AN: Sorry for the really long wait for this update. I actually wrote it a while ago, but for the last week or so I've been unable to upload. An error message kept coming up. Anyway, it's here now, though there won't be one for a while after this either because I'm going on holiday for 2 weeks. :(
Hope you like this, because I'm not sure I do
Little White Lies
7 Minutes in Heaven
Haley
I look at Nathan as soon as Deb leaves, wondering how he's feeling. You know, you would think that being married would make me perfectly adept at interpreting Nathan's feelings and acting accordingly, but no such luck apparently because at the moment most of my body is telling me to hug Nathan and comfort him, but then this other part tells me to ask him how he's doing, and the other part tells me to jump his bones. Its confusing as hell.
"Uhm…" I stutter, trying to think of something - anything - to say, and failing horribly. "Uhm…"
Nathan turns to look at me, his cobalt eyes cold and distant and I fear that he's going to turn on me. Turn his frustration towards his mother at me. While I know I would be extremely pissed off at the injustice of this, I kind of want him to do it, just so I know where I'm standing. Besides, I'd rather Nathan got his emotions out one way or another rather than bottling them up.
"We shouldn't have told her," Nathan says, his voice as cold and distant as his eyes. I take a deep breath and get ready for the fireworks, but surprisingly, they don't come. Instead, Nathan's brow furrows and his eyes get soft, almost like he's going to… Oh God, I think he's going to cry. I've never seen him cry before. What do I do?
"Nathan," I whisper, deciding to just go with instinct and put my arm around him. He bites his lip an stares into the distance, stiffening as I hug him. He's trying to be strong, and I know that he thinks if he breaks down I'll see him as some kind of wimp, but to be honest if he didn't cry I'd think there was something wrong with him. "I know that you wanted her to support us, but she's probably just trying to come to terms with it. Just give her a little time, okay?"
Nathan finally loosens up and embraces me. I melt into his arms an rest my cheek on his shoulder.
"I love you Hales," he says, his voice thick with emotion.
"I love you too."
Nathan pulls away and his eyes are back to normal. If he's cried, then it certainly hasn't showed. Instead, his cocky smirk appears and his eyes light up with mischief. "You know, if you don't go home tonight Peyton will just think you got lucky with Seth."
"Sam," I correct him, wondering where he's going with this. Oh God, I'm so slow. Of course I know where he's going with this. "We can't. Not with your Mom…"
"Mom's on the other side of the house. That's like, three miles away," Nathan says, obviously exaggerating and leaning over, kissing my neck. Oh, why is he doing this?
"Nathan," I try, but it's no use. My whole body has melted towards him as he seeks out my lips with his own. I catch them and we kiss hungrily, falling into the back of the sofa. It's been so long since we did this, so long since we've been close, and I want him so bad.
What's one little night together?
Nathan strokes my shoulder and lowers the thin spaghetti strap of my red dress, lowering his head to kiss the place where it once rested. I reach down and undo the buttons of his shirt, fumbling because what Nathan is doing to me feels so good. Finally, after what seems like far, far too long, his shirt is undone and I reach down to kiss his chest, downwards to his hard torso. He lifts my head up and starts kissing me again, getting to his feet and grabbing me by the waist. I wrap my legs around him as my dress falls down to my waist. The two of us stumble upstairs to his room, being as quiet as we can…
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Brooke
"What do you mean, she didn't come in last night?" I ask, staring at Peyton like she's speaking Portuguese. Actually, if Peyton was speaking Portuguese I'd… well, I don't know what I'd do. She'd be speaking Portuguese for heavens sake.
"You heard me. I was up till 3 in the morning working on an art project for college, and she didn't show up. She's not in bed this morning either, which means she's pulled an all-nighter," Peyton says, sitting on her couch with her robe wrapped tight around her. I think I woke her up when I called around, but I mean, it's 12 O'clock people!
"With Sam?" I ask, just to verify.
"With Sam," Peyton replies, stifling a yawn.
Wow. The date must have gone well then, because Haley sure didn't seem like she wanted to go last night. "Wow," I say out loud, because it is quite a monumental occasion, when you think about it. Little Haley "I don't believe in sex until after marriage" James has pulled an all-nighter on a first date.
"Did she ring you to check in?" I ask.
"Nope. Not last night. I'd be worried about her, but she rang this morning at like seven a.m to tell me she was okay, and that she'd be home later."
"Wow," I say again. "Rebound sex must be good."
Peyton raises her eyebrows and throws a cushion at me. "Brooke!" she cries. "It's one guy. Give her a break. You've been with way more, without such a good excuse."
"It's not one guy," I say, lowering my voice to a whisper which is stupid because Haley's not even here. "First off, there was Nathan…"
"Brooke, for Gods sake, she was dating him for, like, a year!"
"Yeah, but she said no sex until after marriage. I mean, Yeah, I get around, but I've never had principles…"
"Well, that's certainly true."
I ignore Peyton's 'humorous' little comment and carry on. "Then the night I rang, she said that 'Rick' was in the shower in a really nonchalant way, like it wasn't the first time."
"Who is Rick?" Peyton asks.
"I don't know, some random, whatever so not important. What is important is that… that Haley's changed."
"Brooke, are you okay?" Peyton asks, and I know that it sounds like an odd question, but she's probably seen my face which looks seriously confused. To be honest though, I'm not confused at all. Something in my head has just clicked into place. Something that's been niggling for a while now.
"I need to go… somewhere. I'll be back soon, okay?"
"Brooke, where are you going?" Peyton asks, but I ignore her. I jump to my feet and head for my car, all the while thinking about loads of little things that haven't added up. Not until now at least. Now everything seems to add up perfectly.
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I was sat on my bed, painting my toe nails with one hand - Static Scarlet, in case you're wondering - and holding the phone receiver to my ear with my other hand. My roommate Hannah was out so I had the dorm to myself, which meant a serious gossip session with Haley about the workings of Naley. At least, that's what I had hoped.
After a few rings, the phone was answered by Haley, which was the plan, of course. After the usual greetings and teasing, we got down to business.
"Haley! I am so excited about next week, aren't you?" I left a pause expecting an excited squeal of agreement, but none came. At the time, I thought it was odd, but after the conversation I put it down to sadness that she would be going bak to Tree Hill without her soul mate, because I've always thought that Haley and Nathan were soul mates. Especially after everything they've been through with Rob and everything.
Anyway, so Haley didn't reply, so I carried on. "I can't wait to see everyone. I mean, I know Lucas isn't too far away from me - he's in the next state - but still, it's going to be so much fun the whole of us being together again. Just like old times!"
Finally Haley deigned to comment, and this was the little gem she came out with: "Brooke, there will be one major change."
This just excited me. My imagination wasn't quite capable of coming up with something, but my inbuilt sense for gossip told me it was going to be juicy. "Ooh! Like what? Good or bad?"
"Good. Well, I think it's good. I mean… no, yes, no it's good. Yup, good, good, good."
See, I didn't think about that later on. Haley was just about to tell me that she had broken up with the love of her her life - because really, I still think he is the love of her life, and vice versa - and she was saying it was good? If I wasn't so busy trying to come up with an explanation, I would have gave more thought to that. After more of a push, Haley carried on.
"Me and Nathan have… went just about as far as it is possible for two people to go."
Naturally, I jumped to this conclusion: "You had sex! Right? Right!"
"Um, even further than that…"
After some shock and inredulation from yours truly, I kind of jumped to conclusions and didn't let her finish her next sentence, which was: "Brooke, we've went to the last level in a relationship, we've…"
"Oh my God! You guys have broken up, haven't you? This is terrible! Oh my God! It's never going to be the same again… what happened? Is it definitely over? Is there no way of a reconciliation?"
And instead of saying yes, Haley said, "Uhm… how the hell did you come to that conclusion?" If I hadn't been so shocked I would have looked further into this. I'd got it right, so why was she surprised? Unless I hadn't got it right. Unless… well, I think what I said in reply answers it far better than anything I could come up with.
"the last level in a relationship… it's the break-up. Right? I mean, except for marriage, and that's just ridiculous."
'Except for marriage, and that's just ridiculous.'
And then I dug even deeper. I didn't let Haley answer, I just jumped in with "God, can you imagine Dan Scott if Nathan got married? Insane doesn't even come into it! He'd probably cut him off. In fact, he'd probably financially castrate him. And then there's everyone else. I mean, marriage is just silly at your age, isn't it? With college and everything."
I didn't give her a chance to answer, and then I scared her.
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The next morning Haley rang me again. One part of the conversation which is ringing alarm bells now which barely even registered then backs it up. It seemed like a slip of the tongue, but maybe it wasn't. Maybe it was the most truthful Haley's been:
"Uh… Brooke, Nathan and I never broke up…"
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"Wait… Lucas is grilling Nathan? Oh I hope he's not being too hard on him…"
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"But I don't want to forget about Nathan"…
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"It's Haley S…"
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"Well, you can't just um… turn your feelings on and off like a tap. I'm in… I was in love with Nathan. I can't help but get a little concerned about him every now and then."
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"I've got to get out of here. I've got to see Nathan."
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"I don't want a second date, I don't want a first date. Can't I just ring and say I feel sick?"
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Holy Crap! Haley and Nathan are married!