Chapter 4

All weekend Haley dwelled on what Nathan had said. Did he really think she'd go home with him? And what had he had in mind? She couldn't imagine that he just wanted to talk or watch a movie. No, she'd heard about him and what he liked to do with girls. And she'd seen how he acted around Peyton while they were dating. How could she let herself even think she liked him? Maybe she thought he would change. How stupid had she been? Boys like that never change.

After her encounter with Nathan at the dance, she'd asked Lucas to take her home. She didn't want to be there any longer. After reluctantly taking her home, Lucas went to the party at Mike's, that Haley was supposed to go to as well, but she didn't want to take a chance of Nathan being there too.

Saturday night Haley was studying when Lucas called. "What's going on?" he asked. "I know when something is bothering you and something is seriously bothering you. What's wrong?"

Haley told Lucas about what happened with Nathan and for a few moments he was silent on the other end.

"Luke?" she asked.

"I'm gonna kill him." He said as he hung up the phone. Haley tried frantically to call him back, but he didn't answer.

Haley got in her car and drove to Lucas's house, but Karen said he'd left ten minutes before she got there. Then she drove to Nathan's, but didn't see Luke's car anywhere near it. She drove past all of the usual places she'd seen Nathan hang out, but there was one place she missed.

When Lucas got to the River Court, Nathan was playing a pickup game with Damien, while Tim watched from the picnic table. Lucas slammed his car door shut as Nathan turned around. Nathan threw up his hands as if he was innocent when Lucas shoved him. Immediately, Damien dropped the ball and grabbed Lucas to pull him off Nathan, and Tim jumped off the picnic table to run and help. "Let him go!" Nathan yelled at them both, and instantaneously they let go of Lucas.

"When I told you that you could dance with Haley, I didn't mean make yourself at home with her!"

"Who's Haley?" Damien asked interested.

"Look man!" Nathan said, ignoring Damien. "Nothing happened! I didn't mean anything by it. I just wanted to talk."

"Yeah, when Nathan says 'talk', we all know what he really means," Damien said trying to be funny, but Lucas took it to another level.

Lucas's fist came in contact with Nathan's jaw and Nathan stumbled backward and tripped, falling to the ground. He quickly bounced back and when he got up Lucas was glaring, nostrils flaring. He shook his head and started to walk away.

"Luke!" Nathan yelled after him.

Then Lucas turned around, "You stay away from her," he said before returning to his car and speeding away.

After Lucas left, Damien looked at Nathan. "So you stole pretty boy's girlfriend last night, huh?" Damien smiled. "That's why you didn't want to come with us, so you could get a piece of marked territory ass." He and Tim laughed as Nathan wiped blood off his lip.

Nathan checked to make sure his jaw wasn't broken. He had to admit Lucas had a pretty good right hook. Nathan knew he had to talk to Haley, but he couldn't do it until Damien and Tim went home. He didn't want them knowing about Haley. Damien was already on edge about Nathan being on the basketball team, and if he was also hanging out with Haley, Damien would try to cause trouble. He'd just gotten back on good terms with his friends; he didn't want to rock the boat.

After a long day of agonizing over what to say to Haley, Nathan was finally rid of Damien and Tim. Around eleven o'clock at night Nathan knew he had to apologize. Unfortunately, he had no idea where Haley lived, and didn't know her number either. He knew he couldn't call Lucas, so instead he dialed the only other number he could call.

"'Sup, dog?" Nathan heard Skill's voice say.

"Nothing much," Nathan replied. "Hey, I'm looking for a phone number."

"Alright, well I got you. What's the name?"

"Haley James."

"Haley James? You talking to Haley James? When did this happen and why didn't I know about it? I thought we was tight, dude."

"I'm not talking to her, I'm trying to apologize."

"What you do?" Skills seemed interested.

"I'm a jerk."

"Yeah," Skills paused for a moment as if debating whether or not to give Nathan her number. "Betta yet, I'm gonna give you her address. Just don't make me regret it."

"Thanks Skills." After Nathan got her address, he drove over and sat outside her house for a few minutes before walking up the sidewalk. He took a breath and sighed. He knew he should apologize and make things right with her, but his pride was screaming at him.

As soon as he opened his car door and got out, Haley's front door opened. She came out wearing sweat pants and a Tree Hill Ravens t-shirt. Her hair was in a messy bun on top of her head and she crossed her arms as she leaned against the door frame, waiting for him. Somehow this intimidated him as he walked up to her. It took all he had not to turn around and drive away.

As he stopped right before her no one spoke for a moment. Then he finally said, "Haley-"

"Skills called me," she interrupted.

"Look, I'm sorry. I know that it seemed like I was being forward last night. But honestly, I know you're not like that. And I like that about you. When I asked you to leave with me, I was not thinking about that."

"Well what were you thinking?"

"I just wanted to talk and get to know you without everyone staring at us dancing."

"People weren't staring."

"Oh, people were staring."

"Maybe a few people were staring."

"Anyway, I'm sorry about what I said. I should have worded it differently."

"Yeah, I guess I shouldn't have been quick to judge. Maybe I overreacted a little. I'm sorry too."

For a moment no one said anything. Then Nathan looked up at her. For the first time he really looked into her deep brown eyes. "So are we cool?" he asked.

"We're cool." Haley smiled.

"We're friends?" Nathan held out his hand for Haley to take.

"We're friends." Haley took his hand in hers and shook it, like a peace treaty.

"So, do you want to be friends tomorrow around lunch time?"

"Sure. I'll meet you at Karen's Café?"

"Is that Lucas's mom's place?"
"Yep, is that okay?"

"Yep. I'll see you there, twelve o'clock." Nathan smiled and then walked back to his car. Things were alright.

Sunday morning went by so slowly for Nathan. He woke up at nine o'clock, showered, got dressed, and then tried to play video games to take his mind off the time, but when he looked back up it was only ten thirty. He wished he could call Haley now and ask if she wanted to do a late breakfast-early lunch, but he didn't want to give himself away.

When twelve o'clock finally came, Nathan was sitting at a table in Karen's waiting patiently (impatiently) for Haley. Then he saw her come around the corner and he held his breath as she entered the café. She was wearing a jean skirt – longer than the last one he'd seen her wear – a yellow polo and brown flip flops. It was a simple outfit but he liked that she didn't flaunt herself. He liked the simplicity.

"Hi," Haley smiled as she sat down opposite him. "I am starving, have you ordered yet?"

"Nope," Nathan replied, "I don't know what to order. I don't know what's good here."

"You've never eaten here before?"

"No."

"Well then, I suggest the macaroni and cheese."

"Macaroni and cheese?"

"It's the food of the gods!"

"Yeah, if the gods are five year olds."

"You make fun, but Karen's macaroni and cheese is amazing."

"I think I'll just stick with a burger." Nathan smiled.

"Well then you can have some of mine. But either way, you're eating mac and cheese today." Haley laughed as Karen walked over to the table.

"Hey Haley," she said, and then turned to Nathan. "Hello Nathan. I haven't seen you around in a while."

"Hey, Ms. Roe," Nathan said awkwardly.

"What are you two doing?" Karen smiled.

"We're just having lunch," Haley replied.

"Lunch," Karen said as her smile got bigger. "Is that what they're calling it nowadays?"

"Karen!" Haley said blushing.

"What? I'm down with today. I've got the 4-1-1. I can get jiggy with today's teens."

"Okay Karen," Haley said quickly. "We'll have mac and cheese and a burger. Two cokes. Thanks." Haley took Nathan's menu out of his hand and then handed both menus to Karen.

"Okay, fine. Your orders will be right up." Karen looked from Nathan to Haley, and then leaned in toward her. "I want the details later." She tried to say without Nathan hearing, but he did hear and stifled a laugh.

"Boy, I'm really thirsty," Haley said loudly so that Karen would take a hint.

"Okay, I'll be right back." Karen said walking toward the kitchen.

Haley shook her head and then looked at Nathan. "Sorry." She said. "She's not even my mom and she embarrasses me."

"It's okay," Nathan said. "She's pretty funny."

After about ten minutes, the food was ready and as Nathan was about to take his first bite, he saw Damien and Tim round the corner. Damien was on his cell phone and Tim was bouncing a basketball as he was walking down the sidewalk. Immediately, Nathan's phone started ringing. Crap, he thought. Not while I'm with her. But Nathan did not want his friends to see him with Haley; he knew Damien wouldn't like it and would find a way to sabotage the friendship by hurting Haley.

Nathan got up from the table abruptly, while Haley was in the middle of a story. "What's wrong?" she asked. "And if you say it's the mac and cheese, I'm going to hit you." She laughed.

"I just remembered I promised my friends I would do something for them today. I gotta go."

"But Nathan, what about-"

Nathan handed her a twenty dollar bill. "Here, this is for lunch. I'm really sorry. Let's try to do lunch tomorrow!" He left before she could say anything else. But when he looked back at her face she looked confused yet worried. He hated himself for having to do this, but he hated Damien more for interrupting him.

After catching up with his friends, they played a pickup game at the River Court and Damien kept asking a lot of shady questions about Nathan's whereabouts. Nathan was starting to get worried that he knew what was going on. But he was positive that Damien had never seen Nathan with Haley, nor had Nathan ever talked about Haley in front of him – except for Lucas's outburst. But still, Damien had never been this interested in Nathan's love interests before – not that Haley was a love interest… or was she?

Haley thought Nathan's leaving was really random and abrupt, but she didn't want to assume things. Nathan said he was sorry, that he wanted to be her friend. But why had he left so suddenly? She didn't want to dwell on anything, so instead she picked up a Faulkner and started reading for an English test.

Sunday morning came and Nathan went to Haley's house to pick her up. He figured to make up for ditching her at lunch, he'd spend the morning with her and honestly he was hoping they'd be together all day.

When Haley answered the door she was surprised to see him. He smiled and held out a bowl of macaroni and cheese he'd made that morning just for her. "I'm sorry," he said holding up the bowl. "I didn't mean to skip out early."

Haley smiled looking from the mac and cheese to Nathan's face. "It's okay." Haley said. "I wasn't mad, just confused."

"Yeah, it's just my friends." Nathan said. "They wouldn't really like it if we hung out."

"So, you do everything your friends tell you to do?" Haley asked. She sounded like she was joking, but she wasn't – Nathan could tell. But she didn't understand. Damien wasn't a forgiving person. He wasn't a merciful person either. If you crossed him, you'd get hurt. Nathan had witnessed many fights because of stupid stuff, but he could never talk to Damien because of his temper. Once you were in good with Damien, you should never get on his bad side. Neutral. That was the best place to be. Of course, Nathan wished he'd known that before he'd become with friends with Damien. Once you were friends with Damien, you were friends for life… or it cost you yours.

"I was hoping we could go to the mall today," Nathan said.

"Sure," Haley smiled. "Let me go let my parents know."

On the way to the mall, Haley couldn't stop talking. She talked about her family, how close she was to her brothers and sisters even though she was the only kid left living at home. She talked about how carefree her parents were and how long she'd known Lucas. Nathan never got a chance to speak, but he didn't mind. He didn't have much to say. He wasn't close to his dad or his mom either for that matter. He barely knew Lucas, and aside from Tim and Damien – and now Skills – he didn't have many friends.

After an hour of walking around the mall, Nathan found himself offering to hold Haley's bags. She declined, but the sheer offer caught him off guard. He would never have been caught dead carrying Peyton's bags so why did he extend the offer to Haley? Because she was sweet, and he knew that the he could never treat her the way he'd treated Peyton. Still, it wasn't like him to do that. He didn't want to change for a girl, in fact he refused, yet he knew he'd already changed a bit these past few weeks because of Haley. Not anymore, he thought. He wouldn't let a girl change him.

While Haley went into a clothing store, Nathan decided to head to a smoking area while he waited. When he turned the corner he saw Damien sitting on the bench, smoking a cigarette and talking on the phone. Nathan was about to turn around, but Damien looked up and called his name. Nathan nodded his head and walked over, pulling a cigarette out of his pocket. He lit it up as Damien hung up the phone. "Just the man I wanted to see," Damien smiled a wicked smile. "I'm throwing a party at my old man's house tonight. You need to be my wingman."

"A party on a Sunday?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah," Damien narrowed his eyes. "Is there a problem? You need to do homework or something?"

"No, man. I was just asking."

"Good, 'cause you can't back out on me." Damien put out his cigarette and stood up. "Let's go man. You have your car here?"

Nathan nodded. "Good," Damien continued. "I got a ride here, you can drive me home."

Nathan started to panic. He couldn't drive Damien and Haley home. He'd have to either ditch Damien or ditch Haley. And he couldn't do it to Damien. So instead he came up with another plan.

"I have to go to FYE first," Damien said.

"Okay," Nathan thought quickly. "I have to go over here for a sec. I'll meet you outside the main entrance in ten okay?"

"Okay."

As Nathan watched Damien walk away, he quickly put out his untouched cigarette and ran over to the store Haley was in. She was just coming out carrying another bag when he reached it.
"Sorry," she laughed. "I saw this shirt and I had to buy it. You're breathing hard, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Nathan said. "Something just came up. I'm really sorry but I'm going to have to bail."

"Bail?" Haley looked shocked. "Nathan what's going on? You blew me off yesterday, and today when you're supposed to be making it up to me, you blow me off again."

"I'm really sorry."

"You always are." She started to walk away, but Nathan ran and jumped in front of her, walking backward as she walked forward trying to avoid his eye contact.

"Haley, I'm really sorry. I wish I could stay, I really do, but I can't. I have to go."

"Why?" Haley stopped and stared into his eyes, willing him to speak.

"My friends."

"You're a jerk, Nathan." Haley frowned, disappointment in her eyes. Nathan didn't know what to say. "Go. Go hang out with your friends. And forget about being mine. I'll find another way home."

"Haley!" But Haley was already walking away. By this time Damien was walking out of FYE, bag-less and looking for Nathan.

When they got in the car, Damien opened up his jacket and pulled out two DVDs. "Look what I swiped man!" he said proud of himself. "Cashier wasn't even in the store. I checked the back and the guy was taking a smoke break. Idiot."

"You know you're gonna get caught one day," Nathan said frustrated with the stupid stuff Damien did, as well as ruining his time with Haley.

"Yeah, well that's why I have my boys to back me up." Damien said patting Nathan hard on the shoulder. It was more a threat than an assurance.

"Yeah, kinda like you have our backs, huh?" Nathan spouted off. He didn't mean to say it, but it came out. He regretted it as soon as he said it.

"I've got your back," Damien said angrily. "All those other times I knew you and Tim could handle it. So I didn't interfere. But you better believe I'll be there when you guys are in serious trouble. I'd take a bullet for you." But somehow Nathan didn't believe him.

After getting Damien home, Nathan was about to leave when Damien reminded him about the party and that he needed to stay. Nathan went back into the house and around nine o'clock everyone started filing in. Nathan had never met most of the people at the party, and the others weren't very high on his friend list.

To get his mind off things, Nathan had a few drinks and soon he was feeling good. All of his cares seemed to fly out the window, especially the incident with Haley today. It wasn't long before a girl was walking up to him. She took his hand and tried to lead him to the bedroom, but he pulled away. She narrowed her eyes and then rolled them as she walked away to find another suitor. Suddenly, he didn't feel drunk anymore. In fact, the incident sobered him up in an instant. He knew he had to talk to Haley.

When he pulled up to her house, all of the lights were off. He checked the clock and it read 1:17AM. He got out of the car and picked up a handful of rocks from the driveway. He was going to do this old-fashioned. He started throwing rocks at a window he thought was Haley's. After a few tries, nothing happened.

Suddenly the door opened and Haley ran out in a sweatshirt and sweat pants, hair a mess. "What are you doing?" she whispered loudly. "You're going to wake my parents up."

"Sorry," Nathan said, throwing down the rocks and running over to Haley. "I just need to talk to you."

"What do you want? Because I'm really getting desensitized to your apologies."

"Listen, I know I've been a jerk, but you have to let me explain!" Nathan yelled, getting overexcited.

"Shhh," Haley warned. "If you wake my parents up I'm going to kill you."

Nathan smiled at how cute she was when she was mad. "Haley, please-"

"No," she said stepping off the steps and up to him. She was so close to him it should have been uncomfortable, but it wasn't. "You've been doing all the talking, let me tell you something. I am starting to think that you don't even really like me. Or maybe you do but you sure act like you're embarrassed to be seen with me. You're so afraid your friends won't approve of me. Since when do you need permission to have friends? It is totally ridiculous and I'm sick of it! If you're going to blow me off then you might as well-"

Nathan couldn't help himself. She was so adorable when she was mad and yelling at him. He grabbed the back of her head with his right hand and pulled her toward him, grabbing her waist with his left hand he pressed his lips to hers. The action happened so fast and Haley was caught so off guard that she didn't have time to resist. Before he knew it Haley was kissing him back. When he finally let go and pulled away he opened his eyes and Haley still had hers closed.

"You shouldn't have done that Nathan," she said. Then she pulled him by his collar and kissed him again.