Just a little oneshot, this has been in my head for a while now and I can no longer listen to the song without writing it.
This is set before the show starts and instead of Haley and Lucas being best friends they are an item. Nathan gets Haley as a tutor BEFORE Lucas starts on the Ravens. This is all from Haley's POV.
NALEY with hints of BRUCAS and LALEY
Song is Dirty Little Secret by Bon Jovi
Haley James had known and loved Lucas Scott for longer than she could remember. She'd attached herself to him when they were young and they'd been inseparable since. They were the good kids from the wrong side of town. He was the literary buff who shone on the basketball court and she was the fashion challenged school nerd who loved tutoring failing students. Well most of the time.
When the pair had hit high school and all around them boys were discovered girls and vice versa it had seemed quite natural and obvious to the world around them that Haley James and Lucas Scott were the perfect couple, the fact there were not in fact a couple seemingly overlooked, until it became so obvious that they drifted into a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship. Which was fine by her, it wasn't like she had any other prospects nor was there anyone in the school she'd actually want to date. And she did love Lucas.
The problems started with her newest tutee. Nathan Scott. Both boys were fathered by the same man, merely months apart. But while Lucas and his mom struggled along, Dan had married Nathan's mom Deb and the family lived on the wealthy side of town. Haley could remember an almost tentative friendship back when nothing mattered other than schoolyard games and who played football and who played basketball. However the friendship never flourished, Haley had never given much thought as to why, there were a variety of reasons to choose from. One being the fact that there was little chance of any play dates or party invites being issued by either Karen or Dan. Haley couldn't really comment on Deb's thoughts on the whole thing having never met the woman. As they'd grown into high schoolers and Lucas remained on the river court while Nathan was the Raven's star player the differences became more obvious. Nathan was the king of the school while Lucas ranked low. The two had little contact and no one – even the teachers – dared comment on the fact they were brothers. Lucas hated Nathan, Nathan had nothing but contempt for Lucas. So the fact that someone had actually assigned Nathan Scott to her workload was nothing short of astounding.
The first few sessions were rough, but she remembered the day of the big game, when hero Nathan Scott showed up to their study session what she could only describe as a wreck. She hadn't commented on his state, she was too polite to even acknowledge any difference in him. But he'd broached the subject. Even to this day if anyone asked she'd say it wasn't really her he was talking to, more himself. He confessed the truth about his strained relationships with his almost absent mother and controlling obsessive father. He painted a picture of his life that helped Haley understand and even forgive the resentment Nathan had of Lucas. Haley even found it ironic that Nathan Scott – the one who had been given everything, was actually jealous of the unwanted son Lucas. Lucas might not have had the money, he may have only had one parent but Nathan had reasoned to her, one good parent and enough to live on was infinitely better than two terrible ones and all the money you could need.
She'd never admit to anyone that on game days they didn't actually study. Nathan confided in her all his hopes, and fears. And she listened and in turn revealed more about her own life. Her chaotic family and just why she'd adopted Karen and Lucas as her family, along with her own dream of becoming a singer. And before she knew it she was spending evenings with her boyfriend and when he bid her goodnight at her door and she hurried up to her room and slid open her window to allow Nathan into her room. They'd talk until the early hours, and make out. Then around 3am he'd disappear off home and she'd collapse into sleep. On the outside nothing changed, at school they barely exchanged glances in the halls, she was just his tutor.
Lucas was helping Karen in the café leaving Haley free to spend the entire evening with Nathan. He drove her to a bar just outside of town to lessen the risk of being seen. He informed her that the only people he knew that went there were Tim and Brooke. Tim only went with him and since Brooke was with Peyton, and he knew that his girlfriend didn't like the place there was little chance they'd be spotted. She wouldn't go as far as calling the place seedy but it was certainly nothing to write home about. Nathan told her that they accepted his fake i.d. which was all that mattered to him. As Nathan left her in the booth they'd found to go and get the drinks she allowed herself to relax and enjoy the fact that this was actually a date. They'd discussed the situation, Nathan wasn't particularly concerned about telling Peyton the truth, Haley knew he was more concerned about the trouble it was cause at home. Whereas for her the idea of telling Lucas was the most damaging thing. She didn't ever want to hurt her best friend and she knew this would. As she relaxed though letting thoughts of others leave her mind she was bitterly confronted by the truth – all in the song playing over the speakers of the bar.
I light a candle Hit the lights We act like strangers Hit the lights
In the garden of love
To blind the angels
Looking down from above
I want, I need
The fruit of your vine
It tastes so bitter sweet
Cause I know it's not mine
I want to come inside
And I'll come crawling to your window tonight
Come on and send the sign
I'll be your dirty little secret and you'll be mine
You got me knock knock knocking at your door
And I'll be coming back for more
We made a promise and we keep it
Our dirty little secret
When you're holding his hand
Cause there's a danger
That we both understand
We run like thieves
Through the temple of sin
Till we fall on our knees then you go back to him
I want to feel alive
And I'll come crawling to your window tonight
Come on and send the sign
I'll be your dirty little secret and you'll be mine
You got me knock knock knocking at your door
And I'll be coming back for more
We made a promise and we keep it
Our dirty little secret
When Lucas told her that Whitey Durham had offered him a spot on the Ravens she was stunned. The potential for conflict was high. It wasn't until that first game when she witnessed first hand the exchange between Dan Scott and the coach she understood that Whitey simply didn't care. Lucas was terrible that night and her heart broke for him. She greeted him outside the locker room with a big smile, warm hug and soft kiss. She led him away from other students and where she could see Dan Scott's surly form. She assured him next time he'd be better and he just had to play like he did with Skills and the others.
That night with Lucas gone Nathan appeared. She'd not given any thought to what he would see as he left the locker room that night, perhaps she should have. His anger and hurt at seeing her the way she was with Lucas surprised her, she was nothing but his dirty little secret, too embarrassing to be his real girlfriend. And then the biggest surprise of all, that was precisely what he wanted. He didn't care if he was popular and she was not. He, Nathan Scott loved her, Haley James. And he wanted everyone to know.
Haley had been queasy all day and finally the hour was upon her. She sat Lucas down and calmly explained to him how she had no choice but to end things with him, she'd fallen in love with Nathan. He was shocked, angry and hurt. She tried to explain that things between them were not what either had thought. Yes she admitted she loved him as much now as when they became an item, but that in itself was the problem. It wasn't a case of how much she loved him, just how. She loved him as her best friend in the world. She told him that one day he would meet someone and love them with such a passion he would see that the love they shared was not the kind wrote about in books.
It had been a difficult month for Haley James, still smarting over her betrayal Lucas had yet to speak to her. The popular kids had been sly and mean in their jeers now all knew she was the choice of Nathan Scott. They were careful in their jibes, but they happened all the same. The light of her day being simply Nathan's girlfriend.
"You were right Hales." She jumped at the voice beside her and was stunned to find Lucas dropping into step beside her through the halls.
"What about?" She asked tentatively, unsure what exactly was going on.
"About loving someone and being in love."
"Oh." She couldn't think of anything more to say in return.
"I've been dating a girl now for a few weeks, she makes me do things I never thought I'd do. But I do the same for her. We're nothing alike and yet completely similar. She says we're yin and yang. I love Brooke Davis Hales, love her like I've never loved anything or anyone. I love her enough to write a book about it." He joked as they continued to walk down the halls of the high school, and Haley managed to think to herself that they were best friends again. That easily. And that everything was as it had always been meant to be.