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TOXIC

Chapter 9

Reality Check

6:05 pm......

Simon Reynolds was not having a good night. Hadn't had a really good night in fact, in a long while. Mostly he figured, because he spent the majority of his time in this damn club of his. With a slow ease he slipped into the pitch black house of the club. He switched the main lights on, immediately activating the fluttering sparkles on the disco ball on the empty dance floor. It felt odd being the only one around. Seeing everything so empty and barren. He still hadn't gotten use to opening by himself, figured he'd make Dexter do it from now on.

With a hefty sigh, Simon began his usual routine. He checked what needed to be cleaned, what arrangement the tables should be put in, what areas should be assigned to what waitress. However tonight for some reason, he felt the need to check the bar first.

Squatting down below the counter he checked in front of, and behind him, and discovered they were almost entirely out of Vodka, and few of the beers. With a grumpy scowl, Simon pushed himself up to stand, and tried to grab for the basement keys, under the counter. He didn't feel anything, and bent over again.

They weren't there.

Strange.

He went to the opposite end of the club, up into his office and grabbed his personal pair.

Reluctantly he made his way down to the basement, silently listing off the numerous other things he had to get done, before the club opened. He could already feel the stress begin to build up inside of his head. A small twitch in his left eye, causing him to blink a couple times, in a vain effort to be rid of it.

Coming off of the stairs, Simon moved forward, and felt himself trip over something heavy. Balancing himself, before he completely fell over, he whipped out the small flashlight key-chain connected to his other keys and brought it up over the offending object.

It appeared to be a half empty box of Bacardi, which was very peculiar, seeing as 1) the spare set of keys were missing from the bar, and 2) almost an entire case of alcohol just lay open and unattended.

Warily, Simon checked behind and in the other the storage room, unsure of who or what was possibly in his club. When he didn't find anything, he returned to the locked door. Pulling the key he needed and setting it in the lock.

He heard the click of the lock come undone as he pulled up on the silver door handle, and slowly pulled the door open.

At first nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The dark curves of the room appeared untouched. It was only when Simon lowered his flash light that he saw the two still bodies before him.

Tangled limbs covering each other over a Persian rug. Their breaths heavy and shallow, as they slept.

Stunned, all Simon could do was stare at them.

Finally he regained enough composure to do the most effective thing he could think of, which was to yell. "What the HELL is this," he bellowed with anger.

Haley suddenly jerked awake, turning her head to look at the intruder, her eyes fuzzy , her mind disoriented from being woken.

She made an incoherent mumble, as Nathan's body began to stir. And with a hazy picture in front of her,  he gazed up at the large figure standing before her.

"James! Mind telling me what the fuck you're doing," her boss roared, his face a mixture of confusion and anger.

Unsure of what to say, and still a little preoccupied with how cute Nathan looked post-sex, mussed hair and all, she took in a quick breath of air. Pulled her clothes up to cover her body.

"Simon I uh...I can explain. It's---this is not what it looks like," she said, quickly fixing herself. Simon averted his eyes, the indignation still in his voice as he spoke.

"Really? Cause it looks like you just finished fornicating in my basement. Why or what for I don't know," he rambled on.

Haley glanced over at Nathan, as he too began gathering his clothes, making himself as busy as possible. All Haley wanted to do was talk to him, ask him what he was thinking.

"Ok, it is what it looks like,"she agreed. "But it's not what you think."

"So what exactly am I thinking James. Please tell me, I'd love to know."

Haley adjusted her shirt in place, and then her skirt. She went up to Simon, with a pleading face. "We got locked down here last night by accident, and–and....."

"And you what? Decided to Christen my storage room in the mean time," he rubbed a hand over his head in frustration. His face rough as stone.

Simon had never been an overly emotional kind of man, at least not in the year Haley had come to know him. Straight to the point, all about business, that was him.  Which was why Haley found this sudden outburst at this whole debacle (not her doing by the way) a little bit confusing. More than likely, she assumed that his sudden crankiness had seldom to do with her or Nathan. However that didn't give her permission to piss him off anymore than was necessary. Yes groveling sounded like a good plan. Lots and lots of groveling.

Haley swallowed hard. "It was mistake Simon. I'm sorry. I really am.  Anything you want me to do I'll do it. Just please don't fire me. I need this job. And it was just accident I swear to God. Neither of us meant for it to happen." And yet you still let it happen Haley. Her inner voice screamed at her. She shook the thought away, and concentrated on her boss.

Simon bent his neck to the side to crack it, letting the tension out for the moment. He sucked in a breath of air, and exhaled it quickly, giving her a resigned expression. "You know what James, I'm too damn tired to care about this right now. Go home, get some real sleep. Be back here tomorrow at six. And the next time that boyfriend of yours comes inside my club, keep him out of the restricted areas. Got it?"

Haley felt as if a thousand pound weight had been lifted from her shoulders. With happy glee, she smiled."Yeah--yeah of course Simon, we promise, right Nath---,"she began.

Her words faltering when she spun around and noticed that there were no longer three occupants in the room. Suddenly her breath caught in her throat.  And that thousand pound weight turned into a thousand pound sledge hammer slamming right into her chest.

Quickly Haley gave her thanks again to her boss for his mysterious leniency on the entire matter, and jetted up the stairs through the club and out the door.

Once outside she scanned the parking lot for any cars, any people, anything that would let her know that yes, he was still here. That he hadn't left without saying goodbye. That he'd actually been waiting up here for her. That there time together wasn't just another game.

But there was nothing.

And so she began to trudge through the parking lot, and onto to the sidewalk that would lead her home.

Her earlier thoughts began to resurface, leaving her mind uncontrollably full. What did I tell you? I said he'd use you and he did. Just like he does with everything else.

"Maybe it's different this time,"she argued with herself, the mental battle doing nothing to ease the fresh raw pain inside of her aching heart.

.................

Lucas sat in the bigger of the two family rooms, in his parents house. Casually flipping channels on the large screen t.v. He glanced up at the clock when he heard heavy footsteps come through the room behind him. The sound of pant legs swishing together as the intruder walked.

Swiftly Lucas turned his head to see the ragged figure of his younger brother come in through the door way. His clothes wrinkled, his hair fuzzy, his eyes saggy.

"Where you been," he called to Nathan, with mild interest.

The brunette never broke his stride as he went passed Lucas and into the hall that led to his room.

"Nowhere," Nathan clipped out, trying to ignore the presence of his brother with extreme determination.

Lucas just shook off his indifference with a grin. "Nowhere huh? Well it certainly doesn't look like you were nowhere," he surveyed his younger brother's appearance with amusement, then raising his hand and waving in front of his nose with a bigger smirk, "And it really doesn't smell like you were nowhere."

"Piss off Luke," Nathan grumbled, pushing through his closed door, and into his bed room. He tried ignoring Lucas's footsteps as they entered behind him, too preoccupied with getting into bed. He needed sleep. He needed to sleep for a long time.

Lucas's curiosity wasn't anywhere near satisfied though. "Come on man. Tell me. Who was she? And please don't say it was Theresa, I know she's hot and everything, but issues, man. Major issues there."

"It's no one, alright. Now get out," Nathan's yells were muffled, while his head was face down on his pillow.

 "Fine. If that'll help get that bug out of your ass. But I bet you twenty bucks you'll be begging to tell me about it later."

"Ready to lose twenty bucks?"

"Whatever you say little brother. Whatever you say."

Lucas stood watching for a few more seconds, realizing the stubborn side of Nathan was out and roaring. No way was he going to get any information out of him this way. He was more than likely defeated for moment.

Relinquishing his brotherly duty to bother Nathan at all costs, Lucas began to retreat from Nathan's room, pausing in front of his door way.

"Hey Nate?"

"What," he asked dryly.

"Some of the crew are coming over to party in an hour, and their bringing some people from upstate with them. Better get cleaned up. We wouldn't want you smelling like sex when the guests come over," Lucas finished with a wild grin, closing Nathan's door before strutting down the hall.

Nathan groaned into his pillow, not really caring to or even wanting to deal with the idiocy of his socialite friends. And knowing he had to, despite that. With a more effort than he thought he'd ever mustered, he pulled himself back up off his king sized bed, and trudged into his adjoining bathroom. Slamming the door behind as hard as he could in protest.

.....................

The walk back to the apartment had been long. Not because she was tired. Which she was. Not because she was hungry. Which she really was. No, the walk had been excruciatingly long because all she had to think of was him.

A million thoughts ran through Haley's head on her way home. Some justifying her actions, some damning them. And others just contemplating why in the Hell did he leave without even saying goodbye.

Logically Haley knew that her indiscretion, as some may call it, was not by any means a form of commitment. Shit, she hadn't even really known Nathan until last night. Maybe she still didn't. She did know however, that in some way or form, in that basement they had connected . Something had clicked. And as strange as the thought of her and Nathan clicking sounded, it was true.

What amazed her the most, was that she didn't find it all that surprising. If someone had told her two days ago, that she would have been talking to Nathan Scott, enjoying his company, like a regular human being, she would have told them to go jump off a cliff. If someone had told her two days ago that she would have spent one of the best nights of her life in the arms of her most revered enemy, she would have told them they were fucking insane.

And yet here she was. Feeling empty and cold without him.

Life really felt like a huge joke sometimes.

Haley ran the thought through her head again. Here I am. She figured she should feel something, anything. But in actuality, it was numbness of nothing that seemed to dominate her emotions. Unhurriedly she slipped her key in the lock of her apartment door, discovering it was already unlocked. Before she even made it three steps in, Brooke and Peyton came running towards her at warp speed.

"Oh my holy God. Where were you?," Peyton questioned her, right beside Brooke.

"Are you ok? Are you hurt? Because you didn't call, and we left the club before you left, and we figured you'd be right behind us, but then you weren't and—I'm really sorry. Are you ok," Brooke rattled off her questions in rapt succession.

"I'm fine."

"We were seriously freaking out Haley, are you sure your ok," Brooke asked her more softly this time.

Haley nodded dumbly and then took a step back from the interrogation of her friends, and sucked in a breath of air. Looking at them with little emotion, before she tried to brush passed them to get further into the apartment.

Brooke and Peyton watched her. Giving each other a confused and bewildered looks. Brooke silently mouthing 'What was that?' Peyton answering with a silent 'I don't know.'

Haley meanwhile went it into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water before heading to her room. Brooke cutting her off at the door, so that she couldn't enter.

"So," Brooke asked Haley eagerly, her eyebrow quirked as she tapped her nails on the door frame persistently.

"So...what?"

"So...where the hell were you for the last 24 hours. Me and Peyton here would really like to know, wouldn't we Peyton."

"Seeing as we spent the first 12 of the 24 hours scouring the entire campus for you. And the rest, spending all our money calling your cellphone, yes, I think we do deserve to know," Peyotn added with a heavy nod.

Haley glanced at the ground, and then to Peyton's feet, noticing the black and pink converse tennis shoes she wore.

How did she tell them what happened to her? How did she explain Nathan? And to Brooke of all people. There was no way she could handle that now.  No way.

"It's a gigantically long story, with an even more confusing ending. So if you don't mind, I'm gonna go take a shower, fall into bed, and you two can gossip all about it after I'm asleep."

Brooke's eyes widened. "Nothing? That's it? We go an entire day having trauma inducing panic attacks, thinking you were abducted by some alien rapists, and we don't even get an explanation?"

"Nope," Haley affirmed.

"Seriously," Peyton asked, giving Haley that sisterly expression. The one that made it almost impossible for her to refuse, because it was so comforting. She knew it was only a diversionary tactic to break her and make her spill. She was going to be strong. Now was not the time to tell them what happened.

"Totally and completely," Haley answered.

Brooke let out an exasperated sigh. "Ugh.....fine. Be off. We have no use for you, until your ready to do some major spillage girlfriend."

"Thanks for your concern," Haley replied.

"Oh, you have no idea," said Brooke, pushing her into her room, towards her bed.

Haley let herself be shoved forward, watching as her friends closed her door, leaving her in the darkness of her room. Letting the quiet seep into her brain as she sighed. If there was one thing she'd learned about those two girls in the past six years, it was that they always managed to find out everything about her and each other.

 Everything. 

Haley might have won the battle to keep her night with Nathan a secret. But there was no way she was going to win this war.