Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill or its characters
Sorry for the wait ya'll! I'm so so sorry I've been so busy. But I'm gonna have a lot of time on my hands so hopefully my creative juices will start flowing
Chapter 12: Infinity
If there was one thing that Haley James didn't enjoy, it was shopping. It had never been and she was sure it would never be her favorite pastime. Department stores always had such harsh lighting that could make even the prettiest woman look like a monster when she looked at herself in the mirror. And most items were so ridiculously overpriced that it made her gag.
Another thing she hated was taking the various articles of clothing into the dressing rooms. It wasn't that she hated trying on clothes because she was self-conscious about her body or anything like that. She would admit that because of her career she was kept physically fit. But, she couldn't help but feel that she looked awkward when she tried on anything but yoga pants, jeans and a t-shirt. Dresses and fancy clothes just didn't fit her.
She had wandered into this store by chance. She was amazed that she actually had time to do things like shop or even have a party for her birthday. When Jake told her that he was planning something for her she had immediately told him to cancel it. However, when word spread to Andrew he insisted that Haley take a night to celebrate her birthday. She tried to convince him that it wasn't necessary, but he told her he wanted her to feel normal for a change.
Something about that comment had struck Haley. She, too, wanted to feel normal for a change. The last time she'd celebrated her birthday with her friends was before her parent's death. Ever since then she'd chosen to celebrate alone. She really didn't like to think about her birthday. It was too close to the anniversary of her parent's murder.
Now as Haley looked through racks of dresses in Clothes Over Bros, she couldn't help but think that maybe this store wasn't too bad. The dresses were impressive, and they weren't overpriced. But she wasn't sure she could picture herself if any of them.
"Can I help you find something?"
Haley turned when she heard the voice from next to her. She saw a brunette, around her age it seemed standing just a few feet away from her. She was wearing a red oversized sweater dress with a pair of gray boots and a black scarf. Her dark shoulder length hair was slightly curled and her makeup was smoky. Haley could tell that being beautiful came naturally to this girl.
"Uh," Haley replied, "I'm looking for something to wear to my birthday party."
"Well I can definitely help you with that."
Haley watched as she began to look through the racks of clothes she had previously been looking through. She wasn't sure that she would find anything in there that would look good on her. She had just looked and she hadn't come across anything that really seemed like her. But then again, she wasn't exactly a fashion expert.
Haley looked at the girl again when she turned towards her, this time with a dress in her hand. It was an emerald green halter dress. "This would look great on you!" she gushed before holding the dress up to Haley. "Go try it on!"
Haley took the dress from her hand and started to walk towards the dressing room. "Thanks," she said before stepping inside the room.
"No problem," she replied and then added, "and my names Brooke by the way. Just let me know if you need any help."
After having changed into the dress, Haley stared at her reflection in the mirror. She was surprised by how well the dress fit. It showed off her curves in all the right places and she actually felt pretty in it. Pulling the curtain back from the dressing room she stepped outside and Brooke smiled when she saw her.
"I knew that would look great!" Brooke said.
"Yeah," Haley replied while looking down at herself. "I think I'll take it."
Nathan sat at the desk in his office going over case files. He wanted to just leave but he couldn't. His dad had been up his ass about Haley and if he wasn't at the office he was getting constant phone calls from his dad. He wanted to just shut his phone off but if he did that then there was the chance he would show up at his apartment. Or send Cooper.
His conversation with Cooper outside his building wasn't exactly cordial. He'd always been close with Cooper, he thought of him as more of a brother than an uncle. But it seemed like ever since Nathan had joined the company, Cooper was no longer his friend. And something about his conversation with him the other day kept ringing in his head.
Nathan had never really known much about Cooper and his job with the company. He was very secretive and Nathan never really felt the need to go snooping around in his files. It had never really been of any interest to him. But the more he thought about what Cooper had said to him, that he knew more about the situation Nathan was in, the more interest Nathan had.
He sat at his desk staring at the computer screen reading over case files, but not his case files. After having typed his uncle's name into the database he came up with all the cases that Cooper had ever been linked to. There didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary when he looked at his more recent jobs.
They were mostly drug related cases that Dan had assigned him to. But the farther in he looked the more interested he got. He came across a case involving a man who worked under the Prime Minister in England. His name was Anthony Hardin and the government had called in Dan Scott to do something about him. They had found out that he'd not only been helping smuggle drugs in but he was behind a string of murders that had been happening throughout London.
It was a big case and Cooper had been assigned to it shortly after being recruited to the company. It wasn't anything too out of the ordinary; they dealt with cases similar to this all the time. But Nathan learned that Hardin had a daughter. She was around the same age as Cooper and Nathan read that she was a big part of this case. But she'd been killed shortly before the case ended.
He was trying to read more information about the case, doing any research he could to try and figure out more about this girl that kept popping up in all the files. So far he wasn't finding anything.
"Got a sec?"
Nathan looked up quickly from the computer screen when he heard Peyton's voice from by the door. She had her arms crossed over her chest and she was leaning against the door pane.
"Yeah," Nathan replied, "come on in."
Peyton crossed over the room to the chair located on the other side of his desk. She pulled it out before taking a seat. "I've been keeping tabs on Jake Jagelski. He booked a club for your girlfriend's birthday party tomorrow night."
"She's not my girlfriend," Nathan replied, but even he knew he was lying. "Anyways, what about it?"
"Well are you going?"
"I'm not so sure that's a smart idea," Nathan said while leaning back in his chair. Going to a party that was bound to be full of people from Andrew Jagelski's company didn't exactly sound like the smartest plan.
"Okay," Peyton said with a laugh, "because dating your target was a smart idea?"
Nathan shook his head. "We're not dating."
"I don't know why you always do this. You get close to the ones that you have to kill and it always ends badly for you. You do nothing but end up hurting yourself. I'm just thinking that it might be in your best interest if you… killed her now?"
Nathan couldn't help the tension that ran through his muscles as she suggested killing Haley. The image of her dead body suddenly appeared in his mind and he shook his head to try and get it out of his head. He hated himself for feeling this way, he hated her for making him weak but at the same time, he couldn't hate her. And he was beginning to think maybe he couldn't kill her.
"Excuse me?" Peyton said trying to grab his attention again. "Are you listening to me?"
"Yes," Nathan replied, "I heard you."
"So then maybe you'll actually listen to my advice for once. End it Nathan. You have to kill her and you have to kill her soon. The fact that you haven't already… it makes you look weak Nathan."
"I'm not weak," Nathan said shortly. He hated when people thought of him as weak.
"Then kill her."
Peyton stood up without another word and walked out of his office. Nathan could feel his heart pounding in his chest and the blood pumping through his veins. He felt like he couldn't breathe. The idea of killing Haley was killing him. But the thought that if he didn't do, his father would find someone else who would kept creeping into his head. And that, he couldn't live with.
Sam sat at the kitchen counter staring down at her AP Language assignment. It was hard to remember that she was still a teenager now that she'd officially started her training. Part of her wanted to just completely blow off high school and just focus on the company. But then there were times when she wished that she could just be a normal high school student.
She was beginning to see less and less of her best friend, Jack. It was hard for her to lie to him all the time, but it wasn't exactly like she could tell him the truth about why she was always so busy. What would she say? "Yeah I'm learning how to kill people, so rain check on the movies this weekend?" Not exactly.
She looked away from her assignment when she heard her phone vibrate against the counter. She checked her new text from Haley and read that they would be training again tomorrow morning. This time they would start practicing hand to hand combat. She was a little nervous about that. She had faith that Haley would teach her everything she needed to know, but she was still nervous. She was never exactly a violent person and fighting wasn't really her thing. But neither was shooting a gun and becoming an assassin, but here she was.
She heard footsteps coming into the kitchen and instead of her mom and dad like she had expected, she saw her older brother. "Hey," she said with a smile on her face. "What are you doing here? I didn't even hear you come in."
"Well you better start being a little more attentive. Who knows who could be sneaking in here?"
"Oh god," Sam said with a laugh, "you don't have to start with that."
"I'm just saying, you should be a little safer."
"Jared, I'm safe. What did you come in through the garage after you punched the code in? It's not exactly like you used your master skills to break in."
"Well, someone could…" Jared said, "I'm just looking out for my little sister."
"Well I appreciate it," she said with a smile, "but again what are you doing here?"
Jared leaned against the counter and shrugged his shoulders. "I thought I might come see how my favorite sister is doing. I mean I'm allowed to do that aren't I?"
"Well yeah," she replied with a slight smile, "but I figured you wanted something too. And… does it by chance have something to do with Haley?"
Jared was taken aback by her mention of Haley. As far as he knew, no one knew anything about his relationship with Haley. They had tried very hard to keep it a secret and he was sure that Haley hadn't told anyone in the time that he'd left. He hadn't told anyone. So why would Sam assume it had something to do with Haley?
"What?" Jared asked.
"Well I mean you guys went to dinner when you came back and I saw you come out of her office the other day. And I know you trained her when she joined the company and she's training me now… I assumed you guys were friends. I'm kind of a big tie between you."
"We're friends, but that's it."
Sam crossed her arms over her chest and continued to stare at her brother. She could tell by the tone in his voice and the far off look in his eyes that there was something going on in his head. "You like her don't you?"
"Sam."
"You do! You love her, you wanna marry her, you think she's pretty," Sam teased. She loved evoking an embarrassed reaction from her brother. Jared was normally so cool and collected but she could tell that he was actually embarrassed by her harassing him about having a crush on Haley. And he would only react this way if it were true.
"Haley and I go way back. We're good friends and I'm always gonna care about her, but we're just friends and that's all. Sorry to burst your bubble."
"Oh, but you'd be so perfect together!"
"Well I don't think she agrees with you on that."
"Change her mind! And I'll talk you up if you want."
"I'm not in middle school Sam. I don't need you to ask her if she likes me. I think I'm past that."
Ever since he'd come back to Chicago his feelings for Haley had rushed back to him. It was hard to ignore the fact that she'd only become more beautiful since he'd last seen her. His heart raced in his chest every time he saw her and he wished that he could kiss her again. He'd dated a few girls while he was in Washington; nothing serious ever. None of them could compare to the girl he'd left behind.
"Well I'm just trying to help."
"How… how is she? She always kind of gets depressed this time of year, cuz of her parents. I just wanna know that she's ok. So is she?"
"She's not the way she normally is. She's normally so happy and outgoing ya know? You can tell she's… sad."
A few seconds of silence passed between them before Sam spoke up again. "You know her birthday's tomorrow right?"
Jared nodded. He wouldn't have forgotten her birthday. In the years since he left he always wanted to call her to wish her a happy birthday, but he never did. It would bring back to many feelings if he'd heard her voice on the phone. But he was here this time. Even though she seemed uninterested in him when he'd talked to her in her office, maybe he could get her to change her mind now.
"She's having a party tomorrow night. Well actually Jake's having a party for her, but basically the whole company's invited."
"Yeah I heard about it."
"Are you going?" she asked out of sheer curiosity.
"Yeah I think so," he said and then suddenly something occurred to him. "But you're not. It's at a club and you're only 18."
"Oh come on like I can't get my hands on a fake id?" she said with a slight smirk. "I'll be there."
"Absolutely not. Not unless you want me to tell mom and dad."
Sam scoffed and gave him a look that could kill. "You're gonna tell mom and dad on me? I thought you said you weren't in middle school anymore."
"Sam, you're not going."
"You ruin all the fun."
Haley walked into the club that Jake had booked for her birthday. It was aptly named Spy Bar. Jake thought he was so clever. She shook her head as she made her way through the doors and through the throngs of people. She was amazed at how many people that came out to the party. She saw some people wave at her that she recognized from high school. Jake had either really pulled out the stops for this to be a huge party, or he'd realized she didn't really have that many friends.
She walked past the main bar that was lit up in blue lights and through the crowd of people on the dance floor. There was a smaller room to her right called The Spy Room where Jake had told her to meet her. She walked into the smaller more intimate room and saw Jake sitting on the plush bench with a drink in his hand. He smiled when he saw her and put the drink down on the table in front of him before standing up quickly. When he reached her he grabbed her in his arms in a hug and lifted her off the ground.
"Happy birthday beautiful!" he yelled over the loud noises before placing a kiss on her cheek.
"Thanks Jacob," she said with a warm smile. She only called him Jacob on rare occasions and he hoped that it wasn't because she was mad at him.
"Do you like your party?" he asked nervously.
"I do. But you really didn't have to do all this. There's a lot of people here; even people from high school. Why did you invite them?"
"You know how popular you were in high school. A lot of these people think you dropped off the face of the earth and I thought it might be nice for you to see some of your old friends."
"Well thanks Jakey."
She really did appreciate all the work he'd put in to her party. He didn't have to do all the things that he did for her but he did them anyway. That's what made him her best friend in the whole world.
He kept his arm around her waist as he led her over to the table. That was when she saw Nikki sitting at the table with a drink in her hand. She also couldn't help but notice the large diamond on her left ring finger. Haley stopped in her tracks and turned to stare at Jake. She could see him avoiding her gaze and she shook her head as she went to take a seat.
Nikki looked up at her and sent her a tight lipped smile. "Happy birthday," she said unenthusiastically.
"Thanks," Haley replied before turning her head away from her. She couldn't believe that Jake had asked her to marry him. When she asked him to think about it before he did it, she figured he would think about it a little longer. Clearly he'd made up his mind and asking her to marry him was what he wanted to do. Even though it was the worst thing he could have ever done. And she couldn't believe he'd invited her to her party. Poor judgment on his part.
It wasn't long before she had a drink in her hand and numerous people were coming up to her to wish her a happy birthday. Finally a face she actually knew came up to her. Jared.
"Hey," he said with a smile and she stood up to give him a hug. "Happy birthday!"
"Thank you!" she replied while still in his arms. She wondered how long he was going to hold her. Finally she pulled away and smiled at him again, "thanks for coming."
"I wouldn't miss it. I've missed too many of your birthdays already."
An awkward air filled in around them and Haley cleared her throat. A few months ago this was exactly what she would have wanted to hear. She would have wanted to know that he'd missed her while he was away and that he wasn't over her. But right now… she wasn't sure that's what she needed to hear from him anymore.
"Would you…" he began and then laughed a little nervously. "Dance with me?"
"Oh," she replied before looking out on the crowded dance floor. "I'd love to."
One dance wouldn't hurt and did want them to at least be friends and she was going have to get past the awkwardness. He took her hand and led her to the dance floor. When he reached for her she couldn't help but feel strange. He wrapped his arm around her waist and she wrapped her arms around his neck while they began to dance to the slow song that was playing in the club.
She wanted to get past things being weird between them, but the way he was staring at her wasn't helping. "What?" she asked.
"You're still really beautiful."
She cleared her throat and let out a small laugh. "Well thank you."
"I feel like I didn't tell you that enough when I had you."
"Jared, we shouldn't start that again."
"Just listen for a second Hales," he said and she looked up to meet his eyes.
"I shouldn't have just left you the way that I did. It wasn't fair to either of us and especially to you. But I want you to know that I didn't leave you because I stopped caring for you. It was just something I had to do."
"I know. It was a big deal for you to get that job in Washington. You don't have to explain yourself."
"I just want you to know that I thought about you a lot while I was away."
This was too much. She didn't want to have this conversation with him, not here. She couldn't handle this right now.
"Jared, I-"
She began to speak but was quickly distracted when she saw Nathan standing near the door of the bar. He was dressed in a pair of black dress pants and a gray button up. She suddenly felt like she couldn't breathe. What the hell was he doing here? He was walking into a war zone and he didn't even know it.
Jared turned his head to see where she was staring and that's when he saw the man from the restaurant. He then remembered that he was Haley's new case. "What's he doing here?" Jared bit out and Haley could hear the somewhat angry tone in his voice.
"I don't know," she said before letting go of Jared. She started to walk towards the door when Jared grabbed her by the arm.
"Haley you don't have to go over there. I can just end this thing now."
"No," Haley replied harshly. She suddenly realized the tone she'd taken with him and shook her head. "He's my case. I'll handle it my way."
She pulled her arm out of his grip and walked towards Nathan. She could tell by the look on his face that he'd seen her with Jared. He didn't look mad, but he did look hurt. "Nathan," she said when she reached him, "what are you doing here? How did you even know about this?"
"My friend Peyton does promotion stuff for clubs and she told me that your friend booked the club for your birthday. Why didn't you tell me that your birthday was coming up?"
"I really don't like to make big deal of my birthday, but Jake planned all this. I didn't mean to just not tell you about it."
"It's not a big deal," Nathan replied with a shrug of his shoulders. She watched as his eyes scanned over the crowd before landing on one spot. She turned to where he was looking and saw Jared still standing on the dance floor, watching them. "Don't let me steal you away from your boyfriend."
"No," she said, "Jared's not my boyfriend. I told you that."
"Yeah," he said with a nod. "But you also said I'm not your boyfriend, so you're free to do whatever you want. Go back with him. I might just take off, I just wanted to tell you happy birthday."
"Don't leave," she said quickly. She knew that having him stay was the worst decision she could have ever made. He was in so much danger with the whole company being in the same room as them. They all knew about this case and the danger he posed. But she didn't care; all she knew was that she wanted him there. He was who she wanted to spend her birthday with. "I want you to stay. Please?"
Nathan sent her a small crooked smile, a smile that she was starting to fall in love with. "If you really want me to."
She grabbed him by the hand and walked with him out to the dance floor. Some sort of techno song was playing through the loud speakers. It had a slow tempo and Haley was surprised that she actually liked it. She liked being in this club, she liked being with Nathan. She didn't want to think about anything else.
Nathan's hands soon landed on her hips and he was helping her move to the beat of the music. Her body pressed against his and he knew there was no better feeling and nothing would ever feel so right. He didn't care that he was surrounded by Andrew Jagelski's company and that all of them had been trained to kill him at any moment. He didn't care that that Jared guy was standing just a few feet away from him looking like Nathan had just run over his dog. He didn't care that Jake Jagelski was shooting daggers from his eyes at him. All he cared about was Haley.
He leaned down so his mouth was right by her ear. "You look so amazing Haley. Every guy in here is staring at you. But you're all mine for the night."
She could feel the blush painting her skin at his words. Something about what he'd said caused fear to bubble up in her, but then another part of her was excited. Only Nathan could ever make her feel the way she did.
Her gaze met his dark eyes and she watched as he subconsciously licked his lips before leaning down to kiss her on the lips. She could feel her whole body tense up and sparks shoot out from their lips as they kissed. She'd never been kissed the way that Nathan kissed her. When their lips parted Nathan smirked again. "I know I just got here and that it's your party but… is there any chance you'd wanna leave with me?"
"Absolutely."
Bringing him to her apartment probably wasn't the best idea. She had promised herself that he would never find out where she lived, but here they were. But it didn't matter. All that mattered was that she was alone with him. That's what she'd wanted from the second she saw him walk into the club.
The second the door shut she turned around and was face to face with Nathan. He sent her another genuine smile and she could feel her heart pounding in her chest and her breathing becoming shallower. He took another step towards her and his hands grabbed hers before he pressed another kiss to her lips. Her lips parted and he slipped his tongue into her mouth.
She pressed her body into his as much as possible and it still didn't feel close enough. Finally his arms wrapped around her waist and their lips parted. "I want you," he whispered.
"You have me."
She walked past him towards her room and turned around and motioned for him to follow her. He soon caught up to her and walked with her into her bedroom. He took a few seconds to take in the way it was decorated. Red, black and white. Pictures of her friends and family. Black and white pictures of the city. It was all so her.
She grabbed him by the hand and pulled him over to her bed. When he reached the edge she lightly pushed him in the chest so he was sitting down. She stepped out of the tall black pumps she was wearing and moved closer to him. When she was within reach Nathan pulled her to his lap and attached their lips again. Every kiss from him left her breathless.
She pulled away from him again and stood so she was again in front of him. Her hand reached behind her back and she grasped the zipper of her dress before slowly pulling it down. She then reached for the button that held the halter together. When it was popped open she let the dress fall to the ground around her leaving her in just her strapless lacy red bra and underwear.
Nathan's eyes roamed all over her body, taking in the sight of her in front of him. He watched her walk towards him and begin to unbutton the buttons on his shirt. Soon she was making work on his belt. He wasn't sure what took over him but her suddenly stood up and grabbed her by the hips before laying her down on the bed. He pressed kisses to her neck and down between the valley of her breasts. He continued his series of kisses down her stomach to the hem of her underwear.
He looked up at her as he hooked his thumbs through the sides before pulling them down her legs and dropping them on the floor. Haley sat up and grabbed at the waistband of his black boxer briefs. She pulled them down and let them pool around his ankles before reaching behind her back to unclasp her bra. When it dropped Nathan pushed her so she was lying flat on the bed.
She motioned to the top drawer of her dresser and Nathan pulled it open before retrieving a condom from the full box. "I have them… just in case."
He smiled before tearing open the foil package and grabbing the condom rom the wrapper. Before he could slide it on, Haley took it from his hands and rolled it down his thick erection. She took the opportunity let her fingers slide over him a bit and she watched as he bit down on his bottom lip.
Haley moved back on the bed but Nathan grabbed under her knees and pulled her to the edge of the bed. He spread her legs before leaning down and kissing her neck again. Soon he entered her with a deep thrust causing her let out a pleasured gasp. She threw her head back as he entered her slow and deep hitting all the right spots as he did so.
Her hands wrapped around to his lower back where she dug her nails into his skin and moaned. "You feel so good," she said before biting her lip to keep from screaming, but she couldn't help it. Nathan made her feel better than she ever had and she couldn't seem to contain herself when she was with him.
The motion of his thrusting pushed her back across the bed, bringing him with her. She grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him in for another kiss. She mustered up her strength and flipped them over so she was now on top of him. Nathan's eyes screwed shut as Haley sat up and moved above him. She rolled her hips against his and he couldn't help the raspy groans that left his mouth. He'd never felt so good before.
He could feel her contracting around him and he couldn't stop his hips from thrusting up into her. He sat up so her body was flush against his and he grabbed her hips slammed her down on him causing the sexiest moans to fall from her lips. He didn't want to take his eyes off her face but the pleasure was too much and he couldn't keep his eyes open. He could feel his release coming to him already.
"Haley…I can't…"
"I'm so close," she moaned.
Nathan layed back against the bed and Haley placed her hands on his chest while she continued to move on him. Haley threw her head back again as her climax hit. His name fell from her lips over and over again as she rode out her orgasm and Nathan's soon followed.
She collapsed against his chest and Nathan swept all her hair over one shoulder before placing a kiss on her skin. When their breathing returned to normal she sat up a bit and smiled down at him before kissing his lips for what had to have been the thousandth time that night.
Nathan smirked, "I'm not done with you yet."
Please review(:
Also the songs for this chapter A Reach For Glory- Blackmill and Infinity- The XX
