Chapter Five

Haley stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She sighed, in part at her own appearance in comparison to Brooke and her friends. However, it was mostly because she had overheard some of Nathan's conversation with his mum. It seemed that Nathan's dad wouldn't like her, no matter what. She sighed again. She should be more worried what Nathan felt about her. She wondered what Nathan had thought when those girls had said they were dating.

"She means that it's cute how you guys met like that and are, like, a couple now. It's like something out of a movie."

In a voice much higher than her usual tone Haley immediately replied, "We're not dating. We're just neighbours."

"And friends," Nathan added.

"Yeah. That too."

What exactly did the 'And friends' mean?

Haley reluctantly unlocked the bathroom door - despite her best attempts, she knew she would not be able to stay in there all night - and dragged herself out of the bathroom. She then realised that she was in someone's bedroom. In her haste to find somewhere to be alone, she hadn't noticed where she was going and had just headed straight into the nearest bathroom she could find. She looked around the room. At first glance she thought it lacked personal items, and in one corner of the room there were a lot of boxes being stored. However, something caught her eye behind the headboard of the double bed. She walked over to it, and moved the object so she could have a better look. It was an album poster, for some rap artist. Realisation dawned: this was Nathan's room.

Curiosity filled up inside her - she had never been inside Nathan's room in his apartment, but this would be just as interesting to look around. Then Haley remembered that Nathan hardly came here anymore, at least not to stay the night, so he there wouldn't be a lot of his stuff here. A few more minutes of mental debate followed. She finally gave in and started investigating.

The result of her search, unfortunately, was not very rewarding. Aside from a couple of posters behind the bed and some impersonal objects left in the drawers, she couldn't find anything. She supposed that the things he hadn't taken to his apartment were in those boxes, but she wasn't crazy enough to start opening them and rifling through. Yet.

Haley sat on the bed, with her back to the main door, and then leaned back down into the pillows. Almost instantly, she could smell Nathan. She burrowed her head into the pillow and allowed the smell to wash over her. She breathed it in again, thinking about all the nights Nathan would have slept there.

Suddenly, she sat back up again, with a start. She had just remembered that Nathan had probably slept with other girls there. Many other girls.

Consumed by her thoughts, Haley didn't notice someone enter the room from the slightly open door. She was stirred back to reality with a shock when they lightly knocked the door.

"Aah!" Haley yelled, and fell off the bed.

"Hey, you ok?"

"Uh-huh. Just peachy." Haley pulled herself onto her knees and then stood up. She smiled, slightly embarrassed. Well, at least it wasn't Nathan who found you in his room, she reminded herself.

"I didn't mean to startle you," he said apologetically.

"That's ok. Hey, congratulations," Haley said, as she walked around the bed to hug Lucas.

"Thanks."

"So, what happened?" Haley and Lucas sat down on the side of the bed together. He raised an eyebrow at her questioningly. Haley smiled. The gesture reminded her of Nathan. "I mean, 9 days? That must be a world record or something."

Lucas laughed. "We just figured, 'why wait?' you know."

Haley nodded. "So, when's the wedding? Tomorrow?"

"52 months and," he paused to count on his fingers before finishing, "17 days."

"What?"

Lucas shrugged. "That's how long it's gonna take to plan Brooke's dream wedding." Haley started laughing, and Lucas soon joined in. When their laughter had subsided he asked her, "So, you enjoying the party?"

"Yeah," Haley replied in what she considered to be a convincing manner.

"Then why are you hiding in here?"

His frankness surprised Haley, and she knew there was no point in lying. "Why are you?"

"If I have to meet another of Brooke's high school cheerleader friends I may end up strangling someone."

Haley giggled. "Just think: once you guys are finally married, they'll be coming over to your house everyday!"

Lucas groaned and hung his head in his hands.

Before either could say anything else the door was flung open. Haley saw a tall man towering above them.

"Lucas?"

"Dad," he said, looking up. "Hi."

"Not having second thoughts are we?" Dan asked, referring to Lucas' seemingly dejected state.

"No, Haley and I were just joking around."

"Oh, you're Haley?" Dan finally looked at her.

"Yes." She tried to smile in reply, but could only think about how he didn't like her. The look on his face didn't suggest his feelings had changed now that they'd finally met.

"Well, you're not planning on hooking up with her too, are you? You gonna do that with all your brother's girls?" Dan asked his son coldly.

"Oh, that's real hilarious," he said sarcastically.

"Well, just as long as I'm not shelling out cash for this engagement party for nothing." Dan turned back to Haley. "Well, it was lovely to meet you. We don't have enough working-class single mothers of our acquaintance."

Haley just stared. She didn't know what to say. It turned out that she didn't have to.

Lucas was horrified. He stood up, pulling Haley up with him. "Why don't we go back to the party?" ha asked her. She simply nodded and allowed herself to be taken out of the room by Lucas, leaving a smiling Dan behind.

"I'm really sorry about that Haley."

"Is he always like that?" she asked, wrapping her arms around herself.

"When he wants to be. Yeah."

"Oh, 'cause I thought maybe it was just me."

Lucas smiled sadly at her. "Dan thinks that you and Nathan are…"

"Dating?"

"Yep."

"Funny, that's what everyone seems to think these days."

"Is that what you want?"

Haley looked at Lucas. In short, he was asking her whether she liked Nathan. The only person she had admitted that to yet was Peyton. She hadn't even been able to tell Jake yet, her own brother. Could she just tell Nathan's brother? The truth was, she didn't know Lucas much, but he seemed like a nice person. Someone she could be friends with. The problem was admitting her feelings for Nathan out loud just made them too real. And if she told Lucas then Nathan would certainly find out, and if he didn't feel the same way things would become awkward between them. But, she didn't want to lie either. Finally she said, "I don't think that it's what Nathan wants."

Lucas smiled. "It is. He just doesn't know it yet. Little brother was always kind of slow."

……………

Nathan had spent the last ten minutes looking for Haley. Now, he was officially worried. The possibility that she could have just taken off kept popping up in his mind, and he had to keep reminding himself that, aside from there being no way for her to do so, she also had no reason to just leave. Unless she had overheard his conversation with his mum. Nathan seriously hoped that this wasn't the case.

In the middle of this search, which had now led him to the main dining room, Nathan suddenly jumped forward. Even if he hadn't been worried about Haley the fact that someone had just put their hand on his butt would have surprised him. He spun around and recognized the girl as one of Brooke's friends, but he couldn't remember her name.

"Err…Bevan?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "It's Erica. Bevan's the one who should have got braces when she was a kid."

"Right. Listen, Erica, I'm kind of busy right now."

She smiled at him. He noticed how her 'smile' simply consisted of the corners of her mouth curling up slightly, her lips pursed tightly together. Nathan remembered Haley smiling at him; her wide smile seemed to reach her eyes and light up her whole face. His reverie was interrupted by Erica sauntering closer to him and whispering, "This won't take long."

His eyes grew wide as her interpreted her meaning. "I-I'm flattered, really, but…I'm sort of here with someone."

"But I thought you said she wasn't your girlfriend." Erica frowned.

"Um…" Nathan couldn't think of an appropriate reply, but realized that she had moved away from him and took his opportunity to escape. "I gotta go," he said before running away from her.

Unfortunately, he hadn't left Erica for long before he heard someone call his name. Nathan stopped in his tracks, desperately hoping that it wasn't Erica or another of those girls. The voice called him again, and he turned around, a look of dread marked on his face.

"Nathan Scott! That's no way to greet your favourite relation."

"Katie!" he exclaimed, before hugging his cousin. Katie was a freshman at Tree Hill High and daughter of his Uncle Keith and Aunt Karen. He had been nearly ten when Katie was born so he had fallen into the habit of taking care of her. They acted more like brother and sister than cousins. "Sorry, I thought you were one of Brooke's friends."

"Oh, poor Nathan, about to be chased after by a bunch of beautiful girls," she teased.

Nathan smiled. "Yeah, I'm really unlucky."

"So, where's your girlfriend?" Katie asked, lifting an eyebrow at him. She too had inherited the Scott trademark.

"My girlfriend?" Nathan asked, confused. "You don't mean Brooke, do you?"

Katie sighed. "No, I mean Haley. Lucas said you were bringing the incredible Miss James with you tonight."

"Haley's not my girlfriend, Katie. But I'm actually in the process of looking for her."

"Well," Katie said, "you better go find her quick before any of Lucas' friends start hitting on her." She smiled and walked off.

Nathan soon realised the reality of what Katie had said. He started walking again, slightly more impatient to find Haley. He entered one of the many large sitting rooms in the Scott house and across the room, he glimpsed a green dress. He walked closer and saw Haley, her dress and hair both shining in the light. It was her face, however, that captured Nathan's attention. She was laughing at something the person next to her had said. Nathan turned his head to see who she was talking to, trying to remember which of Lucas' friends were coming. In the end, it didn't matter. Because she was talking to Lucas himself.

He silently watched Haley laughing with his brother. Did Lucas always have to go after his girls? Wait a second – his girls? What was with this whole possessive thing? Nathan took a deep breath and approached the pair. Upon noticing his brother Lucas said hello.

"Hi." Nathan then turned to Haley, "I was wondering where you went. I thought you were gonna wait in the kitchen."

"Yeah, sorry, I just went to the bathroom and then I ran into Lucas." Haley said, and smiled apologetically.

"She met Dan," Lucas told his brother.

"Oh." Nathan started worrying. "I was really hoping that you wouldn't have to. Ever."

Haley smiled at him again. "Well, at least, I survived, right?"

"Yeah." Nathan nodded. "Hey, there's someone I want to introduce you to. Uncle Keith and Aunt Karen are here."

"Really?" Lucas asked. "Uncle Keith told me this morning that they might get a little late.

"I ran into Katie on my way here."

"Oh, well, I'll go see her and leave you two alone." As Lucas left he winked at Haley. She knew that this was in reference to what he had just been telling her about going forward with Nathan. Nathan noticed the wink too, but it made him think that Lucas had been flirting with Haley and this irritated him somewhat.

His anger, however, immediately subsided when he felt Haley place her hand gently on his wrist. He looked down at her, intending to ask her what she wanted, but instead found himself staring into her chocolate brown eyes.

Haley was captivated by Nathan's gaze, but the intensity soon became too much for her and she felt compelled to break the silence. "You wanted to introduce me to your aunt and uncle?"

"Oh – right. Yeah. Let's go."

……………

It didn't take Nathan and Haley long to find Karen. She was hanging her coat on the rack in Dan's study. When they entered, Karen walked up to Nathan and embraced him. "Hi Nathan. Hello," she added, upon noticing the girl next to him.

"Aunt Karen this is Haley. Haley this is my Aunt Karen."

Karen looked at Haley. "Hi."

"Hi, it's really nice to meet you. I've heard so much about you."

"Not as much as I've heard about you, I'm sure." Karen smiled as she watched Haley's face turn bright red in reply. "How's your evening been so far?"

"Good," Haley replied, only being half-honest. "Uneventful."

"Well, that's uncommon for a Scott party."

Nathan looked on as his aunt and Haley continued their conversation and, to Nathan's delight, it was obvious that Karen liked Haley. He soon felt an arm land on his shoulder.

"Hey Nate."

"Hey Uncle Keith."

Keith turned to his wife. "I was wondering whether after 16 years you'd forgotten where the coat rack is."

"No, dear, Nathan just introduced me to Haley."

"Hi," Haley said.

"Hello," Keith said, and shook her hand. "It's lovely to meet you. Nathan's told us so much about you."

"Oh." And she blushed again, but was too busy scolding herself for not coming up with much more suave reply that she did not hear what Keith said next.

Keith whispered to Nathan, "She's cute." Karen looked reproachfully at her husband, while Nathan, thinking that Haley had also heard this remark, turned a shade to match the colour of Haley's hair. This annoyed him more than Keith's comment. Nathan Scott was not a man who blushed. He enjoyed making other people blush – especially Haley – but nothing ever made him blush. Until now, it seemed.

Amongst all this, someone else entered the study. "Katie!" Karen exclaimed. "I was wondering where you'd run off to."

"I just went to say hi to Lucas and see his new girlfriend. I mean, fiancée," she explained.

"Oh, well, come over here and meet Haley."

Katie walked in and the two exchanged greetings. "You're really pretty. I can see why Nathan likes you." Immediately, silence fell throughout the room, but this was inexplicable to Katie. "What?"