Thanks for the Feedback. I know the Italics don't come out right but I post
this story on a message board and I need the Italics that way for it to
post correctly there. Sorry if that makes it hard to read here but I don't
feel like going back and editing them all out. Anyway, the Disclaimer is in
Part One and here is Part Two.
Chapter One Part Two
There was a bra hanging off a towel hook on the back of her door. Haley was so used to leaving it there when she went to sleep at night that yesterday when she changed out of her clothes and into her pajamas she placed the bra in its same resting place. Now she kind of wished it wasn't out there in the open since Nathan's eyes seemed to keep glancing in its direction. It was pretty obvious that if the bra was over by the door, it wasn't on her body.
She had stopped him once, the day they had been studying in her room. He moved too fast unbuttoning her shirt, his hands were just a little too experienced and it completely unnerved her. He had done that so many times before with other girls. At the time, she didn't know what made her any more or less special to him and it had been important to her to find out.
After last night, she knew. They had the heart-to-heart, even if he did have to almost drag the confession out of her. Was she sure it would change anything the next time his hand was sneaking up her shirt? It all depended on whether or not she was listening to the angel or the devil. The longer she laid in bed with him, with her head on his chest and his arm strewn protectively over her, the easier it was becoming for the devil to pitchfork the angel in her halo and catapult the saintly spirit off to far away lands.
There was still a lot she both wanted and needed to know about Nathan Scott. The man was not the myth. But most myths were often exaggerations of truth. Haley liked truth and honesty. Especially, in situations like this.where she felt herself falling into unknown territory and it was becoming harder and harder to keep her head above the surface. Being here with Nathan, well it was starting to feel rather domestic. Haley on the right side of the bed and Nathan on the left, like a real couple that shared drawer space and had designated sides of the bed.
There were urges. Urges to run away, back to Lucas and mini-golf and safety. Urges to lift up Nathan's shirt and find out whether or not the rumor that he had a nipple ring was real. Urges to run over to the store and buy Nathan a pair of slippers to leave on the floor so his feet wouldn't get cold in the crisp morning air.
She had been so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice Nathan was staring down at her until she felt one of his fingers run past the corner of her eye. She looked up at him, wondering what he was doing. He held his finger up. It was slightly darkened by the mascara or eye shadow he had just wiped off her face. "You missed a spot," he said softly.
"Thanks," she replied, taking his hand in between hers and rubbing them until the spot disappeared. "This make-up thing is new. I haven't exactly gotten the hang of it yet."
"It looks pretty good to me," he captured her lips with his. "Just don't go overboard. I get a lecture every time I stain the collar of another shirt."
She swallowed the lump in her throat. She replied to him slowly.
"I get lectured too, when Luke throws his boxers in the hamper. Mom just flips."
He went silent and tensed up next to her. "I didn't need the visual," he finally spit out in a hard voice.
"Neither did I," she said back in the same tone. She was blinking back tears.
"I have a past Haley."
She knew that. In fact, his ex-girlfriend was becoming a good friend of hers. So, she didn't exactly understand why his comment had upset her. It didn't make sense - that she could talk to Peyton about Nathan but the minute he brings up other girls, she becomes jealous.
He wasn't going to keep apologizing for things he did in the past. He made his peace with Peyton, and he'd spoken with Haley enough times during their tutoring sessions about how sorry he felt for his actions, that he didn't think he really had to explain himself again. But that really wasn't what it was about.
"I don't, Nathan." She shrugged and looked up at him. "I'm a blank slate."
The honesty in her face made him blink. He wanted to be that honest back. It had just never been in his nature before. He wondered if he'd be able to keep it up, or if he'd end up disappointing her. After all he was a worn roadmap, highlighted and dog-eared.
"We're coming from two different places," he agreed.
"It doesn't matter though, right?" she asked quietly.
More than anything it had to not matter. So how could he tell her it might? He wouldn't be able to.
"I already told you once, nothing else matters."
His voice was husky and sent shivers down her spine. She leaned up and licked her lips just a little. She saw his eyes immediately shift towards her mouth and she smiled. He was really drawn to her. This wasn't just an adolescent game of wills that two strong-headed people were playing. There were hearts involved.
"That was the right answer," she said knowingly.
He kissed her and that all but entirely removed the conversation from her mind. This was the way she wanted to wake up.
His hands rested on the soft skin of her waist. Her pajamas were too baggy to sit exactly on her hipbone and she moaned into his mouth as he explored her body. She noticed he was being more reserved this time and on that principle alone she let it continue probably longer than she would have on another occasion.
He kissed a trail of kisses up to her ear. "This isn't about sex for me. When you're ready, I'll be too." He placed a fast kiss on her collarbone and waited contently for her to respond.
She tried to find her voice but it was somewhere in the pit of her stomach. "You're going to have to teach me," the words were almost embarrassing to admit.
He grinned like the Cheshire.
"Oh, I like the sound of that," he had that sly look on his face and it eased the tension that had previously apprehended her.
It was said in that tone that always seemed to make her giggle. His [I]I know I'm sexy and now you know it too[/I] voice.
So she giggled. "I figured you would take pleasure in my discomfort."
His hands were still on her waist, massaging the skin there. She looked at him expectantly. He laughed. "I'm sarcastic, not sadistic."
She raised an eyebrow. "Sadistic." Haley repeated, as she clicked her tongue. "That's a big word," she teased him.
He grinned. "Well see, I have this demanding tutor. She makes me read Shakespeare and the Webster dictionary and I do it because she's really smart and really hot, and I hear she used to take gymnastics so she's incredibly flexi."
The phone shrilled, and Haley gave him a look that he better stop talking. She picked up the receiver but before speaking into it she covered it up with her hand and hissed at him, "Where did you hear I took gymnastics? I can't even cartwheel anymore."
Nathan smiled and leaned back into the pillows as he watched her, completely flustered, try and talk on the phone.
**
Nathan had never asked his parents where babies came from. He never crawled into his mothers lap and put his head down on her stomach and asked why she didn't have a big belly like his friends mothers did. He was more than content to be an only child.
He never got lonely. His father was always up for a game of basketball. His mother would always sit and watch Saved by the Bell re-runs with him. He had parents who occupied his free time when he wasn't being entertained by one of his many friends. He had every toy and a pool and his very own hoop; needless to say he became a popular kid in elementary school.
But there was never a moment where he wished he had a brother let alone a sister. His mother was an only child and in Nathan's entire life he couldn't remember his father never spoke more than one nice word about his brother Keith. He never made any positive connections with having siblings.
That doesn't mean he wasn't familiar with the question, "wouldn't you like a baby brother or sister, Nathan?" because he was. Everybody and their grandmother seemed to ask him that, as it apparently was 'the thing' to ask an only child. But the most surprising part was that often times, Deb herself brought up the issue of siblings.
At sixteen, Nathan realized now what she had been doing. She had been preparing him for the day when Lucas Scott would enter their lives as more than just an ghostly reminder of times pushed under the bed.
While she was fixing him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch (it was the only thing he would eat), while she was putting batteries in his remote control car, while she was doing anything; she would brush his shaggy hair out of his eyes and say in a strong, calm voice, "I think it would be nice to have a brother. You could teach him to play basketball, the way Daddy taught you."
It wasn't a question. It was a statement. "It's nice having siblings," she would say. But of course, he always had the same answer. "I only want it to be me, you and Daddy forever."
He used to make her promise. Sometimes she did promise, but he was too young to notice the quiver in her lip, and the hint of despair in her eye.
**
Now here he was cuddling with Lucas Scott's best friend.
When the rumors started that Lucas Scott didn't just coincidentally have the same last name as him, that lanky blonde-haired, blue-eyed teachers-pet Lucas Scott was the long-lost son of Dan Scott, he was not filled with a long lost sense of brotherly love. His first instinct was to prove beyond any doubt that this kid was a fraud, but of course that was his father's influence shining through. His second instinct, the one he kept up for years to come, was to ignore the guy most of the time. His father had obviously forgotten Lucas existed, and Nathan would do the same. He would only belittle him if he got in his face and tried to make trouble.
But from what he heard from Haley's end of the conversation, Lucas was in enough trouble without him doing anything. Seems Lucas didn't have a fairy tale reunion with Peyton, and from what he pieced together through eavesdropping, somehow Brooke was now in the mix.
"Luke, I don't know why you can't decide," Haley yelled in a frustrated tone into the phone. She sighed, and eyed Nathan apologetically. She had been on the phone for a good ten minutes now and Lucas was still seemingly incapable of reasoning out his feelings.
Haley was silent then as Lucas was apparently telling her something and Nathan questioned her. Haley made the "blabbering" signal with her hand to show that Lucas was just yakking it up and Nathan couldn't help but laugh and pull her back into his arms. She'd been gone from them too long as it was.
She smiled up at him but then in an instant a look of disgust was on her face at something Lucas must have just said. "Oh gross. I could have lived the rest of my life without knowing that."
Nathan smirked, wondering what lewd thing Lucas had done with Brooke that could have freaked out Haley so badly. He was starting to get bored now. Haley was now instructing him on something and what Nathan really wanted to do was remind her that he was still in the room. He sat up. Haley rolled off him and smiled, but continued talking to Lucas.
"Are you crying?" Haley asked, which must have been answered with a sharp NO because Haley immediately apologized even though both she and Nathan shared a laugh, and then she exclaimed, "I would never, that was the television."
Nathan though, had his legs off the side of the bed. He stood up and was about to get dressed when he noticed Haley yawn. Her t-shirt rose up slightly as she inhaled. He crawled back onto the bed and Haley looked at him expectantly from her lying position.
He smiled that sly smile and Haley knew in an instant he was up to something. Her eyes went wide and she was going to say something when he put a finger up to his lips. "Lesson one," he drawled in the tiniest of whispers. "The art of seducing a belly button."
Haley's hands shot to cover up her body but he was too fast. He slid his hands over her already exposed stomach. Her toes curled as he started to place kisses there. She tried to keep her voice as she gave Lucas advice but it became harder to concentrate on anything but him. She balanced the phone in between her ear and her shoulder so she could run her hands through Nathan's hair.
He peeked up at her. His face was flushed and he looked like he was enjoying himself. "Say goodbye," he mouthed.
She shook her head no and mouthed back, "I can't."
"Okay," he mouthed and shrugged his shoulders. If she had known what was going on in his head she would have hung up the phone.
He lowered his mouth back to her stomach. A moment later she squealed and arched her back as he plunged his tongue into the small naval cavity in the center of her belly. Her eyes darted around and she couldn't help the large grin that erupted on her face. She covered her face with her hands.
"You're terrible," she hissed. Then speaking back into the phone she said, "No, not you Luke."
Nathan chuckled. He checked the clock. It was almost noon.
"Haley, I'm hungry," he announced loud as day. Haley sighed. "I was quiet. Now I'm hungry and it's time for you to get off the phone. Or I could keep on." he lowered his mouth to her stomach again and as much as she didn't want to she pushed him off her, made a motion with her hand for him to go get dressed and she tried her hardest to get off the phone with Lucas.
"Luke.yeah he was here the entire time.I didn't tell you because you were too busy freaking out about Peyton and Brooke.look I should go.I need to get dressed.no I didn't mean I was.Luke that's none of your business.I know you told me but I said I would have been happier never ever knowing that.okay I should have told you he was here I'm sorry.Luke I swear if you don't hang up I'm going to pinch your tattoo next time I see you."
She hung up and threw the phone down ceremoniously on the bed.
"The two of you are going to be the end of me," she huffed dramatically.
He smiled as he took off his shirt and put on one of her brothers. "I thought you would like Lesson One," he grinned.
"I did," she giggled.
"But I'm still buying breakfast?" he asked knowingly.
"Yup."
He turned his back so she could get dressed. They continued talking over the sound of her removing her clothes which was a necessarily distraction for Nathan. He could be mature with her. He knew he could.
"So Brooke and Lucas?" he cleared his throat.
"He claims she's not just using him for a hood ornament. Apparently she wants them to be a couple," Haley explained.
"That doesn't sound like Brooke's M.O.," Nathan answered, knowing the brunette a lot better than Haley.
"You didn't know any of this?" Haley asked surprised.
"No. I haven't spoken much to Brooke in a while. I guess I know why now," he replied. He waited a minute and then asked his own question. "How much does Lucas know about you and me?"
"You can turn around," Haley said before answering his question when Nathan was facing her. "He knows that we kissed a few times. And now he knows you're here now so I'm sure he jumped to his own conclusions."
"You didn't tell him we are a couple?" he asked, encircling her with his arms.
She looked beautiful in a purple striped sweater and dark washed blue jeans. Her hair was unceremoniously up in a ponytail.
"Cute," he smiled, pulling at it slightly.
She rolled her eyes but kissed him softly.
"When I told Lucas that I was kissing you," she began, "well, I didn't actually know we were a couple then. Actually, I still.um.is that what we are?" she asked hesitantly.
His eyes opened wide like he does when he gets a right answer on a math question. "Yeah.well if you want to," he answered just as unsurely.
"Okay," she said coyly, "I guess I can put up with you."
She leaned up and he gave her one of those intense kisses that had the ability to make her start to
"So what do you say we go to IHOP?" he asked eagerly.
"I say, let's go."
Of course, as they were about to leave the phone rang again. Haley picked it up even though Nathan was pleading with her to forget it and go eat.
"Oh, hi Deb," she said after a minute.
Nathan shook his head vehemently and mouthed for her not to say anything. Please, he mouthed as he repeatedly tried to get her to lie for him.
"Um, I'm sorry Deb, but he's not here. I spoke with him though so I know he's okay," she lied with her mouth in a tight line.
She hung up a moment later after swearing up and down to Deb that he was fine and would probably call home later. She looked over at him angrily.
"Don't ever ask me to do that again. Not only do I work for your mother, but I genuinely like her as a person and that was just wrong," she told him.
"I'm not ready to see them Haley. Besides, I wanted to spend more time with you alone and if my parents know where I am then that is definitely not going to happen," he defended himself.
She sighed. "I know but I just don't like lying."
He smiled slightly. "So why did you? You could have ratted me out."
She wrapped her arms around him. "Because I knew why you didn't want me to." She paused. "But when you do talk to your mother, which is going to be later tonight when I go in to work, you are going to apologize for the both of us."
"I guess I'll have to," he said as he hung his head slightly. But his eyes twinkled as he continued, "I mean.that's what couples do right?"
She smiled at him as they started to walk out of the sanctuary of her bedroom.
"I wouldn't know, but I think I'm looking forward to finding out."
Chapter One Part Two
There was a bra hanging off a towel hook on the back of her door. Haley was so used to leaving it there when she went to sleep at night that yesterday when she changed out of her clothes and into her pajamas she placed the bra in its same resting place. Now she kind of wished it wasn't out there in the open since Nathan's eyes seemed to keep glancing in its direction. It was pretty obvious that if the bra was over by the door, it wasn't on her body.
She had stopped him once, the day they had been studying in her room. He moved too fast unbuttoning her shirt, his hands were just a little too experienced and it completely unnerved her. He had done that so many times before with other girls. At the time, she didn't know what made her any more or less special to him and it had been important to her to find out.
After last night, she knew. They had the heart-to-heart, even if he did have to almost drag the confession out of her. Was she sure it would change anything the next time his hand was sneaking up her shirt? It all depended on whether or not she was listening to the angel or the devil. The longer she laid in bed with him, with her head on his chest and his arm strewn protectively over her, the easier it was becoming for the devil to pitchfork the angel in her halo and catapult the saintly spirit off to far away lands.
There was still a lot she both wanted and needed to know about Nathan Scott. The man was not the myth. But most myths were often exaggerations of truth. Haley liked truth and honesty. Especially, in situations like this.where she felt herself falling into unknown territory and it was becoming harder and harder to keep her head above the surface. Being here with Nathan, well it was starting to feel rather domestic. Haley on the right side of the bed and Nathan on the left, like a real couple that shared drawer space and had designated sides of the bed.
There were urges. Urges to run away, back to Lucas and mini-golf and safety. Urges to lift up Nathan's shirt and find out whether or not the rumor that he had a nipple ring was real. Urges to run over to the store and buy Nathan a pair of slippers to leave on the floor so his feet wouldn't get cold in the crisp morning air.
She had been so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice Nathan was staring down at her until she felt one of his fingers run past the corner of her eye. She looked up at him, wondering what he was doing. He held his finger up. It was slightly darkened by the mascara or eye shadow he had just wiped off her face. "You missed a spot," he said softly.
"Thanks," she replied, taking his hand in between hers and rubbing them until the spot disappeared. "This make-up thing is new. I haven't exactly gotten the hang of it yet."
"It looks pretty good to me," he captured her lips with his. "Just don't go overboard. I get a lecture every time I stain the collar of another shirt."
She swallowed the lump in her throat. She replied to him slowly.
"I get lectured too, when Luke throws his boxers in the hamper. Mom just flips."
He went silent and tensed up next to her. "I didn't need the visual," he finally spit out in a hard voice.
"Neither did I," she said back in the same tone. She was blinking back tears.
"I have a past Haley."
She knew that. In fact, his ex-girlfriend was becoming a good friend of hers. So, she didn't exactly understand why his comment had upset her. It didn't make sense - that she could talk to Peyton about Nathan but the minute he brings up other girls, she becomes jealous.
He wasn't going to keep apologizing for things he did in the past. He made his peace with Peyton, and he'd spoken with Haley enough times during their tutoring sessions about how sorry he felt for his actions, that he didn't think he really had to explain himself again. But that really wasn't what it was about.
"I don't, Nathan." She shrugged and looked up at him. "I'm a blank slate."
The honesty in her face made him blink. He wanted to be that honest back. It had just never been in his nature before. He wondered if he'd be able to keep it up, or if he'd end up disappointing her. After all he was a worn roadmap, highlighted and dog-eared.
"We're coming from two different places," he agreed.
"It doesn't matter though, right?" she asked quietly.
More than anything it had to not matter. So how could he tell her it might? He wouldn't be able to.
"I already told you once, nothing else matters."
His voice was husky and sent shivers down her spine. She leaned up and licked her lips just a little. She saw his eyes immediately shift towards her mouth and she smiled. He was really drawn to her. This wasn't just an adolescent game of wills that two strong-headed people were playing. There were hearts involved.
"That was the right answer," she said knowingly.
He kissed her and that all but entirely removed the conversation from her mind. This was the way she wanted to wake up.
His hands rested on the soft skin of her waist. Her pajamas were too baggy to sit exactly on her hipbone and she moaned into his mouth as he explored her body. She noticed he was being more reserved this time and on that principle alone she let it continue probably longer than she would have on another occasion.
He kissed a trail of kisses up to her ear. "This isn't about sex for me. When you're ready, I'll be too." He placed a fast kiss on her collarbone and waited contently for her to respond.
She tried to find her voice but it was somewhere in the pit of her stomach. "You're going to have to teach me," the words were almost embarrassing to admit.
He grinned like the Cheshire.
"Oh, I like the sound of that," he had that sly look on his face and it eased the tension that had previously apprehended her.
It was said in that tone that always seemed to make her giggle. His [I]I know I'm sexy and now you know it too[/I] voice.
So she giggled. "I figured you would take pleasure in my discomfort."
His hands were still on her waist, massaging the skin there. She looked at him expectantly. He laughed. "I'm sarcastic, not sadistic."
She raised an eyebrow. "Sadistic." Haley repeated, as she clicked her tongue. "That's a big word," she teased him.
He grinned. "Well see, I have this demanding tutor. She makes me read Shakespeare and the Webster dictionary and I do it because she's really smart and really hot, and I hear she used to take gymnastics so she's incredibly flexi."
The phone shrilled, and Haley gave him a look that he better stop talking. She picked up the receiver but before speaking into it she covered it up with her hand and hissed at him, "Where did you hear I took gymnastics? I can't even cartwheel anymore."
Nathan smiled and leaned back into the pillows as he watched her, completely flustered, try and talk on the phone.
**
Nathan had never asked his parents where babies came from. He never crawled into his mothers lap and put his head down on her stomach and asked why she didn't have a big belly like his friends mothers did. He was more than content to be an only child.
He never got lonely. His father was always up for a game of basketball. His mother would always sit and watch Saved by the Bell re-runs with him. He had parents who occupied his free time when he wasn't being entertained by one of his many friends. He had every toy and a pool and his very own hoop; needless to say he became a popular kid in elementary school.
But there was never a moment where he wished he had a brother let alone a sister. His mother was an only child and in Nathan's entire life he couldn't remember his father never spoke more than one nice word about his brother Keith. He never made any positive connections with having siblings.
That doesn't mean he wasn't familiar with the question, "wouldn't you like a baby brother or sister, Nathan?" because he was. Everybody and their grandmother seemed to ask him that, as it apparently was 'the thing' to ask an only child. But the most surprising part was that often times, Deb herself brought up the issue of siblings.
At sixteen, Nathan realized now what she had been doing. She had been preparing him for the day when Lucas Scott would enter their lives as more than just an ghostly reminder of times pushed under the bed.
While she was fixing him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch (it was the only thing he would eat), while she was putting batteries in his remote control car, while she was doing anything; she would brush his shaggy hair out of his eyes and say in a strong, calm voice, "I think it would be nice to have a brother. You could teach him to play basketball, the way Daddy taught you."
It wasn't a question. It was a statement. "It's nice having siblings," she would say. But of course, he always had the same answer. "I only want it to be me, you and Daddy forever."
He used to make her promise. Sometimes she did promise, but he was too young to notice the quiver in her lip, and the hint of despair in her eye.
**
Now here he was cuddling with Lucas Scott's best friend.
When the rumors started that Lucas Scott didn't just coincidentally have the same last name as him, that lanky blonde-haired, blue-eyed teachers-pet Lucas Scott was the long-lost son of Dan Scott, he was not filled with a long lost sense of brotherly love. His first instinct was to prove beyond any doubt that this kid was a fraud, but of course that was his father's influence shining through. His second instinct, the one he kept up for years to come, was to ignore the guy most of the time. His father had obviously forgotten Lucas existed, and Nathan would do the same. He would only belittle him if he got in his face and tried to make trouble.
But from what he heard from Haley's end of the conversation, Lucas was in enough trouble without him doing anything. Seems Lucas didn't have a fairy tale reunion with Peyton, and from what he pieced together through eavesdropping, somehow Brooke was now in the mix.
"Luke, I don't know why you can't decide," Haley yelled in a frustrated tone into the phone. She sighed, and eyed Nathan apologetically. She had been on the phone for a good ten minutes now and Lucas was still seemingly incapable of reasoning out his feelings.
Haley was silent then as Lucas was apparently telling her something and Nathan questioned her. Haley made the "blabbering" signal with her hand to show that Lucas was just yakking it up and Nathan couldn't help but laugh and pull her back into his arms. She'd been gone from them too long as it was.
She smiled up at him but then in an instant a look of disgust was on her face at something Lucas must have just said. "Oh gross. I could have lived the rest of my life without knowing that."
Nathan smirked, wondering what lewd thing Lucas had done with Brooke that could have freaked out Haley so badly. He was starting to get bored now. Haley was now instructing him on something and what Nathan really wanted to do was remind her that he was still in the room. He sat up. Haley rolled off him and smiled, but continued talking to Lucas.
"Are you crying?" Haley asked, which must have been answered with a sharp NO because Haley immediately apologized even though both she and Nathan shared a laugh, and then she exclaimed, "I would never, that was the television."
Nathan though, had his legs off the side of the bed. He stood up and was about to get dressed when he noticed Haley yawn. Her t-shirt rose up slightly as she inhaled. He crawled back onto the bed and Haley looked at him expectantly from her lying position.
He smiled that sly smile and Haley knew in an instant he was up to something. Her eyes went wide and she was going to say something when he put a finger up to his lips. "Lesson one," he drawled in the tiniest of whispers. "The art of seducing a belly button."
Haley's hands shot to cover up her body but he was too fast. He slid his hands over her already exposed stomach. Her toes curled as he started to place kisses there. She tried to keep her voice as she gave Lucas advice but it became harder to concentrate on anything but him. She balanced the phone in between her ear and her shoulder so she could run her hands through Nathan's hair.
He peeked up at her. His face was flushed and he looked like he was enjoying himself. "Say goodbye," he mouthed.
She shook her head no and mouthed back, "I can't."
"Okay," he mouthed and shrugged his shoulders. If she had known what was going on in his head she would have hung up the phone.
He lowered his mouth back to her stomach. A moment later she squealed and arched her back as he plunged his tongue into the small naval cavity in the center of her belly. Her eyes darted around and she couldn't help the large grin that erupted on her face. She covered her face with her hands.
"You're terrible," she hissed. Then speaking back into the phone she said, "No, not you Luke."
Nathan chuckled. He checked the clock. It was almost noon.
"Haley, I'm hungry," he announced loud as day. Haley sighed. "I was quiet. Now I'm hungry and it's time for you to get off the phone. Or I could keep on." he lowered his mouth to her stomach again and as much as she didn't want to she pushed him off her, made a motion with her hand for him to go get dressed and she tried her hardest to get off the phone with Lucas.
"Luke.yeah he was here the entire time.I didn't tell you because you were too busy freaking out about Peyton and Brooke.look I should go.I need to get dressed.no I didn't mean I was.Luke that's none of your business.I know you told me but I said I would have been happier never ever knowing that.okay I should have told you he was here I'm sorry.Luke I swear if you don't hang up I'm going to pinch your tattoo next time I see you."
She hung up and threw the phone down ceremoniously on the bed.
"The two of you are going to be the end of me," she huffed dramatically.
He smiled as he took off his shirt and put on one of her brothers. "I thought you would like Lesson One," he grinned.
"I did," she giggled.
"But I'm still buying breakfast?" he asked knowingly.
"Yup."
He turned his back so she could get dressed. They continued talking over the sound of her removing her clothes which was a necessarily distraction for Nathan. He could be mature with her. He knew he could.
"So Brooke and Lucas?" he cleared his throat.
"He claims she's not just using him for a hood ornament. Apparently she wants them to be a couple," Haley explained.
"That doesn't sound like Brooke's M.O.," Nathan answered, knowing the brunette a lot better than Haley.
"You didn't know any of this?" Haley asked surprised.
"No. I haven't spoken much to Brooke in a while. I guess I know why now," he replied. He waited a minute and then asked his own question. "How much does Lucas know about you and me?"
"You can turn around," Haley said before answering his question when Nathan was facing her. "He knows that we kissed a few times. And now he knows you're here now so I'm sure he jumped to his own conclusions."
"You didn't tell him we are a couple?" he asked, encircling her with his arms.
She looked beautiful in a purple striped sweater and dark washed blue jeans. Her hair was unceremoniously up in a ponytail.
"Cute," he smiled, pulling at it slightly.
She rolled her eyes but kissed him softly.
"When I told Lucas that I was kissing you," she began, "well, I didn't actually know we were a couple then. Actually, I still.um.is that what we are?" she asked hesitantly.
His eyes opened wide like he does when he gets a right answer on a math question. "Yeah.well if you want to," he answered just as unsurely.
"Okay," she said coyly, "I guess I can put up with you."
She leaned up and he gave her one of those intense kisses that had the ability to make her start to
"So what do you say we go to IHOP?" he asked eagerly.
"I say, let's go."
Of course, as they were about to leave the phone rang again. Haley picked it up even though Nathan was pleading with her to forget it and go eat.
"Oh, hi Deb," she said after a minute.
Nathan shook his head vehemently and mouthed for her not to say anything. Please, he mouthed as he repeatedly tried to get her to lie for him.
"Um, I'm sorry Deb, but he's not here. I spoke with him though so I know he's okay," she lied with her mouth in a tight line.
She hung up a moment later after swearing up and down to Deb that he was fine and would probably call home later. She looked over at him angrily.
"Don't ever ask me to do that again. Not only do I work for your mother, but I genuinely like her as a person and that was just wrong," she told him.
"I'm not ready to see them Haley. Besides, I wanted to spend more time with you alone and if my parents know where I am then that is definitely not going to happen," he defended himself.
She sighed. "I know but I just don't like lying."
He smiled slightly. "So why did you? You could have ratted me out."
She wrapped her arms around him. "Because I knew why you didn't want me to." She paused. "But when you do talk to your mother, which is going to be later tonight when I go in to work, you are going to apologize for the both of us."
"I guess I'll have to," he said as he hung his head slightly. But his eyes twinkled as he continued, "I mean.that's what couples do right?"
She smiled at him as they started to walk out of the sanctuary of her bedroom.
"I wouldn't know, but I think I'm looking forward to finding out."