Chapter 23
A/N: The song is I Aint Losing Any Sleep by The Sunshine Underground. Thanks for reading!
Well it seems to me like you ain't having much fun
Something wrong?
Something wrong?
I don't like what you think
I'm probably better on my own
I ain't losing any sleep
Well maybe you're just having another bad day
What do ya say hey?
What do ya say?
Sipping an orange juice at the bar in Tric sat Nathan watching the stage where his godson was playing. Rachel hadn't shown up yet, so he chose to sit by himself and wait. Peyton and Haley were chatting away near the stage and Lucas had been over to talk to him earlier, but it was obvious he was trying to ignore all of them.
He heard the entrance door shut behind someone over the noise of the music and saw a very welcome head of red hair appear. Subconsciously he threw a glance over at Haley to see what she was doing and then got up and went over to Rachel.
Smirking his famous smirk that all the girls back in high school had fallen for, he said. "Hey Rachel," and kissed her on the cheek, "You look great."
It was true as well, She did look great. The dress she wore was short showing off her tan legs. The neck was low and the green colour made her hair and eyes shine. Nathan could tell that she still had a good body too.
"Thanks", she grinned slipping her arm around him, "you look pretty hot yourself."
He raised his eyebrows, liking the comment. "Wanna drink?"
"Don't worry, I bought my own," she smirked pulling out a flask of what Nathan assumed was probably some kind of spirit. She took a gulp and offered it to him.
He took it and not wanting to actually consume any alcohol took a fake sip and handed it back to her. "Come on, lets dance." He told her pulling her in close to him on the dance floor letting her take control. And, again, he subconsciously looked over to where Haley was, when he saw the expression on her face, he smirked knowing without a doubt she had already seen him with Rachel.
Well there's a series of arguments you seem to be throwing at yourself
Something wrong?
Something wrong?
What's the worst that can happen if ya turn it around
What do ya say hey?
What do ya say?
"Is that Rachel Gatina?" Peyton asked following Haleys eyes to where Nathan was dancing.
"Looks like it." Haley answered resignedly, seeing her grinding Nathan. "I guess everyone was wrong, it sure looks like he has moved on."
Peyton watched as her brother in law moved along with Rachel who was dancing against him flauntingly, It disappointed her for two reasons, the first being that Haley was trying so hard and all her attempts with him had lead to bitter, hurtful dead ends. The second was that using a girl like Rachel to make himself feel better was the kind of thing he did back when he was a jerk in high school, not something he did now or had done in a while.
"I'm sorry Haley." She said sadly to her friend gently squeezing her shoulder.
Haley smiled sadly, "Its fine. I mean Ollie's starting to let me in and that's a whole lot more than I expected her to do. If Nathan can't forgive me at least one of the people who mean everything to me might."
"Yeah Brooke told me about that. It's really great Haley, especially if Rachel becomes a permanent fixture in Nathans life. Ollie, she's really going to need you then." Peyton told Haley shaking her head sadly as she saw Rachel take a drag from her flask and continue dancing a little too close to Nathan.
At least Nathan didn't seem to be drinking though, which was one good thing about it.
Well maybe you're just having another bad day
What do ya say, ya
What do ya say, ya
(just think about it)
From the bathroom in Tric, Ollie could hear the upbeat sound of the music flowing in from the club. She couldn't fully make out the lyrics but this didn't sound like a song Ephraim would have written. He tended to write slower songs. She did have to admit, he and Jeremy did play well together, and she felt terrible for being a little jealous.
Satisfied that her hands were washed, she turned off the tap and left the bathroom. Peering around she searched for some of her friends in the busy room.
"Hey Ollie."
She turned and noticed Duncan had just appeared beside her, ever since her fight with Lauren he had been really nice and apologized nearly every time he saw her.
"Hi Duncan," she smiled.
"Having fun?" He asked
She nodded noticing a really nervous, shy looking guy about her age standing a little away from them, obviously there with Duncan but too shy to join them. She didn't recognize him either which was a strange occurrence living somewhere as small as Tree Hill.
Duncan noticed the questioning look on Ollie's face, "Oh, this is my step brother Kaleb. He's just come to live with us."
"Hi Kaleb" she said smiling at him.
She could tell from his sort of overwhelmed expression that being in a loud club full of people was not how he would usually have chosen to spend his Friday night. He had sandy blonde hair that was neat, quite a change from most other guys who intentionally went for messy look. Over his near black eyes he wore seeing glasses and he was wearing a dress shirt. Her first impression of him was that he was a little bit of a nerd.
"Hello" he replied politely holding out his hand.
Ollie giggled, not many people shook hands in greeting. She stepped forward to shake his hand, as she did so the part of the dance floor that had been out of view came into sight and she saw some slutty red head grinding into her father. A little grossed out, she saw him glance to the side with a smirk, following his eyes with her own, they landed on Haley who looked sad and as if any hope she had was gone. Ollie couldn't believe her dad was doing this, sure she knew he was angry, but deliberately trying to hurt Haley, that made her angry and in turn that made her want to make her dad angry.
Moving to grab Duncan, she decided against it, not wanting him to have to face the consequences at practice so instead grabbed Kaleb and dragged him to the dance floor.
Shock with a little fear filled Kaleb as she dragged him, he glanced at Duncan who grinned and gave him the thumbs up. He felt Ollie start to dance against him, rather close as well, he stumbled a little as his feet fumbled, with no idea what to do with his hands, hoping she couldn't tell how nervous he was about this.
However, Ollie was hardly taking any notice of Kaleb. Instead she was on doing exactly what her dad was doing to make Haley upset, to make her dad angry. And it was working.
Coz most of life is thinking your in control
Wouldn't ya say, ya
Wouldn't ya say, ya
Pulling away from her, Nathan left Rachel standing on the floor completely confused. Storming over to a seat at the bar, he didn't take his eyes off his daughter for a moment. Although, she and the boy she was with were dancing quite similarly, plus much more conservatively, to how he had been just moments before, Nathan didn't see that. What he saw was a sleazy teenage boy trying to take advantage of his little girl.
"Little young for you don't you think?" Rachel quipped once she realised what he was watching. She took his look of anger to be one of jealousy, not knowing he had a daughter.
Nathan glared at her, not really in the mood for her attempts at humour anymore, "She' my daughter." He told Rachel drily.
"Oh", Rachel slumped into the bar seat next to him a bit annoyed. She had never been fond of kids, and Nathan having one killed a lot of his appeal for her. Besides, it was kind of difficult getting a guy into bed with his kid sleeping just a few rooms away.
Completely ignoring Rachel's sulking, he eagerly waited for the song to finish so he could intervene between the two teenagers but not cause a scene. Knowing what he was like at that age, he wanted no male anywhere near his daughter.
As if in slow motion, he saw the boy hesitate for a second and then move his face closer to Ollie's. Panic exploded inside Nathan as the boys face lingered but millimetres from his daughter for a few seconds and then move closer for his lips to meet hers. This was too much.
I don't like what you think
I'm probably better on my own
I ain't losing any sleep
And then the song changed.