I'm finally back, guys! It's been a great year in Minnesota, and I enjoyed it so much. But I'm glad to be back here, and happy that I was able to post a chapter for you guys. I hope you still follow this story. I'm excited to see how it's going to turn out! I'll probably update one of my other stories soon as well, so check it out :)
-NaleyAlways4Ever
October 23rd
The many pictures that decorated his walls had captivated Haley from the second she walked in. Nathan's room was just like any other guy's room. Except for the pictures.
He had the classic posters, the once they all had. And a jersey from some basketball team he seemed to support. He also had more trophies than Haley could count, and they were all lined up in a glass cabinet. His closet was closed, but had different stickers from different labels decorating it. His desk was covered in books, and the stereo that hung upon the wall seemed to fit in perfectly.
It was a very nice room, very Nathan. It was tidy, and seemed clean. It even smelled like him. Haley could see his cologne over on his night stand. She had noticed his smell early on, because he smelled so incredibly good.
Finally, there were the pictures. And Nathan had many of them..
He had a whole card board decorated with different photos of him, his family and some others she guessed used to be his friends. There were pictures of him from all ages. Him in diapers, him holding the tiniest basketball, him with his mother.. Everything you could want to know about Nathan's childhood was represented with a picture. Haley couldn't help but smile, he looked so cute.
There were other photos as well. She actually found a family photo with Lucas on his desk. But they were standing far apart, and Lucas looked like the angriest kid on the planet. Around them were Lucas' parents, their grandparents, the woman she recognized as Nathan's mother and last but not least; the man that had to be his father.
Haley hadn't met him yet, he was still at work according to Nathan. But he had kind eyes, the same ones Nathan had. He looked like a great father, smiling like there was nothing wrong in the world. Like him family, the ones surrounding him, meant everything to him. Like he was happy..
"I don't even know why I keep this up" Nathan cut into her world as she put the photograph down and went over to sit next to him on his bed.
"It's a part of you, it's your life.. Your Mum.." She saw him nod, so apparently he agreed with her.
"You were such a cute baby!" Haley grinned as she pointed to one of the photos on the wall. Nathan looked about two years old, his raven black hear spreading everywhere. He had ice cream all over his face, still holding the remains in his tiny hand. His smile was missing some teeth, creating the cutest expression she had seen in a long time.
"Weren't we all?" He sighed as his body fell backwards, spreading out over his king size bed. Haley noticed the bed spread, it was dark blue and had a basketball sewed into the middle. Nathan followed her look and started to explain.
"My grandmother made one for me and one for Lucas for Christmas a few years ago. He threw his away the second she left, but I didn't have the heart.. It must have taken so long to make, so I kept it. Even though it looks a bit childish.."
"It's perfect.. And the story behind just shows how much better you are than him!"
"Yeah.." Nathan sighed again as he placed himself further up in the bed, resting his back against the pillows. He watched Haley for a second before he patted the spot next to him, signalizing for her to sit next to him. She smiled slightly before placing her tiny body against his, wrapping her arm over his muscular chest as she rested her head on his chest.
Nathan suddenly felt nervous, having her so close. But it felt good, so he relaxed his body and let him right arm wrap around her body. The left hand, he placed over the one she had draped across him. And before he knew it, he had started stroking her softly. Her skin felt so soft underneath his touch.
Haley smiled as she got used to the chills he sent through her. This was perfect, she could lay there with him forever. It was almost too comfortable to accept. Nathan was quickly starting to captivate her completely. Like everything about him seemed to fill her with happiness. He was like a missing piece in a puzzle, one she finally felt she was solving.
"You smell so good" Haley mumbled as she breathed in his cologne, praising him inside for having such good taste in perfume. Nathan chuckled as she spoke, sensing the familiar smell of her flowery shampoo. Haley smelled like a flower field in summer time. It was such a relaxing smell..
"I'm glad you think so"
"Mmm, I do" She repeated as he felt her tighten her grip on him. Nathan felt his eyes getting heavy as they continued to lay in each other's arms. He was about to fall asleep when the door opened..
"Hey, Nate! What do you want for di.." His father stopped completely when he saw his son in a questionable embrace with a girl he had never seen before. The shock from seeing someone at all in Nathan's room, besides himself and Nathan, was almost too much to bear. There hadn't ever been anyone in there..
"Dad.. Breathe" Nathan suddenly said as Keith snapped out of his gaze. The girl was now sitting up, as was Nathan. She looked down, but he saw the guilty and embarrassed look she was wearing. Nathan seemed embarrassed as well, while Keith just felt like laughing.
"Yes! Breathe! I will remember that!" He snickered as Nathan rolled his eyes. "But, anyway, as I was saying.. What do you want for dinner? Perhaps you should ask your guest, you don't want to be rude!"
"Dad!" Nathan screamed in embarrassment as Keith chuckled in response. Haley had yet to make any form of sound, but Keith saw the little smile that covered her face.
"I'm serious? You like pizza?" Haley could sense that he was speaking to her, so she finally rose her head to take a look at him.
He didn't look like Nathan at all.. In fact, Lucas' father. Dan, had a much larger resemblance to Nathan than Lucas or Keith did. But he had the same warm look in his eyes that Nathan possessed. Besides, he was funny.. Haley could already hear where Nathan got his special sense of humour from.
"Hales.." Nathan poked her arm, forcing her to find the right words to answer..
"Ehm, yeah, I like pizza.." Keith could sense her nervousness, poor girl..
"All right, pizza it is!" He sent Nathan a knowing wink. When Nathan first had a girl over, he couldn't help but tease him a little. Keith had always wanted to do that, it was one of the funniest sides of being a father. But this was the first chance he had ever gotten!
"Oh my Gosh, that was embarrassing!" Haley exclaimed as soon as Keith closed the door. Nathan only chuckled in response, earning him a glare from the blonde next to him.
"You think it's funny? First time meeting you Dad, and we're in that position and I'm incapable of answering the easiest question possible!"
"Relax, Hales. He was just having some fun with you, this is the first time he's ever had the chance to play around with my girlfriends.."
Haley's eyes shot up to meet Nathan's. She could immediately see that he was aware of what he had said, and how it had sounded. It felt good, hearing him define their relationship that way. But it also made her nervous. She knew they had been flirting a lot, and now she had even met his Dad. But were they in a romantic relationship?
"Ehh.. I mean.. Friends that are girls.." Nathan corrected himself, oblivious to the disappointment that appeared in Haley's eyes. An awkward silence filled the air as they both seemed to look everywhere but at each other.
"I forgot to ask what you wanted on it?"
Both eyes snapped up as Keith entered the room once more. His silhouette filled the door opening as a confused look appeared in each of the teens' faces.
"On the pizza.." He elaborated.
"I don't know.. Doesn't really matter" Nathan stumbled, he was still a little shaken after their previous conversation. He hadn't meant to call Haley his girlfriend, but that still didn't keep him from liking the sound.
"Oh, all right. So, turkey?" Keith asked as Haley broke out in laughter. "No? What about tuna?"
"It's not funny, Dad.." Nathan looked less than impressed with his father's humour.
"I'm just kidding, pepperoni okay?"
"Yeah.. Fine" Nathan sighed embarrassed as he searched for Haley to meet his eyes.
"I'll call for you when it arrives!" Keith smiled as he left the room for the second time. After he had walked out, Haley finally felt brave enough to meet Nathan's again.
"Let's get this chemistry thing over with" He sighed as he retrieved both their books and sat down, explaining the topic to Haley as good as he could.
"So, Haley, how did you two meet?"
Haley chewed slowly as the three sat around the little kitchen table in the Scott's kitchen. Keith was exactly as great of a guy as she first had thought. He seemed genuinely interested in getting to know her. He was asking her questions about anything and everything, and she tried her best to answer them.
"We're lab partners in chemistry, and since I'm such a dumb-dumb, Nathan offered to tutor me" Haley smiled as she gave Nathan a look that caught Keith's attention. He could see that this girl meant something more to his son, that there was something between them. But in stead of being worried, he felt his heart warm with joy at the thought of his son with someone as frisky and sweet as Haley seemed to be.
"Well, we all known where Nathan has those smart genes!"
"Yeah, from Mum!" Nathan cut in as Keith laughed along with his son. Haley wasn't sure how she should react. She didn't even know what to say to Nathan when they talked about his mother, let alone what to say when his father was around.
"Did you grow up here?" Keith continued to ask.
"Yes, born and raised. My father left us when I was seven, so I've lived alone with my mother for the last ten years" Haley explained, automatically noticing the sympathy in Keith's eyes. She smiled bravely at the two men around her, showing that it was all right bring it up.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that" Keith shot in.
"That's okay. You guys have been through worse, I don't have any right to complain" Haley smiled again as she met Keith's eyes. His respect for her grew with every word she spoke, and she struck him as a reflected girl. Perfect for his son, down to earth and strong.
"Well, we managed to make a good life here, didn't we Nate?" Keith commented as he poked Nathan's shoulder.
"Yeah!" Nathan agreed as he sent a grateful look Haley's way. Suddenly it was like her stomach was on fire again, those stupid butterflies would never settle down around him.
"So, you haven't spent that much time with Lucas lately, Nate! You guys growing apart?" Keith brought up as Haley's eyes shot confused over at Nathan. She could read the guilt in his eyes as he cleared his throat.
"I don't know. He's pretty busy with basketball, Dad" Nathan lied. He knew he had some explaining to do to Haley. She didn't know the lies he told his father. She didn't know anything about how their family thought Nathan and Lucas were such good friends and close cousins. But now, he could see that she expected explanations.
"Why don't you bring him over soon, you guys always hang out over at his house!" Keith suggested.
"There's just a lot more to do over there, Dad. I'll ask him when I see him" Nathan tried to brush the subject away. He hated talking about Lucas, because that involved lying to his father. But he couldn't share the truth. It would crush their family if they knew how things really were between them.
"All right, just as long as he knows he's always welcome here!"
"He knows" Nathan mumbled, closing the subject off.
"Oh, look at the time. I have to reach the supermarket before it closes, we need milk and some other things. I'll be back in an hour!" Keith smiled warmly as he stood up, removed his dishes and walked towards the front door.
"It was nice meeting you, Haley! I look forward to seeing more of you. Nathan's been on a dry spell for too long!"
"DAD!" Nathan objected, feeling the limit had been reached, maybe even crossed.
"Nice meeting you too, Mr. Scott" Haley chuckled, watching Nathan bury his face in his hands. She found it adorable that he was so untouched. So fresh and clean. No dirty secrets in his closet. It felt refreshing to know that she was the first girl he'd even been remotely close to. Unlike her, he was still pure. Haley had enough skeletons for the both of them.
"Please, call me Keith. Mr. Scott is my father, he's old. I'm not even forty-five yet!"
"You're forty-five in three weeks!" Nathan objected.
"Still doesn't make me forty-five, now does it!" Keith responded before walking out with a smirk plastered on his face. Nathan groaned in frustration as soon as the door closed, his father was just too much sometimes.
"Your Dad is so great!" Haley stated in awe.
"He's embarrassing! He thinks he's funny, when in reality; he's just making a fool of himself!" Nathan pointed out.
"Well, one could say that about you too!" Haley chuckled. Nathan sighed and Haley could see his face growing serious, she knew what was coming.
"I don't want to disappoint him, that's why I haven't told him about my relationship with Lucas"
It didn't surprise Haley much, but it still didn't satisfy her. So what if Lucas was a jerk, it wasn't Nathan's fault they couldn't cooperate. Why should he suffer and lie to his father when Lucas was to blame.
"Why don't you just tell him the truth, he'd understand! I know he'd support you and back you up. He seems like the best father on the planet!"
"He is. But you see, if he knew how Lucas treated me; he'd stand up for me and attack Lucas. My Dad might seem like a peaceful, laid back and controlled guy, but I'm his number one priority. And my uncle Dan is the same way with Lucas. I don't want to cause rivalry between our families because Lucas has a problem with me. I don't need Lucas to be happy, but my Dad needs his brother. I'm not that selfish!"
"So you just decided to lie?" Haley wondered, trying to make sense of the situation.
"It was Lucas' idea, really. He came to me quite early and explained that we should keep it between us. He'd tell his parents we hung out at my place or somewhere else, and I'd do the same thing. No questions asked. Till this day, both our families still believe we're great friends. And we'd like to keep it that way!"
"But why? I get you don't want the family to split up, but it's got to be hard for you. Lying to your father this way.." Haley hinted.
"Yeah, it is. He's my best friend, I used to tell him everything. I think he suspected that I didn't have anyone else, but he never asked because he knew I didn't want to talk about it" Nathan looked down at his hands, ashamed of his actions.
"Why are you speaking in past tense?"
"I have you now.. You're my best friend, Hales. And I think my Dad can tell that I finally have someone else to share stuff with" His confession stung Haley deep inside. She felt the exact same way, but once again, the stupid bet entered her mind. If it would only disappear and go away forever.
"You're my best friend as well, Nathan" She assured him.
"Good"
"But what do you do when the whole family is together? You just pretend?" Haley asked him. It amazed her just how big of a jerk Lucas really was. Every time she learnt something new about his relationship with Nathan, she hated him even more. It was his fault that Nathan had been so miserable before she entered his life..
But she was only there to make it worse..
"Yeah.. We speak to each other as little as possible, but we keep the façade up. No one suspects anything, thank God"
"I'm so sorry, Nathan.. I can't imagine how this must be for you!" Haley brought her hand up to cover his as she intertwined their fingers. Their eyes connected again, and the look that passed between them was one of understanding, acceptance and maybe..
.. love?
Alright, that's what you get for now. Hope you liked it. I'll post again sometime soon. Luckily, I have two more chapters typed up, so I have some time to start writing again.
Please review and tell me what you're thinking!
