Chapter 11
Nathan noticed Haley was picking absently at her food as they sat together during lunch. "Haley, honey, is something wrong? Are you okay?" He asked, his voice a little panicked.
"What? Oh, no, I'm fine."
"Liar. You've been pushing your food around your plate for the last ten minutes."
"Really, I'm fine. Just distracted."
"By anything in particular? Come on Hales, if something's bothering you, talk to me about it."
"Well, you know I went shopping with Peyton the other night."
"Yeah."
"So we got to talking about stuff, you, me and it switched to her and Lucas. It's clear she still really likes him but she's stubborn and scared."
"Sounds familiar." He winked at her.
"So now I'm frustrated. Luke's still crazy about her and she wants him but they're still not together."
"Yeah. It kind of reminds me of us."
"Really? How so?"
"Well it seems to be that we nearly didn't get it together. First there was Brooke's little game with your note shortly followed by my stupidity on our first date. Not to mention the Lucas factor. And we were both scared and stubborn. You were afraid of trusting me and determined to dislike me in the beginning. I was afraid of letting anyone under my skin and determined to lash out at Luke at every opportunity. Can't help but think it could have turned out a lot differently."
"Exactly. What if it happens to them? What if they're meant to be together but never know it because they're too stubborn to open their eyes?"
"Yeah. You know, I talked to Luke the other night."
"Did I hear that right?"
"Yeah. You know Luke and I have made great progress these last few months. You were out with Peyton and I was bored so I called him. We had pizza."
"And talked."
"And by talking you mean no nasty comments, no sarcasm and no fighting? Just civilized conversation?"
"Well as civilized as any conversation between two guys can be but yeah."
"Wow."
"Are you crying?"
"No."
"Then what do you call this?" He wiped a tear away with his finger.
"So I'm crying. This is a big deal."
"Hales, it was just pizza."
"No it wasn't. Do you have any idea how long I've waited for my boyfriend and best friend to get along? And it's even more important now." She laid a hand on her stomach and he laid his over it.
"I do know and I'm glad it makes you happy."
"So you guys talked about Peyton?"
"Yeah. I basically just told him that if he wants Peyton he has to go after her instead of waiting around and moping. I told him patience is a virtue in fishing not love."
Haley laughed. "That was very philosophical of you."
"Yeah, well I have my moments."
"What do you think?"
"About Luke and Peyton? He's obviously nuts about her. I haven't spent a lot of time with Peyton since our break up but I know she liked him when we were still together and I doubt it's changed."
"Are you okay with that. I mean you and Peyton..."
"Are broken up. I'm with you. I'm the father the child you're carrying remember? If anything, Peyton getting together with Lucas would make me less jealous?"
"Explain."
"Well I know you and Luke are just friends, I get that really but sometimes I wonder why you two were never more than friends. He'd have to be crazy not to want to. I'd kind of like knowing he has someone other than my girlfriend to lean on."
"I guess that makes sense, sort of. So what do we do about it? We can't just sit around and wait for them to get a clue."
"No kidding. Knowing Lucas we could be old and grey first."
"Exactly."
"Actually, I might have an idea."
"Well?"
"You ask Peyton to eat with you at the restaurant, say you want to have a girls' night or something. Then tell Luke you want the three of us to have dinner, you know so him and I can bond and stuff. They show up, we leave early and they get a chance to talk."
"That's so cliched but it might actually work. Think we can get your mom and Karen to close the restaurant for a night. I don't think either of them would be comfortable if there were a bunch of people around."
"Good point. I'll work on my mom. You work on Karen but make sure she knows not to say anything to Luke."
"Okay." The bell rang. "We should get to class."
"Yeah." They got up and gathered their books. Nathan took Haley's hand in his and they began walking to their English class. It still sort of surprised Haley how well their hands seemed to fit together but the gesture had come to feel totally natural.
***
Luke, Meet me and Nathan at the restaurant for dinner at six. It's time for you guys to bond. Hales
She slipped the note to Lucas during English class as Nathan watched. He read it, shot her a look of surprise then wrote a reply.
You me and Nathan? Is that really a good idea?
Luke
Of course it's a good idea. Come on Luke, this is really important to me.
Hales.
Fine. But if we fight it is so not my fault.
Luke
Hales looked at Nathan and mouthed "Success." Next step Peyton.
She cornered Peyton on her way out of class.
"So, what are you up to tonight?"
"I don't know, sitting around probably."
"Good because I want to have a girls' night."
"A girls' night."
"Yeah, as in no guys. Don't you and Brooke ever just hang out."
"Brooke? To Brooke if there are no guys it can't possibly be fun."
Haley laughed. "True. So what do you say?"
"I don't think so. I kinda just want to stay home tonight."
"Please Peyton. Nathan and Luke are doing some kind of bonding thing and since besides you they pretty much make up my entire social circle, I'm depending on you to keep me from dying of boredom. Come on please. I let you drag me shopping didn't I."
"All right fine."
"Great. Meet me at the restaurant, I work until six. We'll eat then after that it's up to you."
***
Haley drummed on the table nervously. Earlier in the day this had seemed like a brilliant idea but now she was thinking about all the ways it good go wrong. Nathan watched her, amused. She was so cute when she was nervous. "Why are you so wound up Haley? You weren't this nervous on our first date."
"I was to busy wondering what Brooke would do next to be nervous. What if this is a disaster and they hate us Nate?"
"It won't be and they don't. It's like you said, they just need a push. Once they figure that out they'll be eternally grateful."
"I hope so."
Lucas walked in first and spotted Haley and Nathan sitting at a table in the corner. The only other person around was Deb."
"Hey. Where are all the customers?"
"Your mom decided to close early. She and Uncle Keith have a date." Nathan answered.
"My mom and Keith? That's new."
"Not really. You were just too busy worrying about me and Hales to notice. I'm glad you came." Nathan said sincerely.
"Thanks. So Hales, what exactly did you have in mind?"
"Nothing specific, just the usual Haley wants the two most important men in her life to like each other thing."
"Oh." The door opened and Lucas looked up. When he saw Peyton walk in he frowned. "What is she doing here?"
When Peyton saw Lucas sitting with Nathan and Haley she had the same reaction. "I thought this was girls' night Haley. I doubt Nathan would appreciate you calling him a girl."
"I lied. Sorry guys but it's the only way we could think of to get you two together. You need to talk, if for no other reason than to be friends again. Come on Luke, if you can make nice with Nathan for me you can do this."
"Hales I know your heart was in the right place but--"
"No buts. Hales and I are going to leave you guys to talk." Nathan lit a candle at the center of the table and dimmed the lights. "Have fun."
Nathan noticed Haley was picking absently at her food as they sat together during lunch. "Haley, honey, is something wrong? Are you okay?" He asked, his voice a little panicked.
"What? Oh, no, I'm fine."
"Liar. You've been pushing your food around your plate for the last ten minutes."
"Really, I'm fine. Just distracted."
"By anything in particular? Come on Hales, if something's bothering you, talk to me about it."
"Well, you know I went shopping with Peyton the other night."
"Yeah."
"So we got to talking about stuff, you, me and it switched to her and Lucas. It's clear she still really likes him but she's stubborn and scared."
"Sounds familiar." He winked at her.
"So now I'm frustrated. Luke's still crazy about her and she wants him but they're still not together."
"Yeah. It kind of reminds me of us."
"Really? How so?"
"Well it seems to be that we nearly didn't get it together. First there was Brooke's little game with your note shortly followed by my stupidity on our first date. Not to mention the Lucas factor. And we were both scared and stubborn. You were afraid of trusting me and determined to dislike me in the beginning. I was afraid of letting anyone under my skin and determined to lash out at Luke at every opportunity. Can't help but think it could have turned out a lot differently."
"Exactly. What if it happens to them? What if they're meant to be together but never know it because they're too stubborn to open their eyes?"
"Yeah. You know, I talked to Luke the other night."
"Did I hear that right?"
"Yeah. You know Luke and I have made great progress these last few months. You were out with Peyton and I was bored so I called him. We had pizza."
"And talked."
"And by talking you mean no nasty comments, no sarcasm and no fighting? Just civilized conversation?"
"Well as civilized as any conversation between two guys can be but yeah."
"Wow."
"Are you crying?"
"No."
"Then what do you call this?" He wiped a tear away with his finger.
"So I'm crying. This is a big deal."
"Hales, it was just pizza."
"No it wasn't. Do you have any idea how long I've waited for my boyfriend and best friend to get along? And it's even more important now." She laid a hand on her stomach and he laid his over it.
"I do know and I'm glad it makes you happy."
"So you guys talked about Peyton?"
"Yeah. I basically just told him that if he wants Peyton he has to go after her instead of waiting around and moping. I told him patience is a virtue in fishing not love."
Haley laughed. "That was very philosophical of you."
"Yeah, well I have my moments."
"What do you think?"
"About Luke and Peyton? He's obviously nuts about her. I haven't spent a lot of time with Peyton since our break up but I know she liked him when we were still together and I doubt it's changed."
"Are you okay with that. I mean you and Peyton..."
"Are broken up. I'm with you. I'm the father the child you're carrying remember? If anything, Peyton getting together with Lucas would make me less jealous?"
"Explain."
"Well I know you and Luke are just friends, I get that really but sometimes I wonder why you two were never more than friends. He'd have to be crazy not to want to. I'd kind of like knowing he has someone other than my girlfriend to lean on."
"I guess that makes sense, sort of. So what do we do about it? We can't just sit around and wait for them to get a clue."
"No kidding. Knowing Lucas we could be old and grey first."
"Exactly."
"Actually, I might have an idea."
"Well?"
"You ask Peyton to eat with you at the restaurant, say you want to have a girls' night or something. Then tell Luke you want the three of us to have dinner, you know so him and I can bond and stuff. They show up, we leave early and they get a chance to talk."
"That's so cliched but it might actually work. Think we can get your mom and Karen to close the restaurant for a night. I don't think either of them would be comfortable if there were a bunch of people around."
"Good point. I'll work on my mom. You work on Karen but make sure she knows not to say anything to Luke."
"Okay." The bell rang. "We should get to class."
"Yeah." They got up and gathered their books. Nathan took Haley's hand in his and they began walking to their English class. It still sort of surprised Haley how well their hands seemed to fit together but the gesture had come to feel totally natural.
***
Luke, Meet me and Nathan at the restaurant for dinner at six. It's time for you guys to bond. Hales
She slipped the note to Lucas during English class as Nathan watched. He read it, shot her a look of surprise then wrote a reply.
You me and Nathan? Is that really a good idea?
Luke
Of course it's a good idea. Come on Luke, this is really important to me.
Hales.
Fine. But if we fight it is so not my fault.
Luke
Hales looked at Nathan and mouthed "Success." Next step Peyton.
She cornered Peyton on her way out of class.
"So, what are you up to tonight?"
"I don't know, sitting around probably."
"Good because I want to have a girls' night."
"A girls' night."
"Yeah, as in no guys. Don't you and Brooke ever just hang out."
"Brooke? To Brooke if there are no guys it can't possibly be fun."
Haley laughed. "True. So what do you say?"
"I don't think so. I kinda just want to stay home tonight."
"Please Peyton. Nathan and Luke are doing some kind of bonding thing and since besides you they pretty much make up my entire social circle, I'm depending on you to keep me from dying of boredom. Come on please. I let you drag me shopping didn't I."
"All right fine."
"Great. Meet me at the restaurant, I work until six. We'll eat then after that it's up to you."
***
Haley drummed on the table nervously. Earlier in the day this had seemed like a brilliant idea but now she was thinking about all the ways it good go wrong. Nathan watched her, amused. She was so cute when she was nervous. "Why are you so wound up Haley? You weren't this nervous on our first date."
"I was to busy wondering what Brooke would do next to be nervous. What if this is a disaster and they hate us Nate?"
"It won't be and they don't. It's like you said, they just need a push. Once they figure that out they'll be eternally grateful."
"I hope so."
Lucas walked in first and spotted Haley and Nathan sitting at a table in the corner. The only other person around was Deb."
"Hey. Where are all the customers?"
"Your mom decided to close early. She and Uncle Keith have a date." Nathan answered.
"My mom and Keith? That's new."
"Not really. You were just too busy worrying about me and Hales to notice. I'm glad you came." Nathan said sincerely.
"Thanks. So Hales, what exactly did you have in mind?"
"Nothing specific, just the usual Haley wants the two most important men in her life to like each other thing."
"Oh." The door opened and Lucas looked up. When he saw Peyton walk in he frowned. "What is she doing here?"
When Peyton saw Lucas sitting with Nathan and Haley she had the same reaction. "I thought this was girls' night Haley. I doubt Nathan would appreciate you calling him a girl."
"I lied. Sorry guys but it's the only way we could think of to get you two together. You need to talk, if for no other reason than to be friends again. Come on Luke, if you can make nice with Nathan for me you can do this."
"Hales I know your heart was in the right place but--"
"No buts. Hales and I are going to leave you guys to talk." Nathan lit a candle at the center of the table and dimmed the lights. "Have fun."
