Thank you to everyone who took time to read and/or review
Bet you're surprised I updated so soon again. I know I am. I totally got sucked back into the story.
Ah, so I kind of feel bad about posting that I was going to take a break. I was just worried about the story but I shouldn't vent about that to you guys. Sorry about that. It won't happen again. I'm done being lame.
Chapter Sixteen
November 2, 2007
Brooke and Haley were waiting outside of the locker room to congratulate the guys on another win. It had been a close game but the Ravens had managed to eek out a victory.
"Have you heard from Peyton yet?" Haley looked in a mirror and applied some strawberry lips gloss.
Brooke pouted, "No not yet. I'm starting to get worried about her. She doesn't have much family so I'm not sure what the big family emergency could be. She probably just wanted to ditch school for a while.
Haley raised a doubtful eyebrow, "Has she done that before?"
"No, but what else could it be Haley?" Brooke asked, worried.
Haley shrugged, "It's not like we know each other; maybe it really is an emergency."
Before Brooke could reply Lucas and Nathan walked out of the locker rooms. Brooke flashed them a grin, "Hey Broody, great game hot shot."
Lucas smiled, "Thanks Brooke."
When Nathan didn't answer Lucas turned and saw Haley and Nathan making out next to the wall. When Haley's hand started to creep up Nathan's shirt, Lucas whipped around and said over his shoulder, "Stop! Shit! Now I have to bleach my eyes!"
Brooke giggled, when 'The Naley' kept kissing like they didn't hear Lucas, "Awww, poor Broody."
Lucas had his eyes scrunched shut, "It's not funny Brooke! Isn't it enough that I know they do this kind of stuff? I don't need to see it."
Over by the wall Haley was slowly pulling away from Nathan, eyes twinkling up at him, "You did go great out there tonight."
Nathan smiled and absently rubbed circles over her back, "Thanks babe."
Haley was leaning up for another kiss when the locker room door banged open, "Scott! What do you think you're doing?"
Nathan rolled his eyes, "Kissing my girlfriend coach."
Whitey comically widened his eyes, "You're actually dating this guy Haley?"
Haley nodded and let go of Nathan. She walked over to Whitey and gave him a hug, "great game tonight coach."
Whitey smirked, "Did you know what was going on?"
Haley laughed and shook her head, "No, but you guys won and that's always a good thing." Haley threw a smile over her shoulder, "And I know that Nathan and Lucas always play well."
Whitey snorted, "Your boyfriend is better now that he decided he's able to pass the ball."
Nathan rolled his eyes again, and was about to respond when he heard his name being called from further down the hallway.
Turning Nathan saw a pissed off Dan Scott waiting for him. Nathan bent down and gave Haley a quick kiss, "I'm going to have to deal with him. Can you catch a ride with Lucas to the party and I'll just meet you there?"
Haley turned and raised her eyebrow, silently asking Lucas if it was alright.
"Sure, no problem. You can come with me and Brooke, Hales," Lucas told her, his eyes drifting to where Dan was waiting.
"Thanks Luke." Haley faced Nathan again, "I'll see you later?"
"Kay, bye baby" Nathan leaned down to kiss her again, but was interrupted by his father yelling down the hall.
"Now! Nathan!"
Looking majorly irritated Nathan turned on his heel and stalked down the hall.
Whitey looked after them with concern, barely noticing when the others said goodbye and left.
Haley took the drink that Brooke was holding out for her, searching the party for Nathan. He was tall enough that it wouldn't be too hard to spot him.
"Oh come on Tutor Girl, he'll be here," Brooke said, taking a sip of her own drink.
Haley rolled her eyes, "Fine. So where'd my best buddy go?"
Brooke had a small smile on her face, "I think I was getting to him. So he said he was going to go find Jake"
Haley looked around with renewed interest, "Oh Jake is here? Wait, how were you getting to Lucas?"
With the smile still playing on her lips Brooke shrugged, "I might have told him what I was going to be doing to him tomorrow night."
Misunderstanding, Haley raised her eyebrow, "Oh, so what are you guys going to be doing tomorrow night?"
Chuckling, Brooke shook her head, "No, not what we are doing. I told him what I would be doing to him. He got flustered and left."
Haley wrinkled her nose, "I'll ask you not to put that image in my head Tigger."
Brooke smirked and shined her nails on her shirt, "What can I say? I gots the power."
Haley laughed as she glanced around the party one more time, Where is Nathan? He should have been here by now. I hope that Dan isn't giving him too hard of a time.
While she was looking for Nathan she noticed Jake standing by the kitchen, "Hey Brooke, I'm going to talk to Jake, I'll see you later okay?"
"Bye Tutor Girl."
Haley made her way over to where Jake was standing, "Hey Jake, good game."
Jake grimaced, "I don't think the couch would agree with you."
Haley shrugged, she didn't really know what she was talking about but it hadn't seemed like Jake had made any major screw ups while he had played.
"I'm sure it's better than you think," Haley tried to reassure him.
"Whatever," Jake shrugged, clearly exhausted.
Concerned Haley placed her hand on his arm, "Are you okay Jake? I haven't seen you around much this week."
"I guess it's kinda hard to see other people when you lips are attached to someone," Jake tease, causing Haley to blush.
Oh, god. Don't tell me that we re that couple. The PDA couple… it's so tacky. On the other hand… it's really fun.
"Shut up, Jake. Now really, is it about you know who?" Haley eyes got larger and she tried to indicate that she was talking about Jenny.
"Oh, that reminds me I tried to call you on Monday night but your phone went to voicemail." Jake told her.
"Oh I'm sorry Jake. My phone must have died. Was it important?" Haley apologized.
Jake leaned closer and spoke softly, "My dad thought she saw Jenny's mom in town. I wanted to go out and look for her."
Haley rubbed a hand up and down his back, "I'm sorry Jake, let me give you my house number in case you need it. Can you tell me if it is a bad thing or a good thing that Jenny's mom is in Tree Hill?"
Although he was barely audible Haley heard Jake say, "Bad. Very, very bad."
Haley sighed, "Anything I can do to help Jake, I'm here for you." She still had her hand on his back as she told him.
Which is the first thing Nathan saw when he walked into the party.
"What up balla?" Tim ran up to Nathan after Nathan close the door.
Nathan smirked, "Just say 'hi' Tim. Have you seen Haley?"
Tim shrugged, "She's with Jagielski."
Nathan frowned and he eyes sought them out. He saw them standing close together and his jaw clenched. Perfect, just what I needed after spending time with my asshole of a father. I get to watch Haley get hit on by Jake. With Haley, for the first time in his life Nathan was jealous. He didn't care much for the feeling but he didn't know what he could do to change it. He would never like other guys hanging around her.
Forcing a smile onto his face he walked over to where they were standing.
"Nathan!" Haley immediately went to Nathan and wrapped her arms around him. "I was getting worried about you."
Nathan shrugged, "My dad wanted to talk about the game."
Haley remembered Jake standing behind them. "I'm going to go sit with Nathan, Jake. Remember if you need anything I'm here okay?"
Jake nodded, "Thanks Haley. Bye Haley, bye Nate."
Haley grabbed Nathan's hand and led him to the couch.
"What is up with Jake?"
Haley bit her lip, "He's going through some stuff right now."
Seeing that Haley didn't want to talk about it and not wanting to push her Nathan just nodded.
Haley lifted her hand and placed it on his cheek, "You look so tired baby, do you want to skip the rest of the party and go to my house?"
Nathan nodded, "That sounds great."
"Let's just find Lucas and Brooke so I can let them know that I'm going," Haley took Nathan's hand and led him through the house to search for them.
Peyton looked the drawing she had just made.
It was of her and Lucas, the night of the basketball party. But underneath them it now said Now We Can Have It.
It had only taken her a couple of days on the dredging boat to realize that Lucas was worth fight for, worth risking her heart for.
Smiling Peyton went to find her dad. He was sitting with a couple of the workers.
"Daddy? Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure, talk to you later guys." Larry Sawyer followed Peyton out of the room, but stayed silent.
"Is there any way that I could go home? I've realized that I need to do something and the sooner the better," Peyton asked with a hopeful look.
Larry shook his head, "I'm sorry honey, I told you before you came we could make any unscheduled stops. You are going to have to go home when we planned."
Peyton's face fell, "It was worth a try. But it's okay daddy, I'm sure another week won't matter."
Larry pulled her in for a hug, "Thanks for understanding."
November 3, 2007
"Tell me again Tigger, why Lucas is picking you up here?" Haley yelled from the bathroom, where she was putting on her dress.
"Tutor Girl! Of course we had to get ready for our big nights together. Now get out here so I can see how you look." Brooke told her impatiently as she put on her shoe.
Haley opened the door and stepped out, twirling once before holding out her arms. "So what do you think?"
Brooke studied Haley; she had her hair curled with light makeup applied. The dress she was wearing was a wine colored, silky, spaghetti strapped halter dress that ended about 2 inches above her knees. "I think I'm a genius. You should always go shopping with me."
Haley reached over and gave Brooke a quick hug, "Thanks for helping me. You look great too! Where are you and Luke going?"
Brooke winked, "Now that would be telling."
Haley looked out the window, "Luke's pulling up."
"Great! I'll meet him downstairs, and we'll talk about our dates later Tutor Girl!" Brooke blew Haley a kiss and rushed out of the room.
Haley laughed and yelled after her, "Have fun!"
"Here you go," The waitress handed Brooke back their fake IDs. "Thanks um Gretchen and Henry."
Brooke winked at Lucas after the waitress walked away, "Fake IDs. I had to use your yearbook photo."
Lucas smirked at her, "So you could have gotten me anywhere and you choose a bar? I don't know seems like a waste to me." He raised an eyebrow when she easily knocked a ball into a pocket. "And who knew that you could shoot pool?"
Brooke smirked back, brushing up against Lucas as moved to her next position, "There's a lot you don't know about me."
"Really? Like what?"
Brooke leaned over to take her next shoot but kept her eyes on Lucas, "Like…. I love it in the summer when there's heat lightning at night. And up until the fourth grade I called squirrels squileers." Brooke made another shoot and stood up straight. "And I love beating boys at pool."
Lucas laughed.
Brooke put on an exaggerated show of shock, "Oh my God, a laugh and a smile, is Lucas Scott actually having fun?"
Lucas smile quickly disappeared, "Hey, I have fun."
Brooke rolled her eyes, "Sure you do Lucas… Come one you're like the most serious guy I've ever met."
Lucas sighed, "Fine," before he turned around and picked up the beer. After taking a sip he asked Brooke, "Does that make you happy?"
Brooke grinned, "Maybe a little bit."
Lucas shrugged, "Well, just as long as you don't feel cheated. You know you read a book, I drink a beer. We're even now right?"
Brooke laughed, "Wait did you think this was our whole date?"
Lucas nodded, "Well, yeah, I did."
Brooke shook her head and pick up her beer. "No this isn't it. This is just… drinks to kick off our date."
She help up her glass, "Bottoms up Luke."
Lucas lifted his glass to clink against hers and then started to drain the cup.
Later on in the night Lucas and Brooke were both on their way to being completely trashed.
Brooke squealed, "Don't you love 'Weird Science'?"
Lucas nodded and quoted, "Ah, the family jewels."
Brooke giggled and tried to mimic the voices when she finished it up, "He doesn't even have a license, Lisa?"
Brooke and Lucas looked at each other and burst into hysterical laughter.
Brooke calmed down first, "You're having fun aren't you?"
Lucas nodded, "Mmm-hmm. You were right I needed to loosen up a little. I'm glad we did this."
"Good…. So what is your take on tattoos?"
Lucas tried to think about it, "Ummm… I don't know. I guess it depends."
Brooke grabbed his hand, "Come with me." Brooke led him to a back room and leaning against the wall she pulled him closer to her. She started to undo her pants "What do you think about… this tattoo?" Brooke lowered her pants a bit, revealing a small tattoo on the inside of her right hip."
Lucas gulped, "I think… mmm… I think that that tattoo is very…very… sexy."
Brooke pulled him closer, "right answer," she told him before pulling his head down to hers and kissing him.
"This was a good idea Nathan," Haley smiled as she set down her fork.
Nathan nodded, his eyes staying on her gorgeous face. When he had picked her up earlier he was sure that he had stood there like an idiot for five minutes with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.
"What do you want to do after dinner?" Haley asked, smiling at the waiter who dropped off the bill.
"I doesn't matter Haley, whatever," Nathan told her trying to grab the bill.
"We could take a walk on the beach… or just go back to my house," Haley said, finally letting Nathan take the bill.
"Whatever you want," Nathan pulled out his credit card to pay.
"Let's just go back to my house and relax. You could stay tonight if you want," Haley offered.
Nathan smiled; happy he wouldn't be at his house, "Great." Nathan remembered he wanted to ask Haley about something. "Haley? Where are your parents?"
"Ummm, right now I think they are in California," Haley said after she thought about it.
"No, I mean why aren't they home with you." Nathan clarified.
"Oh well, I told you that they have an RV right? They are traveling," Haley shrugged. It was hard to explain to people who didn't know her parents.
Nathan's eyes got bigger, "They just leave you alone?"
Haley shifted, 'Technically I'm emancipated, so I don't need to live with them or have them stay with me."
Nathan was still confused, "How do you pay for things? How does the house get taken care of?"
Haley laughed nervously, "I was the favorite niece to a rich aunt and she left everything to me."
"Oh so you have your own money?"
Haley nodded.
"A lot of money?
Haley nodded again.
"When? And how much is a lot?" Nathan curiously asked.
Haley shifted again; it made her so uncomfortable to talk about this. "Ummm, let's just say I'll never have to work again if I don't want to."
Nathan nodded, not wanting to push her anymore than he already had.
Haley noticed the waiter coming back and she plucked out the credit card and handed it to Nathan. "Next time I'm buying. Let's go."
Nathan grabbed a hold of Haley's hand and walked out with her.
Disclaimer: I own nothing; not OTH or its characters.
Drama4zashley-Naley: Sorry for being a drama queen, of course you have things going on and you should do what you need to do :). I like jealous Nate, and I like jealous Haley ;) Nate was wrong, but he doesn't know about Jenny. He thought he was keeping Jake away from his woman. I can't be too mad at him. :p
Patto85: Sorry you aren't enjoying the story. I wish I could promise you that Leyton will end up together but I'm not revealing whether it's Brucas or Leyton yet. I will tell you that I don't really see Peyton as the bad guy in this. She's made some mistakes but she's basically a good person. She has a reason for acting like this and it's going to play into the overall story.
Jess2303: I REALLY like your idea, like absolutely love the idea about doing another throwback chapter -or would it be throwforward since it's in the future ;)- As soon as I read that i thought of what part of the future story I'm going to show. Maybe you won't like it since you might end up with more questions than answers. The throwback chapter will be the next one up and it's almost done. I really like it. Thanks for the idea and for reviewing!
RedRoom323: I nixed the break, I'm over being lame ;). I'm glad you enjoyed the flashbacks, I was worried I was putting too many flashbacks in the story.
Naley19: Thanks! Next update should be tomorrow, if I have time to proofread
Colviper8: The Laley friendship is awesome. It's my favorite on the show. Thanks :)