I want to thank everyone that review the last chapter. I feel like I'm not getting as many as I did in the beginning of the story so I hope people are still reading it. Here's the next chapter. Please review!
There had been a drastic drop in the temperature over the past couple of days and it was all of a sudden a lot colder than it had been about a week ago. Winter was on its way to North Carolina. That was for sure. The days were getting shorter as the nights were getting longer each day that passed. The air was getting brisker and windier everyday and the the leaves from the trees all had fallen off their branches creating clutter on the ground.
Most of the students at Duke University were all bundled up warmly as they traveled across the campus for their different classes. If they were walking to their classes that is.
As for Haley James, she was class free today. Good thing too because supposedly it was the coldest day so far and Haley hated the cold. She hated how her fingers and toes got frozen and numb. And how her ears and nose got really cold, which ended up making the tip of her nose turn a little red. The only thing that she loved about the winter was the holidays of course and the snow. Snow was one of her favorite things. Mostly when it was the middle of the night or really early morning and the was snow everywhere, untouched, unplowed, and not yet shoveled. When it was just as is. A fresh layer of white covering everything, everywhere. It was always so pretty when it first came down. The only thing was that she never got that much snow when she was growing up on the west coast of California. From her experience of being in North Carolina last winter, she knew that it wasn't often that they got snow here either. Except a year after she had graduated high school, her parents had sold the house in California and traveled in their RV for a couple of months. Just recently they had found a house in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and had decided to settle back down and buy it. As she far as she knew Pennsylvania got lots of snow so maybe when she want to go see them over break she would get to see some snow for once in awhile.
Even though she was in her dorm and not outside and the heat in the building was working, she was bundled up in some sweats. Okay, well the sweatpants were hers. As for the sweatshirt, it was the black and green one she had borrowed from Nathan on their first date about four days ago. At first she hadn't even realized that she hadn't given it back to him before she said goodbye to him that night, but then after she did notice that she still did have it she just never had it with her when she saw him. Not to mention that it was so warm, probably because it was so big on her, and it smelled just like him. She loved that smell. She had been wearing it constantly while she was in her dorm, mostly when she was sleeping.
At the university, it was only a couple of weeks before exams were going to be distributed. Some of the students were cutting down with the partying and starting to crack open their books as others kept procrastinating and were choosing to wait until the night before their exam was supposed to be given.
Haley was one of the students who started early. She always had been. She probably didn't even need to study if she really didn't want to. She was already really smart, but she figured it was because she always studied most of the time. When she was in high school, she had been first in her class, the valedictorian, and she had tutored many of her peers as she spent a lot of her time in the school's tutoring center. She just loved helping people understand things that they couldn't figure out on their own. She loved watching them finally get it and feeling great about themselves because they finally understood what they were learning. It was an amazing feeling.
After talking to Nathan, she soon found that he was one of those students didn't even open their books until the night before and she had demanded that he came over to her dorm and study with her. So now she was waiting for him to come over so that they could start their study session.
As if on cue there was two knocks at the door. "Come in." Haley called out from her spot on her bed.
The door swung open and in came Nathan with a backpack hanging off of one of his shoulders. After he shut the door he walked over to the bed and tossed his bag onto the ground. He flopped down onto Haley's bed and shut his bed as he groaned out loud.
"What's wrong with you?" She questioned.
"Practice." Was his one word answer. Coach K had made them practice hard and early this morning. It was probably the hardest the practice of the season so far. Only because they were undefeated so far and they were looking to win the championships this year just like they had done the year before.
Haley stifled a laugh. "It couldn't have been that bad." She said.
Nathan opened one of his eyes to look at her. Before Haley knew it, Nathan was tickling her. "Take it back." He ordered her.
"Nathan! Please...stop!" She managed to get out between laughs and breaths as she tried to squirm out of Nathan's grasp.
"Take it back, Hales." He repeated as kept tickling her.
"Okay, okay...it was bad...real...really bad...now stop." She gave up.
Nathan stopped tickling her and held himself above her by putting all his weight on his forearms. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"
Her breathing finally returned back to normal and she shook her head no.
Nathan pushed some of her wavy locks of hair behind her ear as he leaned his face closer to hers. Haley closed her eyes anticipating his next move. She waited for the kiss, but then she heard his voice whispering in her ear. "I was wondering what happened to that sweatshirt." He smirked.
Haley felt her cheeks turn a slight shade of red as she kept her eyes closed a little longer. She had been waiting for him to kiss her. Again. It seemed as if she had found herself almost craving his kisses. The amazing ones that gave her butterflies in her stomach and jolts of electricity throughout her body. Although, she would take any kiss that Nathan was willing to give her. She also found herself rethinking why she told Nathan that they had to go slow. She wanted to smack herself in the head for saying that. She was wanting to be with Nathan all of the time. Even if she wasn't kissing him. He made her so happy all of the time and he made her smile and laugh. Plus, he was so sweet and don't forget completely good looking.
She opened her eyes and found Nathan in his original position next to her, laying on his back on her bed. "Sorry." She said sheepishly. "So, are you ready to study now?" She asked.
Nathan crinkled his face up in disgust as he turned on his side to face her. "Do we have to study?" He whined. Nathan hated studying. It was always so boring.
Haley giggled at the look on Nathan's face. "Nathan, we have to study. It's really not that bad. Come on, I'll help you. And you're gonna ace your exams. Now, grab your books and sit up."
He groaned as he sat up from his comfortable position on Haley's bed and then reached down to grab his backpack. He looked around the dorm for the first time since he had gotten there. "Where's Peyton?" He wondered. He had only been to Haley and Peyton's dorm a total amount of three times. This one being the third. This was actually the longest he had ever stayed, the other two times was only for a a few minutes. And now he just realized that he had never seen Peyton in her dorm. He wasn't really close with Peyton, he had only talked to her a couple of times when she was with the rest of the group, but he just thought it was weird that she was never at the dorm.
Haley was reaching down to grab her own stack of books from the bottom of her bed when she heard Nathan ask her about where her roommate and friend was. She felt a little knot in her stomach and she knew it could only mean one thing. Jealousy. She would never admit it, but she was jealous that he was asking about Peyton. "Oh, uh, she has classes and then I think her and Brooke have plans." She answered as she returned to spot on her bed only this time with her school books. "Okay, so what class do you want to study for first?" She asked trying to diverge the attention off of Peyton and to hopefully make this new feeling of envy in her disappear.
"Ugh, who really cares." Nathan said expressing his dislike for studying. "So we're gonna be alone for awhile?" He asked.
"Nathan, how did you study before if you didn't open your books?" She asked incredulously. "And yes, for awhile, but what does that have to do with us studying?" She asked again. Of course, the topic of conversation was back on her roommate's whereabouts.
There was the knot in her stomach growing bigger at every mentioned thought of Nathan and Peyton. She should have known that he had to like Peyton. She was so gorgeous with her perfect blonde curls and hazel colored eyes and the thinness of her body figure. How could any guy not like her? Of course, it just happened to be the same guy she liked. Thoughts raced through Haley's mind and she realized that she was finally admitting to herself that she liked Nathan. Really liked Nathan. Oh man, was she in deep.
"I just didn't study at all really." He said answering her first question. "As for being alone having to do with us studying, it doesn't, but it does have to do with this." He said and then leaned over to capture Haley's lips with his own.
She was actually in shock. She hadn't been expecting him to kiss her. It took her a few seconds to fully comprehend what was happening before she completely responded to Nathan's kisses. But whether she had been expecting it or not, it was something that she had longed for, craved, since their date earlier that week. Oh, how she loved his kisses.
But one thought continued to plague her mind. Why was he kissing her when he had just been asking about her curly haired friend? Was he really just trying to figure out if she wasn't going to be here so he could kiss me? Yes.
Haley felt Nathan's tongue begging for entrance to her mouth and she slowly came back to her senses. She lightly pushed him away and broke the kiss. "Nathan! We're supposed to be studying." She exclaimed flustered.
He couldn't help but smirk at her. She was sexy when she looked flustered like that. He had noticed that. Sometimes he felt himself trying to provoke her into getting flustered on purpose. He laughed at the look on her face. "Come on, Hales. You know, I was just studying." He said and smirked at her.
She loved and hated that smirk all in one. She loved it because it made her weak in the knees and could make her do anything. She hated it because it made her weak in the knees and could make her do anything. Stupid smirk. Haley tried to be stern. "Nathan, you cannot attack my lips because you don't feel like studying." She told him rationally.
"Please Hales." He whined. He loved kissing Haley. He hated studying. It was as simple as that. No exceptions.
He didn't know what it was about this girl that made him feel all these things that he had never felt before with anyone else. All he knew was that she was really special. She treated him like Nathan and just Nathan, never Nathan Scott the basketball god. She didn't like him because he was good at basketball or because everyone else worshiped him and the ground he walked on. She saw him as a real person. She didn't treat him like an idiot just because he didn't get as good of grades as she did. Like that would ever happen, Haley was a straight A student. Nothing less. He would never be able to accomplish that. That was another thing, she believed in him. And he knew that she wasn't just saying that to be nice or because she felt like she was obligated to, she said it because she really meant it from the bottom of her heart. She was so beautiful and she made him smile all the time. Her scent was intoxicating. She was like an addiction and he couldn't get enough of her. This never happened to him before. He never got this attached to one single girl before, but ever since he met her everything changed.
Nathan pretended to pout. "Come on, Haley. You know it's a lot more fun than reading these stupid books about things that already happed." He tried to persuade as he pointed to his history textbook.
Haley took in his adorable pout and could already feel herself giving in. He just looked so cute like that. She giggled a bit and then took her lower lip in between her teeth as she contemplated her options. Kiss Nathan or study. Like was such a hard choice. Yeah right. There really wasn't even a choice. She pushed a few loose strands of honey blonde hair behind her ear. "We are studying right after." She said pointing a finger at him, trying to be stern although she knew that she was failing at it miserably. She just couldn't resist it anymore. She wanted—needed more of those kisses.
Nathan's pout turned to a full smirk as he pushed both of their books further down the bed.
He cupped Haley's face with his large hands and then covered her mouth with his own. He dropped one of his hands down to her waist and the other went through her long honey colored locks of hair as her arms wrapped around his middle and gripped the back of his sweatshirt once his tongue had slipped into her mouth. Their tongues battled for dominance until air became an issue. They barely apart seeing as how their faces were still almost touching. He rested his forehead against hers for a minute as they caught their breath.
"Be my girlfriend." Nathan said to her more than asked.
Haley sat there in shock. Did he really what she thought he just said? This wasn't really happening. She couldn't even find her voice. "What?" She choked out. So much for going slow.
"I know—I know you said slow, but I can't help it anymore. I want to be with you all of the time Haley. So, I'll ask you again...Haley James, will you be my girlfriend?" He told her, but this time actually asking instead of stating.
She bit her bottom lip again. Her big brown eyes looked into his beautiful blue ones and all she was honesty and hopefulness. There was hidden agenda behind his question. He really wanted to be with her. He didn't like Peyton. At least not like her, like her. He liked her. He just wanted to know if Peyton was going to walk in on them. She smiled at him and nodded her head vigorously.
Before she knew it, Nathan had swooped his head back down and once again captured her lips in a earth-shattering kiss. This was the kind of kiss she had read about in all those cheesy romance novels. It was the kind everyone had heard of, but not many had actually ever experienced. The kind that had fireworks. Her head was spinning. Forget those other kisses. This was definitely the best one ever.
The door swung open and Nathan and Haley jumped apart from each other. There in the doorway stood Peyton and Brooke.
"Tutor-girl!" Brooke exclaimed as she swung the door behind her. Ever since Brooke had found out that Haley had tutored when she was in high school, Brooke had started called her Tutor-girl. It was now her new nickname that apparently was going to stick with her forever. But Haley didn't really care, she knew that nicknames were Brooke's way of showing that she loved you.
Haley looked like a deer caught in headlights. She could feel her cheeks getting redder by every second that passed by. She ran a hand through her somewhat messed up hair, from Nathan's hand being all tangled up in it. To add on to that, she knew that her lips were redder and slightly swollen. "What?" She asked, acting as if nothing happened.
"You know what. You declined the offer to go shopping with us because you were having a hot make-out session with Mr. Hotshot over there." Brooke pointed out, with her hands sitting on her hips. She then turned to Peyton who was trying her hardest not to laugh."Goldilocks, this is not funny!" She exclaimed before turning back to Haley once again. "Hoes over bros, Tutor-girl!" She huffed even though she wasn't really mad and then flopped onto Peyton's bed.
Haley hid her flustered face in Nathan's chest and Nathan wrapped his arms around her petite frame.
"Oh my God!' Brooke screamed, bouncing up and down on the bed.
Haley's head quickly popped up from it's hiding spot. "What?"
"You two are totally together." She said clapping her hands together.
"Brooke, how do you know?" Nathan asked her suspiciously. The only way she could've known was if she was in the room and she wasn't. Unless she had been listening from outside the door. He wouldn't exclude her from spying on him, or anyone at that.
"It's totally obvious. Just look at that body language." She stated matter-of-factly. "Yay! So, Naley, when did this happen."
"What's a naley?" All three other occupants of the room questioned simultaneously.
Brooke through her hands up. "Do I have to explain everything around here? It's not 'a Naley'. Just Naley. And it's Nathan and Haley put together because they're together. Which you two look so cute by the way. So, you guys are Naley. Congrats." She explained.
Peyton held in her laughter and Nathan looked at Brooke like she was crazy.
"So, what are you and Lucas?" Haley asked.
"Brucas, duh."
Haley hid her face once again, but this time to keep from getting yelled at by Brooke because she was laughing.
"Go ahead and laugh, Tutor-girl." Brooke said.
"Brooke what are you doing here?" Nathan asked. He wanted to be alone with his new girlfriend, not with his new girlfriend, and their two friends.
"Me and P. Sawyer here, are going to watch some movies. You guys want in?"
Nathan inwardly groaned. That was just great. "Do you know where my brother is?" He questioned.
"Library." She said as she looked through some movies and picked out the ones that she wanted to watch.
That was all he needed to hear. Nathan grabbed Haley's hand pulled her off the bed with him and started pulling her to the door.
Haley laughed. "Nathan, where are we going?"
He just smirked at her and kept pulling her through the door. "To finish studying." He said simply now knowing that no one was there to bother them and they could be alone.