A.N Well heres chapter 15 for all you faithful reviewers who have been asking for it. I've been madly typing away for the last couple of days finishing this chapter and working on the next one so hopefully with any luck I'll be able to post one more Saturday before I leave. I need to thank Hilary for all the input she has been offering for this story and the assistance she gave me with this chapter. Thank you so much. Now one more personal note to bertie. I just want to say it was a nice try but I'm onto you. Thanks for the review and I hope I get more from you as you read more of the chapters and get up to date on the story. Now to all of you thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews that I have been recieving. Enjoy the latest chapter and as always be sure to tell me what you think. I don't really think that this chapter is very good but it sets the scene for what's to come with the story so bear with it because I can assure you that the chapters I have to come should more than make up for this rather poor attempt.
Disclaimer. As always I have no ownership of the characters in this story apart from the ones that I have conjured up in my imagination. You know who they are. I also have no rights to the hotel mentioned in this chapter although from what I saw on the net when I was researching I certainly wish I did.
heather dawn I know everyone would like nothing better than to see Josh get kicked to the kerb but unfortunately he has a rather important part to play in the chapters still to come. I'm glad you got such enjoyment out of the Naley moments I had a lot of fun writing them. Thanx for the review. I always like finding out what you think of the latest chapters.
MeSpikeAndAngelinA3sum Hey Nats, it's great that you enjoyed those chapters so much. I thought the supply closet action would be a welcome addition to my story and I guess I was proven to be right. I guess Haley could only continue to deny such a blatant truth for so long before eventually she would have to own up to it. That chat with Kelly was kind of important to help Haley realise a few home truths about herself and her feelings for Nathan. Poor Kelly unfortunately did not get the response she was looking for from Haley. Glad you enjoyed the dream scenario. You had a large part to play in that being part of this story so thank you for taking the time to help me out with that. Hope you enjoy this chatper to. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on it.
bertie Well bertie I have to say it was wonderful to get a new reviewer once again. Now as for your identity well if I use your name as a clue then I think I would have to assume that this beach you are going to be spending lots of time on is one in Spain with yet another member of our Road Trip gang. But hey maybe I'm way off base. If that be the case then I guess you will reveal yourself to me when you feel the time is right. Thanx for the review.
Cap'n Keira Sparrow Thanks for the review. I like keeping the heat turned up between Nate and Hales. Nothing better in my opinion than a bit of Naley action. Glad you enjoyed it too.
HipHopper92 Good to have a review from you again I was a bit concerned that you might have stopped reading. Yes I'm definitely trying to turn up the heat between Nate and Hales in recent chapters and I can promise that there will be more of that to come. Thanx for the review.
hilaryhilary Glad you're enjoying it. Wow my first death threat my story must be getting good although at least it wasn't a death threat against me. You just leave poor Sawyer alone. He's just an innocent in all this. LOL. I thought it was time for us to see a slightly different side of Nathan start to come through but don't expect things to be sunshine and roses with him from now on. He still has a lot of issues to work through and lets just say with what I have planned things are likely to get worse before they get better. Nate and Haley definitely have some drama ahead of them. Thanx for the review and keep updating your story too. I absolutely love it.
unfolddream I agree some Naley action was long overdue so I hope it was worth the wait. As for Haley biting him well I thought it was about time she started to fight back and stand up for herself a bit. Glad you liked both chapters and I'll keep that suggestion in mind.
kennedy Wow I am so flattered. Thanx so much for the compliments on my writing. It always makes a writer happy to know their work is being enjoyed so much. Look forward to hearing what you think of this chatper too.
doodlebah Glad you liked it and thanx for taking the time to read and review even though you had homework to do. Love to hear your thoughts on this chapter too.
Cathy Thanx for reviewing and telling me what you think of what I've done so far. Its great to hear an opinion from someone new esp when its so positive. I'm glad you have enjoyed the story so far and I hope you continue to. Yes well unfortunately for Poor Nathan for the sake of the story I had to add in another small bump in the road. But just between you and me I'm pretty sure he'll get over it. I can promise you though that in the interests of this story they will eventually get to finish what they start and it won't be too much further into the future so I hope you keep reading because I'm fairly confident that its going to be worth the wait. While I'm sure you're probably right about the love the two of them are fighting so hard to ignore there is no guarantee of when or even if they are finally going to admit to it and settle down to a happy ending. I intend to make this quite a long story so am going to need to continue the drama between them for a bit longer. Hope you enjoy this chapter and I would love to hear what you think of this and any other chapter you'd like to comment on. Thanx again for the review.
TinyDancer7 Hey Amanda, I managed to hold off on updating until I heard what you thought of the latest chapters. Figured it was the least I could do considering you were partly responsible for some of what happened in chapter 14. Sounds like you've got a lot going on yourself with finals and everything so I'm glad I was able to offer at least a brief respite from all the stress. It sounds as if the shower scene and supply closet scenes have had the desired effect on most of my readers. I recieved a lot of comments about them not that I'm surprised by that. I think its starting to get to the stage where Haley is starting to protest a little too much when its pretty obvious that she is more than willing in her little encounters with Nathan. Getting Nathan to say that stuff to Deb was too good an opportunity to pass up so I'm glad you found it as amusing as I intended it to be. Haley and Nathan are only just about to find out the repercussions of their little interlude in the supply closet and to put it mildly Haley is not going to be a happy lady. I'm glad you enjoyed the way scenario two played out. It was time to show a bit of a softer side to Nathan. Shame Haley had to go and spoil it. Although Haley seems to have spoilt things btwn K & J for the moment don't lose heart in them because you never know what might happen. What Haley said to Kelly comes down to nothing more than Haley's own fear of the feelings she still has for Nathan which she doesn't want to admit to. Now as for Haley's reasons for leaving I can promise you that you will find out eventually but its something I want to hold onto for a bit longer. I'm fairly certain that you will find it worth the wait though. Just like the skirt from Gap. LOL. Enjoy this latest chapter and I promise that I'm madly typing away trying to finish another chapter before I leave on Saturday. Thanx for the review.
Chapter Fifteen
Waking up early the next morning just as she always did.
Haley was surprised to find herself alone in the bed.
Nathan had for the first time in memory woken up before her and left her alone in the bed.
Getting out of bed she looked towards the open bathroom door but she could tell almost immediately that he wasn't in there.
She grabbed some clothes and dressed quickly heading downstairs hoping to find Nathan, his behaviour since yesterday afternoon was bothering her more than she liked to admit.
Walking into the kitchen she was halted by a voice from behind her.
"Goodness me it seems everyone's up early this morning.
Even my son who I have never known to get out of bed until the last possible second was heading out for a run almost as soon as it was daylight this morning."
Haley turned to face her.
"Morning Deb," she greeted her injecting some fake cheer into her voice to try and hide just how worried she truly was about Nathan.
She had lain awake for a long time last night after he had joined her in bed thinking abouthis unusual behaviour and then spending equally as long chastising herself for even caring that he had seemingly forgotten about the ultimatum he had given her in the supply closet.
She had done her best to convince herself that she was glad that he had not continued to pursue her when he had come to bed but she couldn't shake the nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach that seeing him so obviously unhappy had left her with.
Finally she had fallen asleep through pure exhaustion resolving to talk things out with Nathan when she woke up in the morning only to find that when she did wake up he was gone.
Half-heartedly Haley moved around the kitchen finding what she needed for her morning cereal.
She really wasn't all that hungry but needed something to keep her busy as she sat with Deb.
"Haley honey I hope you don't think I'm interfering but if you want to talk about what is going on with you and Nate then you know I'll be happy to listen."
Haley looked at her and for a moment forgot all about the fact that she was Nathan's mother and instead thought about the fact thatDeb was someone that Haley had always felt comfortable talking to no matter how personal the subject.
She opened her mouth to speak wanting to let all of her problems and worries spill out and thenbefore she could saya word she shut it again.
She couldn't tell Nathan's mom what it was that had her so upset lately.
How could she possibly tell her that the rekindling of her relationship with Nathan was nothing more than a sham?
As much as she wanted to be able to tell Deb everything she knew she couldn't.
She looked at Deb who was watching her expectantly and did her best to force lightness into her tone.
"Deb there's nothing wrong.
Nathan and I are fine.
We're just going through some normal teething problems with our relationship after having been apart for so long."
Deb looked visibly relieved at Haley's words and smiling broadly she started filling Haley in on all the latest gossip in Tree Hill.
Nathan entered a few minutes later his eyes zeroing in on Haley as she sat laughing with his mother.
He wanted nothing more at that moment then to drag her upstairs with him and kiss her senseless but somehow he ignored the urge.
Nodding his head in greeting at his mother he turned back to Haley.
"Morning Hales, did you sleep well?"
Haley could hear the restraint in his tone and knew instantly that the only reason he had spoken to her at all was because his mother was in the room with them.
Once again she wished she knew what she had done to upset him so much for she was now sure that it was something she had done that was causing him to act this way.
Her voice too was reserved as she answered him.
"Yeah I slept fine."
He nodded at her answer although he appeared not to have even heard it.
"I'm going to grab a shower before school," he told the two women "I'll be down for breakfast soon."
"Ok," Deb answered brightly as she busied herself with the dishes.
Haley sat lost in thought barely even looking up when Nathan rejoined them a few minutes later.
Eventually she was broken out of her thoughts by Nathan's hand on her arm and she looked up in shock that he had actually touched her.
"It's almost time for us to go," he told her " have you got everything?"
She looked up at the clock in surprise amazed that so much time had passed so quickly.
"Uh I'll be right back," she said dashing up the stairs to quickly brush her teeth and grab her purse.
When she came back down Nathan was waiting by the door with his keys in his hand.
He opened the door when he saw her and walked to the car climbing in and waiting for her to join him.
They arrived at school a little while later both having carefully avoided speaking to the other for the entire journey.
When they entered the Teacher's lounge Nathan immediately veered off to the left to check the message board calling Haley over as he found messages for both of them.
"Haley looks like Frank wants to see us."
"Ok" she answered "well I have a free period third period I'll go see him then."
"Don't think that's going to be an option Hales this note says he wants to see both of us together and before class.
Looks like we're going now."
xx--xx--xx--xx--xx--
Arriving home an hour later they were greeted by a very surprised Deb.
"Nate, Haley what are you doing here?
School's only just started for the day."
"Not for us" Haley muttered under her breath.
"Pardon," Deb responded, "I didn't hear what you just said."
"What she said Mom was 'not for us' certainly not today anyway."
"Or for the next three weeks for that matter," Haley interjected.
"I don't understand," Deb said confused, the way Haley was talking she sounded like she was about to blow a fuse.
The air around them seemed to be almost crackling with the anger that was emanating from Haley's petite form.
"We've sort of been suspended from duties for the next three weeks," Nathan explained.
A look of abject horror crossed Deb's face as his words sunk in.
"So it was true," she said disbelievingly.
"What was true Mom?"
"The story I heard about the two of you in that supply closet yesterday morning."
Geez Haley thought I was right this woman has got ears everywhere.
Nathan was finding it very difficult to meet his mother's eye as he heard the accusatory tone of her voice.
Haley too kept her head down staring at the ground.
To an outsider the two of them would not have appeared as confident twenty-something adults but rather children in danger of a spanking.
Who would have dreamed that Deb who was completely dwarfed by her six-foot plus son was still capable of putting the fear of God into him just by the tone of her voice?
"You two actually went into a supply closet at your place of work in full view of your students and started making out?" Deb asked.
Her voice was shaking and Haley wondered if maybe her fear in Mr Logan had been slightly unjustified, sure the man had yelled a bit and had suspended them from duties but from the sound of Deb's voice it sounded as if she was perhaps more of a threat to their well being.
Nathan too was listening to his mother's voice, he heard the shaking in her voice as she voiced her question and for a moment he too was almost as afraid as Haley was.
Then suddenly it occurred to him that there was something not quite right here.
He had heard his mom plenty of times on the verge of completely losing any thread of control over her anger and she had never sounded like this.
Taking a chance he looked up and found Deb valiantly trying to control one of the worst attacks of the giggles she had ever been faced with.
She found the whole situation hilarious.
The fact that at their age they had been caught sneaking into and out of a supply closet that goodness knows how many of their students had used on more than one occasion.
To her it was the sort of thing that made for side-splitting humour.
She could well remember how she and Dan had been when they were younger.
Spending all night together and still unable to keep their hands off each other every chance they got and now it seemed Nathan and Haley were exactly the same.
The sight of Nathan's incredulous face watching her was all it took for her laughter to come spilling out.
Haley immediately looked up in shock uncertain whether she could believe her own ears.
Deb's laughing at us?
She looked at Nathan and saw his mouth too beginning to twitch and before she knew it he too was in gales of laughter.
Haley put her hands on her hips and glared at them both.
"Would one of you mind explaining to me what could possibly be so funny about this?"
Deb looked at her from where she was bent over double laughing hysterically with tears pouring down her face.
"Oh Haley just the idea that you two, the teachers, were the ones who got caught out in the supply closet by the students and sent to the principals office surely you can see the irony in that situation."
"Maybe" she said quietly, trying to suppress the chuckle that was arising in her own throat.
Next thing she knew she too was joining in on their laughter and when they finally stopped to draw breath it seemed as if all the tension that had been enveloping them had somehow evaporated.
"So," Deb said finally regaining enough control of herself to be able to carry on a conversation.
"What are you two going to do for the next three weeks?"
"I really haven't given it much thought."
"I have no idea." They both answered simultaneously.
"Good," Deb said, "Because I have a great idea.
You two leave it with me for the moment and I'll see what I can sort out.
I need to make a few phonecalls first."
Haley could immediately feel herself start to tense up again as those dreaded words came from Deb's mouth.
She dreaded to think what was to come from Deb and looked at her hopefully wanting to just get the shock out of the way now because she could pretty much guarantee that whatever Deb was planning it was going to throw Haley's world into turmoil all over again.
But the look she sent in Deb's direction was to no avail and she didn't find out what Deb was planning until much later that day.
It was as they were cleaning up after dinner that night that Deb decided to unleash her plans on her two unwitting victims.
"How would you two like to go to Barbados?"
"What?" Haley choked out trying to tell herself that she must have somehow misheard her.
"She asked if we want to go toBarbados Hales."
"I know what she asked," Haley snapped at him "what I don't know is why or how or… or…"
"Haley chill out ok" Nathan suggested none too gently.
"Perhaps if you could stop talking for a moment Mom might be able to tell us what she's talking about."
Haley snapped her mouth shut biting down on the automatic retort that had sprung to the tip of her tongue.
"Ok Mom we're both listening, do you want to tell us what the hell you are talking about?"
Deb looked thoughtful for a moment as she tried to conjure up the perfect way to convince the two of them to accept the offer she was about to make.
There was quite obviously something going on between the two of them but as much as she would dearly love to find out what it was she knew there was about as much chance of the two of them deciding to confide in her as there was of a purple pig flying past the window right now.
Despite what the two of them seemed to think she was not stupid and she had picked up on the strange vibes especially from Haley ever since they had announced that they were back together or more to the point Nathan had announced it.
Coming out of her thoughts she became aware that both of them were staring at her obviously wondering what on earth was going on with her.
"Well," she began "as you both know Dan has extended his business trip and is coming back later than we had originally anticipated."
"Yeah so," said Nathan "what does that have to do with us?"
"If you would let me speak Nate then you would soon find out," Deb answered him impatiently.
"Now as I was saying Dan is not coming home as soon as I had originally thought he would be which means that we are unable to go on the holiday that we had booked for next week.
So I was thinking since you two are going to be off school anyway why don't the two of you go in our place?"
Haley stared at her dumbfounded and apparently Nathan must have been experiencing his own sense of shock also because for once he too remained quiet.
Noting their silence Deb rushed on quickly taking advantage of their silence to extol the many virtues of the holiday she and Dan had planned to go on themselves up until recently.
"You'll absolutely love this place," she gushed.
It's a beautiful hotel right on the beach called The House and from everything I've heard its meant to be magnificent."
Before she could continue her pitch Haley interrupted.
"Oh but Deb surely you want to save the trip for you and Dan when he gets back?"
She kept her voice casual hoping that she didn't come across as ungrateful but there was no way she could bear the thought of two weeks on a Carribean island with Nathan.
"Haley don't be silly I'd love for the two of you to go in our place.
I'm sure its just what the two of you need after being separated for so long.
Some time away from work and everything else where you can just enjoy each others company."
Haley remained silent hoping that just this once Nathan would speak up and tell Deb that her idea was not such a good one.
Nathan looked over at Haley he could see the pleading look in her eyes and knew what she wanted him to do.
Ordinarily he would have agreed with his mother straight away just to annoy her but at this precise moment in time the last thing he wanted to do was spend even more time with Haley when her thoughts were always so full of Josh.
Looking at the pleading in Haley's eyes once again he turned back to his mom.
"We'll think about it," he told her.
"Well you better hurry up and decide the plane leaves on Sunday morning."
"But Deb that's the day after tomorrow."
"I know sweetie that's why the two of you really need to make your decision tonight."
The rest of the night was spent by the three of them sitting in front of the T.V but Haley barely even noticed what was on.
She was far too keyed up with thoughts of Deb's offer and as much as she didn't want to admit it the idea of spending two weeks on a beach with Nathan definitely held some appeal.
When they went up to bed Nathan immediately launched into speech giving her reason after reason why they should go.
"Just think about it Hales.
We can escape all the drama that has been happening here in Tree Hill lately and enjoy two weeks of sun, sand and relaxation not to mention that it's all paid for so it won't cost us a cent."
Not giving her a chance to speak he continued.
"Its not like we've got anything else to do for the next three weeks."
Haley opened her mouth to speak but Nathan was on a roll and was not going to be interrupted so easily.
"We can always organise separate rooms when we get there." he finished breathlessly unsure why he felt such a need to convince her to go with him on this trip.
He was still angry about the way she had called out Josh's name yesterday but when he used his head he knew that there was really nothing about that that should upset him.
He had known that she was involved with Josh before he had started this whole campaign and as far as he was concerned nothing had changed.
But although Nathan did his best to convince himself somehow it all sounded a bit hollow even to his own ears and he found it difficult to ignore the hurt he had felt the day before when he had heard her calling for Josh instead of him.
Haley allowed him to speak even though she knew that nothing he said was going to make the slightest bit of difference she had aleady made up her mind before he had started talking.
"It sounds good," she told him.
"Haley can't you at least think...
What did you just say?"
"I said," she repeated slightly impatiently "it sounds good.
I think it would be great to get out of Tree Hill for a couple of weeks and at least there we can drop this stupid pretence that we are back together again."
"Uh yeah," Nathan agreed hesitantly waiting for the addendum he was sure she was going to add.
"So what's the catch?" he asked finally unable to wait any longer to hear what was going on in her head.
"There isn't one," she told him honestly.
"The way I figure it we can either go toBarbados and enjoy the sand and sun like you said or we can stay here and deal with the constant scrutiny this town has got us under.
Not to mention the fact that we will most likely be bored out of our brains with no work to go to."
Nathan stared at her in shock unable to believe that she had agreed so easily.
Not wanting to make a big deal out of it he shrugged nonchalantly as if it didn't really matter to him one way or the other and turned away from her preparing himself for bed.
"Well then I guess its settled day after tomorrow we go to Barbados," she said hoping to get more of a response from him but none was forthcoming.
This exact behaviour is another reason why I agreed to this trip surely he'll tell me what's wrong while we're spending so much time together.
Watching him climb into bed deliberately keeping his back to her once again she sighed.
If things didn't go the way she expected they could be in for a very long two weeks.
Sighing again she went to the bathroom to prepare herself for bed.
Barbados here we come!
Spoilers:- Nathan's weird behaviour continues, The flight to Barbados, Someone gets drunk and talkative.