Chapter Twenty-Eight

"I think I'd better go now," Lucas said after checking his watch.

Nathan looked at his too. "Lunch doesn't end for another twenty minutes. Where are you going?"

"Coach wanted me to meet him before next period," Lucas explained.

"See you at practice, Broody." Brooke kissed him goodbye.

Lucas grinned. "Bye, Cheery."

Nathan rolled his eyes.

"I saw you do that," Brooke said after Lucas walked away. "Oh, and, by the way, I heard some very interesting information about you last night."

Nathan looked up. "What information?"

"Lucas happened to mention that you were a mere 14 when you –"

"He told you that!" Nathan exclaimed before she had even finished her sentence. "What's wrong with him?"

"Excuse me, what's wrong with you?" Brooke countered. "14! Come on, Nathan."

Nathan shrugged. "It was a long time ago."

"It wasn't so long ago that people had different really ideals. You can't honestly tell me that everyone your age was doing it."

"You're not going to give me a lecture on this, are you?"

Brooke shook her head. "No, I guess not. But, really, what would Miss James say?"

"Brooke!"

"Come on! You want to date her, and if you do after everything is finished with then you guys will have to tell each other things, including past relationships. And she doesn't seem to me like someone who'd take Nike seriously at 14." Brooke managed to say it with a straight face before she giggled at her own joke. "Get it? Nike? Just do it! And you just did it!" she added when Nathan didn't look amused.

"I'm going now," he told her, and stood up.

"I'm only joking, Nate! You're not really leaving me to finish eating by myself, are you?"

"Well…I'll come back after I throw this stuff away," Nathan admitted, holding up his tray and showing her the cartons and packaging on it.

"Okay."

After Nathan found a trash can and threw the contents of his tray, placing the tray on top he headed back to the lunch table. Surprisingly, when he returned, Brooke wasn't alone. From where he was standing he could see a boy sitting next to Brooke, but he couldn't see his face. Nathan was even more surprised when he walked closer to them and saw that the guy, whoever he was, had put his arm around Brooke.

Brooke's cry of, "Stop it, Damien!" clued him in a bit.

When he and Brooke had gone to watch Lucas at basketball tryouts she had told Nathan the name of all the basketball players, which he had kept a mental note of, just in case. This was Damien West, captain of the Ravens basketball team and, according to Lucas, a downright pain in the ass.

"Don't fight it, baby –" was all Damien was able to say before Nathan had pulled him up off the seat by his collar. "What the hell?" He regained his footing quickly and turned around to stare at Nathan. "What's your problem dude?"

"My problem? I think you're the one with the problem. Or did you not hear her when she told you to stop."

"Okay, I don't know who the hell you are but this isn't your business –"

"Seeing as how Brooke's my friend, I think it is my business."

Damien shook his head. "You don't want to mess with me, man."

Nathan raised an eyebrow. "Are you threatening me?"

"Maybe I am."

Brooke quickly stood up and slung her bag on her shoulder. "Nathan, let's just go."

"Nathan?" Damien repeated. "You're Lucas' cousin, huh?"

"So what if I am?"

Damien took a step closer to Nathan. By this time they had started to attract a crowd, but Damien took no notice. "You know if you decide to mess with me, I could make things ugly for him on the team," he said in a low voice.

"Lucas isn't scared of you."

"He should be. So should you."

Nathan shrugged. "I'm not really afraid of pretty boys. I mean, what are you going to do? Dazzle me with your basketball skills?"

"You might want to take that back, Scott."

"No, I don't think I do."

Damien smirked. "Listen, you're still kind of new around here so I'll tell you this once. I get what I want. Always. So why don't you just stay out of my way." With that said he pushed Nathan backwards slightly, meaning to walk past him.

Brooke immediately cringed, anticipating Nathan's next move. She wasn't mistaken; he pushed Damien back instantly, only he was stronger than Damien and since he hadn't expected the move he fell back, nearly falling on top of Brooke who had been standing behind him. At the back of the crowd, somebody yelled, "Fight!" just as Damien stood back up and punched Nathan squarely on the jaw.

Haley glanced around the library again before she sighed and leaned back in her chair. Nathan was usually prompt, sometimes even early, but today he was getting on ten minutes late for their tutoring session. She knew he was in school since he had been at their normal lesson that morning so she was starting to wonder whether something had happened to him. As she began to mull over the possible situations, she heard someone come up from behind her.

"Sorry, I'm late," Nathan said, putting his bag on the floor and sitting down in the chair next to her.

Haley opened her mouth to say, "It's okay," but stopped when she looked up and saw Nathan's face. "Oh my God! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

Haley wasn't sure she believed him. There were a few nasty looking cuts on his face, especially the one on his lip, and his left eye was turning a horrible blue-black shade. Haley suddenly noticed the bruising on his knuckles and realized what had happened. Before she left the faculty room she had heard some teachers talking about a fight between two senior students but she hadn't caught their names. "Nathan, were you in that fight at lunchtime?"

"Uh, yeah. But, it wasn't my fault!" he rushed to his own defense when he saw the disappointed look on Haley's face. "Damien started it."

"Nathan, you're not in kindergarten," Haley said, and she was starting to look annoyed. "The fault belongs to both of you."

"I didn't want to fight, Damien. I was only trying to get him to leave Brooke alone."

"What?"

"Damien was bugging Brooke and she told him to leave her alone but he didn't," Nathan explained, like as he had just done with Principal Durham. "So I told him to go away, but he got annoyed and it sort of escalated to a fight. He punched me first."

Haley smiled ruefully and shook her head. "That still sounds like you're in kindergarten," she told him, but she smiled at him as she did so.

"I don't really remember any of the boys doing what Damien did to Brooke in kindergarten."

Haley nodded. "Were you with Mr. Durham just now?"

"Yeah, that's why I was late. But we can start now –"

"No, we can't," Haley cut in, and she started to close her books too.

"But we haven't missed that much of the lesson. I'm sorry I'm late, I –"

"It's not that, Nathan. Have you even seen your face?"

Nathan shook his head.

"Well, it's really bad. You have to go to the nurse."

"It doesn't hurt that much –" he began.

"Well, it will later," Haley said and Nathan couldn't argue. The exact thing had happened when he had been involved in fights on the job. "Go on," Haley urged him when he didn't move. "Your health is more important than your education."

"But I don't even know where the nurse's room is," Nathan said, truthfully.

"Oh. Well once you get out of the library you go down the hall – straight first, but then take the second right. After that you take the first left and keep going to the left of that. Then –"

"There's more?"

Haley nodded her head. "I'm afraid so."

"Maybe I should write this down."

"You know what, why don't I just take you there?" she offered

Nathan began to smile, but stopped before it became too obvious. "You, uh, don't mind?"

Haley shook her head. "It's not as far as it sounds."

"Okay, then. Thanks."

Haley smiled as she gathered her books into her hands and stood up. Nathan followed suit, standing and putting his bag onto his back, but he winced when the heavy bag struck a particularly sensitive spot on his back. Haley noticed immediately and turned towards him. "Does your back hurt?"

"Just a little," he lied.

"But how did you hurt your back?" she wondered.

"Well, I sort of fell…only a cafeteria table broke my fall."

Haley's face looked pained and, instinctively, her hand came up to rest on his shoulder. "Is it really bad? Can you walk? Maybe you should sit down and I could ask her to come here –"

"No! I'm fine –"

"You are not fine, Nathan!"

"It's not that bad. Really," he added, when Haley looked skeptical.

"Okay. Well, if you're sure…"

Haley led the way out of the library with Nathan walking beside her. The first few moments passed in silence before Nathan said, simply out of the urge to say something, "I'm really sorry about this."

"It's okay. It's not your fault."

"I thought it was equally mine and Damien's fault," Nathan reminded her.

"Well, I suppose…If he was really doing what you said he was –"

"He was."

"Then maybe it was a little more his fault," Haley conceded.

"Only a little?" Nathan asked.

"Your knuckles look just as bad as your face so I'm sure you fought back just as hard."

"I was defending myself," he stated.

"I thought you were defending Brooke's honour."

Nathan chuckled, before he winced momentarily in pain.

Haley stopped walking and turned towards him. "Is it really bad?" she asked, and her hand came up to cup his cheek.

Nathan had been about to say, "No," but the feel of Haley's hand tenderly touching his skin stunned him speechless.

Taking his silence to confirm her suspicion, she let her hand drop. "It's a good thing the nurse's office is just over here. Mr. Durham should have sent you straight there."

Pouting as slightly as his facial muscles allowed him to without hurting; Nathan followed her to the nurse's room opposite. However, he smiled slightly when he felt Haley's hand close over his as she led him down the hall.