#24 Literally bumping into each other au / #47 Meeting at a festival au
Who: Peyton Sawyer, Brooke Davis, Haley James, Quinn James, Nathan Scott, Lucas Scott, Clay Evans
Where: Music festival (think Coachella)
What: Right before the final show on the second day of the festival is about to start, Nathan bumps into Peyton, who falls and hurts her hand. He insists to take her to one of the First Aid tents that are scattered across the terrain to get her hand checked out and sits with her while they both miss the show, which they didn't really want to go to any way. AU in that the boys and the girls don't know each other.
AN: So there's this list on Tumblr with 50 great prompts and if I knew how to put a hyperlink in here I would, but I don't, so you're going to have to take my word for it :) I already filled one prompt when I wrote "Your Art Matters" but there were a lot of other prompts on the list that I think would work great for Nathan & Peyton and so here is another prompt filled (well, two prompts actually). I hope to fill more prompts in the future, and rather than posting a new story each time, I figured I might as well bundle them all into one story. Maybe I'll add "Your Art Matters" to this at some point too... Anyway, I hope you like this little drabble, and as always, reviews are appreciated :)
"Dude, shut up," his friend gives him a friendly push that surprises him and makes him take a couple of steps backwards. Before he can stop himself he bumps into the girl who is standing in line behind him.
"Oh shit, I'm sorry." He turns around and holds out his hand for her to take when he sees her left hand is bleeding, "Are you okay?"
She grabs his outstretched hand with her right and lets him hoist her to her feet. She tries to smile, "Yeah, I'm fine, it's just a small cut."
"P., that looks nasty," a brunette chimes in from behind her, eyes full of concern, "You should get that checked out."
"It's just a cut," she says, hoping her best friend will let it go, "Don't worry about." She cradles her left hand close to her chest though, because it really does hurt.
The brunette huffs and stands in front of her, hands planted firmly on her hips, "I'm serious, Peyton, god know what kind of diseases are spread out on the ground here."
"Ew,'" one of the other girls in their group shudders, "that's gross, Brooke."
"She's right, you know." He agrees with the brunette, who he now knows is called Brooke and who is obviously the girl's best friend, "You should get that checked out."
"Agreed." Brooke nods fiercely and throws him a look that tells him she's happy he's siding with her.
"Yeah," the other girls agree, even though they seem less interested.
"Fine," she agrees, shaking her head ever so slightly. She knows Brooke will never let it go otherwise.
"I'll come with you," he offers, feeling guilty about bumping into her and indirectly being responsible for her injury. He takes a step towards her, ready to walk with her to the first aid tent.
"You really don't have to," she tries, but he interrupts her before she can continue.
"I'm the reason you have that cut in the first place, so I'm coming." He leans in and whispers, "And I really don't want to go that show, so work with me, ok?"
She smiles at him and nods, "Ok."
"We'll wait here for you guys, ok?" his brother, Lucas, offers and he can see his friend Clay nod in agreement.
"I just want to let you know that normally I wouldn't let my best friend wander off with tall, handsome strangers," Brooke states simply, pointing her finger at him, "but you seem like good people."
"He is good people," Lucas offers, and then with a smile, "If you want we," he nods to guy standing next to him, "can hang out with you three during the show and meet up with them here afterwards."
She can tell her best friend is hesitating by the Brooke's eyebrows are knitted together, "I'll be fine, Brooke. Go," she nods towards the entrance of the fenced-off stage area, "Enjoy the show, I'll meet you here afterwards."
"Ok babe," Brooke gives in, but not without giving her best friend a hug, "be careful."
"You too," she says as she lets go. She watches as her friends join up with his and introduce themselves to another before handing their tickets to the security guard at the gate.
She waits until they are inside before she turns to him and explains; "she's basically family, but sometimes she cares too much."
"And that's a good or a bad thing?" he asks with a smile while he places his hand on her lower back to guide her to the left side of the field, where he knows the first aid tents are.
She shrugs, "Mostly a good thing, I guess." It's like she can feel his hand burning her skin through her t-shirt and there are goosebumps on her arms that she hopes he doesn't see. But she also hopes his hand will linger there a little longer.
He laughs and admits his brother is the same way.
"What can I do for you, darling?" the nurse, an elderly lady with a kind round face, who's nametag reads Edith, asks when they enter the tent.
She holds up her hand, "I fell and cut my hand on something sharp and-"
"You want to have it checked out?" the nurse ads with a comforting smile.
"Yeah," she nods.
"Ok, why don't you sit right here," Edith pulls out a chair from underneath the table that is situated in the middle of the tent before she hands her a piece of paper, "I just need you to fill out this form for me, dear, so we have your details and then I'll patch you right up. I'm just going to get my kit and I'll be right back, ok?"
"You're going to have to write for me," she says as she pushes the form towards him and holds up her injured hand, "since you did this to me and all."
He grins and takes the pen the nurse offers him, "It's the least I can do." He starts reading the questions off the form, starting with her full name and she offers it to him without hesitation. He looks up at her with a smile once he has written it down, "Nice to meet you, Peyton Sawyer, I'm Nathan Scott."
Her lips curl into a smile, "Nice to meet you too."
Together they fill out the rest of the form and before they know it Edith is back at the table with a serious looking first aid kit and another friendly smile, "Put your hand on the table for me, dear."
"You ok?" he asks with concern when he sees her complexion turn a little paler.
She nods fiercely, trying to act braver than she feels, "Yeah,"
"Ok, this might hurt a little," Edith warns as she washes out Peyton's wound.
She flinches when a sharp pain shoots through her hand when Edith examines the cut more closely and instinctively her other hand reaches for his. She is sure she squeezes way too hard but he takes it like a gentleman and never stops smiling that reassuring smile.
"The cut isn't that deep that you need stitches, dear," Edith informs her, "So we'll just clean it a bit more, glue it back together and put a bandage on it, ok?"
He lets out a sigh of relief and gives her a wink. Her grip on his hand loosens a bit, but he is glad she doesn't let go completely.
"Just sit still for a minute," Edith orders firmly.
She looks the other way and flinches again when she feels pressure being put on the wound but can't help but smile when he pulls a weird face to distract her from what is going on.
Edith tries to distract her as well, "So how long have you guys been together?"
"Oh, no, no," Peyton shakes her head, "We're not together."
"We met here, actually," Nathan explains. "I bumped into her and she fell and cut her hand."
Edith nods like she doesn't quite believe their story while she finishes bandages Peyton's hand, "There you go, as good as new."
"Thank you," Peyton lets go of his hand and carefully rubs her bandaged hand.
"Now, I need you to keep that bandage on and clean until at least tomorrow morning, ok?" Edith urges, "Then take it off, clean the wound a bit by holding it under running water and either put a new bandage on or just a band aid. Then on Monday do the same, but try to keep the band aid off and see how it goes."
"Ok," Peyton nods and stands up, "Thank you again."
"Alright, off you go," Edith says as she motions them out of the tent, "Enjoy the rest of your evening you two."
"Thank you," Peyton says again. She isn't surprised when she feels Nathan's hand on her lower back again, steering her to the right.
"You know, technically speaking we could still make it to the show," he says with a mischievous look.
"Yeah, let's not, though," Peyton replies, shaking her head, "I'm sure the show's almost over anyway."
"You want to go grab something to drink?" he suggests when they walk past one of the many food trucks on the festival grounds. As if on cue his stomach growls and he grins, "Or a bite to eat?"
"Yes!" Peyton agrees wholeheartedly, "Both please."
"You want to grab some nachos?" he suggests, "Those are easy to eat with one hand."
She appreciates his concern and nods, "Sounds good."
"Alright," he looks around and spots a picnic table near where they are supposed to meet up with their friends, "If you go and sit there," he nods towards the left, "then I'll go get us some food and drinks. A coke ok for you?"
Peyton nods again and heads to the table where she sits down and waits for him to return. She smiles when she sees him walk towards her only minutes later, carefully balancing two plates of nachos and two bottles of cokes in his hands.
"Here you go," he puts everything down on the table and sits down next to her. "Isn't this just the perfect spot?"
"So perfect," Peyton agrees with a roll of her eyes, "This way we'll still be able to hear the wonderful sound that is Calvin Harris."
"Not a fan of dance music then?" he asks, picking up the hint of sarcasm in her voice.
Peyton shakes her head, "No, but Brooke likes him, so I tag along."
"And who are the other girls?" he asks and pops a nacho in his mouth.
"The brunette is Haley, she's a good friend of Brooke," Peyton explains, "And the blonde is Quinn, Haley's sister."
"So she's not your friend?"
"What?" She stops picking at her nachos and looks at him, confused.
"Well, you said, Haley is a good friend of Brooke," Nathan clarifies, "Not that she's a good friend of both of you."
"Very sharp," Peyton acknowledges. "Haley and Brooke became fast friends in high school and I just always sort of tagged along. I'm a bit of a loner, I guess."
"And not a Calvin Harris fan," he adds with a grin and another bite of nachos.
"And not a Calvin Harris fan, right." Peyton takes a sip of her drink and then points her bottle at him, "Neither are you, if I recall your earlier comment."
"Yeah, I never really got into dance music like Lucas did."
"So what do you like?"
"Old school hip hop."
Peyton stares at him in amazement.
"Who would have thought, right?" he grins, a weird but good feeling creeping up on him, because he's kind of happy that he's been able to surprise her. "But yeah, I love it. Dr Dre, Wu Tang Clan, Run DMC, Beastie Boys-"
"Wow, I'm impressed," and she means it. He doesn't look like someone who's into old school hip hop and it just earned him some serious credit.
"Thank you," he says with a little bow of his head. "What about you?"
She shrugs, "I'm more into rock and indie music. I love to go to small bars and underground clubs and discover new music. " She explains when she sees the confused look on his face, "I have my own record label. So it's part pleasure, part job."
"Nice,"
"Yeah, it really is," she admit, because it's true. She loves her work and wouldn't give it up for anything, "What do you do?"
He tells her he's a sport agent and before he knows it he has told her everything; how he played basketball in high school, how he wanted to play professionally but couldn't because of a back injury and how he ended up working for Clay. He's never opened up to anyone that easy before and it kind of scares him.
"P. Sawyer!"
Peyton looks up and can't help but smile when she sees a very excited Brooke coming her way.
Brooke jumps upon the picnic table and without asking takes Peyton's bottle for a drink. She is beaming and she's already halfway through describing the show to Peyton before the others join them, "It was amazing, Peyton," Brooke says excitedly, "best show I have seen this weekend." But then the look on her face changes to one of worry when she asks, "How's your hand?"
"Oh, it's fine," Peyton reassures her best friend, "I get to keep it a little longer."
"Keep what?" Haley pipes up from behind.
"My hand," Peyton says with a grin, like it's the best joke she's ever made. Her friends just look at her and shake their heads at her futile attempt, but Nathan lets out a roaring laugh and she is glad that he does. It earns him one of her rare full on smiles and there's a feeling in the pit of her stomach that some would describe as butterflies.
He's about to compliment her on her sense of humor when he hears Brooke say "Oh my god," and he sees a thunderstorm that's headed their way very fast. Before he knows it he sees her being pulled up from her seat by Brooke and he's being pushed in the other direction by his brother. They run towards one of the tents on the right side of the field, seeking shelter from the rain that is pouring down upon them.
She's laughing when they reach the safety of the tent because of how ridiculous they look; their hair is clinging to their faces and their clothes are soaking wet. She looks around, trying to find the boys, but can't see them and her stomach flutters a little and not in a good way this time, but because she actually wanted to spend more time with him and now she can't. She's lost him.
His brother asks him if he wants to go look for Peyton, but he suggests they go back to their hotel instead. He doesn't need to search for her, because he made sure to copy her details into his phone when he filled out the contact form earlier tonight. He already knows how to find her.