Author's Note: Hey again. Does everyone know what time it is? Originally I
wasn't going to have any guys play a major role in the story, it was going
to be about girl bonding, but I see you all wanted a little Scott drama
thrown in. Your wish is my command. I'll have to warn you that it probably
won't be what you thought it was going to be like. Drum roll please...here's
chapter eight...
~~~~OTH~~~~
Haley's POV
This is weird. I know that I'm supposed to be broken right now, you know. I've seen a few documentaries on this kind of thing at school. These women shave their heads, become lesbians. They recoil at the touch of any man. They go into the shower and they hide in the corner while the burning hot water runs down their skin. Or they stand in the middle of the water and scrub themselves clean of what happened until they start bleeding. I have no desire to do any of those things. I don't know if I just need to let it sink in or if it's the drugs that the doctor's gave me, but I really don't real anything right now. I just try to think about other things. My family, my friends, my job, school. Anything that doesn't involve last night. As long as I do that, I seem to be okay. I don't want this to ruin my life. I have too much stuff going for me to let some horny jackass destroy my future. I have a loving family, two in fact, and I have two amazing best friends who stayed over all night to make sure I was okay. I have good grades, a steady job where I can work with my 'mom'. I have a perfect life and I refuse to let one party ruin that. The problem is, no matter how I fight it, this will change my life. People are going to look at me different and treat me different. No guys are going to feel comfortable talking to me, I'll have to go to therapy. I can fight it all I want, but there is no use because my life has already changed. I knew that the moment Brooke walked away with Jake at the party. I knew what Nathan was going to do. And I didn't say anything. I didn't fight back. And for the life of me, I can't figure out why.
~~~~OTH~~~~
"Brooke?" I called as I came out of my daze. My throat is killing me. My whole body hurts, in fact. I can barely feel my arms. The only thing that I can feel is someone holding my hand. I'm not sure who it is and the last thing I remember is Brooke holding me on the bed. Was she putting pants on me? I can hear someone moving beside me. They squeeze my hand. They are reaching up and they kiss me on the forehead. Their cheek scratches me a little. Okay, that's not Brooke.
"Hey, buddy," he whispers. I whip open my eyes. Whoa, big mistake. The light in the room is blinding, so I quickly close my eyes again. But I saw who it was, even though I knew it the second 'hey' was out of his mouth. "I missed you."
"When did you get here?" I ask him. He laughs lightly as he rubs my cheek. He sits back down in the chair, but doesn't let go of my hand.
"About ten minutes ago," he says. "Luckily, Brooke and Peyton were asleep down stairs so they didn't see me." Brooke and Peyton are down stairs? Together?
"They were together?" I asked him. I slowly begin to open my eyes. The light isn't as bright as it was before.
"Yeah," he smiles. I look over at him. He looks the same physically, but there's something different in his eyes. He looks happier somehow. Maybe being away from the drama was what he needed.
"Define together," I ask him. He gives me that Lucas Scott smile that's reserved officially for me.
"They were beside each other, sleeping," he begins. "Brooke was leaning on Peyton's shoulder and Peyton had her head resting on top of Brooke's." I have to smile at the vision. That's how it should be.
"Good," I mumble. They appear to have made up. My work is done.
"I hear they haven't talked since I left?" he asks, guilt laced in his voice. I know that he didn't intend of that to happen, but I still blame him for it.
"Yeah," I sighed. "Leaving me in the middle. Believe me, it's not fun to be caught in the middle of your best friends fighting." He looks at me with a hurt expression.
"Best friends?" he repeats. I know that had to hurt him. He's been my best friend for as long as I can remember.
"A lot of things have changed since you left, Luke," I inform him. "You didn't just hurt Brooke and Peyton when you left. You really hurt me too."
"I know, Hales," he interrupts me. "I never wanted that to happen. I never wanted to hurt you."
"I know," I tell him. "My point is, when you left, I had no one. I never realized how much I relied on your friendship before. Truth is, other than you, Peyton was the only other friend that I had." I'm trying not to cry as I talk. I don't want him to feel any worse than he already does.
"I get the Peyton thing, you guys were friends when I was still here, but where does Brooke fit in to this whole thing?" This must be really weird for him. I'm best friends with not only his two ex-girlfriends, but also the two most popular girls in school.
"At first, I went to talk to her about Peyton," I began. "I was going to tell her that Peyton was really upset about everything and that she would do anything to get her back. She had been really cut off from everyone. The only emotion she was showing was anger."
"Believe me, I know that," he comments. I shot him a dirty look, telling him that he deserved it. He looked down. "Sorry."
"When I got there she was crying," I explained. "I was going to leave her alone, but she asked me to stay. I wasn't going to at first, but then she called me Haley so I knew she was desperate."
"No tutor girl?" he questioned, in mock surprise. I laugh and nod. We sat in silence for a moment. I hate this, we're acting like complete strangers.
"I take it Karen called you?" He looks up in surprise at the subject change, but quickly shakes his head. But Karen was the only person who knew where he was. Wasn't she? "But I thought..."
"Jake did," he corrects me. Now that, I wasn't expecting. What did Jake have to do about this?
"How does Jake know where..."
"Nikki," he says in a quite tone. I guess he knows how I feel about her. I give him a confused look so he continues. "She's Jenny's mother. He comes by once a week to so Nikki can visit with her." Wow. This just keeps getting stranger and stranger.
"Oh," I mutter. How come Jake didn't tell us? "Anyone else you talk to that isn't me?" I ask angrily. Am I the only one that Luke doesn't talk to?
"Come on, Hales," he tries. "I wanted to call you all the time. I even asked my mom about it, but she said that you were finally stating to get over it and she didn't want you to get hurt again."
"Then how come you came now?"
"You're my best friend," he states. "Even if I'm not yours anymore."
"You'll always be my friend, Luke," I answer. He looks sad as I say this, but he seems to understand where I'm coming from. "I'm sorry, but you really hurt me. That's the best I can do right now."
"So there's still hope?" he questions.
"Are you moving back?" I counter. He holds my gaze for a moment, then looks away. I didn't think so. I can't help but ask. "Why did you leave me, Luke? I needed you."
"This wasn't about leaving you, Hales," he tries to explain. "It was just something that I had to do for me. She made me feel...I've never felt like that before. She helped me be just Luke instead of Lucas Scott."
"But there's nothing wrong with Lucas Scott," I argued. "He was my best friend."
"I know, but trust me, Luke is a much better person without Scott," he corrects me. I scrunch up my nose.
"Could we stop referring to you in the third person?"
"Yeah," he laughs. He looks at his watch.
"What time is it?" I ask him. He sighs.
"4:15," he answers. Was I really out of that long. I look at his face and I know what he's about to do.
"I have to go," he says, regretfully. "I have work in like three hours. I didn't tell Nikki where I was going either. I don't want her to get worried. Plus I want to talk to Peyton and Brooke on my way out..." he says as he starts to get up.
"Don't," I warn him. "By the sounds of it, they have finally made up. I don't think that seeing you will help any. If anything, it'll just make it worse."
"I just wanted to apologize about..."
"Trust me, Luke," I interrupt him. "It'll only make things worse." He gives in and nods.
"I take it you don't want me to pay my little brother a visit either?" he asks, hatred slipping into his voice. I think about it for all of a second and shake my head. "Didn't think so."
"Could I call you sometime?" I ask him. He smiles warmly at me and kisses me on the forehead again.
"Tuesdays and Thursdays," he tells me. "Have you're cell with you at eight." I smile and him and he rubs my cheek again. "I love you, Hales."
"I love you too, Luke," I reply. He starts to pull his hand away and I grab the top of his arm so that we'll have maximum contact. When our hands connect I pause and look at his fingers. My eyes widen in shock. "Is that a wedding band?" He gives me a sly smile. He kisses my hand and walks to the door.
"I'll tell you about it on Tuesday," he says with a smile before he walks out the door.
"Goodbye, Lucas," I whisper to myself. I give him a few minutes to get out of the hospital before I call a nurse in to get Peyton and Brooke. I'm glad that he's back in my life. Sure, I've learned that I can live without him, but he's just that extra treat that makes life just a little more bearable.
~~~~OTH~~~~
That's it. I know that it's probably not what you guys wanted or what you expected, but this isn't a Laley fic. There are no pairings in this. I'm a fan of friendship. I was planning on this being Lucas' only appearance, but it looks like there will be more to come. Now I can use him at anytime to stir up some drama. I hope you guys enjoyed it anyway. Please tell me what you think. I'm curious to know. Thanks. Till tomorrow...
~~~~OTH~~~~
Haley's POV
This is weird. I know that I'm supposed to be broken right now, you know. I've seen a few documentaries on this kind of thing at school. These women shave their heads, become lesbians. They recoil at the touch of any man. They go into the shower and they hide in the corner while the burning hot water runs down their skin. Or they stand in the middle of the water and scrub themselves clean of what happened until they start bleeding. I have no desire to do any of those things. I don't know if I just need to let it sink in or if it's the drugs that the doctor's gave me, but I really don't real anything right now. I just try to think about other things. My family, my friends, my job, school. Anything that doesn't involve last night. As long as I do that, I seem to be okay. I don't want this to ruin my life. I have too much stuff going for me to let some horny jackass destroy my future. I have a loving family, two in fact, and I have two amazing best friends who stayed over all night to make sure I was okay. I have good grades, a steady job where I can work with my 'mom'. I have a perfect life and I refuse to let one party ruin that. The problem is, no matter how I fight it, this will change my life. People are going to look at me different and treat me different. No guys are going to feel comfortable talking to me, I'll have to go to therapy. I can fight it all I want, but there is no use because my life has already changed. I knew that the moment Brooke walked away with Jake at the party. I knew what Nathan was going to do. And I didn't say anything. I didn't fight back. And for the life of me, I can't figure out why.
~~~~OTH~~~~
"Brooke?" I called as I came out of my daze. My throat is killing me. My whole body hurts, in fact. I can barely feel my arms. The only thing that I can feel is someone holding my hand. I'm not sure who it is and the last thing I remember is Brooke holding me on the bed. Was she putting pants on me? I can hear someone moving beside me. They squeeze my hand. They are reaching up and they kiss me on the forehead. Their cheek scratches me a little. Okay, that's not Brooke.
"Hey, buddy," he whispers. I whip open my eyes. Whoa, big mistake. The light in the room is blinding, so I quickly close my eyes again. But I saw who it was, even though I knew it the second 'hey' was out of his mouth. "I missed you."
"When did you get here?" I ask him. He laughs lightly as he rubs my cheek. He sits back down in the chair, but doesn't let go of my hand.
"About ten minutes ago," he says. "Luckily, Brooke and Peyton were asleep down stairs so they didn't see me." Brooke and Peyton are down stairs? Together?
"They were together?" I asked him. I slowly begin to open my eyes. The light isn't as bright as it was before.
"Yeah," he smiles. I look over at him. He looks the same physically, but there's something different in his eyes. He looks happier somehow. Maybe being away from the drama was what he needed.
"Define together," I ask him. He gives me that Lucas Scott smile that's reserved officially for me.
"They were beside each other, sleeping," he begins. "Brooke was leaning on Peyton's shoulder and Peyton had her head resting on top of Brooke's." I have to smile at the vision. That's how it should be.
"Good," I mumble. They appear to have made up. My work is done.
"I hear they haven't talked since I left?" he asks, guilt laced in his voice. I know that he didn't intend of that to happen, but I still blame him for it.
"Yeah," I sighed. "Leaving me in the middle. Believe me, it's not fun to be caught in the middle of your best friends fighting." He looks at me with a hurt expression.
"Best friends?" he repeats. I know that had to hurt him. He's been my best friend for as long as I can remember.
"A lot of things have changed since you left, Luke," I inform him. "You didn't just hurt Brooke and Peyton when you left. You really hurt me too."
"I know, Hales," he interrupts me. "I never wanted that to happen. I never wanted to hurt you."
"I know," I tell him. "My point is, when you left, I had no one. I never realized how much I relied on your friendship before. Truth is, other than you, Peyton was the only other friend that I had." I'm trying not to cry as I talk. I don't want him to feel any worse than he already does.
"I get the Peyton thing, you guys were friends when I was still here, but where does Brooke fit in to this whole thing?" This must be really weird for him. I'm best friends with not only his two ex-girlfriends, but also the two most popular girls in school.
"At first, I went to talk to her about Peyton," I began. "I was going to tell her that Peyton was really upset about everything and that she would do anything to get her back. She had been really cut off from everyone. The only emotion she was showing was anger."
"Believe me, I know that," he comments. I shot him a dirty look, telling him that he deserved it. He looked down. "Sorry."
"When I got there she was crying," I explained. "I was going to leave her alone, but she asked me to stay. I wasn't going to at first, but then she called me Haley so I knew she was desperate."
"No tutor girl?" he questioned, in mock surprise. I laugh and nod. We sat in silence for a moment. I hate this, we're acting like complete strangers.
"I take it Karen called you?" He looks up in surprise at the subject change, but quickly shakes his head. But Karen was the only person who knew where he was. Wasn't she? "But I thought..."
"Jake did," he corrects me. Now that, I wasn't expecting. What did Jake have to do about this?
"How does Jake know where..."
"Nikki," he says in a quite tone. I guess he knows how I feel about her. I give him a confused look so he continues. "She's Jenny's mother. He comes by once a week to so Nikki can visit with her." Wow. This just keeps getting stranger and stranger.
"Oh," I mutter. How come Jake didn't tell us? "Anyone else you talk to that isn't me?" I ask angrily. Am I the only one that Luke doesn't talk to?
"Come on, Hales," he tries. "I wanted to call you all the time. I even asked my mom about it, but she said that you were finally stating to get over it and she didn't want you to get hurt again."
"Then how come you came now?"
"You're my best friend," he states. "Even if I'm not yours anymore."
"You'll always be my friend, Luke," I answer. He looks sad as I say this, but he seems to understand where I'm coming from. "I'm sorry, but you really hurt me. That's the best I can do right now."
"So there's still hope?" he questions.
"Are you moving back?" I counter. He holds my gaze for a moment, then looks away. I didn't think so. I can't help but ask. "Why did you leave me, Luke? I needed you."
"This wasn't about leaving you, Hales," he tries to explain. "It was just something that I had to do for me. She made me feel...I've never felt like that before. She helped me be just Luke instead of Lucas Scott."
"But there's nothing wrong with Lucas Scott," I argued. "He was my best friend."
"I know, but trust me, Luke is a much better person without Scott," he corrects me. I scrunch up my nose.
"Could we stop referring to you in the third person?"
"Yeah," he laughs. He looks at his watch.
"What time is it?" I ask him. He sighs.
"4:15," he answers. Was I really out of that long. I look at his face and I know what he's about to do.
"I have to go," he says, regretfully. "I have work in like three hours. I didn't tell Nikki where I was going either. I don't want her to get worried. Plus I want to talk to Peyton and Brooke on my way out..." he says as he starts to get up.
"Don't," I warn him. "By the sounds of it, they have finally made up. I don't think that seeing you will help any. If anything, it'll just make it worse."
"I just wanted to apologize about..."
"Trust me, Luke," I interrupt him. "It'll only make things worse." He gives in and nods.
"I take it you don't want me to pay my little brother a visit either?" he asks, hatred slipping into his voice. I think about it for all of a second and shake my head. "Didn't think so."
"Could I call you sometime?" I ask him. He smiles warmly at me and kisses me on the forehead again.
"Tuesdays and Thursdays," he tells me. "Have you're cell with you at eight." I smile and him and he rubs my cheek again. "I love you, Hales."
"I love you too, Luke," I reply. He starts to pull his hand away and I grab the top of his arm so that we'll have maximum contact. When our hands connect I pause and look at his fingers. My eyes widen in shock. "Is that a wedding band?" He gives me a sly smile. He kisses my hand and walks to the door.
"I'll tell you about it on Tuesday," he says with a smile before he walks out the door.
"Goodbye, Lucas," I whisper to myself. I give him a few minutes to get out of the hospital before I call a nurse in to get Peyton and Brooke. I'm glad that he's back in my life. Sure, I've learned that I can live without him, but he's just that extra treat that makes life just a little more bearable.
~~~~OTH~~~~
That's it. I know that it's probably not what you guys wanted or what you expected, but this isn't a Laley fic. There are no pairings in this. I'm a fan of friendship. I was planning on this being Lucas' only appearance, but it looks like there will be more to come. Now I can use him at anytime to stir up some drama. I hope you guys enjoyed it anyway. Please tell me what you think. I'm curious to know. Thanks. Till tomorrow...