You Were Always There

I'm Here For You

It started with a smile, and ended with tears. Everyone watched as Taylor ran out of the house with Nathan running after her. She fell on the sidewalk and sobbed; Nathan knelt down beside his friend and put a caring hand on her shoulder.

"Don't," was all Taylor said.

Nathan nodded and reluctantly took his hand off Taylor's shoulder, "Tay," he said, trying to get Taylor to look at him, "Taylor," he said once more, "Don't cry…I can't stand to see you upset."

"I knew I should've just stayed home," Taylor said, and then finally looked up at Nathan, "I thought I wouldn't be upset by seeing them together, but I am!"

Nathan wiped a lone tear away from Taylor's rosy cheek, "You're so much better than him," he began, "He doesn't understand that he probably lost the most special thing in the world."

"I just never feel good enough," Taylor began with a stifled cry, "Except when I'm around you…"

Nathan smiled and hugged Taylor, "I'll take you home," he said and then kissed Taylor on the head.

"Thanks," Taylor said softly and then stood up; she looked up at the house once more and then got into Nathan's car.

--

"How could you do that?" Brooke screamed in Jake's face.

Jake rolled his eyes, "It was a simple game of Spin-the-Bottle…I landed on Peyton, so I kissed her."

"Correction," Haley began, "You and Peyton went at each other like bears in heat…And not to mention right in front of Taylor!"

Peyton walked up to the group and put her arm in Jake's, "This Taylor chick needs to just get over Jake…"

Haley and Brooke looked at each other, "Excuse me, but I think the white trash needs to go," Brooke said coldly, "And believe me blondie, if Jake cheated on Tay, he's going to cheat on you!"

By that time Jake had walked away from the group of arguing girls; Peyton crossed her arms, "He loves me," she said, "And as for white trash…Bitch, I've heard about your reputation."

"And obviously we already know about yours, slut," Haley said with cynical laugh, "Taylor, Brooke, and I are the queens of Tree Hill…You're just the new girl who happens to be a home wrecker…and a hoe!"

Peyton glared at them, "Cute…Taylor has to have her two dumb friends to stand up for her."

"You haven't even felt the wrath of the three of us," Brooke said, "I will make sure to make your time here a living hell."

Peyton rolled her eyes and walked away from them; Brooke and Haley watched as she walked up to Jake and put her hands around his waist; she kissed his passionately and then looked back at Brooke and Haley, "I've never felt so much hatred towards someone in my life," Brooke said as Haley nodded in agreement.

Brooke took a sip of her drink and felt a light tap on her shoulder; she turned around and saw Lucas standing there. She cursed to herself softly, "Lucas Roe," she said with fake enthusiasm. Haley looked between the two of them and decided to leave.

"Hey Brooke," he said apprehensively, "I felt like I haven't talked to you in forever…"

Brooke rolled her eyes, "What a shame," she said into her cup.

"Can we talk?" Lucas asked, "I mean…There are a lot of things I want to clear up with you."

Brooke laughed bitterly, "What's there to really clear up? Do you want to clear up the fact that you went to the Bahamas and hooked with four different chicks while we were together?"

Lucas was speechless; she was right. There wasn't a damn thing he could say to make her come back to him. Four drunken nights gave him four drunken mistakes. Brooke hadn't even crossed his mine as he slept with each girl; he was drunk, and the next day all he could remember was regretting it.

"I got your e-mails, your letters, your IM's, your text messages, your voice mails, everything," Brooke began, "But none of those can take back what you did to me…"

Lucas looked down at the ground, "I was drunk," he mumbled.

"If you're going to use that as an excuse then there's no way in hell I'm going to waste any more time talking to you," Brooke exclaimed and then started to walk away.

Lucas grabbed her arm and stopped her, "I love you Brooke."

"No," Brooke said, "No you don't. People who love each other don't do that," she said softly and then walked away.

--

Taylor laid down in her bed as Nathan pulled the covers over her, "Are you tucking me in?" She laughed.

Nathan smiled; it was good to hear her laugh, "Hey I'm just trying to make you comfortable."

"Thanks," Taylor said, "For everything…"

Nathan patted her butt playfully, "Anytime," he said and then started to leave.

"Nathan," Taylor said; he turned around and looked at her, "Will…Will you spend the night?"

Nathan nodded, "Yeah," he said and then began to take off his shoes; he took off his shirt and pants, leaving him in only his boxers, "You don't care if I'm just in my boxers do you?"

"Believe me Nate, I've seen you in less," Taylor said and then laughed.

Nathan laughed and got into bed with Taylor, "I had a good time tonight…"

"Yeah, me too," Taylor said sarcastically.

Nathan looked at her, "I don't mean the whole Jake and Peyton thing…I meant being with you…Hanging out like old times."

"We were pretty good friends weren't we?" Taylor began.

Nathan smiled, "Yeah, and we still are."

"This is the first time all night that I haven't thought about Jake or Peyton, or any thing," Taylor said happily, and then sighed, "Why don't you think things ever got weird between us when we hooked up?"

Nathan shrugged, "Maybe because we didn't let things get weird…"

"I'm glad it didn't," Taylor said and then closed her eyes.

--

Taylor woke up and saw Brooke standing in the doorway holding back her laughter. Taylor looked around and saw that Nathan was still lying beside her. Taylor got up quickly and took Brooke downstairs.

"I knew it!" Brooke began, "I knew it I knew it!"

Taylor slapped her playfully on the arm, "Nothing happened," she said in a whisper.

"Right," Brooke said with a roll of her eyes, "You two looked might comfy up there," she said with a wink.

Taylor groaned, "Brooke Davis!" She exclaimed, "I swear to God…We didn't have sex."

"Why the hell not?" Brooke asked, "Jesus Taylor! Nathan is obviously in love with you!"

Taylor sat down and put her head in her hands, "It's too soon right now," she began, "I mean you saw me last night. Jake and that girl kissed and I almost had a break down."

"I still think that you should give him a chance," Brooke said as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

Taylor rolled her eyes, "When we hooked up it was just hooking up…It wasn't like we loved each other or anything…"

"I'm sure," Brooke said with a look.

Taylor sighed and scratched the paint of her thumb nail, "How are things with you and Lucas?"

"He tried to talk to me last night, but I kind of just bitched at him," Brooke said with a shrug.

Taylor gave Brooke a sympathetic look, "Men are dogs."

"I should've seen it coming," Brooke began and then shook her head, "He's such an ass."

Brooke sat down and Taylor smiled to her, "Where's Hales?" She asked.

"With Chris," Brooke said bitterly.

Chris Kellar. Haley's boyfriend. The ass hole. He was mean, he was sarcastic, he was cocky, he was a horrible person all around, but something about him made Haley love him. She vowed to Brooke and Taylor that she would never love him again after she came home one night with a black eye, but somehow Chris had sweet talked her into running back to him.

"I wish that she would listen to us," Taylor began; they had both tried to talking to Haley, but she wouldn't listen. They were even going to call the cops one night when Chris showed up at Haley's birthday party screaming and banging on the front door, but Haley wouldn't let them. She said that he didn't mean it, or that he was just frustrated.

Brooke let out a deep breath, "I just don't see how somebody as beautiful and nice as Haley could wind up with some ass hat like that."

Nathan walked down the stairs and into the kitchen in his boxers; he rubbed his eyes and his eyes went immediately to Brooke; Brooke chuckled and Nathan laughed at himself, "Morning Brooke," he said and then looked at Taylor, "I didn't know you were having company."

"Me neither," Taylor said with a small laughed.

Brooke stood up and smiled, "I was just making sure you didn't impregnate Taylor while I was gone."

"Can't say I didn't try," Nathan teased; Brooke looked at Taylor and winked, Taylor playfully glared at her best friend.

Brooke picked up her purse, "I got to go," she said to the both of them, "Call me later Tay," she said and then left.

"Thanks for staying," Taylor said after a couple seconds of silence.

Nathan smiled and gave her a hug, "It's no problem," he said and then looked at the clock, "I got to get going," he said, "Give me a call later if you need anything or want to chill."

"Alright," Taylor said as the two of them went upstairs; Nathan put on his clothes and gave her another big hug, "Thanks for helping me forget about Jake."

Nathan looked down at her, "Thanks for helping me remember," he said and then started to leave.

"Remember what?" Taylor asked.

Nathan turned around and smiled, "Us," he said simply and then left.

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