Lately, Ch. 10
After dinner, everyone headed back to the guys' room to continue the fun. Kari joined them at around this time, and Nathan, of course, focused his attention on his new "friend".
The friends got settled with drinks, and everyone was having fun and joking around and dancing.
"Okay, let's something fun, like strip poker or something," suggested Brooke, trying to get the party off to a good start.
"Let's not." laughed Haley, taking a sip of her drink.
"Come on guys- you all are no fun!" Brooke said, slumping onto the couch next to Mike.
"How about we wait on the games until a little later," Nathan suggested, trying to appease Brooke.
At around that time, Holly arrived. She said a polite hello to everyone and then directed her attention to Lucas. Haley felt a twinge of irritation but was thankfully interrupted by Jake, who was carrying small plastic shot cups, a bottle of tequila, a shaker of salt, and some lemon and lime slices.
"Who's up for a shot?" he asked, spreading the contents on the living room table in front of the couch.
"I'm in." Haley said, and Peyton also nodded her head. They shook some salt onto the side of their palm, licked it off, downed the liquor, and stuck the fruit wedges into their mouths.
"Hey! Where's mine?" Brooke wanted to know, approaching the trio.
Jake started to fix her a shot when Brooke announced, "You all have to do another one with me. I can't make a toast drinking by myself."
He fixed the four of them a shot, and they all set up the drink with the salt and lemons. Brooke held up her shot and toasted, "To one crazy night."
The liquid slid down Haley's throat and she sucked on the lemon, and was immediately handed a beer by Nathan to chase the liquor down with. Taking a sip, she handed it back to Nathan, and he shook his head, "Keep it, I'll get another one."
Thanking him, she kept the beer by her side, and became engrossed in a conversation in which Peyton and Brooke were reminiscing about high-school.
--
By eleven, a few more people had arrived, and more alcohol was brought in as well.
Haley noticed that Lucas was keeping more to himself while Holly was near him. She watched as the two of them talked quietly on their own, and Holly touched Lucas' hand as she leaned closer to him.
"Who's that girl Lucas is hanging out with tonight?" Brooke asked Haley, while they were both going to get another drink.
"She's the same girl he met yesterday, remember, Holly?" Haley reminded her, and Brooke laughed.
"What's so funny?" Haley wanted to know.
"Holly and Haley- what a coincidence..." Brooke answered, "Lucas sure has a thing for girl's whose names start with that letter."
Haley didn't really see the humor in the comment, but she shrugged it off.
Lucas watched as Haley took another drink, and made a mental note to keep track of how she was doing, knowing that she usually didn't drink much.
"So, which one of the girls is your roommate again?" Holly asked, looking over at the girls that Lucas was close to.
"That would be Haley. She's the one with the reddish brown hair over by my brother, Nathan." Lucas told her, motioning to Haley.
"She's cute. How did you two end up living together, anyway?" she inquired.
"She's my best friend. We've known each other for years." Lucas stated, setting his beer down.
"Oh, so you two aren't..." Holly trailed off, hinting that there was more to the relationship.
"Me and Haley? No, we're just friends." Lucas shook his head, glancing over at Haley, who was laughing at something that Jake and Nathan were discussing.
"Really? I would have thought, you know the whole 'friends with benefits' idea-" Holly said, flipping her hair back.
"Haley's not the type of girl to think of sex so casually." Lucas said truthfully.
"But I'm sure you've thought about it." Holly replied, and Lucas paused, watching Haley.
--
"I am not going to answer that-" Haley insisted, as the group of her, Peyton, Nathan, Jake, and Brooke started playing a mini-version of 'Truth or Dare'.
"You have to, Haley. Have you ever had a one-night-stand?" Nathan asked, and the group waited for her answer.
"Well, if I say no, then I'm not adventurous, and if I say yes, then I'm a slut." Haley weighed her options.
"No you're not. I've had one." Brooke shrugged, "And I'll bet everyone else here has, too."
"C'mon, answer the question, Clare!" Peyton kidded, using the line out of the movie "The Breakfast Club". Everyone laughed and repeated it, "Answer the question, Clare!"
Haley giggled, and announced, "No, I never did it!" which was the response in the movie, adding "Seriously, I almost did, but it didn't pan out." she admitted.
"Okay, Nathan's turn," Brooke said, "Truth or Dare?" she asked.
"Dare." he answered without hesitation.
"Hmm- adventurous, are we? Okay, I dare you- to go streaking across the room- right now." Brooke announced.
Nathan got up, and started removing his clothes. The girls shrieked, laughing, and Jake groaned, covering his eyes. Nathan strutted across the room without any embarrassment, and the other guests in the room turned in surprise to see him wearing nothing but a smile.
Lucas watched this scene with amusement and rolled his eyes, avoiding actually looking at what was happening.
Nathan returned to the roaring group, and casually put his clothing back on.
"Okay, Brooke- 'Truth or Dare?" he asked, once his clothes were back on.
"Dare." she said confidently.
"I dare you kiss either Peyton or Haley." he grinned.
Brooke looked at both girls, her eyebrows raised, "Don't look at me." Peyton answered, shaking her head and laughing.
"No way." Haley agreed.
By now, Lucas and Holly had walked over to the group to observe.
"Come on! Someone has to do it. Those are the rules." Nathan stated, folding his arms.
"I'm not kissing a girl." Haley shook her head, and Peyton added, "Me neither."
"Well, I was willing, so that should count." Brooke shrugged, turning her head and seeing Lucas and Holly nearby, "Lucas, come join the fun." she offered.
Lucas grinned and shook his head, "Nah, no thanks."
"Come on! Truth or Dare?" Brooke asked him, and now all eyes were on Lucas.
"He'll take a dare." Nathan answered for his brother.
Lucas started to protest, but his response was drowned out by Brooke.
"I dare you to kiss Haley!" she raised her eyebrow, and turned to look at Haley, "You chickened out of kissing me, and you can't decline two dares in a row!" she said, smiling.
"It's not even my turn!" Haley protested, her cheeks growing a little flushed from embarrassment at the sudden focus on her again.
"It's only fair!" Brooke said, waiting to see what would happen.
"I never said I was playing!" Lucas said, trying to find a way to avoid the issue or at least change the subject, his eyes glancing at Haley to see her reaction.
"Oh please! One little kiss is not going to kill you. You know you want to!" Brooke pressed the issue.
Seeing that this was becoming an uncomfortable situation, Peyton ended the game, "This is dumb- let's go dance." she announced, grabbing Haley's hand and dragging her to the area by the stereo where others were dancing.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Haley gratefully thanked her friend, "Bless you." she said.
"Brooke didn't mean anything by all of that- she was just trying to get everyone involved." Peyton assured her.
"I know. It's no big deal." Haley shrugged, trying to act like she wasn't affected.
Lucas watched as Haley and Peyton went to the other side of the room, and the rest of the group soon dispersed as well.
--
A little after two in the morning, just about everyone had at least a buzz going, and things were starting to wind down.
Haley watched as Peyton and Jake got closer during the night, and she had an idea.
Haley pulled Peyton aside and told her that she was going to give her and Jake the room for the night, insisting that she would stay in the living room on the couch. Peyton said no, and tried to convince Haley that the room was hers, too, and she didn't have to give it up.
Lucas overheard the conversation and interrupted the girls, "Haley can stay in our room in Jake's bed. It's fine." he told them.
"What about you? I don't want to impose on you and Holly." Haley mentioned.
"Nothing is going to happen with me and Holly. It's not a big deal. She's leaving now anyway." Lucas shrugged.
Holly returned with her coat, and Lucas walked her to the door. Haley watched as she handed Lucas a slip of paper, presumably with her phone number on it. Lucas closed the door and returned to the two girls.
"Are you really sure?" Peyton asked, glancing over at Jake, who was standing by the window, talking to Mike.
"I'm positive." Haley repeated again. Peyton nodded and hugged her friend good-night. Jake then came over to the girls and Peyton and Jake headed out as well.
--
About an hour and a few more drinks later, everyone was either leaving or already gone. Haley had momentarily sat down to rest her eyes, and when she woke up, she found that everyone was gone, and Lucas was gently tapping her shoulder.
"Time to go to bed." he said, crouched down to her level, trying to wake her quietly.
Both had had a bit more than usual to drink, but neither was too far gone. Haley stood up quickly, and swayed slightly.
"The room's spinning," she giggled, leaning into Lucas, who grabbed her elbow and put one arm around her waist.
"Yeah, well, it'll stop once you go to sleep." he said, walking carefully with her to the bedroom.
"I'm not sleepy." Haley replied, tripping over an empty beer box, and falling with Lucas against a wall. Lucas landed with his back against the wall, and Haley fell into him.
"Sorry." Haley giggled slightly, and then tilted her head up to look at Lucas.
"It's okay." he said, and neither of them moved for a moment.
Then, suddenly, Haley leaned forward a bit more, and caught Lucas' lips between hers.
Lucas stood frozen for a brief moment, but when he felt Haley's tongue slide over his bottom lip, he growled slightly and returned the kiss. They remained like this for a while, kissing frantically, and then began to move towards the bedroom door, feeling their way against the wall until Lucas' hand landed on the doorknob.
A/N: I was almost very evil, I had every intention to leave you at this point and run off for my two week vacation. Only I didn't have time to update, except with the one chapter.
See you all in a week...