Well, this is a much longer chapter, but didn't take too much time to write it. It took quite some time to get it to be the way I wanted. Comic, tragic, but full of hope. (Or not.. you tell me, PLEASE!!!)
OBS: Since this story is AU, I used a certain plot twist with other characters as you'll realize. I hope it won't suck for you guys. Actually, it sucked for me to have my favorite couple going through such a lame storyline.
OBS 2: There's a party (yeah, another one..) and I'm not sure you've ever seen a party with people dressed as the characters are going to be and for those reasons. Anyway, if you've watched The O.C, you've probably seen them throwing parties to raise funds all the time. We do it here too like 4 or 5 times a year because we run an organization for 120 kids with no resources; But back to the subject, the bash I've created in this chapter is the same one my sister and I organized last year, but with VERY different outfits.
OBS 3: The first 3 lines I "borrowed" from an article I read from Carol D. and I'll give the link to anyone who wants it.
Moving on...
Court, I'm a pain, right? Lol.. Thanks for the attention and great job and just read the ending again. The part I sent you yesterday. I've kind of changed the outcome and I hope you won't be mad I didn't send it before. I just changed it NOW!
HJS-NS-23, as always, thanks for replying and keep reading!!! The frienship will work out eventually (there are some changes coming during the 10th chapter, but I'm not going to spoil it. Still, keep in mind that this goes years into the future, so there are lots of changes).
troryrogan, it IS a tear jerker hehe.. Thanks for this reply! It means a LOT and you know, today I just read something in a story that I hadn't read in a long time, but it's been updated, and the thing is I have this story entirely planned, but the person used the same tear jerker idea I had...It was amazingly written, but ghrrr...
mistydm, I'm so happy you're not just reading fluff!!!! And in fact, I'm rethinking one detail of the future dynamics because of you and your replies! Don't want to disappoint you hehe..
JJC, LMAO... I agree with throwing him away! And watch out for Haley sticking for herself!
Krizue, the family reunion is about... hm... 5 chaps away, but don't worry, I planned that too. And Haley'll kick ass in this chap so I hope you'll like it as much I liked writing it. Thanks for all of your words!!!
Naley, again, your reviews make me SOOO happy. Hm.. Mad Brooke's so fun to write, but right now, I'm having trouble writing 'chapter 10 Brooke'. She's still the strong one, but she's having to form some weird bonds. About Pathan, don't worry 'cause they don't exist in my book. They're friends and will remain like that. I see them more like siblings than anything. And about that being heartbreaker, I think you should read this chapter.
Moving on again...
Chapter 9
Having a best friend is much like finding your true love. It may not happen to everyone, but if you're lucky, you'll find a best friend who you can hang out with, confide in, and fulfill any emptiness that isn't being filled. Having ONE of those is a huge bonus in life! Having two, like Haley, means someone up there cares about you deeply, wishes you nothing but the best, but wants you to work double!
A friendship goes both ways: You confide in and have your emptiness fulfilled, but you have to listen in return, to fulfill the other one's void... In general, it's an intensive load of work, can be intellectually fatiguing, but you'd never trade it for the word!
That, until out of the blue, your supposed to be best buddy decide to 'pitch in' and help a third person organize a social gathering you'd rather die than attend. But then, what can you do? This is your best friend: you'll put a smile on your face and you'll be there, regardless of your sentiments on the environment and its guests. Also, you'll shove your anger down your throat and hear every possible information related to decorations, catering service, location, outfits and everything else that comes with the undesired package. That was Haley's current situation, courtesy of her best girlfriend Brooke Penelope Davis.
"What about this one?" Brooke asked the same question she had been tormenting Haley and Lucas with over the last hour and a half as they walked from flower to flower, driving the 'intolerant' florist to madness.
"It's exquisite." Haley mumbled, tugging her coat tighter around her slim body, evidently feeling cold, but also sick of looking at those nature's jewelries, as Brooke had so highly pointed.
"Amazing." Lucas agreed, speaking through chattering teeth, freezing due to not wearing a sweater and to the lack of heating of the room where the flowers were being store in a low temperature.
"Do Beavis and Butthead know any other words other than amazing, nice, perfect, beautiful, exquisite and the entire BS you've been telling me since we got here?" Brooke inquired rudely, over-analyzing the last flowers she'd been shown and causing Haley to fight the urge to roll her eyes before giving her an answer.
"What if we've liked every flower you've shown us?"
"Oh, please! Are you taking me for a fool? We all have been informed that you hate pink, Tutor Girl. In fact, I have a wall at home painted in that very same color simply because it's the one you despise so much. How dare you look me in the eye and tell me those pink flowers over there were the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?"
"Busted!" Lucas mouthed, turning to Haley and offering her his best supportive look.
"Why did you come if you were going to be a pain? I never forced you to come, Haley." Brooke expressed her resentment with her voice strained and exhausted.
"You kind of forced ME, pretty girl." Lucas interjected, teasing his almost officially exclusive girlfriend.
"Only because you've forced me to go to that wretched library with you. Ugh... it smells SO funky!" She muttered, directing her gaze back to the not collaborative Haley. "What's your excuse, Tutor Girl? Why haven't you stayed home and choose to come here to face something as horrific as your death?"
"Er..."
"I'm waiting." Brooke scolded, folding her arms to her chest, staring strictly at her friend and driving Lucas to cover his mouth with one hand, muffling his laughter. Watching his two petite preciosities fighting was completely and totally hilarious; he could not help it. "I'm not getting any younger, Tutor Girl." Brooke pressured, allowing a tired sigh to escape her pouty lips.
"Fine! I'm here because I owe you big time for sticking up for me and the least I can do is give you a hand with Bev's party." Haley confessed impulsively, doing her best to mend the damage of the situation she was in without success.
Brooke's response was a head shake and a grimace, as if she was feeling the sharpest of pains. She couldn't simply accept Haley's motives. They were nonsense.
"You don't owe me a thing, Haley. I did what I did without expecting anything in return. Isn't that what friends are supposed to do? Just 'cause I have a constantly twisted relationship with P. Sawyer doesn't mean I don't know a thing about a healthy friendship. Damn you, people! You're always underestimating me."
"It's not like that, Brooke." Haley reprimanded, eliciting a heavy sigh.
"Haley, let's just pick out flowers. We're less than 48 hours from the party and I can't shake the feeling that nothing is as it was supposed to be. The painters are not out of the Merski's mansion yet, we haven't finished the decoration, Mrs. Merski's not back from her last hour visit to her father ... Lets just decide on which flower will suit the place and go try out our clothes. I can't trust the guys from that shop; they're no Brooke Davis."
"Then why have you refused to stay in charge of our outfits, pretty girl? You said you would after the last disaster, if I'm not mistaken." Lucas declared, recollecting the Haley versus Peyton dress confusion momentum minutes before Keith's bash.
"Because it was either our outfits or decorations, catering service, invitations... I'm one single person, Broody." Brooke threw her hands in the air in frustration and marched to the next flowers. "I can't do it all by myself and I can safely say you're not doing a great job helping me rush things."
"I just don't understand why you've agreed to organize this thing." Haley ranted, following Brooke's angry steps.
"Have you met Bev's mom, Haley?" Brooke questioned her grumpy friend. "You don't say no to her; not after she's chaperoned every party you and your friends threw when you were younger, not after she's taken all of your best friends to Disney World when your parents were too lazy and finding excuses not to do it, not after she's had Peyton and I at her house during two entire summers because those same parents weren't around..."
"I got the picture, Brooke." Haley interrupted, regretting her last comment after realizing how important Bevin's mother was to the brunette.
"I hope she's back by tomorrow. She's insisted on not postponing, but what if she misses it? She's always dreamed about Bev's sweet sixteen, which was the best party I've ever helped plan, and her eighteenth birthday."
"But there's one thing I don't get, Brooke: It's Bevin's party. How come she isn't helping you out?"
"Because she's Bevin? I love her and she's not the brainless girl you all think she is, but making huge decisions is not really her thing. Plus, her parents want her to have fun and not worry about anything at all."
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I haven't seen her having a problem when deciding on that stupid theme." Haley muttered; There was plain indignation all over her delicate features.
"Get it over with, Haley. I was the one who gave her the idea when I came back from LA and told her all about a party I had attended which had the same theme. And I'm sorry, but I don't get the constant complaints; The costume I got you makes you look bitching. I'm the one dressing like a man and Luke's the one wearing black make-up to cover up his cute little face, not to mention he's also pretending to have a shaved head; all you have to do is wear a wig. I really don't see the big confusion for you to be playing drama queen."
"Yeah, she's got an outstanding idea for the three of us, Hales. And she's right; you're not making a HUGE sacrifice." Lucas spoke through chattering teeth one more time, rubbing his hands on his arms, attempting to warm them up.
"Fine, the dress is cute, but I AM making a huge sacrifice for you, Brooke, and you're worth it, but I don't like going to this party. I'll have to look at Dan Scott and company, who's been invited God knows why, and I'll have to wear another costume and be reminded of the Halloween's fiasco."
"God, you're a whiner. Be a good sport, Haley, just for once." Brooke implored her.
They were discussing their issues distractedly until the tired and frustrated florist cleared her throat, TWICE.
Brooke studied the old lady's enraged expression for a few seconds, but dropped it as her eyes traveled around the room, resting on the orchids opposite to where she was standing.
"We'll take 28 dozens of white ones and 14 dozens of the light purple ones." She informed the annoyed supplier.
"504 flowers?" Haley asked rather quickly, surprised nonetheless.
"Jeez, you're quite the mathematician, cranky girl". Brooke mocked her.
"She's managed to get Nathan not to flunk, Brooke. She's good!" Lucas said casually, giving Haley credit for her almost impossible achievement.
"Pft..." Haley emitted the ugliest sound, making her friends aware of the fact that she was not in the mood to discuss the guy who she had been superbly avoiding over the past month after their practically fatal confrontation at the beach.
"Can we go now?" Lucas requested, furrowing his eyebrows expectantly, and with his lips almost the same color of some of Brooke's light purple orchids because of the cold he was feeling.
"Aren't you asking me why I've chosen white and purple?" Brooke complained; their lack of interest on her smart choice was incredibly frustrating.
"Why have you chosen light purple and white, Cheery?" Lucas made an effort to please her without giving it as much thought as she wanted him to.
"Never mind. Why do I bother bringing you losers?" Brooke whispered to herself, heading out of the room, proceeding to the register, intending to pay the load of money she owned the florist and to provide the woman the instructions of how and when she wanted it delivered.
30 minutes later
Standing in front of the mirror, Brooke finished marking every possible detail she disliked in her manly black pants and suit, in Lucas' black ship captain outfit and in Haley's fancy, but antique dark purple dress.
"You see, you boneheads, why I picked those flowers? They're supposed to form a contrast with our clothes."
"This dress is so elegant." Haley revealed, staring at her own reflection. "I won't take back what I said about the theme, I truly hated the Halloween party, but this is awesome and I don't look slutty as I did the last time."
"You were sexy, not slutty." Brooke rolled her eyes, solemnly correcting Haley for the millionth time.
"Let's not get into that. We have different concepts and I've accepted it." Haley meekly replied, putting an end to the subject without sounding rudely.
"Can't I go like this, wear the clothes and that's it? Do I really have to apply that ink all over my face?"
Brooke groaned, but Haley could only laugh at Lucas' attempt to forge the character Brooke terribly wanted him to play.
"It's not ink, Broody, it's make-up and you're wearing it! You were the one lecturing Haley just five minutes ago and you already know Brooke Davis does not accept anything other than perfection. The make-up IS a requirement to reach that."
"Seeing as Brooke Davis is the bossy one, she should be wearing the captain's clothes." Lucas remarked in the snarkiest of ways.
"Don't deny it, honey. You find bossy Brooke sexy." Brooke told him huskily, standing on her toes and approaching his ear.
"And I'm so throwing up." Haley grieved, crinkling her nose at the exchange happening right in front of her. "Haven't we established not to discuss anything sexual related to the two of you in my presence? Ughhh.., I'm going to go change and ask the salesgirl to pack my dress. Keep your hands to yourselves!"
"But the dress not ready! You have to let them finish it." Brooke's perfectionist spirit demanded.
"I'll fix this at home. I'm not coming back here and risking running into my former 'family' members." Haley mockingly quoted the word family with her delicate fingers.
"I'll come and pick it up for you." Lucas offered, chuckling at this new rebellious Haley's antics.
"In that case..." Haley contemplated Lucas' offer, smiling and instantly accepting it.
Two days later...
The Merski residence had no vestige of the painters. This time, an experienced cleaning staff had left the house flawless, and Brooke's classy and unique decoration, with flowers and glowing lights, was forming a contemporary atmosphere, yet warm and personal.
The waiters and waitresses were dressed as Jeannie and Major Anthony Nelson, from the 60's show "I dream of Jeannie". It was either that uniform, or they'd be dressed as Danny Zulco and Sandy Olsson, also known as John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John from 'Grease'. Brooke had been merciful with the group, but the waitresses hated her nonetheless for making them wear Jeannie's dowdy veil with their hair up.
"Oh my God, Peyton, you're Shirley Patridge." Brooke reached her friend, basically making a scandal for everyone to notice them, and hugged the girl dressed as the perfect mother of the five kids of 'The Patridge Family', the 70's show that had lasted only four years because of many issues going on with the cast such as one of the co-stars' sudden drug addiction.
"And you're...?" Peyton foolishly questioned, unable to distinguish Brooke's character, driving the brunette girl, who was dressed like a man, together with her undying effort to look perfect, to disappointment.
Glancing around, Brooke realized the ones who completed her outfit were missing, and Peyton couldn't help but to show Brooke her puzzled expression.
"Come with me, will ya?" Brooke requested, grabbing Peyton by the arm and dragging Mrs. Patridge to hunt Lucas and Haley down.
Minutes passed until Brooke finally found her companion at the Merski's hall, having an entertaining chat with Skills and Bevin, or right now, Wonder Woman and The Green Lantern.
"Oh!!! You're the most gorgeous Wonder Woman ever, birthday girl." Brooke yelled at her friend in excitement, once again not bothering about the distance between them and the amount of people watching the interaction.
"IAGOOOOO!!!" Bevin summoned Brooke from afar.
"You see? People say Bev's stupid, but at least she knows who I am." Brooke whispered to Peyton, without wiping the smile off of her face and walking to the encounter of the party owner and the ones around her.
"Iago?" Peyton silently asked herself, searching in her head the piece of information she seemed to be missing.
"You're clueless, aren't you, P. Sawyer?" Brooke gave Peyton a condescending look before the blond one stared at Lucas and Haley, finally comprehending who they were and most importantly, why they were dressed as Othello, Iago and Desdemona, Shakespeare's own version of Greek tragedy.
That moment, Peyton came to a halt, forcing Brooke to look back at her. Mrs. Patridge couldn't avoid glaring at Iago and his not at all subtle manners.
"I can't believe you did this, Brooke. Why mess with success?" Peyton was pissed off, but Brooke's only careless response was a wicked grin before resuming her walk towards her destination, with Peyton's exasperated words following her trail.
Reaching her friends, Brooke gave her Bevin a 'happy birthday' hug and greeted Skills, who, in her point of view, looked absolutely fantastic.
"I still don't get the Green Lantern deal, Skills. Wonder Woman was indeed the most ridiculous superhero ever created, but the Green Lantern? I don't see anything wrong with him." Haley, wearing her luxurious dress and long brunette curled wig, inquired her friend, excessively curious to understand his choice of clothes.
"Dawg, come on, think!" Skills pushed her, rubbing her head in a playful manner. "He was the Superman slash Batman wannabe. He's the one who's ruined the cartoon for me; Kind of like Robin ruined Batman's movies."
"Agreed." Lucas, now as a black bald man, nodded, intrigued by Peyton's disturbed expression.
"What's up with you, Mrs. Patridge? We just ran into Laurie, Tracy, Chris and Cassidy out there and they seemed to be out of trouble. Can't say the same about Keith Patridge, the big hit of the family." Lucas scorned, referring to Theresa, Rachel, Tim, Vegas and Nathan, the one who'd been elected by his friends to dress as Keith, one of the sexual symbols of the decade in which the show had been exhibited.
"Excuse us, our parents want to show us around." Bevin spotted her mother waving at her. "And Lucas, you actually convinced me as a black guy, but you're not nearly as cute as my Skills." She laughed, amusing Lucas, Brooke and Haley while Peyton was still absorbing Lucas' remark concerning Nathan. Once the couple was gone, the blond young woman closed the circle and scratched her head near her temple with the palm of her hand. She was confused and more than bothered.
"Should I worry about your comment?" Peyton asked Lucas, tired of watching out for Nathan and the damage his current explosive temper had been causing around school. Only this time, he was not only mad about Haley. There were other factors.
"He was yelling at Dustin and Jabbar out there, but there's nothing new to it, is there?" Lucas reflected, recollecting the latest team fights he had chosen not to take part and to ignore altogether.
"Wait until he comes to realization of your costumes. Another night bound to disaster!" Peyton voiced her concern out loud.
"But honey, the goal of our outfits is not to piss Nathan off. Tonight is all about the Merskis' honor guest: Mayor Scott, the man who made me break my nails cleaning after the mess we've managed to keep under-covered. Do you think the man's ever heard about thanking people? It's good for the soul."
"But that would require having one, Brooke." Lucas said, joking about Dan's lack of conscience, feelings and every humanly possible emotion.
"It might be about Dan, but it offends Nathan all the same, Brooke. You think he won't get the message? We all read the book to literature class last year. We all know Iago abuses his position of loyalty to undermine and destroy Othello's happiness with Desdemona, the loving and innocent wife." Peyton pondered, predicting the Greek tragedy that was yet to come.
"Nathan's going to be bothered if he's to blame for Othello's blindness, P. Sawyer." Brooke notified her anxious friend, who could only wish for the night to end before the madness could take place. What if Nathan decided to pull a Dan and trash Bevin's house? He said he wouldn't become his father, but these days, no one could tell if he was still trying to keep those words.
"Then he'll be bothered." Lucas half-smiled as Haley just stood there quietly, preferring to keep her feelings in regards to Nathan to herself.
"Couldn't you have found other ridiculous characters to portrait? Look around you guys, there are the Robinsons from 'Lost in Space's' latest version, there are..."
"No one's as classy as we are, P. Sawyer. We're honoring Shakespeare." Brooke cut her off harshly. "Now can't you just say we look wonderful so that we can choose another topic of discussion? I don't care what Nathan thinks. Fact is, if it was my party, I'd allow people to dress as famous ridiculous characters, but also as real people. We'd probably be dressed as the Scotts of the other wrong side of the family! Dude, my family's pathetic, but we don't get to each other's throats every ten minutes. Deb, Dan and Nathan are the most ridiculous family that's ever existed and period. But, I'm glad we couldn't dress as them because as Othello, Desdemona and Iago, we also get to state our feelings towards Nathan being a coward and listening to Dan instead of Haley when he had the chance."
"Just to make it clear, I only dressed as Desdemona because you've asked me to. I don't give a shit about Nathan or Dan." Haley said louder than she should without noticing Nathan was passing by, his face belligerent because of the verbal fight that had taken place in Bevin's gardens.
Hearing more of Haley's stabbing words only made it worse. It had affected him more than usual, after all he was already mad, and unavoidably he was Dan at Keith's party, despite his best efforts. He needed a drink to forget, immediately!
Where was Tim, the clone of Chris Patridge, and his brother with the hidden bottles of vodka?
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Around midnight, with the party in full swing, Lucas started presenting flew symptoms, probably caused from spending two hours in the coldest room on Earth as Brooke picked out what he secretly called it to be 'Brooke's stupid orchids'.
"Come on, Broody, let's get you upstairs, give you some medicine and get you in bed."
"I'd rather go home, pretty girl." Lucas coughed, sweating and looking almost as the same color as Skills, only now if compared to his Green Lantern costume.
"I don't know if you've noticed, but there are about thirty cars blocking yours."
"Fine, upstairs it is. I just don't get how the security and valet team failed to show up."
"For the tenth time, every Tree Hill service was booked! Let me just tell Haley where we'll be; She's over there." Brooke showed Lucas where their friend was, but he barely even saw her. He was too sick to even begin to move and was planning on sitting on the stairs for the rest of the night.
"Tutor Girl, have you taken the flew shot I told you to take?" Brooke asked her friend, who seemed to be having genuine fun talking to Mouth, Junk and Fergie, the funniest 'Three Stooges'.
"Not yet?" Haley hesitated before gracing Brooke with her response.
"You and Broody are so dumb sometimes!" Brooke exclaimed. "Do me a favor and don't go near him. He's got a fever and I'm taking him to one of the guest bedrooms. If anything happens you just meet me upstairs, alright?"
"Sure." Haley nodded, spotting Lucas' body sprawled on the stairs, and feeling tremendously guilty over the fact she was having a blast at the party she didn't want to attend while her best buddy seemed to be agonizing. "You're going to take care of him, right? Because I can call Karen or Keith and..."
"I will." Brooke assured her friend, tranquilizing her. "And you be careful down here. Danny Junior's drunk, if you get what I mean." And with those words, Brooke walked away, leaving Haley and the boys alone to continue ignoring Nathan's lack of sobriety.
"Mouth, as I was saying..." Fergie restarted the subject, harassing Mouth and his silly crush on Shelly, the fake Clean Teen who'd been around.
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Hours later, at three in the morning, all the invited grown ups had said their goodbyes and Bevin's parents had retired themselves to the comfort of their bedroom. The teenagers were all alone and most of them were starting to get tipsy. Tim's older brother was on the house, supplying booze to anyone interested, no questions asked, no ids needed.
"HURRY UP, FIGHT!" A girl poked her head inside the enormous living-room, narrating the event happening outside. "TAYLOR AND SCOTT ARE GOING TO BEAT THE HELL OUT OF DUSTIN AND JABBAR." The girl announced, having Haley's full attention after the pronunciation of Nathan's and Skills' last names. She tried not to care, but sometimes she couldn't help herself.
"Shit..." She cursed, jumping from her seat on the couch with Fergie, Junk and Mouth quickly following behind.
As they got to the gardens, they saw Nathan's eyes flashing with hate and his fist connecting to Jabbar's jaw. They also got the vision of Skills, kicking Dustin repeatedly on the stomach abd screaming the words 'HOW COULD YOU?' several times. Bevin and Peyton were aside, supplicating for them to stop.
With Jabbar on the floor and Nathan on the eminence of repeating Skills' actions, Fergie, Mouth and Junk called out for Tim and Vegas and got in the middle, holding Nathan and Skills in place, preventing them from continuing the aggression before they terminated both boys' lives.
Mouth and Vegas were the ones around Skills as Tim, Junk and Fergie were around Nathan, who was mustering all of his wrath to violently release himself from their grip.
"LET GO OF ME." Nathan, beyond the state of drunkenness but still amazingly mad screamed hysterically, trying to get the six hands off of him. "THEY DESERVE IT, DAMN IT! THEY'RE SHAVING POINTS IN EXCHANGE OF MONEY."
"You mean they compromised the integrity of the game?" Mouth, the die hard basketball fan was taken aback, but was still holding Skills. Tim, on the other hand, was going ballistic and not only had let go of Nathan, but was almost attacking Jabbar by himself.
"THAT'S ENOUGH. EITHER YOU STOP THIS OR I'M CALLING THE COPS." Haley threatened loudly, fully aware that it was the only way to make them stop.
"SHUT UP, HALEY." Nathan yelled, providing her with his worst glare.
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?" She desperately questioned, hoping she had heard the wrong words.
"I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP. NO ONE NEEDS SAINT HALEY TO SAVE THE DAY."
"COME AGAIN?" She still doubted.
"YOU HEARD ME, BITCH".
"OH, YOU HAVE NOT SAID THAT!" Haley yelled with her anger consuming her.
Making room to pass in the middle of the multitude of people, she marched towards her drunken estranged husband. The boys had let go of him and he was giving her a challenging look until the moment she did what he was defying her to do: She slapped his face with all of her strength!
He never moved an inch. Instead, he stared fiercely at the enraged girl, daring her to repeat the gesture which at this point she had no problem in doing. "TAKE IT BACK, YOU SON OF A bitch." She order him with authority.
"OH, MY GOD, I GET WHY YOU'RE ANGRY. I CALLED YOU A BITCH AND IT WAS NO MISTAKE. I forgot to say you are my bitch, babe!" He said, whispering the last part of his nasty comment.
It didn't take more! Haley slapped him again on the same cheek and furiously took him by his elbow, dragging him to Bevin's pool house as quickly as possible.
Behind them they left a dumbfounded crowd including people with the most different reactions.
For instance, Skills: He was no longer worrying about the game, but about Nathan's life; it was stupid, but he feared Haley would murder him inside those four walls.
As for Peyton, she was concentrated, thinking about the irony of the Murphy's law, a popular adage in Western culture, most often cited as 'Whatever can go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst possible time.' After all, there was nothing worst than a heated argument between estranged spouses with one of them being extremely drunk.
From the time she had ran into Brooke, Lucas and Haley, she had known the night was doomed to have a terrible ending, just like Othello's had been.
So much for Brooke's theory... The third time was NOT the fatal one!
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"You DO NOT SPEAK!" Haley warned Nathan as they entered the bathroom, purest rage in her eyes. Her telling him not to utter a sound was one of the things that was becoming part of their routine.
"IF YOU DO, I'LL GRAB ONE OF THOSE LAMPS, SEVERELY HURT YOUR HEAD AND IF YOU'RE SMART, YOU WON'T DARE TO REACT." She yelled, knowing he'd never do more than verbally attack her. He had his coward moments, but he'd never lay a hand on her.
Still with her grip tight on his elbow, she turned the shower water on, leaving it at the coldest possible temperature that it could reach. It was time to teach him a lesson so that he'd never mess with her again. She was no longer going to put up with his public displays of 'affection'.
Shoving him inside the shower, Haley shut the door from outside and watched him. She didn't know better, but as the the icy water was soaking him, he was not yet recovering all of his senses, but part of him was already regretting calling her as he'd done it.
Two minutes later, she opened the door and readjusted the water temperature so that it would become slightly hot.
"You see that robe next to the sink? Use it once you're done. I'll see if I can find you some dry clothes and some coffee." Haley notified him harshly before exiting the room.
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"Here." She approached his seat on the edge of the bed, the only piece of furniture in the bare pool house that had just been painted. Handing him a t-shirt and pants, she slowly explained where the clothes had came from. "Bevin's given Skills a drawer and I borrowed some of its contents. I'll leave you to change."
"I...I'll change in the bathroom. Can you please wait here?" He questioned, his voice shaky, but so low it was almost as if he was thinking aloud.
"I'll go and get the coffee." She replied, walking outside with the promise of returning.
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"I don't know how it tastes, I asked one of the waitresses to get it for me and..." She rambled, clearly nervous about her next move.
"It's fine." He gently grabbed the cup from her hand, sipping it carefully not to get any burns.
As he drank some of the coffee, Haley paced around the room, gathering her thoughts and formulating her speech. He was not getting the easy way out this time. He'd listen and apologize; he owed her that much, but would it make a difference? He was still drunk!
"I'm sorry." He softly told her.
"Sorry doesn't cut it." She snapped.
"But I know what I did out there was wrong."
"All you've been doing lately is wrong." She stopped pacing and directed her gaze to watch him intently.
"I know..." He murmured, ashamed of the name calling.
"Then I don't get it why you keep doing it. If you know you're making..."
"Mistakes?" He completed her phrase for her, using the word she had come to hate so much.
"Yeah..." She sighed exhausted.
"Will you let me speak this time?" His voice was still weak.
"You don't deserve it, you know that, right? So make it quick, will ya?"
"You should sit down."
"I..." She hesitated. There was no place to sit other than the bed Nathan already was occupying.
"The bed's big and I don't bite."
"But you bark in a way that creeps me out."
"And for that I'm also sorry." He stood up and walked towards her, gently getting her hand, touching her for the second time since he'd came back from camp, and guiding her to sit next to him. This time, there was electricity and they both felt it, but pretended not to.
"From the moment we set foot in the bathroom I knew what I did was wrong. You were just trying to prevent the party from getting ruined and I went off on you. Violence doesn't solve a thing and this was not the time nor the place for anything like that to happen. I just...I was so mad at them for shaving points and almost ruining the season. I had known it for a few days, but wasn't sure until this morning, when I finally saw them getting money from a bookie at the Rivercourt. I walked away and promised myself I'd go to Whitey and let him handle..."
"Nathan..." She tried cutting his ramble off, but he continued.
"but tonight, I lost it. After hearing you tell Brooke you don't give a shit about me, I felt like a mad caged animal who had just escaped. I supposed I felt just like my father did the day Karen and Keith announced their engagement."
"I..." Haley tried again. At this point, she was not even blinking. She was shocked, hurt and angry at the same time. Was Nathan telling her he had almost beaten a friend to death because of one of her comments? The 'blame it on Haley' game was past the point of absurd and she was not going to tolerate that. "Yo! You're saying I'm the one who drove you to getting drunk and causing a scene? You might as well say I was the one filling your glasses. You're full of crap, Nathan, and the worst part is that you imitated your father, again. God, why am I wasting my time? You won't remember any of this in the morning." She scolded.
"You don't get it, do you? I am my father. I'm in the same situation."
"No, you're not. I don't think it's possible, but Dan's confessed to be in love with Karen, Nathan." Haley reasoned with him.
"And I'm not in love with you? Is that what you're saying?" The partially drunk Nathan shook his head and rubbed his hand through his hair, thinking this would be harder than he had expected. "You must be thinking how can I care about your feelings concerning me if I'm no longer emotionally connected to you, right?... It makes no sense, does it? But that day you were so wrong, Haley, and what I wanted to ask you on the beach was if you really thought that."
"I..."
"How can you think that for a second? How can you say I'm not emotionally connected to you, Haley? I AM."
"Then you have one hell of a way of showing it." Haley glared, unable to believe he was telling her the truth.
"How can I convince you that I..."
"That you...?? That you still love me? Because how can you love me if you can't even pronounce the words, Nathan? And don't say you care about me. I don't want your sympathy or nice feelings. I only wanted one thing from you all along."
"Wanted? Or you still want?"
"I'm tired of wanting something I'll never have. I'm emotionally drained, Nathan, and I'm done like you wanted me to be. I'm finally reaching the state of numbness you've managed to reach a long time ago."
"Great... Tell me I have no feelings."
"Not when it comes to me...You don't have a problem shutting me out of your life. You don't do that to someone you claim to love."
Nathan brought his hands to his head again, but this time he rubbed his face. How could love be so difficult? First his ego had gotten hurt when she had left with Chris after kissing him, then there was his anger when she came back, then acceptance and… then real life.
That night, he felt different than he had at the docks, but he still had the same problems he had told Brooke over the phone. It was not about pride anymore, not about anger, but about her future. In fact, their future. He couldn't take all the bad things he had done back and let her in again when they were both having most of their dreams coming true. She was going to sing again and her song for Peyton's album would be a hit, he was going to play ball at Duke and, finally, she would get accepted to Stanford.
Their dreams were coming true, but they were just dreams that weren't worth a thing without each other. Unfortunately, that was something he was yet to realize.
He was trying to be rational, but his heart was getting in the way, speaking louder, and he wasn't controlling it. Blaming the booze later on could make it all easier...
"I love you, Haley."
"No you don't, Nathan. It took you getting drunk to say it. Who knows if there's any sobriety in you now?" Haley chuckled sadly, letting a tear fall on her cheek as she stood up and headed to the door.
"What can I say to prove it to you that I still love you? That I'm not going to regret saying this in the morning?" He pleaded with his voice full of desperation.
"You don't... When you asked me for a divorce you proved this all to be a lie." She said without facing him, opening the door and leaving Nathan with that thought. Her walking away on him was another thing that was becoming part of their routine, but this time, he would change the outcome and follow!
Ally