Season on the Brink
Thanks again for the great reviews. Like I told you guys before, what you think, and the suggestions that you give me, are really important to me. While I have a rough outline of the story already established, I'm still not sure who Lucas is going to end up with. I know some of you are Brucas fans, others favor Leyton. All I can tell you at this point is that I'm going to try to pay as much respect to both relationships as I do to Naley. But it's important that you know how important your reviews are to me - the views that you express could very easily sway the outcome of the story, so keep 'em coming!
Oh, and for my fellow Naley-ites: The explanation for the big break-up is coming - I don't like to give anything away, but the answers you've all been waiting for will be given very soon.
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Nathan checked his watch and rolled his eyes. With his first game later that night, he didn't really have time to head to the tutor center. But after taking Haley home a few days earlier, his mind was in overdrive. If he was going to get her back, this is where he had to start. And he had to start now.
He saw her sitting in the back corner, distractedly packing her books after a session. "You off duty?" he asked casually.
Haley looked up, her face dropping at the site of him. "Um, yeah," she nodded, hitching her bag over her shoulder. "I am. So I guess I'll talk to you later."
Reaching out, he grasped her hand and immediately felt the spark at the contact. "Haley, can you just stop?"
"Stop what?" she asked, refusing to meet his eye as she stared at the floor.
"Blowing me off. Ignoring me," he pleaded, softly taking her chin in his hand and turning her face to his. "Just hear me out, okay?" When she didn't protest, he tightened his grip on her hand and chose his words carefully. "My grades kinda went down the toilet at the end of last year." She shifted uncomfortably. "I'm not saying it was because of you."
"Except that it was," Haley interrupted. "It was, wasn't it?"
He had known, when he was laying in his bed concocting the plan, that guilt would be his best road in with her. She still cared about him - she had said that when she left. He could use that to his advantage. Except that now he was holding her hand, looking into her soulful eyes, and he couldn't do it. He couldn't use her own feelings against her.
"Look, Haley, it doesn't matter why it happened, okay? And what happened with us? That's whatever it was. Right now, I just need to make sure I keep my grades up enough to stay eligible to play ball." And if I get to spend more time with you in the process, that's a bonus I will happily take.
Staring into his blue orbs, Haley felt her heart breaking all over again. She had broken up with him for a reason, but for the life of her, she couldn't remember what it was in that moment. "Nathan," she started, sub-consciously taking a step toward him. "There are a lot of other tutors that could help you."
"You are the only one who makes everything make sense to me, Hales," he said, referring to so much more than homework.
She wanted to say 'yes' so badly, but knew exactly what it would mean if she did. It would reopen a million old wounds, ones she wasn't ready to deal with just yet. Even so, she couldn't bring herself to say 'no' either. "Can I think about it?"
While he wasn't about to give up on her that easily, Nathan knew Haley well enough to know when to push and when to back off. With a shrug, he let his shoulders sag. "Alright," he conceded. "Um, I'll see you around."
"Yeah," she nodded, brushing past him and hurrying from the room before the tears had a chance to fall.
"Woah, Haley, what's goin' on?" Brooke asked as she collided with her friend in the hallway. When Haley kept walking, Brooke turned on her heel and fell in step. "Okay, stop."
With Brooke's hands on her shoulders, Haley ran her fingers through her hair. "Nathan just asked me to tutor him," she whispered.
Though no one knew the real reason that Haley had ended things with Nathan, Brooke was closest to the truth. The unexpected friendship that she had developed with her one-time nemesis was inexplicable, even to them, but it was undeniable.
"Haley, that's awesome!" Brooke bubbled, hugging her friend impulsively. "I mean, that's the first chapter in the Naley story, right?"
"I told him I would think about it," Haley admitted.
"What?" With a stomp and a pout, Brook hitched her back pack over her shoulder and pitched a temper tantrum of sorts. "What's to think about? Haley, it's like fate is standing on your door step. It's telling you that you and Nathan belong together by delivering him to you just like it did the first time. You can't just walk away from it again. It's a sign!"
"Whoah," Haley held up a hand and started walking toward the doors again. "We are switching you to decaf, first of all," she smiled slightly. "And nothing has changed, Brooke. Nathan and I are still headed in two different directions."
She had known, for months now, that there was more to the story than Haley was telling her. But she didn't care - they were Naley. They needed each other. And if Haley was holding back, there was a reason for it.
"Haley, what's the real story of what happened back then?"
Turning toward her friend as they entered the parking lot, Haley shifted her back from her right shoulder to her left. "It's complicated, Brooke," she started.
Checking her watch, Brooke took her friend's hand and led her to the car. "We have three hours until we have to be back for the game. I think we can untangle it over some pie at Karen's."
"Okay," Haley agreed reluctantly. "But then you're going to tell me what's up with all these secret meetings you've been having with Lucas lately."
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"Look at my girlfriend," Lucas smiled as he walked through Peyton's bedroom door as she prepped for the game in front of her full-length mirror.
Her shoulders stiff, she blotted her lipstick with her finger and refused to look at him. "Oh, is Brooke here?"
Lucas took the hit in stride and lowered himself to the bed. "Come here, Peyton," he said, holding his hand out. When she didn't turn, he stood and walked to her, his hands on both of her shoulders. "Look at me."
"I am," she said, her jaw set as she met his eyes in the reflection.
"Look," he started, afraid of saying too much, or not enough, "I know I haven't been very, um, available lately. But you gotta know that a part of me feels really guilty for what we did to Brooke still."
Relaxing her stance, Peyton turned and rested her hands on his waist. "I know, Luke. I still feel guilty, too." Stepping away, she moved to the bed and sank into the plush mattress. "But we decided, together, that we wanted this. I thought we did, anyway. I thought we wanted us."
Her eyes were sad, so much like a lost puppy, that Lucas couldn't help going to her. Climbing onto the bed, he sat behind her and pulled her into his arms. "I do want us, Peyton. The other day, after practice, Brooke told me that she needed to know I wasn't the kind of guy that would hurt her on purpose. That she needed to believe I was a good guy who made a bad choice."
Peyton shifted slightly, touching his face with her palm. "You are a good guy, Lucas. Neither of us wanted to hurt Brooke. Sometimes," she started.
"Things just happen?" he finished, remembering the conversation he'd had with Brooke that day in the parking lot.
Peyton nodded, smiling slightly when Lucas's lips covered hers. These were the moments that numbed the guilt, the times when she knew that she was in the right place, and that time would take care of any of the heartache that being with him had caused. When he kissed her, she felt like any "bad" thing they had done to get here was justifiable.
"So," Lucas pulled back and stroked the side of her face gently. "You ready to cheer me on to victory?"
She allowed him to pull her to her feet as she grabbed her pom poms from the bed. "Hope so," she said. "If your coach lets us into the gym to cheer."
"Come on," Lucas laughed, stopping at the bottom of the stairs to kiss her quickly. "Can you really blame her for wanting a couple of super-hot basketball studs like the Scott brothers to herself?"
"Um," Peyton stopped, laughing as she rolled her eyes. "Luke," she sighed and put a hand on his cheek. "You know I love ya, but please don't ever say that again."
