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Chapter 7: Lights

There was no better feeling than knowing that he just helped his team get to the finals. He felt so much pride within himself and it was something he wouldn't trade for anything. The day he'd been offered a scholarship to Duke was the best day of his life. Even his dad seemed proud of him. There were few times when Dan seemed genuinely proud of him. But that day, something was different.

Nathan stood in front of his locker in the locker room under the Blue Devils gym. The rest of his teammates had said their congratulations to him and ushered out of the locker room. Soon it was just Nathan standing in there. He pulled his jersey over his head and tossed it into a large hamper on the other side of the room. He pulled on a clean t-shirt that hung in his locker and he then began to unlace his shoes. He heard a sound from somewhere in the locker room and froze.

His dad had always warned him to be careful. Now that he played for Duke, a lot of people knew who he was. And a lot of people hated his dad. Unfortunately, that made Nathan a target as well. Nathan knew what his dad did. He'd known since he was young. He never hid it from him. And Nathan knew that one day his dad wanted him to join him.

Nathan turned his head towards the noise and waited to see if one of his teammates would rejoin him. But they didn't. A minute later though, Nathan did see someone he recognized. Someone from his past.

"Hey Nate."

Nathan looked at his Uncle Cooper standing near the end of the row of lockers. He hadn't seen Cooper in years. The last time he saw him was before he moved to Chicago when Nathan was 15. Dan had recruited Cooper and Cooper was one of Dan's best agents. Deb hated that her brother still worked for Dan. After everything she went through with Dan, she couldn't believe that he would choose to sill work for Dan.

"Coop," Nathan said looking at his Uncle. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see your game," Cooper said and took a seat on the bench that sat between the long row of lockers. "You're a hell of a ball player."

"Thanks."

Nathan could tell that there was something else that Cooper needed to say. He doubted that he came just to watch him play. Why would he fly to North Carolina from Illinois? Not just because he felt like watching a basketball game. Not one that he could see on TV. None of this really made sense. Why would he just show up after years of being gone.

"Have you seen my mom?" Nathan asked. "I'm sure she'd be interested in seeing you."

Cooper laughed a little and ran his hand over his hair. "Yeah," he said, "I'm not so sure. You're moms still kinda mad at me."

Nathan nodded and then leaned back against his locker. "Yeah well you're still working for my dad so…" he trailed off and then looked up at his uncle. "That's why you're here isn't it?"

Cooper looked up at his young nephew and then stood up. "Nate, your dad did send me here-"

"Well whatever he has to say I don't really want to here it. You know, he moved to Chicago when I came here? He's never once bothered to come to a game or even call me. What kind of dad does that."

"You know he's busy Nathan."

"Don't defend him Coop. I know you hate him, too. Just cuz he's your boss doesn't mean you have to defend him."

Cooper sighed and then scratched the side of his head. He could tell this was going to be harder than he thought. He already knew it would be hard, but Nathan was even more stubborn than he remembered.

"You can go tell my dad that I don't want to hear anything he has to say."

Cooper took a few steps towards Nathan and he saw the hard set of Nathan's jaw. Nathan was pissed. "Look Nate, I came here because it's your time. I know that it's not a good time but-"

"No," Nathan said, "I'm not going with you. I have a life here. We just made it to championships. Things are finally good for me and you want me to give it all up?"

"Nathan, you know you don't have a choice."

"I do have a choice Cooper. I'm not going!" Nathan yelled then slammed his locker shut. The sound echoed through out the locker room and Nathan took a step back from Cooper. He clenched his fists at his sides. He could feel the anger shaking his body.

Who the hell did he think he was? What right did he have to send him here to tell him that he had to join the company. It wasn't fair. Nathan finally had a life of his own, one that didn't involve Dan Scott. And just when things were good for him Dan had to come back in and act like he was in charge of his life. He had no right.

"I'm not going," Nathan said again, "you can tell my dad to fuck off."

Cooper sighed and rolled his eyes. "Would you quit being so stubborn? You know you don't have a choice in this Nathan. You always knew that this is what you were meant for. I get it, you love basketball. And you're good at it. Things are going great for you right now, I understand. But you don't know what this life could get for you."

Nathan turned around and faced his uncle. "I don't care-"

"Shut up for a minute," Cooper said. "Listen to me. This life gets you more than you could possibly imagine. All the money you could ever need. You'll go places that you've never been before. Besides, don't you want to help protect the family? Lucas and Brooke? Don't you want them be safe?"

"Leave them out of this," Nathan said.

Lucas and Brooke had gotten married the year before. They lived in Tree Hill and Brooke was starting on her own fashion line. Lucas was trying to get a book published. Nathan knew that he was a good writer and Brooke was a good designer. Maybe all they needed was the financial backing.

"Think about it Nathan. With you working for your dad, you know he would have one of the best agents around. You know what you're capable of. You would be a great protection for your family. Don't you want that?"

Nathan clenched his jaw as he listened to the words his uncle was saying. The worst thing was, that they made sense. With all of the people that wanted to kill Dan, that meant that their family was always in danger. Nathan did want them to be safe. His brother, Brooke, his mom and Karen and Keith. He wanted them all to be safe. He would hate it if anything happened to any of them.

"Yes."

Cooper smiled. "Then do it. Let's go to Chicago. Trust me Nathan, this is the best choice you could make for yourself. Just do it."

Nathan knew in that moment that he didn't have a choice. It had been made a long time ago.

"Ok."

Nathan continued to bench press the weight above him. He could feel the pain shoot through his muscles with every press but he loved that feeling. He couldn't help but love the pain. He knew that was sick. Who would love pain? But sometimes it was all he felt. At least he felt something.

As he continued to lift the weight he let his mind wander to Haley. Damn it, he shouldn't have kissed her. Now that was all he could think about. How her lips felt against his and how quickly her body reacted to his. The soft feel or her skin on his finger tips. Fuck, he was so screwed. He knew that the plan was to get close to her and then take her out, but now that he had kissed her, he couldn't stop thinking about her.

He was fucking stupid. What did he expect? Of course that happens when you get close to a beautiful girl. But she was more than just a pretty face. She was funny and smart and the fact that she could kick ass, he found that surprisingly sexy. He'd done his research on her. He knew that she'd killed some pretty big names. For such a little thing she must have been pretty powerful.

Nathan learned that she'd joined Andrew Jagelski's company when she was 19. And already she was his top agent. She even beat out Andrew's son. That was impressive. She must have been amazing if Jagelski chose her over his own kid.

He found many pictures of her that had been taken since she joined the company. It seemed that Jake Jagelski was in most of the pictures. They were, apparently, really close. Nathan let himself wonder, how close were they? Were they together?

He pushed the bar up again and placed it back before sitting up on the bench. He shook his head and cleared his mind of those thoughts. What did he care? Haley was just a job. Nothing more. She would never be anything special and he had to keep reminding himself of that. She was nothing. She would always be nothing.

"Wow," he heard from the door and he inwardly flinched at the voice. "I didn't know I had a daughter."

Dan Scott stood in the doorway of the gym. He wore a dark green sweat soaked t-shirt and a pair of black shorts. He held onto the ends of the towel around his neck. He walked farther into the gym and towards where his youngest son sat. "I would think you could bench twice that by now."

"I can," Nathan bit out.

"Well then why don't you?"

"Fine," Nathan said and laid back down on the bench. "Add more weight to it."

Dan smirked and added more weights to the bar and clipped them on. Nathan grabbed the bar above his head and lifted it again before bringing it to his chest and then up again. He did it over and over wondering when his father would be happy with him. Never, most likely. Nathan knew by now that no matter what he did, he was never good enough.

"You saw Lucas the other night?" Dan asked while standing above him.

Nathan muscled the bar up again and then back down. "Yeah. Him and Brooke."

"How's my granddaughter?"

Nathan scoffed, "you'd know if you ever bothered to see her."

"Watch your attitude."

Nathan shook his head before focusing back on the weight. He didn't really feel the need to have small talk with his father while he worked out. He didn't want Dan there in the first place. He was just a distraction. The voice in his head that told him he wasn't working hard enough.

Nathan pushed the bar back up and placed it back in the holder before sitting up and looking at his dad. "Satisfied?" he asked.

Dan smirked, "for now."

Nathan shook his head and stood up before walking towards the door. "Before you go Nathan," Dan said and Nathan turned around to look at him. "How's the case coming?"

"Great."


"I think I'm gonna ask her to marry me."

Haley looked up over her counter at Jake who was standing across from her. He was looking down at the sandwich in his hand and avoiding eye contact with her. "What did you just say?"

"I'm gonna ask her to marry me."

Haley let out a laugh. "Are you serious?"

"What?"

"Well for one," Haley started, "Nikki's a heinous bitch. Come on Jake, you couldn't seriously be thinking that you want to marry her."

Haley had hated Nikki from the day she met her. Jake thought he was in love with her, but Haley knew that Nikki just had him fooled. He had to know someone where deep down that he wasn't really in love with her. She was awful. Haley was convinced that she was an alcoholic. She was always out at bars with random guys and she had feeling that she was cheating on Jake.

"You need to give her a chance."

Haley scoffed and shook her head. She had given Nikki plenty of chances but there was really no use. She was a bitch and she was completely wrong for Jake. Haley wished that he could see that. What would it take to get him to realize that he would be ruining his life if he asked her to marry him.

"I have," Haley said looking at her best friend. "Can you please just give it some thought? Seriously Jacob. Just think about it for awhile before you do it."

Jake looked down and ran his hand over his head before looking up at her again. "I know you must be serious about this," he said and then a smile crept onto his face. "You only call me Jacob when it's serious."

Haley laughed a little, "this is serious."

"Ok," he said, "I'll think about it a little more. But really Haley, I think I'm gonna ask her."

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. This type of discomfort only surrounded them when they were talking about things like Nikki. That was pretty much the only thing they had ever disagreed about. Normally, they were on the same page about everything.

"She's coming with us tonight by the way."

Haley's eyes narrowed as she stared at him with disbelief. He knew that she wouldn't want her there, why would he invite her on their night out?

"Really, Jake?" Haley asked, "why?"

"Come on, Hales. She's only here for the weekend and I want to spend as much time as I can with her before she leaves."

"I can't stress enough how great it is that she lives in LA. At least that way I don't have to see her that often."

"Be nice," Jake said with a scolding tone. "She's coming with us tonight Haley and I want my to best girls to get along. She's not that bad! Trust me, if she were I wouldn't be with her."

"Yeah," Haley said, "whatever."

She poured the rest of her lemonade in the sink before walking out of her kitchen to her bedroom. They were going out that night and she had to get ready. And now that Nikki was coming along, well, her night was definitely going down the tubes. She still couldn't believe that he would invite her along? He knew they hated each other. Why would he want to create an uncomfortable situation?

She walked into her closet and looked through her dresses. She didn't feel like getting too dressed up. She picked out a tight, black and gray striped sweater dress. It hugged her in all the right places but it was also comfortable. She stripped off her jeans and t shirt and pulled on the dress. It stopped about mid thigh. Back in high school Haley would have never worn something so tight and short. But, over the years since she'd started working for Andrew, she learned to embrace a different side of herself.

She was looking through her shoes trying to find the right pair to complete her look when she heard her phone ringing from in her room. She walked out to where it was sitting on her bed and looked down at the screen. She saw Nathan flash across the screen and instantly her heart began to pound.

Her talk about marriage with Jake was the only thing that had kept Nathan off her mind in the past three days since their date. It was strange. Haley had never felt the way she did after a date with a guy. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized that it was completely insane. She wasn't allowed to feel anything for him. She wasn't even allowed to hate him. To her, he was just another case. Another name on a file. He wasn't allowed to become someone she would have feelings for.

She picked up the phone and hit the green button. "Hello."

"Ah," she heard from the other end. "So you are still alive."

Haley couldn't help the little laugh that had escaped her mouth. She had been avoiding Nathan's texts for the last couple of days. She hadn't planned on having anymore contact with him. Not like she had the other night. Her plan was to avoid him for a few days and then she would make her move. She would make plans with him that involved her going to his apartment. Then she would kill him. Right when he least excepted it. Just like she had done to Damien.

But, she was breaking her own rule and answering his phone call.

"Yes I am," she said, "I'm sorry I haven't been texting you back but I've been really busy with work."

It wasn't technically a lie. She'd been helping one of their newer agents train. It was something to do to keep her mind of Nathan.

"Oh I see, a workaholic."

"Exactly."

She heard Nathan clear his throat before asking. "Well what are you doing tonight? Do you wanna get some drinks or something?"

"I can't," she answered, "I'm going out with my friend and his girlfriend tonight."

There was silence on the other end of the line and she waited for him to say something else. "Oh," he said, "well what about tomorrow? Dinner?"

"Busy," she answered.

"Popular girl I guess," Nathan answered and she could hear the annoyed tone in his voice.

"I'm sorry," she said, "but what about next week, say Wednesday? I'll even let you cook me dinner."

"I'm not the best cook."

She smiled, "well that's ok. I can teach you."

She heard him chuckle before answering. "Alright, sounds like a plan. I'll text you my address later."

"Sounds good."

"See you then Haley."

"Bye Nathan."

Before he could say anymore she hit the end button on her phone. She turned around and saw Jake leaning against the doorframe to her room. He'd clearly been listening to her conversation. "What?" she asked and then grabbed her leather jacket off the end of her bed.

"Nothing," Jake said, "I mean, I know you like to do things your own way and everything but, don't you think you're becoming a little to close to him?"

"No," she said, "and you're right. I do like to do things my own way. Don't you worry about it."

She shrugged on her jacket as she walked past him and towards the door. She pet Lyla on the head once more before walking out of her apartment with Jake following behind her.


"Shot down."

Nathan turned his head and saw Owen sitting on his couch with a beer in his hand watching the TV in front of him. He'd been over for the past hour trying to convince Nathan to go out to the clubs with him. He told him he needed a wingman and of course that would be Nathan. But he really wasn't feeling it. He couldn't keep his mind off Haley and he thought maybe he would get a chance to see her. That was the point in the phone call. But she turned him down.

"Shut up."

Owen laughed again and shook his head.

Nathan tried to clear his head of any thoughts of her. He'd be seeing her Wednesday and that was enough for him. He didn't need to worry about her now. But still, even though he kept telling himself that he couldn't help it. He kept telling himself that he needed to just end this case. Then she wouldn't be in his head anymore. She would be gone and he would have nothing to think about.

"Well now that you're not doing anything," Owen began, "can we go out?"

"Can you stop saying it like you're asking me on a date?" Nathan asked as he grabbed a beer from his fridge.

"Funny," Owen said as he stood up and walked over to the kitchen. "But seriously, watching you sulk over being rejected is a buzz kill."

"Fine," Nathan said, "and just so you know, I wasn't rejected. I'm seeing her Wednesday. And also, it's not like she's my girlfriend, or even someone I want to become my girlfriend. She's just a case."

"Whatever you need to tell yourself. I mean I've seen her picture, Man. She is hot. I'd want that too."

Nathan rolled his eyes. For some reason hearing Owen talk about her like that didn't exactly sit well with him. But, he shook his head and ignored the comment before placing his beer back in the fridge. Maybe if he got out of his apartment, away from all the files he had on Haley, then he could finally clear his head. Maybe he could find a different girl for the night. Someone to really get his mind off of Haley James.

Nathan grabbed a black jacket from a coat rack by the door and slipped it on over his dark blue and white plaid shirt. He zipped it up before walking back into the kitchen and opening a bottom cupboard. He grabbed food for Max before filling his bowl. By the time he'd poured the food into the bowl, Max was already in the kitchen waiting to eat. He finished feeding him before walking towards the door where Owen was still waiting.

They made their way out of his building and into a cab. They sat in the back in silence as they waited for the driver to drop them off at the address that Owen had given him. When they stopped Nathan looked out the window at the club. It wasn't one he'd ever been to before. It looked like a giant warehouse.

They stepped out of the cab and walked towards the large building. The door was a giant sliding metal door that stretched the span of the side of the building. It was left open for people to come and go as they pleased. The music thudded loudly and Nathan could feel the beat moving around them.

The place was packed as they pushed their way through the throngs of people and towards a table in the back of the club. The large building was filled completely. In the middle of the club sat a DJ booth and Nathan glanced up at the DJ who was busy creating new beats for the club goers to dance to. Lights flashed quickly on and off changing color every few seconds. They went from red to pink then purple to blue to green then over again.

Nathan quickly located the bar once they'd found an empty table in the back. He shrugged off his jacket and then made his way towards the bar. Owen had already gone off to find someone to dance with for the night and he wasn't sure if he would be seeing him anymore that night. He wasn't sure how he'd managed to convince him to go with him tonight. Obviously, Owen was fine on his own.

When he made it to the bar he had to push his way through groups of people to get to the counter. When he finally did he managed to get his order for a beer heard over the loud music. While he waited he looked to his right and farther down the bar he saw her. Her hair was straight and it hung well past her shoulders. Her dress fit her well and it showed off all over her curves. He looked down at her legs and he noticed her tapping her high heeled foot to the beat of the music playing.

She looked even more beautiful than the last time he saw her. And her beauty was so effortless. She was just standing there, doing nothing and she was gorgeous.

When his beer was placed in front of him he thanked the bartender before making his way closer to her. She was staring off blankly and she hadn't even noticed him yet. He was soon just inches from her. He placed his hand on her back and felt her jump slightly before he leaned in and whispered in her ear. "I didn't mean to scare you."

The second Haley felt his breath on her neck and heard his voice she couldn't help the shiver that ran up her spine and the goose bumps that landed on her skin. He somehow had that effect on her. She didn't even need to turn her head and look at him to know it was him standing behind her.

"Well you did," she whispered back into his ear after she'd managed to turn around and face him.

Tonight he looked different. Less like he was trying so hard to impress her with his looks and the expensive brands he wore. The simple plaid shirt fit him to perfection and she took the time to take in the look of him in front of her. The fabric of his shirt stretched over the muscles of his arms and again across his chest. He wore a simple white t shirt under it and a pair of jeans with sneakers on his feet. She wasn't sure who could really look good in the harsh lights of the club that strobed over head, but somehow he managed it. She had a feeling he was the type of guy that could look good in any situation.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, "but I'm not sorry that I saw you here."

Strangely, she was glad that he was here. To say that she was having an awful time with Jake and Nikki would be an understatement. She and Nikki had been doing nothing but insulting one another since they saw each other. Jake, of course was stuck in the middle of the fight between his best friend and his girlfriend. Haley felt bad for a minute, until she remembered that Jake was the one who had put them in this situation. Instead of arguing anymore with Nikki, Haley had opted to spend her night at the bar with her good friend, vodka.

"I am too," Haley replied. "Really glad actually."

Nathan smiled as he continued to watch her. The song that had been playing ended before a new one started up. He had never heard it, it was some sort of dubstep song that he wouldn't have ever listened to, but when it started he watched Haley's eyes light up a bit. "I love this song," she said over the loud music. "Well," she began again, "I love the original, this is the remix."

He smiled before giving her his hand, "come dance with me."

She took his offered hand before walking farther out into the sea of people. Soon she felt his hands grab her hips before pulling her body back against his. She took the initiative and began to sway her body to the beat of the song. Lights by Ellie Goulding had been one of her favorites from the first time she heard it.

Being in Nathan's arms again felt right. Kissing him had felt right. But it was wrong. It was all so wrong. She would be killing him in a few days so she could begin to have any feelings of the sort. But in that moment, with this song playing, with his firm hold on her and with a little help from the vodka she'd had earlier, her mind was clouded from any thought that told her it was wrong.

Nathan looked down and watched as her lips moved and he realized she was singing the words of the song. He couldn't help but smile. Everything she did was beautiful. They continued to dance, her body feeling perfect against his, yet again. He brought up one of his hands and pushed her hair away from her neck before leaning down and places kisses along the column of her neck. She smelled so sweet and he wanted nothing more than to be able to take her, right then and there. He didn't care who was watching.

She turned around and her lips met his. He instantly cupped both her cheeks in his hands and deepened their kiss. He felt her tongue begging for entrance to his mouth and he instantly granted it. He only pulled away when air became a necessity. He grabbed her by the hand and led her toward the door of the club and out the front. He walked them around the building and when he reached a spot that was free of people he gently pushed her back up against the wall.

She didn't care that they were outside a crowded nightclub, she didn't care that it was snowing out and it was freezing, she didn't care that she was supposed to kill him. All she cared about was that he didn't stop kissing her.

Nathan stared into her eyes and he felt like he could never look away. His hand was cupping her cheek again and his thumb ran over her bottom lip before he leaned down and took it gently between his teeth causing a moan to fall from her lips. Soon he was kissing her again and she was sure that was a feeling she could easily become addicted to.

His lips parted from hers again only to move down to the neck once more. "I've been thinking about kissing you since the other night," he mumbled against her skin. She leaned her head back against the brick of the building behind them as she let herself be taken away by the feelings he was causing. "I can't think of anything but you."

Her eyes snapped shut as he kissed her lips again. She felt his hands run down the side of her body. They ran from her sides around to her back and she arched her body more into his. Her arms were wrapped around him, one hand gripping his hair tightly, the other running down the muscles of his back over the fabric of his shirt. "I can't either," she mumbled against his lips.

They pulled away from each other again to get more air. His hands continued to run over her body. He noticed the goose bumps on her body, but he wasn't sure if it was from the temperature, or from his hands. He rested his forehead against hers while they both panted. He let his eyes travel down to her kiss swollen lips and he couldn't help but lean in again and kiss them. He could have kissed those lips forever and been very happy.

"I wanna see you tomorrow," he whispered as he moved to take her earlobe between his teeth. He felt her shiver again and he couldn't help but smirk. He knew, that was because of him.

"Can I?" he asked a moment later before placing a lingering kiss on her cheek.

Her mind was completely fogged thoughts of his kisses. She couldn't form a coherent sentence, so all she could do was nod.

Before she knew it he was back to kissing her lips. His tongue parted her lips and she felt it meet hers. They played softly and she knew that all the kisses they shared tonight were better than the one they'd had before. And that surprised her.

"Haley."

Nathan and Haley were broken apart by the sound of a harsh voice. Haley turned her head and saw Jake standing a few feet away from them. Nikki, of course was standing behind him with a smirk on her face. Haley wanted to yell in frustration at the sight of her best friend.

Nathan recognized him instantly. He was Andrew's son Jake. He'd seen him in many pictures with Haley. Nathan always assumed that there was something going on between them, but now it made sense. This was the friend she'd talked about on the phone earlier. But that really didn't matter right now. Nathan was too pissed to care who this guy was. All he wanted to do was tell him to fuck off.

"Jake-" Haley began but she was cut off.

"We're leaving," Jake said as he took a step closer to them. He reached for Haley's arm and pulled her away from Nathan. "Come on," he said as he handed her jacket.

Nathan wanted to say something, anything that might keep her from leaving with him. But he didn't know what to say. He felt like he'd just been caught making out by his girlfriend's father. And now, all he felt was anger. He watched her being taken away from him. He watched as Jake ushered her into a cab and then she was gone.

He yelled out in frustration before slamming his fist into the brick of the building beside him. "Fuck!" he yelled in anger. The sting of the intense pain didn't even seem to bother him at the moment. The only thing that bothered him was the fact that he'd let himself get carried away with her yet again. One thing was incredibly clear, he needed to end this. And soon.

So I hope ya'll like this! I'm sorry if these chapters seem kinda boring, I'm trying to give more background information on Nathan and Haley. But I would really love to know what you think about this!

Also the song for this chapter is Lights by Ellie Goulding. It's great, listen to it if you haven't.