Finding The Way Back
Chapter 21
Haley headed down the stairs, finding Brooke and Peyton in the kitchen. She picked up Nathan's shirt off the ground, eyeing the two of them. "Okay... What's wrong?" She asked them, raising her eyebrows.
"So, Nathan convinced us to leave the house for a little while, and I decided it would be fun to go over to Lucas's house." Brooke said, crossing her arms.
"Okay?" Haley raised her eyebrows, shrugging slightly.
"I was against it." Peyton shrugged slightly, shaking her head.
"Which I thought was absolutely ridiculous because I dated Lucas too, and I'm still friends with him. So I thought about it while we were there, and decided I was going to do the same thing to Lucas and Peyton that we were doing to you and Nathan." Brooke said, shrugging slightly.
"She stood up and said that she had some errands she needed to run, while we were in the middle of a conversation. Then she left." Peyton sighed, shaking her head.
"And you know Lucas and Peyton, get them alone for a second and the clothes start coming off." Brooke said, shaking her head.
Haley turned to Peyton, raising her eyebrows. "You didn't."
"It just sort of... Happened." Peyton sighed, looking down.
"I walk back in there, and they are basically going at it in the living room. My poor eyes." Brooke laughed, shaking her head. "I expected them to work out their problems, not make out their problems away."
"Peyton, he's engaged!" Haley said, frowning at her.
"I didn't mean for it to happen." Peyton defended herself. "We started talking. We talked about life, and about high school. Then he said that some nights he lays awake and wishes things would have been different. I don't know what happened."
"Is he going to break up with Lindsey?" Haley asked, shaking her head.
"I sent Peyton out to the car, and stayed and talked to him for a few minutes. I love Luke, you guys, but he really needs to make up his mind. He's cheated on far too many girls with Peyton, and I should know, because I'm one of them." Brooke said simply, shrugging.
Nathan walked down the stairs, raising his eyebrows when all eyes turned to him. "Uh... What?" He asked, taking his shirt from Haley, sliding it on and beginning to button it up.
"Your brother kissed Peyton." Brooke informed him, shrugging.
"Really?" He asked, looking at Peyton and raising his eyebrows. "Was it like this?" He asked, grabbing Haley and kissing her briefly. "Or like this?" He smirked slightly, wrapping his arms around his girlfriend, pulling her close to him and kissing her deeply.
"I'm thinking he just wanted to kiss her." Peyton said, looking over at Brooke.
"My thoughts exactly." Brooke laughed, clearing her throat.
Haley pushed on Nathan's chest softly, turning to look at her friends, laughing quietly. "Sorry."
"Which one was it?" Nathan questioned, smirking slightly.
"It was more like a clothes were shedding kiss." Brooke shrugged.
"Was it just... Closure sex?" He asked, looking over at Haley and winking.
"What did Lucas say when you talked to him, Brooke?" Haley asked, leaning back against the counter.
"He asked me not to tell Lindsey." Brooke said simply, sighing softly. "I'm not going to tell her, of course. It's not my place for one, and Peyton is my best friend."
"Is he going to tell her?" Haley asked, frowning.
"He likes Lindsey, you guys." Nathan cut in, shrugging slightly. "Whether she's the girl he should spend the rest of his life with, that's not my place to say. But he claims to be in love with her. So if he doesn't tell her, that's his choice."
"Good point, Nate." Brooke said, shrugging. "No one can tell her. I don't mind Lindsey, I think she's nice. Not the most interesting person in the world, but she seems to make Luke happy."
"But he just made out with Peyton." Haley said, frowning.
"Peyton, you can't tell her either." Nathan shrugged. "Problem solved. If he breaks up with Lindsey, them go for it. Don't ruin his happiness."
Peyton nodded slowly, letting out a deep breath. "You're right. It could have just been nostalgia."
"I'm usually right, if people would listen to me every once and awhile." He hummed, shrugging. "I have to head back to my mom's. I'm leaving tomorrow at around noon. How about I meet you somewhere tonight, Haley James?"
Haley nodded at him, smiling slightly. "I'll walk you out to your car." She said, resting her hand on his back, heading outside.
"That seems like a messy situation." Nathan chuckled, looking at her and sighing. "Maybe even worse than the one I'm in right now. Worse, because Lucas actually did it."
She nodded her head, kissing his cheek softly, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his chest. "I don't want you to go."
"Then I won't." He said softly, kissing the top of her head.
"I feel like there's still so much we need to talk about." She sighed, looking up at him.
"I won't go." He stated, nodding down at her.
"You have to. I see you more than your mom does. Plus, I need to help deal with the situation going on inside." Haley sighed, kissing him softly.
"Why don't you come with me?" Nathan suggested, pulling her closer to him.
"I wish I could." She said, nodding up at him.
"I'll pick you up at five, alright? I can't have a super late night, because I have a game tomorrow. But an early dinner gives us time to talk, and time for anything else we might want to do." He shrugged, smirking down at her.
"How late is super late?" She asked him, tugging on his shirt softly.
"Anything past midnight, maybe one." He shrugged, looking around. "Okay, maybe two. I can sleep on the plane."
"That's the spirit." She joked, squeezing his sides softly.
"We could get in and make out for a little bit." He said, nodding at the car.
"Making out in the back of your moms car? Just like high school." Haley joked, kissing him softly.
"I can guarantee that didn't happen in high school." He chuckled, nodding down at her.
"Must have been with some other guy." She hummed, winking at him.
"You're not very funny." Nathan grumbled, pulling her closer to him. "So... Uh... How long are you planning on staying in Tree Hill?"
"Don't you have to get back to your mom?" She asked, flattening out his hair.
"You're right. I'll pick you up later, baby. Dress nice. Or wear that. Either way, you'll look sexy as hell." He hummed, kissing her again.
"I'll see you later, Nathan." She said, nodding at him.
Nathan got in the car, looking up when Haley stopped the door from shutting.
"Hey." She said softly, taking a small step closer to him. She rested her hand on his leg, smiling. "I love you."
He smiled at her, leaning over and kissing her softly. "I love you too. I'll see you at five. On the dot. Well, actually don't be surprised if it's earlier than that. I won't be there any earlier than four-thirty though."
"Alright. I'll see you then." Haley responded him, kissing once more before heading back into the house.
As promised, Nathan showed up at the house shortly before five, letting out a deep breath and knocking on the door.
Peyton pulled the door open, raising her eyebrows. "Wow, Scott. I figured you might still be into me but showing up dressed like that.." She joked, laughing quietly.
"In your dreams." Nathan chuckled, stepping into the house after she stepped aside.
Brooke looked at him, raising her eyebrows and taking a bite out of her pizza. "Uh, big plans?" She chuckled.
"Just dinner." Nathan shrugged slightly, "Where's Haley?"
"She's finishing up getting ready. Are you set on that outfit?" Brooke questioned.
"I knew the tie was too much. It's too much, isn't it?" He asked, sighing softly.
"You look fine, Nate. Just super formal for anywhere in Tree Hill." Brooke shrugged, nodding at him. "You aren't proposing tonight, are you?"
"What? No." He said, shaking his head. "No, Haley doesn't want that yet."
"Uh huh." Peyton said, shaking her head. "I think you should lose the tie."
"Really?" He asked, looking at Brooke.
Brooke nodded her head slowly, "It's a little much."
"I don't know, my mom said I looked-" He stopped himself, looking at their amused faces. "You're right. Forget the tie." Nathan grumbled, shaking his head.
"No, no. If your Mommy says you look nice then by all means, keep it on." Peyton teased him, smirking slightly.
He rolled his eyes, quickly taking the tie off and throwing it at her. "Have fun with your pizza."
"Hey, your date likes Mac and cheese more than anything else." Brooke laughed, stepped over to him, unbuttoning a few of the buttons on his shirt. "There. Hope your mom won't mind."
"How's your dating life going?" He shot back at her, shrugging.
"Harsh." Brooke said, sitting back down at the bar. "At least Peyton and Haley are getting some."
"I'm not getting any." Peyton said, shaking her head.
"Yikes. Sucks to be you guys." Nathan said, smirking slightly and looking over when Haley walked down the stairs.
"Hey, I didn't hear you come in." Haley said, smiling at him, kissing him quickly.
"You look amazing." He hummed, looking over at Brooke and Peyton, before looking back at Haley.
"Have her home by eleven. Or else there will be some serious consequences, young lady. No boys in your bedroom." Brooke laughed, smiling at Haley.
Haley rolled her eyes, laughing. "Rules are rules, Nathan."
"Oh, and keep your cellphone on at all times." Peyton added, looking at Brooke. "I think that pretty much covers it, what do you think B. Davis?"
"That's it, P. Sawyer. Be safe, have fun, use protection. I'm too young to be a grandma." Brooke joked. "We'll be here watching movies all night. Probably switching back and forth between Chick Flicks and Horror Movies."
"Sounds fun." Nathan said, offering Haley his arm. "Ready to go?"
"Absolutely." Haley hummed, linking her arm through his and waving at her friends.
"So, Haley." Nathan began, looking at her from across the dinner table, smiling slightly.
"So, Nathan." Haley said, grabbing his hand from across the table.
"If you'll notice, this is where we had our first date." He gestured around, shrugging slightly.
"I remember it well." Haley laughed, kissing his hand softly.
"It was going nicely, until I screwed it up. I do that a lot, don't I?" He sighed, nodding at her.
"No, not at all." She said, shaking her head and squeezing his hand softly. "You're such a good guy, Nathan. You've come so far since that first date."
"I'm so in love with you, Haley James." He said softly, nodding at her.
"I think I'm going to move here, Nathan." Haley said to him, sighing softly.
"What? To Tree Hill? Why?" He frowned, raising his eyebrows.
"I told you that I wanted to move back here. I think I'm going to." She shrugged her shoulders.
"No, no. Don't do that. Don't move here. I don't want to live here." He shook his head, sighing softly.
"I didn't ask you to move here with me, Nathan. You asked me how long I was staying, and I'm going to start looking at houses." Haley said simply, sighing softly.
"What about California? What about Red Bedroom?" He questioned her, raising his eyebrows.
"I can just be there when I need to be there." She said, looking at him and sighing. "Nathan, I love it here."
"Haley." Nathan ran his fingers through his hair, sighing softly. "Let's just not talk about this right now, alright? We can discuss it later."
She nodded at him, sighing. Haley looked past Nathan for a second, shaking her head. "Nathan, maybe we should just get out of here." She said quickly.
"Get out of here? Why?" He frowned slightly, turning to look behind him.
The last person he wanted to see was heading their way: Dan Scott.