Thanks for all the lovely reviews, I'm really enjoying writing this, and it's good to see that people are enjoying reading it, too! (: Okay, so this chapter isn't so great, but I promise I'll make up for it in the next chapter.
Morning had come by in a flash, and before he seemed to even realise his alarm clock had gone off, Nathan was showered, dressed and waiting. It seemed that when it came to Haley, time was of no essence, and it didn't at all seem odd to the adolescent boy that was ready and rearing to go almost three hours before he'd agreed to meet with his best friend. He was even wearing cologne, and Nathan never wore cologne. As he strolled with a new-found confidence down into his mother's café, the difference, even just within his stride, was palpable. With curious eyes, Deb looked to her son, and in a way only a mother could, knew instantly what the change was about. "Are you and Haley..?"
Dumbfounded and embarrassed, Nathan looked down and shook his head. "No. It's not, uh...I have to go." Shuffling out the door, he found a weight lifted off of his chest now that his mother's judging eyes were not upon him. The cold air hit his face, and although the chill on the wind was bitter, it seemed to hold a comfort, the way an old, chewed up pen would no matter how mangled and misshapen the end became. With this bizarre metaphor floating through the boy's mind, he realised that he'd absentmindedly walked to the James house, and was almost half way up the drive way – He couldn't exactly turn back now, so instead he kept walking, rapping his knuckles against the wooden door frame. As a blonde girl, who looked maybe three or four years older than Haley, pulled the door open, they stared at each other blankly. Usually, Nathan would attempt to avoid Haley's siblings, and hadn't ever met a single one of them.
It appeared that the college-aged girl was checking him out, and had no shame in doing so. There was a slight smirk on her lips as she looked his body up and down, not once, but twice. "Vivian?" He guessed, but off her death glare, he assumed himself to be wrong. "Quinn?" He tried again, but he knew he was just digging himself a bigger hole by guessing, and the looks she was giving him suggested she knew it, too.
"Wow, I'm guessing I'm the only sister Hales doesn't constantly brag about? Good to know. I'm Taylor. The hot one." Taylor smirked at her own words – Which were dripping with sarcasm, something he now assumed to be a typical James thing, and not just a typical Haley thing - and allowed the door to open itself further to give him room to enter. "I have to say-" Nathan was almost tempted not to listen to her, it seemed this particular sister loved herself, and he found it hard to believe she was related to Haley at all. "-You're pretty hot for a dork. Guess my little sister bagged herself a hottie, for once." Realising that she was now running her fingertips, sensually, along his chest, he slowly entered the house, squeezing passed her and clearing his throat.
"Yeah, uh, is Haley here?" Nerves seemed to ripple through the veins of the Scott boy, and he looked to Taylor expectantly.
"Upstairs. Second room on the left, but then again, I suppose you already knew that." The eyebrow which she rose at him was more than a little suggestive, and he found himself more nervous than he had before. Instead of even bothering to mutter a 'thank you', he quickly ascended the stairs and flung himself into the room which Taylor had directed him to, although in her mind he did worry for a second she'd instead led him into her room, eager to try out 'Haley's boy' for herself. Luckily though, he could tell almost instantly he'd walked into Haley's room – It seemed odd, really, that he'd been her best friend for over a decade and never set foot within her room, but he knew that her parents wouldn't appreciate her having a boy in her room, even if it was Nathan.
"Hales?" His eyes quickly scanned the room, and seeing no signs of life he flopped down onto the freshly made bed, staring over to a wall where photographs were organised neatly. In the centre were several pictures of the pair together, and the one in the very centre caused Nathan to smile; his seventh birthday party.
Having been born in December, his birthday tended to get quickly forgotten about with everyone around him already in the Christmas mindset. Of course, his mother always remembered, but as far as the young boy could figure out that was her job, anyway. Up until last year, she'd been the only one, but then along had come Haley, and on his sixth birthday she'd surprised him by asking Deb to take the pair to see a basketball game (Which Nathan had always thought was really nice of her, considering she wasn't a fan of the sport herself). He didn't really expect much this year, though, because on the same day of his party came a Christmas party, hosted by none other than Lucas Scott and family, themselves. Discovering the news, Nathan had been crushed – He was one of the least popular boys in the second grade class, but he knew that the kids still enjoyed going to birthday parties, no matter who's they were. Not this year, though.
When the day of his party had come, no-one had arrived. Not a single person – Except for Haley. She'd tiptoed into the café five minutes late, put her hands over his eyes from behind and giggled softly. "I'm sorry I was late, Mom and Dad took Quinn and Taylor to the other party," She pulled a face of disgust, and had climbed up onto one of the stools on the counter, placing his present in front of her. "They're all so boring, right? But, I guess we can have a fun party! As long as you didn't invite clowns." For the rest of the afternoon the pair had played pass the parcel alone, danced around the café and ate eaten enough ice cream to make them both feel very, very sick. By the time Haley had to be picked up, Nathan eagerly told her that it'd been his best birthday ever, and to that day those words still stood as truth. It was a sort of tradition now, that they only celebrated their birthdays together, but it was a memory he clung to, along with so many others.
For the third time, Haley cleared her throat, standing in the doorway with nothing but a towel wrapped around her. "I kind of need to get dressed. Preferably without you in here." She grinned at him, but he showed no signs to leave, and had no intention to do so.
"I don't want to leave." Did he really just say that? Inside, Nathan was kicking himself; implying that he wanted to stay around and watch her change just seemed so...Perverted. Before she had the chance to protest and tell him how creepy he was sounding, he was up off the bed, his hand cupping her cheek; his lips on hers. In her mind, Haley was aware of how wrong this was, but using her foot to carefully kick the door closed, she returned the passionate kisses with a sense of need and lust, her mouth closing around his, her hands slowly, and almost awkwardly, wrapping around his neck.
It took several seconds for her to become aware of two things; 1. She was kissing her best friend, and the second? The towel had slowly slipped from her body, leaving her standing stark naked kissing him. Smooth. Grabbing the towel, she wrapped it back around her torso, backing slowly away from him, and wiping at her mouth with the back of her hand. "You should leave." She simply whispered, and as much as he hated to do so, he turned around, leaving without so much as a second glance.