A/N: I'm sorry I have been bad and haven't updated in a long time. On the plus side I will have another update for you guys by Friday or Saturday. Thank you for all the reviews! Please keep reviewing.
There is one part in this chapter where Haley thinks about what Brooke said about Nathan, that specific scene is actually in Chapter 1 in case any of you want to go back to it.
I hope you enjoy it! Please review.
Chapter 7: Athletic Broken Type of Boy
Haley sighed happily, it was a week and a half later from the party and nothing weird had happened since. In actual fact life seemed to be getting back to normal. No dangerous encounters, no awkward moments and no more questions from Brooke. She was going through the motions with university like she was used to. She was on her way to her last lecture for the day and then after that she had some free time before she had to be at cheer leading practice. She entered her venue and went to take a seat. She was busy rummaging through her bag for a pen when Lucas sat down next to her.
'Hey Lucas,' she said happily. Lectures were a rare time these days, when she could see Lucas alone. Every other moment he was always with Brooke. The two were happy, to the point where you had to limit how much time you could spend around them.
'Hey,' he grinned back. 'How boring do you think today's lecture is going to be?' he asked her seriously and checked his phone.
'Scale of one to ten,' Haley began and sighed, 'With one being not boring at all…probably a twelve.' Lucas groaned, him and Haley had taken a marketing class as filler, while the subject itself wasn't bad the lecturer had a voice and teaching style that could put you to sleep within five minutes. Lucas settled into his chair.
'Maybe I should go meet Brooke rather,' he said and Haley laughed.
'That I'm sure would be more interesting,' Haley said and then turned to face him seriously. 'But probably won't help you pass the class.'
'Thank you, Haley,' Lucas said grumpily and folded his arms.
'What? It's true,' she gave a small chuckle again. 'I take it things between the two of you are going well?' she asked him a moment later. He turned to her.
'Very,' he grinned at Haley. 'What does she say about me?' Haley's eye brows rose and her smile widened.
'Girls code, Lucas, I can't tell you that.' Haley stated in a joking manner.
'Oh come on!'
'All good things, I swear,' Haley said and then laughed again. Lucas was about to press her for more details when the lecturer entered the venue. Haley couldn't stop smiling all she could think about was how normal and good things were these days. Besides her best friends dating, it was like nothing odd had happened these past few weeks at all.
Haley took the last sip of her water and threw the bottle away. After her lecture with Luke had ended they had gone their separate ways. He was off to basketball practice and Haley had gone off to find a book from the library and change for cheer leading practice. She was busy walking to the gym now, she knew she was going to be a bit early but that didn't bother her. The boys would be done with practice already so she could just spend some quiet time alone. Maybe read a bit of the book she had in her bag. She arrived at the gym and pushed open the door. As soon as she entered she froze. There was yelling going on in the gym she looked across the room and spotted Nathan and his dad, Dan. Nathan looked frustrated and had his hands clenched into fists at his side. The two were awfully close and the tension between them was apparent. She inwardly groaned. To say she disliked Dan was an understatement, he was also Lucas's Dad and all he ever did was make his life hell and she had been there to see it all. Lucas had managed to firmly isolate Dan from his life in all ways, so these days Haley didn't really experience much of Dan's ability to make everything well shit. She was about to turn around and leave when Dan stormed to the door on the opposite side of the court opened it, walked out and then let it slam shut. She watched as Nathan ran a hand through his hair and then punch the nearest wall not once but twice.
'Nathan!'Haley exclaimed loudly before she realised she had even said it. He turned around and stared at her from across the room. The anger on his face was apparent. Haley shifted for a second awkwardly and then began walking over to him. 'What are you doing?!' she exclaimed when she reached him and took a hold of his hand. It was bleeding quite badly.
'I'm fine, Hales.' Nathan said firmly and she stared up at him. She almost laughed, he was anything but fine.
'Come on,' she said and dragged him over to a bench. She motioned for him to sit down. 'I'll be back in a second.' Haley quickly left and went into the boys locker room, she knew where their coach kept a first aid kit. She found it quickly and went back to Nathan, who she was kind of surprised to see was still sitting there. She figured he might have taken the opportunity to leave, she sat down and straddled the bench, placing the first aid kit in front of her. Nathan followed suit and readjusted his position so that he was facing her. He stared at Haley and could clearly see the concern on her face. What he didn't know was whether it was for him or just his hand? He watched as Haley opened the kit and took out some cotton and disinfectant. She put some disinfectant on the cotton and then looked at Nathan. He put his arm out for her and she gently took a hold of his hand.
'This is probably going to sting,' she said seriously and then began cleaning it. Nathan didn't make a sound though. She spent a good five minutes getting his hand all cleaned up all the while neither of them said anything. When she finally looked back up she noted how he seemed to have calmed down a bit.
'What was all that about?' she asked him softly. She heard him exhale in frustration.
'My dad,' he finally said and there was an edge to his voice. 'You wouldn't understand.' He added in and then after another frustrated sigh he asked, 'are you almost done?' Haley paused and looked up at him and considered him for a moment.
'Yes,' she said firmly and suppressed the little part of her that wanted to snap at him. She unrolled some bandage and began wrapping Nathan's hand. Then she scoffed, something which Nathan noticed.
'What?' he asked her suddenly. She didn't look up at him but gently kept bandaging his hand.
'I do understand,' she began. She was almost done with his hand but she paused for a second though and looked at Nathan. 'I was there when Lucas dealt with Dan. I saw the effects. I've seen Luke punch things because of him. I helped him through it all.' She said in a matter of fact way and held his gaze for a few more seconds. She then returned to his hand and put some tape on the bandage to keep it in place. 'All done but you need to go put on ice it immediately to stop the swelling.' She said and she watched as Nathan seemed for the first time to actually notice his hand. After a few more seconds she finally let his hand go, she didn't know why she was still holding it after it was all wrapped up. He gingerly took a hold of it with his other hand and stared down at it. In the back of his mind he was vaguely aware of the thought that he liked Haley holding his hand.
'Thanks,' he said and finally looked back at Haley. She nodded. The funny thing was that neither of them moved yet. 'I never thought of that,' he said after a few moments of silence.
'What?' Haley asked while packing up the first aid kit.
'That Lucas would have dealt with Dan too,' he paused and caught hold of her gaze. 'And that you would have seen it all.' Haley shrugged.
'It's hard to consider outside situations, when you have your own to deal with,' Haley said calmly. 'I do know one thing though,' she added and pointed to Nathan's hand, 'talking about it is a better way of dealing with Dan than punching a wall. Something Luke had to have pointed out to him too.' This she said firmly and watched as Nathan considered her with an expression she couldn't quite discern.
'I'm not one for words,' Nathan replied and shifted a bit. He was surprised when Haley laughed, she then smiled at him.
'I'm sure that personality trait comes in handy with the girls,' she winked at him and laughed again. Nathan shook his head and she could vaguely see a small smile come across his face. 'You know Brooke was right about you,' Nathan tilted his head.
'What do you mean?' Haley just smiled at him and thought back to a conversation where she asked Brooke why she was interested in Lucas and not Nathan. She had mentioned how she preferred the artistic- broody- kind -of –boy meaning Lucas as opposed to the athletic- broken- type- of boy which she classified Nathan as. She hadn't really understood what Brooke had meant by it then but staring at Nathan now she could clearly the see the athletic-broken-type of boy his Dad seem to bring out in him. Something you would never guess from afar while watching his happy outgoing nature. She figured telling him this probably wasn't the best idea.
'Just something she said,' she paused and looked at him seriously. 'Speaking of Brooke she would probably be a good person to tell these things too. She's been your friend for years, she has your back.' Nathan considered this and he knew Haley was right. Brooke had had his back for years. Throughout high school she would always be there if he needed it. Although their friendship involved a lot of partying, drinking and having fun the girl had a solid heart and messed up family. Something they found they also had in common and something which actually made them closer. If ever they needed an escape the other was always there with something fun planned in mind. He thought of Brooke now and how happy she was and giddy with Lucas.
'You're right, but she's really happy right now, I don't want to dampen her mood.' Nathan stated and Haley could tell he really meant it. She sighed and then folded her arms.
'Look, Nathan, I'm giving you options here either you tell Brooke or you tell me. But you need to tell someone because if you keep punching walls you won't be able to throw any balls around anymore.' Nathan was a bit taken aback no one was ever really that blunt with him.
'Fine,' he said and stayed silent. Haley nodded interpreting his silence to mean he would talk to Brooke. She then began to stand up. 'Where are you going?' Nathan asked her and she paused with her leg already swung over the bench.
'To stretch…' she said uncertainly. 'I figured the 'fine' meant you were going to tell Brooke.' He shook his head and before Haley could even sit properly down Nathan began talking.
'I'm here on an athletic scholarship which is fantastic because it means I don't need to rely on my Dad for anything,' Nathan paused and looked down at the bench. 'But he came to inform today that if marks don't improve he will happily talk to the Dean and take over paying for my fees and I can then move back home. I cannot handle that house anymore. If he makes me go back I won't be able to escape again.'
'What are you marks like?' Haley asked him. Nathan actually laughed now.
'That is the biggest joke of all, they are actually ok and in terms of the university standards they are good enough to maintain the scholarship. Apparently they aren't up to Dan's standards though and if they don't improve he will take it upon himself to remove me from this 'unhealthy environment' as he puts it. It's just a way for him to gain control of my life once again.' Haley looked shocked.
'So let me get this straight? Your marks actually good enough for you to keep the scholarship but Dan wants them improved? Not the university? So that he can buy his way back into your life and force you to move back in with him?' Nathan nodded when Haley finished talking. He could see anger flash across her face and she shook her head. 'That's just bloody unbelievable! I forgot how much I disliked Dan! He tried something similar with Luke in high school,' she looked back at Nathan and she was surprised to see how amused he looked. 'What?' she asked him.
'It's just, Hales, you look almost as angry as I was,' he paused and smiled, 'and thank you for not giving me the whole 'it will all work out' speech. I hate it.' She gave a small chuckle.
'It will all work out,' she said and watched as Nathan grinned. 'There is someone I think that could help with this.' Then she stood up and Nathan looked up at her with a curious expression on his face. 'But you need to go ice that hand first and I will find you when I have the details.' She was so firm in her statement that Nathan didn't push for details. He stood up and went to stand in front of her and then took a step closer to her. Suddenly once again he looked at Haley and felt drawn to her in a way that previously wasn't there. He pushed the thoughts back though.
'Thank you, Hales.' She nodded and watched him there was suddenly an intensity between them that wasn't there before. Feeling a bit unsettled she took a step back. 'Go ice that hand.'
A/N: Short chapter but needed.
