Well, I didn't make you all wait so long this time. I hope you like this chapter. The drama begins in this chapter so I hope you are all prepared. Yes the ickiness of Nathan and Rachel is here and I hope that you guys continue to read even though we have that disgusting storyline gracing our screens tonight. I mean Rachel never really bothered me and I was hoping to see her changed after the whole accident but now I can't stand her. I wish Haley would beat her ass. That would be a sight to see. I almost didn't want to write them together until that story arc was over. But that would mean depriving you of a new chapter and I couldn't do that since you all have been so good to me with your reviews. So here is the next chapter. Hope you enjoy.
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Haley stood there with wide eyes and a shocked look on her face. Nathan stood nervously fidgeting with his hands awaiting for something to be said. Haley then slowly sat down on her bed. She thought she was prepared to hear this from him. She had been expecting it. She wasn't blind. Haley could see that there was a major attraction between Nathan and Rachel. All she was waiting for was the confirmation, but she didn't expect it to be this soon. And it shouldn't have hurt her this much. That bad feeling was creeping up on her again and she knew that this time it would not be going away.
"Hales?"
Haley was pulled out of her thoughts at the sound of her name. "Huh?"
"Say something. I want to know what you think."
It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him that she thought it would be the worst mistake of his life. That Rachel was just a fake, manipulative, bitch that was using him to get a jab at Haley. That if he even entertained the idea any longer than she couldn't see them as being the friends they were before if he would actually be with someone who was so cruel to her. Although Rachel had seemed to act a little nicer to Haley she still threw dirty looks her way and managed at times to say something rude. Haley knew it was a game to Rachel and she didn't know if she could watch Nathan be thrown in the middle of that. She needed to protect him.
"You know what I think, " Haley paused. She couldn't say those things to him. He expected her to support him just like he did when she began dating Kyle. And he was right. She had to do for him what he did for her. As much as she hated it as his best friend it was her duty to always support him and be there for him even if she didn't always agree. She just had to swallow her pride and put on a happy supportive face. "but if it's what you want, I can't stop you. I can't and won't tell you who to date. I just want you to be happy. It's all I care about. I don't want my feelings to stop you from being happy. I don't have that right."
Nathan smiled at her and pulled her into a hug. "Thanks, Hales. It's important to me to know that you've got my back."
"It's important to me too." They pulled back from the hug and just looked at each other. Haley's face had a wavering smile that soon faded into a more serious one. "Just know this. I don't like her and I won't pretend otherwise. I will be civil for your sake. But if she crosses me the wrong way, there is no stopping me from going off on her. And she better treat you right. She better make you really happy."
Nathan nodded his head. "It's all I ask for. And I think she does make me happy. Well, I should go home and get ready. I'll see you in about an hour, okay?"
"Okay."
Nathan gave Haley a small kiss on the cheek and then turned to leave.
"Nate?" Haley called to him.
Nathan turned around to look at her. "Yeah?"
"Nothing's going to change, right?"
"Right. I would never let anything change for us." With Nathan turned and left leaving Haley alone in her room.
A small tear fell from Haley's eye. She felt scared. She couldn't even take comfort in Nathan's words because something in her heart told her that things were changing already and it wasn't changing for the better. She wiped the tear from her face and sucked in her breath. Get a hold of yourself, Hales. It's not like it's the end of the world. Even though I'm pretty sure that Rachel could bring on the end of the world. God! Why does this hurt so bad? I knew this was going to happen. I'm going to have to keep a closer eye on her. It will be a cold day in Hell before I let her hurt my best friend. You better watch your back Gatina. You just messed with the wrong person, Haley thought to herself.
"Hey Hales can I borrow your purple off-the-shoulder top?" Brooke bounced into the room happily. One look at her sister's somber face and the happiness just slipped away. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"Nothing." Haley said trying to play it off.
"Don't 'nothing' me. There's definitely something. Something that has you upset. Tell me."
"Brooke, it's nothing."
"I'm not buying it. If it was nothing then you wouldn't have such a sad look on your face. What's going on?"
"It's nothing really. I'm just not happy about Nathan and Rachel being together."
"Hold on a minute! They're together. Since when?"
"Well not officially yet, but Nathan just told me he's going to ask her to be his girlfriend. I don't know when exactly though. It could be tonight, could be tomorrow. Either way it's really depressing since I hate her. It's like she's only going after him because she thinks she can take him from me. This is like a game to her. Whatever she can do to hurt me the most she'll do and I feel like she thinks using Nathan is the best way. I don't want Nathan to get hurt. I don't want him to be a pawn in her game."
"I can't believe that he wants to date that skank. I thought for sure it was just a little fling."
"Well, it's not.."
"It's going to be okay Haley. We're not going to let her hurt Nathan. We'll keep a sharp eye on her. And if she even looks at him in the wrong way I'll chew her head off." Brooke held her sister close to her. "Now let's get you dressed. We have to make you look smokin' hot. We will find you boy toy tonight. If Nate can date that whore, you can at least have some fun getting plenty of hot college guy attention. It is only fair. And if you get laid in the process more power to you."
Haley shook her head at Brooke and just walked over to her closet along with her sister going through her clothes. An hour later Haley was dressed in a denim ultra mini skirt and a silk black tank that really displayed her cleavage and black knee high boots. Brooke was right. She should go out and find herself a willing single guy to shower her with attention. It was time for a change. Haley walked out of her room and down to meet the others in the foyer.
"Damn, sis! You look hot!" Brooke said as soon as she saw Haley come down the stairs.
"I don't think I've ever seen you show that much skin going to a party before, Hales." Jake told her.
"I thought I'd shake it up this time and do something different. I'm gonna let loose tonight."
"How loose are we talking about here?" Peyton asked.
"Loose enough to have tons of fun but still remember it in the morning. So why are we still standing here for?"
"Lucas called and said that Nathan was taking his sweet time, but they should be over any minute now."
The door then opened and Lucas walked in with Nathan following behind.
"We're here. Everyone ready to go?" Lucas looked at everyone and stopped wide eyed when he saw Haley. Nathan followed his brother's line of sight and did not like what he saw.
"Hales, don't you need to go put on some clothes?" He asked.
"I am wearing clothes, Nathan. This is what I'm wearing to the party."
"Oh, no you're not! This is a college party. College guys are really touchy-feely, especially when there is alcohol involved. You are going to change."
"Nathan, leave her alone. She can wear what she wants." Brooke glared at him.
"Why don't you guys go wait for us in the car. I'm gonna talk to Nate for a second." Haley said to the others.
Brooke and the rest walked out to get in the cars.
"Nathan, I am fully aware that this is a college party with college guys. I'm actually really hoping there will be plenty of them. I am wearing this. This outfit is the whole point. I'm a single girl looking for a single guy to have some fun with. I'm allowed to. It's not like I'm attached to anyone." Haley said pointedly at him.
"I don't want you around guys dressed like that. I want you to change. You're only looking for trouble going dressed like that. I'm only looking out for you."
"I appreciate that but even with that reason it doesn't give you the right to tell me what to do. I can take care of myself. So, I'm going dressed like this. I f you don't like it that's your problem."
"Fine. You want to go dressed like that, then fine. But if any guy touches you, there's going to be hell to pay."
"Nate, I think I'll decide whether or not someone will touch me. Now let's go. You know how impatient Brooke gets." Haley grabbed her jacket and purse and walked out. Nathan was bothered by Haley's attitude. He made a mental note to keep a close eye on her and then followed her out.
Later that night, all six friends were hanging out in a one of the college dorms where the drinks were flowing freely and the music was blasting loudly. Peyton and Jake stood in a corner talking with one of the guys from the basketball team Lucas had met earlier. Brooke and Lucas managed to get themselves lost in the crowd and Haley had found some male company and was currently out on the dance floor dancing with him. Not to far away Nathan stood with a drink in his hand watching Haley and her new friend.
"Excuse me, but have I seen you before?" A gorgeous brunette asked as she approached Nathan.
"Huh? Umm, no I don't think so." Nathan responded to her momentarily taking his eyes off of Haley who seemed to really not mind that guy putting his hands all over her. Nate was two seconds away from ripping his arms off of him.
"I'm sorry. You just look really familiar. Hi, I'm Amber."
"Nathan"
"So, Nathan do you go to school here?"
"Not really. I just came here with some friends who were invited." He answered as he kept his focus on Haley.
"Oh, that's cool. So, where do you go to school?" Amber continued to talk.
Nathan kept watching as the guy moved his hands down over Haley's ass. That was definitely the final straw. The guy had crossed the line and Nathan was going to put a stop to it.
"Umm, it was nice meeting you Amber, but there's something I have to take care of. So, if you'll excuse me." Nathan kindly excused himself and made his way to Haley.
"I think it's time you stepped away from her, buddy." Nathan said warning the guy.
Haley and the guy stopped dancing to face Nathan. Quickly Haley's face held an annoyed expression.
"And who are you?" The guy challenged Nathan.
"Your dancing with my girl and I don't appreciate you putting your hands on her ass." Nathan said back to him sizing him up.
"Nathan!" Haley hissed.
"She didn't seem to mind."
"You have two seconds to step away from her before I pound on your stupid ass."
"I dare you." The guy said stepping closer to Nathan.
Sensing a fight coming on Haley quickly intervened. Pushing the guys apart.
"Aaron, don't worry about it. I'll handle this. It was nice dancing with you." Haley told the guy.
Aaron looked at Nathan one more time who gave him a cold stare before walking away. Haley turned to Nathan totally pissed and then walked away. Nathan was right on her tail and followed her into an unoccupied room.
"I can't believe you did that! What the hell did you think you were doing?"
"I think I should be asking you that question. What the hell were you thinking letting him touch you like that?"
"We were dancing, Nathan!"
"Dancing? You were practically having sex out there. Did you think I was going to let him get away with feeling up on you like that?"
"Why is that any of your business? I was having fun. He wasn't doing anything I wasn't letting him do."
"Oh so you want random guys you don't know touching you everywhere? Gee, Hales I didn't know you were that kind of girl." Nathan said to her harshly.
The moment those words left his mouth and he saw Haley's face flash with hurt, he instantly regretted saying them. He didn't mean to say that. He was just pissed off.
"Hales, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I just want to look out for you. It just seems that all these guys want to do is get you into bed and that's it. You deserve better than that. I just want to protect you."
"I know you want to protect me Nathan and I love that, but I can take care of myself. I am capable of making my own decisions. You know that if I'm in trouble you'll be the first person I'll call. You need to back off a little. Not every guy here wants to sleep with me and even if they did, it's not like I would."
"You're right. I'm sorry. I guess I overreacted." Nathan apologized while pulling her into a hug. "And by the way, you do look hot. I just don't appreciate other guys noticing that about you. I'd rather have them see you as sweet, virginal Haley James."
"Oh, thanks." Haley said shaking her head. "I think we both know I'm far from virginal."
"But know one else needs to know."
"You're an ass. I'm going back to the party. Can I trust that you are going to let me have fun and not intervene unless I ask you to?"
"Yeah, okay." Nathan agreed as they began walking out. Just as they were about to step out of the room Haley kicked Nathan as hard as she could in the ass.
"Ow! What the hell did you do that for?"
"Did you honestly think that you could imply that I was a slut and that you'd get away with it with just an apology? I thought you knew me better than that. Let that be just a warning. You ever imply something like that again even in an argument and I'll do something so much worse."
"Trust me. I'll never say anything like that to you again."
"Good."
They continued out to the party and joined their friends to get more drinks. Over the course of a few hours everyone was having a good time and feeling a good buzz. Brooke was talking to another one of the guys that she had met earlier with Lucas. Haley was just passing when Brooke called her sister over.
"Haley! Come over here" Brooke yelled.
Haley looked towards her sister and walked over.
"What's going on, Brooke?"
"Nothing. I just wanted to introduce you to Dylan Murphy. He's a student here at Duke and he's one of the guys that invited us. Dylan, this is my older sister Haley." Dylan held out his hand.
Haley kindly shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Dylan."
"Same here. Brooke here, has been telling me a lot about you. And I've gotta say she wasn't lying when she said you were gorgeous."
Haley blushed. "Thank you. But I wouldn't believe everything. My sister tends to exaggerate about a lot of things."
"I doubt it."
Brooke was happy that her plan was going well so far and thought they needed some privacy.
"Well, I'm gonna go and find Lucas. You two stay here and get to know each other better. Have fun." Brooke then left leaving the two alone.
"So, Dylan what are you majoring in?"
"Psychology. But that's boring. I'd rather talk about you."
And so they continued talking for the rest of the night. The next day Haley and the rest of the friends decided to meet up at the Rivercourt late in the afternoon. They were joined with some of their other friends from school such as Teresa, Tim, Fergie, Bevin, and Skills, who was also Bevin's boyfriend. Nathan was the only one so far who was a no show. While the boys played a game, the girls sat on the bleachers gossiping.
"You are so lucky, Hales. I can't believe you spent the rest of the night with a college guy." Bevin said.
"It was nice. I mean he was just really respectful. Not once did he try anything than just stay talking and getting to know me."
"College guys are so mature." Teresa swooned.
"I'm just glad that you hit it off." Brooke said to Haley.
"Are you going to see him again?" Peyton asked her friend anxiously.
"I don't know. I did give him my number. So hopefully I'll hear from him."
"Hey! I thought you girls were supposed to be cheering us on!" Lucas yelled from the court.
"We are baby! Go team Lucas!" Brooke yelled backing waving her arms in the air.
"That cheer sucked, Brooke." Tim said "I bet you don't even know what team is winning."
"I bet it ain't yours." Brooke retorted.
"She got you there, dawg." Skills said to Tim.
"Can we just get back to playing?" Jake told the guys.
"You know this would probably be a little more fair if my main man Nate were here to even out the teams." Tim complained.
"You're just whining because your team is losing. It has nothing to do with uneven teams. You're on the team with the most players." Haley laughed at Tim.
"Come on guys. Let's get back to the game. " Fergie spoke up.
"Mind if I join in?"
Everyone turned to see Nathan walking onto the court accompanied by Rachel hand-in-hand. Everyone was majorly surprised to see Nathan walk up with a girl like that. They definitely needed the back ground info to that.
"Yo, Nate. I thought for sure you weren't going to make it. What took you so long, dawg."
"Had to pick up Rachel. Rachel this is Skills, over there is Fergie, The dufus over there is Tim, Walking over here is Teresa and Bevin."
"Yeah, I've met Bevin before. Hi guys, I'm Rachel. Nathan's girlfriend."
Everyone just stood in shocked silence. They really weren't expecting that.
"Wow. When did this happen?" Lucas asked shocked that his brother failed to tell him about this.
"This morning. Nathan just came over and asked."
"Well, congratulations." Brooke pasted on a fake smile as she congratulated them. She looked back on the bleachers where Haley still sat with an emotionless face practically shooting daggers with her eyes at Rachel.
"This is so great. We're so going to hang out more often." Bevin exclaimed excitingly.
"How about we start this game now that we're evenly matched." Tim said.
"Let's do this." Nathan said.
Nathan joined the rest of the guys. Brooke sat down next to her sister.
"You okay?"
"Yeah. Sooner or later Nate will see who she really is and dump her. It'll just take time."
"Are you sure? You know that if this really bothers you, you should just tell Nathan."
"Brooke I'm okay."
"Hey Brooke! Come here a second!" Teresa called to her.
"Go. Looks like they need you."
"Okay. If you need anything just call me over. I'll be back over here as soon as I can." Brooke then got up to walk away to the rest of the girls. "Oh and just so you know. I hate the bitch and so does Peyton, so if you need us to do something to her without causing Nathan to get mad at you, we will gladly do it. You know we don't care if he gets mad at us or not."
"If it ever comes to that I think I could handle it myself but I'll be sure to use both your help too."
"I'll be back soon."
Brooke skipped away and joined Teresa, Bevin, and Peyton to make a cheer for the boys. Haley watched as they split up into two pairs to cheer on a respective team. Brooke and Bevin cheering on Lucas, Nathan, and Skills. While Teresa and Peyton cheered on Jake, Fergie, and Tim. They even turned the cheering into a little competition of their own by seeing who had the better cheers. Haley sat enthralled watching both the game and the cheering that she didn't notice that Rachel had taken a seat next to her.
"Well, Haley aren't you going to congratulate me?"
"Not really. I don't see a reason to."
"Now there's no need to be rude. Nathan wouldn't like to hear that you were rude to his girlfriend, now would he?"
"You are so proud of yourself, aren't you? You just think you won the lottery."
"Well, scoring someone like Nathan I'd say I did. I told you he would be mine."
"Nathan is not a possession to be owned. And don't think that I don't know what you are really up to."
"Moi? Now what could I possibly be up to?" Rachel said trying to sound innocent.
"I'm going to warn you once Rachel. You better not hurt Nathan. He may not see what you are really like, but I do and I'll be damned if I'll let you take advantage of him."
"Don't worry, Haley. It's not Nathan you should be worried about me hurting. Maybe you should worry more about yourself."
"Is that a threat?"
"Just a friendly warning just like the ones you give to me. So, I wouldn't try and get in the way of my relationship with Nathan."
Haley gave her a cold stare. Rachel just smiled mischievously and turned away. This is war, Haley thought, I'll find a away for Nathan to see the real you.