Another quick update. Love this story!
Nathan fiddled with the buttons on his shirt, before switching to the zipper of his jacket, moving it up and down and up and down.
Haley had yet to tell him where they were going.
They'd just been driving. For close to an hour now. She'd gotten on the freeway out of town, and that was all he knew.
"Um, Hales?" He began, raising his eyebrows and clearing his throat. "Where exactly are we going?"
She looked at him and smiled, raising her eyebrows. "Nervous?"
"Just worried you're taking me out here to kill me," He laughed, shrugging slightly.
"I knew you were smart, I just didn't think you'd catch on this fast," Haley laughed, winking at him.
Honestly, he'd felt really weird about going on their date. In their hometown. Not to sound conceited, but people knew him around town. His jersey was hung on the wall, and Tree Hill loved basketball. And he was Dan Scott's son, which drew in more attention. Oh, and Deb Scott's son which added even more. The list went on.
And he was going on a date with Haley. Which put a whole new twist of strange. And something he never thought he'd do ever again.
He tried to think of big moments in their relationship that happened outside of Tree Hill, to figure out if this was going to be a grand gesture to spark a memory.
But nothing came to him.
The sky was dark, not just because it was night, but because there were dark rainclouds, but rain had yet to fall.
It was coming though.
"To answer your question," She hummed, glancing over at him. "I wanted to get out of Tree Hill. Too many people will get into our business."
"I see," He responded, smiling slightly.
It had been a few days since he woken up next to her, and they had not really spoken much. She'd been busy with her family, and he'd been busy with his.
So when she texted him, he was pretty surprised. He figured they'd get the date over with after Christmas, but she had other plans. And the James Family Christmas was tomorrow, so if this went very poorly, things might get awkward.
He'd probably bail on the whole thing if it went bad.
"So what have you been up to?" Haley asked him, raising her eyebrows.
"Oh, you know, just hanging out with my family. Sawyer and Lee rock my world," He said, chuckling quietly. "You?"
"They are cute kids," She hummed, nodding her head. "Pretty much the same. Things can get pretty loud at my house."
"I never would have guessed that," He said sarcastically, smiling at her.
"I remembered a few more things about a couple of nights ago," She informed him, glancing over.
"Do I even want to know?" He asked, raising his eyebrows and laughing.
"You came on to me," Haley told him, a triumphant grin forming on her face.
"I won't believe that until I remember it," He laughed, crossing his arms and shaking his head.
"It's true," She said, shrugging slightly. "I was walking out because I wanted to leave earlier than everyone, and you were standing outside," She said, glancing over at him.
"I can't remember how I ditched Theresa," He said, sighing softly. "I just remember leaning away when she kissed me, but that's it. It must have been polite enough though, because she texted me and told me she had a good time."
"She did?" Haley asked, sitting up straighter and looking over at him. "How did she get your phone number?"
He raised his eyebrows, smirking slightly. "I probably gave it to her. Why?"
"No reason," Haley said, shaking her head.
"Come on, Hales, we did have a millisecond make out session before I realized what was going on. Should I kiss her and diss her?" He laughed, shrugging.
"You didn't kiss her, she kissed you," Haley corrected him, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel.
"Yeah, well my mom thinks she's pretty much my girlfriend now," Nathan said, rolling his eyes.
"What?" Haley asked him, laughing. "Why?"
"Lucas told her that I spent the night at her house," He responded, leaning back against the seat and crossing his arms.
"Oh no," Haley laughed, glancing at him.
"And she thinks I'm with her right now," He said, sighing softly. "I may not have told her I was with her, but I implied it- just a little bit."
"This is going to be a mess," She hummed, shaking her head.
"Definitely," He said, shrugging. "You know, I was going to let Theresa believe that we were dating the other night."
"I know," Haley said, shrugging her shoulders.
"You didn't know that," He argued, rolling his eyes. "Why would you say that you knew?"
"Because I did know!" She laughed, looking over at him. "Why won't you accept that I know you, Nathan? When you're about to lie, you twitch you shoulders just a tiny bit. I know you."
He looked at her, letting out a deep breath. "Where are we going, Hales?"
She gestured towards the next exit sign, looking over at him.
"It's weird that someone out there knows me that well," Nathan said after a moment of silence, glancing at her. "Well enough to know my little odd habits, which, by the way, you can never tell anyone the lying thing."
"I won't," She hummed, smiling slightly.
After a few more minutes of small talk, they pulled up to a diner that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere.
"Do you remember this place?" Haley asked him, looking over at raising her eyebrows.
"No," He admitted, shrugging his shoulders.
"We got into a huge fight while we were driving to Tree Hill from Charlotte, and we stopped here to eat. I don't even remember what we were fighting about, but we didn't talk for a couple of days," She said, smiling at him.
"Wait..." He said, looking out the window. "And we were both starving, but neither of us ate anything and just passive-agreesively ordered coffee at like eight o'clock at night."
"And it made me so annoyed because you hardly like coffee," She laughed, rolling her eyes at him.
"And I was so annoyed because if you drink coffee that late, there's no way you would have been able to sleep," Nathan chuckled, smiling at her. "We were dumb."
"Yeah, we were," She agreed, shaking her head. "But anyways, I've always wanted to come back and actually try the food because it sounded good."
He glanced out at the darkening sky, letting out a deep breath. "Then we better go in before it starts pouring," He said, clearing his throat and getting out of the car.
She followed his lead, nearly running into him as he walked around to her door.
"Sorry, I was, uh, going to come get your door," He chuckled, shrugging his shoulders. "I guess old habits die hard."
She smiled at him, raising her eyebrows, linking her arm through his. "What do you say we try something a little bit different tonight?"
"What do you mean?" He asked, looking down at her and raising his eyebrows.
"What if we pretend that we're together and see how you feel? Because I already know what I want, Nathan, you're the one that seems to be confused," She whispered, squeezing his arm.
"That seems risky," He said, clearing his throat and looking down at her.
By risky... He meant like a terrible idea, but he wasn't actually going to say that. He couldn't pretend to date her, could he?
Would that be just enough to make him give in to the constant pressure he'd been subconsciously putting on himself?
"You can say no," She hummed, looking up at him and nodding.
"You know what? To prove to you how fine I am with being just friends, I'll go along with it. Just to show you that I'm over you," He informed her, clearing his throat. "But, the whole drive home we have to talk like we're just friends."
"Done," Haley hummed, sliding her hand down his arm, interlocking their fingers and humming softly.
He felt his whole arm start to tingle. It's almost like his nerves were throwing a party because they finally found the exact place where they should be.
It wasn't fair. His brain said no, but literally every other part of his body was screaming yes.
Unfortunately, the only opinions he could actually hear were from his brain.
"Oh, and I promise I won't kiss you, unless, of course, you want me too..." She hummed, winking at him, before tugging him inside.
"Good to know," He laughed, squeezing her hand lightly.
"Can we get a booth for two, please?" Haley hummed, raising her eyebrows as they walked inside. The place was fairly empty, thankfully.
He followed her, smiling slightly at the waiter as they were lead to the booth in the corner of the room.
Haley gestured for him to sit, and when he did, she scooted in next to him, rather than across from him.
"Oh, hell, Haley," He laughed, looking over at her and shaking his head. "We didn't even do this when we were actually dating. We made fun of couples that did this," He whispered to her, rolling his eyes.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," She hummed innocently, grabbing onto his hand once again. "Babe."
He laughed, brushing his thumb over her knuckles and shaking his head.
At least if they were pretending to do this, she wasn't taking it hard on him. She was joking around and laughing, which made him feel so much more relaxed.
He couldn't handle this. He could prove to her that they needed to be friends.
"What are you going to get, babe?" He asked her, chuckling quietly and shaking his head.
"Well, babe, I was thinking of getting a plate of french fries for us to share," She joked, squeezing his hand.
"Babe, that sounds fantastic," He laughed, smiling down at her.
"Aw, babe..." She hummed, reaching up and rubbing his cheek lightly, before returning her hand to his.
Okay, that made his heart lurch. He loved when she did that to him. And she knew it. He needed to forget all his previous thoughts. She wasn't going to make this easy on him. Haley James knew all the secret things to make his knees buckle. She knew how to turn him into goo, and she was most likely going to use it against him. Maybe it would be subtle, but maybe not. Who knew anymore? She was kind of a wildcard.
Now she was stroking her fingers around his palm and up his forearm a little bit instead of just holding his hand.
Abort mission. This had been a terrible idea. Well, a great idea on her part, but a terrible idea for him.
Why couldn't he have changed everything about himself in the past six years?
Maybe he just needed to avoid the threats...?
He removed his arm from her grasp, instead placing it behind her on the booth.
She leaned into him a bit, which again, made his heart drop.
She smelled nice. And she looked beautiful. This had not been as effective as he hoped, but at least he had more control when his arm was on the booth instead of where she had easy access to stroke and squeeze his bicep whenever she wanted.
Plus, he wasn't even touching her, it was just on the booth.
He could handle this.
After a few minutes, they'd ordered their food, which meant he didn't even have the menu to keep him distracted anymore. Now it was all her.
"Logan did the sweetest thing today," Haley informed him, smiling up at him. "He grabbed my finger and smiled at me."
"He did not smile at you," Nathan argued, shaking his head and laughing.
"I swear, he did! You can ask Clay, he was there," Haley laughed, rolling her eyes. "Taylor was there too! You can ask her too. Ha!"
"Haley, maybe he twitched, but he hasn't even smiled at me yet, and I'm his favorite," Nathan said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Oh, lord, Nathan. He smiled at me, I swear," She laughed, poking him lightly. "I promise."
"But what if that means you've replaced me?" He asked, frowning slightly.
"Then I'm really sorry for you, but not for me. That kid is my guy, I love him. We're going to have a strong bond, I can tell you that," Haley hummed, shrugging.
"No way," Nathan responded, poking her shoulder lightly. "He's mine. You have like forty others to choose from."
"You have Lee and Sawyer," Haley reminded him, laughing.
"Yeah, and Sawyer loves you more than me!" He groaned, shaking his head. "She kept bringing up how she gets to see Haley soon, and you guys are going to lunch, and how much fun you are."
"Well, duh, Nathan. You know me. You know how awesome I am," She laughed, shrugging her shoulders.
"And I said, Sawyer, she's the only person in the whole world that won't let her boyfriend leave the table until he eats his vegetables," He joked, grinning at her.
"Oh, you jerk! I never did that," She said, punching his arm lightly.
"But now she thinks you do," He hummed, winking at her.
"You're the worst, babe," She groaned, before smiling at him.
"Aw, thank you, babe," He laughed, shrugging his shoulders.
It didn't take long before their food came out, and they settled into a comfortable silence.
"Mm, babe, you have to try this," Haley hummed, holding up a fork full of Mac and cheese, a grin on her face.
He sucked in a deep breath, leaning forward as she put the fork in his mouth.
"Good," He commented, shrugging his shoulders at her surprised reaction to his response. "I mean, uh, wow! Totally worth the seven year wait," He laughed.
"Exactly," Haley hummed, nodding at him.
Was it just him, or had she all of the sudden scooted very close to him? So close that he could feel his blood pressure shooting through the roof. Their arms were touching, and they had not been before.
Had they? Heck, he didn't remember.
But he sure as hell did notice when her hand snuck over and rested on his leg briefly, giving his knee a light squeeze, before returning to it's original position.
She was such a sly little thing.
Maybe he should do the same thing to her to see how she liked it.
He was about to... But he chickened out. He didn't want to lead her on at all.
He looked outside when there was a roar of thunder, sighing softly when he noticed it had started raining.
"You know, rain used to be our thing," She hummed, nudging him lightly.
"Really? I had forgotten," He said sarcastically, smiling down at her.
"Some might call it fate," She whispered, winking at him.
"Yes, and some might call it winter in North Carolina," He laughed, shrugging his shoulders.
"Babe," She whined, laughing and linking her arms through his, leaning into him lightly.
"Fine, yes. Some could call it fate," He laughed, smiling down at her and rolling his eyes. "Whether that's what I'd call it, you'll never know."
She laughed, humming softly and smiling up at him. "You're cute, you know that?"
"Yeah, well, you're not so bad yourself, Haley James," He complimented, nodding down at her, before focusing his attention on his food once again.
After eating for a little bit longer, they finally finished up and headed out of the restaurant.
"We were going to do some other things, but now... I kind of feel like we should head back to Tree Hill because it's really coming down," She said, gesturing outside and clearing her throat. "Rain check?"
Nathan looked at her quickly, a grin forming on his face. "Haley, just for that pun, I will do anything for you," He laughed, nodding at her. "You know my type of humor, that's for sure."
She laughed, wrapping her arm around his waist, looking outside once again and raising her eyebrows. "Ready to face it, babe?"
"Of course," He chuckled, raising his jacket up so that it would semi-cover her, before they headed out into the rain. "Give me the keys," He mumbled to her, holding out his hand.
She didn't argue, handing over the key's to Clay and Quinn's car that they'd so graciously let her borrow, before getting in the car quickly.
Nathan hurried to the drivers side, climbing in and shaking his head, laughing. "It's raining," He told her, shrugging.
"I hadn't noticed," She laughed, ruffling his wet hair, letting out a deep breath. "I guess we're buddies not that we're in the car, hm?"
"I guess so," He laughed, shrugging his shoulders. "But... Y'know, I was thinking for safety reasons, we could take back roads home instead of the freeway."
A grin formed on her face, raising her eyebrows in surprise at him. "Are you actually having a good time, Nathan Scott?"
"I usually do when I'm with you, Haley James. And not just because it's ended in sex in the past," He laughed, winking at her.
She nodded at him, shrugging her shoulders and laughing.
"Okay, buddy, let's get going," He hummed, taking his jacket off his shoulders, handing it over to her so that she could use it as a semi-wet blanket until the car warmed up more.
"So, buddy, I have to tell you about this dude I hooked up with," Haley began, a smirk forming on her face.
Nathan raised his eyebrows, sending her a warning glance.
"He's the complete package," Haley hummed, clearing her throat. "Like, hunk of the century."
"Haley," He said, shaking his head.
"We're friends, Nathan. Let me finish," She laughed, leaning against the center console.
"This isn't going to work," He told her, shrugging his shoulders.
"Blue eyes that I could just swim in," She added, watching him glance over again.
It was only then that he realized she was talking about him. Oh, she was such a dork.
He couldn't help the smile that formed on his face though.
"The only problem is, we have a past," She informed him, sighing softly.
"Do I know him?" He asked, raising his eyebrows and glancing over at her.
"No, he lives in Arizona," She joked, shrugging her shoulders. "But damn, this boy can get it."
"Well, buddy, I'm sorry you're going through that," He said, glancing over at her and shrugging.
"I see a future, and I think he does too, I'm just confused by it all, but he is too," Haley informed him, letting out a deep breath.
"Maybe he just needs time to figure out what he actually wants," He told her, clearing his throat.
She nodded at his response, raising her eyebrows. "Do you actually give your friends that kind of advice?"
"No," He laughed, looking at her. "My life is messy, no one asks me for advice."
She laughed, patting his shoulder and shrugging. "There, there..."
"I don't like giving advice anyways," He laughed, shaking his head. "You know who we've hardly talked about? Brooke."
"That's because once I get on the topic of Brooke, I will never get off of it," She informed him, smiling brightly.
"How often do you see her?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Not nearly as often as I'd like," Haley laughed, shrugging. "We talk almost every day though."
"Really?" He questioned, glancing over at her.
"Yes," She hummed, nodding. "She's my closest friend."
"I started a business with mine, so maybe you should consider that," Nathan said, chuckling quietly.
"Oh, she's just about the busiest person on the planet too. She already has a business to run, and twin boys, and a husband that's almost as busy as she is."
"Ah, Brooke Davis, she could always handle more than anyone else," He said, nodding his head.
"I'd say that's the most accurate thing that's ever left your mouth," Haley agreed, smiling slightly.
"It's a shame that you got to keep her in the break up. I would have fought hard to have her on my team," He joked, looking over at her and shrugging.
Haley laughed, rolling her eyes. "I think her ways of consolation would have been ineffective on you."
"Probably true," He hummed, shaking his head.
"So, what about you, Nathan? Any interesting hook ups lately?" She asked him, crossing her arms and raising her eyebrows.
"Is this what you think I talk about with my friends?" He asked her, laughing.
"Maybe, maybe not," She said, humming softly.
"Not really," He answered her question, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't like to brag about the women that I've slept with to my friends. I don't want to objectify them at all, or make them seem like a contest."
She shook her head, a small smile forming on her face. "That was a good answer. Not exactly what I was looking for, but still good."
"Why, thank you," He hummed, letting out a deep breath.
After a few more minutes of joking back and forth, Haley looked at him.
"Can I ask you a question?" She asked him, raising her eyebrows.
"Uh, sure..." He answered slowly, glancing over at her.
"If you had to pick, right now, which do you prefer? Friends or dating?" She asked him curiously. "I won't let you answer change anything, because I'm not done fighting for us, and if you say dating, then I won't let it change anything either."
"Uh, I don't know," He said, shrugging. "They aren't much different. One you call me babe and unnecessary amount, and the other you call me buddy."
She smiled at his response, reaching over and grabbing onto his arm lightly. "Nathan, don't you get it? We were friends when we were dating. That's why it's so easy to do both, and that's why they mesh together so well. We told each other everything."
"Yeah, except when you had a job offer in Arizona and were planning to dump me," He responded, glancing over at her.
"That's not fair," She said, shaking her head.
"None of this has been fair, Haley. None of it," He responded, glancing over at her. "You don't know how sure I was that you were going to say yes. The thought of you saying no had not crossed my mind."
"I had only received the job offer that day! I barely had time to tell you before you proposed to me!" She said, letting out a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Nathan. I am. That's all I can say. I can't go back in time and change things."
"Yeah, well, I'm sorry too," He grumbled, shaking his head. "I just don't know what to say, Haley! I'm terrified right now, I really am."
"You don't think I'm scared, Nathan?" She asked him, shaking her head. "I'm putting myself out there, and you're barely being receptive, which is fine. I don't want to pressure you at all, but all that happens is a one night stand where you say it's a bad idea then jump out my window."
"That's not all it was to me, Haley, you know that," He argued, rolling his eyes.
"I don't know that, Nathan, because you won't talk to me about anything real," She said, letting out a deep breath.
Nathan opened his mouth to respond, before the car jolted. He stuck his arm out in front of her to stop her from leaning forward, letting out a deep breath. "Great. This is just great," He mumbled, pulling off to the side of the road. "Take the back roads, what a great idea," He said to himself. "Stay in the car," He said to her, getting out and walking around to the front tire on the right side of the car.
Haley rolled down the window, raising her eyebrows.
"We blew a tire," He said, running his hand through his hair. "In the damn rain. Of course. Do you have service?"
Haley checked her phone, looking at him and shaking her head.
"Looks like I'm changing a tire tonight," He mumbled, leaning against the window. "Can I have my jacket?"
Haley quickly handed it to him, letting out a deep breath.
He walked around to the back of the car, getting out everything he'd need to change the tire and shaking his head.
"Nathan," Haley said to him after a couple minutes of silence, looking down at him. "Can I help you?"
"I'm kinda pissed right now, Haley," He said, shaking his head. "I don't want to be, but I am. I just hate how conflicted I'm feeling."
"I understand, Nathan-"
"You don't, Haley," He said, looking at her and shaking his head. "You don't."
"I lost you too, you know..." She trailed off, biting her lip.
"No, you let go of me. I lost you," He bit back, hitting his hand against the tire, glaring at her. "I humiliated myself, Haley. I told your parents I was going to propose, I told Quinn and Clay, Lucas, everyone that was important to us. And then I had to tell them you said no."
"You can't hold this against me forever," She argued with him.
"Maybe not, but it sure stings right now," He said, running his hand through his hair.
"Let it go, Nathan," She said, frowning at him. "You'll feel much better."
He stood up quickly, staring at her. "You can't tell me what to do, Haley."
"I'm trying to help you, Nathan," She said, shaking her head.
"I know what you're trying to do. But it's not working, dammit," He said, looking at her and shaking his head. "I was in love with you forever, Haley. And I was on cloud nine our whole relationship because I loved you so much, you were everything I've ever wanted. And it destroyed me to lose you. I've spent years rebuilding myself, and I can't let you do it to me again. I can't," He said quickly, before going back to changing the tire.
She didn't say anything else. Not for the rest of the drive. She just stared out the window, lost in thought.
Nathan felt bad for telling her off, he really did. But it was also relieving to tell her some of the things he held in. It was nice to be honest with her. He just hoped that eventually he could be honest and not angry at the same time.
When he parked in front of his parents house, he looked at her and let out a deep breath.
"Look, Haley-"
"Don't apologize to me, Nathan," She said, offering her a small smile. "I wanted you to tell me how you were feeling, and you did," She said, reaching over, resting her hand on his cheek lightly.
He closed his eyes, swallowing thickly.
"I'm not going to hurt you again, Nathan," She told him, brushing her thumb along his cheekbone. "We've had a lot of fun, but it's all be just joking around, really. But I have real feelings for you. I don't think of you as some ex boyfriend that I hook up with when I see him, and I don't want you to he just that," Haley whispered, clearing her throat.
He blinked his eyes open, nodding at her.
"But I want more than what we have right now," Haley told him, letting out a deep breath. "I'm willing to wait as long as you need, Nathan, but you have to tell me if you see any potential future at all besides just friends."
He searched her eyes, feeling his throat run dry.
Haley James would always have his heart. He knew it, hell, she probably knew it but she needed to hear him say it.
"I do," He said softly, nodding at her. "I'm just so confused by it, and I'm scared of getting hurt again."
"That's all I needed," She hummed out, kissing his cheek softly. "I care about you a lot, Nathan."
"I care about you too, Hales," He told her, resting his hand on her wrist, nodding at her.
"Good. Now we can go back to having a good time, and me trying to flirt my way into your heart," She said, winking at him.
He smiled at her, turning his head slightly and kissing her palm. "I'll see you tomorrow?" He said softly, raising his eyebrows.
"Oh, you will," Haley said, smiling at him, brushing her fingers through his hair.
He glanced at the door handle, before back at her.
"Just do it, Nathan," She whispered, leaning closer to him. "I promise, I'm not going to read too much into it tomorrow."
"It's freaky how well you know me," He laughed, shrugging his shoulders.
"Mhm," She hummed, kinking one eyebrow at him.
"Oh, right. You're getting impatient, I should probably kiss you now," He said, clearing his throat.
"Probably," She said, brushing her thumb along his cheekbone again.
He leaned forward, kissing her quickly, reaching his hand across the center console and grabbing her waist.
Haley slid her hand from his face, into his hair, kissing him just as urgently as he kissed her.
Their first rational kiss in six years. And it had been totally worth the wait. No anger involved, or alcohol. Just them.