Chapter 8

Not being able to sleep at all, Haley decided it was finally time to just stop trying and get out of bed. It was almost seven in the morning on a Sunday and Lucas, Karen, and Keith were all still sleeping. She had been awake for pretty much the whole night thinking about everything that had happened between her and Nathan. The more thought she gave it, the more clear it became that giving him an apology wasn't necessary. Sure, she understood and was accepting his reasoning for disregarding her feelings, but he was still in the wrong.

Sighing tiredly, Haley rolled out of her bed and padded quietly down to the kitchen. She poured herself a bowl of cereal and stuck her ear buds in. Music had always had a calming effect on her, especially in stressful or confusing situations. As she finished up her breakfast she decided a walk might help clear her head a little bit.

Haley rinsed her bowl in the sink and put it in the dishwasher. She walked back up to her room just as quietly as she had come, making sure to avoid all the creaking floor boards. She changed quickly into a pair of jeans and a loose fitting t-shirt. After putting her hair up into a messy bun she started to the front door.

Haley froze in her spot when she turned around after closing the door behind her. Nathan was standing on the sidewalk throwing small rocks at one of the second floor windows. When she glanced at his targeted window she laughed under her breath, he was throwing rocks at Karen and Keith's bedroom window. She shook her head and walked over to him.

"Trying to wake my aunt and uncle? You should know by now that that's their room," she said.

Nathan gazed at her looking apologetic. He dropped the pebbles in his hands and turned to fully face her. He walked a few steps so that they were face to face. "I was aiming for your room."

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to tell you how sorry I am for everything. Look, Haley, I screw up a lot... and being around you, I just, I don't wanna be that guy anymore."

"Who do you wanna be then, Nathan?" she asked annoyed.

"I wanna be someone that's good enough to be seen with you," he replied sincerely.

Haley sighed and tried to shake off the effect if his words on her. "You know, I know we've only known each other for a couple weeks, but I keep, I keep putting myself out there, and you keep blowing it! It's probably a good thing because at this point there's nothing you could say or do that's gonna surprise me-"

Haley's rant was cut off by Nathan's lips on hers. The kiss only lasted a few seconds. Really, it was over before it even started and Haley was so shocked that it took her a few seconds later to register that it had actually just happened. She opened her eyes and looked into Nathan's eyes. "Except that," she finished her speech. "You shouldn't have done that, Nathan."

"I wanted to," he assured.

"Yeah..." Haley said still dumbfounded. A large part of her really wanted to kiss Nathan again, but she knew she couldn't let herself do that. "What is this supposed to mean, Nathan?"

"I'll be honest, I don't expect kissing you to make everything better all of a sudden, but I do want to fix things."

"Why, though Nathan? Why is it so important to you for us to be on good terms? We've only known each other for two weeks; it shouldn't matter to you at all!"

"Yeah, I know we've only known each other for two weeks, but I already have feelings for you, Haley!" he admitted. "That's why I did what I did with Rachel. I was confused about what was going on with me after talking to you on the beach. I got drunk and thought hooking up the with easiest person I could find would make my feelings go away. But it didn't; in fact, it made them ten times more obvious to me. Then last night at dinner when Tim assumed we were on a date, I denied it so quickly because I was afraid of what you're reaction would be to it. I know now that it was the wrong move, and I'm really sorry for all of it."

Haley stared at him in silence for a few moments. "Haley, say something."

Haley unexpectedly leapt at Nathan and captured his lips with her own. Their lips moved over one another's for a minute before they pulled away and Nathan searched her eyes. "I'm still mad at you, but I can't help but become more aware of my feelings for you too."

Nathan smiled happily at her. "So what are we gonna do then?"

"Let's just take it slow and see where it goes from there, okay?"

"Okay," Nathan said. "How about we do something fun today? With everyone."

"That sounds nice," Haley confirmed with a smile. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't know, I was thinking maybe mini golfing?" he suggested.

"Mini golfing it is," Haley said and kissed his cheek lightly. It was gonna take a long time for her to get used to having a romantic relationship with Nathan. She cocked her head in the direction of her front door. "Come inside, I'll make you some breakfast."

Nathan joined hands with the petite girl and allowed her to lead to the house and into the kitchen. "So does this mean I can call you my girlfriend?" he asked.

"If you want to," she said coyly. "Just don't forget we're taking this slow, okay? I don't want to get hurt again."

"I know. I'm not going to hurt you again, Hales." he assured her and wrapped his arms around her waist loosely. Nathan nuzzled Haley's neck and breathed her in. "The last thing I ever want to do again is hurt you like I've managed to already."

He felt Haley nod and he pulled her in a little closer to him. Pulling away slightly, he planted a sweet kiss on her cheek and offered a smile.

"Whoa, I so do not need to see PDA this early in the morning," Lucas' voice broke in.

Startled, the new couple sprang away from each other and looked over at Lucas who was chuckling in the doorway. "So I guess this means dinner last night went really well?"

Nathan grimaced and glanced at Haley quickly."Not even close, man."

Lucas arched a curious brow. "What happened then?" he asked, looking back and forth between his happy friend and cousin.

"Dinner turned out to be a disaster."

"Nathan had enough common sense to show up and try to apologize this morning. I haven't quite forgiven him yet, but it's a start."

Lucas still looked confused. "So why are you two acting so... coupley?"

"I was kind of rambling on and Nathan kissed me out of nowhere. He told me he has feelings for me and I told him I do too. We're dating, but taking it really slow," Haley explained nervously to her over protective cousin.

Lucas immediately busted out laughing. "That's a joke, right?"

"No man, it isn't," Nathan said annoyed.

Lucas sobered up a looked hardly at them. "Okay. I guess I'll have to get used to it then, but if you make one wrong move, I'll kick your ass."

"Lucas!" Haley reprimanded and he shrugged.

""It's the truth. I'm happy for you guys though."

Haley smiled softly at her cousin. She hugged him quickly before returning to Nathan's side. "We wanted to go mini golfing today with everyone to just have some fun."

"Yeah, I'm in. That sounds really good actually."

Haley eyed Lucas carefully. She was just noticing that he looked upset over something. "Did something happen last night?"

Lucas sighed and pulled out a chair at the kitchen table. He sat down and Haley and Nathan did the same. "Brooke and I kind of got into a bit of a fight."

"About what?"

"She said she wants to date," Lucas said.

"Luke, that's great! Isn't that what you want?"

"She said she wants to date, but non-exclusively. Basically, be friends with benefits. I want more than that with Brooke though. So I said no and she got mad at me because she wants to do that so we don't ruin our friendship or something."

Haley frowned. "I'm sorry, Lucas. You guys will work it out though."

"Yeah, I told her I wanted a real relationship. Hopefully she'll come to her senses and want that for us too."

She nodded sympathetically. "Do you want us to not invite Brooke today then?"

"No, it's fine. It might even do some good to just have some fun with each other."

"If you're sure," Haley said and sat back in her seat. Nathan wrapped an arm around her shoulders and allowed her to lean her head on his shoulder tiredly. She yawned and both boys laughed. The trio heard two more sets of footsteps walking down the stairs and watch Karen and Keith offer smiles to all of them when they entered the room.

"Good morning, kids."

"Morning," they all replied.

Karen and Keith both glanced at Nathan's arm wrapped around Haley that was toying idly with her hair. Although Karen had warned Haley about Nathan, she wasn't all that surprised that they seemed to have gotten together. She could tell just by looking at the way Nathan was gazing at her niece that Haley was different for him. They both seemed really content in each other's presence. She smiled; her niece was finally starting to be happy in Tree Hill. She offered to make breakfast for everyone, to which all the boys gladly accepted.

The group spent the rest of the morning sitting around the kitchen table eating breakfast and having light, laughter filled conversation. When noon rolled around, Nathan, Lucas, and Haley left to meet their friends at the local mini golf course.


The trio were the last of the group to arrive. Julian, Peyton, and Brooke were all standing at Peyton's car waiting for them. Tim was hanging out with Bevin and opted not to join them; probably not realizing Nathan would be there.

Haley and Nathan walked over to them hand in hand with Lucas trailing behind trying to avoid contact with Brooke. Their three friends' eyes looked questioningly at Nathan and Haley's joined hands but none of them voiced their confusion. It was clear through the awkward silence that fell upon them that the whole group knew about Brooke and Lucas' fight.

"So, everyone ready for some mini golf?" Julian said excitedly as an attempt to diffuse some of the tension.

"I am!" Haley said in the same excited tone, catching onto his attempt.

Julian smiled and winked at her. He turned and draped an arm loosely around Peyton's shoulders as the group began walking to the entrance. They each paid and grabbed a suitable club and chose their ball colour. With the scorecard in Nathan's hand, they proceeded to the first hole.

"Alright, what order are we gonna go in?"

They all shrugged. "It doesn't really matter. We could go girl, boy?"

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Peyton agreed.

"Okay, so Peyton you can go first, then Julian, Haley, me, Brooke, and Lucas?" he said and looked to his friends for confirmation. Brooke and Lucas looked a little uneasy still but the other three all agreed to it and Nathan wrote their names down in that order.

"You're up then, Peyton."

Peyton stepped onto the green turf and situated her ball right where she wanted it. She stood behind it and lined up the shot she wanted to take. After taking a few practice swings, she hit her ball and watched it sail towards the hole and keep going well past it. It finally came to halt in a sand trap a couple metres from her intended destination. She frowned and turned to face her friends who were all laughing hysterically at her failure. She stuck her tongue out at them and proudly marched over to where her ball was sitting.

One by one, the rest of the group lined up their shot. Some had success and some didn't, but it was clear Peyton was going to come in last place without any competition.

"Hole number ten, Julian announced. "Do you guys wanna take a break, sit down and eat something then finish the back nine?"

"Yeah, I'm getting kind of hungry."

"So, why don't Lucas, Nathan, and I go get the food and you three can go sit at that picnic table over there," he suggested while pointing at a table not too far from them.

The girls agreed and they split into two groups. "Alright Haley, spill," Brooke said when they made it to the nicely shaded area.

"Spill what?"

Brooke looked at her like Haley had grown two heads. "What's going on between you and Nathan?"

Despite her best effort not to, Haley smiled at the mention of her boyfriend. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Bullshit! As soon as I even mention his name you start smiling like an idiot, now spill girl."

"What do you want to know," Haley conceded.

"What the hell is going on between you two? You guys have been acting really weird since you got here," Peyton spoke up.

Haley looked around her to make sure the boys weren't coming back. "You promise you won't tell anyone?" Both girls nodded and Haley immediately dove into the events that had transpired between her and Nathan, starting with the beach conversation and ending with this morning. "So now, we're dating, but taking it really slow."

Brooke and Peyton looked at her in shock. "That wasn't what I was expecting."

Haley laughed. "I know. And now that I've spilled the beans, what about you Brooke?"

"What about me?"

"Care to explain the fight you and Lucas got into last night? I don't know how you're feeling about it, but Lucas was really torn up over it this morning at breakfast."

"He should be. It was his fault we started fighting."

Haley cocked an eyebrow, clearly showing her disbelief and Brooke sighed. "We both know we have feelings for each other so I suggested dating non-exclusively and see other people at the same time. I don't want to start dating and have it ruin our friendship. But as soon as I said non-exclusive, Lucas freaked out and got angry and then started getting mad too."

Peyton rolled her eyes. "It's so obvious that you more than like each other, Davis. I don't blame Luke for getting mad. He knows what he wants and you're just too scared to admit that that's what you want too."

"I'm not scared to admit it's what I want, I'm scared of what might happen if it ends."

"Brooke, you can't be afraid of something that may or may not even happen. Take a chance and go for what you want. Life's too short not to."

Brooke nodded sympathetically at her and looked longingly in the distance at Lucas. "Thanks for the advice. I'll think about it. Moving on though, how are things with Julian, P. Sawyer?"

She shrugged. "They're alright. I'm still not sure if I'm really into him though. We've been friends for a while, I don't know if I have romantic feelings for him or not. Lately, we've been acting more like really close friends than anything else."

"That sucks."

Peyton agreed but decided to not say anything further when she noticed that the boys were returning with their food. When they made it to the table they each sat down and started passing out food to each other. The group of friends talked and ate their lunch before returning to the mini golf course and finishing off the last nine holes. To everyone's surprise, Haley came out on top and they were subjected to her victory celebration afterwards.

After returning their balls and clubs the group parted ways again. Lucas, Nathan, and Haley going back to the Roe's, and the other three going their separate ways as well.


"Today was a good day," Haley stated hours later.

"It was," Nathan agreed. The two were lying together on the couch watching a chick flick Haley had picked out after spending the rest of the day together when they finished mini golfing. Nathan was partially sitting up as he gently rubbed Haley's back. He wasn't really paying attention to what was happening on the screen, instead chose to look at his girlfriend. He still couldn't believe what had happened this morning. Haley actually agreed to be his girlfriend. He knew girls normally flocked to him, Haley James had just never been the girl to fall at his feet and he figured it would take a lot more than telling her the truth in that little speech to get her to fall for him. Sure, he still wasn't completely in the clear but hopefully she forgave him quickly.

"What are you staring at?" Haley asked confused after she noticed his hands had stilled and she looked up at him.

"You're beautiful," Nathan said simply, causing Haley to blush. "And I love your blush."

Haley blushed deeper and smiled up at him. "You're too sweet for your own good."

"It's all part of my charm, babe," he said cockily.

"There's the Nathan Scott I know!" she laughed and then turned back into the movie. She felt Nathan begin softly rubbing her back again and she yawned. "You know, you're gonna make me fall asleep of you keep doing that."

"Go ahead, baby. I'll be right here," he whispered soothingly. Sure enough, less than ten minutes later he heard Haley's breathing even out. For the first time since moving to Tree Hill she fell asleep peacefully without shedding a tear.