Little White Lies

The Good Times Are Killing Me

Nathan

I'm still not sure exactly why Jake is doing this. If I heard that he had cheated on Peyton… well, I wouldn't blank him because then I'd be a hypocrite. Still, it's great that not all of my friends are hating my guts for something I didn't even do. You know, before my dad walked into the lounge today, I was about two seconds away from telling everyone that this whole thing was a set-up, but then my dad came in and I remembered why we're doing this thing in the first place. My dad. Yes, he's a jerk, but if he cut us off, we probably wouldn't eat. Yeah, we could get jobs, but Haley would have to give back her ring, and there'd be this cloud where all the free time we spend with each other is spent working our butts off.

Besides, Dan Scott may be a tyrant, but he's still my dad. Call me crazy, but there's still a part of me that just wants to make him proud all of the time. Of course, it's a very minimal part, and the rest of me would be happy to punch the guy or whatever, but you know that old saying? ' The minority rules'? Well, that applies here.

"Hey, mind on the game Scott," Jake says with a grin as a ball whizzes past my ear.

"Sorry, my head's all mixed up." I pray that my dad didn't see that. If he did, I have a feeling every second of this holiday excluding Christmas dinner (maybe) would be spent training.

"You want to stop a while? Get a drink?" Jake asks, and I find myself nodding. The two of us walk into the kitchen and I get two bottles of soda from the refrigerator, thanking God that Lucas is out and so not likely to be throwing any snide comments my way any time soon.

I lean off the kitchen work top and take a swig of the fizzy liquid, wiping my mouth afterwards.

"Uh… do you um… do you want to… you know. Uh, do you want to… talkaboutit?" Jake looks supremely uncomfortable and I decide not to unburden my imaginary problems on him.

"Not really," I say, trying not to smile and imagine that me and Haley really have broke up. Actually, let's not think about that.

"Oh… well if you're sure. Haley will probably be dissecting everything with Brooke and Peyton," Jake says, still looking uncomfortable. Going over old relationships is a girl thing. I can tell that Jake must feel really sorry for me to even suggest it.

"Yeah. Really, I was a jerk, the end. If I could take it back, I would, but I can't so… what's the point in dwelling on it?"

Jake stares at me for a while. "You still love her then?"

I have to think about it. If I was to answer this question truthfully I'd be saying 'well, duh, she's my wife.' As it is though, I have to act out this whole alternate reality where Haley and I never married, I slept with her dorm mate, and we split up.

"Yeah. I do," I say finally. I'm not a great actor, and if I take this too far away from truth (Like Haley, for example) it could get messy. Jake nods and takes another swig. The two of us are at a loss for what to say.

"You think the two of you might ever get back together?"

Yes? No? What do I say here. I open my mouth and feel like a goldfish as I search for something to say that fits in with my current (imaginary) jerkishness, but it won't come.

At that moment, the kitchen door opens and Lucas walks in. he looks from Jake, to me, and then back to Jake again.

"I'm sorry, I thought this place was empty," Lucas says, his voice not showing even a hint of emotion.

I don't know what it is, but my heart feels cold, and tight. "Lucas!" I call out, obviously possessed by some kind of 'stupid' demon. "Will you just talk to me?"

Lucas narrows his eyes. "What is there to say? You cheated on Haley, and you're the same arrogant asshole you've always been."

I feel like I've been winded. "Great show of brotherhood there Lucas," I say sarcastically.

"Huh, I'm ashamed to call you my brother Nathan."

And the winding continues. Jeez, since when did I care so much about Lucas? When did I care so much about what Lucas thought about me?

"I made a mistake!" I yell, clutching at straws. It seems like something someone who has slept with their girlfriends dorm mate would say. At least, according to those day time soaps I've watched. Secretly.

"No crap Nate," Lucas says, but at least he's not heading for the door.

"I was… I was drunk. And me and Haley had this argument and we were about this close to breaking up… Look, I'm not going to make excuses" - mainly because they're seriously lame. This thinking on your toes thing is no joke - "I was a jerk… an 'arrogant asshole', as you so eloquently put it, but I realise what a mistake I made. I punished myself far more than any of you guys could punish me, so would you give me a break? You're my brother Lucas and believe it or not, I care what you think."

Oh, I think that deserved an Oscar. Ha, and I thought I wasn't a great actor.

Lucas gives a sigh. "You're right, you're a jerk."

Ah, maybe not an Oscar then…

"But you are my brother. Look, I shouldn't have been so quick to judge you, not after everything we've been through, but I'm finding it really hard to give you the benefit of the doubt Nathan. Not after everything you've done before."

"Can you at least try?" I ask, deciding that if he says no I'm pulling the curtain on this whole thing.

"Yeah, I guess I can. Welcome back little brother."

"Nathan? I love you I love you I love you!"

I laugh at Haley's highly relieved tone and want to hug her. We've got to arrange some way to meet.

"Where are you?" I ask, throwing myself back on my bed.

"Peyton's room. Brooke and Peyton want to have a relationship autopsy. You just saved me."

"Sounds grim."

"It is! I have no idea what to say! Oh Nathan, why are we doing this. I love you, and having to pretend to hate your guts is just too hard."

"Well, what can I say Hales? You made your bed…"

"Shut up."

"Well, if you'd said we split because of some tiny little disagreement or something we could have made up by now, but you had to go and give Brooke the storyline for a daytime soap opera."

It's silent on Haley's side for a while, and then a loud sigh comes down the phone. "Yes, I suck, and you're getting the blame for it. I am so, so sorry Nathan."

"Don't be. I think I'm bringing Lucas around, and unlike everyone else, Jake was actually nice to me from the start. Well, more or less. Jeez, I've had to do so much acting I feel exhausted.

"Acting?"

"Yeah, why I cheated on you."

"Oh! Could you give me some pointers then? Because right before you rang Brooke asked me why I thought you'd done it, and I couldn't think of a single thing."

"Uh, I was drunk, and we'd had an argument and were probably about to split up anyway."

"What were we arguing about? Why were we about to split up?"

"I don't know."

"Details Nathan! I need details!"

God, what is it with girls and their attention to detail. Isn't that I was drunk and we had an argument enough? "Uh… We were arguing about… how you dislike my dorm mate?"

"What, and we were going to split up over that?"

"I don't know. Can we make you look bad this time though, because I'm kind of most hated as it is."

Haley laughs and I feel a dozy smile creep up my face. "Sure thing Nathan. I'll think something up. I'm going to have to go, the girls are getting impatient. I love you."

"I love you too."

AN; I love you guys, seriously 333

Anyway, I know you're probably getting impatient for a little Naley (besides the phonecalls) but it's coming soon, I swear. I've already wrote the chapter.

Oh, and by the way, some of you are psychic,saying about the phonecall and the missing each other (though I guess that's pretty obvious) Anyway, I'll try and update again tomorrow. I'm really enjoying writing this XD