Chapter Two
Minutes later, Nathan was sitting in the kitchen of the James mansion; his jacket on the back of his chair, and his shirt sleeve rolled up, showing where the bullet had grazed him. He looked over his shoulder and watched the girl as she bent down to get some disinfectant. She stood up suddenly, and Nathan resumed looking at the table in front of him. Yeah, the girl was hot; in that outfit, he'd have to be gay not to stare at her. But he certainly didn't want her catching him.
Haley set the bottle of spirit down next to the cotton wool on the table. She twisted open the bottle cap and poured some on the wool. She was about to put it on his wound but he held his other hand out to stop her.
"Will it hurt?" he asked.
Haley burst out laughing. "You're kidding me, right? You're a burglar, haven't you been shot before when you break into people's houses?"
"Not usually. And I wouldn't have been tonight either if you had been at the museum like everyone else. Why weren't you there anyway?"
"I have work tomorrow."
"You work?" Nathan asked surprised. Jimmy James wasn't as rich as Dan Scott, but he certainly a large enough fortune for his daughter to not need a job.
"Yes, I do. Not everyone can make a living out of stealing from others." And with that, Haley put the medicine on Nathan's cut.
"Ah!" he yelped in pain. "That hurts." He tried to move her hand, but she kept it firmly in place until she was satisfied it had been there for long enough. Nathan moved his head to examine his wound. This caused Haley to remember the bruise on his forehead.
"Did you cut that tonight too?"
"Yeah," he replied when he realized what she was referring to, "on one of your pillars. You should really re-think the design of your living room."
"We don't have any problems with it," Haley said, as she applied more spirit on a new piece of cotton wool. "But then, we don't waltz around there in the middle of the night without any lights on."
Nathan pouted, but the expression soon changed to a frown when she applied the medicine to the cut on his head. "Ow, ow; that really hurts."
"Oh, don't be such a baby." Instinctively, Haley removed her hand a little and blew on the wound. Nathan immediately stopped whining and took in the feel of her warm breath on his forehead and her chest against his shoulder as she leaned in. Haley suddenly became conscious of what she was doing and jerked away from him, before moving to throw the cotton wool away. Then she noticed that her little black nightdress displayed more than just a little cleavage, so she quickly retied the robe around her tighter so it was covered. Turning back to face him Haley said cheerfully, "Well, I'm not going to call the police, so you can just leave and no one has to know."
Even though he knew that it would be the best thing, Nathan didn't want to leave her just yet. Hoping that she was as nice a person as she seemed to be (she had, after all, cleaned his wound and promised not to tell anyone), he came up with a plan. "Oh, but I can't leave Miss James."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you shot me in the arm. I can't drive."
"Oh. I'll just call you a cab," Haley decided. She was about to reach for the phone, but the look on his face showed he didn't agree. "What?"
"My car is outside and if I leave it here it'll just cause questions. I'm thinking of you, really."
Haley humphed, but she knew he was right. There was only one thing for it, then. "Fine, I'll drive you home. Just let me get my coat."
Nathan waited until she had left the kitchen to grin. His plan actually had worked. The grin was wiped off his face when she returned though. She had her coat in hand, but had already put a pair of boots on, which, combined with her short nightdress, made her look even sexier.
Haley put her coat on, oblivious to the fact that the man who had been trying to rob her was now gaping at her. She did up the zip, said, "Okay then, let's go," and headed outside, without waiting for him. She didn't want him to think she was mean, it wasn't in her nature to be mean, but Haley decided it was best if she didn't look at him for too long, or make eye contact at all.
She got to the pavement outside her house, and he was only a few steps behind her. He led her to his open-top convertible which he had sensibly parked a little away from her house. Haley got in the driver's seat and Nathan sat down in the passenger side. "Well, for a burglar you certainly have a nice car."
"It's stolen." Nathan said it as a joke because he actually did own it, but was delighted with Haley's reaction.
"What! I can't drive a stolen car."
"How else can I get home?" Nathan pouted.
"B-but…" Haley began to protest. Shaking her head, she decided to just get it over with and started the car. As she reversed, she asked him, "Where to?"
"The Plaza."
"The Plaza!" Haley exclaimed. "You live at 'The Plaza'?"
Her outburst wasn't nearly so cute this time, as she took her hands off the wheel in the middle of the street. "Careful!" Nathan shouted and reached over to the steering wheel.
"Oops, sorry," Haley said and took the wheel back from him. "Hey! Your arm seemed just fine then."
"Oh - no, it hurts, it hurts," Nathan moaned, and held the bruise. He scrunched up his eyebrows to make it look like he was still in pain.
Haley rolled her eyes. She knew she should call him on it – he was so obviously faking – but, for some inexplicable reason, she didn't.
"Oh, and went you get home would you mind dusting the frame? Fingerprints and all that." Haley shot him a glare, but he only said innocently, "There's no point taking me home so my car isn't parked outside your house if you leave the fingerprints on the frame."
"Alright," Haley said grudgingly.
They completed the rest of their journey to 'The Plaza' in relative silence, both simply enjoying the other's presence. When they arrived Haley took the car inside the car park and both of them got out. "Oh," she cried out, "now how do I get home?"
Nathan smiled. "I'll call you a cab." Just as he said this, a man from the hotel appeared.
"Good evening, Mr. Scott."
"Good evening, Mr. Knoll. Would you call up a cab and charge it to my room please?"
"Certainly, Mr. Scott." Mr. Knoll went back inside the hotel premises to do just that.
Nathan turned back round to face his companion, but was surprised to find she looked angry. "I thought you wanted a cab? Or did you want to stay over?" he joked.
"Mr. Scott? You're Nathan Scott, aren't you?"
Nathan nodded nervously. Normally, he'd be glad she knew him but not with the look on her face. He still tried to keep the atmosphere light, "I guess you have an advantage over me; you know my name and I don't know yours."
"I can't believe this! You have more money than the rest of Tree Hill put together and you go about other people's houses stealing things? And how dare you ask me if I want to stay over!"
Haley stormed away from him as the cab approached. She opened the door, but turned around to take one last parting shot. She hadn't expected to find that he had followed her and was therefore standing directly in front of her. "Well, I suppose you think you're going to get some sort of goodnight kiss."
"Well, I don't usually on the first night, but since you've been so very obliging –" Nathan crushed his lips to hers, and Haley was powerless to stop him. He didn't break away until he needed air, and then didn't let go of her completely as she seemed somewhat faint again. She practically fell backwards into the cab and just sat there; her body in the cab and her feet on the floor outside.
Nathan didn't know what to do. He thought himself a good kisser, but couldn't recall ever getting a reaction like that. He was oddly proud, but he knew she would soon remember all the things she had thought of him earlier and become angry again. He bent down, picked up her legs and placed them inside the cab. He shut the door quietly and leaned over to the driver's window, telling him the address. Nathan looked again at her through the open window, and this time she locked eyes with him. He worried she would start shouting again, but she simply whispered, "Haley."
"What?" he asked.
"My name. It's Haley."