(A/N) Thank you for the reviews guys, I really appreciate them so much, you have no idea, lol. I'm so thrilled that you're liking this story so far from just the first chapter. Also thank you for the get well soon wishes, that was very sweet of you. I wish I could thank each one of you personally, but your names aren't coming up when you review, it just says guest. So please know that you're the ones I am mainly thanking, lol. Also the people following this story, a big thank you as well. Okay. This chapter is not as long as the first, but next chapter will make up for it. This is just to give you more of an idea of who/how people are connected to each other. Oh and quick reminder for anyone uncomfortable with the M parts of the story, don't forget to skip C and N's conversation, lol. Enjoy reading. And please let me know what you think...
Chapter Two
Ain't It Fun
Cooper sat at the breakfast bar waiting for his mom, Deb Scott to finish making breakfast. "Here you go sweetie." she smiled placing down a plate of pancakes in front of him.
"Thanks mom." he replied. His mouth was practically salivating from the smell alone. He couldn't wait to chow down on them, when the phone suddenly rang from the living room.
Deb looked towards the annoying sound, then at her youngest son. "Cooper could you get that please."
"Sure thing mom." he placed down his knife and fork, before heading towards the living room.
Deb had just finished fixing her own plate, when she heard the back door slide open and there stood her eldest son, Nathan.
"What's for breakfast mom? Cos I am starving." was the first thing he said as he closed the door behind him.
"Well, good morning to you too, Nathan." Deb rolled her eyes as she placed the pan in the sink.
He was just about to sit down, when he stopped himself and walked towards his mother. "Sorry." he gave her a peck on the cheek. "Morning."
"That's better." she told him.
"It was a wrong number..." Cooper said, walking back into the kitchen, just in time to see Nathan taking a bite out of his pancakes. "Nate." he whined. "Those are mine."
Nathan turned his head. "Ya snooze, ya lose, little brother." he told him, cutting into another pancake, before shoving that piece into his mouth.
Cooper clenched his fists. "Mom!" he exclaimed. "He always does this!" He crossed his arms as he glared at his brother. "Why can't you ever eat at your own place?"
Nathan rolled his eyes. His baby brother was so dramatic sometimes.
Deb couldn't help smiling at her two boys, as she lifted her coffee cup to her lips. They had always been like this despite the ten year age gap between them. Nathan would always tease Cooper every chance he got. Cooper would sulk about it for about twenty minutes. And Lucas, her other son, would always be caught in the middle. Sometimes he would mediate. Other times he'd just watch and laugh at his brothers' antics.
"Hey, I need all the energy I can get after the work-out I got last night." he smirked, reminiscing. Noticing the disapproving looks his mom was now giving him, Nathan cleared his throat. "Sorry mom." he told her, then went back to eating.
Deb shook her head. "You can have mine." she told her youngest. "I'll just make some more. Don't worry about it. Besides. You need to hurry up before Lucas gets here to take you to school."
Cooper took a seat next to his brother, then quickly started eating his mom's; now his, pancakes. "Yeah, about that." he started. "Remind me again when I can get my own car?"
"When you're sixteen." came the reply from his mother and brother in unison.
Cooper just rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah." he muttered under his breath.
§§§
Brooke Davis let out a long yawn, as she made her way down the hall, towards the living room. The sight of her best friend/roommate, Haley James; while not unpleasant, was a surprise to see sitting there on the couch. "What are you doing here?" she asked confused.
"I live here." came a mumbled response.
Brooke rolled her eyes at the sarcasm. "I mean…" she looked at the clock on the wall. "At this time. Why aren't you at work?"
Haley kept her head down, with the cool bottle of water she was holding against her head. She shrugged her shoulders in reply. "Didn't feel like going."
"That's not like you." Brooke took a seat next to her, worried. "Are you sick?" Now that would be weird. Haley James didn't get sick, especially if she could help it. She was like a super being or something, sometimes. And the last time Brooke had seen her look this bad was when she was…
"You're hungover."
"Ding ding ding. Give the girl a prize."
"What the hell, Haley?" Brooke was quite shocked, not to mention disappointed at her friend. "Why would you get drunk? Why would you… This is because of him isn't it? God, I swear I'm going to kill Eric."
"Brooke, I'm fine, I'm—
"No you're not, Haley!" she jumped up from the couch and started pacing. "You were doing so well. And now it's all ruined because of that… that asshole!" she stopped pacing and glared at her best friend for a second. " Please tell me you passed out at the bar and the nice bartender called you a cab home?"
Haley slowly lifted up her head. No words were needed, as the look on her face told Brooke everything she needed to know. "Oh god. You had sex. And i'm guessing it wasn't with Eric."
"What do you think." Haley mumbled ashamed.
Brooke shook her head a few times in astonishment. "I'm calling Keith." she told her.
Haley looked at her in surprise at that. "What? Brooke, no."
"I have to, Haley. He's your sponsor and you're now officially off the wagon!" Brooke glanced around the room. "Where's your phone?"
Haley stood up trying to stop Brooke. "It was one slip up, okay. I'm fine, Brooke. It's not gonna happen again!" she tried her hardest to reassure her best friend.
Brooke spun around to glare at Haley. Not believing she had actually said those words to her. "Oh really!? Isn't that what you said the last time this happened!? And then who was the one holding your hair back for you, while you puked your guts up, practically every night! Who was the one you'd call to come pick you up at 3am, from some random guy's apartment, every other weekend! I am not going through this again, Haley. I'm not gonna sit back and watch you destroy yourself again, over some guy! I love you too much for that!"
Brooke could feel her eyes filling with unshed tears, as she yelled at her. "Now where the fuck is your phone!?"
"…It's in my bedroom." Haley quietly replied.
"Thank you." she stormed out of the room, heading straight towards her best friend's bedroom. Grabbing Haley's cell, Brooke quickly found Keith's number and dialed.
§§§
Dan Scott sat in his office on the phone with his five; almost six year old niece, Lily. He couldn't help chuckling at how excited she was about her upcoming birthday next week.
"…So I get lots of presents, uncle Dan?"
"Of course you do." he leaned back and placed his feet up on the desk and smiled. "What kind of uncle would I be if I didn't spoil my little princess, hmm?"
He heard her adorable giggle. "Uncle Dan. I'm only daddy's little princess." she gently reprimanded.
Letting out another chuckle, Dan could just picture his little niece, with her hand on her hip as she held the phone to her ear in the other. She was probably tapping her foot, too. She was just like her mother, Karen. "I know, I know." he teased.
Glancing up, Dan noticed his assistant, Rachel standing in the door-way, tapping her wrist watch. 'One second.' he mouthed to her. "Okay, Lily." he talked back into the phone. "Uncle Dan's gotta go now. He has a very important meeting to get to. But I will see you next week, okay." he held his cell between his ear and shoulder, as he gathered papers he'd be needing for the meeting. "I love you. You be good for mommy and daddy, alright."
"Okay. Love you too. Bye!"
"Oh, Lily put your dad…" he pulled the phone away from his ear with a shrug. "She hung up on me." he pouted. Walking up to his smiling assistant; who quickly hid the fact that she'd been laughing at her big softie of a boss, Dan put away his phone and got serious. "Right, Miss Gatina. Let's do this then."
"Yes sir." she took the paperwork that he handed to her, before scurrying after her boss.
§§§
He was having a really good day. There he was stretched out on his recliner, a cold beer in hand, with the incredible view of the ocean in front of him and the hot sun shining down on him. So why did he feel like ass? Oh that's right, because his best friend was now the one bragging about his wild night with the hottie from the bar last night.
Clay Evans was not amused.
If only he hadn't suggested that Nate be the one to buy her a drink.
Nathan leaned against the railing attached to Clay's beach house, as he went over every detail of what he could remember, that happened between him and… Shit. What was her name again?
Hannah?
Nope.
Heather?
No. Doesn't sound right.
Hollie?
Could that have been it?
"…I'm gripping her hips hard as i'm pounding into her from behind, right. And get this. She has a tramp-stamp, dude."
"Really?" Clay was more intrigued. "What was it? Cos you know, I once fucked a girl in college that had a snake tattoo." he smiled in remembrance. "Ahh. That was a good night."
"It was the number twenty three." Nathan smirked. "Can you believe that? What are the odds that I end up fucking some chick, who happens to have my old jersey number above her ass." he licked his lips. "And Clay, i'm telling you. This girl had an ass that wouldn't quit."
"So, anal then?" Clay smirked, quirking his eyebrow, whilst sipping on his beer. "Scotty boy, you dog!"
Nathan smirked back at him. "Well, we were fucking mostly doggy-style." he slyly told him. "I swear that tattoo of hers is imprinted into my brain, man."
Clay laughed as he stood up. "Well, i'm proud of ya, Nathan." he slapped him on the back. "I think you deserved to have at least one hot one night stand, before starting your 'community service' on Monday."
Nathan screwed up his face. "Ugh. Don't remind me." he begged. "It's gonna be the most boring, hypocritical thing I've ever done. I can't believe my dad's making me do it."
"Well, maybe it will teach you to stop getting into fights." Noticing the glare he was getting, Clay quickly changed the subject. "Have you told Cooper, yet."
"No. Can you imagine his face once he sees his 'big bad brother'… he rolled his eyes at what he'd once heard some of Cooper's friends call him. "…Standing in front of his class, spouting off some bullshit about anti-violence. And how we need to 'stop the violence from spreading in our community.' he quoted some of his father's words. "Dad would be better off getting Lucas to do it."
"Ah yes. The peace-keeper in the Scott family." Clay smiled. "How is middle brother by the way?"
Nathan rolled his eyes at the stupid nick-name that Clay had given to Lucas. "Sick of you calling him that." he joked. "He's okay I guess. Misses Peyton a lot."
Clay nodded as he continued to drink. "When is she coming back, again?" he asked, placing his beer down on the table that was next to him.
Nathan thought about that for a second. "Next week." he replied. "Lucas said she refused to miss Lil's birthday party."
"Little Miss Lily Scott. I haven't seen that cutie for months. How old will she be now."
"Still way too young for you."
"Ha. Ha. Ha. Very funny." the sarcasm practically dripped from his lips. "I'll have you know, girls of all ages love me, Nate. It's a curse really." he shrugged.
"Whatever you say." Nathan grinned at him, shaking his head.
§§§
"I don't understand, Haley. What on earth possessed you to start drinking like that again."
Haley put her hands through her long auburn hair in frustration. They had been going over this for almost an hour now and she was really close to losing it. Her former sponsor, Keith; who it looked like would be her sponsor again, had helped her out of a dark period in her life about four years ago, when she had been living in Charleston, South Carolina. He was actually the reason she moved to Tree Hill, North Carolina and helped her get a job at the local high school.
"There's always a trigger to these things." he continued. "You learned to look past the temptation, Haley. I've been so proud of you, cos you never gave up and you haven't needed me for two years now." he sighed, glancing at the sullen young woman standing in front of him, pacing back and forth. "I was very surprised when Brooke called me earlier—
"Yeah, well she shouldn't have done that."
"I'm glad she did."
"I'm fine, Keith." Haley sighed in frustration. "It's not as bad as she's making it sound."
"Well clearly it is if you're drinking again. How long has this been going on, Haley?"
She stopped pacing and looked at the man sitting in front of her, with a worried look on his handsome face. "I've been having a couple glasses of wine over the past month." she decided just to be completely honest with him. She knew Keith wouldn't stop hounding her otherwise. "Last night was the first time in two years that I have gotten completely wasted."
Keith let out a quiet sigh. "Brooke told me that you woke up in an apartment this morning."
"Yes." she told him, ashamed.
"Do you wanna talk about it?"
"What is there to say, Keith!? she exclaimed. "I screwed up, okay! I got so blindingly drunk last night, that I ended up cheating on my boyfriend with some guy, whose name I forgot and whose face I can't even remember!"
Haley slumped down into the seat opposite the couch, with her head down. She was so angry at herself for being so stupid. Yet at the same time, felt she deserved to have fun after putting up with Eric Johnson's shit for the past six months now. Haley didn't know what she ever saw in that guy. They were always fighting about something, breaking up, then getting back together. He was always busy with work. And even on the rare occasions when he wasn't, he was constantly reminding her that she needed him, that she'd be lost without him, because he helped keep her away from the booze. Well wasn't that just the biggest pile of horse shit you ever heard. He was the one that had her reaching for the bottle.
Brooke was right. Haley needed to dump his sorry ass.
Once and for all.
Another minute had passed, before Haley lifted her head again, to look at Keith. "I don't know what to do?" she spoke softly. "I need help."
Keith stood up and slowly made his way over to her. Placing a hand on her right shoulder, he gently squeezed. "You've already taken the first step again, Haley." he told her, proudly. "Now, slowly, comes the rest."
She knew what that meant.
Haley 'Bobbie Lee' James was going back to AA.
(A/N) Please R&R and i'll see you in Chapter Three...
-Haley copes with her first AA meeting in two years and is surprised to see a familiar face.
-Nathan gives a speech to his little brother's class.
-Peyton returns to Tree Hill with a surprise.
[Thought i'd give you an idea of whats still to come.] ;)
xxx
