I am SO sorry for the delay. It's just that I'm going to college soon, and there was just a lot I had to do, so even if I already wrote this chapter, I was too busy to post it. I'm really sorry for the inconvenience. Please, please, please keep the reviews coming and I promise you more Naley scenes. --------Sera
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Brooke, Peyton and Haley were seated on the middle of the floor in a circle, talking animatedly. Bags of chips, tubs of ice cream and boxes of chocolate were scattered around them.
Truthfully, Haley missed nights like this with her best friends. She missed hanging out with them and endlessly talking about things that didn't really matter but was fun to talk about anyway.
Peyton was sleeping over since she had nothing better to do that Monday night. She had told them everything there was to know about her dates with Jake recently and Haley had never seen her happier.
Brooke, on the other hand, surprisingly decided to sleep over as well. From what Peyton and Haley were able to coax out from her, she was having a lot of fights with Eric. In Brooke's own words, he was being "a stupid asshole." That was enough for them.
As for Haley, things with Nathan were going well, as usual. They were really friends now and as much as she hated to admit it, she sometimes wished he would make another move on her, which he never did.
Peyton was just talking about Jake when Brooke cut in. "Sawyer, if I hear Jagelski's name one more time, I'm going to push you out that window."
"Oh, you think I didn't want to do that when you kept talking about Eric – and the other thousand guys you've been with?" Peyton shot back.
"Honestly, how many boyfriends have you had?" Haley asked Brooke, stopping her from saying anything.
Peyton raised a brow. "I don't think Brooke could count that high."
Brooke threw a nearby pillow at her.
"No, I meant the serious, steady kind of boyfriend." Haley said, watching with amusement as Peyton threw the pillow back.
"If negative is acceptable, then that's her answer." Peyton teased.
"Hey, I've had serious, steady relationships!" Brooke retorted.
"Oh yeah, like who?" Peyton challenged.
"A couple guys I don't want to mention right now," Brooke stuck out her tongue when Peyton rolled her eyes. "I've been friends with you for too long, Sawyer. What about you, Haley? Have you ever had a steady, serious boyfriend besides Nathan?"
She shook her head in reply. "No, he's my first, to be quite honest. I never even had one of those completely random and no meaning whatsoever hook-ups. I guess that's why it's so painful seeing him everyday and realizing that it's over, you know?"
Before anyone could say anything, an abrupt knocking on the front door interrupted them. "I'll get it," Brooke said, standing and running to the door. "Uh, Haley, speaking of the devil – there's someone at the door for you."
Haley frowned. "Who would visit me at this time of night?"
She and Peyton went to the front door. Haley nearly dropped the bag of chips she was eating when she saw Nathan standing on the doorstep. Haley tightly closed her eyes and opened them again.
Okay, so it's not a daydream and apparently, I'm not asleep. What could he possibly want? Why is he even here? It's ten o'clock at night! Maybe he ran out of gas or something and it just so happened that he ran out of gas in front of Brooke's house. He looks so adorable with his hair all messed up–
"Uh, Hales – it's pretty cold out here." Nathan said, cutting into her thoughts.
"What? Oh yeah, sure, come in." Haley stepped aside so he could walk in then she closed the front door. She exchanged puzzled glances with Brooke and Peyton. They shrugged in response.
"I'm really sorry to barge in like this, Haley but it's an emergency. You're the only one I could turn to. It's just really short notice." Nathan apologized.
"Well, since you said so yourself that you barged in on us, you could at least tell us all why." Brooke said eagerly.
"Brooke!" Peyton hissed.
"What? I'm just curious and don't give me that look, I know you're curious, too." Brooke hissed back.
"We'll – ah, leave you two alone. Come on, Brooke." Peyton said, pulling her by the arm and leading her back to the bedroom.
"Yeah, we'll go do that," Brooke then turned to Haley and said warningly, "I want full details later and don't you dare leave anything out."
The door to the bedroom shut close.
"Sorry about that," Haley said, blushing slightly. She motioned to the couch and sat next to him. "So what do you need help with?"
"Haley, I have this huge Calculus test tomorrow, first period and I seriously need your help to study." Nathan explained urgently.
"What? Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" Haley demanded.
"I didn't even know!" He hesitated when she glared at him then admitted, "Okay, I wasn't really listening in class when they announced it days ago so I didn't know."
"Honestly, Nathan! How are you supposed to pass Calculus if you don't pay attention?"
"I was paying attention – well, sort of. Besides, my short attention span is kind of the reason why I need tutoring in the first place."
Haley sighed in exasperation. "Nate…"
"I'm sorry, Hales! It's just that, I have a lot of things on my mind right now. There's the game that's coming up in a few days, trying to pass my other subjects, you –" He swore under his breath.
She immediately averted her gaze. "I'll go get the books. Wait here."
Haley went to the bedroom and opened the door. There was a cry of pain and both Peyton and Brooke were sprawled on the floor.
"I'm guessing you were both eavesdropping." Haley said, as she looked down on them.
"For the record, it was Peyton's idea." Brooke quickly said, standing up.
"Hey!" Peyton objected.
"Oh my God, Haley – Nathan totally still has a thing for you!" Brooke said excitedly.
"What he blurted out didn't mean anything." Haley said, walking across the room and gathering her things.
"Don't be stupid, it means a lot of things! Don't screw this up!" Brooke warned.
"Who said anything about screwing up? We're only going to study."
"Yeah, and I'm a chicken," Brooke snorted. "We all heard what he accidentally said. If that isn't a sign that he's still interested, then I don't know what is."
"Brooke's right about one thing; she really doesn't know what a sign is. Ignore her, Haley. She was the one who got hit square on the head when you opened the door." Peyton assured her.
"Which, by the way, hurt really badly." Brooke added.
"I have to go. I'll talk to you both later." Haley turned to leave and shut the door behind her.
"Okay, but if you have plans to make out here, at least warn us." Brooke called.
Praying Nathan didn't hear that, Haley joined him on the couch. "So you ready to get started?"
At first, he had no idea on what she was talking about but he soon caught up after a few rounds. She taught him an easier way to solve problems then gave him a few exercises to work on.
After a while, Nathan dared to look up. Haley was busily writing something. God, she looked beautiful, even in pajamas.
She bent over to pick up her bag, and his gaze fell on the small number 23 tattooed on her lower back. It seemed so long ago when he first saw it.
"You still have the tattoo." He said quietly.
"What? Oh yeah, it's still there." She said distractedly.
"I have to show you something," Nathan raised the sleeve of his jacket to show her a tattoo on his inner wrist that said Hales. "I had it done two weeks before the divorce. I've always wanted to show it to you but with all the arguing, it was kind of hard to bring it up."
Haley gasped. "Oh, Nate…"
"I don't plan on having it removed, in case you're wondering."
She was touched and she felt tears sting her eyes.
After an awkward pause, Haley cleared her throat and asked, "Are you done?" Before Nathan could say anything, she reached out for his paper. "Nate! You haven't even started on the third question yet!"
"I'm sorry, I was just distracted –"
"Were you even listening when I was explaining it to you?"
"Yeah, I was! Watch…" He grabbed back the paper and solved both the third and fourth questions. "See?"
Haley was stunned. He was correct.
Nathan beamed. "I told you so."
"Well, since you have the attention span of a squirrel, how about we make this a little interesting?" Haley asked, casting an uneasy glance at the closed bedroom door.
He narrowed his eyes. "Go on…"
Feeling a little daring, Haley took a deep breath and continued, "For every correct answer you get without my help, you get a kiss."
Nathan's brows shot up. "You're kidding, right?"
"Look, I'm not doing this because I want to kiss you or anything. You have to pass this test and for some reason, you can't concentrate so we'll have to do this a different way." Haley explained, trying to keep herself calm.
Her conscience was practically screaming that she was an idiot for even suggesting it but she couldn't bring herself to take it back.
It's just a study tactic. Nothing more than that.
"What's the catch?" Nathan asked slowly.
"No catch."
He still looked uncertain and she waved her hand impatiently. "Will you just get started before I change my mind?"
Haley was so nervous that she didn't even notice that he was finished until he nudged her. She suddenly wished he got at least some wrong.
Oh no… He got all the damned questions right.
She looked up at him. "Good job," was all she managed to say.
"I think this qualifies as a make-out session." Nathan said, cocking his head and grinning slyly.
Then it hit her. "Did you just pretend to have a short attention span so that you could get me to do this?"
He moved closer, stroking her cheek with his thumb. "Now Haley, why would I do such a thing? After all, you suggested it."
Haley was suddenly paralyzed in her seat. "You know me too well, Nathan."
"I know. Sucks, doesn't it?" His lips were merely inches away from hers. He pulled her small frame against his, whispering her name into her ear.
She was trembling slightly as he trailed soft, light kisses from her earlobe down to the side of her neck.
Haley somehow lost herself in his touch because she didn't know how they ended up lying on the couch with him above her.
"I think I'm going to ace that test." He said huskily.
Nathan was just about to kiss her when the highly amused voice of Brooke asked, "What are you two doing?"
Haley immediately pushed him off her, making him fall to the hard floor with a loud thud. "Oh crap! Nathan – I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to – I'm really sorry! Are you okay?" She cried, flustered.
"I'll live, don't worry." He stood up, wincing as a sharp pain shot up his spine. Pretending it was nothing, he checked his watch. "It's getting late anyway, I better get going. See you tomorrow."
Haley tried to hide her disappointment. "Oh. Okay. Good luck on the test."
"Thanks again for your help, Hales. I really appreciate it." Nathan glared at Brooke. "Thanks a lot, Brooke."
"Any time, Nate," she replied sweetly, waving good-bye.
As soon as he was gone, Haley turned to Brooke, who was still smiling. Peyton was standing next to her. She pointed a thumb to Brooke. "Her idea,"
"Brooke!" Haley cried indignantly.
She shrugged, grinning at Peyton. "See, I told you they were going to make out. Hand over the twenty dollars."
Reluctantly, Peyton handed her the money. "I don't know how you do it."
"It's all the experience with guys." Brooke explained confidently.
"You bet on it?!" Haley shrieked.
"Take a chill pill, Tutor Girl. I'm going to share the money," Brooke said defensively. She tossed her hair. "God, I just amaze myself sometimes."
Grinning, she gave Peyton a high-five.
Okay, I'll be honest with you guys. That whole Nathan and Haley "study tactic" thing was really last minute. I just figured that without it, it would just be a chapter of conversations between them and everyone loves a little Naley action (haha, lol). Tell me what you think!