Okay so I have to be honest the reason why it took me a while to come out with this chapter, is because I was torn on where to take the story, this was sort of a pivotal chapter that could have taken two very different directions, and as you all know this is not prewritten so I had to take some time and really think about where I wanted this story to go. I hope that you guys like the route that I chose don't worry this is not the end actually far from it I still have a lot of ideas. So on to chapter 13. Read and Enjoy! Oh and by the way the song towards the end is You and Me by Lifehouse. I suggest you listen to the song as you read the scene because it fits in really well and sets the tone.
Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill or its characters.
Chapter 13
"Shut up. No way."
"Way."
"Kill me now." Chase mumbled in my ear.
Chase, Skills, Nathan and I were currently sitting at a table full of valley girls. You know who I'm talking about the girls that use the term "like" way too much and can't go ten minutes without gossiping. The reception was being held at the Marriott. Coincidently the same Marriott Nathan and I were staying at. I had managed to make it through the ceremony without talking to Chris or Teresa but I knew the inevitable would come eventually.
"Well hello, hello the Keller's have arrived."
And apparently eventually has come a lot sooner than I thought.
"Hey Chris." I replied in a sickeningly sweet voice trying not to roll my eyes at the fact that he just referred to him and Teresa in the third person.
"Haley James, I'm glad you showed up." Chris said smugly. "And I see you brought a friend." Chris let his eyes linger on Nathan as he said this.
I was about to respond when Nathan beat me to it. "Actually," Nathan said as he scooted closer to me and put his arm around my waist. "I'm her boyfriend, Nathan Scott."
Say what now?
"We're not together my ass." I heard chase mumble softly under his breath while quietly laughing.
"Boyfriend, well haven't you moved on quite fast." Teresa spoke for the first time that night.
You have got to be kidding me. Tell me I'm dreaming because there is no way in hell that bitch actually said that to me.
"Listen bitc--"
"Ladies and gentleman please welcome Mr. and Mrs. Chris Keller to the dance floor." The DJ interrupted our pleasant little get together and the room applauded as Chris and Teresa left the table and made their way toward the dance floor.
"You okay?" Nathan questioned me while putting one of his hands on top of mine.
"Just peachy." I replied with a sarcastic grin. "I need a drink." I stood up from the table and headed toward the open bar. Once I got a drink I turned around to see Chris and Teresa dancing. But I soon realized that Chris was staring at me instead of focusing on his wife.
And then he did it. He was rubbing his ear. You see when Chris and I went out in high school we had a secret code to let each other know that we wanted to be in private. I did it when I wanted to yell at Chris in private for something idiotic he did. Chris did it when he wanted to get me away to make out. And can you guess what that code was? Well if you said rubbing your ear then you're completely right. He kept looking at me as if making sure I got the message. I turned around to face the bar and put my back to Chris.
This is going to be a long night.
"I swear dawg the chick was all up on me."
"Dude she was completely hammered."
"Doesn't change the fact that she couldn't resist my charms yo."
I walked back to the table to see Nathan and Skills laughing and reminiscing about their times together at High Flyers. Chase was the first to notice my arrival.
"You good baby James?"
I took my seat in between him and Nathan. "Yeah, I just had to get away for a while."
"Well don't worry Hales, you didn't miss anything. Skills was just telling us about the thousands of girls who fell in love with him at High Flyers." Nathan said sarcastically.
"That ain't right man, you know I'm telling the truth." Skills said defensively. I laughed at the look Nathan shot Skills as if saying "get real".
I looked up from my seat at the table in time to see Chris walk out of the room we were in and into a separate back room alone.
"Hey, will you guys excuse me. I have to go to the bathroom."
I stood up from the table and headed toward the door that Chris just walked into. It was time to straighten this whole thing out once and for all. I walked into the abandoned room to see Chris pacing back and forth. His head shot up when he heard the door slam shut.
"Haley."
"Chris."
"I knew you couldn't resist the Chris Keller charm." He smirked cockily while moving closer to me.
I laughed bitterly. "Cut the crap Chris. I could care less if you fell in a ditch and died. What I want to know if you lost your damn mind. I know that its small but really you still have a brain right?" I asked sarcastically.
"What are you talking about?" Chris asked while feigning innocence.
"I want to know why the hell you invited me to your wedding and why when you should be concentrating on your wife you have been looking at me all night or how about the fact that you have been shooting Nathan the evil eye ever since you first saw him." I ranted until I was out of breath waiting for Chris to give me an answer to my rant.
"I missed you Haley."
"You missed me?!" I asked incredulously. "Tell me Chris exactly when did you miss me, when you were sneaking around with Teresa behind my back, or was it when you left me that wonderful voicemail before I left California basically telling me that I deserved to be cheated on, or was it when you proposed to Teresa and decided to marry her. Tell me Chris because I am dying to know."
"Haley…" He moved toward me and caressed my arm. I moved away from him disgusted.
"Can you ever not cheat on a girlfriend?! Or in this case wife?" I asked after I moved away.
"Come on Hales, look me in the eyes and tell me that you didn't miss Chris Keller."
I rolled my eyes. I can't believe he seriously thinks I miss him. "First of all I sure as hell don't miss you talking about yourself in the third person. Second of all I realized that I never really loved you Chris what we had was a joke and I have found someone who is tent times better than you will ever be."
Nathan had already told Chris and Teresa that be was my boyfriend. I might as well run with it.
Chris scoffed. "Who, this Nathan guy?"
"Yes, Nathan."
"You have got to be kidding me, you've known him for like what a month tops?"
"Nathan is everything that you were-- which by the way isn't saying much-- and so much more." I saw that Chris was about to interrupt me. "Look Chris, I'm done okay, I came to your wedding to show you that I have moved on and to wish you a happy life with your wife even though you probably don't deserve it."
I walked back towards the door but I turned around just before I turned the knob. "Oh and Chris I can almost guarantee that if you keep looking at me all night Nathan will pummel you into the ground." And with that I walked out of the door and more importantly out of Chris' life.
I walked back to the table to see Nathan talking with someone. You see under normal circumstances I would have absolutely no problem with this but Nathan was chatting it up with Teresa and she was practically all over him.
Wow, I can just tell this marriage is going to last forever.
"Hales, baby where did you go off to?" Nathan stood up once he noticed my presence and gave me a bone-crushing hug while kissing my forehead. I smiled as his soft lips made contact with my skin.
"Help me." I heard him whisper in my ear as his hot breath tickled my neck.
"Care to dance?" Nathan pulled away from our embrace just as You and Me by Lifehouse started playing on the speakers. He held out his hand for me to take. "I would love to." I smiled at him as he lead me to the dance floor.
What day is it? And in what month?
This clock never seemed so alive
I can't keep up and I can't back down
I've been losing so much time
"So where were you while I was being tortured and Skills and Chase decided to abandon ship." Nathan and I started to slow dance along with all the other couples on the dance floor. I hit him lightly on the shoulder. "It couldn't have been that bad."
Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do
Nothing to lose
And it's you and me and all of the people
And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you
"Haley, the girl talked about the color black for thirty minutes straight, the shades, what it would clash with, blah, blah, blah. If that's not torture then I don't know what is." Nathan sighed dramatically while I laughed.
"But seriously, where did you head off to? I was starting to worry." As Nathan said this his arms tightened around my waist.
"I had a little talk with Chris."
"Do you need me to beat his ass?" Nathan asked seriously.
I smiled at him. "No it's okay, I think I handled it."
"Good, because if he kept looking at you the way he has been all night I can almost promise he would be spending his honeymoon in the emergency room."
I suppressed a laugh and looked down as we were dancing. I am a natural born klutz and I'll be damned If I fall in front of all these people.
"Hales," Nathan spoke so softly I almost didn't hear him, I looked up into his eyes, the blue orbs reflecting determination.
"Yeah?" I questioned softly.
All of the things that I want to say just aren't coming out right
I'm tripping on words
You've got my head spinning
I don't know where to go from here
"I don't want to play games anymore." Nathan was speaking softly, vulnerability showing in his voice. I opened my mouth to try to get out something but when he saw that I was having a hard time formulating words he interrupted me.
"Just hear me out, I like you Haley James, and I know that you've been hurt in the past , but I'm not Chris, Hales I would never hurt you. I'll be the first to admit that I wasn't exactly a one woman kind of guy in high school but you gotta believe me when I say that you mean more to me than that. I want us to be so much more than that." He stopped speaking and looked into my eyes awaiting an answer.
Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do
Nothing to prove
And it's you and me and all of the people
And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you
"I'm scared." I said so softly I was afraid that he didn't hear me.
"Of what?" Nathan was rubbing my sides where his hands were, his way of reassuring me that he would always be there.
"Of losing you, of not being enough for you." I answered truthfully. I have come so accustomed to telling Nathan the truth that it was hard to lie to him.
"I'm not going anywhere, and if anyone is not good enough its me for you. I'm scared to Hales, I'm terrified that I'll screw us up and ruin something that could be great."
There's something about you now
I can't quite figure out
Everything she does is beautiful
Everything she does is right
"So where does that leave us?" I was begging Nathan for an answer, a solution to everything. And then he gave it to me.
"Let's be scared together." Nathan said his voice just above a whisper.
Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do
Nothing to lose
And it's you and me and all of the people
And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you
and me and all of the people with nothing to do
Nothing to prove
And it's you and me and all of the people
And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you
Nathan leaned down our noses touching, our breathing becoming heavier in anticipation of what was to come. He covered my mouth with his own as my arms clung to his neck and his hands tightened around my waist. I felt Nathan's tongue swipe across my upper lip begging for entrance, which I happily granted.
I zoned out everything, nothing else mattered. Not Chris, Teresa, or even Stacie who I knew would be livid once we returned to school and found out about Nathan and me. All that mattered was me and Nathan and the fact that for the first time since I broke up with Chris I was willing to be vulnerable again. And I was willing to do it with Nathan.
What day is it?
And in what month?
This clock never seemed so alive
R&R
--Storyofmylifee