Thank you all for your wonderful reviews. You have once again blown me away. I got my laptop back, thank God! Razor Sharp update is also coming your way!
In case y'all were wondering, the title of this fic comes from the song Colors by Halsey. I happened to be listening to that song while I was writing this story one day and the lyrics just kind of fit with how I felt about the characters and the story I planned on telling. It felt right and I just fell in love with it. So, here we are! If you've never heard that song, I highly recommend it. In fact, I highly recommend Halsey in general!
I know you all are probably wondering who Nathan was visiting at the cemetery and you will find out soon, I promise.
Lastly, I kind of stole a huge portion of this chapter from the show itself. I changed it around some but the idea came straight for the show. It came from episode 4x13. Once you start reading it, you'll see what I mean ;) I feel really good about this chapter and I have a feeling that when I look back at this story, this chapter will be one of my favorites. Also, I feel like someone is going to mention this so I'm just going to get it out of the way. Nathan is very hot and cold in this chapter. He goes from being nice to being rude in like the matter of seconds. That is done on purpose and with what I have planned, you'll get a clear explanation of why exactly that is in the future.
It was a small blue sign. The plastic was cut smoothly into a perfect rectangle, suspended from the ceiling by thin cables. The bold white words stared back at her- "Tutoring Center." For some reason, those words intimidated her, mocked her, and also, excited her. On her way to lunch, she had come across this room and stopped dead in her tracks.
Back in California, she had been a tutor, a math tutor to be more specific. Her calculus teacher had approached her half way through the year to compliment her on having the highest grade in the class and to coax her into helping some of the students who weren't as fortunate at math. At first, she hesitated. Being a tutor had never crossed her mind and she feared that she wouldn't be good at it. But, she gave it a chance and to her delight, she found that she loved it. The only question that remained was- should she stick to it?"
"It's only your second day here, how do you already need to be tutored?" Brooke said, popping up from out of nowhere.
Haley jumped at the sound of Brooke's voice, her hand flying up to rest over her now-rapidly beating heart. "Jesus, you scared me!"
Brooke shrugged her shoulders. "Sorry. But, seriously, are you already failing a class?"
Haley shook her head. "No, uh, I don't need to be tutored."
"Then why are you standing outside of the Tutoring Center like you're scared to go in or something?"
"I was thinking of possibly signing up to be a tutor," Haley said casually, biting down on the inside of her cheek. She wished she could come up with a solid reason why she was so apprehensive about walking into that room, but she was drawing blank after blank.
"You tutor?" Brooke asked, her forehead creasing in genuine curiosity.
"Sort of. I was an unofficial calculus tutor for a few people in my class at my old school," Haley explained with a slight shrug of her shoulders.
"Well, you should go sign up. Principal Turner has been begging student council to put advertisements out for new tutors for the last few weeks and I just haven't gotten around to it. They're short staffed, I guess," Brooke explained. "Plus, high school is boring when you don't get involved. I hated school until I became a cheerleader and student body president."
"Cheerleader, huh?" Haley mumbled. She wasn't the least bit surprised at this new information. Brooke just had that spunk about her. Plus, within the short time that Haley had been in Tree Hill, she had concluded that Brooke was quite popular. Cheerleading and popularity tend to go hand in hand, right?
Brooke nodded proudly. "Every basketball game. Basketball season doesn't start for a few more months, but I'm already anxious. You don't happen to cheer, do you? My squad is little smaller than normal this year and we're looking for some new girls. You're gorgeous, so you would fit right in!"
As soon as those words left Brooke's mouth, Haley began to vigorously shake her head. "Trust me, I'm the last person you would want on your squad. I'm a natural born klutz."
"I'm sure I could shape you up in no time."
"Thank you, but I think I'll stick to tutoring."
Brooke smiled warmly at her before glancing at the clock. "Well, we all have our hobbies! Come on, lunch is over and we don't want to be late to English. Mr. Harrison doesn't mess around when it comes to tardiness."
~x~
"You are all seniors, correct?" Mr. Harrison asked as he walked around his desk to stand in front of the room. Leaning back, he rested against his desk and crossed his arms over his chest. He was a middle-aged man, early forties if Haley had to guess. He was bald and for the second class period in a row, he was wearing a sweater vest over a white dress shirt and a pair of khakis. She wondered if those were the only articles of clothing he owned.
There was a chorus of "yes" that echoed through the classroom before Mr. Harrison began to speak again. "And for the most part, with the exception of a few you, you've all gone to school together for the last four years, correct?"
Another group of murmurs.
"Okay, then," Mr. Harrison began looking around the room before his eyes landed on someone. "Brooke, what is Peyton's middle name?"
Without even taking a breath to think about it, Brooke answered, "Elisabeth."
"Jake, what is something Lucas is afraid of?"
Jake sat back and thought for a few seconds before answering, "Heights."
"Alright, Peyton, who is Skylar's boyfriend?"
Peyton shifted nervously in her seat as she began to pick at the edge of her notebook. "Uh, not to be insensitive or anything, but isn't Skylar gay?"
Skylar immediately sat up in her chair, her eyes narrow. "That was just a rumor that went around last year. I'm not."
"Ah-ha! You guys walked right into my trap!" Mr. Harrison exclaimed, pushing himself off of his desk. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, an excited grin painting his features. Scanning the room with his eyes once more, he landed on Haley. "Haley, you're new around here. This is, what, your second day in this school?"
Haley timidly nodded her head, sitting up straighter in her chair. She could feel a bunch of eyes burning into her back. This whole "being a big deal because she's a new student" thing was starting to get old.
"Tell me, in your two days here, have you heard any rumors about your fellow classmates that maybe makes you not want to reach out to them or be their friend?" He asked her seriously.
Involuntarily, Haley's gaze fell on Nathan who was seated on the opposite side of the classroom. He was leaned back in his desk chair, his arms crossed over his chest. Once again, he was dressed in the same leather jacket. At this point, Haley figured that, that article of clothing was just an everyday thing for him. He was wearing a light blue shirt this time, jeans, and the same boots. His expression was blank, his eyes looking at the teacher but Haley was positive he wasn't really listening to a word that Mr. Harrison said. She was, somewhat, surprised his eyes weren't on her like the rest of their classmates.
All weekend, Haley couldn't stop thinking about what Peyton and Brooke had said about Nathan. She couldn't explain why she was so drawn to him. She hadn't said a single word to him and she probably never will but he intrigued her. It was an unexplainable force and she was still unsure how she felt about that. How could she be that entranced by a strange?
"Haley?"
Tearing her eyes away from Nathan, she felt her face heat up when she discovered that everyone, most likely, had just witnessed her zone out on Nathan. She tossed her hair over her shoulders so that it formed a curtain over her face. Clearing her throat, she muttered, "Yes, I have."
Mr. Harrison clapped his hands together. "See, that's the problem with your generation-you believe everything you hear first, instead of trying to get to know someone. Most of you have spent the last four years of your lives together but you don't know anything about each other. You hear the rumors and suddenly think that you know everything there is to know about someone. You don't take the time to get to know who someone truly is."
"No offense, Mr. Harrison, but not everyone in high school gets along or becomes friends," some kid called from the back of the room.
"True," Mr. Harrison responded as he turned around and grabbed a small stack of papers of his desk. "But, it can't hurt to get to know some of the people that you've grown up with as like a last hurrah or something. Which is why, today's assignment will do just that. We're going to break down some barriers in this classroom."
"Let me guess, you got super drunk this weekend and forgot to make your lesson plan and that's why we're stuck doing this assignment," another kid snickered.
Mr. Harrison smiled. "Precisely. But come, on this could be fun!"
He began to pass out these little slips of paper to one side of the classroom. "This side of the room, I want you all to write your name on these slips of paper and then pass them back to the front of the room. Then, I'm going to place all of your names in my clean, I promise, coffee mug. The other side of the room will pick a random name from this coffee mug and that will be your partner for a little assignment."
Shuffles could be heard as all of the pieces of paper were collected and then the mug began to be passed around the room. When the mug reached Haley, she reached in and grabbed the first paper her fingers touched before she passed the mug off to the next person. Unfolding the piece of paper, she swore her heart was going to beat out of her chest. Written on that tiny piece of paper in handwriting that could only be described as chicken scratch was Nathan's name. She blinked hard, just in case she had read it wrong. But, nope, there was his name.
What were the fucking odds?
"Okay, so now that you know who your partner is, I am going to give you another sheet of paper with a series of questions. You and your partner will go somewhere in this school to basically interview each other. I don't care where but it has to be on this campus. Follow the instructions on the cards closely. And I ask you to take this assignment seriously or Principal Turner will have my head for wasting a fifty minute class period on foolery. You have the entire class period," Mr. Harrison announced as he handed out the rest of the materials for the assignment. "Make a new friend today!"
Haley felt like her heart was in her throat as she walked over to Nathan. The feeling of being excited and nervous at the same time was coaxing through her veins. Nathan had shifted in his position and was now sitting sideways in the desk seat. He seemed to be engrossed in something on his phone screen. She hesitated for a moment, unsure of just how to approach him. Obviously he had heard about the assignment but he made no movement to acknowledge it.
Taking a deep breath, she took another step closer to him. "Hey, uh, you're Nathan right?"
At the sound of his name, he looked up at her and holy shit. His eyes. They were the first thing she noticed. From afar, it was hard to tell but his eyes were seriously blue. Almost sickeningly blue-full on Prince Charming, field of cornflower, perfect, cloudless sky blue. They held a sharp darkness that made goosebumps rise high on her skin. The dark circles under his eyes reminded her of faded bruises, barely there but still visible.
She let her eyes trail over the rest of his face as she swallowed back the gasp that was threatening to bubble up her throat. From a distance, he was attractive but up close? Up close he was easily the most beautiful boy she had ever laid eyes on. His fair skin, his sharp jawline, the firm bone structure of his cheeks, the long eyelashes rimming his eyes, his full lips…he was the epitome of beautiful.
And she needed to stop staring right now or things were going to get awkward.
"Yeah," Nathan finally responded to her acknowledgement. He was well aware of the fact that she was gawking at him. Normally, that would have annoyed him but the way she was looking at him was different than how most girls looked at him. Most girls looked at him like he was a commodity, a piece of meat…something to bat their eyelashes at. Her bright brown eyes were filled with genuine curiosity and it felt like she was looking right into his soul, something that made him uneasy. He could already see her trying to work out all of the rumors she had inevitably heard about him.
He met her gaze and an unfamiliar feeling washed over him. An unfamiliar feeling that absolutely terrified him.
Fuck, even his voice was sexy. It was the perfect amount of hoarse and gravel mixed into one. She suppressed the shiver that ran down her spine and curved her lips into a shaky smile. "I guess we're partners for this little project thing. I'm Haley James. I just moved here so that explains why you've probably never seen me before."
She was rambling awkwardly and she silently cursed herself for her nervous tendencies. If the ground opened up and swallowed her whole at that moment, she wouldn't have complained. However, Nathan didn't seem to notice her nervous habit or if he did, he just chose to ignore it, something she was grateful for.
"Yeah, I know. I heard something about you the other day," Nathan said nonchalantly, adverting his eyes away from hers. He was in History when he heard some punk say something about the new girl being "the hottest girl he's ever seen." And now that Nathan saw her with his own eyes, he couldn't help but agree. Again, something he really shouldn't have been thinking.
Haley silently cursed herself when she felt her cheeks heat up at his words. Something else in this school needed to happen to take the attention off of her before she went crazy.
Noticing her blush, he quickly added, "It was nothing bad. We just don't get a lot of new students around here."
"So I've heard," Haley mumbled as she tucked a piece of hair behind her hair in a timid manner. She was desperate to change the subject off of her new arrival. "So, I guess we're partners for this assignment that Mr. Harrison just assigned." She mentally berated herself for the fact she had just repeated herself. Why couldn't she just be cool and collected?
Nathan nodded as he slipped out of the desk chair. Once he was standing, he stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jeans. He found himself looking into her eyes again but quickly adverted his gaze away once again. That same stupid feeling shook inside of him. "I, um, I wasn't really paying attention in class. What is it that we have to do?"
"We have to go any place in the school and ask each other these questions," Haley explained as she held up the other piece of paper Mr. Harrison had handed her.
"Sounds good," Nathan mumbled dryly as he started walking towards the hallway. "Is there any place you specifically want to go?"
"Uh, not really," Haley mumbled. "I still don't really know my way around this school. Do you know somewhere we could go?"
Nathan thought about it for a moment before nodding. He knew the perfect place. "Follow me."
They walked in silence to where Nathan was taking her. If she were being honest, she felt a lot more comfortable around him than she thought she would. She had expected him to be rude or nasty towards her, but he wasn't. He was cold and definitely seemed distant, but he wasn't rude. However, there was still this uneasiness inside of her. He was intimidating. His eyes were dull and his lips remained pressed into a hard line. He was emotionless, completely uninterested in this assignment, in school, and life, in general. The way he walked reminded her of a brainless zombie that was being controlled by its creator. It was like he was just letting his feet take him wherever they wanted to go.
Haley fiddled with the paper that contained their assignment as she followed Nathan down another corridor. After a few more minutes of walking, they arrived at a large set of double doors. Nathan pushed open of the doors and held it open for her as she walked through. The strong scent of wax, rubber, and sweat invaded her senses. It was the high school gym. The lights were dim, but the bleachers were pulled out and the basketball nets were down. Blue banners hung around the brick walls, the words "Go Ravens!" painted in white or black block letters. She noticed a few jerseys in glass cases hanging on the wall, along with a few banners with different championship years embroidered on them.
She found it almost ironic that the first place he thought to take her to was the gym. The question of why he wasn't on the basketball team burned in the back of her throat but she swallowed it back.
The sound of the bleachers creaking broke Haley out of her scale of the room. Turning around, she found Nathan sitting on one of the bleachers. He was leaning back, his hands clasped together and resting on his stomach. He was staring right at her and she felt her temperature rise at the intense look on his face. She couldn't put into words the way he was staring at her…it was like he was trying to memorize every single detail about her yet there was this underlying notion of…fear? That couldn't be right.
Deciding to take initiative to begin the assignment so things didn't get even more awkward, Haley climbed up the bleachers and plopped down a comfortable distance away from Nathan. She straddled the bleachers and angled her body so that she was facing him. She watched him scoot a little farther away from her and she couldn't help but feel slightly offended. Did she smell or something? Taking a quick whiff of herself, she only smelled the scent of her vanilla body spray, so she decided to ignore his actions. Then, she looked down at the sheet of questions that Mr. Harrison gave them before disrupting the silence. "Okay, the first thing on this list says 'share something personal with your partner.'"
Nathan visibly tensed, shifting uncomfortably against the bleachers. He already didn't like this assignment. He hated talking about himself. He didn't like attention and besides, there wasn't much about himself that he could just divulge to someone, especially someone he barely knew. So, the safest route possible was the road he decided to take. "My middle name is Royal."
Haley's forehead creased at that. "Oh come on, your middle name is like public knowledge. That's hardly something personal." As soon as those words left her mouth, she knew she shouldn't have said them.
Nathan's head snapped in her direction, his stare cold and narrow. "It's personal to me," He growled harshly. When she winced at his words, he felt a pang of guilt in his chest. He knew he shouldn't have snapped at her like that. She was new, she didn't know him. She didn't know that he didn't like answering personal questions or that he wasn't an open book. Most people in Tree Hill knew that about him and they never prodded for information.
"I'm sorry," Haley apologized meekly. She mentally retracted her thought about him not being rude. "I didn't mean-"
Nathan shook his head, cutting her off. "It's fine."
"Okay, um," Haley stuttered slightly but turning the attention back to her. He didn't seem all that interested in what she had to say but she continued on anyway. "Something personal about me…well, let's see, I come from a big family. I have three brothers and three sisters."
Nathan turned his head to look at her, his eyes wide. "I bet your house is crowded."
Haley shook her head as the words flowed out of her, effortlessly. "Actually, I'm the only one left. They're all pretty much spread out across the United States. My oldest sister is married with two sons and she lives out in Ohio. My two older brothers are also married with kids and they're in New York. My other brother is finishing up his masters back in California. My other older sister is a senior at Georgia Tech and then my last sister disappeared after her high school graduation and hasn't been heard from since. So, it's just me and my mom now."
"What about your dad?"
"Oh, he passed away a few years ago. He had a heart attack," Haley explained, her voice solemn.
For a moment, Nathan's features soften and she swore she saw something other than coldness in his eyes. Sympathy? Pity? Sadness? She couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was because as soon as it appeared, it was gone. "I'm sorry," Nathan mumbled.
Haley shrugged. "It's okay. I've learned to get over it."
Nathan's forehead creased at that. Learned to get over it? "How do you just learn to get over someone's death? Especially someone that was so close to you?" He asked incredulously. The sharpness in his voice had returned. His chest felt tight and he couldn't even hide his bewilderment. Death wasn't something you just "got over", at least not to him.
Haley noticed the change in his demeanor right away. He was even tenser than before, if that was possible and he apparently did not like her answer at all. "I don't know. It was hard for a while but as time went on, the pain got easier. My dad lived his life to the fullest and he believed in the fact that God takes you when your purpose in life has been fulfilled. I guess I found peace in the fact that I know he found peace."
Nathan nodded wordlessly. He wasn't really sure to say to that, mostly because he was in shock. There wasn't a hint of pain in Haley's eyes as she talked about her father's death and for a brief moment, he admired her. He admired the fact that she could move past all the pain of losing someone so close to her when it felt like he was stuck in this constant rut.
"What's the next question?" He asked, changing the subject. He needed to change the subject before it became too much.
Haley glanced back at the questions before answering. "Admit something that worries or scares you."
Damn it. Nathan cursed silently. Were any of these questions simple like "what's your favorite color?" or "when's your birthday?"
"I guess I'll go first," Haley said when Nathan remained silent. "I'm scared about college."
"Why?"
Haley sighed heavily as she began to twist the ring on her pinky finger. "I'm just not sure what I want to do with my life. I mean, photography has been a hobby of mine since I was little. My sister, Quinn, showed me how to hold a camera and how to take pictures. She was always big into photography and I wanted to be just like her. Eventually, I just fell in love with it. But, I don't really know what kind of career I could have doing that. I recently discovered that I like to tutor, but I don't know if I could see myself being a teacher. And other than those two things, I can't think of anything else I like to do."
"Can I ask you something?" Nathan asked when he realized just how much she had just revealed to him.
Haley nodded.
"Are you always this open with people?" He pondered, his eyebrows raised. They had just met not even twenty minutes ago and she had no problem telling him details of her life. It baffled him.
"For the most part."
"Why's that?"
"I don't know," Haley admitted with a shrug. "I guess that I'm not really ashamed of anything or I don't really have anything to hide. Why do you ask?"
"Opening up to people scares me," Nathan admitted before he could even register what he was saying. He wasn't planning on saying anything. In fact, he was just going to try and avoid their second question at all coasts.
"Why?" Haley asked without thinking.
Nathan's jaw clenched. "What's the next question on the list?"
Haley narrowed her eyes. "You avoided my question."
"Because I didn't want to answer it," Nathan mumbled. "I just told you that I don't like opening up to people. What makes you think I would want to expand on that?"
"I just-"
"Just drop it."
Haley felt like someone had just pulled a rug out from underneath her. One minute, Nathan was…not as cold. But then the next minute, he was completely closed off. He was cold as ice and there was an edge to his voice that made her nervous.
"Are you always like this?" She asked.
"Like what?" He wasn't looking in her direction anymore. He was looking forward, his elbows resting on his knees. His eyes were trained on something on the other side of the gym.
"Somewhat nice one minute and then a dick the next," Haley clarified. It was her turned to have that sharpness in her voice.
Nathan let out a shaky breath. "Yeah, pretty much."
She wanted to ask why but she knew that wasn't going to do much good. He was just going to snap at her again. So, instead, she looked down at the sheet of questions. The faster they got through them, the faster she would be away from his attitude. "Where do you see yourself in ten years?"
Nathan shrugged. "I'm not sure. I don't really think about the future. What about you?" This time, he did turn and look at her.
"In ten years, I hope to be in love. I hope to be married to this great guy and we have this wonderful family. I have a good career and so does he. Our children are happy and healthy. In ten years, I hope to be just happy and living life," She gushed.
He felt an ache in his heart that he couldn't explain. She was smiling while she described her perfect dream life. Her eyes were twinkling, the light brown color seeming even more golden. Her smile…it light up the entire gym. Her smile…it reminded him of her and he physically felt his heart ache. On top of that, that weird feeling he felt earlier had returned and at first, he didn't fight it. It was a moment of weakness, one that he would later regret.
For the first time since he laid eyes on her, allowed himself to think that she was beautiful. It was the first thought that had popped into his head when he first laid eyes on her, but he ignored it. Her long blonde hair framed her face perfectly. It looked soft and silky, something that he wouldn't mind running his fingers through. Her cheeks and her plump lips were carved perfectly. He wondered if her skin was as soft as it looked. She had a naturalness to her that most girls didn't have. Her face was dusted in the slightest amount of make-up that just enhanced her natural beauty.
Before he allowed himself to go any further, he shut those thoughts down. He didn't need to be thinking like that. That was the last thing he needed.
"It sounds like you've thought about this a lot," Nathan mumbled, mostly to distract himself. The more she talked, the less he thinked.
A light blush covered her cheeks, accompanied with a timid smile. "A lot more than I'd like to admit. I guess that makes me sound like a total girl."
Nathan shrugged. "Not really. My brother is the same way." The corner of his mouth twitched in the slightest way, almost as if he was trying to suppress a smile. Haley found herself wishing that he would've allowed the smile.
"Your brother is Lucas, right?"
"That would be him. The all-American basketball star of Tree Hill High," Nathan murmured and Haley didn't miss the bitterness that colored his voice.
"Do you play any sports?" She found herself asking, although she was sure she already knew the answer.
Nathan hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. "No. They don't interest me." His infamous blank expression had returned.
That's not what it looked like the other day, a voice inside of her head mumbled, but she didn't dare say that out loud. "Oh."
"Yeah," Nathan said. "So what's the next question?"
Haley looked down to see that they had reached the last question. "Um, it says to tell your partner a secret."
Nathan inwardly groaned. Jesus, this assignment was actually killing him. "You first," He said hoarsely. It was going to take him a little bit of time to craft up some kind of lie to tell her. It shouldn't really be that hard. He was used to lying.
Haley stayed quiet for a few minutes as she mulled over what to tell him. She didn't really have "secrets." Well, except for one and she felt her cheeks heat up at the thought of it. It was something completely girly and she had never told anyone because of the mere fact that it was highly embarrassing.
"Oh, this is about to be good," Nathan claimed as he watched he blush spread across her cheeks for the second time in the last half hour. He had to admit that he was enticed by the fact that she blushed so easily. A lot of the girls that hung around him didn't blush or get embarrassed at all. The change of pace was nice.
Haley looked down and the twirling of her ring started again. Her cheeks felt hot and that knowledge only made her blush even more. "It's so embarrassing."
"I'm sure it's not," Nathan assured.
She took in a deep breath. "Okay, um, well I've never told anyone this before but whenever I'm in the shower, I like to sing and pretend that I'm performing to a sold out crowd," As soon as she revealed her secret, she covered her face with her hands and buried her head in her lap.
Nathan let out a small chuckle. With the way she was acting, he was expecting her reveal a weird fetish or something along those lines, not that she liked to sing in the shower. "That's not embarrassing."
Haley looked up and playfully rolled her eyes at him. "How is it not?"
Nathan shrugged. "I've heard more embarrassing things in my life time."
"Like what?"
"My best friend used to pretend that his sister's Barbie's were his girlfriends."
Haley let out a giggle, a smile gracing her face. "Yeah, I guess that is a little more embarrassing than singing in the shower. So, what's your secret?"
"I like your smile," Nathan admitted without even thinking. He mentally cursed himself for being so…over assertive.
"How is that a secret?" Haley asked, another set of blush painting her cheeks.
"A secret is something that you've never told anyone before, right?"
Haley nodded.
"I've never told anyone that before," He said lowly. "I don't give compliments out often."
She felt her heart flutter at his words and a kaleidoscope of butterflies swarm her stomach. Tucking her hair behind her ear, she gave him a soft smile. "Well, thank you."
For some reason, Nathan suddenly felt the urge to distance himself from her and to his delight, he saw the time on the clock signaled that the end of the period was near. Jumping up from the bleachers, he stuck his hands in his pockets. "We should probably head back to the classroom, the bell is about to ring. Did we get through all of the questions?"
Haley sighed. And the distant side was back. "Yeah. The secret one was the last one."
~x~
The first thing Nathan did when he walked through his apartment door was a grab a beer out of the fridge. His mind was reeling and he just didn't want to think anymore. Or feel. And the fridge was full of things that would allow him to suppress both of those things. Thankfully, the apartment was empty. Lucas probably stopped by their Uncle Keith's body shop after school, he usually did that at least once a week. Or he stopped by his mom's café. Either way, Lucas wasn't home to yell at him for drinking on Monday night.
Nathan plopped down on the couch with the beer in his hand and swung his feet on to the glass coffee table in front of him. Looking around, he noticed that the apartment was a lot cleaner than it was the previous weekend. Pizza boxes and beer bottles no longer littered the tan carpet. The video game console was no longer spilling out of the chestnut brown entertainment center. His eyes moved over the tan couch and the grease stain was no longer present on the furthest cushion. He made a mental note to thank Lucas for cleaning later.
Nathan then took a long drink of his beer, allowing the bitter liquid to slide down his throat. The faster he drank, the quicker the intoxication would sink in. He felt something today. It was something deep inside of his chest and it had shocked the hell out of him. He wasn't sure what it was and he didn't want to think about it. He didn't want to think about who had caused it either. He had gone the last two years without feeling anything and that's the way he wanted to remain. Being numb was easy.
Just as he took another swig of his beer, he heard the front door unlock before a stream of light entered the apartment. Seconds later, the door shut again and Lucas' voice bounced off the walls of the small, two bedroom apartment.
"Oh hey, you're home. I just got done talking to my mom-"
"Did she asked you to move back home yet?" Nathan asked bitterly, cutting Lucas off.
Lucas walked over to the small dining room table and placed his backpack over the back of one of the chairs. "No. She knows that my brother needs me more than she needs me."
Nathan rolled his eyes as he took another drink. "I don't need you, Luke."
Lucas leaned his hip against the island in the kitchen, arms crossed over his chest, and an eyebrow raised. "The fact that it's 3:30 on a Monday afternoon and you already cracked open a beer says otherwise."
"Whatever," Nathan mumbled. "I don't need a babysitter."
"I'm not your babysitter. I'm just here to help you and to make sure that you don't do anything stupid," Lucas corrected.
"So, my babysitter."
Lucas rolled his eyes. "You know that if you don't want me here, all you have to do is say so. You are the one who asked me to move in with you, remember?"
Nathan didn't respond. Instead, he took another drink. He was going to need another one soon.
Lucas sighed, running a hand over his face in agitation. "Anyway, as I was saying, I talked to my mom and she's transferring my rent for this month into your bank account tomorrow."
It was Nathan's turn to sigh. "I told you that, that wasn't necessary. Dad's money covers the rent."
"Yeah, but that sum of money is yours and I don't feel right using it when I have some of my own," Lucas explained.
"If you say so." Nathan finished off his beer before wiggling his way off of the couch. He headed over to the fridge to grab another but Lucas jumped in front of him.
"I don't think so," Lucas insisted. "You're not going to get drunk on a Monday night, not again."
Nathan narrowed his eyes and licked his lips. He could already feel his patience waning thin. He knew that Lucas was just trying to help him and deep down, way deep down, Nathan appreciated it. But, right now, it was just an inconvenience. "Move."
Lucas shook his head. "Not gonna happen, little bro."
"I need it," Nathan declared, attempting to move around him but Lucas was too quick.
"What happened today, Nate?"
Nathan ran a hand through his hair in a frustrated manner. He was starting to feel again as images of Haley's smile entered his mind. He couldn't let this happen. "Nothing."
"I know you're lying," Lucas objected. "I know you only drink to erase your feelings or when things get too hard. So, what happened?"
"Just drop it," Nathan sneered.
"Does it have something to do with the anniversary of-"
"Don't even finish that sentence."
Lucas sighed heavily. "Nate, look, I know that this time of year is hard for you but it might make it easier if you talk to me, if you let someone in."
Nathan opened his mouth to answer when a loud banging on their front door cut him off. Giving Lucas one last glare, Nathan tossed the empty can of beer on to the counter before heading over to their front door. When he swung it open, the anger that was coursing through his veins increased tenfold.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Nathan growled. "I thought I told you to stay the hell away from me."