Naley fans, turn away right NOW. I owe my friend a favour, and she won't take anything accept a Laley fic (go figure). I even offered to be her personal slave for the week. For you Laley fans however, enjoy!
P.S. I started my last year of high school 8 weeks ago! Which is why you haven't heard from me. I'll try to fit writing in though.
Disclaimer – Characters, settings etc… belong to Mark Schwahn and Co. Damn them.
You'll Never Know
Do you love me babe?
What do you say?
Do you love me babe?
What can I say?
- The Ramones, "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend"
He knocks on the door and pushes it open. "Oh, I'm sorry Princess, I was looking for my friend, Haley." She turns around, the white wedding dress billowing around her, and curly hair bouncing on her shoulders.
"Wow, you really look beautiful." He tries not to stare shamelessly. She smiles, somewhat shyly, "thank you."
"So your parents really aren't coming?" She ducks her head a little, trying to hide behind a laugh.
"No, they ah..I invited them, and they said 'Sorry Honey, we've been to your wedding once before, and it was a little boring.' Anyway, I'll just..I'll just give myself away, it's fine." He hesitates slightly, shoving his hands roughly into his pockets.
"Or I could do it...if you'll have me."
Her face lights up, "Really? Luke, that would be perfect."
He nods, "ok." Feeling oddly melancholy, he toes the ground with his shoe.
"But you know what, I gotta be honest with you…umm…I could never officially give you away, you know that. I could never give away my best friend." She gives a soft laugh, and he pulls her into a hug. It turns out to be a tighter one than he first anticipated. "Congrats," he whispers quietly into her ear. It really is too bad he didn't realise his feelings before she and Nathan found each other. Well, too bad for him. At least now he can put his finger on the reason why things just never seemed to work out with Brooke and Peyton.
A lesser man would have acted on his feelings a long time ago. Doing the noble thing really shits him off sometimes. But he loves his brother, he honestly does. Just as much as he loves her. He's not going to wreck what they have, or his relationship with the both of them. Not when he's probably going to find someone else – someone that isn't her. The familiar twisting feeling in his stomach returns; the one he gets whenever he thinks of her. He squashes this, because nothing productive or worthwhile could possibly come of it.
From his place as best man, he has the painful honour of watching the ceremony up close. He can see every expression, every emotion written across the pretty face he has dreamt of for as long as he can remember. When she looks excited, practically glowing as she walks up the aisle, his heart chips a little. She looks into his brothers' the whole time, never straying and never wavering. Another chip. She gives Nathan a wink and they mouth words silently to each other, grinning cheekily. Another chip. She says "I do." There is nothing left to chip.
Afterwards, he waits patiently for Nathan and Haley to complete their wedding dance. When he sees them breaking apart slowing and reluctantly, he walks over. "Do you mind if I have this dance?"
"Sure," Nathan hands Haley gently to Lucas, "I'll just be getting a drink, okay?" He tells Haley. She nods. "Look after her man," he grins and nudges Lucas good-naturedly on the shoulder.
Haley rests her hands lightly on his shoulders, while his rest on her hips. Haley laughs, "I'm officially Mrs. Scott. Again." He grimaces, but she doesn't see. How easily she could have been Mrs. L Scott instead of Mrs. N Scott. They move to the slow melody and she yawns a little, before resting her head on his chest.
"Tired?"
"Yeah. This whole bigger wedding thing is exhausting. You should have seen the dress Brooke tried to make me wear!" He chuckles and brings her a little closer.
"Well, I'm glad you wore this one."
Haley giggles, "Luke, you're a guy, as if you would have noticed." She stops and appears to think, "actually, yes you would have noticed, it was hideous." I would notice everything and anything about you. She always manages to make him think corny things; true, but corny things. He tries to stop thinking, in case he enters dangerous territory.
The song ends way too soon for him. Haley thanks him and looks around eagerly for Nathan.
"He's over there," Lucas points to a table where Nathan is chatting to Peyton, before muttering indistinctly something about needing to go to the toilet.
"Alright," Haley says brightly and practically bounces off toward her husband. Lucas exhales deeply and walks in the opposite direction to be alone. His tie is suddenly too tight, and his jacket so stiflingly hot.
As he stands at the water feature by himself, he looks up to see the couple about to enter the car to leave for their honeymoon. They are laughing and constantly reaching out to each other. A gentle kiss here, a tender caress there. He looks away guardedly.
"Lucas! Luke!" His head snaps back quickly. She's noticed him. She whispers something to Nathan, still within the circle of his arms, his hands on her hips. Nathan nods. She turns and runs carefully towards him, her delicate heels hindering her movements, but somehow, she still looks graceful. It is a sight that he will store away in his memory forever. He glances over her shoulder at Nathan, who smiles at him and jerks his head in acknowledgement. He returns the gesture. Haley reaches him seconds later, and stops, catching her breath.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. You didn't have to leave Nate." There is some truth in that statement – he doesn't like disrupting her happiness. She rolls her eyes, which somehow looks oddly out of place considering the fancy clothing she's in.
"Please, I would have come looking for you anyway. I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye. Where were you earlier?"
He shrugs noncommittally, not wanting to admit he was off somewhere, brooding petulantly. She probably wouldn't be surprised though, he did that a lot.
"I'm gonna miss ya' Luke." He does manage to chuckle at this.
"Hales, it's a honeymoon. People tend to come back from those." She scrunches up her nose endearingly and punches him lightly on the arm.
"I know that. But you're my best bud, my home boy, my right hand man." His laugh is a lot weaker at this. Best bud. How he hated those words. He was convinced there was no such thing.
He reaches out to slip back in place a hair that has fallen out of her bun during her run. The colour of burnt sienna, enlightened now with tints of a golden honey blonde, it slides through his fingers, softer than silk, and he vaguely wishes he could do this whenever the urge overtook him. He wishes that she belonged to him. Content that it is perfect, he lets his arm drop reluctantly.
A small, grateful smile tugging at her lips, she peeks over her shoulder. Nathan is leaning patiently against the car. "I better go." He sighs, but forces a jovial expression onto his face. She has to get up on her tippy toes – even with her heels on - to give him a soft kiss on the cheek. "Cya Luke," she says. He nods.
"You'll never know how much I love you Hales." She grins.
"Of course I do Lucas. Just as much as I love you." He smiles sadly at her and pulls her in closely for a hug. She is confused at his strange behaviour, but brings her small arms to entwine tightly around his waist. "No," he murmurs softly into her hair, "you'll never really know."
The End
I couldn't do it! I couldn't put them together in the end. Oh well, it still qualifies as a Laley fic, so ha! It's a sort of, going nowhere kind of story, I suppose. With the first scene, I only had the script and not the actual clip to work from, so if they don't act exactly like how they did in the episode, then I'm sorry. Back to Naley next time 'round! Review me, pretty please?
xoxo
Shevy