Holding Back

SUMMARY: Haley made a pact with Nathan and broke it. Now she's got to choose between being his servant for two weeks or offer something equally good in exchange. Mix that up with her cousin from Montreal who runs to Tree Hill to escape her life, only to be followed by her past and you've got yourselves a story!

CREDIT: The plot came into my head whilst reading Prohibit Love by sleepneeded911 therefore credit goes to her for inspiration. However, two stories are mostly different (in my opinion) especially the plot.

RATING: T (teenagers) or equivalent (15 where I'm from—UK)

DISCLAIMER: I do not own One Tree Hill, their characters or the WB, I do have my own characters such as Soraya, Leon, Sarah and any others not from OTH cast unless stated otherwise that belong to me.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I dedicate this chapter to my friend Crystal (crazycrissy) as she encouraged me to post the story up.

Chapter 1

"I am so not in the mood for this" said Haley James, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She was having a severe headache and found it hard to keep up with the conversation. The girl was sitting with four other people Lucas Scott, Peyton Sawyer, Brooke Davis and Nathan Scott on the green freshly mowed lawn that belonged to Tree Hill High, the school these five students attended.

Students have been exiting the school building for their lunch break. During this period of time, a student could eat in the school cafeteria or go out for their lunch. This was also the time when pupils could just relax and take a break, which was exactly what the 5 students mentioned previously had been doing. They along with one other person Jake Jagelski had formed as a group of friends. It had not been their original intention but overtime they had all grown close and now there was no going back. Currently, Jake had to go because of a phone call from home; it seemed he received a lot of those calls because none of the others seemed affected by this event.

Recently, Haley and Nathan had made a pact. It wasn't as much as a pact as it was a challenge and nor was it friendly but nevertheless it was made. The pact stated that Haley must drink (alcohol) but not get drunk; if she kept the pact then Nathan would be her 'servant' for a fortnight. However, if she did break the pact, then she was to be Nathan's servant for 2 weeks.

Although the two were within the same circle of friends, they seemed to tolerate each other the least. It was very common for them to be seen arguing over one thing or another. During one of their usual banters; tempers had flared, hence the pact being formed.

Everyone there but Haley (who denied it) had claimed that she broke this pact. She did not quite remember what happened last night, but she was sure she was not drunk. She ignored the fact that her memory being hazy was actually proof that she had indeed been drunk. What she did think of was that that she could not bear to be Nathan's servant and do his every bidding. In fact, the idea fuelled her veins with more anger and she forced herself to take a deep breath to calm down her overwhelming emotions.

Unfortunately for Haley, the effects of mass consumption of alcohol had not worn off of her from last night, when the pact had been tested thus the migraine (it had now officially passed being a headache) was bringing out an even moodier side to her then usual.

"Sorry Hales, but Brooke, Peyton and I are witnesses—even Jake" said Lucas sympathetically and immediately avoided eye contact with her when he saw the heated glare she sent his way. He still could not believe that Haley had actually agreed to the pact, even he had to admit that when Nathan schemed he was usually successful in his efforts. So the fact that Haley had broken the pact was not much of a shock to him.

"Face it Haley, you're mine to boss around...for a while at least." Nathan grinned evilly. After looking at Lucas's expression, his smile faded a bit. He had just begun to have a mutual relationship with his half-brother and did not want to ruin that by taking too much advantage of his best friend Haley. Lucas and Nathan were half brothers from their dad, Dan Scott. They have a very long and event history, which was not always pleasant. Only to find later on that the hatred they had held on for each other before was actually their father's cruel influence upon the two.

"Shut up Nathan! I did not break the pact." Haley frantically and with attempted discretion looked around trying to find someone who would side with her but with no such luck. 'I've said it before and I'll say it again I did not break the pact!' She stared down at her hands whilst making this proclamation; they seemed very intriguing to her at that moment in time.

"Do you even remember what happened last night?" Brooke asked with a mischievous glint in her eye. She was enjoying Haley squirm, not out of cruelty but because there was finally some potentially good action in town. Haley being Nathan's servant for two weeks, she pondered the thought. It should be interesting, she concluded. She leaned her head on Lucas's shoulder; the two had been going out for 2 and half months now. It was different for her this time; she was actually very fond and of him and their relationship was serious.

"Brooke! So not the issue here!" Haley answered, trying to massage her forehead to ease her frustration, but to no avail. She did not need an intake from Brooke either! It seemed as if Brooke was enjoying the whole ordeal, 'and why shouldn't she?' Asked a voice inside the back of her head. 'After all, you practically agreed to be Nathan's god damned lap dog.'

"But how is it not the issue?" Peyton asked. "Correct me if I'm wrong but the pact was that you would not get drunk and you almost streaked!" (Running naked in public) She pointed out, playing with the curls that were her hair, in her opinion rather than making a big deal out of it, Haley should just get the 2 weeks over and done with. "Somehow I doubt our Haley James would even think about doing something like that."

"Thank you Peyton, you can't really argue with what she's saying now can you?" Nathan commented with the famous Scott smirk and ran his hands through his hair as he winked at a girl that had walked past wearing a very, very short skirt and a top, both left little to the imagination. He was enjoying the situation very much; he now had Haley James the highly acclaimed 'Tutor Girl' that was highly appraised of by all jocks (except him of course) and cheerleaders, at his beck and call. He wondered how much work he could make her do and a sly smirk appeared on his face.

"Watch it Nate" Luke warned. He wasn't keen on the idea of Haley doing whatever he wants at all. Yet, since Haley agreed to it he was powerless to do anything about it. "Well Hales…you agreed to it. You can't back out now."

"STOP! Would you people stop ganging up on me?" Haley shouted everyone there was going against her and the headache/migraine was reaching the point of unbearably high levels for her.

"First of all, since when did you lose your temper that easily? And secondly, why the hell did you even agree to the pact? You know that once you're started there's no stopping you!" Said another voice, a voice that was very familiar to Haley.

"Well look what the cat dragged in." Haley smirked, something the others did not see very often. Haley was actually very surprised but decided to play for a while before getting any answers. "Two years of me not enough for ya? I am a James too, just because my temper is not as bad as yours does not mean I don't have one. Second of all fuck off Soraya."

"I'm hurt Haley! It's not my fault you can't handle the truth." Soraya winked. "Besides, is that any way to greet your cousin?"

'Soraya?' Lucas thought in his head, 'what's she doing here in Tree Hill?'

Ok, so there you have it…the first chapter of Holding Back. Please read and review, I'd appreciate it tons ok then. Just so you all know there will be lots of Naley interaction but no real Naley for a while.

And that is the re-edited version of chapter one, not much different just expanded a bit and a slightly different entrance from Soraya. Let me know what you think of the edited version!

Sofi