Chapter 4
"Peyton, my bathing suit has more material than this entire outfit."
Peyton grinned, looking into the mirror at Haley reflection. She had curled Haley's hair, similar to her own style. She added a bright red halter-top, a black mini tennis skirt and flat flip-flops and voila! Peyton was smiling at her own creativity for creating outfits. Maybe she could go into the move and be a wardrobe organizer.
Unfortunately, Haley didn't feel the same way. She insisted on complaining loudly. But Peyton stuck to her guns. She had seen Haley face when Haley looked into the mirror to see herself. She definitely saw approval.
"Haley, you are going to wear that. Complain all you want, but I'm not giving up." Peyton said, as she pulled a leather jacket over her tube top.
Haley opened her mouth to argue again, but she was beaten by another voice. "HALEY? PETYON? ARE YOU GUYS UP THERE?"
Peyton exhaled a noisy breath, "NICE TO KNOW THAT PEOPLE STILL USE THE DOORBELL" She shouted back. Haley winced at the volume of her voice.
A few moments passed and suddenly the bell chimes filled the house. A minute later, Nathan appeared in front of Peyton's room smirking.
"Better?"
"Much." Peyton said, half-annoyed and half-amused.
"So where is Haley?" Nathan asked, moving Haley's overnight bag and plopping down on the computer chair. He had opted for casual. A striped polo shirt and jeans had completed his casual look.
"She is in the bathroom." Peyton sighed, "She looks totally hot and won't come out."
"Damn right." Came Haley's answer.
Nathan smirked, "Hales, darling, just come out. Everyone will be drunk and I'm sure there will always be another cheerleader who will look much trashier than you."
Haley peeked her head out, "No way."
Peyton saw her chance. As soon as Haley had peeked out, she grabbed Haley's arm, causing Haley to stumble into the room. Nathan straightened up immediately, seeing her outfit.
He was momentarily stunned. She looked gorgeous, and the best thing was that she didn't know it. It made her innocence shine and literally took his breath away. Suddenly, his overprotective mode kicked in.
"She can't go out like that! The guys will be all over her. And it will be worse when they are drunk!" Nathan said, looking at Haley to Peyton.
Haley felt a little offended, but also touched. Nathan cared enough about her well being, and obviously thought she looked good. But she didn't need a protector.
Peyton sighed again. "No, she looks hot, and as long as you are nearby, no one will even dare to go near her."
Nathan felt his phone vibrate against his leg. He looked down at the caller ID: DIM TIM.
"Fine, let's go, Tim has already called 5 times in the last 10 minutes." Nathan said, standing up.
Peyton smiled at her victory and flounced down the stairs. As Haley was getting ready to go down the stairs, Nathan stopped her, putting his hand on her waist to steady her. He leaned into her, whispering in her ear.
"You do look hot."
Twenty minutes later, the trio finally entered the house. The ride should have only taken 10 minutes, but Nathan insisted on dropping Peyton off at the corner. If she got out of the car with Nathan and Haley, she 1) would look like a loser. Who comes with other people's dates? And 2) Give people very interesting ideas. After dropping her off at the corner, he had to follow her to Tim's house, and then had to park.
"You do realize that she could have just waited a couple seconds and then gotten out of the car?" Haley informed him, amused at the antics.
Nathan glared, concentrating on parking his car. The house was jam packed, as usual, and naturally, everyone just had to drive.
"This is why our environment is being ruined." Nathan rambled, getting agitated because there was no space to park his car. "The whole in the ozone layer is going to gap open tonight because of all these cars." He grumbled as he got went around the block for the nth time.
Haley giggled at him. He looked adorable, trying not to smash into another car in order to create space for his. "Sweets, first of all, there really aren't that many cars here that are running. As long as they are not turned on, it's fine. Second, the ozone hole is somewhere up South America. A far cry from Tree Hill."
Nathan half smiled at her, before slamming his hand against the steering wheel. "That's it. I'm parking here."
Haley paused, "Nathan, it's in front of Tim's house. The reason people didn't park here is so that there was at least some space for people to get into the house."
Nathan got out of the car and opened Haley's door for her. "Tough luck."
Haley noted Nathan's chivalrous move, but didn't dwell on it too much. This was her first popular party that she was going to. She had enough reason to be nervous. She was accepted as girlfriend of Lucas Scott, friend of Peyton and Brooke Sawyer, acquaintance of Nathan Scott.
Now she was entering as ex-girlfriend of Lucas Scott and current girlfriend of Nathan Scott. When it came to the Scott brothers, anything and everything was complicated. But after spending time with both of the brothers, Haley came to the realization that the only thing that they shared was the same father. Nothing else.
Nathan could sense Haley's hesitation and he put an arm around her waist, drawing her closer to him. "Don't worry. Just have fun tonight. And create waves of jealousy."
Haley tried to give him a smile, which came out as a grimace. Following him up the stairs to the front door, she was sure that it was going to be an interesting night.
Too bad she didn't realize how interesting.
As she and Nathan walked in, the first thing she noticed was the loud music and the intoxicate state of many of her fellow peers. Nathan had one hand on the small of her back and was gently pushing her to go through. Lucky for them (or not), the first person they saw was Tim, under the influence of quite a bit of alcohol.
"Duuudddeee…" Tim drawled. He paused and looked confused, "I though you were bringing that tutor chick. Wouldn't she get mad if she saw you hanging with another hotter chick?"
Nathan smirked, putting his arm around Haley, "Tim. This is Haley, Haley, Dim."
Tim's mouth dropped as he started at a smirking Haley, "Duuude, you are so hot!" He leered, coming closer to Haley.
Nathan put his arm out, effectively cutting off Tim as his bumped into it. Given Tim's intoxicated state, Tim stumbled back, almost falling.
Haley giggled. Drunken people were interesting, and Tim was an excellent drunkard. She smiled kindly at him, "See you around Tim." With that, she grabbed Nathan's hand and led him away.
"Just chill." She said, noticing his tense shoulders. Haley put her arms around his neck, pressing closer to him. Maybe it was his jealous nature, or just the atmosphere, but she felt energized tonight.
Nathan automatically wrapped his arms around her. "Yeah, I guess. It's only Tim. Plus, babe, you better remember, you are with me tonight." He said smirking.
Haley wrinkled her nose and let go of him. "You just so did not call me Babe…"
Before Nathan could say anything, they heard a female voice calling out to them. "Nathan! Haley!"
Following the direction of the voice, Nathan and Haley found themselves in front of the bar with Peyton and Jake.
"Hey, amazing to actually find you." Peyton grinned. "I have to hand it to Tim, it's a good party. Food, drinks, DJ and a dance floor." She pointed to a makeshift dance floor.
"Nice." Nathan said, not very enthused. He looked at the drink selection. "What do you want Haley?"
"Coke, please." Haley said, trying to look for Lucas and Brooke without making it seem too obvious.
"One coke with vodka, coming right up." Peyton said, as she started to make the drink.
"No." Haley said, turning her attention back to Peyton. "Just a coke. Please?"
Nathan put his arm around Haley; "I shall be the designated driver tonight. You have fun. After all, this is going to your night."
Peyton handed her the drink. "Don't worry, I didn't put too much alcohol in it. You will need like 10 glasses to even getting properly tweaked."
Haley took a sip of the drink. Definitely could taste the vodka, but maybe her friends were right. She did need to loosen up. "Okay. Fine."
An hour later, and two glasses of coke and vodka, Haley was still feeling fine. She was talking with Peyton and Jake about colleges.
"I honestly would love to either go to Duke or UNC. UNC has given me a scholarship, but Duke, wow, it's Duke!" Haley exclaimed.
"True," Jake said, "But UNC is also a pretty good school and since they are giving you money, it's looking good." He was going to UNC as well.
"Okay you would talk about colleges at a party." Nathan came up behind Haley, smirking down at her.
The four of them laughed, knowing that it was the truth. Haley was incredibly content. For the first time, she had great friend and she was happy.
"Let's go," Nathan tugged Haley's hand, "I wanna dance."
Haley paused, as Jake and Peyton ran up ahead, starting to dance. "Um, I don't dance."
Just then, a slow song came on. Haley gasped as she recognized it as 'Dare you to move'. "I love this song!" She squealed, forgetting the fact that she still couldn't dance.
"Let's take it easy then." Nathan said, putting his arms on her waist and pulling her closer, forcing her to put her arms around his neck.
Just then, she spotted Luke and Brooke dancing a few feet away from them. Haley noticed how as soon as Brooke saw Haley and Nathan dancing, she pulled Lucas closer. Lucas was totally oblivious to what was happening around him.
Nathan noticed the other couple as well. He pulled Haley closer to him, as he whisphered into her ear, "Just follow along."
Haley gave a slight nod of her held and she snuggled closer to Nathan, playing with the hair at the nape of his neck. The alcohol definitely loosened her up and she was willing to along with whatever Nathan had planned for her.
Brooke was looking at them distastefully while Lucas finally noticed them. Lucas tensed up a little, staring at Haley and Nathan. Well, more like Nathan, because Haley had her eyes closed, totally relaxed in his embrace.
'And go for the kill.' Nathan thought, as he tilted Haley's chin up. "Just trust me." He whispered, hoping that the next move wouldn't kill his friendship with her.
Haley only had a chance to give him a quizzical look before his lips descended down onto hers. She had only kissed Lucas before, but the kiss Nathan was giving her was totally not like the ones Lucas gave her. First of all, they weren't sloppy.
She felt herself start to warm up, as she stood on her tiptoes to get better access. His tongue swept across her lip and she opened her mouth to let it in. At this point, Haley could have sworn she saw and heard fireworks. She pressed herself closer to Nathan and both of them moaned softly.
As oxygen was becoming an issue, they reluctantly pulled apart. Haley gazed into Nathan's eyes, totally forgetting about Lucas, Brooke and everything else. Nathan wasn't any better, his concentration solely on Haley.
All of the sudden, realization swept across her face, as she realized what he had done. She sneaked a look at Lucas and Brooke who were still dancing with each other, but visibly shocked. She looked back at Nathan, who could already sense her pulling back from him, physically and emotionally.
"Did you see that?" Jake asked, watching the two couples from a distance.
"Whoa…" Peyton said, watching Haley pull back from Nathan and staring intently into his face.
"You sure this whole thing is acting?" Jake asked, at this point 100 positive that it was an entire sham and that Nathan and Haley were truly in love with each other.
Peyton nodded, speechless. Just thing, she saw a fleeting expression on Haley's expression. "Uh-oh…here comes the regret."
Jake and Peyton watched Haley give Nathan a kiss on the cheek. Peyton knew it was just for show because Haley didn't want it to look like she wasn't used to Nathan kissing her. Watching Haley dart towards the stairs, she squeezed Jake's hand and followed Haley up the stairs.
Haley splashed cold water onto her flushed face. But in her state of mind, the temperature of the water didn't register in her mind. She looked at her flushed reflection in the mirror. Faintly, she was glad that Peyton had used waterproof makeup. Then she mentally slapped herself. She splashed some more water on her face, hoping to bring her mind back to working order so she could analyze what had just happened.
Someone rapped on the door, "Haley?" Peyton's clear voice permeated through Haley's foggy brain. Haley opened the door, staring at her friend's sympathetic face.
"What did I do?" Haley began rambling, "I can't do that. I liked it. Why did you breakup with him? He is a fantastic kisser. I would have kept him around just for that. But that's not the point, the point is that I kissed him and liked it. I don't think he was too repulsed either. Oh damn, what a mistake I …." She stopped rambling because Peyton grabbed her shoulders.
"Breathe." Peyton instructed Haley, as Haley took in deep noisy breaths. "Okay, first you need to go find Nathan, because he is confused. Just as badly as you. Talk it out. I mean, did you honestly think that you guys would not get physically involved if you are pretending to date?"
Haley paused. In all honestly, it didn't occur to her. Peyton noticed that and rolled her eyes at Haley. "Oh dear, okay, well, just go talk to him." With that, Peyton went back to the party.
Haley closed the door and looked back at herself in the mirror. She attempted to fix her hair. Nathan had pulled a few of the curls when his fingers were in her hair. She smiled, remembered how the kiss had been. In her 17 years, she had never experienced those feelings. The fluttery butterflies, the need to get him closer, the want and desire. It scared her because she knew that she couldn't screw anything up.
Haley took a deep breath and patted her hair one more time. She might as well face him. She opened the door; only to have someone hit her forehand.
"Ouch!" She winced, covering her forehead with her hands while stepping back.
"Hales!" Nathan said, alarmed, "Oh god, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hit you! I passed Peyton and she told me you were in here. I was only knocking…"
He trailed off as he noticed Haley silently shaking. Suddenly, he heard her snort and she burst out into laughter. Nathan noticed how she sparkled but forced his mind to concentrate on the task at hand.
"Oh wow, you see these things happen in cartoons, I didn't know that it happened in real life!" Haley said, giggling.
Nathan chuckled, stepping into the bathroom. He kicked the door with his foot and sat on the edge of the bathtub. Still giggling, Haley sat on top of the toilet (lid mind you!)
"So…." Haley said, her giggling stopped, leading to an awkward silence.
Nathan sat quietly, trying to figure out what to say in words. Giving up on trying to come up with any semblance of a conversation, he decided to improvise.
"The kiss downstairs, I just want you to know that the only reason I sprung it because it was the perfect time. Both Lucas and Brooke were looking, and trust me, I saw their faces and it definitely looked shocked. If you want to convince him that you guys are over, then you have to understand that we might have to kiss." Nathan said, trying to be as frank as he could.
Haley felt a twinge of something she couldn't figure. Pushing it aside, she took Nathan's hand.
"I understand. Sorry I freaked, it was just so sudden." She said, "I guess it was a lot of the alcohol too."
They both laughed, feeling the familiar sense of camaraderie come back. Silence enveloped them once again, but this time it was a comfortable one.
Nathan stood up, dropping Haley's hands. "Yeah, so um, let's blow this bathroom. Wanna go somewhere else? I think I'm all partied out."
Haley stood up as well, raising her eyebrow, "Partied out? Nathan Scott? Whoa, who are you?" She joked, linking her arm through his.
Nathan laughed and looked pensive. Haley noticed this and asked him, "What's wrong?"
"Well…that was a damn good kiss." Nathan smirked, watching Haley turn pink.
"Nathan!" She squealed, swatting his arm. She darted out of the bathroom until she was reached the top of the stairs. She turned back around and gave him a seductive look. "You're right. It was." She laughed and walked down the stairs.
Nathan hurried to catch up with her, laughing silently. Yes. This plan was the best ever. Even better than the time he stole the bus and drove the basketball team. Or the time that he had to sucker punch to get the keys out of the Pickerington's car.
Standing on the bottom of the stairs was Peyton and Jake, looking up at them expectantly. Peyton felt a little relived to see a smiling Nathan and Haley.
"Wanna go somewhere else?" Peyton asked, getting sick of the party atmosphere. As soon as Nathan and Haley disappeared, Brooke had cornered Peyton complaining loudly about Haley. Brooke was Peyton's best friend but Peyton also was very close to Nathan and Haley. Brooke had given no indication that she was with Lucas, even before he and Haley broke up.
"Yeah." Nathan agreed, slipping his arm around Haley. It was a familiar feeling that neither of them complained about.
"My house?" Peyton asked, "After all, Haley is sleeping over. We can watch a movie or something."
As the four teenagers left, Brooke watched them with her eyes slit. She knew that she was seen as the bad person in this mess but she was just of a victim as Haley. Brooke sighed, taking a sip of her drink. She knew that Haley and Nathan were just pretending to be a couple. Lucas didn't seemed bothered at first, but it was starting to get to him. Brooke turned around, going back to her boyfriend, hoping that he could just let go of Haley.
A/N - Hey guys, remember me:-D Okay, so my muse finally came back from vacation and I got slightly motivated, so I have started chapter 6. I didn't realize that Chapter 5 had not been posted on FF, so here it is! Hopefully, I well get you guys chapter 6 by the end of this week. Thank you all for the lovely reviwes!
3 Tina