed into his truck to head home, he had seen Lucas leaning against Peyton's convertible, the two lost in their conversation.
Why was it that every time he thought he had Lucas beat, his brother would sweep the rug out from underneath his feet again? It didn't matter what he did, it always felt like Lucas had the upper hand, and despite whatever agreement Nathan had made with Haley, at that moment, he would have done anything to get a step up.
Nathan was pulled from his thoughts as his phone began to vibrate in its place on his nightstand.
"What up, dawg?"
Nathan rolled his eyes at the voice of his best friend, Tim. "Where you guys at? My mom just went to bed."
"Dude," Tim answered, the excitement heavy in his slightly slurred words. "You have got to get your sorry ass out here now. We're over at River and Duncan."
River and Duncan? Nathan scanned his memory trying to figure out what they would be doing in the center of town on a Friday night, especially when Tim was obviously drinking. "What're you guys doing there?"
"We just figured that it was time someone else participated in the battle against the bastard spawn, so hurry up."
The phone clicked as Tim hung up, and Nathan felt the smile spread across his face as he swung his legs over the side of his bed and stood up. The battle against the bastard spawn? That was definitely something he could get behind right then.
***************
Nathan pulled up to the curb on the corner of River and Duncan to find the street deserted. The anticipation that had had him pushing a little harder than normal on the gas petal on the way over melted into apprehension at the absolute quiet surrounding him. Stepping out of his car, that apprehension dropped like a ton of rocks into the pit of his stomach as he realized he was parked in front of Karen's Café.
"Crap."
The lights in the small restaurant were all shut off, but by the glow of the streetlamp, Nathan could see that the window of the front door had been broken out. The glass crunched beneath his boots as walked up to the entrance and stepped through into the large room.
Had he been out drinking with his friends that night, Nathan was sure that the sight before him would have made him laugh. He would be able to keep that famous smirk on his lips as he said that Lucas finally got what he deserved.
However, he was dead sober, and as the vision of broken chairs, overturned tables, and spray painted walls really began to set in, all he could picture was the tiny dark haired woman that always sat beside his Uncle Keith at the basketball games. This wasn't about Lucas.
Gently toeing one still upright chair, Nathan jumped when it came crashing down, the sound echoing much louder than it should have in the silent night. This was bad. This was very bad. He needed to get out of there.
No sooner than the echo of the chair died down, another sound bounced around the café sending shivers down his spine.
"Don't move!"
A bright light flashed at him, and Nathan turned slowly to stare at the police office shining the flashlight. The man stepped over the broken glass and across the threshold to stand before him.
"Crap."
Stay tuned to see Haley's reaction to this turn of events….