A/N: Well, they're taking things slow but they're not screeching to a halt. A little Naley in this one and you're gonna love it. Don't scroll down. Also, a secret is and another plot development are revealed. Pay attention. See if you can catch the development. Leave some words. Enjoy :)
Chapter 10
Haley walked around school fairly despite the fact that her leg was still in a cast. She made it to the tutoring centre a good five minutes before the bell rang. "Peyton?" Haley said, looking at her in surprise.
"Oh, hi, Haley!" Peyton Jagielski exclaimed.
"What's going on?" Haley asked.
"I needed to talk to you," she said.
"Having trouble with one of your classes?" Haley asked.
"No, trouble with my husband," Peyton replied almost sadly.
"I'm a tutor, not a counsellor. I don't know how much help I'll be," Haley said. Peyton laughed.
"Not that kind of trouble," Peyton said.
"Then what's going on?" Haley asked.
"I know you have a lot on your plate with your own life and the people you're already tutoring," she began.
"Peyton," Haley said. Peyton looked up at her. "What's up?"
"Jake is failing English," she began. Haley nodded. "And he has too much pride to come and ask you for help so I'm doing it for him. I was wondering if you'd be willing to tutor Jake in English."
"Sure. Tell him to come see me after school," Haley said.
"Oh, I can't do that," Peyton said.
"You can't?" Haley asked.
"No. If Jake found out that I went to you behind his back, he'd be embarrassed. Do you think you could approach him, make something up about how you noticed he wasn't doing so well in English and offer to help him?" Peyton asked.
"Sure," Haley replied. Peyton jumped up and threw her arms around Haley, pulling her into a tight hug.
"Oh, thank you so much, Haley," Peyton squealed. Then she realized what she had just done and pulled away and cleared her throat. "I mean thanks." Haley closed her mouth and smiled but she could not hide that her shoulders were shaking with laughter. Peyton rolled her eyes and began grabbing her own books.
"You sure you're not pregnant again?" Haley teased. Peyton froze and dropped her pencil case back onto the table. She looked at Haley warningly and Haley looked at her in astonishment. "Are you pregnant?"
"Yes," Peyton admitted. Haley started to congratulate her but Peyton cut her off. "And I haven't told anyone yet, including Jake, so I'd appreciate it if you kept this to yourself." Haley nodded.
"You can trust me, Peyton. I, of all people, know what it's like to want to keep my personal life private," Haley said. Peyton nodded and her gaze fell to Haley's knee.
"How are you doing?" she asked. Haley shrugged.
"Fine," she replied.
"I heard a rumour that Tim's in jail," Peyton said. Her gaze was full of worry.
"Beats me," Haley said.
"You don't know?" Peyton asked. Haley shook her head. "That's kind of strange. I mean, you're the only living victim of his. One would think that the police would contact you." Haley scoffed.
"I'm hardly a victim. Tim wasn't aiming for me," Haley said.
"How do you know?" Peyton asked.
"Because he shot towards the jocks and the bullet ricocheted off of the lockers and hit me," Haley said.
"Whether you were an intended victim isn't the issue. You were still shot by the gun that Tim fired and brought into the school," Peyton pointed out.
"W-what are you saying?" Haley asked.
"Nothing. Just that you're probably a material witness," Peyton said casually.
"Meaning I'd have to testify?" Haley asked.
"Definitely," Peyton replied.
Haley shook her head dismissively. "Oh, I don't think so," she said.
"What?" Peyton asked.
"I can't testify again," Haley replied.
"Again? Haley, what are you talking about?" Peyton asked.
"Nothing. I'll go find Jake," Haley said.
◊◊◊
Jake and Nathan were walking out of the locker room and turned down another hallway. "Jake!" Haley called out. Jake's face wrinkled with confusion as he turned to look at Haley.
"Yeah?" he asked. Haley came up to them a few seconds later sighed. She shot a small smile to Nathan and then turned her attention to Jake.
"I need to talk to you," Haley said.
"Ok. What's up?" he asked. Haley looked to Nathan and then back at Jake.
"It might be better to talk alone," she said. Nathan couldn't help but feel a little insulted but nodded.
"Catch you later, Jagielski," Nathan said and shot a questioning glance at Haley.
"What's going on?" Jake asked.
"I was marking some of the English exams that took place last week today," Haley started.
"Uh-huh," Jake said.
"Well, I marked yours and you didn't do very well," she said. He looked at her in surprise. "In fact, you failed. So, I went and took a look at other marks in that class and I noticed you're not doing very well in it."
"What's your point?" he snapped.
"I don't normally do this in the middle of a semester but if you want help, I could tutor you," she said.
"Really?" he asked.
"Yeah," she replied.
"I'll think about it. Thanks, Haley," he said.
◊◊◊
"So, if you don't mind me asking, Nate, what's going on between you and Haley?" Lucas asked one night a few days later. They had started talking again lately. It wasn't to say that Nathan had completely forgiven Lucas because he hadn't but recent events had persuaded him to remember that Lucas was his brother. Nathan glared at him. "Is asking about her pushing it?"
"Just as long as you don't start dating her before I even do," Nathan replied. Lucas looked away for a second.
"I guess I had that one coming," Lucas said.
"You did," Nathan said, not sugar-coating the truth that Lucas knew all too well. Nathan was the one that had been wronged in this situation. He had every right to stick it in his brother's face.
"Are you going to answer?" Lucas asked.
"We're taking some time," Nathan replied cryptically.
"What does that mean?" Lucas pressed.
"I wish I knew," he confessed. Lucas looked at him and Nathan explained the situation.
"She really does have a lot of trust issues," Lucas commented. His tone sounded almost mocking but Nathan couldn't tell.
"It's not like she doesn't have reason to have issues," Nathan said defensively.
"I'm not saying that she doesn't. It's just that I think her reasons have more to do with being afraid to trust you or let you in. Not because you might still have feelings for Brooke," Lucas said.
"Which I don't," Nathan said.
"That's good to hear but I'm not the one you should be telling that to," Lucas said.
"I agreed to give her some time," Nathan said.
"It's been a week," Luke pointed out.
"So?" Nathan asked.
"That's a lot of time. Maybe you should go talk to her," Lucas said.
◊◊◊
Haley opened her apartment door. "Nathan, it's after ten. What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I want to talk," Nathan said. Haley stepped back and he walked inside and followed her to the living room.
"About what?" she asked as she sat down on the couch and turned her television off.
"About my decision," he replied. Haley nodded. Nathan opened his mouth to tell her but thought better and closed it. Haley looked at him expectantly and then started to nod slowly as if she was getting ready for the possibility of rejection.
Nathan launched forward and captured her lips in a powerful kiss that he hoped conveyed his decision. He broke the kiss and pulled away just far enough to see her mouth form a huge smile. "Message received," she remarked. He laughed and kissed her again.
"So you accept my choice? You're not going to try to convince me that I'm in denial again?" he asked. Haley rolled her eyes.
"I believe that you've thought it through and I'm glad that you're not an idiot because I didn't want to have to convince myself that I was better off without you or that there's other fish in the sea or any of that other mumbo jumbo people tell themselves to deal with rejection," Haley said.
"You're a funny one," he commented.
"And you're now dating me. So what does that say about you?" she retorted.
"That I'm hopeless?" he offered. Haley slapped him on the shoulder and he laughed. "Kidding, of course."
"Better be," she warned. He pulled her into another kiss and a few minutes later they were watching television while curled up on her couch.
"Hey," he said.
"Huh?" she asked, tilting her head up to look at him.
"I told you I was right," he said. Haley rolled her eyes, kissed him and went back to watching the television.