AHHHH! It's bad around here lately... I've been sick and my oldest brother has been home from college, and the middle child (another brother) is going threw some crazy physco rebel thing I dunno. But I feel horrible about the delay SOOOOO! to make it up, next chapter that I post, I will make sure to include DELETED SCENES. You won't know exactly what that entails, but that means you'll have to read the next chapter! Uh, thanks for the reviews, a nice 14. However, if I don't get at least 15, I won't give you any "Up Nexts:" or Shout outs. Which sucks, cause I actually enjoy doing those.
Chapter 13-
Part 2- Something Like That
"Lucas! Shh! It's two a.m!" Brooke giggled as he carried her drunkenly over the threshold. The extra drinks to help get him over his fear of flying were not working in his favor. "You're going to drop me!"
"Oh, you got it, you got it bad, when you're on the phone, hang up-" He sang loudly. Brooke's hand clamped over his mouth.
"Baby. I love you, but you CANNOT sing." She truthfully told him as he set her down.
"I can't?" He pouted, kissing her neck sloppily.
"No." She confirms. He stops kissing her and looks offended.
Brooke giggles at his stubbornness. He walks down the hall, away from Brooke, before stopping, throwing his head back and shouting, "OH! YOU GOT IT, YOU GOT IT BAD!" Brooke ran toward him, jumping onto his back, accomplishing her goal of covering his mouth as they topple over and fall to the floor.
-! -
"Haley!" Nathan shouted into the house, closing the front door behind him. Megan comes barreling down the stairs. Her small, naked body is soaking wet and her curly brown hair is sticking to her head and back.
"Megan Rose, what kind of trouble are you causing today?" He laughs. She lets him pick her up, and she buries her wet body into his dry shirt.
"Save me daddy!" She shivers.
"Megan..." Haley's tired voice comes from the stairs. The front of her shirt is wet and her hair is extremely messy. At the sound of her voice, Megan tightens her hold on Nathan. "Oh, YOU'RE here. Of course." She rolls her eyes, still angry about his impulsive buying last weekend.
"I think I detect a note of distaste." He smirks. She glares in return.
"Yes, you do. Here. You can fight the never-ending battle of trying to bathe her." She bluntly states, handing him a shampoo bottle, then heading into the kitchen.
"How about it Meg, take a bath for your dad?"
Megan looks at him wide-eyed, then shakes her head vigorously. "NO WAY!"
"Oh, yes way"
"No!" She wailed, struggling to get away. Failing miserably, she resorted to crying.
"Don't you dare give into the crying, Nathan. She's taking that bath." Haley calls from the kitchen, just as he was about to let her down.
"God, she's good." Nathan laughed in surprise. Megan gave him a 'you're telling me look.' as he carried her back up the steps.
-.-.
Haley was drying off dishes when he finally came back down. His hair was messily sticking up in all directions and his eyes didn't hide his frustration.
"Does it always take that long?"
"Unfortunately. She's afraid of the drain." Haley laughed.
"I noticed. So, uh. There's a reason that I came here..."
"Nathan... I don't really want to talk about it right now."
"It has nothing to do with that." He was sure he saw her sigh in relief.
"Alright, what?"
"I need your help with the house. I don't know what to put where or what colors would look good or whatever. You're kinda my last option, Brooke hates me, Peyton is still off somewhere with Jake, my mom is gone for the day, Karen is at the café of course, so..."
"I don't know, Nathan, I have a lot I need to do today."
"..A lot that you couldn't do tomorrow, or the next day? Please Hales. The painters come tomorrow and I need to be able to tell them the colors."
"If I were to go, what would we do with Megan? There's no way she'd be entertained."
"My dad?" He shrugged after thinking and ruling out every other possible person. Part of Nathan wanted to trust his father, but he couldn't help but think this whole 'nice guy' thing was temporary. Even if temporary meant almost five years.
"Jake, don't you think we should be getting back?" I have my drawings due, and I really miss Jenny." Peyton aks, glancing over at their beside clock and folding up her newspaper.
"I guess. But how about we go home tonight. We'll spend the day here." He proposed.
"Sounds good." She smiled, pulling herself out of bed, placing a small kiss on his lips. She traveled to the bathroom, but stopped at the door, leaning on the frame. "Jake?"
"Yeah?"
"Nothing's going to change between us, right?" She prayed. "Because, this might sound weird, but I like us, like we are now I mean, and I'm not cool with being the next in line at divorce court."
"They aren't us, Peyton. Marriage isn't going to change how we act around each other. It'll just make everything more of a formality, I guess. Like, instead of our mail being Miss. Peyton Sawyer and Mr. Jake Jageilski, it'll just be Mr. And Mrs. Jake Jagielski."
Peyton turned her head to one side. "Who ever said I wanted your last name?" She smiled before turning around quickly and turning on the shower.
"I love you." Lucas mumbled as Brooke stirred on top of him.
"I love you, too." She whispered back, kissing his chest lightly. The phone rang next to them and Brooke answered, muttering a hello.
"Brooke?" Deb's voice sounded.
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry if I woke you, I didn't think you'd be home, I was going to just leave a message, but anyways, I was calling to tell you guys that we will be having breakfast tomorrow at our home."
"Okay, we'll be there. Thanks Deb." Brooke responded.
"See you then."
"Bye."
"What did Deb want?" Lucas asked.
"We're going to breakfast tomorrow morning."
"Alright, but you made the appointment with Ob/GYN for tomorrow." He reminded.
"It's not until two, I still have my class so I made it for later." Brooke told him. Lucas groaned.
"Tell me again why you needed to take the Saturday morning class?"
"It's the only time you can take that class."
"But, you could've taken something else."
"God, you're such a whiner. Why did I marry you again?"
"So you could finally call Haley your sister."
"Oh yeah... I guess having a hot guy every night isn't too bad either." She shrugged.
"Having you is extraordinary." He told her, rolling over, attacking her neck with his lips and she giggled crazily.
-
"It's," Haley paused, eyes scanning the house as she walked in, "big."
Nathan chuckled behind her. "It just seems like that because there isn't any furniture."
"It's still about three times the size of my house." She muttered.
"Alright, so do you want the grand tour or-" He started.
"How did the people move out so quickly?" She asked, cutting him off as she opened the closest door: closet.
"They were already packed. The guy said his daughter who lives in Boston got terminal cancer and they wanted to spend as much time as possible with her. Whether or not it sold, they were leaving."
"That's horrible. I can't imagine knowing my child was dying." She shuddered.
"Yeah, pretty harsh." He whispered.
"So tour?" He asked, cleaning his throat.
"Uh, yeah. Sure." She muttered, following him down a hallway.
& & &
Jake drummed his finger against his leg rhythmically. Peyton never took very long to dress, so why was she taking so long today?
"Peyton?" He called. "You finished yet?"
"Sorry, I just want to look good for our last day." She informed him.
"You always look beautiful, Peyton, but we need to go if we are ever going to make it home before it gets too late."
"Where are we going?" She asked, opening the bathroom door and stepping out. "Wait, let me guess another surprise?"
"Wow, Peyton, you look amazing." He confirmed, eyeing her over.
"Thank you. So, we're going where, exactly?"
"Oh, uh, yeah, it's a surprise." He said, snapping back into reality. "Let's go."
He led her out of the hotel and told her to wait by the door. He returned a few moments later with his car and he jogged around the front to help her in.
"You sure you don't want to tell me where we're going?" Peyton pestered, not even five minutes into their side.
"Positive. Now, you can just sit quietly and enjoy the scenery."
About thirty minutes later, they pulled up to a quiet little lake, with weeping willow trees off to the side and a rolling mountain backdrop. There was a lonely picnic table placed on the sand at the edge of the lake.
"Oh, Jake, it's perfect."
"A perfect picnic," he told her, pulling the picnic basket out of the trunk, "for a perfect woman."
"No one is perfect, Jake." She laughed.
"Yeah, but I love your imperfections so much you're perfect to me." He said, extending his arm so she could hook hers threw it.
& & &
"This... is your room?" Haley stuttered, flabbergasted at the expansive room before her.
"Yeah. I don't need your help picking out stuff for my room or anything." He told her proudly.
"Everything's so... white." She commented.
"So? It's not like I'm going to be in here much." He shrugged.
"But don't you want warm, relaxing colors so when you are here, you're comfortable?" She asked, sitting down on his bed.
He smirked knowingly, "Lay down Haley."
"Why? You aren't going to try and rape me or anything?" She joked.
"Shut up, and just lay back." He laughed.
"Woah." She expressed in shock. "This bed is like heaven"
"Yeah, I know. So you can see why I don't really need you making my room warm and inviting or whatever bull crap those room make-over shows are constantly trying to sell."
"I like those shows." She grumbled, still not making any attempt to move off the bed.
"Said the woman who has episodes of The Wiggles on DVD." He teased, laying down next to her.
"Those are Megan's, and you know it!" She defended.
"Yeah, kinda like your stash of chocolate pudding is for Megan too." He chuckled.
"It is!" She exclaimed. "Are you calling me a liar, Nathan Scott?"
"Maybe. What are you going to do about it?" He antagonized.
"This!" She yelled, hitting his face directly with one of his pillows.
"Hey!" He yelled in surprise, rolling over to tickle her.
"S-S-Stop! Nathan!" She shrieked as he attacked her sides.
"Say Uncle!" He shouted over her giggles.
"Never!"
"Say it!" He commanded playfully, moving one hand to tickle her foot. "Say it."
"Okay, okay... U-uncle!" She laughed, completely out of breath. He smirked and rolled back over, listening as her breathing returned to normal. He couldn't stop thinking about how easy everything felt between them. It was like, together, they just knew how to be... them. They sat it silence for a moment before Nathan spoke up.
"I meant what I said, Haley." He admitted quietly.
"You meant what? -That I don't need to decorate your room? Or that I'm childish?- because!"
"That I love you." He corrected, "All the stuff I said last Saturday." He turned his head to see her reaction. Her shoulders slumped visibly and she let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.
"Nathan..." She groaned.
"Don't go all Lucas on me. Just hear me out, okay?" She rolled her eyes, but sat up with him and nodded.
"Look, Haley. I know I was wrong. About, pretty much everything." He sighed, turning his shoulders to look in her eyes.
"But that night... that my dad called and told me you were pregnant, so many horrible thoughts about why you weren't the one to tell me ran threw my head, I didn't know if I'd ever go back. Not just home, but back to where I was in my life even two seconds before I answered the phone. I mean, that first year, my life, it was like, out of control. I couldn't stop." He paused before continuing. "My lifestyle was like before I met you, just a million times worse. I mean, I sincerely believed that I was better than the people that were around me, and not in that good 'Believe in yourself' kind of way. The kind of way that destroys people."
Haley's eyes were full of worry and care as he swallowed. "I told you once that basketball was my way out. Back then I meant out of Tree Hill, and that part was true. But in college, in sucked me back in. I'll never forget this one home game that year. The feeling, it was electric and, and exhilarating. I was so zoned in that night, how, I don't even know, but I was. And there was nineteen seconds left, and Syracuse had the ball. They held onto it since they were up by two, but this show-off punk tried to pull off some crazy shot, I blocked it, and knocked down a three pointer at the buzzer. After that game, people knew me, or knew of me and wanted to be with me. I feel into this routine I had pretty much perfected. Basketball and school in the day, parties at night. Yeah, and sticking with the honest deal going on, I'll tell you I don't remember what or uh..who I did most nights.. Except this one girl."
The expression on Haley's face turned to panic, but he didn't seem to notice. "I remember her, because she kneed me in the balls, and called me a jackas.s."
"Why did she do that?" Haley snorted in laughter.
"Because I compared her to you, like I did with every other girl. I told her wearing so much make up made her look easy. Which, all of the girls at those parties were, so it's not like a breaking story or anything. Anyways, after a while the parities got old, routines got old, I skipped classes to sleep, my grades fell drastically, my game started to get gradually worse. But, like I said, I couldn't stop it. It continued for a long time. It was expected of me. No one cared that I was obviously hurting myself, as long as game night I was perfect."
"Then..." She tried, not hiding the concern in her voice.
"THEN, I collapsed from exhaustion during my junior year at a practice. I was in the hospital for like three days I think."
"Lucas came to visit you, didn't he?"
"Yeah. He was there for like two days or something."
"He told us he had a meeting with a scout there or something like that. It makes sense now... so what happened after that?"
"I couldn't practice for a week, and I missed two games."
"I wondered why you weren't playing."
"You were watching?" He smirked.
"Well, yeah. That web-broadcast thing on the internet is a pretty sweet thing. I could watch whenever I wanted to, and fast forward when you guys were losing. So, you learned your lesson right? No more partying?" She smiled.
"I can't say I never partied after that, but I was able to use it as an excuse out of partying ever night. My grades went back up, my game improved, everything was going better..." He told her. "But.. I couldn't get over how much I regretted not coming home. Everything would've been so much better."
Haley shook her head. "Nathan, there's a reason I didn't want to talk about this. It's not because I'm mad or didn't want to hear it or anything. I just.. I feel guilty."
"Guilty! Of what?"
"Nathan, I didn't call you myself because I didn't want you giving up your dreams for me. You worked your whole life to play college ball-"
"But I could've played at Duke, Haley. I would've been with you."
"But then you would have wondered for the rest of your life if you would have been good enough to play at UCLA. And I feel guilty because I've been angry at you all this time for not coming home, when I know I would've wanted you to stay there. I really would've. So maybe, either way this is where we might have ended up."
"You mean separated?" He laughed bitterly.
"I mean starting over."
Up Next: Chapter 14 Part ONE- Are We Going Up?
Guess who's back, back again!
Deb's Breakfast- Let's hope theres no concussions this time!
Lucas/ Brooke/ Baby? News from the doctor's office desk
DELETED SCENES
Shout Outs:
Nicolec: Is your name Nicole, I bet it is. My best friend's name is nicole. If your name isn't Nicole, you are a really horrible screen name picker outer.Anyways, your review. It's funny how I picked the title to the story, actually,it's not funny, it weird. Isuck at picking out titles, I never think they're good enough, but Ihadthe flu, and there was a marathon on for BradyBunch, and my clicker broke, and I was too lazy to get off the couch, so I watched the horror anyways, and Isaw the smiles and I kinda wished my life was a little more smiley, kinda likeI figured Haley would. Also, the house buying thing wasn't really from The Notebook, even though its amazing, but It does seem rather like that, doesn't it?
RoseRowsOnce again, I need to apologize for upsetting you in the lateness of my update, I suck, I know. But, today is Friday the 13th. Yeah, I know, no importance what so ever really right? But my day sucked royally so its weird that I felt like typing 7 and a half pages out of my notebook. You'll find out just what happend on the hooneymoon soon enough. And I hope you are able to figure out what's going to happen with Naley. Thanks for the faithful reviews as always. Much love.
Miki012: He he he... you are a good little mischeif maker aren't you? Proposing fighting? Shame on you... that's not going to happen at all. Please stop trying to predict things that are going to happen. I mean not. Review again please.
2060mipy: I really enjoy reading your review, notonly because I always think it's funny that no matter what I do, Nathan is still the bad guy. Especially since, I think exactly the same way.But also that you always make me think ofways to improve their family. How you do this? Not sure, but youdo.And I loved the Nathan- house storyline.Review again so that I can think of more stuff.
Mr4ever: I know, my story is amazing, but let's be honest here, Mr 4ever, you just wanted a fly message like everyone else. Selfish motives.. I kinda like you.
MTG4U: I don't know if you remember, but I once asked you where your name came from. And omg, I totally saw it. I was in alocal cd store looking for I can't even remember what, and I saw Mind The Gap andstarted laughing, and all my friends werelike "whatare you doing?" Anyways, thought I'dshare that with you,I loved writing the Jeyton stuff, and Im glad you liked it.
So, if you didn't notice, I only send Shout Outs or Fly Messages, whatever I feel like calling them, to people who give me reviews better than "Great. Update soon" At least 2 full lines here people.