I love you guys. Thanks to everybody that reviewed. I hope this chapter clears up some of the questions you guys asked about why Nathan needs the money. I don't know if I've mentioned it, but I have a banner for this story, made by the talented kristin. (kristin226 on othwriters911) Check it out (take out the spaces in the link)
h t t p / i m g . p h o t o b u c k e t . com / a l b u m s / v 4 8 / i n 0 c e n t b e a u t y 2 3 / T h e w e d d i n g d a t e k r i s t i n . p n g
hopefully that works! anyway, without firther ado, on with the chapter.
"Amanda! It's so nice to see you," Brooke gushed, hugging someone for what felt like the hundredth time that day.
"Brooke!" Amanda responded, taking in her appearance. Brooke looked ravishing in her Royal Blue, floor length gown. It displayed exactly the right amount of cleavage, showing her curves all the way. Her hair was curly and swept up into a high ponytail, with a few wisps of hair around her face. She had finished off her look with diamond-accented jewelry, and tiny stud-earrings, perfectly matching her engagement ring.
"You look amazing," she complimented, and then took a double take, seeing Haley.
Haley rolled her eyes. "Yes, it's Haley James and no, you're not imagining things."
Haley looked amazing herself in a beige, pinkish strapless dress, stopping right past her knees, and hugging her body. Her neck contained a gorgeous necklace, tracing her neckline and perfectly matching her dress. Her hair was left loose in soft waves, and her makeup was barely there, with a slight tint of foundation and natural shades of eye shadow and blush, finished with a clear lip-gloss.
Amanda reached in for a hug. "You look as gorgeous as I remembered. Man, we thought you were never coming back."
"Yeah, so did I." Haley shrugged. "But then, my little sis here decided to get married." She nudged Brooke.
Brooke grinned. "What can I say? I got lucky."
Amanda raised her eyebrows. "I'll agree with you after I meet the guy. But, I need a drink. It was nice seeing you, Hales. Call me and fill me on everything!" She gave her a quick hug and walked away.
Haley looked at Brooke, annoyed. "How much longer are we going to be greeting people?" She grabbed a drink off of a tray, and took a seat at one of the tables.
Brooke shook her head. "No way, sister. You're not sitting down yet. Besides, I haven't annoyed you for, like, three years, so you can't complain," she stated, grabbing Haley's arm and pulling her out of the chair, while linking arms with her. "And, besides, it all goes with the honor of being my sister. Anyway, Lucas should be here soon, and you can get back to Nathan."
"Speaking of Nathan, I haven't seen him all night and I need to show him how gorgeous-" Haley started, finding an excuse to get away from the swarm of guests.
"Brooke James!" A loud squeal interrupted her sentence.
Brooke turned around to find her best friend since kindergarten, who was crushing her into a hug. "P. Jagelski! This is unforgivable; you were supposed to be here hours ago. Your best friend's party, and you don't even care," Brooke pouted, her arms crossed.
Peyton held up her hands. "Blame the husband. Something having to do with work or the other."
Brooke pretended to ponder about it, bringing a perfectly manicured finger up to her dimpled cheek.
"Well, I suppose you can be forgiven. But Jake will be getting it from me later."
Peyton laughed. "Whatever you wish." She turned her head to the side, noticing Haley for the first time. She blinked her eyes twice, and then brought her hands up to rub them.
"You'll ruin your eye makeup." Haley stated, swatting Peyton's hand away from her eye.
"It really is the Haley James we all know and love." Peyton responded, throwing her arms around her shoulders. "You look great, Hales. Just as pretty as I remember you." Haley laughed, thanking her and reciprocating the hug.
"I missed you, Hales." Peyton remarked, stepping out of the embrace.
"I missed you too, P. Sawyer. Or I guess its Jagelski now. I still can't believe you're married. I'm so sorry about missing the wedding. It was right after I left, and-"
Peyton shushed her. "Hales, it's okay. I understand. Besides, you're here now and that's what counts," she said, linking arms with her.
"Ahem." Brooke cleared her throat, indicating she felt left out.
"Oh, Brooke." Peyton chuckled, linking her other arm with her.
Haley shook her head. "You haven't changed a bit, sister. So where's this husband-to-be of yours…"
…
Nathan sighed, visiting the bar once again to reward himself with another drink.
Of punch.
Yes, you heard right. Nathan Scott, sitting there bored out of his mind, surrounded by alcohol and random girls he wasn't even remotely interested in, who were hitting on him every 5 minutes, and he was drinking punch.
The reason? He smirked to himself. The reason was the princess herself. Haley James, of course. Who else? She had kindly yelled to him, when he was in the shower, that alcohol was not allowed tonight, because of course she couldn't have people think she was engaged to an alcoholic.
Needless to say, that had definitely ruined his mood, and he hadn't even bothered to talk to her before the party. He wasn't mad, he was making some good money as he spoke, but man, that girl was definitely something. She had spunk, and she wasn't afraid to do what she wanted to. Why such an independent girl like her was trying to make some scumbag jealous, he had no idea.
It worked out pretty well for him though. Here, he was earning twice what he normally would, even though money was never a question for him. The only reason he was here was to get away from his ass of a father. Supposedly someone wanted to draft him from the NBA after looking at his high school scoring records, and he was supposed to leave a job, that he enjoyed doing more than anything, to join a basketball team when he was no longer even interested in the sport. Recruiting high school basketball players for Duke had always been his dream, and he never wanted to do anything else. Haley was the manager of the office of admissions, so even now he was indirectly working for his boss.
That's why he was here. Running away, because confronting Dan Scott was something you just didn't do. No matter how much guts you had.
Besides, Haley made it fun. He laughed, thinking about her cute little face when he annoyed her. She was entertaining and definitely not bad to look at.
"I hope that's not alcohol you're drinking." He knew who it was without even having to turn around. He tipped his glass and took a gulp, turning around on his stool.
"Of course-" the words died on his lips. No, She definitely wasn't bad to look at, not even a bit.
"-not," he finished, a good thirty seconds later.
"Good." Haley smiled. "Well, I was just coming to check on you. Make sure you weren't bored, you know."
"And of course, how would it look if you didn't hang out with your fiancée right?" Nathan finished for her, voicing her thought.
"Mm, maybe that too." Haley shrugged, smiling again, propping herself on a stool next to him.
Nathan shook his head. "Shouldn't you be hanging out with Brooke? You guys seem, like, attached at the hip."
"Nah, Brooke and Peyton went to go touch up their makeup, her fiancée should be here soon, I think. But you know looking good comes naturally to me, so…"
Nathan smirked. "Something we have in common then, huh?"
Haley laughed and smacked his arm. "Always full of yourself, weren't you?"
"I could say the same," Nathan remarked.
"Haley James?"
Haley turned around to the sound of the voice.
"Lucas Roe!" she exclaimed, climbing down to give him a hug. "Never thought I'd see you again."
He laughed. "Me either. How have you been, Hales?"
"I've been good. And yourself?"
"Amazing," he replied, grinning.
"Oh, this is Nathan." Haley introduced, and then added, "My fiancée."
Lucas held out his hand, which Nathan shook. "Fiancée, huh? Last time I met you, you were ready to swear off guys."
Haley shrugged with the hint of a smile on her lips. "Things change, I guess."
"So, not that I don't want you here, but how did you find out I was getting married?" Lucas asked.
Haley looked at him, her mouth hanging open. "No freakin' way. You're marrying Brooke?"
"Sure am," he replied, his lips curving into a genuine smile. "You know her?"
"She's only my sister." Haley laughed. "What a small world, huh?"
Lucas chuckled. "It quite is. James, of course, I just never thought to put the two together."
Haley laughed again. "Wow, who would've thought that the guy I met who was so passionate about Stein beck, would be marrying my sister, who is so passionate about…herself."
Lucas beamed, his eyes lighting up as he spoke about his future wife. "Opposites attract. And I knew that I would be down on one knee the moment I laid eyes on her. She's amazing, and everything I could possibly want."
Haley smiled. "I'm so happy for you guys. Both of you deserve it." She congratulated him, giving him another hug.
"So I see you've already met my wonderful fiancée." Brooke said as she came up behind Lucas who wrapped an arm around her waist as she raised her head to kiss him.
"2 years ago, actually," Haley explained. "We met at a Literature seminar and instantly hit it off. Lucas, here, though, apparently forgot to keep in touch and inform me of his engagement." She feigned hurt.
"No, actually, I couldn't get in touch with you." Lucas defended himself.
Haley raised his eyebrows, as if she didn't quite believe him. Then shrugging, she replied, "If that's your story."
Lucas started to reply, when his cell phone rung.
"Hello?" he answered. "Man, where are you? You were supposed to be here before me…okay, okay…I understand…yeah…see you then, man…alright, bye."
He shut his cell phone. "My best friend, and my best man…always late," he said, shaking his head.
Brooke stirred next to him, stepping out of his arms and linking her hand with his. "Why haven't I met him yet?" she asked, a pout apparent in her voice.
"Because he just got back from a music camp in New York. And you should be meeting him in less than 5 minutes," he reassured her, bringing their linked arms up to plant a kiss on her hand.
"I guess." Brooke pursed her lips, her dimples showing.
"So." Nathan said, hoping to lighten the mood, and using the excuse to snake an arm around Haley, which she responded to obligingly.
Lucas nodded at him. "So, how long have you guys been together?"
"An year and a half." Haley said at the exact same time Nathan said "4 months."
Haley groaned.
"We've been engaged for 4 months, but been dating for an year and a half." Nathan put in, covering for both of them.
Lucas nodded in understanding, and then saw his best friend coming up behind the couple.
"Chris!" He shouted, waving him over.
Haley froze.
Chris? Then she mentally smacked herself. She was getting paranoid. It could be anybody; Chris was one of the most common names ever. Then, she composed herself and turned around, a huge smile on her face, ready to greet her sister's fiancée's best friend.
Her smile died on her lips.
Nope, she wasn't being paranoid.
There he was, Chris Keller, all 6 inches of him, looking exactly like he had 3 years ago when she had been head over heals in love with him.
She wasn't being paranoid at all.
…
What's a story without a cliffhanger right? But i hope you guys liked it anyway.
Don't forget to review, even a simple good job will do, even though I love long ones. Even if you didn't like it, I can stand some critisim. I just sent the next chapter to my beta, so it should be edited soon. I'll post it up as soon as possible!
xo
Sneha
