Chapter Ten

Nathan watched as Lucas entered the gym. He was late and Nathan was sure that he had been with Haley. Man I hate that guy. I just don't get why she would want to hang out with him.

"Nathan" Whitey's voice broke into Nathan's thoughts "do you think you could quit daydreaming and get started. You know we've got to be out of here early tonight so that they can finish setting this place up for the dance."

Oh Shit the dance is tonight. He glanced over to where the cheerleaders were practicing their latest routine. He hadn't spoken to Peyton for a few days but he assumed that their plans for the dance hadn't changed.

"NATHAN" Whitey's patience was obviously wearing thin and Nathan decided not to push things any further.

Lucas hearing Whitey's shout looked over to where Nathan was standing apparently lost in thought as he stared in the direction of the cheerleaders. No he's not staring at all the cheerleaders he's staring at Peyton. What the hell? He better not be planning to make a move on her at the dance tonight. He had told Peyton that he didn't want her to go to the dance with Nathan but her response had been that she would only cancel on Nathan if he cancelled on Haley and told her the truth about them. Lucas had backed off after that not yet ready to deal with Haley's reaction to the news that her best friend had been sneaking around with a cheerleader and hadn't even told her.

He wished that he had told Haley what was going on from the start because the more time that went by the harder it had gotten to broach the subject with her. Plus he knew that what would probably hurt Haley the most was that he had kept this from her for so long. The only reason that he hadn't told her was because of some stupid little pact that he had made with Haley the day they had started at Tree Hill High. They had watched the way the jocks and cheerleaders behaved and vowed to each other that they would never get involved with that group. For a long time it had been a very easy promise to keep. They had despised the way that Nathan and his group, which included Peyton, acted and if truth were told well none of them had really paid any attention to the two bookworms anyway. Of course it didn't help that Lucas was Nathan's half brother and the two of them had been raised to hate each other from the moment they were born. But for the most part he and Nathan had simply avoided each other and spent the majority of their time pretending that the other one did not exist, until of course Lucas had joined the Basketball team. As soon as Lucas had joined the team Nathan had declared war on the older boy and they had been at loggerheads ever since. There had been times when Lucas had seriously questioned whether being on the team was worth all the hassle he received but then it did have its good points. He came out of his daze to find Peyton watching him from across the gym and smiling at her quickly he turned back to Whitey to continue the pretence of actually listening to his game plan.

Haley meanwhile was begging off for the second time that week on her usual tutoring session. Luckily no one else needed to know about these missed sessions or those who knew her would certainly start to wonder what was going on. It was completely unlike her to miss even one and to have missed two in one week well that was unheard of. But she simply couldn't face the idea of sitting in that room trying to help someone else with their schoolwork when she wasn't even able to concentrate on her own. So instead Haley went home, took a bath and decided to have a lay down for a little while hoping to cure the pounding in her head.

Unfortunately for Haley her short rest turned into a rather long nap and by the time she woke up she had less than an hour till Lucas was due to arrive to pick her up. Rushing into her sister Janie's room she opened the cupboard praying that she had indeed left behind some of her dresses when she left for college. Luckily she and Janie were a fairly similar size and she had always felt comfortable borrowing from her sister.
"Damn I guess she didn't leave behind as many clothes as I thought she did" Haley commented surveying the contents of her sister's wardrobe.

Spying a couple of possibilities she pulled them out and laid them on the bed running a critical eye over them. Deciding on the green silk dress that would end just above her knee she held it up to herself in front of the mirror only then noticing the rather large stain on the material.

"Guess I'll have to make do with this one" she said grabbing the black dress from the bed and retreating to her own room.

She dressed quickly and applied her make up putting the finishing touches to her hair just as the doorbell sounded announcing Lucas' arrival. Grabbing the small black bag that she had also liberated from Janie's room she quickly stuffed in her keys, phone and lipstick before rushing downstairs to let Lucas in.

"Hi Haley….Wow where did you get the dress? You look amazing" Luke complimented her standing back slightly to take in the full effect.

Forcing a smile Haley surveyed Luke's own appearance and indicated her approval "You don't look so bad yourself Handsome" she told him truthfully.

"Well pretty lady shall we go" Luke offered his arm to Haley and the two friends ventured out into the night.

Nathan arrived at Peyton's to collect her his mind filled with thoughts of Haley, wondering if she would be at the dance tonight. He knew he had messed up earlier when he had yelled at her about Lucas but hewas hoping to have a chance to put things right that night. Walking to Peyton's door he knocked and waited for her response trying desperately to put all thoughts of Haley out of his head for the moment. When the door opened he couldn't help but stare at Peyton.

"Hey sexy" he greeted her admiring her slim body in the tight red dress.

Peyton groaned "Nathan I've known you far too long for those lines to work on me. You should know that by now."

"Hey can't I comment on an attractive woman anymore? I'm not trying to hit on you Peyt just telling it like I see it."

She couldn't help but laugh at his crestfallen expression "yeah whatever lets just go". Walking to his car she hopped in and slipped one of her CD's into the player. Nathan grimaced slightly at the grungy rock music blaring from the speakers but knew there was no point trying to get her to turn it off. Getting behind the wheel he steered the car in the direction of the school anxious to see if Haley was there.

They had been at the dance for half an hour and Haley was bored. Lucas had spotted Jake almost as soon as they arrived and had immediately got into a passionate discussion about the upcoming game. She had been surreptitiously watching the door waiting to see if Nathan would come. Although she was determined to keep her distance that didn't mean she couldn't look now did it. Finally spotting his dark head coming through the door she couldn't help but smile to herself at least until she saw his blonde companion. Why am I even surprised? I should have known that Nathan would have a date and it's only natural that it would be one of the best looking girls in school. Feeling decidedly deflated after seeing Nathan with his date Haley grabbed Lucas' hand and pulled him out onto the dance floor. Hoping that some physical activity would distract her from watching Nathan and his date. She threw herself into the dance and eventually it had the desired effect as she forgot about everything else and just concentrated on the music. See she tried to tell herself I don't need a boyfriend as long as I've got Lucas as my best friend I have everything I need. Gradually though she became aware of the feeling that someone was watching her.

Nathan had been looking for her from the moment they had entered the gym, practically ignoring the guys who came up wanting to talk about basketball and barely registering the girls desperately flirting with him. There was only one girl he was interested in seeing and there she was in the arms of his half brother. For the moment though he didn't care that she was with Lucas he was too caught up in looking at her in that dress to care much about anything. From the front there didn't appear to be anything remarkable about the dress sure it clung to her curves perfectly and showed off a nice amount of her tanned thigh. But there were plenty of girls there who wore dresses that were shorter and tighter than the one Haley had on. No what was amazing about this dress could only be seen as she turned away from him and he saw that it was practically backless. Nathan felt his groin tighten at the sight of all that exposed skin and immediately wanted to punch Lucas as he saw his hand come to rest on her back as they danced. He desperately wanted it to be his hands that were touching her satiny skin.

Looking up Haley's eyes locked with Nathan's and she felt her heart jump in her chest as she saw the want in his eyes. Dragging her eyes away from his she looked at his date, Peyton too appeared to be staring in their direction. Oh God why is Peyton looking at me. She must have noticed the way Nathan keeps looking at me. What if she suspects that there is something going on with him and me. This can't be good.

Haley of course had no idea that Peyton had barely registered the fact that Haley was even there; her attention was fixed solely on Lucas. Peyton decided it was time to liven things up a bit so grabbing Nathan's hand she dragged him out onto the dance floor close to where Lucas and Haley were dancing. She began to dance with Nate sliding her body against his but keeping her gaze pinned firmly on Luke. Nathan having no clue what Peyton was up to went along with it but couldn't help but wish that it were Haley's body he was feeling rubbing against him.

Luke watched this little display and could barely contain his jealousy, which of course was exactly what Peyton was hoping for. Pulling away from Haley he excused himself to go get a drink. Seeing this Peyton stopped grinding up against Nathan and left supposedly to go to the bathroom.

Nathan immediately moved in front of Haley pleased to finally get a chance to speak to her without Lucas around.

"How about a dance" he asked with a grin.

"Uh no I think I'm going to sit this one out" Haley responded knowing that if she allowed Nathan to touch her there was no way she would be able to continue to pretend to herself that she was happy just being here with Lucas.

"Haley" Nathan said grabbing her wrist firmly "I want you to dance with me."

Oh what the hell she told herself its only one dance. What harm can it do? So she allowed herself to be pulled into his arms and began to dance loving the feeling of his hands on her bare back.

Nathan gently manoeuvred Haley off the floor and into a deserted corner of the gym. He continued to dance with her his hands rubbing in circular motions on her back; she put her arms around his neck and looked up into his eyes. She knew that he wanted her and she nervously ran her tongue over her bottom lip wondering if she dared to give into him knowing that Lucas could return at any moment. Before she could formulate an answer Nathan's mouth seized her own in a powerful kiss and she forgot all about Lucas as she kissed him back. His hands slid lower down her back, inside the silky material of her dress to cup her ass bringing her even closer to him. Her hands were inside his jacket stroking his skin through the thin material of his shirt. She could feel the heat of his skin through the barrier of his shirt and could no longer bear to have anything separating her hands from his body so she pulled the shirt from the waistband of his pants running her hands up over his ribs till she came to his chest. Instinctively her fingers sought out his hard nipples and she was shocked to feel the cold hard metal of the silver ring pierced through one. This however only added to her excitement as her lips once again hungrily sought Nathan's. Who knows how much further they would have gone in this dark corner of their school gym if at that moment hadn't come a rather loud clearing of somebody's throat from behind them.

"Ahem, Mr Scott and Miss James stop that immediately" bit out Mr Andrews' voice.

Haley jumped back as Nathan groaned and turned to face the new bane of his existence. What the fuck have I done to deserve this karma he thought every time we seem to be getting somewhere something happens to screw it up. Haley meanwhile had turned bright red with embarrassment at being caught in such a compromising position. She couldn't believe that she Haley James had been caught making out in the school gym. A teacher had found her with her hands up Nathan Scott's shirt and his hands oh she didn't even want to think about where Mr Andrews' would have seen Nathan's hands. Apparently Mr Andrews' shared her feelings "this is just the sort of behaviour I have come to expect from you Mr Scott but I would never have imagined that you Miss James would indulge in such pastimes in the school grounds". Oh god I hope that was just a figure of speech Haley said to herself the last thing I want to think about is that he has been imagining me doing these sorts of things in other places. Haley shook her head trying to clear the unpleasant images that had taken over her brain.

"Right I want both of you back out where I can see you and no more of these shenanigans or I'll give you both detention."

Doing his best to appear suitably chastised Nathan grabbed Haley's hand and led her back to the main dance floor.

Noticing the stares they were attracting from the other students Haley disengaged her hand from his and frantically searched the faces praying that Lucas would not be among them. I wonder where he and Peyton are? I was sure they would be looking for us by now. But thinking about Lucas caused Haley's feelings of guilt to surface and she started to berate herself for once again showing so little care for her best friends feelings. Oh God I have to get out of here. What if Lucas had been the one to catch us instead of Mr Andrews? He would have been so hurt. Once again Haley was talking herself out of her feelings for Nathan and once again she was determined that she had to stay away from him. This pattern could not go on. She couldn't keep having these interactions with Nathan and then deciding to end it only to find herself giving into him once again. She had to stop this once and for all and it had to be tonight.

Turning to face Nathan she began to speak "Nathan I'm sorry but this has got to stop. I can't keep doing this. Lucas is my best friend and if he ever found out about this he would be devastated."

"Haley" Nathan interrupted "you can't tell me that you don't feel how good this is between us. You can't honestly want to stop this when we both make each other so happy."

"But that's just it Nathan, when we're together yeah it feels great but then I get overcome with guilt about keeping it from Lucas and I feel like shit," Haley tried to explain to him.

"I can't believe you" Nathan spat out angrily "You are willing to give up what we have for that punk. What is it about this guy that everyone just seems to adore? I'm fucked if I can see it" he exploded his anger boiling over as Haley once again rejected him.

"Nathan look I am sorry whether you choose to believe that or not but he's my best friend and has been longer than I've even known you."

"Fine. Whatever. What the Fuck do I care? I'm sure there's plenty of other girls here who would be only too happy to accommodate me so why don't you run off to your little friend and pretend that that's all you need. But remember Haley I know the truth I know you need more than just a platonic relationship with a man to keep you satisfied. I've seen how much you enjoy being touched, but go ahead tell yourself that you don't need it or want it. See how warm that keeps you at night," and with that he pushed past her in search of Tim knowing that he had smuggled in some alcohol and at that moment he needed a drink more than he ever had.

Haley watched him leave with tears in her eyes no matter how true some of what he had just said was she could not betray her best friend like this. She was certain she had done the right thing. However that didn't mean that it didn't hurt like hell. Turning on her heel she ran out of the gym hoping to find Lucas and get some comfort from him even though she would never be able to tell him what was wrong. Lucas though was nowhere to be found in the gym or in the hall outside so she went outside thinking maybe he had decided to get some air. As she exited she looked around in the dark trying to spot him but to no avail. Hearing noises coming from around the corner she headed in their direction hoping he would be there. As she rounded the corner she was confronted with the sight of a couple getting hot and heavy with each other. Recognising Peyton's red dress and blonde curls she immediately made to leave not wanting to be caught standing there. I guess I didn't have to worry about Peyton and Nathan after all. It was then that she recognised a rather familiar dark blonde head caught in a passionate clinch with Peyton. No she told herself it couldn't be Lucas.

"Oh Lucas" Peyton's groan broke into Haley's mind and all of her illusions were irrevocably shattered in those two tiny words.

A.N Don't forget to tell me what you think. I'm on a bit of a roll with this story at the moment so may get another chapter or two done this weekend with any luck. Hope you're all still enjoying it.