The rich tones of dark velvety black were turning pink around the
edges as the sun started up for a new day. Haley and Lucas walked back to
the car, stiff and worse than awkward. They said nothing.
They were halfway back to the condo before anyone said anything. Haley was looking determinedly out the window when she spoke.
"Lucas..." It was more of a sigh, as if it was his fault and she was trying to explain it to him as if he was a small child. Although her tone was light, and comforting, Lucas bristled as though she was yelling.
"Yeah?" His tone was gentle as well, but challenging.
"I...I don't think we should have done that."
Haley was trembling. In a swift movement Lucas was grasping her hand, worried about her.
"Hales?"
"Yeah, I'm okay. I just...have a lot going on right now...and...I think that might have been a mistake..." Her eyes filled with tears as she realized that it was the second 'mistake' in two days. She wasn't a heartbreaker. She was just Haley.
...Right?
"Well I don't think it was a mistake." Lucas looked at her long and hard, first slowing down on the road. His eyes were full of questions that Haley desperately wanted to answer.
"Listen...I love you so much. You are my best friend, and you mean the world to me. But I can't risk messing that up. I really don't think we should have done that."
"But we did." Said Lucas, his voice low. Haley felt a shiver. "And I know you would do it again if you could."
Haley didn't want to admit it, but he was right. Part of her was thrilled that she found Lucas in a new way. She had missed him for so long and all of her feelings had been building up. Lucas pulled her close for a hug, but tried to kiss her. Haley turned her cheek so he kissed it, and she felt the awkwardness rise.
"Really, Lucas. Please don't."
"I don't know if we can go back, Hales. I really don't."
He had started moving again, his fists clenched tightly on the wheel, his tone impatient but masked with comfort. They had pulled up before the condo now. Haley jumped out quickly. The sun had almost risen now.
"Best friends can forgive each other anything." She whispered, before turning on her heel and running inside.
Lucas watched, defeated, wondering what had possessed his best friend.
Haley slept in that day. She slept long, and hard, as if the world would slip away from her in her unconscious state. Her dreams were fitful, full of memories and thoughts. Around noon Peyton and Brooke came in carrying a breakfast tray. The two girls set it on the floor, giggling, and crept up to the edge of the bed.
They jumped on Haley, and squealed with laughter as they tickled her back to conciousness. The world was heavy again on Haley's shoulders as she abandoned her pillow to face her two friends.
"Hey." She said softly. Peyton and Brooke stopped smiling.
"James, what is going on?" Asked Brooke. As Haley filled her friends in, she listened hard for any other sounds in the house. There was nothing. When Haley had finished, both girls were looking amazed.
"Did you sleep with him?"
"No!" Said Haley. They looked at her. "I promise." She tried again. Brooke and Peyton laughed, shaking their heads.
"Ya know, Hales, I brought you on this trip to hook up with one guy...not three!" Brooke said. Haley smirked.
"I guess that bathing suit worked better than we planned, eh?" Haley said. "but seriously, guys...what am I going to do?"
"Well," Said Peyton thoughtfully. "You have to pick one. That's all there is to it. We only have two days left."
"I know..."
"Oh, by the way, Ryan called." Brooke was playing with Haley's hair. Haley sat up, causing Brooke to yank painfully on her hair.
"What did you tell him?" She asked breathlessly.
"Oh, just that you were out all night with your best friend."
"WHAT?!?"
"I'm totally kidding. I told him that you were here, and safe, and not fried by the storm. And that's all he asked. Oh. But he wants to see you later." Peyton said. She tilted her head, her blonde curls in her face. "You know, Hales, he's a sweet guy. Really good to you. I think maybe you should keep him around for a while."
"But Lucas is good too." Brooke put in. She had Haley's hair in a French braid. "He really cares about you too...and you two have such a history together. I think he would be great to be with."
"What about Nathan?" Asked Haley in a small voice. From the looks on the two girls faces, Haley guessed that they still weren't too pleased with her former flame.
"Well, he was a good guy for a long time...perfect for you." Said Peyton delicately. "But then he turned into a kind of..."
"...Asshole." Said Brooke promptly. "But he has a few redeeming qualities. Like, he's gorgeous."
"And rich."
"And sweet."
"And kind."
"And can make you laugh."
"But THEN," Peyton said, thinking hard. "He also cheated on you, and that's hard to forgive. But it's not impossible. He was gone a lot of the time, too, as I remember."
Haley's head was swimming. Brooke wrapped a comforting arm around her, squeezing her gently.
"Whatever you decide, Hales, we're here for you, and you know that we love you. Any guy would be happy to have you."
"In this case, three guys," Said Peyton playfully. "Just think about it Hales."
"Now you gotta eat this food. We worked our asses off." Said Brooke, jumping off the bed. "Later on we are going out to this place that Jesse works at...he's going to hook us up with VIP seats."
The two bounded out the door, leaving Haley in a swarm of her confusing thoughts.
She wouldn't look at him. He was walking closer to her than usual, she knew. She was watching him out of the corner of her eyes. He looked ready to pounce at her command. She then focused her eyes straight ahead, as she stepped into a large, colorful restaurant. It was kind of like a café, with a large counter up front, and little tables, but then they headed up a flight of stairs and found themselves in a large area that was covered with tables decked with silky tablecloths and nice chairs. Plush leather seats lined the walls, and one wall over looking the ocean was made entirely of glass, so looking out you could see practically all of the city, blessed in darkness.
They stepped to the back, were Haley sat across from Lucas, and next to Ryan. Peyton sat across from Alex, and Brooke sat in the center of it all, looking gorgeous but jittery. All three girls were dressed to kill in adorable sundresses and heels.
Once they had ordered, a familiar awkwardness spread over the table. Brooke and Peyton started talking about the restaurant and Alex and Ryan were laughing about something or other. Haley loved the way Ryan's dark locks hung in his eyes when he laughed. Lucas was looking around like a pissed off and slightly-lost puppy.
Haley needed a drink. Badly.
Luckily the waiter arrived shortly, and Haley ordered a mudslide. After finishing the glass, she was starting to feel better. She turned to talk to Ryan. Lucas looked on jealously.
Jesse arrived, looking gorgeous. Brooke lept into his arms and they headed to the dance floor that was set up in the middle. A soft melody was playing.
"Do you wanna dance?" Asked Lucas. Haley shook her head. Ryan looked at Lucas, but shrugged it off when Lucas's threatening look challenged him. He slid his hand over Haley's thiegh, and she shivered as it rested there. Clearly he was feeling all right.
They ordered their food and Haley fell into a calm conversation. Haley felt something on her knee. It was definitely not Ryan's hand because his was already on her thiegh. She glanced at Lucas and their eyes met. It was him. He was tickling her knee with the handle of a fork like he always had when they were younger. Haley felt the fork slide up a bit. Haley sent him a warning look and she felt it leave her knee.
A few minutes later they were eating their food. Peyton and Alex were talking heatedly about some of Da Vinci's greater works (apparently Alex was an art history buff), and Brooke and Jesse had grabbed seats at the table again, in between Lucas and Peyton and Haley and Alex.
"This place is great," Haley told Jesse over the soft music. A slight breeze from the balcony was playing with her hair.
"Thanks," He said, a bright grin on his face, his cheeks pink from dancing. "I love working here."
Brooke had seemed to work her magic on him. He was definitely more outgoing now. She definitely had her influence on people, Haley mused.
She looked over at Ryan to see a dreamy look on his face. He looked like was going to fall asleep.
"Ryan?" Her worried tone opened his eyes in a snap, and he looked on in horror. "What's with the weird look on your face?"
"That's not you?" He asked. Suddenly Lucas's and Ryan's faces broke out in looks of pure terror.
"That was YOU?!" Lucas said loudly to Ryan. Ryan was looking at him disgusted.
"I thought that it was Haley rubbing my knee. But apparently it was her psycho friend." He said in a loud, slightly threatened voice. "Were you trying to do that to Haley? Man what is with you?"
The whole situation would have been comical, maybe even salvageable if Haley hadn't looked up when she had and locked eyes with a certain dark- haired gorgeous someone from across the restaurant. Lucas stomped off in direction of the bathrooms, but Haley took no notice. The only person Haley could think of that could possibly make the situation any worse sauntered over to the table, which was very quiet now.
"Hi, Nathan." Haley squeaked.
"Hey." Nathan's eyes roamed over Ryan, who was standing, looking outraged, Haley, who was bright red and looking as though she wanted to die, and the rest of the silent table, all of whom were looking on fearfully. His eyes fell back on Haley. "So Haley, wanna dance? I need to talk to you."
Haley nodded mutely. She didn't know what she was doing anymore, or if she even cared. She glanced apologetically at Ryan. She followed Nathan to the floor, and, as if she was dreaming, let her feet fall in step to the music. He was looking really good, she noticed. He was also smelling really good.
"Listen, Haley. I'm really sorry about the other night. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." Said Nathan in a low voice. Haley nodded against his shoulder. He was so warm and familiar.
"It's okay."
"No, it's not. I know that you are seeing someone now and that's fine. I just...miss you." He said softly.
Haley was at a loss for words. He missed her? Part of her was screaming at herself. But he cheated on you! The other part was missing him more than ever. She felt like she was floating...
...he felt sooooo good...
"I miss you too..." Said Haley quietly. She felt his hand slide lower on her backside, and, completely forgetting that two other guys she cared very much for were standing nearby, she melted into him.
Suddenly there was a tap on Nathan's shoulder. They broke apart to find a fuming Lucas. He looked from Nathan to Haley, his mouth opening and closing wordlessly. Finally he found his voice.
"What the hell do you think you are doing?" He asked Nathan. Nathan was looking at Lucas as though he were a ghost.
"What do you mean, what the hell am I doing? I'm dancing. What are YOU doing here?"
"I WAS having dinner with Haley."
"Haley, you're seeing Lucas now? I thought you were seeing that other guy..." Nathan looked questioningly at Haley as Haley tried desperately to explain.
"No, I'm seeing Ryan. Kind of. I don't know. I'm not here with Lucas. I mean I am, but I'm not. I mean, we're just friends."
"No we're not, and you know it." Said Lucas evenly. Haley shot him another warning look. Could this get any worse? "Listen, Haley..."
"Hey, asshole, she said just friends!" Ryan had joined the group on the dance floor, his green eyes dancing dangerously. Haley wanted to melt into the wood and disappear.
"Who are you calling asshole, asshole?" Lucas said threateningly.
"I think you heard him." Said Nathan, smirking. "And it doesn't look like he's far off."
"Hey, shuttup, man." Said Ryan. "You have your hands on my girl's ass, and I don't appreciate that very much either. You better back off."
Nathan's eyes flashed. He stepped away from Haley to face Ryan.
"Who says she's your girl?"
Haley didn't see who threw the first punch, but she found it didn't matter, as all three boys were soon on the dance floor, an all out brawl breaking out. Peyton, Brooke, Jesse and Alex came over to see what was going on. Jesse and Alex pulled the two boys apart, and Brooke and Peyton struggled to keep Lucas back. Lucas relaxed, not wanting to hurt the girls. Jesse held Nathan, who was swearing his head off, and sporting a bloody nose. Alex had Ryan, who looked unharmed but for a slight bruising around his eye. Everyone was livid.
The restaurant owner hurried over and told them to leave the restaurant immediately, and they obliged. Nathan, Ryan, and Lucas wouldn't look at each other as they trudged down the steps, and it wasn't until they had reached the calm exteriors that they realized that the object of their affection was no where to be found.
Where was Ms. Haley James?
Alrighty guys, you know the drill. Review review review! I love it! Yeah, none of the boys are looking too good right about now. But I still wanna hear what you think! So let me know!
Thanks as always!
They were halfway back to the condo before anyone said anything. Haley was looking determinedly out the window when she spoke.
"Lucas..." It was more of a sigh, as if it was his fault and she was trying to explain it to him as if he was a small child. Although her tone was light, and comforting, Lucas bristled as though she was yelling.
"Yeah?" His tone was gentle as well, but challenging.
"I...I don't think we should have done that."
Haley was trembling. In a swift movement Lucas was grasping her hand, worried about her.
"Hales?"
"Yeah, I'm okay. I just...have a lot going on right now...and...I think that might have been a mistake..." Her eyes filled with tears as she realized that it was the second 'mistake' in two days. She wasn't a heartbreaker. She was just Haley.
...Right?
"Well I don't think it was a mistake." Lucas looked at her long and hard, first slowing down on the road. His eyes were full of questions that Haley desperately wanted to answer.
"Listen...I love you so much. You are my best friend, and you mean the world to me. But I can't risk messing that up. I really don't think we should have done that."
"But we did." Said Lucas, his voice low. Haley felt a shiver. "And I know you would do it again if you could."
Haley didn't want to admit it, but he was right. Part of her was thrilled that she found Lucas in a new way. She had missed him for so long and all of her feelings had been building up. Lucas pulled her close for a hug, but tried to kiss her. Haley turned her cheek so he kissed it, and she felt the awkwardness rise.
"Really, Lucas. Please don't."
"I don't know if we can go back, Hales. I really don't."
He had started moving again, his fists clenched tightly on the wheel, his tone impatient but masked with comfort. They had pulled up before the condo now. Haley jumped out quickly. The sun had almost risen now.
"Best friends can forgive each other anything." She whispered, before turning on her heel and running inside.
Lucas watched, defeated, wondering what had possessed his best friend.
Haley slept in that day. She slept long, and hard, as if the world would slip away from her in her unconscious state. Her dreams were fitful, full of memories and thoughts. Around noon Peyton and Brooke came in carrying a breakfast tray. The two girls set it on the floor, giggling, and crept up to the edge of the bed.
They jumped on Haley, and squealed with laughter as they tickled her back to conciousness. The world was heavy again on Haley's shoulders as she abandoned her pillow to face her two friends.
"Hey." She said softly. Peyton and Brooke stopped smiling.
"James, what is going on?" Asked Brooke. As Haley filled her friends in, she listened hard for any other sounds in the house. There was nothing. When Haley had finished, both girls were looking amazed.
"Did you sleep with him?"
"No!" Said Haley. They looked at her. "I promise." She tried again. Brooke and Peyton laughed, shaking their heads.
"Ya know, Hales, I brought you on this trip to hook up with one guy...not three!" Brooke said. Haley smirked.
"I guess that bathing suit worked better than we planned, eh?" Haley said. "but seriously, guys...what am I going to do?"
"Well," Said Peyton thoughtfully. "You have to pick one. That's all there is to it. We only have two days left."
"I know..."
"Oh, by the way, Ryan called." Brooke was playing with Haley's hair. Haley sat up, causing Brooke to yank painfully on her hair.
"What did you tell him?" She asked breathlessly.
"Oh, just that you were out all night with your best friend."
"WHAT?!?"
"I'm totally kidding. I told him that you were here, and safe, and not fried by the storm. And that's all he asked. Oh. But he wants to see you later." Peyton said. She tilted her head, her blonde curls in her face. "You know, Hales, he's a sweet guy. Really good to you. I think maybe you should keep him around for a while."
"But Lucas is good too." Brooke put in. She had Haley's hair in a French braid. "He really cares about you too...and you two have such a history together. I think he would be great to be with."
"What about Nathan?" Asked Haley in a small voice. From the looks on the two girls faces, Haley guessed that they still weren't too pleased with her former flame.
"Well, he was a good guy for a long time...perfect for you." Said Peyton delicately. "But then he turned into a kind of..."
"...Asshole." Said Brooke promptly. "But he has a few redeeming qualities. Like, he's gorgeous."
"And rich."
"And sweet."
"And kind."
"And can make you laugh."
"But THEN," Peyton said, thinking hard. "He also cheated on you, and that's hard to forgive. But it's not impossible. He was gone a lot of the time, too, as I remember."
Haley's head was swimming. Brooke wrapped a comforting arm around her, squeezing her gently.
"Whatever you decide, Hales, we're here for you, and you know that we love you. Any guy would be happy to have you."
"In this case, three guys," Said Peyton playfully. "Just think about it Hales."
"Now you gotta eat this food. We worked our asses off." Said Brooke, jumping off the bed. "Later on we are going out to this place that Jesse works at...he's going to hook us up with VIP seats."
The two bounded out the door, leaving Haley in a swarm of her confusing thoughts.
She wouldn't look at him. He was walking closer to her than usual, she knew. She was watching him out of the corner of her eyes. He looked ready to pounce at her command. She then focused her eyes straight ahead, as she stepped into a large, colorful restaurant. It was kind of like a café, with a large counter up front, and little tables, but then they headed up a flight of stairs and found themselves in a large area that was covered with tables decked with silky tablecloths and nice chairs. Plush leather seats lined the walls, and one wall over looking the ocean was made entirely of glass, so looking out you could see practically all of the city, blessed in darkness.
They stepped to the back, were Haley sat across from Lucas, and next to Ryan. Peyton sat across from Alex, and Brooke sat in the center of it all, looking gorgeous but jittery. All three girls were dressed to kill in adorable sundresses and heels.
Once they had ordered, a familiar awkwardness spread over the table. Brooke and Peyton started talking about the restaurant and Alex and Ryan were laughing about something or other. Haley loved the way Ryan's dark locks hung in his eyes when he laughed. Lucas was looking around like a pissed off and slightly-lost puppy.
Haley needed a drink. Badly.
Luckily the waiter arrived shortly, and Haley ordered a mudslide. After finishing the glass, she was starting to feel better. She turned to talk to Ryan. Lucas looked on jealously.
Jesse arrived, looking gorgeous. Brooke lept into his arms and they headed to the dance floor that was set up in the middle. A soft melody was playing.
"Do you wanna dance?" Asked Lucas. Haley shook her head. Ryan looked at Lucas, but shrugged it off when Lucas's threatening look challenged him. He slid his hand over Haley's thiegh, and she shivered as it rested there. Clearly he was feeling all right.
They ordered their food and Haley fell into a calm conversation. Haley felt something on her knee. It was definitely not Ryan's hand because his was already on her thiegh. She glanced at Lucas and their eyes met. It was him. He was tickling her knee with the handle of a fork like he always had when they were younger. Haley felt the fork slide up a bit. Haley sent him a warning look and she felt it leave her knee.
A few minutes later they were eating their food. Peyton and Alex were talking heatedly about some of Da Vinci's greater works (apparently Alex was an art history buff), and Brooke and Jesse had grabbed seats at the table again, in between Lucas and Peyton and Haley and Alex.
"This place is great," Haley told Jesse over the soft music. A slight breeze from the balcony was playing with her hair.
"Thanks," He said, a bright grin on his face, his cheeks pink from dancing. "I love working here."
Brooke had seemed to work her magic on him. He was definitely more outgoing now. She definitely had her influence on people, Haley mused.
She looked over at Ryan to see a dreamy look on his face. He looked like was going to fall asleep.
"Ryan?" Her worried tone opened his eyes in a snap, and he looked on in horror. "What's with the weird look on your face?"
"That's not you?" He asked. Suddenly Lucas's and Ryan's faces broke out in looks of pure terror.
"That was YOU?!" Lucas said loudly to Ryan. Ryan was looking at him disgusted.
"I thought that it was Haley rubbing my knee. But apparently it was her psycho friend." He said in a loud, slightly threatened voice. "Were you trying to do that to Haley? Man what is with you?"
The whole situation would have been comical, maybe even salvageable if Haley hadn't looked up when she had and locked eyes with a certain dark- haired gorgeous someone from across the restaurant. Lucas stomped off in direction of the bathrooms, but Haley took no notice. The only person Haley could think of that could possibly make the situation any worse sauntered over to the table, which was very quiet now.
"Hi, Nathan." Haley squeaked.
"Hey." Nathan's eyes roamed over Ryan, who was standing, looking outraged, Haley, who was bright red and looking as though she wanted to die, and the rest of the silent table, all of whom were looking on fearfully. His eyes fell back on Haley. "So Haley, wanna dance? I need to talk to you."
Haley nodded mutely. She didn't know what she was doing anymore, or if she even cared. She glanced apologetically at Ryan. She followed Nathan to the floor, and, as if she was dreaming, let her feet fall in step to the music. He was looking really good, she noticed. He was also smelling really good.
"Listen, Haley. I'm really sorry about the other night. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." Said Nathan in a low voice. Haley nodded against his shoulder. He was so warm and familiar.
"It's okay."
"No, it's not. I know that you are seeing someone now and that's fine. I just...miss you." He said softly.
Haley was at a loss for words. He missed her? Part of her was screaming at herself. But he cheated on you! The other part was missing him more than ever. She felt like she was floating...
...he felt sooooo good...
"I miss you too..." Said Haley quietly. She felt his hand slide lower on her backside, and, completely forgetting that two other guys she cared very much for were standing nearby, she melted into him.
Suddenly there was a tap on Nathan's shoulder. They broke apart to find a fuming Lucas. He looked from Nathan to Haley, his mouth opening and closing wordlessly. Finally he found his voice.
"What the hell do you think you are doing?" He asked Nathan. Nathan was looking at Lucas as though he were a ghost.
"What do you mean, what the hell am I doing? I'm dancing. What are YOU doing here?"
"I WAS having dinner with Haley."
"Haley, you're seeing Lucas now? I thought you were seeing that other guy..." Nathan looked questioningly at Haley as Haley tried desperately to explain.
"No, I'm seeing Ryan. Kind of. I don't know. I'm not here with Lucas. I mean I am, but I'm not. I mean, we're just friends."
"No we're not, and you know it." Said Lucas evenly. Haley shot him another warning look. Could this get any worse? "Listen, Haley..."
"Hey, asshole, she said just friends!" Ryan had joined the group on the dance floor, his green eyes dancing dangerously. Haley wanted to melt into the wood and disappear.
"Who are you calling asshole, asshole?" Lucas said threateningly.
"I think you heard him." Said Nathan, smirking. "And it doesn't look like he's far off."
"Hey, shuttup, man." Said Ryan. "You have your hands on my girl's ass, and I don't appreciate that very much either. You better back off."
Nathan's eyes flashed. He stepped away from Haley to face Ryan.
"Who says she's your girl?"
Haley didn't see who threw the first punch, but she found it didn't matter, as all three boys were soon on the dance floor, an all out brawl breaking out. Peyton, Brooke, Jesse and Alex came over to see what was going on. Jesse and Alex pulled the two boys apart, and Brooke and Peyton struggled to keep Lucas back. Lucas relaxed, not wanting to hurt the girls. Jesse held Nathan, who was swearing his head off, and sporting a bloody nose. Alex had Ryan, who looked unharmed but for a slight bruising around his eye. Everyone was livid.
The restaurant owner hurried over and told them to leave the restaurant immediately, and they obliged. Nathan, Ryan, and Lucas wouldn't look at each other as they trudged down the steps, and it wasn't until they had reached the calm exteriors that they realized that the object of their affection was no where to be found.
Where was Ms. Haley James?
Alrighty guys, you know the drill. Review review review! I love it! Yeah, none of the boys are looking too good right about now. But I still wanna hear what you think! So let me know!
Thanks as always!