Disclaimer: I do not own OTH or any of it characters places or such. I am simply borrowing them. Song used in this chapter is "What hurts the most" By Rascal Flatts…I don't own that either!
AN/ Here is the next chapter! Sorry that it took so long to update. Thanks for all the reviews and all of the encouragement. They really made me want to get this update out as soon as I could. Please don't forget to review for this chapter.
As always suggestions are welcome!
Peyton pulled her black Chevy Trailblazer into her driveway and she, Brooke, Haley and Meredith all piled out. Brooke and Haley were each carrying over night bags; all were ready for a girl's day and night. When they walked in the front door they were greet by the smell of baking cookies.
"Oh, I smell cookies" Meredith said before taking off towards the kitchen
"Cookies" Peyton said as she laughed and followed Meredith.
Brooke and Haley headed up the stairs towards Peyton's room to put their bags down. When Brooke opened the door, they found Theresa sitting on the bed.
"Hey T!" Brooke said smiling, "You got here fast"
"Yea, well I knew you guys were going to call when Jake called Skills so I was already packed. How are you, Hales?"
"Get back to me on that one. Right now, I am ready for some fun though." Haley answered not wanting to think about the Nathan drama for a little while
"Well, let's go. Cookies are waiting" Brooke said as the three headed back down the stairs and towards the kitchen
"Theresa!" Meredith said running towards her as they entered the kitchen
"Hey Missy!" Theresa said hugging the young girl
"Aunt Anna made cookies""Yea, I smell them."
"Hey Anna" Brooke said hugging the woman
"Hey girls! Haley, you okay?" Anna asked.
"Yea, I am good"
"Well, Chocolate Chips are ready and I have oatmeal and peanut butter in the oven. What do you girls want for dinner?"
"Actually, mom we were thinking about ordering pizza" Peyton answered
"Well, I think your father and I can spring for some large pizzas"
"You don't have to do that, Anna" Haley said
"Nonsense. It will be just like it was when you were in high school. We feed you and then we disappear" Anna said laughing.
Nathan, Lucas and Jake walked into Tric a few minutes later.
"Hey guys!" Skills yelled as he spotted his friends from the table where he and Mouth were siting. The three made their way across the room to them
"Hey Man!" Nathan said shaking Skills's hand
"I ordered us a round of the usual"
"Cool, thanks" Nathan said as the guys took seats at the round table.
"Here you go guys," the waitress said as she sat drinks down on the table, "first round is on Mike"
"Tell Mike mom would be proud," Lucas said waving to Mike who was standing behind the bar. Karen and Keith owned Tric together. They had bought it when Lucas and Nathan were 18 and starting college thinking that the three businesses would keep them occupied. When Meredith was born a year later, they had hired Mike Nelson to manage it for them.
"I will" the waitress said before walking back towards the counter.
"Mouth, you aren't going to join us in drinking?" Jake asked motioning to Mouth's soda
"Jake, you know I don't drink. Beside who is going to drive you drunk people home later."
"You just enjoy watching us make fools of ourselves," Skills said
"Exactly" Mouth said laughing, "I can have a good time with out the alcohol. You guys are great entertainment"
"If we are great entertainment, Man, you really need a girlfriend" Lucas said as the rest of the guys laughed
"Yea, Yea. Same old story, you guys know how I feel about that. I am just waiting for the right girl"
"Yea, but man there ain't nothing wrong with playing the field a little bit," Jake said
"You are one to talk to Jake, as a matter of fact you are all ones to talk. You didn't play the field." Mouth pointed out. No one had a response and Mouth nodded his head, "That's what I thought"
A few hours later after pizza had been consumed and Meredith had been taken home. The girl's night officially began with as Brooke liked to call them, "Look me goods" AKA facials.
"Okay, how much longer do have I have this stuff on my face?" Theresa mumbling. "It is really hard"
"A few more minutes" Brooke answered also mumbling
"The price we pay to be beautiful" Peyton said making Haley laugh. The two had already taken their masks off and were currently debating about toenail polish.
"I think I am gong to go with this one" Haley said picking up a bottle and shaking it
"Tequila Sunrise" Peyton said, "Good choice"
"Okay, T. Come on" Brooke said as she headed towards the bathroom
"I almost forgot I found something the other day," Peyton said as she stood from her bed and walked into her closest
Haley continued to paint her toenails until Brooke and Theresa came back
"Where did Peyt go?" Brooke asked
"She went into the closet and she hasn't come out"
"She probably got lost in there" Theresa said laughing
"No, I didn't get lost in there" Peyton said emerging with a photo album, "Jake moved stuff around on me"
"What's that?" Haley asked adding the closed bottle of nail polish back into the pile
"This my friends is the official girls night photo album"
"I was wondering where that was," Brooke said
The four of them sat on the floor in a semi circle flipping through the pages laughing at the pictures for the next couple of minutes.
"Okay, how many are we up too?" Lucas asked slightly slurring his words
"3? 4?" Jake answered, "Mouth?"
"5, you guys are up to five drinks a piece"
"Man, already?" Skill asked, "I haven't drank like this since right after college"
"Yea, at the last guys night out" Lucas said, "Where were we at?"
"Orlando" Nathan said, "You all came to see me"
"That's right," Lucas said
"That seems so long ago," Jake said
"Yea, it does" Skills said, "Okay, change the subject"
"How about we found Mouth here a girl?" Lucas said putting his arm around Mouth who was sitting to his right.
"No way. I am not letting you four find me a girl. In case you haven't noticed yet, we have different tastes in women"
"Oh come on, Mouth." Skills said
"I tell you what you pick her out and I will give you the yea or nay" Mouth said. He knew they would bug him about it all night until he gave in. They always did.
"Okay! Let the fun began" Lucas said
"How about that one? The redhead by the door" Jake said
"No" Mouth said without even looking
"How about the blond over there at the counter?" Nathan said
"Which one?" Skills asked
"The one with her back to us" Nathan said
"Man, you can't pick a girl based on what her back looks like"
"She looks familiar though" Jake said, "At least her back does"
The blond could feel the five sets of eyes looking at her and turned around.
"Erica Marsh" Mouth said and a smile grew on his face.
"I can not believe I let you guys talk me into doing this?" Haley said as she sat in a chair in front of mirror. Peyton stood over her with a bottle of hair dye.
"Oh, come on, Hales you will look cute as a blonde"
"I don't see Brooke or Theresa or even you dyeing your hair"
"If I dyed my hair, Jake would kill me. Don't you remember what happened last time I messed with my hair?"
"That was because you chopped it all off" Brooke said as she walked up beside Peyton
"I am not touching my hair. I like the mop the way it is"
"Brooke, why don't you dye your hair?" Haley asked
"I am not going to go blond"
"I think there is some red or little brown in mom's bathroom closet" Peyton said, "Go look"
"Was does your mom have so many different hair colors?" Theresa asked as Brooke went in search of the hair color.
"Mom has been going through this experimental stage. Sometimes, I think she is worse than a teenager"
"Oh, my gosh. It is Erica Marsh" Jake said
Mouth smiled as Erica stood from her barstool and walked over towards them, " Well, look at you five. Nathan, Lucas, Skills, Jake, Mouth, it is good to see you all again"
"Good to see you too, Erica" Mouth said, "You look good"
"Thank you. Nate, Luke, I am sorry to hear about your dad"
"Thanks Erica. Why don't you join us for a drink?" Nathan said as he looked back towards Mouth. Nathan was one of the three people within their group of friends that knew that Mouth had liked Erica in high school
"I don't want to interrupt guys night"
"Oh, come on. Come tell us what you have been up to since high school" Skills said as he pulled another chair between him and Mouth. Skills also knew of Mouth's crush on Erica.
"Well, okay. One drink and then I got to be getting home"
"What do you want?" Mouth said
"What are you having?"
"Mouth is drinking regular plain coke. He doesn't drink" Lucas answered
"Really? Why not?"
"Someone has to drive these guys home," Mouth said
"That's really sweet of you." Erica said smiling, "I will have what you are having"
"Haley, come on" Peyton yelled across the hall at Haley who was blow drying her hair in the bathroom
"I will be there in a minute. Brooke needs some help getting the dye out of her hair" Haley yelled back
"You would think as many times as Brooke has dyed her hair that she could rinse it out herself" Peyton said
"I heard that Peyton" Brooke said as they walked out.
"Hales, your hair looks great!" Theresa said. "We need some music so you can show off your new look, be like one of Brooke's models. Peyton, what is in your CD player?"
"I don't know. Jake was using it last"
"It looks like Rascal Flatts" Theresa said
"Hit play" Brooke said as Theresa pressed the button
"Strut your stuff, Hales" Theresa said. Soon all four women were dancing around the room
I can take the rain on the roof of this empty house
That
don't bother me
I can take a few tears now and then and just let
them out
I'm not afraid to cry every once in a while
Even
though going on with you gone still upsets me
There are days every
now and again I pretend I'm ok
But that's not what gets me
"Rascal Flatts, now that is my kind of song" Jake said singing along with the juke box
"Would you like to dance, Erica?" Mouth asked fighting to keep his nerve.
"I would love too, Mouth"
"Those two are so cute together" Lucas said as Mouth and Erica walked off
What
hurts the most
Was being so close
And having so much to say
And
watching you walk away
And never knowing
What could have
been
And not seeing that loving you
Is what I was tryin' to
do
Nathan sat silent listening to the words of the song playing through the club. The song rang true and it was almost like it was telling his story. It was exactly what had happened with Haley today. She had walked away before he could tell her what he wanted to say. What he needed to say.
It's hard to deal with the pain of losing you
everywhere I go
But I'm doin' It
It's hard to force that
smile when I see our old friends and I'm alone
Still
Harder
Getting up, getting dressed, livin' with this regret
But
I know if I could do it over
I would trade give away all the words
that I saved in my heart
That I left unspoken
Haley sat down silently as the other three girls danced around and sang with the music. She was listening to the lyrics of the song and knowing that it would probably be true to Nathan. Haley knew that Nathan was living with the regret of not telling her how he really felt. She knew he was.
What hurts the
most
Is being so close
And having so much to say
And
watching you walk away
And never knowing
What could have
been
And not seeing that loving you
Is what I was trying to do
'Had Nathan been trying to love her by not telling her how he felt all those years? No, he was being selfish.' Haley thought to herself. 'He didn't want to get hurt, so he hurt me'
What hurts the
most Not seeing that loving you
Is being so close
And having so much to say
And
watching you walk away
And never knowing
What could have
been
And not seeing that loving you
Is what I was trying to
do
That's what I was trying to
do
'How could Haley not see I was trying to love her. She didn't see that I was trying to protect her when I told her that I didn't love her' Nathan thought, 'I was so close then to loving the girl of my dreams forever and I let her slip away. I let her walk away'
"Guys, I am going to go for a walk," Haley said as the song ended
"You okay, Hales?" Brooke asked
"Yea, just need some fresh air"
"Do you want us to come with you?" Peyton asked
"No, I will be back in a little while"
"Okay" Theresa said as Haley disappeared the stairs
"I am going to go for a walk," Nathan said as turned towards his brother as the juke box began another slow song.
"Okay" Lucas said. He may have had a few drinks in him, but Lucas knew that Nathan was still thinking about what had happened with Haley. "Are you coming back here?"
"I will call you if I am"
"Okay, be careful man"
"I will" Nathan said as he stood and walked towards the door smiling at Erica and Mouth as he walked past them
Haley walked towards the docks. It was probably the last place that she wanted to be, but she found herself wandering that way anyway. She kept thinking about Nathan and their conversation today. She was also thinking about what Brooke had said. She needed to decide what she wanted. Did she want to be in a relationship with Nathan? Did she want to be friends with him?
Nathan stumbled his way towards the docks. He kept reliving the conversation today with Haley. He wanted to kick himself for telling Haley that he didn't want to get hurt. He had been so selfish. He wanted a relationship with Haley. He knew that for sure. He needed her to hear what he had to say. He just didn't know if she would ever talk to him again.
Haley sat on a bench at the edge of the docks and looked out into the water. It was dark out and the only light was coming from a lamp 200 feet from her. It was peaceful until she heard rustling behind her and turned to find Nathan walking across the grass, she quickly turned back around hoping that he hadn't seen her. She didn't know what to say to him.
Nathan spotted a figure already sitting on the bench that he had been heading for. He looked around for another bench. There was one further down the docks towards the lamp, but he didn't want to sit some where that he could be seen. Nathan instead continued towards the bench and sat on the opposite side looking towards the blond haired woman. It took a second before Nathan realized that it was Haley. This was his chance to talk to her, but the words just wouldn't come.
