HJS-NS-23 Author note: Hey everyone we want to thank you all for the wonderful reviews! We love them and they motivate us to update quicker. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Enjoy this next chapter and for all the naley fans out there keep hope! Have fun reading and don't forget to leave your thoughts or suggestions! Trust me reading everyone's feedback makes us smile plus I will give a cookie to everyone who reviews ;o) lol
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2 weeks later.
When classes had finally started Lucas and Haley were really happy to see that they had so many classes in common. They quickly became close friends throughout the last couple of weeks; it was like they had known each other forever. Walking back from their foreign literature class Lucas decided to play their special game they had made when they were bored walking to their next class.
"So Miss James…. I guess it's your turn to ask me a question." Asked Lucas laughing.
They invented a little game, after each class they were asking each other questions on literature. The first one who failed to answer had a dare.
"Yeah! And I think I've got the perfect question…" Said Haley with a mocking evil laugh.
"Oh I'm scared!!" Said Lucas pretending to shake. "Shoot!"
"You better be scared! Okay…. The question is about Les Misérables. Can you tell me who Gavroche is accusing to be the cause of his death?" Haley asked with a cheeky smile.
"Oh you're harsh on me Hales. French literature is already a hard subject but if we need to go into the details!" Lucas looked at her with puppy eyes. "Come on…give me another question!"
"Ummm…" Said Haley pretending to think. "I don't think so! You've got two choices… you answer or you loose!"
Lucas sighed. "I guess… I just lost." He added in mock pain.
"Yay!!" Said Haley jumping around like a child. "In your face Luke!!" She added with a big smile.
"Yeah you're good but I'd like to have the answer now please."
"Oh right…Well it's Voltaire and Rousseau!" She added proud of herself.
"Well you did good but…" He sighed, "What do you want me to do?"
"Oh!" She looked him up and down. "I think I'm going to use your athletic body."
"Huh?" Lucas asked confused and a little afraid.
"Well…we're already on our floor right? So I want a little horse back ride to your room!"
Lucas abruptly stopped walking. "You're joking right?" He asked shocked that she would ask that.
"No, I'm not." Said Haley shaking her head. "Come on! It could be fun! We can pretend were kids again and plus nobody will know about it! You told me that Nathan was in class and Brooke is at this fashion crappy whatever! Let's just be kids again! Please!" She begged pouting.
Giving in he turned his back. "Come on jump on before I change my mind!"
Haley laughed "Yay!! And you better run fast!" She added pretending to be serious.
Lucas ran to his room while Haley was shouting "Hurry faster!!"
They were laughing like two silly kids or drunken teenagers. However as soon as they opened the door, the rest of their laughter died in their throats, Nathan was laid on his bed staring at them.
"Hey Nate!" Said Lucas trying to hide his embarrassment. "How come you're here?"
Haley jumped off Lucas back. "Well I guess I'll see you later Luke." She said without a glance at Nathan. She closed the door behind her. "Why was he here?" She was just fed up trying to keep ignoring him but she had to he was completely out of line that night and a complete asshole.
"Hey I guess you're having a lot more fun in literature classes than I thought!" Said Nathan with sarcasm at Lucas' attention. "Are you usually playing horse back ridding? What would your girlfriend think?"
"Oh, lighten up Nathan!" Said Lucas trying to hide his discomfort. "I'm having a blast with Hales. I mean she is unique! She is so much fun to have around."
It seems that Nathan's heart just broke into a million pieces." I can't tell Luke, I don't know the girl! I'm the only one she's avoiding like a disease. I guess I deserve a special treatment!" Since the horrible night at the party Haley just forgot that Nathan ever existed. He could have handled hate and disdain because it would have meant that she still cared about him but ignorance was a terrible fate and he could not cope with that any longer.
"Well maybe if you apologized for how you acted that night she might talk to you" Lucas told his cousin.
"Yea your right I should go talk to her" Nathan said, "maybe show her what she's missing" his cocky attitude coming back out.
When will he learn Lucas thought to himself.
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Haley had a mission to talk to Peyton. Jake explained to her what happened after the party and even if Peyton was still talking to Jake she was really distant with him. Jake asked Haley for help and she agreed straight away, she really liked Peyton. She swore to Jake to be the best matchmaker in town. After all she was partly the reason why Peyton was being so cold and she hadn't had time since the party to talk to Peyton since classes started.
She knocked on Peyton's' door and heard nothing back but she still tried to open the door which luckily for her was unlocked. Peeking inside the room she saw Peyton was on her bed on her side facing the window with her ipod in her ears while drawing a really dark comic she called The College of broken hearts. Haley walked in the room and looked at the pages on the floors. She could easily recognize Jake in one of them. She walked over to Peyton and touched her back that was facing her.
Peyton was surprised to see Haley. She felt really uncomfortable in her presence and it was even worse today because it was only the two of them.
"Oh! You scared me Hales." Said Peyton putting away the pages she drew as fast as she could. "What can I do for you?" She asked her with a nice smile.
Haley smiled and sat beside Peyton. "It's not what you can do for me but what I can do for you!" Said Haley excitedly.
Peyton frowned at this idea. "What is she talking about?" she wondered to herself.
"I know what happened between you and Jake at the party."
"I….I" Peyton blushed. "I'm so sorry about that Haley. I feel so bad and…and I didn't know how to tell you. Please don't be upset. I know you love him and all. I really want us to be friend. Nothing is going to happen between Jake and me I swear! I promise nothing like that is ever going to happen again!" Peyton said with tears in her eyes.
Haley brought her hand to Peyton face and wiped her tears. She gave her a warm smile before continuing. "It's all my fault Peyton. I should have told you clearly that Jake and I were only friends. I think you'll make a great couple." She added sincerely.
Peyton was confused by Haley's statement. She tried to read her eyes but she seemed really sincere and she could not see any pain or jealousy in them.
Haley saw Peyton confusions and considered it was the time to go to phase two.
"Well... I understand why you reacted this way. You didn't want to hurt me and you were scared to be hurt too. That's totally normal but I think you should know all of the Haley and Jake story before making any decisions okay?"
When Peyton nodded, Haley felt so relieved. She was on the right track to getting the two of them together. She knew once she told Peyton the story they would become a couple.
"Okay…Once upon a time…" Said Haley trying to bring some fun to her story. "Jake moved to Pasadena when I was 5 and well…. I was already a loner back then." Haley laughed. "I know it's a bit freaky! Anyway Brooke was still living with us back then but as you can imagine she was already pretty popular at kindergarten!"
This remark made Peyton smile she could picture a popular bossy little Brooke.
"Anyway…I was not close to my sister and I met this little boy who was living about three doors down from mine. We started bonding then. He was not that popular at school because he was too mature already and way too sensitive for his own good. When my father left with Brooke well…" Haley cleared her throat "it was a pretty hard to deal with and all the affection I had for my sister had been transposed on Jake. His parents were working very hard on the hardware shop they owned so they were never home. Seeing how good of friends we were, his parents asked my mum if she could keep an eye on him after school and well…you know things like that. Long story short, except for classes, we were always together. Pretty rough things happened to both of us during those years and we always turned to each other for comfort. He became my brother and I became his sister."
Peyton nodded. "I get you Hales."
"Oh I don't think you do!" Said Haley laughing. "Believe me, I never, NEVER saw Jake as a « boy ». I told him stuff that you wouldn't say to your love interest or even to a male friend! And he did the same with me."
"Yeah?" asked Peyton surprised and curiosity shining through her eyes.
Haley blushed. "Jake was there when I had my first period and he came with me to buy you know…. Because I was ashamed to go alone and my mum was at work."
"Oh I see!!" Said Peyton embarrassed just at the thought of it. She tried holding in her laughter but it was harder than she thought it would be.
"Yeah….He was the one I talked to when my breasts didn't develop as soon as the other girls and…well you see my point!And he did the same with me! So now can you tell me how we can even consider dating each other huh?"
"Well it's impossible!" Said Peyton like it was evident. "But I'm not paranoid right? You did play with the ambiguity too right?"
"Yeah we did. Well…we just didn't care what people would think and it was a good way to protect our hearts. You see…as you can imagine Jenny has a mother somewhere but this girl was bad news and she just broke Jakes' heart really bad."
"Can…can you tell me more about her?" Asked Peyton feeling guilty to be so curious.
"I can, Jake allowed me too. But I'll come back on that later. Jake met a college girl named Nicky about three years ago. I didn't like the girl but Jake thought I was overreacting and that I was scared to lose his friendship. When she fell pregnant she showed us her true colors. She told Jake that she was going to get an abortion because she didn't want to get pregnant with a broke teenager."
"That's terrible!" Said Peyton truly feeling sorry for Jake.
"It's not even the worse part. She told him that she was okay with the idea of being pregnant but it had to be with a rich guy! She just disappeared after that. Jake was just a mess, walking around with no goal. I helped him get better and stood by his side like we always did before. Nicky came back about two weeks before giving birth saying that she didn't want the kid but that she didn't have enough money to get an abortion. She told him that if he wanted a kid so bad he could have this one. Jake accepted straight away, his parents were pretty pissed but they accepted the situation. They knew he would be a good father. I was smart enough to make Nicky sign a form stating that she was renouncing her parental rights on the baby. She had 18 months to retract the from but we thank god she didn't. Anyway, since then I've been helping Jake raise Jenny but this sordid love story just destroyed the part of him that believed in true love. He was happy that people thought we were dating because he was protecting his heart. As for me well… I had my share of problems too and Jake was the light at the end of the tunnel. He was always there to help me up when I fell down. Do you get us now?"
"I do… I'm sorry hales." Said Peyton while her heart was filling up with joy.
"Don't apologize. What you did was great! You stood by me without even knowing me and I appreciate it even if you had no reasons to. But everything changed recently." Haley added sadly. "We always laughed at romantic movies thinking that love at first sight was just crap but we discovered pretty recently that it was real."
"We?" Asked Peyton curiously.
"He…I meant he!" Haley corrected too fast to be honest.
"Of course you did!" Said Peyton winking, knowing that Haley was surely talking about Nathan.
"Jake has really fallen for you and he is really hurt. Go and talk to him. I can see you really like him too. What do you have to lose?"
Peyton nodded and pulled Haley into a hug. "Thanks Hales, you're really a great friend! I'll tell Jake how lucky he is to have a friend like you. I'll go to see him tonight."
"Yeah that's a good idea. I'll pick up Jenny so you can have a nice talk."
"You're amazing Hales!" Said Peyton again when Haley walked to the door.
"I know I am!" Said Haley pretending to be posh. "You can spread the word." She smiled. "I'll see you later then."
"You will! Thanks again." Added Peyton not knowing what else to say.
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Nathan decided to have an honest discussion with Haley. It was not good for them to be ignoring each other as well as for the group to act the way they were. He was sure she could understand that.
He arrived in Haleys corridor when he saw her leaving Peyton's room. He decided to follow her because he didn't feel like talking to her in the hall with a topic like that. He saw her walk in the music room downstairs and he quickly became curious. He stayed back and saw her sit in front of a piano. He walked towards her but stood about 2 feet back and decided to listen to her.
Haley started to sing I only want to be with you by Vonda Shepard.
I don't know what it is that makes me love you so
I only know I never wanna let you go
'Cause you started something, can't you see?
That ever since we met you've had a hold on me
It happens to be true
I only want to be with you
It doesn't matter where you go or what you do
I wanna spend each moment of the day with you
Look what has happened with just one kiss
I never knew that I could be in love like this
It's crazy but it's true
I only want to be with you
Nathan couldn't believe what he was hearing. Haley was so talented. "It's like listening to an angel". He added to himself. He decided not to interrupt her and to listen to her beautiful, heavenly voice.
You stopped and smiled at me, asked me if I'd care to dance
I fell into your open arms and I didn't stand a chance
Now listen honey, I just wanna be beside you everywhere
As long as we're together, honey, I don't care
'Cause you started something, can't you see?
That ever since we met you've had a hold on me
No matter what you do
I only want to be with you
No matter what you do
I only want to be with you.
Nathan was about to speak up when he heard a sob from Haley. "Why did I have to fall for that stupid jock?!" She almost shouted out of anger and pain.
Nathan decided to step in and say something. He felt guilty listening to Haley's deepest thoughts without acknowledging his presence. "Since when does a girl make me feel guilty?" he thought to himself. "Hales…" He almost whispered walking up to her.
Haley jumped and turned around. She was both angry and ashamed. "Did he hear all of it?" She asked herself worried. "Nathan what are you doing here?" She asked anger and vile rising from her voice.
"I just want to talk to you." Said Nathan with sad eyes. "You've got such a beautiful voice, it's a crime not to share it with the world." He added with all honesty.
Haley let out a sarcastic laugh. "Of course I do!" She added sarcastically. "There's just one thing... I DON'T WANT TO TALK TO YOU!!" She added pronouncing slowly every words. "I thought we had an agreement." She looked deep into his eyes. She was hiding her feelings pretty well. It was a gift she developed since that night two years ago when she had to start lying to Jake.
"I don't remember agreeing to anything Hales". Nathan stated, she had every right to be mad at him after the way he behaved but he knew she was special and wasn't going to let her go without a fight. "I just want us to start over and why not try to be friends?". He asked with a sad smile.
"Yeah right!" Said Haley surprised by his comment. "Maybe you didn't agree to it but you didn't refuse either!" She added short of arguments. "But I get it…. It's difficult to understand with your head up your ass!" She took her bag. "Just forget I ever existed understand?!"
"I can't do that, I wanted to….so bad but… I just can't" added Nathan with a broken voice.
This comment made Haley's heart melt but she knew that if she let herself feel anything for him again he would hurt her like he always seemed to do. She decided to play it strong even if all she wanted was take him into her arms. "Well…I did! I don't think memory is your best feature so it should make it easy to forget me! Just go to hell and leave me alone ! Let me live my life okay? I don't need any more friends! I've got plenty!" She added running out of the room before he could see her tears falling. She needed comfort and knew exactly where to go.