Important A/N: Hey! Firstly, I'd like to thank everyone who leaves me such amazing reviews. I love reading them, and I can't believe there are over 700 of them! Thanks so much! Secondly, onto the important bit. I'm starting university next week and, no, that does not mean I'm putting this on hiatus or anything like that, but it does mean that the next update will take slightly longer than usual for the simple reason that I have to get myself a new computer. I had wanted to get up to the 39th chapter before I leave, but I've been so busy packing that I haven't been able to. So, I have to leave you guys at this point, but I will be back soon with Brucas and Naley in Chapter 39.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Early Monday morning Nathan and Lucas were headed to school, with Lucas behind the wheel.
"So, what's going to happen today?" Lucas wondered.
Nathan shrugged. "That depends on Damien, I guess. We don't even know if he's going to show up for your basketball practice."
"You know, I could text message you and tell you whether or not Damien's there. I mean, I can't take my phone into the gym because then coach would kill me, but I could tell you if I see him in the locker room. It would save you a trip if he's not there again."
"Sounds like a plan. Thanks, Luke."
"No problem. No point you getting caught for nothing."
Nathan started at this, and for a moment he wondered whether it had been Lucas who had stumbled into the locker room that day when he and Haley had been there. "What do you mean 'getting caught?'?"
"You know…in case someone finds you," Lucas said nonchalantly. "But, hopefully that won't happen."
Nathan just nodded.
"So…what happens after you check Damien's locker?"
"Well, if I find something in it and it's obviously drugs then I can take it, as well as him, down to the station, in which case I'm going to need the car so –"
"I'll get a ride home from Brooke," Lucas supplied.
"Okay. But, if there's nothing in Damien's locker, then we're pretty much back where we started. Then again, if he does have drugs on him, but was only in possession and not dealing, like Rachel was, we're…back where we started again. Only worse."
"How's that? I mean, Damien had to get the drugs from somewhere. And I find it hard to believe that there can be that many different dealers around –"
"Oh, there can be. Trust me on that, Lucas. But, if Damien's not the dealer, then his supplier is probably the guy we're looking for. But we still won't know for sure."
When they got to school, Nathan went to the library while Lucas headed to the locker room. Luckily for Nathan, Damien was there, so, after waiting enough time for the team to have all gone inside the gym, Nathan left his bag and books in the library and walked into the boys' locker room, making sure he had Jake's master key with him.
Nathan remembered where Damien's locker was located, so it didn't take long for him to silently maneuver through the benches and empty duffel bags to get to it. Taking the key out of his pocket and inserting it, he had just begun to turn the locker open when he heard one of the gym doors bang open. Mentally cursing, he quickly locked it again, and tip-toed to hide behind one of the farther lockers that weren't being used so, hopefully, whoever it was wouldn't have to pass him.
Haley drove Peyton's car to school that morning since her roommate had spent most of Sunday at Jake's apartment. Peyton hadn't stayed on the phone long enough to tell Haley the details, but she did know that Peyton and Jake were back together, and that Peyton was planning on joining Jake in Charleston after he left town. As she parked the car and strolled towards the faculty lounge she couldn't help but feel sad that her friend would be leaving, but at the same time Peyton had sounded so happy that she was happy for her too. Peyton had asked her to come to school early because Jake had early morning basketball practice and she didn't want to wait alone in the lounge for ages. She had promised Haley full details if she showed up, although Haley had informed her she would have expected the full story even if she didn't.
Haley was still thinking about Peyton leaving town when she walked into the school building, and down the halls towards the faculty lounge. She was so immersed in what she was going to do afterwards that she almost didn't notice Nathan sneaking into the locker room.
When he just slipped inside the room and didn't say anything to her, she first thought that he was ignoring her after what had happened on Saturday, but then she realized that, just like the time before, he hadn't seen her.
Haley remained glued to the spot as she wondered what she should do next. She knew she really should just go to the staffroom and leave Nathan to do whatever it was he was going to do. On the other hand, she really wanted to speak to him and apologize for the things she had said to him that night, but she had no idea what she was going to say, or whether he would even hear her out.
Still, as Haley thought more about it, this might be the best time to go and talk to him. Hardly anyone was in school so there was a much smaller chance of them being found by anyone – and even if they were they would just be talking. Haley could always say she came to see the coach, and Nathan could pretend to have some sport or something; maybe he did have a valid reason for being there in the first place. Either way, they would come out of it fine. As long as he didn't try to kiss her again.
Haley pushed that last thought out of her mind as she walked the short distance past the locker room to the faculty lounge. Luckily, Peyton wasn't inside - she had left a little note for Haley saying she had gone to the bathroom - so Haley kept her handbag and papers there, and returned, this time going straight into the locker room.
She aimed to keep rather quiet, so she cringed when she heard the door click shut. Hoping that the sound was just louder in her own head, she walked towards the place Nathan had been standing when she had seen him in here last, assuming that that was where he was likely to be.
She got the shock of her life when she found the same locker door open, but a different person standing there. Haley stepped backwards, deciding it was best to get out of there – and fast. However, as she turned, her shoe knocked into the side of one of the benches, which didn't go unheard by Haley or the boy.
He started and turned to stare at her, making Haley unsure of what to do next.
"Er…hello…" she said finally. "I just came to see the coach."
"He's at practice."
"Oh. I see. I didn't know that. I'll come back later then."
He nodded, and Haley moved to be on her way when out of the corner of her eye she spotted something sticking out of the top of his gym bag. He saw her looking at it, and hastily tried to move the bag out of her view, but because it wasn't zipped up some of the overflowing contents spilled out onto the ground, including what Haley realized was a gun.
On impulse she gasped as he rapidly picked it up, at which point she wasn't sure she could breathe.
"Just get out of here," he told her as he stood upright, the offending object gripped tightly in his hand.
Haley nodded and took a shaky step backwards, but couldn't help all the questions in her head. "Wh-what are you doing with that?" she blurted out.
"Just do what I told you!" he yelled, and his hand shook a little as he lifted the gun up and pointed it in her direction, causing Haley to swallow slowly as she tried to walk backwards.
She reached behind her and felt the wall, which she leaned on as she moved away, her eyes never leaving the gun in his hand, when, suddenly, it wasn't in his hand anymore.
Something appeared from the side, blocked from her view by another row of lockers, and knocked the gun out of his hand. Instinctively, Haley screamed as the gun fell to the floor, as if in slow motion.
Then, out of nowhere, Nathan was there. The shock she had gotten from seeing this boy, and then the gun, had caused her to forget why she had actually come into the locker room in the first place; to talk to Nathan. He started fighting the boy, and soon he had him on the ground, while Haley just stared.
Nathan looked over his shoulder at her. "Get out of here!" he shouted, before the boy struck a blow to Nathan's chest and Nathan had to retaliate.
Haley realized she had to get help – but from who? The closest place to go would be the gym; the coach, Jake and the rest of the team would be there, but her only way to get there was to go through Nathan and the boy, whose fight was steadily getting worse as both tried to get the other away from them and reach for the gun.
The faculty lounge was nearby, but what could she and Peyton do? The library was even closer, but the old librarians would be of even less help. Haley struggled to think of something, when she finally realized she had to stop thinking and just do something; anything. She was about to turn and run outside to get her cell phone when she heard a loud clang of something hitting a locker and, worried, she turned her head around to see what it was.
When she did, she saw that the boy was reaching for the gun and Nathan, whose head was the something that had banged against a locker, didn't look likely to recover in time to stop him. Thinking fast, Haley looked all around her, for something she could use. Then she saw the fire extinguisher.
She grabbed it, and closed the short distance between her and them. The boy, on his hands and knees as he moved to get his gun back, couldn't see her, and so she simply knocked him on the side of the head with it.
His head bobbed, and then his body fell down, lying on the ground.
Haley momentarily wondered if she had killed him, before realizing that she wasn't that strong and he must just be unconscious. Secure in that thought she went over to Nathan and pulled him up to stand.
"Are you okay?"
He nodded dimly, but his face grimaced as his hand rested on the bruised spot on his head.
"Oh, no…" Haley reached up and rubbed the area, worry, "You might get a bump."
"I've had worse," Nathan mumbled. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Haley said, but she didn't look him in the eye as she concentrated on rubbing his head.
"Haley," Nathan stopped her by putting his hands on her arms, "are you sure?"
She nodded, but the look on her face was less than convincing. "I'm fine…I just…" Suddenly, she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest.
Nathan put his arms around her waist and rubbed her back soothingly. "Haley…"
"You probably think I'm silly getting scared over a little something like that."
"I don't think it's silly," he whispered in your ear. "It's perfectly natural to get scared. You're not used to things like this."
Haley took a step back and looked at him. "What do you mean not used to it? Is a guy pointing a gun in your face something you're used to? Like, it's something that happens everyday?"
"Well, not everyday, but it's not like it's never happened to me before, Haley. I am a police officer."
Haley frowned and hugged him tighter.
"Hey, it's okay."
As he tried to calm Haley down, Nathan thought he heard something. He stopped speaking and concentrated on listening, at which point he realized he definitely heard something; and he had an idea of what it was.
Slowly he bent down so that his mouth was level with her ear once more and he whispered, ever so softly, "Don't move."
Haley's eyes flew open at his words and she opened her mouth to question him, but Nathan was quicker and brought his hand up to cover her mouth. Haley had no choice but to stay quiet and stay still, wondering what was going on.
Soon, she felt herself start to move; not out of choice, but because Nathan was slowly moving forwards, and she was moving back with him. Then, with no warning, Nathan let go of her and pushed her back behind a row of lockers just as she heard a loud bang sound off and she screamed in spite of Nathan's warnings.
The sound was soon followed by a door slamming and Haley peered out from behind the lockers to find that the boy was missing, and Nathan was about to follow him out.
"Nathan!" she shouted, but he didn't stop.
"Get Jake," he called over his shoulder before running out of the locker room.
Haley quickly started running in the opposite direction to which they had left; she went towards the gym and burst open the doors, surprising everyone inside.
The team stopped their exercise to look at her strangely, while the coach looked angry for having his practice disturbed. Jake, however, noticed Haley's expression and quickly jogged over to her.
"What happened?" he asked quickly. "Is it Peyton?"
Haley shook her head. "Nathan. There was this boy in the locker room –"
"Damien?" Jake supplied.
"I don't know, but he had a gun! And I thought he was unconscious but he must have not been because he ran out and Nathan went after him," Haley said quickly.
"Don't go anywhere," Jake told her before running out of the gym.
The coach soon came up to Haley. "What just happened? Where the hell did Jagielski go? No one leaves my practice unless I tell them to," he boomed. "And what are you doing here Miss James?"
"I…uh…"
Soon, Lucas appeared by their side, clearly concerned. "Is everything okay?"
Haley was interrupted again, this time by the sound of a loud gunshot.