''Why are we here?'' Nathan questioned, scrunching his nose up in displeasure as he looked at his surroundings. Kids, adults, old people were everywhere. He preferred to be in his own pool. His quiet, warm, peacful swimming pool. ''I have my own pool, why are we going to the community one?''
Brooke smirked, clutching onto Julian's hand as they walked slowly along the side of the small pools to get to the bigger one. ''You'll see.''
''But you have your own pool, too. And so does Julian. Clay and Sara don't, but they can always use ours.'' He looked around and frowned. Where did they go? ''I don't like public ones!'' he whined childishly. ''Don't kids, like, pee in the pool or something?''
''Julian!'' she screeched, bouncing up and down on her feet, looking at him in alarm. ''They don't, do they?''
Julian chucked at his girlfriend, shaking his head in amusement. ''No, Brooke, they don't.'' He looked in the distance and smiled in relief. ''There she is!''
''What are you talking ab-''
His breath caught in the back of his throat.
There she is.
She was sat on the edge the bigger pool side, her legs dipped into the water as they swung them absentmindedly as she watched something in the distance, a knock-the-air-out-of-your-lungs smile on her face. The black bikini that she was wearing fit her perfectly, showing her tanned skin and toned stomach that you could never tell was there from the baggy t-shirts and jeans that she usually wears.
''You're welcome,'' Julian whispered over to him cheekily.
Nathan turned to his sort of-friend, his mouth opening and closing like a goldfish as he looked at him in bewilderment. ''How?-'' he paused. ''You knew... You knew that she was here?''
''You're welcome.'' he repeated. ''Lab partners, remember?''
''Can you be my new best friend?''
Brooke giggled. ''Try and impress her, don't be a jerk.'' She tugged on her boyfriend's hand. ''We're going to swim, just come and find us when you fail and we can go home.'' The couple started to walk to a deeper part of the pool, not in the shallow, kids part where Nathan's crush was sat. ''Bye, Boy Toy!'' she called over her friend.
''When I fail?'' he mocked in a shout over the laughter of the people playing in the water. ''Thanks, B!''
He took a deep breath the prepare himself. It's not like he really cared about prom. It wasn't really about that, actually. He just wanted a romantic, cheesy way to let her know that he cares about her. He wanted a night to prove to her just how special she was to him, and how much he wanted to be with her. He knows she hasn't been with anyone before (Thanks, Tim and your creepy ways of knowing things) so she deserves epic romance, and Nathan wants to be the one to give it to her.
He walked over to the shallow part, where children played with blow up toys and floats with their parents. She had yet to notice him.
''Uh,'' He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly before poking her shoulder.
That was supposed to make him feel less awkward.
...It didn't work.
She turned to look at him, her eyes widening in frustration (but she did check his bare chest out though, he totally noticed). ''Are you a little rich to be coming to a community pool?'' She snorted, rolling those deep browns. ''Don't you have your own pool or something?''
He sat down next to her on the edge, dangling his feet in the water, just like her. ''So you've been doing your homework, nice.''
''Was that supposed to be an insult?''
''No,'' Nathan shook his head instantly, before smirking. ''I just didn't know that you knew that about me.''
''You mean you're surprised that I didn't know the richest guy in the school had a pool? I didn't, it's just pretty simple to figure out. Plus, you had a pool party a couple of months ago.'' she remembered. ''And you made a really special effort to rub it in Lucas' face that he wasn't invited.'' Her voice started to grow bitter. ''Nice.''
His face softened. ''I, uh, Haley. You know that thing with the rose... I didn't know you were allergic, I swear. I mean, how could I know that? I just wanted to do something nice,'' he insisted. ''Sorry that I upset you.''
Haley shrugged, smiling softly. ''I know you didn't know. I just... wanted to hurt you.'' Her eyes widened, presumably realising how horrible that sounded after seeing the distraught look on his face. ''I know how that sounds. But you make his life hell and he has never done anything hurt you. He's- he's the nicest guy I know. He's like a brother to me. He doesn't deserve you starting fights and stealing his clothes and throwing him in mud.''
''I know,'' he said, barely above a whisper. ''But I need him off the team, or my dad's gonna make my life hell.''
''Like you're making Lucas'?'' she quipped immediately, before stopping to register what he had just said. ''Why would he make your life hell?'' Haley asked, her voice gentler.
''He pushes me, like, all of the time to be better. And I try to be better, I really do. But it's never good enough. And ever since Lucas joined it's gotten so bad that I feel so weak sometimes, I can barely stand. He makes me run for miles, practice for hours, do weights that I can barely lift. If Lucas goes away, then maybe my dad will stop.''
Wait, did I just say that?
Those were deep, inside thoughts. Ones that he never shared with anyone, because Nathan Scott is confident and tough. He doesn't get bullied by his father, he doesn't feel guilty for torturing his brother, he isn't vunerable.
Apparently, he is.
He heard a intake of breath amongst the chatter of the other visitors at the community pool.
''Whoa,'' she breathed. ''It's that bad?''
Nathan nodded silently, looking down at his hands, not knowing what to say.
''He's not going away, you know. The more you try and hurt him, the more determined he is to stay. I'm not going to let him quit this, he's wanted to be on the team for so long. You need to stop this, Nathan.''
Nathan. There she goes again, saying his name and making him all mushy, especially with the soft way that she said it. He shook his head away from those Haley thoughts (even though they're completely awesome) and focussed on the topic he was supposed to be thinking about. It hurt to think about how his dad calls him names and bullies him, but his mom never does anything about it, so he's stuck. ''But then when is it going to stop?''
''When you make it.'' she said simply, as if that's what it was.
''How?''
''Well,'' Haley mused, pausing for a moment. ''How does he pressure you exactly?''
''He tells me I'm not good enough. He says that I'm never going to beat his record, and that Lucas has a better shot at it than I do. He calls me weak- pathetic.''
''You're not.'' she promised sincerely. ''And once you know that, you just ignore it and stop doing what he says.''
''It's not that easy.''
He could tell that she was getting frustrated (he doesn't really blame her though, she just wants to protect her best friend) when she huffed.
''Your dad, he's not good enough because how come they didn't win the state championships? That makes him weak, that makes him pathetic. So when he says that stuff to you, just picture him saying that to himself.''
Nathan actually chuckled at that, picturing one of those times when Dan's been cruel to him. ''That sounds like a pretty good idea, actually.''
She mock saluted mockingly. ''Tutor girl, right here.''
''So, Tutor Girl, why are you here, anyways? In the shallow end with a bunch a kids.''
''Kinda creepy, huh?'' Haley giggled.
Oh God, what a sound. ''Just a little.''
''I'm here with my little cousin, Chuck. He's around here somewhere.'' She looked around, smiling when she saw him. ''I take him out some weekends when his mom's working... or drinking.''
''Why aren't you swimming then?''
''So I can get trampled by all of the kids swimming? No thanks.''
He wasn't about to question her on why she was wearing her bikini if she wasn't even swimming. He didn't want her to go and take it off or anything, he's not crazy. What sane guy would want their crush to change out of her ridiculously hot swimming attire into something else less hot?
''Well, if you wanna keep an eye on your cousin, then I could swim with you?'' He flashed a grin. ''I'll protect you, promise.'' Smooth...
She looked at him blankly. ''No.''
Guess not. ''Why?''
''I still don't like you.'' Haley told him. ''You may have a reason for being a jerk, but that doesn't mean that it suddenly makes it okay.''
Nathan covered the pain he felt with another smile. ''I guess that's another no to prom then?''
''That's another no to prom.'' she confirmed with a nod. It was silent for a moment until she shook her head, ''I told you, I'm not a joke. I'm not your joke.''
''How many times? You're not Josey Grosey!'' he exclaimed, gaining odd looks from the people around.
Her eyes widened as she looked at him, a humourous smile tugging on her lips. ''How did you know about that? Did you watch the movie?''
''...No.''
''Oh my God, you so did!'' She laughed, making him swoon (a total manly swoon, obviously).
''Well, you mentioned it, and I told Sara what you said,'' He noticed her blush slightly. ''So she rented it, and when I was at Clay's, she came around and put it on. Clay, like, worships the ground she walks on, so he didn't tell her not to.'' Nathan explained lamely before looking at her earnestly. ''But... do you think I'd really do that? He threw eggs at her and told her to write a poem or something, that's cruel!''
''It's not real, Nathan.'' she teased.
Nathan rolled his eyes, his smile widening. ''Well, you seem to think that I'd do that to you.''
''Not that exactly, just something along those lines.''
''I wouldn't,'' he promised.''I couldn't ever do that, especially not to you.''
''Why?''
His eyes widened, taken aback. ''What?''
''Why not to me?''
''Because you're...'' Don't freak her out. Don't freak her out. ''Nice.''
She snorted. ''I'm not nice to you.''
Nathan shrugged. ''Yeah, but I still like you.'' His smile widened even more when hers did and her blush darkened. He made her do that, him.
''You'll get over it,'' Haley rolled her eyes, her expression now neautral, her voice clipped.
She still doesn't believe me, he realised. ''I doubt that.'' It stayed silent for a moment, until he spoke again, hoping to lighten the mood, ''So, where is your cousin then?''
''He's around here somwhere,'' she said, her mouth curving up into a smirk. ''You know, I'm surprised that he hasn't Chuck'ed you yet.''
He frowned. ''Ch-''
A body burst from under the water, causing water to fly everywhere. A fist reached out and punched him in the stomach, winding him. ''CHUCK!'' a young boy's voice shouted in triumph.
I hate kids.
AN: Wow, you're all so nice! Your reviews bring a huge smile to my face. Especially when you say that it's funny, I really didn't think I was that good at humour. I don't really think there was any in this chapter, it was mainly Naley. He's winning her around, slightly, you like? I know it's taken me a while to get this out, but I've almost finished MTMTE so once that's done, update should be sooner.
Cuteyfruity - Oooh, you're out of town? Are you having a good time? I hope you are:) Thanks so much for reviewing. I'm glad you liked it. I hope to talk to you soon, too!
jj - Aw, thanks for being so sweet:) Not any Clay in this one, sorry. But he'll be back in the next chapter. Thanks for reviewing!
goldenbabe - Thanks so reviewing! Haley can't stand Nathan after how much he's tormented Luke, so it's going to take a while for him to win her around. I hope you stick around for all of that. I like sensitive and vunerale Nathan too, it's sweet to write. Thanks again:)
Please review! x