A/N: Thank you all for the awesome reviews. And thanks to my beta: Leeese.
Chapter Fifteen
"So where are we going?" Nathan asked Haley as she drove through the decorated streets of Wilmington. He had been trying to figure out where Haley was taking him. However, she was firm in not giving him any clues. She had just told him to bring his coat.
Haley just gave him a smile. "I would rather keep that a surprise." She could tell that Nathan was disappointed in her answer. "Don't you trust me?"
Nathan sighed. "I do," he admitted. "But I don't like surprises. I used to, but then Rachel dropped that bombshell on me."
"That wasn't planned though," Haley reminded him. "She wasn't planning on telling you about the abortion. She thought she could get away with hiding that secret from you." She then realized her mistake. "No more talking about Rachel. I'm here to get you away from thinking about her."
"How are you going to do that?" Nathan asked.
Haley decided to give him a hint. "Do you remember when I said that I hated gym class?" she asked him. Nathan nodded, remembering that conversation. "Well, I may have not been good in basketball, but I'm good in another sport. And that is the sport I'm going to teach you today."
Nathan grew apprehensive when he and Haley arrived at their destination. He was glad that she wasn't planning for them to sing in front of a crowd, but this wasn't what he had in mind either. He couldn't believe that she was going to take him ice skating. Haley could tell that he was nervous, but she just gave him a comforting smile as they walked into the building.
A few minutes later, they were putting on their skates. Haley then led him out onto the ice. Nathan tried to maintain his balance, but he wasn't used to balancing on the skate blades. He fell down on the ground and Haley tried not to laugh. "It's ok. I fell a lot too when I first started skating," she told him, trying to cheer him up.
"Yeah, I can see that," Nathan replied as he tried to get up, but it was too slippery. "Can you give me a hand?"
Haley gave him a look. "Why? So you can bring me down with you? I don't think so."
Nathan gave her a smile. "That's not a bad idea." They then laughed as Haley helped him back up. She then took his hand in hers and she helped him across the ice. He kept losing his balance, but Haley held onto him. Once he got used to the ice, he felt that he didn't need Haley anymore.
Haley then let go of his hand and Nathan was able to skate on his own. "So you told me you were going to be the teacher for today. What are you going to teach me, Ms. James?" he asked.
Haley raised her eyebrows. "You want something more challenging? You're not even close to that next step yet. Like basketball, this takes a lot of practice." She showed him a few different tricks, one more difficult than the last.
Nathan watched her, impressed. At the same time, he didn't want to admit that the moves looked harder than he first thought. "How long have you been doing this?" he asked her with curiosity.
"I started taking lessons when I was three," Haley replied. "I thought it would be easy, not to mention fun. It wasn't at first, but then I got the hang of it." They then skated for a while longer before they finally decided that they were done for the day. Nathan had to admit that he had fun with her. He would even try it again sometime. They then realized that they hadn't had lunch so Nathan took Haley out for a late lunch.
After lunch was over, they took a walk outside as they shared childhood Christmas memories with each other. Haley told him about her first time when she went to see Santa with her mom, Quinn and Taylor. Nathan suddenly interrupted her. "I'm surprised none of your brothers ruined the secret."
"My parents wouldn't let them," Haley replied. "They wanted to make sure that we got the full experience of the magic of Christmas especially Santa Claus." She then turned to Nathan curious. "What about you? Did you ruin it for Lucas?"
Nathan shook his head. "No, I couldn't do that to him. I played along until he was old enough to realize that his parents were the ones buying the gifts." There was a short pause before Nathan spoke again. "Unfortunately, it was right around that time when my mom and Keith were killed in that car accident. It's been hard for us to celebrate the Christmas holidays together ever since. I'm surprised he wanted to come with us this year."
"I think he knew that you needed him," Haley replied. There was silence as she checked the time. "It's getting late. We should probably get back to the house." Nathan nodded in agreement. They turned around and started walking back to the car. Before they could walk too far, Haley heard her cell-phone ringing. She frowned when she saw it was an unknown number. Normally, she would ignore the call if she didn't know the number. However, she had a feeling that she should answer it. She put the phone to her ear and listened to the person on the other end. Haley couldn't believe her ears when she heard what this person wanted. "Yeah, I'll be right there to pick her up." She then said good-bye before she hung up. Nathan looked at her curious. "Brooke got caught shoplifting and the police need me to come and pick her up."
"Why would they call you and not her mom?" Nathan asked. Haley gave him a look. He then realized his mistake. "You still believe that Victoria is abusing Brooke? She probably doesn't want her mom to find out that she has stolen something again."
"Why don't we just wait and see when we get there?" Haley said.
Once they arrived at the store, both Haley and Nathan did their best to get the manager not to press any charges against Brooke. Haley had already promised that she would pay for the item that Brooke stole, but the manager still refused to drop the charges. It wasn't until he was reminded that it was the Christmas season that he finally gave in.
Neither Nathan nor Haley spoke to Brooke until they were in the car. Nathan spoke up before Haley could. She wanted to do it since she believed that she was calmer of the two. But Nathan didn't wait for her. "Brooke Davis, you have a lot of explaining to do. You're lucky that we were able to get the manger to drop the charges. You bet your ass that I'm calling your mom."
"Actually, you should really call my social worker Deb," Brooke corrected him. Haley gave Nathan a knowing look. "She is in charge of me now. But you probably won't be able to reach her until after the holidays."
Haley didn't have to ask where Brooke was staying. She could tell by the way she was talking that she was staying in a group home. Nathan didn't care for excuses. He knew that he had a responsibility as a guardian to call Brooke's social worker. "We still should give her a call and let her know that you're alright."
Brooke didn't respond as she stared out the window. "Are you taking me home?"
Haley shook her head. "No, we're going to my parents' house," she replied. "You can hang out with Lucas while we talk to Deb."
When they arrived back at the house, Haley introduced Brooke to her family. They welcomed her with open arms as Haley went into the kitchen to make the phone call. Lucas was right behind her. "What's going on? What is Brooke doing here?" he demanded. "Did something happen to her?"
"I'll explain everything after I make this phone call," Haley replied as she started dialing numbers. She waited patiently until someone answered the phone. "Deb, this is Haley James. I understand that you are Brooke Davis's social worker."
"Yes, I am. I'm assuming that you are calling because she has found her way to you again, hasn't she?" she asked. Haley was confused by her words. "Well, it's probably best that she is with you than at the foster home. Do you mind letting her stay for the holidays?"
Haley was surprised by her cooperation. "Actually, that was what I was going to ask you. I wanted Brooke to spend the holidays with me and my family. I'm glad we are on the same page then."
"I know you and your family will take good care of her," Deb replied. "I'll come by after the holidays to pick Brooke up."
Haley was disappointed, but she did her best not to show it. They exchanged good-byes before she hung up. She then turned to Lucas, but he was already gone. In his place was Quinn. "I know that look. You're getting attached to her, aren't you?"
Haley gave her a look. "Don't be ridiculous. I just wanted to make sure that she wasn't going to spend the holidays alone."
Quinn didn't quite believe her. However, she didn't get a chance to respond when they heard their mother's voice. "Well, I can certainly see why you are popular with your students," she told her daughter with a smile. "Brooke is raving about you in the other room."
Haley was surprised. "Really? She is usually so quiet." She decided to see for herself and peeked into the living room. Sure enough, both Brooke and Lucas were telling stories about their days with their favorite teacher Ms. James to Jimmy and David. She then returned to the kitchen. "I'm sure she'll be happy to know that she is staying here with us for the holidays. That's ok, right?" she asked.
Her mother gave her a wide smile. "Of course Brooke can stay here with us. We'll just put her with you and Quinn."
Haley gave her a grateful smile. "Thanks Mom."
That evening, everyone gathered around the piano and sang Christmas carols. Brooke was reluctant to join in. However, Lucas gently encouraged her and she gained the confidence to sing along. Haley also sang her solo before she decided that she was ready to go to bed.
"How about one more song before we all go to bed?" Lydia suggested. The others quickly agreed including Haley. Lydia then turned to Nathan and Lucas. "And why don't we let our guests choose the final song?"
Nathan turned to Lucas, gesturing him to let him pick the song. Lucas thought for a moment before answering. "Well, I always thought that "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" was a perfect song to end the day," he told them. So they sang that song before they stopped for the night.
Brooke waited until after they were in the bedroom alone before speaking. She took a deep breath before she started to speak. "Ms. James, I can't tell you how sorry I am for letting the cops arrest you. I wanted to stand up and tell them the truth. I was just too scared to." She had wanted to apologize ever since that night, but she had never had the chance to until now.
Haley gave her a gentle smile. "Don't worry, Brooke. I'm not mad at you. It wasn't your fault. And I don't want you to think about it for the rest of your time here. You are here to enjoy Christmas."
"I like your family," Brooke told her. "They seem really nice. I'm just not sure about Taylor."
Haley laughed. "Well, you're not the only one who doesn't trust her. But she's not so bad once you get to know her. And I know you're nervous about joining in the festivities. Don't worry about it. I know you're not used to being around big crowds. And I'll understand if you want to stay in your room all night."
Brooke gave her a grateful smile. "Thanks, but I think I'll be ok." She then crawled into her bed and turned off the light. She tried to sleep, but she had too much on her mind. She didn't want to admit this, but she was worried that her mother was going to come for her. She was surprised that she hadn't done it yet since Deb had taken her out of the house.
Brooke then realized that she was probably waiting for just the right time to demand her back. She didn't want to wait for that to happen. She didn't want to risk getting Ms. James in trouble again. So she decided to take off before that happened.
Brooke quietly slipped out of bed and across the room. She didn't want to wake Haley or Quinn. Otherwise, she knew that they would stop her from leaving. She opened the door and walked out into the hall. She then tried to figure out a plan where she could sneak out the front door without waking David.
She nearly jumped when she felt Jewel at her side. She had forgotten that Jewel had been sleeping on Haley's bed. She tried to get the dog to go back into the bedroom, but nothing worked. She had no choice but to have Jewel come with her downstairs.
As she tiptoed down the stairs, she was surprised to see that the living room light was still on. She thought everyone had gone up to bed. She reached the first floor and peeked into the living room. She saw Lucas playing with little Simba. She smiled fondly as she watched them. He looked up for a moment and turned to Brooke. "You couldn't sleep?" he guessed. Brooke shook her head as she walked over to him. She climbed onto the bed and lay down next to him. "Yeah, me either. That's why I switched places with David. I didn't want to keep Nathan awake."
"Why couldn't you sleep?" Brooke asked him curiously as Jewel jumped on the bed and lay down next to Simba. She knew that there was no way that she could sneak out of the house tonight. So she just decided to forget about it and try again another night.
Lucas sighed. "Ever since my parents died, I can't get into Christmas anymore." He then smiled to himself. "Of course, my evil stepmother didn't help matters either." Brooke laughed at the joke. "I guess your Christmases haven't been any better." Brooke was silent again. She hated to admit it, but he was right. None of her Christmases have been very memorable. "How about we do it differently this Christmas?" he suggested. "We make the most of it?" he asked her.
Brooke remained quiet as she thought about it. In her heart, she really didn't want to take off again. She wanted to be with people who cared about her. She could see that Coach Scott, Ms. James and Lucas clearly did. She finally nodded in agreement.
