Disclaimer: I own my love for Chad and James, but regrettably nothing else.
Inside of You
Chapter 7
When You Fall
Haley glanced at her watch and saw the minute hand reach the number, signally to her internal clock that she only had a few minutes left to get to her locker and into class before the bell rang. She tried to sway her compulsive nature for being punctual, and instead focus on the conversation she was having with Peyton, as they walked from the school parking lot.
"Did you take notes in History yesterday," Peyton asked her casually.
"Yeah, you need them," Haley offered.
"Do we have a quiz today, I can't remember," she said disinterestedly, pulling the strap of her bag tighter on her shoulder.
"No not till Friday, did you forget," Haley said, feeling that Peyton was a little more off today than usual.
"Guess so, can I still get the notes though?"
"Sure," Haley paused, "So what's with the whole zombie act anyway, I thought cheerleaders were supposed to smile.....life's a peach, right?"
Peyton laughed sardonically, the smile never quite reaching her eyes. "Peyton-Sawyer-cheerleader-extraordinaire is currently taking a leave of absence," she turned to the brunette.
"And so she leaves the broody artist in her presence," Haley joked with her.
"Something like that. So tell me, how are things with your favorite Scott," Peyton said, trying to shift the conversation away from herself.
"Or do you mean to say your favorite Scott," Haley countered, not taking the bait.
Peyton looked away at the other students gathering in large groups as they piled into school. "Me and Lucas are......different people. Much more different than I ever thought," she added as she then saw Lucas and Brooke crossing the campus towards her.
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Lucas wasn't sure what to do with his hands as him and Brooke walked side by side. Logically he knew he could hold her hand, put his arm around her shoulder, maybe her waist even, but it felt awkward. Not so much because he didn't want to touch her, because he did. He really did. It was now that there was this whole new level to everything. Holding Brooke's hand at school wasn't just holding Brooke's hand, it was holding a part of her, laying a claim to her that they were together. And with that acknowledgment came consequences, namely Peyton's feelings.
He was being honest one hundred percent, completely when he'd said he didn't want to hurt her. But he couldn't let his feelings for Brooke fade away. When he was with her he saw this bright burning flame. He could either take the chance of getting burned or let that flame burn out. And for once he was going to take that risk.
So here he was walking with one of the most gorgeous girls at Tree Hill High, and feeling like a complete dope, because he couldn't figure out where to put his hands.
"Whatcha thinkin' sexy," Brooke purred, as she gave him a sideways smile.
"Um, I was thinking I could meet you after school, and we could go back to my place," he replied offhand.
"Oooh and do what, something naughty? Something fun? Both," she asked with an added amount of enthusiasm.
"Guess you'll just have to wait and see," he teased her.
Brooke let her head swing back smoothly as she laughed, her raven locks of hair billowing behind her in the wind. "Lucas Scott, you have to be one of the most........,"her thoughts trailed off when she saw that Peyton was a few yards away from them.
The couple waited for her response as she passed them, but none came. Her face stoic, her body stiff, Peyton merely veered left, and acted as if she'd just passed two nameless faceless students.
Brooke and Luke stood still for a moment, the uncomfortable situation filling the entire area around them.
"I should talk to her," Brooke stated matter-of-factly, a nervous edge to her voice.
Lucas watched Peyton's shrinking form, as she disappeared into the far side of the school's entrance. "No, let me, I messed it up between you two. Maybe I can fix it."
Brooke smiled at him as he stared forward, wondering for all the world how she got so lucky. She brought her hand up and grabbed Lucas' side until he yelped.
"Ouch, what was that for," he whimpered, rubbing the side of his stomach.
"I was pinching you to see if this is real," she declared a mischievous grin on her face.
"If what's real," he asked her, his eyebrow shooting up.
"You, obviously. I think you're to perfect. This has to be a dream," she crossed her arms befittingly.
Lucas puffed out a laugh, beginning to walk again, " Aren't you supposed to pinch yourself to see if it's real?"
"Yeah, but it's so much more fun, doing it to you," she flirted, tilting her head up to give him a quick kiss before he went in search of Peyton.
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"Peyton," Lucas yelled to her from down the hall, while he walked past groups of lingering students.
She tried to ignore him, but it felt pointless, eventually he would find her, and they would talk. "What do you want," her voice was sharp as a razor against his ears.
"I just wanted to see how you were doing," he asked, quietly.
"Fine, and you," she countered with a false cheeriness.
"Are you really, because you don't seem that way."
"No I'm not, I'm not FINE Lucas, and you know why, so lets not do this now alright," she said moving away from him, her head humming with the beginnings of a headache.
"I'm sorry, I just wanted to see if you were ok," he said calmly, reaching for her arm.
She jerked away from him, her expression bitter. "You didn't want to see if I was ok, you just wanted to appease your own guilt."
"Everything I said about you before was real, I still care about you Peyton, and if you're hurting I worry about it," he tried to make eye contact with her.
Peyton shook her head and looked away, and then back. "You want your little love triangle, great, have fun. But count me out ok."
"What are you talking about," he felt confused by her outburst.
"I'm talking about the fact that you basically claim your love for me and when I get cold feet, five minutes later you move on to Brooke."
"It wasn't like that, and you know it," he retaliated.
"Don't give me your bullshit, we both know she wasn't at your house that night to play Yahtzee and gossip Lucas," Peyton contended.
"I wanted to be with you from the beginning," he told her truthfully, his eyes open wide.
"That's why you hooked up with my best friend?"
Lucas felt like he might explode. There wasn't anyway to make her understand that he hadn't intended on hurting her. "I thought we were over. You made it clear you didn't feel the same way about me, that I did for you," he said flustered.
"I was scared ok. I didn't know what to do," she vented, more softly this time.
"So you pushed me away?"
"Yeah that's how I work."
"Well it's screwed up Peyton," he said, moving away from her.
"Yeah, and so is you being with Brooke," she said, hearing the boisterous ring of the bell sound from behind her, as the rest of the students left them there to part ways.
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Later that day found Haley at Karen's café, working her usual Monday shift. The costumers had been few and far between and for that she was at least grateful. For some reason she was having one of those days. The kind of day where everything seemed out of balance. She wasn't sure if it was her specifically that felt strange or everyone else, it wasn't that her day had gone badly even. More so the feeling that something within her life was changing. Pin pointing the exact object was what was driving her up a wall.
She served Mr.Copperton his regular black coffee, and returned to the front counter as Nathan walked through the door. They'd been making this a weekly ritual. On Monday he'd come by, pick her up as her shift ended and they'd either go to his house or her house to study. The tutor in her relished the fact that Nathan had a steady schedule to rely on for his studying. But the bigger part of her, the girlfriend inside her loved the fact that despite his busy life and all the people in it, he made time regardless what for, to be with only her.
It was as if the second he walked into the café the entire day had become brighter. It was in that moment Haley knew why she'd been feeling so off, so out of sorts. She hadn't realized it, hadn't let herself realize it. She was falling for him. And oh, was she falling hard.
"Hey" he said, as he came up to the counter, placing his bag on the table to the right of him.
Haley really smiled for the first time that day, "Hey yourself."
"What are you so cheery about," he asked with a grin, pulling his jacket off.
Haley wasn't quite sure how to answer his question. She couldn't very well just blurt out her thoughts to him right at this moment. "Nothing, just happy you're here," she uttered, grabbing the rag from under the counter-top so that she could wipe the surface in front of her.
"Happy to see your chauffeur is more like it. I get it now. All that matters to Haley James is the rides I provide," he quipped, flashing his pearly white teeth at her with charm.
"That's not the only reason," she tempted, as she leaned on the counter closer to him.
"Oh yeah," he beamed, his mind wandering with anticipation.
"Yeah," Haley whispered into his ear sensually, "I also like you for your...money," she breathed a hot stream of air down his neck.
Nathan's eyed fluttered shut, as the velvety skin of her cheek caressed against his face.
"And here I thought all this time that nice girls liked the mean, penniless, bastards," he whispered back, curling his tongue over the front of his teeth and running them across the smooth enamel.
Haley meant to say something back. Witty and rhetorical no doubt, but when Nathan moved his tongue over his mouth that way, she lost every last bit of concentration. Slowly he moved in to capture her lips in a kiss, when it suddenly occurred to her that doing this, being this way wasn't quite the most appropriate behavior for the work place.
"Your mother went home," Haley breathed out, before their mouths touched, her eyes open and watching him.
"Huh," he managed to get out in his hazy and lust filled induced mind. Leisurely pushing himself up off the counter.
"Your mom, she said she wasn't feeling good, so she left about a half hour ago," Haley reiterated.
"Ok....not what every guy wants to hear before they kiss their girlfriend, but I'll take what I can get," he joked, leaning in again.
Haley put her hand out to stop him," Which means, I have to stay and close up," she added as Nathan sighed, finally catching on to the whole point of the conversation.
"So no study session tonight?"
"Nope," Haley frowned.
"Can't say I'm all that sad, wasn't really looking forward to quadratic equations and word problems," he confessed.
"But you will do the homework right," she asked him expectantly, her face set in resolve mode.
"Yes Nurse Rachet I will," he replied, giving her a mock salute and grabbing his jacket to put it back on.
Haley laughed and rolled her eyes, "I'm just saying that important you keep up with the–," she began, but was cut off as Nathan's tender hands cupped each side of her face and brought her lips to his. Days of not being able to touch her, days of want and need were being poured into his kisses. Their lips falling together and coming apart again. It felt blissfully wonderful and embarrassing to be acting this way in front of the customers. But at the moment Haley didn't care. All that mattered was that despite all her blather and bluster Nathan was showing her how he felt regardless of everyone else in the room.
When he finally pulled away from her, his lips lingered just a half second longer, before he rose up grabbed his bag from the table.
"Call me when you get home alright," he asked her softly.
"Yeah," was all Haley managed to sputter out, gazing at him as he gave her a nod and then exited into the soft orange glow of the late afternoon sunset.
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So as it would happen, just when Nathan was leaving the café, Deb was making her way from the garage into the door that led to the kitchen. She wiped the beads of sweat that had accumulated on her face from the heavy grocery bags she was carrying. Quickly she set as many as she could on the counter, and the rest by her feet. She inhaled a large breath of air, and went to the refrigerator for a glass of water checking her forehead to see if she still felt feverish.
After taking a drink from her glass she turned around to set it on the island, noticing for the first time that Dan was sitting at the opposite end of the island watching her.
"Welcome home darling," Dan said with little emotion.
"What are you doing Daniel," Deb's face wrought with worry and surprise.
"I've decided to move back in," he said nonchalantly.
"I thought we already had this discussion. You and me, you and Nathan, need to be apart for now," she apprehensively rubbed her hands together.
"Yes, and I've changed my mind. If you don't like this new development then I suggest you leave, because frankly hotel living isn't quite my style," he looked at her pointedly.
"Why won't you even listen to reason," she paced around scattered plastic bags on the floor.
"It's not about reason, it's about you trying to push me out of my own home, and I won't have it" he declared. 'This is my house, I worked for it and I earned it."
"Even though it was my money that bought it," she questioned him quickly.
He didn't seem to acknowledge her words, just continued on with his ranting. "This is my town Debra, and my home, I will not let you push me out from it. Do not make me resort to anything drastic."
And how would you do that Dan," she challenged him.
His face straightened into a serene expression. "You and I both know I have connections all over this state, and if I want to, all I have to do is say the word and I could suck you dry from all the alimony you'll be paying me every month."
"You wouldn't dare," she uttered, tears threatening to spill over.
"Not if you leave me the house," he said calmly before walking out the room to give her time to think.
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It was nearly dark out when Nathan finally made his way through the front door of his home. He flicked on the hallway light to notice a rather large number of bags, and one or two suitcases sitting by the stairs, the distant sound of a basketball game in the background.
"Mom," he called out, unsure of what was going on.
He saw his mother come in from the other room, the red rings around her eyes were evident, making Nathan that more nervous. "What's going on?"
Deb tried to give him a reassuring smile, but failed, instead giving him a hug. "It seems your father would prefer for me to leave sweetie."
"He's here, Dad's here now, and he said he wanted you to leave," Nathan asked with disgust.
"Well actually he wants to stay here and I want him to leave, so since we can't come to an agreement I'll be the one leaving."
Nathan looked to the other room, where he knew his father was sitting in his same leather chair, a glass of scotch in his right hand, and the television remote in his left. He felt sick to his stomach.
"So you're moving out," he looked back at her fearfully.
"Yes, and Nathan I think you should come with me," she pleaded, hoping with all her power that her son would make the best choice for himself.
A/N: Another damn cliffhanger, I know it!! You probably all hate me now, but that's ok, because that's what feedback is for right? Right.
