Thanks so much for all of your reviews…I'm glad to know that you enjoy the story. I am officially on Spring Break now, so hopefully I will be able to get the updates up a little earlier...
Disclaimer: Only in my dreams do I own One Tree Hill…
Summary: Nathan Scott is the most popular guy in school and Haley James is just an average girl who happens to be friends with Nathan's half-brother, Lucas. What happens when each of their groups of friends end up staying next door to each other all summer?
A Summer to Remember
Chapter 16
"Still no word from the police?" Nathan asked softly the next day as he and Haley finished up their work. He had tried to avoid the topic all day because he didn't want to upset her, but he just couldn't push the question out of his mind anymore.
"Um…no." Haley said shakily. She had stayed up most of the night talking with Brooke, about her uncle, about shoes, and about the new developments in the Brooke and Lucas relationship. "But it's ok, I'm sure they'll find him soon." She added confidently.
Nathan looked into her eyes and noticed that she really didn't have that much confidence. She was nervous just standing out here in the open and it probably took all the courage she had just to leave the condo today. "Hales, it's ok to be scared." He soothed.
Ugh, she groaned inwardly, why is it that he can read me like a book? "I'm really fine." She confirmed. She was. She felt pretty safe right now, here with Nathan and in the daylight.
Nathan wasn't buying it. She had been hysterical yesterday, was he really supposed to believe that she was fine today? "Whatever you say." He mumbled.
"Hey, I heard that, Scott." She laughed. "It's really not that bad right now in the daytime." Somehow, the bright light of the sun made her feel a little safer.
"What about at night?" He looked into her eyes again, dark blue staring directly into warm brown.
"Nights are harder." She admitted, barely above a whisper. "The shadows just creep me out a little, that's all." She looked away from his gaze fro two reasons. One, she didn't want him to see that she was more than a little afraid of what nighttime would bring, and two, because she didn't want to melt on the spot by staring into his gorgeous eyes any longer. "So what are you doing tonight? Got any big plans?" She asked, trying to change the subject.
"Do you?" He asked with a grin.
"No, I think I'm going to just watch Dawson's Creek reruns all night waiting for Brooke and Lucas to get home."
"Wait, where are they going?" Nathan asked out of concern. She was going to be home alone all night?
"They have a date at some fancy restaurant. They offered to stay home with me, but I told them to go." She explained before Nathan could make an accusation about what terrible friends they were. "So, what about you? You never answered my question."
"I don't know, Tim apparently has some hot date and Peyton's going out with that Jake guy. I think I'm just going to lay on my couch and watch Dawson's Creek reruns." He joked and then laughed when he received a playful shove from Haley.
He had actually been planning on going to the gym and getting a work out in since he couldn't really do it during the day anymore, but upon hearing that Haley was going to be home alone, he decided to change his plans.
Haley felt a little better in knowing that Nathan was going to be right across the hall as she waited all night for Brooke and Lucas to finally return.
As if reading her mind, Nathan spoke up again. "I'll be home all night, if you need anything just come over." He said seriously as the two finally made it to the third floor. "And I give you permission to use the key that Whitey gave you." He added, knowing that she didn't like barging into other people's homes.
"Thanks Nate." She said sincerely as she let herself into her condo. "See you later." She called.
Nathan smiled to himself; he almost hoped that Haley did come over that night. He would certainly be bored without her…
"Remember, our cells will be on if you need anything." Brooke reminded Haley as she was slowly ushered out the door by her new boyfriend.
"I know, Brooke. You only told me about fifty times." Haley laughed. She would only call them in case of an emergency, this evening was really important to Brooke and seemed to be important to Lucas as well, and Haley didn't want to be the one to ruin that.
"Oh yeah. Bye Tutor girl, we love you!" Brooke called as she blew her friend a kiss and then exited the apartment. Lucas waved to her and then followed his girlfriend, closing the door on the way out.
Great. She was alone. She immediately ran up to the door and locked in and then turned the TV on with a click of the remote. Ever since she had been younger, she had always preferred the TV to be on when she was alone; it made the whole atmosphere seem a little less lonely.
Darkness had fallen about a half an hour ago, and Haley could already feel her nerves building. She sat down on the couch and pulled a warm blanket around herself, trying to convince her mind that she was safe under the blanket.
"Where are we going?" Peyton laughed as she and Jake pulled up into an empty parking lot on a cliff that overlooked the ocean.
"We're here." Jake smiled. They had finished eating and drinking coffee over an hour ago and she had graciously agreed to let him take her to his favorite spot in the world. About an hour later, here they were.
"Oh God, you're going to kill me aren't you?" Peyton joked as she opened her car door and stepped out.
"Yeah, you caught me. I'm actually, I'm going to kill you." Jake played along as he too exited the car.
"Oh my God." Peyton whispered as she finally looked up at the sky and noticed why this was Jake's favorite spot. Every star ever imaginable was visible from this point!
"You like it?" Jake asked sincerely as he walked up behind her.
"It's gorgeous." She responded with a smile.
"That right there is Ursa Major." Jake said as he rested one hand on Peyton's shoulder and the other one pointed towards the constellation in the stars.
Peyton couldn't help the shiver that ran through her at Jake's touch. "I see the north star." She said, proud of herself for remembering something that her 5th grade teacher had taught her.
"You're right. And that right there is-"
Before he could finish, Peyton turned around and softly captured his lips with her own. She didn't know what had come over her, the kiss had been completely on impulse, but she liked it. Note to self, act on impulse more often.
Jake returned the kiss eagerly as a shooting star passed right over the tops of their heads.
It was already 1:00 a.m. when Haley looked at the clock again; she had been so absorbed in her TV show that she hadn't even noticed the time go by. But now, Dawson's Creek reruns were over and she sat silently on the couch thinking of something to do to take her mind off of the one thing she kept thinking about, Bobby.
She really didn't expect Brooke and Lucas home for another couple of hours their reservation hadn't been until 9:30, apparently that was the only time available, and the restaurant was about 2 hours away.
Haley's head jerked up as she heard a low toned whistle. What was that? She looked over to the window to see a few palm trees blowing in the wind. Calm down Haley, it was only the wind.
She got up and walked over to the refrigerator, retrieving her waterbottle and quickly gulping down about half of it.
Were those footsteps I just heard? She asked herself as she stood paralyzed in the kitchen. Stop acting so paranoid! It's only your imagination!
There was no way she was going to let her imagination get the best of her. However, when she thought she heard low whispers outside of her door, she quickly changed her mind.
Still wrapped in the blanket, she searched through the kitchen for a piece of paper. When she finally found one, she hurriedly wrote a note to Brooke and Lucas and then placed it on the counter where she knew they would see it. Then she grabbed the key that was sitting next to the note and headed out the door and down the hall to condo number 10.
She felt bad about just going in, but Nathan had told her to, so she inserted the key in the lock, quietly opened the door, and then entered into Nathan's dark apartment. He must already be asleep.
Haley walked over to the door that she knew to be Nathan's and peeked inside. Sure enough, he looked to be sound asleep in the middle of his bed. She didn't want to wake him, but there was really no point in coming over here if he was going to be asleep the whole time that he was supposed to be keeping her company.
Nathan stirred as a light tap was heard on the doorframe. He pulled himself back to consciousness when he realized who had to be doing the knocking. Tim or Peyton would have just barged into his room if they needed something, so the person on the other side must be Haley.
He looked at the digital clock sitting on his side table and saw that it was 1:07 a.m. Nathan walked over to the door and opened it, silently thanking God that he had gone to bed in sweatpants so he didn't have to look around on the floor for some to put on.
"Hey," She said softly. "I'm sorry to bother you, I just…I don't know, I guess I got a little freaked out so I cam over here…"
"It's fine, I told you that you could." He attempted a smile, but it was kind of a lazy one since he was still half asleep. For the first time, he noticed that she was clinging tightly to a green blanket that was wrapped around her small body and let out a small chuckle.
"What's so funny?" She didn't understand the humor behind this situation, the one where her crazy abusive uncle was on the loose and she had been such a scardy-cat that she woke him up in the middle of the night just to keep her company.
"Nothing." Nathan replied with a grin. "You do know that it's 1:00 in the morning, don't you?" He asked as he leant up against the door frame.
"Yeah," she said as she yawned. She hadn't even realized how little sleep she had gotten in the past 48 hours until now.
"Why don't you get some sleep?" He suggested, "I'll go sleep on the couch."
"No, I don't want to kick you out of your own room." Haley shot down the idea. "Besides, then where would Tim sleep?"
He hadn't really thought that far ahead. He just wanted to see her get some decent sleep, even if that meant giving up his bed.
"I doubt I'd be able to sleep, anyway, in there by myself." She added innocently.
"Whatever, you need to sleep. I'll stay in here with you until you fall asleep, ok?" He suggested.
Another yawn escaped from her lips as she finally agreed to his latest proposition. She walked past him and tiredly crawled under the covers. After a few moments, he walked over to the bed and got under the blankets as well, she had insisted that he should at least get to be warm as he waited in there. After a few minutes, both were moments away from sleep and Haley unknowingly snuggled close to Nathan, resting her head on his bare chest, as he instinctively wrapped his arms protectively around her.