AN: Thanks once again to everyone who reviewed, sorry about the large gap between posting.
Chapter 8
Haley awoke with a start, her room was cloaked in darkness, but she could see a thin strip of light shining underneath the door that adjoined to Lucas's room. She glanced at the clock on her nightstand, a little after 1am. Brushing her hair from her face, she pulled back the covers and knocked on the adjoining door.
"Lucas?" she whispered.
Suddenly the door was flung open and a slightly inebriated Lucas stood before her. His tie was loose, his shirt untucked, and the top two buttons were undone.
"Sshh." He hushed, putting a finger to his lips with a smile.
Haley sighed. They had worked so hard, and he had thrown it all away on a drunken night, with his 'biggest fan'.
He saw the disappointment in her eyes, and seemed to sober.
"Haley." He started, but didn't know what else to say.
"You should get to bed, we've got an early start in the morning."
She brushed past him, and walked into his bathroom. Opening the shower door, she reached in and switched on the water, watching as the steam began to rise. She left the bathroom and went to get Lucas a glass of water.
He stood in the middle of the room, realising what a mistake he had made. They had both worked hard on this tour, his career hung in the balance, and here he was crawling back to his hotel after 1am.
"Here." She said, handing him the glass of water. "The shower's running. I'll see you in the morning."
She was reaching for the doorknob when he stopped her.
"Nothing happened, between Samantha and me."
She turned, walking up close to him. She looked him in the eyes, and Lucas for a moment felt himself being drawn to her. She reached her hand up to his cheek.
"Not what it looks like from here." She replied quietly, wiping the lipstick mark from his cheek. She turned and left the room, closing the door behind her. Staring after her, Lucas sighed.
Lying in bed that night, Lucas kept running the scenario over and over in his head. He couldn't believe how it had happened. Haley had looked so disappointed in him, and truth be told, he felt the same way about his actions. He hadn't intended on drinking so much, it was just, well the 'date' didn't exactly go as planned.
6 hours earlier…
The limo pulled up in front of Samantha's house, were a crowd had gathered. This was all he needed. He didn't really want to be on the date in the first place, it had started as a way to wind Haley up, the way they use to. He thought that after their late night talk and pizza, they were finally getting back to normal, obviously he was mistaken. He decided that all he could do now, was make the most of the evening. The door suddenly flung open and Samantha excitedly slid into the back seat, colliding with Lucas. She laughed.
"Sorry." She giggled. Obviously she had helped herself to a little wine to settle her nerves.
"It's fine." Lucas smiled reluctantly, as he readjusted himself in his seat.
"I am so excited about tonight. I can't wait to call everyone I know!" All Lucas could do was smile.
They had just ordered dessert, and with it, another drink for Lucas, he needed it to get through this date. He was surprised at how self involved people could be, which caused him to chuckle to himself, pot calling the kettle black. He wondered how people managed to be around him when he acted this way. But of course, he was famous; it was amazing what people would do just to rub shoulders with the stars. He wondered how Haley had put up with him for so long, why she cared so much, because that had to be the only reason she had stayed, she would have been long gone by now otherwise. He had to face it, over the last few years; he hadn't given her much hope of changing, that is, until these last few weeks. He was beginning to think that he was more than a little tipsy; he had a way of over analysing things when he was drunk. He then thought of Haley, how would his drunken appearance seem to her, that he was throwing all their hard work away for a drunken night out. When his drink arrived he left it. All he could do was hope that Haley didn't seem him getting back to the hotel.
The limo pulled up to a stop outside of Samantha's home. Lucas was staring out the window, when he felt Samantha's hand on his arm.
"I had a great time tonight." She said seductively, implying the obvious.
Lucas forced a smile. "Me too." He could see the look in her eye, and knew what was coming.
She leaned forward to kiss him, but he turned just in time, landing her kiss on his cheek.
"This was great." He replied pulling back. Samantha was more than a little disappointed, but smiled, climbing out the limo, as Carl opened the door.
Once the door was shut, Lucas slouched down in his seat. He had to sober up.
Lucas dug deep in his pocket looking for his key card, only to realise that he had placed it in his wallet for safekeeping. Who knew what could have happened had Samantha gotten her hands on it, lets just say he wasn't dying to find out. He placed the key card in the door and removed it swiftly, almost falling over in the process, and then finding that when he tried the door it was still locked. This was all he needed, he was trying his best to be in bed without alerting Haley, and here he was stuck in the corridor playing games with the door. He braced his arm against the doorframe and turned the card around before inserting it. A moment later he removed the card and opened the door, thank goodness for small favours. He walked into the dark room, the heavy door closing behind him, taking with it the light from the corridor. Turning to look for the light switch, he tripped over one of his bags, causing him to loudly whisper every swear word known to man, before regaining his balance against the wall. It was upon regaining his balance that his hand grazed the light switch, and he reached out to turn it on. He only hoped that he hadn't woken Haley, or worse, that she was already awake, which would have only increased his chances of her hearing him. He quietly began to tiptoe across the room when he heard Haley whisper his name.
"Lucas?"
Busted. As he thought back on it now, he probably could have ignored her call, and made it into bed before she decided to check on him. Of course the mind always thinks of the perfect excuse, when it's too late. A sober Lucas may have executed that plan of retreat, but the current Lucas, who was finding standing on two feet and regaining balance by himself some what of a task, whipped the door open, eager to see his friend. It wasn't until he saw the look of disappointment in those, once joyful eyes, that he realised he had taken one step forward and twelve steps back.
That night as he ran the situation over in his head, he always returned to the disappointment in her eyes. Eyes that use to sparkle with excitement, a window to her very being. A window that was now closed. How could he have been so stupid?
