Well what did I tell you? But unfortunately, I was totally remiss about my plans for the beginning of this summer. And I am very sorry it took me even this long to get this up. I know in the past I've never really been good at updating ASAP. I am trying to do better. I am almost starting over sort of. And with your guys' help just maybe I will be able to update stories at least once a week. I know that is a pretty tall order! SO hopefully I can do it!
Anyways, first chapter for y'all. And how did you like that prologue? If you forgot to review it, no problem! Just tack it onto the end of this one. I will not hold it against you.
Disclaimer: I still don't own anything remotely related to OTH. Characters, Character personalities, nada. That all belongs to Mark Schwahn and Company.
Twenty-two year old, Haley James was exhausted. Coming home from a nine hour shift, where she worked nonstop catering to each customers' every need and being on her feet the whole while, was extremely tiring. She sighed contentedly as she leaned heavily against the front door of her apartment, after she had closed and locked it for the night. She lifted up a limp arm to look at the old watch gracing her wrist. It was almost 11.30. It had taken her nearly one and a half hours to clean up the café of that day's grit and grim, lock up and walk home.
She wouldn't complain though. It was just how it had to be. She couldn't afford a car. She walked to and from work, sometimes accepting a ride from her boss or coworkers. She could barely afford the apartment that housed her and her son for the last year. And if it got to be too much, she was sure that her oh so kind boss would help her out. But Haley was stubborn and didn't like to accept help from others. She had been on her own for a while now and it was hard to learn to trust people. But Karen was one of the good ones.
Karen Roe, owner of Karen's café and a nightclub called Tric, was a godsend. She was the kindest person Haley had ever met and so modest. She was almost like her own mother in that way. Haley certainly looked at her as a surrogate parent. And her son simply adored Karen as well as Karen's son, Lucas.
Lucas Roe was Haley's only friend when she was little. Haley moved around quite often when she was growing up. She met Lucas, well around the age her son was at the moment, four, and they became fast friends, but Haley knew it wouldn't last long, and sure enough within a year they were leaving once again. Her dad was in the military, hence moving so often. But they kept in touch and Haley never found a friend like him until she was about twelve years old. Her dad retired after his twenty years of service and they settled into a suburb of Fresno. That is where she went to and graduated from high school. She made tons of friends and was even a cheerleader for her school's basketball team.
Haley stood up straight and went to check on her sleeping son. She smiled as she saw his small body curled up in the bed that they shared. The bed was situated under a window, with the moonlight shining down through the blinds, in the bedroom in the back of the apartment. The slate tiled kitchen was opened up to combine with the living room, and there was a small bathroom between the outer room and the bedroom. Haley had been lucky to find this place. It was small but over the last year she had learned to call it home. She had even made it her own by painting and decorating the small apartment.
The walls in the outer room were a beige color. The kitchen had wood paneled cabinets. The counter-tops were black marble. The island, with a deep sink, separated the kitchen from the living room. The furniture in the living room was modest. There was only a small two person couch in the middle of the room facing a cabinet, which housed a small TV with a VCR/DVD player, located in the corner. There were some bookshelves that kept various things off the floor. There was also a fireplace in the corner behind the couch. The carpet throughout the apartment, excluding the kitchen, hallway and bathroom, was soft and cream colored.
Moving from the outer room into the back of the apartment, on both sides there were closets; the one on the left, a coat closet, and the two on the right, linen closets. The walls in the hallway were a slightly lighter shade of beige than the outer room.
On the left side after the coat closet, was a door that led to the one bathroom. If you continued into the bathroom you would see a modest sized bathtub and shower combination with a wide but short window, to let in some natural light. On the wall opposite that was a small sink and mirror. The toilet was located in an alcove by the bathtub. The bathroom walls were beige with tan tiles halfway up the wall and on the floor.
The last door in the hallway would've led you into the bedroom. It was a small bedroom, just big enough for all the needed necessities. The bedroom was like the rest of the house, beige, but there was some personality in the room; tons of photos and memorabilia hanging on the walls. There was a full-sized bed, with bedside tables, a long dresser and a single closet with folding doors. There was a lamp with a tan shade on one of the tables. There was also a small balcony off of the bedroom, as well as a door that led directly to the bathroom.
She didn't waste any more time. She went into the small bathroom to change into some plaid pajama bottoms and an old ratty t-shirt. She grabbed her toothbrush from the holder on the sink counter and proceeded to brush her teeth and wash her face as well. She quickly walked over to the bed. She saw that her son had rolled over onto her side. She sighed because it was a pattern that usually happened when she wasn't there. So she gently moved him to his side of the bed, without waking him up.
He was four years old and the best thing that had ever happened to her. His name was Jamie and he was so full of life. What days she did have off she always spent with him and she was always twice as exhausted as she was now. He always had so much energy. In fact she had the whole weekend starting tomorrow off and she had a surprise for him.
She desperately tried not to think about his father, Damien West, too much. He was such a monster. She remembered the feeling she would get around him before it all had started. She thought she loved him and he loved her, and, in the beginning, he probably did. She moved in with him at the beginning of her senior year. But two months later, she told him that she was pregnant and he got tired of her. The abuse had started small. He would come home from work as a bartender, listening to everyone else's' problems and run his mouth, verbally attacking her. Once she had her little baby boy and after he lost his job because of that temper of his, it got worse. That was when he started hitting her and that is when she knew she had to get out, to get away from him. She couldn't have her child growing up with such a monstrous person as a father.
They weren't married and, after being hit one too many times that day, she decided she had to do something about it. So one night after he had gone down to a local bar, she packed her things, grabbed her four month old son and left. The first stop she made was to empty out her savings. She didn't have much in there to begin with, so it was pretty easy to cash out and close. She then hitched a ride with a trucker who was on his way to the next state over and she never looked back.
She remembered the feeling of pure panic coursing through her veins if she were to have been caught. She never stayed in one place too long, a couple months here or there. And then a savior came in the form of a phone call from her long-time friend Lucas. And so here she was, practically four years later, living in Tree Hill, NC. Lucas had even helped set up a job at his mom's quaint café.
After settling down on her side, her son had moved back over and sidled up next to her, nestling his frame to her side. She brought him in for a kiss on the forehead and said, "I love you, Jamie." And with that she could feel her eyelids slowly closing and her mind settling down. Within a minute she was asleep.
Twenty five year old Nathan Scott refused to open his eyes that morning. His head was killing him. He must've had way too much to drink last night. The quantity of alcohol he had consumed was really hitting him that morning.
That night there had been a celebratory party at a local club. His parents had rented out some of the place and everyone who was anyone had been there. Some of his old high school buddies who were still in Tree Hill were invited. His best friend from high school, Tim Smith, had been among them, with his wife of three years and his two year old son.
This club wasn't particularly kid friendly so all those who brought kids with them had left a little early. Most had left their kids with baby sitters earlier in the night so as to stay longer.
His cousin, Lucas Roe, had been there, bar-tending, but there nonetheless. He liked to keep that fact under wraps. He didn't like to be in the spotlight. During his fifteen minute break halfway through the night he had joined them and offered his congratulations and condolences to his older cousin. Since his team did not make it to the finals, his fourth NBA season was officially over.
There were others there as well. His whole team had been invited but it was quite a long ways to go just for the night, at least two hours one way. Only a few of them had come, among them starting shooting guard and longtime friend, Antwon "Skills" Taylor. Some of the cheerleaders for the team even made the trip. His agent, Clay Evans had come with his wife, Sara, of one year. They only lived down the street a ways from Nathan anyways. And Nathan considered them to be his closest friends. And there were many more that were both proud and excited to know such a remarkable young man and talented athlete.
A few hardcore fans found out about the party and had tried to crash. They were turned away immediately by another old friend of Nate's, the bouncer, Owen Morello.
Today was his first non-official day off, hence staying out late last night and the pending headache the next morning. There were a few things he still had to do in Charlotte but this weekend he had decided he had had enough of the city that loved him so dearly. He was a point guard for the Charlotte Bobcats, and a damned good one at that. And since his team was knocked out of the running for the championship by the Atlanta Hawks, he was almost officially on vacation. But for an NBA great, that didn't mean much. Nathan still had to keep in tip-top shape. That meant running and weights every day, sometimes even twice a day.
Before opening his eyes he rolled over onto his back, or tried to at least. But before he could move any more than a couple of inches his hard muscled back came into contact with someone else's soft skin. He opened his eyes and looked over his shoulder. There beside him, tangled in his expensive black cotton percale sheets, was one of the girls from the party the night before. Nathan believed her name was Kylie. She just happened to be one of the cheerleaders for the team. She was pretty and tall, for a girl, with these very nice and long tan legs. She also had a very sexy accent. That was how she had ended up in his bed. She was lying on her back with her head lolled off to the side. Her short and curled dirty blonde hair was fanned out over the pillow. A hand was placed over her bare chest almost holding the bed sheets to her. Her slim body was outlined by the sheets, clinging to her bent legs.
He swiveled a little to make room to turn over. Once on his back, he looked at the clock on his bedside table and let out an audible gasp. It was 9:50. He looked over at the girl next to him and sighed with relief when he saw that she hadn't been awakened by his gasp of surprise. He didn't know why he had slept so late; he was, after all, only out until 12:30 the night before and of course adding in the amount of time it took the two to get acquainted with one another, he was out by 1:30 at the very latest. When in reality it was a beach party, a real rager, which had kept him up so late, as his house was a beach front property. He wasn't a morning person but often woke up before at least eight.
He knew he had to get up. Nathan made himself remove the covers from his naked body and crawl out of bed, leaving the girl he had taken home the night before still asleep, wrapped up in the sheets.
He walked over to his dresser and grabbed some black mesh running shorts and a grey Nike running shirt and threw them on over a pair of light blue boxer briefs. He took out a pair of socks as well. He made his way to his walk-in closet and took out his pristine black and white running shoes. He sat on his bed softly, so as not to wake up his house guest, as he put them on and laced them up.
Before he could get up he heard the sheets rustling and knew the cheerleader was awake. He looked over his shoulder as she began to slip out of her slumber. She turned her face towards him and slowly, lazily smiled when she saw him looking back at her.
Nathan was the first to speak. "Morning."
"Morning to you too, sexy." She started in that one hell of an accent of hers. "Why don't you come back to bed and we can have a repeat of last night?"
Nathan forced himself to face forward when she sat up, not holding the sheet to her causing it to fall and uncover her upper body. "Sorry, can't. I need to get a good run in this morning."
Nathan felt the mattress move a little as he pushed off of the bed with a grunt to get up. He turned to look at her and she had crawled in all of her glory to where he had been sitting. She had a cute pout plastered on her lips. But Nathan didn't feel guilty. And he shouldn't. What they had, what he always has had with anyone really, was nothing but just a little fling. A one night thing only. Well, not counting when Nathan had first joined the Bobcats four years ago.
Then, Nathan was an up and comer. And everyone had wanted a piece of him. He had access to all the ladies he could want. Kylie Frost had been one of them. He was the player of all players, even back in high school; of course, he still was but to a lesser degree. Nathan knew how to control himself. He knew the time and place for his conquests, he also knew his boundaries.
"When will you be back?" The blonde asked as she rolled back over onto the bed, covering herself up once more.
"I don't know. But you can let yourself out before then. Help yourself to any food I might have. And feel free to brew some coffee, you can use the shower if you have to." He told her as he pointed out where the bathroom was. "But you better be gone by the time I get back."
"Why?" She whined back.
"You know the rules. You knew them the first time around. They are still the same."
Kylie didn't really get Nathan Scott, no girl really did. "Don't you ever just want to fall in love with someone? And how can you do that if we can't break the rules every once in a while. And plus rules are meant to be broken."
"I don't believe in love."
As he bounded quickly down the wooden stairs to the main floor, Kylie mumbled out a quick "Harsh."
It might've been a bit harsh but it was true. And if Nate was honest with himself, he stopped believing in love a long time ago.
He made his way through the open main floor and stopped to grab his MP3 and headphones off the kitchen counter and then went out one of the sliding doors to reach the back patio and beach access he had from his house.
That was his jogging spot. He would often jog to the pier in the distance to get a good long run in. It was at least twelve miles there and back, maybe a bit more.
He took his time walking to the water. Once there, he bent down to test the temperature and made sure not to get his shoes wet. He straightened up and took a few steps back to miss an incoming wave. He took a minute to stretch out his quads and calf muscles. He then looked out over the vast expanse of water and looked up in the blue sky while taking a few deep breaths. He turned away from the water.
The stretch of beach loomed before him, nothing in his way.
So what did you all think? Send me some feedback, please. Again, if you didn't review on the first story, please leave a little review! I really appreciate all the feedback and comments you guys give. Criticism is accepted as well. What did you like? What did you not like? Anything that you might want to see happen in the story? I will try to answer questions as best as I can...
That's all I got for now~! Mantra over...
Working on updating next week!
