Author's note: Oh my goodness, it's been over a year since I last updated this! But due to a couple of recent reviews (Thanks NaleyAlways4Ever and ga-4-ever) I finally decided that I should update. I always did like this story, but it was so different then what I had intended to write. In fact, it seemed to have a mind of its own after the first few chapters. The one part I could've done better was the most important to the story – Haley's 'weak moment'. It's just a really sensitive subject to bring up and I never wanted her character or anyone who's been in that position to appear pathetic or attention-deprived. So, I know I didn't do Chapter 3 "A Helping Hand" any justice. And I'm sorry for that! But thank you for those who read this story anyway.
Please enjoy this way overdue chapter in dedication to all the avid readers out there!
Susie
(Disclaimer: All characters, plots, ideas, etc. related to the CW series, One Tree Hill, is rightful property of its writers, producers, and owners!)
"Lucas! Lucas!"
Once he was a good distance from the gymnasium, he stopped dead in his tracks confused by what had just happened. His girlfriend's cries were just starting to become audible.
"Lucas, will you just talk to me?"
"You've hung around the guy, Brooke. You know him just as well as I know him." He watched her warily, wanting her to agree with him even if she didn't know what he was talking about. "For one measly night he does the whole chivalrous act… is that supposed to make up for the past few years that he's been a prick?"
Brooke wrung her hands nervously. She was a little upset considering that she knew how similar she and Nathan were just a few years past. "He's not trying to make up anything to you. Maybe he's just trying to be a nice guy for Haley."
"Haley's my best friend. Nathan's my worst enemy. I mean, he's the reason why I never tried out for the basketball team! How could Haley do this? How can she even trust him?"
"Maybe she sees something in him that no one else does! He's an enemy relative to you. And he's the spoiled popular jock who gets what he wants relative to everyone else because they let him! But Haley won't let him and I think you know that." Brooke let her arms flop to her side feeling as though she was now defending herself. "What if Nathan doesn't want Haley to think that way about him and without knowing it, she's been changing him for the better?"
"Brooke, I know you're just trying to supportive. Of which side I'm not sure, but I've known Haley all my life. I don't want her to get hurt by some jerk who just walks into her life. What are you saying? That I actually give him a chance to hurt her?"
"Yes, a chance. If you're such a good best friend don't you think you owe her that much? She gave us that at the least." She snapped at him before walking away.
As she turned away, Lucas swore that he saw tracks of tears along her face.
Even with the dimmed lighting she could see his tightened jaw and his stone cold eyes. He was angry, of course he was. The fact that she noticed these things was thrilling and frightening at the same time. Their eyes met as he saw her approaching and he was the first to speak.
"I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to start a fight or anything…" His body language said he was anything but apologetic with his arms crossed tightly around his chest and his eyes still steely blue.
But she was confused – Nathan hadn't done anything wrong and he seemed to know it. He might've been just as puzzled as she was by the whole turnaround. And for the first time, she'd have to apologize on behalf of her best friend.
"Actually… I wanted to say sorry… about what Lucas said." The hard expression on his face softened. "Everything that he said, well, I don't agree with it. But Lucas is a good guy, he's my best friend. And I know that you two don't get along already. It's just like adding fuel to the fire… when your best friend starts hanging out with your 'enemy'."
Nathan knew this was true but what was he supposed to do? He'd made the first step in trying to squelch their resentment towards one another.
"But I also wanted to say thank you… for standing up for me, for being there when I needed someone most, and for some weird reason, wanting to get to know me." She smiled quirkily.
"What's weird are the people who don't want to get to know you." He smiled back.
Haley felt a small fluttering in her lower stomach at his words but was quick to wash it away. "That is the strangest compliment I've ever gotten."
"Hey, Nate. Let's dance!" Rachel appeared out of nowhere.
Nathan looked uncomfortably at Haley, not wanting their alone time to be disrupted. She nodded though with a forced approving smile.
"What is she? Your girlfriend? Come on!" Rachel yanked him in the direction of the dancing area as a faster song came on.
Haley sat at a table bored out of her mind as an equally jaded Brooke slumped into the seat beside her.
"Where's Lucas?"
"We're not talking so I don't know. And Nathan?" The dark haired vixen scowled at a fellow cheermate, Bevin, and her boyfriend Skills.
"Brooke! He's your boyfriend. You guys should be enjoying your prom night… not arguing on it!"
"Still haven't answered my question, Tutorgirl!" Brooke sing-songed.
"Where do you think he is?" Haley looked towards the direction of the thrash of people dancing provocatively to a hip-hop song. The chaperones looked overwhelmed and at one point seemed to have given up.
Brooke followed Haley's line of vision to see a very unenthusiastic Nathan with Rachel sidled up against him. The girl laughed at the sight to which Haley found no amusement.
"Nathan hates dancing."
"Doesn't seem like he has a problem with it right now,"
"Yeah well that's because boys are stupid. The sad and pathetic thing is that some girls can be just as dumb. I mean, take Rachel for instance, she has no clue that the last thing Nathan wants to do is have anything to do with her yet she continues to persist."
"Then why is he dancing with her? Why do guys give mixed signals like that?"
"In this particular scenario we have one of two answers. One, he feels sorry for her." Brooke pouted, eliciting a giggle from the other. "Or two, he doesn't want to just outright say 'no' so that he won't come off as an arrogant ass because he's trying to impress someone… someone else, that is. A someone else that is more so a friend than anything but who he likes more than friend."
Haley eyed Brooke curiously. "I don't know where you come up with this stuff. Not that it really matters since you totally lost me at 'arrogant ass'."
Brooke rolled her eyes. For someone who tutored other students she sure was slow. "I'm going to the ladies' room. Care to join?"
"I'll pass." She watched the flowy material of burgundy disappear before she realized that she'd been staring into the floor. She needed fresh air.
"What are you doing?"
The few minutes she'd gotten alone outside were soothing, calm. And as soon as she heard his voice, her heart rate picked up. Her adrenaline increased once again, as if she was still in that crowded gym with a couple hundred people and loud music pulsating in the background. Only, it was just the two of them in the center of the courtyard with the stars as their audience.
"I just needed fresh air."
She answered without turning around and he knew that by now, she knew his voice. He hoped so, anyway. He let his eyes linger on her backside, admiring her naked skin made visible through the cut of the dress. As he walked to stand at her side, she stiffened slightly which he noticed.
"Are you cold?" Nathan asked, feeling the evening breeze.
"I'm fine."
"Haley, are you mad at me?"
"No. Why would I be mad?"
"The only time a girl doesn't have much to say is when they're upset."
She looked over at him with a clear look of distaste. "And of course, you would know."
"Wait… what? What is that supposed to mean?"
She didn't answer and instead the soft sounds of a slow song drifted outside to them.
"Don't I still owe you a favor?" She surprised the both of them, but Haley didn't want to further their offhanded discussion.
Nathan blinked once, then twice as he heard music that seemed miles away. When he hesitated Haley instilled a bit of Brooke in herself, moving forward to close the distance between the two. "Dance with me, Nathan,"
(Author's note: An author used this similar comparison where Haley does something bold and out-of-character and it's described as something Brooke would do. I forget which story and which author did this but all the credit goes to her. I just loved it though. I'm pretty sure it's one of the stories in my fav list, though.)
She was upset but held her reserve. The other girls had asked him to dance and he'd done so without as much as a second thought. So how come when it was her turn, he struggled to say yes?
Nathan was careful as he placed both hands on her hips, wishing that there was more material covering her back. He couldn't handle touching her like that. It was ridiculous. He'd lost his virginity at the age of 14 and he'd 'touched' plenty of other girls. But for some reason being alone with Haley James, feeling bits and piece of her bare skin as they slow danced in the starlight, was more dangerous than anything he'd ever experienced before. He'd forgotten her accusatory statement but only for a moment.
"Haley, did I miss something?"
She sighed and she was so close, he could feel the air escape her lips, her chest falling in sync. "No. I'm sorry. I guess that well, prom night is definitely not what I expected it to be."
"What dancing with a handsome devil like me at the end of the night? Not what you expected?"
Her throat was dry. "Yeah, lucky me."
"Well, it doesn't sound like that bad of a night, then." He smirked staring straight into her eyes.
Suddenly, she stopped dancing stepping back a few inches and it greatly bothered him.
"I danced with you, Nathan. But so did like ten other girls. The thing is… I'm a little… lost." She looked flustered and he didn't want to contribute anymore to that so he kept his mouth shut. "Why did Tim ask me if I was trying to make you jealous when I was dancing with him?"
Nathan was embarrassed beyond belief. But as the reign over the social hierarchy of THHS, he had a pretty good sense of self-control when it came to keeping appearances.
"Tim's delusional." It came out harsher than intended.
She narrowed her eyes at his austere retort. "What about when he said that I already had your attention so there was no need to make you jealous? Was he delusional then? Or the fact that when he said that you were staring straight at me… does that make me the delusional one?"
He looked straight up at her, his eyes unreadable. He was covering his real feelings. He wanted Haley James in her life and the last thing he wanted to do was to run her off because he couldn't handle the way he felt.
Haley gasped softly to his silence, clearly not the reaction she wanted from him. "Lucas was right! This entire thing was a joke… a game. You're… you're using me…? Because I'm friends with Lucas? Did Tim ruin your plan by giving away too much, too soon?!"
This entire time he'd been toying with her emotions. Everyday she'd felt it – her increasing attraction to him. But all in all, it'd been to hurt her best friend.
"What?! Wait, Haley!"
But, it was too late. She'd run off into the darkness. He was too stunned to move, to run after her. The sound of chirping crickets and Nathan's light breathing was interrupted by the sound of the gymnasium door clicking shut. He turned around to find no one there.
Haley approached the river court, barefoot and protectively clutching Brooke's borrowed heels. She was used to this though. Her and Lucas had gotten in trouble once, when they'd left their shoes at the river bank and walked home in bare feet. How anyone could forget their shoes, Karen and Keith didn't understand but they were nine years old and without a care in the world. It was much simpler then.
She wiped carefully under her eyes not wanting any evidence of her earlier tears when she found her best friend lying on his back on the dulled asphalt. Crouching beside him, she watched him with his eyes shut.
"I could've totally stabbed you and you wouldn't have even known it."
"Damn it, Haley!" He sat up abruptly, holding his chest.
"Sorry. I couldn't resist."
"It wouldn't have been so scary if I hadn't been such a jerk at the dance… still in a 'stabbing' mood?" He teased, lifting his eyebrows in a joking manner.
"Nah, been there, done that." She lightly answered, standing up and looking out towards the river front.
Lucas stood up with her. "Look, all the things I said back there… well, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Hales,"
"It doesn't matter anymore."
"But it does! I'm your best friend and you're mine. If I did half the things that you do for me… I know that it would make a big difference. You support me in everything I do—"
"Luke, it's—"
"Let me finish, Hales. My relationship with Brooke… I sprung that on you and you gave me grief for like 15 minutes… on the way to school! And that was it. You didn't judge us or her… you gave us that chance. And the shitty thing is that Brooke had to remind me of that. So, I should do the same for your friendship with Nathan. Whatever this thing… that you have with Nathan is – it's okay."
"Lucas! There's no thing. There's nothing! You were right… okay?!"
He noticed then, the tear stains on her face and the painful look in her eyes. Walking towards her, he held his best friend in an embrace. As terrible as he felt for Haley, he couldn't help but to think that something was wrong. He'd seen the way Nathan acted around her and it wasn't just friendship and it couldn't be an act… could it? It just didn't sit right with him.
"I guess you never were the bad guy."
