A/N: Hey guys! I can't begin to apologize over how late this has been updated. Honestly, the problem is my sister has this ICT GCSE coursework to do, and she's been hogging the computer this whole time. I only just managed to salvage some time on the computer for a couple of hours to update this story. Fear not, I haven't forgotten about it. I actually have the next couple of chapters outlined, but as I am really writing this as I go along, I apologise beforehand for infrequent updates. I will try to make them weekly, but please keep reading and review!
P.S. To make up for the long wait, this chapter is longer than all the previous ones.
(Revised and re-edited August 2014)
Chapter 4
"If you wanna be somebody else… if you're tired of fighting battles with yourself… if you wanna be somebody else…change your mind"– Sister Hazel
BEEP! BEEP!
Nathan's eyes immediately shot open and he winced, not used to the sudden daylight taking over his vision.
BEEP! BEEP!
Oh crap, not right now…
The last thing he wanted was to get up. He already knew today was not going to go well.
BEEP! BEEP!
Facing his friends, if he still had any, was not going to be fun.
BEEP! BEEP!
Not to mention the party later that he had already promised to help set up.
BEEP! BE-
He slammed his hand down on the shrill alarm clock, deciding it really wasn't in his best interest to get a migraine on top of everything else.
Rubbing his eyes, he turned onto his back brushing his arm up against something as he did. Looking to his right he almost groaned. Not a something, a someone. None other than his own girlfriend, lying on her side, her red hair taking over his pillow space. Fuck.
What the hell was he thinking last night?
Clearly I wasn't.
As he remembered what went down, he really did groan this time, already feeling a sense of dread fall over him. Looking over he saw that Rachel seemed dead to the world, so he took the chance to get ready and get the hell out of there.
He looked over at his brother's side of the room, the made up bed giving away that he hadn't come back last night. Thinking of his brother the guilt began to brew in his mind.
Grabbing some clothes he made his way into the en-suite bathroom, last night playing on repeat in his mind. God, what the hell was she thinking? He remembered her exact words yesterday and he was furious as to why she seemed content with always trying to destroy the good parts of his life. He had no idea where this whacked up idea of just naturally being bitchy to any other girl on sight of hers came from, but it was getting out of hand. He honestly couldn't remember if she had always been like this. Back when they first started dating, they rarely talked much, their bodies busy handling any and all communication. And as foolish as it sounded, he hadn't really picked up on her behaviour until other members of the group starting voicing their opinions over it. He thought it had just been a chick thing when her and Brooke would rag on each other, but then Peyton joined in. That should have been his first clue. Peyton was the more level headed one, she tended not to let things get to her, and was usually more diplomatic in any disagreements. And if she wasn't a big enough sign, then the fact that the rest of the guys weren't really high-fiving him for his choice of bed mate was a clear cut signal that something wasn't right.
Sighing, he stripped down he turned the showerhead on and stepped inside the stall. As the droplets of water cascaded onto him from above, he leant back against the cool tiles. He felt the water trickle down the length of his hard, defined body. How he wished it could just wash away all his faults and mistakes too. Despite what had happened he couldn't deny that he was acting completely useless given the situation.
Forget Rachel, what the hell is wrong with me?
Rachel had made it clear that she didn't care and never would about his friends, or what they thought of her. Nathan however, had severely let them down last night. He didn't even know if he still had the right to call them friends.
Grabbing the loofah he started rubbing away, his movements a little rough as though fuelled by anger. Anger at how badly things got messed up yesterday. Anger at letting Rachel say all those things last night. Or any other night. Anger at himself for becoming such a pussy – since when did Nathan Scott let his girlfriend insult not only two of his friends, but his brother as well?
But most of all…anger at how he handled her after they left Starbucks. He'd angrily stomped all the way back to his place with her on his heels. Once they were inside, she immediately set on trying to distract him from the inevitable lecture coming her way. So what did she do? What she always did. She tried to seduce him. Claiming not to be in the mood, he'd backed away and let rip to her about the way she'd just treated his friends, not to mention Lucas. Rachel deemed that they were simply being too touchy. Then they'd argued back and forth until Rachel said something that he didn't really have an answer for.
"Tell me Nathan, why now? You've never cared before, no matter what I say, how bad it is, or who I say it too. You've never given a damn, so what the hell is your problem now?"
Her words echoed through his head as he pulled it back to let the droplets hit him right in the face. Despite the inner turmoil he was going through he couldn't deny the shower was extremely relaxing. He'd always had a thing for water; he loved swimming as a boy, and would even go for walks in the rain at times.
Turning the showerhead off he towelled himself dry before putting on a pair of basketball shorts, a shirt and a hoodie. Drying his hair he walked back into the bedroom, only to be met with the same sight he woke up to.
He couldn't say he was proud of himself at this moment. After not having anything to say to Rachel's comment he'd sat there stumped as she continued with her seduction attempt. Only this time she'd succeeded, as Nathan had decided at that time that he needed anything to get his mind off of what had happened earlier at Starbucks. He was weak.
If only Dan Scott could see him now.
Not being able to look at the sight anymore, he threw down the towel and decided to leave. Closing the door of his dorm room behind him he realised that Rachel would probably be pissed to wake up alone.
Oh well, she'll just have to show herself out.
He'd promised Brooke he'd help out with the party this morning, though he doubted she'd want him anywhere near her right now.
Still I have to try.
He needed to make things right, and this time...he was going to speak up.
"Brooke…" Haley voiced cautiously, watching her roommate run around frantically.
"Yeah?" She replied without even looking up from what she was doing, which was currently fishing through her bag for something.
"Are you okay?" she ventured.
"Oh, yeah just dandy." She replied hurriedly moving to her vanity.
"Uh huh." Haley deadpanned seeing her now fling the contents of her desk all over the place.
"What are you doing?" She ducked to avoid an oncoming hairbrush.
"Party." She replied simply not caring to elaborate.
"Brooke," Haley tried again stepping over the assorted clothes now on the floor. "Brooke…" She walked up to the girl who was now wrestling with her desk draw, a second away from pulling it out of its hinges. "BROOKE!"
The brunette jumped a mile, not expecting the loud shriek, and certainly not from right behind her.
"Jesus Haley! What the hell?" She clung to her chest while letting go of the draw.
Not uttering a word, she grabbed her usually perky roommate's hand and led her over to her side of the room, since it wasn't a complete mess. Situating themselves on her bed, Haley turned to the brunette.
"Look, you've not been acting yourself this morning, or last night even." Haley noticed her stiffen, probably remembering what had gone down the previous evening.
Seeing she had nothing to say, Haley chose her next words cautiously. "I know that we haven't known each other very long, and because of that I don't really know any of your group's history. I don't know what yesterday was about, though I could kinda guess…" Haley trailed off seeing Brooke about to say something she quickly added, "…that's not the point though. I'm not asking you tell me what's happened in the past, or what yesterday was about. I just wanted to tell you that if you do want to talk, about anything then I'm here" She ended her little speech trying to gage Brooke's reaction.
Turning her head, Brooke looked her roommate and new friend straight in the eye. She could see nothing but sincerity and warmth in her gaze. One look at Haley and she could tell the other girl really meant what she said. She wasn't being nosy or trying to butt into her business. She wasn't offering advice or being pushy. She was simply lending her an ear to rant to, whenever she needed one.
"You're definitely one in a million Haley, you know that?" Brooke responded, and despite not knowing the girl long, Haley could tell that the simple use of her actual name meant Brooke was completely serious.
"Thanks, but you flatter me." Haley said light-heartedly causing Brooke to chuckle. "I just, I know what its like to have been hurt badly by people you thought you could trust. And then your pride and battered heart don't let you talk to anyone else about it." She turned to Brooke who was looking at her curiously now. "I bottled my feelings up for a long time Brooke, and trust me when I say it wasn't the best thing to do. You can't keep these kinds of thoughts and emotions inside you or they'll slowly eat away at you. You need to confront them, and the best way is usually by opening up to somebody." At seeing the serious expression on Haley's face, Brooke realised that she also had ghosts in her past. "And it doesn't have to be somebody you know, sometimes it's easier to share your thoughts with a complete stranger. As my grandma always says 'Better out than in'." Haley cocked her head to the side slightly, "Although she may have been talking to my aunt about my cousin's burping problem."
Hearing a raspy but welcomed giggle beside her, Haley felt satisfied. Mission: Cheer up Brooke, successful!
"Thanks Haley," Brooke said truly grateful. "To be honest I don't think I'm ready yet to bring back those memories. I guess, I just need some time."
She looked back at Haley who immediately felt for the poor girl currently searching for approval as if to ask – is that okay?
"Hey, there's never a time limit on this kinds of thing" Haley assured her, "Everyone heals at their own pace, there's no rush."
Brooke smiled and took Haley completely off guard by suddenly moving forward and pulling the petite blonde into a hug. She couldn't help but think that Haley was brought into her life at this exact time for a reason. She wasn't sure how yet, but she felt as though the other girl would have a big impact on all their lives. And even more so, she felt that the impact would be anything but awful.
Pulling out of it her demeanour switched completely, "Speaking of rush, we totally need to hurry if we're going get this party done for tonight."
"Right," Haley got up following Brooke while a little bemused at how the girl could totally switch moods in the space of a nano-second. "What do you need me to do?"
"Well, we need to get all these boxes of decorations down to the beach where I think the boys are already setting up the DJ booth and tables. Of course, He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named was supposed to come take them down, but he's probably busy getting his freak on with his evil psycho witch."
Sensing her mood turning sour Haley offered to take the boxes down herself. Brooke gladly agreed at once piling three of them into Haley's arms before she could utter another word. Oh god, how the heck am I supposed to get these all the way down to the beach? Haley watched as the topmost box began to teeter dangerously.
Seeing Brooke begin to pack other things she decided she may as well try. Slowly she closed the door behind her, drowning out the muttered sounds of Brooke plotting the death of Nathan and the 'red-headed beast'. Note to self; never do anything to piss Brooke off.
Moving herself round she tried carrying the heavy load to their new location. God, what are these boxes made of? Metal?
Too preoccupied with balancing them in her arms she didn't hear the footsteps approaching her. Feeling off balance, she did the inevitable and stumbled forwards. She watched in slow motion as the top box lurched forwards sliding the second one along with it.
Oh crap crap crap!
"Whoa there!"
Huh?
"Nathan?"
"That's my name, don't wear it out." He smirked looking down at her even from above the three boxes she was holding. Man he is tall.
"And where do you think you're going with all this?" He commented amused at seeing her in such a predicament. She noticed his hands holding onto the two boxes from the other side, having caught them just before they fell to the ground. Must be those basketball reflexes, they do come in real handy when you're a klutz.
"Well I'm supposed to be taking them down to the beach, but as you can see I didn't really get that far." She answered a little uncomfortably. She wasn't sure how to act around him. Was she supposed to be normal and nice? Or simply civil? Or was she supposed to curse him till his dying day for hurting her friend, his own friends.
"What? That's like a half hour trek from here. There's no way you'll be able to make it there with all this." He gestured to her trying to carry packages that together towered up over her face.
Before she could state the words 'I'll manage' he'd swooped in and lifted the top two boxes off, transferring them into his own arms easily.
"There, you sure you can handle that one package by yourself James?" He teased as Haley adjusted the much easier weight in her arms.
"I think I'll manage Scott." She replied feeling the corners of her mouth tug. She couldn't explain it but for some reason being in Nathan's presence always seemed to make her feel more playful.
Great, so much for channelling the wrath of Davis on him. But she couldn't exactly be mean to him, not when he'd done nothing wrong to her personally. And certainly not after he just offered to help her out so sweetly.
Of course she couldn't. And it had nothing to do with the fact that one look at his gorgeous baby blues, and all thoughts of being remotely mad at him flew out the window. Why is he so effortlessly hot every time I see him?
As they began their 'long trek' as he'd put it, an uncomfortable silence fell over the two. Aaaaah geeze, if there was one thing Haley James hated it was uncomfortable silences.
Surprisingly though before she could break it, Nathan stepped in first.
"So how are Brooke and Peyton?"
His question seemingly caught her off guard. "They're okay. Extremely pissed to the point where they want to chop your balls off, but okay."
Nathan chuckled at that. He could tell Haley's comment was said more to cheer him up than anything else, and he was grateful for that. At least she doesn't hate me.
"What about you?" She questioned once Nathan fell silent.
"Huh?"
"How are you after last night?"
His surprise at her question was all over his face. I was the one who royally screwed up, why does she even care how I'm feeling?
"What?" Haley noticed his baffled expression.
"Nothing, I'm just surprised you asked; or care. I figured you'd be mad like everyone else, or that Brooke had poisoned you against me by now." He shrugged.
"Well I won't say she didn't try." Haley remembered Brooke's death plotting and claimed graciously that Haley could be her sidekick in 'Operation: Kill Carrot Stick'. Haley on the other hand was simply surprised at how many evil nicknames Brooke could create for Rachel.
"But despite what Brooke and Peyton say, I know you feel bad about what happened."
"How?"
"Well the first thing you asked me was how they were, so obviously you care." She said simply looking over at him as he held a guilty expression on his face. "And there's the fact that you haven't got that cocky smirk on your face."
He chuckled at that, "You think you got me all figured out James."
He looked over at her and she smiled back. As they continued walking in content silence, Nathan who'd obviously been pondering something let out a sigh.
"Brooke's right." Haley gave him a questioning look. "I've been a crap friend. I shouldn't have let Rachel come out with all that bullshit the other day."
"You're right. You were a jerk." Nathan's head shot in her direction surprised by her bluntness. "Look, I don't know what this whole Brooke/Lucas/Peyton triangle is-"
"You pretty much just said it." Nathan cut in.
"But I do know that whatever was said did hurt them really badly." Nathan looked ashamed of himself. Haley remembered how Peyton was when she dropped her off last night, and of course the way Brooke had been this morning. "And you just let Rachel insult them to their faces, not doing anything to stop it."
Nathan felt frustrated hearing this, especially since he knew she was right.
"I know that Haley but its not like anyone else said anything." Oh great, a lame way to defend yourself Scott.
"The point is Nathan; they're your friends and brother. And Rachel is your girlfriend. No one else should have to try and reason with her. The fact is the way she acts around your friends reflects on you. And last night you let her get away with completely putting them down and you didn't do a damn thing about it. It's you're right to defend them but-"
Nathan stopped abruptly and turned to her. "Don't you think I know that?" Haley was thrown by the sudden anger in his voice as he interrupted, "I already feel like shit, and I don't need you of all people grilling me about it!"
Why are men so damn defensive? Haley rolled her eyes which she figured must have annoyed Nathan more but carried on.
"If you would have let me finish Nathan. I was going to say...that I understand that it must also be pretty hard for you. Being constantly caught in between your best friends and your girlfriend" Why is it so hard to say that word? "though it doesn't excuse what you did, it can't be easy to try and balance the two, especially when they hate each other."
As she finished Nathan knew she was right but also felt bad. Again.
"Hey, sorry I didn't mean…"
"It's okay." Haley finished for him and in return got another sweet smile.
Seriously this guy really should smile more.
As they continued walking Nathan thought about his situation, but he wasn't sure how to fix it.
"So what am I supposed to do now?" Haley noticed he looked so cute with a 'lost-puppy' expression on his face.
She had some idea of what he had to do but wasn't sure how to broach the topic. Maybe I should just ask him about it.
She stopped suddenly and he turned towards her. Clearly she was mulling something over. He couldn't help but notice the way she bit her lip as she was concentrating, and how totally adorable it was.
Okay, maybe adorable is the wrong word. He thought as he saw the way her teeth held onto her plump glossy lip in a way that just made him stop and stare. Seeing her do it, he wondered what it would be like to take her lip between his own teeth, to gently trace the outlines of her lips, sucking and caressing on them, tasting the flavour of her lip-gloss. What flavour would it be? Strawberries, he thought, she looks like a strawberry kind of girl.
"Nathan," She interrupted his thoughts which had conjured images of his lips ravishing hers, their tongues battling furiously, hearing her moan-
"Nathan?" she said a little louder seeing him space out.
"Huh? What?" He snapped out of it, seeing the pretty blonde looking at him confused. What just happened? Nathan Scott did not daydream about girls. No he was supposed to be the one they daydreamed of.
Dammit, what does she do to me? One minute they're having a perfectly good conversation, next he's envisioning shoving his tongue down her throat.
Unfortunately he really felt exactly what she did to him. Or well, another part of his anatomy did.
"Could I ask you a question? And you don't have to answer or anything, I was just...it might help you figure some things out and…" As she rambled Nathan took the opportunity to lower the two boxes in his grasp discretely to cover the sudden bulge that had appeared in his trousers. What the fuck? I'm getting a friggin hard on from an imaginary kiss?
"Haley," he jumped in as she was still going. "Whatever it is, just ask."
"Why are you with Rachel? I mean, does she make you happy?" Haley felt a little out of sorts asking him such a delicate question. You've known him for a few days, had one actual conversation, and next thing, you're asking him deep personal questions about his love life?! Just great.
Nathan was a little thrown by her question, it was straight to the point and boy did it have a loaded answer.
"You know what, forget about it." Haley announced suddenly after a few minutes of silence. Figuring she probably offended him she decided to drop it. "Let's just get these down to the beach."
She was about to keep moving when Nathan decided to speak.
"No."
"Huh?"
"No, I'm not happy with Rachel." He looked at her confused expression as he said so. He was surprised that it had taken him so long to say it out loud.
"Then why…?"
"Why am I still with her?" Haley nodded.
Nathan sighed. "I guess in the beginning it was good. But after a while it kind of just dried out. I got more pissy, she got more bitchy, we'd fight more. We completely drifted apart, and we weren't exactly being well...faithful either."
Haley raised her eyebrows but didn't comment, which Nathan was grateful for. He couldn't quite believe he just told a girl he was attracted to that he was quite possibly a man-whore. I really need to think before I open my mouth.
"Well then what exactly are you holding onto? Neither of you are very happy together, not to mention your friends aren't going keep putting up with her crap any longer." Haley reasoned, ever curious to hear his answer.
Nathan shrugged his shoulders as they continued walking. "Mostly just living up to people's expectations. The basketball captain and the cheerleader, most people dig that. Plus it's kind of expected of my reputation to be with a girl all the time."
"Well that's crap." Haley stated adamantly startling Nathan. "You're not supposed to be living your life according to other people's expectations. You make your own reputation, not let others do it for you." Nathan smiled slightly as Haley ranted, liking the way that she was so passionate about certain things.
"And what else?" She asked unexpectedly.
"What do you mean?"
"Come on Nathan. You expect me to believe that the only thing holding your relationship with her is sex and what other people think of you?" Haley looked at him pointedly. Nathan had half a mind to just tell her 'yeah sure' after all that could be true. But he found that one look in those chocolate brown eyes, and all attempts of lying flew out the window.
"My dad." He answered almost effortlessly.
"Your dad? What's he got to do with it?" Haley asked baffled.
"To put it simply, we don't have the best relationship." A frown suddenly adorning his features. "In fact I try my best to piss him off as much as I can, it's a long story." He added seeing Haley gaze at him curiously. "But yeah, so he believes that my entire life should just revolve around basketball and nothing else. Basketball should be my number one priority - the beginning, middle and end of my world."
"That's harsh." Haley commented, she had such great parents herself it was hard to imagine sometimes that other people weren't as lucky.
"Tell me about it. Anyway, one of his rules is that I should refrain from having any sort of steady girlfriend. I can have fun but none of that 'falling in love crap' as he put it so eloquently."
"Ahh, I see." Haley pieced it together.
"Exactly. He'd pissed me off really badly after some game a few months back. So while I was talking to him Rachel came over and suggested meeting later, and next thing I know I was introducing her as my girlfriend."
"I'm guessing he didn't take it well."
"No. He comes to every game and practically shoots death rays at her the whole time. But I carried on with it, mainly to just get at him, though I think that all this isn't really worth that any more."
"I think you're probably right." Haley agreed. "Unless you can get her to change some of her ways, (Nathan chuckled at that) it won't be much longer that your friends are going to get tired of her, and of you letting her walk all over you."
He knew he should have been offended at that point. He should've asked Haley where she got off saying something like that. But what's the point? It was all too true to deny.
They arrived at a pair of double doors that led outside, and made their way out reaching the area of the beach in relative silence. At that point both saw Skills and Jake headed their way.
"Hey guys," Haley said and they greeted them in return. They offered to take the boxes back to the location and Haley gratefully gave hers over.
Having been left to themselves, Haley shuffled a little awkwardly, and Nathan put his hands in his pockets.
"I should probably go apologise to Brooke and Peyton."
"That would be a good start," Haley smiled at him and just like that he felt a sharp jab in his gut. Not again.
Nathan was about to turn around and walk back when Haley stopped him. "Nathan I know I haven't known you that long, and I'm not going to tell you what to do. But I will say this," Nathan listened attentively. "Don't do things for other people, live for yourself. You shouldn't have to put yourself through anything you don't want to, especially if it doesn't make you happy. You deserve more than that."
It was at that moment that Haley witnessed something that not many people could say they had. She watched Nathan's face widen with a full, blown-out, gorgeous smile. And she knew she'd said the right thing.
"You sound pretty sure about that."
"Trust me; I know these kinds of things." She replied.
Looking over to see the rest of the guys still working, Nathan decided he had something he had to go get done.
"Hey, I'm gonna head back. There's something I've got to do." Nathan told the petite blonde before him. "I know the girls are going to be mad but I don't think this can wait."
"Alright I'll tell them. I've got to go find Peyton anyway." Haley said before turning and walking back to the doors. She'd only taken a few steps before she heard her name being called.
Turning she found Nathan still in the same spot just looking at her.
"Yeah?"
Nathan had called after her wanting to say something, but the second she turned around her was momentarily stumped. She looked so pretty just standing at the top of the beach in the daylight, her blonde hair cascading down her face in their natural waves. What was I going to say?
"Nathan?"
He snapped out of it. "Just wanted to say…thanks."
She nodded smiling "Anytime". And with that she turned to go back in not noticing that his eyes never left her until she did.
"You're what?!" Rachel practically screamed and Nathan winced. Damn, that can't be good for my hearing.
"I cannot believe this!" Rachel shrieked again. At first when Nathan showed up at her door she figured he was going to make up for not being there in the morning. But before she had managed to get a word out, he'd blurted out that he wanted to break up with her.
Nathan was confused, he was expecting a reaction, because it was Rachel, there was going to be one. But he didn't really expect her to be this broken up about it. Its not like it was a life changing decision they were making, it was just a break-up. And apparently she has a problem with that?
"Why would you want to do this?" Rachel could not fathom what was wrong with Nathan, he'd never gone this far before.
Is she for real? "Rachel, you can't be serious? Even you must have noticed that we're crap together."
"Well you certainly didn't think so last night" She replied haughtily.
"This isn't about the sex!" Nathan ran a hand through his hair frustrated, he could already tell this was going to take a while.
"Well what else is there?" She snit back.
Nathan almost laughed at that. "That's exactly my point." He moved closer to her with a serious expression on his face. "Besides the on-off sex and the image we're giving other people, there's nothing between us at all. We can't seriously be calling this a relationship. The only reason you ever came after me was because I was the Nathan Scott, basketball team captain, ultimate party guy, and big man on campus."
"Well someone's a little high on themselves…" Rachel sniffed.
"Why deny it? It's true – I had status in this place, I was popular and you wanted that." Nathan backed up a bit as she continued glaring at him, but he knew she couldn't deny the truth either. "I didn't care at the time because all I wanted was the sex, and you happened to be pretty good in bed. But other than that, I only really kept you around to piss my dad off. And don't pretend you didn't know, you would play along every time at every game he came to."
He saw her facial expression change, she looked downright offended and Nathan figured maybe he should have been a little more sensitive.
"Pretty good!" She all but yelled. "I'm more than just pretty good in bed, and I think you of all people know that."
Is she serious? Nathan thought she would have been offended with him stating that she was only after him for status. Or he thought she may not have liked that he implied she played games with their relationship to shove it to his dad. But he should have known, Rachel was just a shallow whore and only cared about one thing. Typical.
At that point he couldn't believe he hadn't done this earlier.
"Besides what's wrong with that?" Rachel continued and Nathan figured he'd better tune in to what she was saying before she decided to scream again. "We got a good thing going. Why ruin it?"
"Because I'm sick of it!" He shouted, catching himself and her off guard. Guess I feel more strongly about this than I realized. "I'm sick of putting on a show for my dad and the rest of the school! I'm sick of the pointless and recently kind of boring sex. (Rachel fumed at this point). I'm sick of having you insult all the important people in my life. And I'm sick of who I've become ever since I started this thing with you." He didn't want to call it a relationship any more, because that wasn't what it was.
"I've become someone who just stands aside while you put down all my friends and family. I've become someone who regularly cheats on his girlfriend without a second thought. I use people to get what I want, I've been using you to get at my dad, and I just don't want to do it all any more. I'm just sick of what this is making me." He finished his tirade to face a shocked looking red-head.
"You cheat on me?" She seemed appalled but Nathan knew better.
Rolling his eyes at how she seemed to ignore everything else he just said he replied, "Don't act all broken up about it Rachel. I know you do it too."
"I do not cheat!" She gasped indignantly.
"Who are you trying to kid?" She wouldn't make the best actress, he figured seeing how she looked guilty as hell. "I could tell you who you've done, when, where, and whether I was doing someone else at the same time. So let's just not pretend we're saints here." He said to a dumbfounded Rachel. Sighing he tried a different tactic. "Don't you ever just want more from someone?"
He saw a brief look of vulnerability flash through her eyes. But it was there so fleetingly, he would later question whether he ever saw it.
"Look, it's obvious that you've been spending too much time with Lucas lately." Rachel commented cattily.
Actually Lucas wasn't the one to set me straight. He thought, though seeing the confused and curious expression on Rachel's face, he realised he may have blurted that out loud.
"Who was it then?" Rachel asked.
Shit…why is it my brain can't connect with my mouth. "No one." He could tell she didn't believe him. "That doesn't matter," he conceded, "All I know is that this is done." He indicated between them.
Rachel snorted at that. She suddenly changed her tune and he noticed she sauntered over to him, making sure to sway her hips sexily.
Reaching him, she drew her hand up his chest slowly…seductively. "You know what?" Nathan looked at her pointedly wondering what game she was playing now. "You're just having some weird meltdown or something." She looked at him smirking, "How about I make you feel better?"
She leaned in slowly glad to finally be getting this stupid idea out of his head. Then something unexpected happened – at least for Rachel it was surprising. He grabbed her by her hips and…pushed her away.
"Put some freakin' ice on it!" She was startled, both by his anger and the fact that he'd just tried to push her as far away from him as possible.
Rachel was shocked, even when he was extremely pissed at her, he'd never rejected her. She felt a giant blow to her pride, and immediately sought to place the blame elsewhere. Not wanting to believe she herself was the problem.
Her eyes narrowed, and her eyebrows raised and Nathan knew she was instantly going into 'attack' mode. She never does handle rejection well.
"Who was it?"
"Huh?" Nathan was baffled as to what she was going on about.
"Who was it?" She repeated. "This person who got to you. Who made you believe that you had to come and do this?"
Hearing her words Nathan automatically began thinking of Haley and her words to him.
"You shouldn't have to put yourself through anything you don't want to, especially if it doesn't make you happy. You deserve more than that."
That Haley James definitely surprised him. And he didn't know what surprised him more. The fact that he couldn't get the picture of her standing at the top of the beach out of his head. Or that he didn't want to.
"Like I said, that doesn't matter. I've just realised some things. I want something different. An actual relationship. And that's not going to happen with you."
He felt kind of harsh saying that but he needed her to get it, that this wasn't just a last-minute type of decision or that he was likely to change his mind tomorrow. No. This was for real.
Rachel laughed and Nathan wondered if she was going crazy. She'd already switched moods about twenty times since they started this conversation. And I thought Brooke was bad.
"I don't know what's worse." Rachel stated smiling mockingly. "The fact that you, Nathan Scott, king of hook-ups and random screwing, wants to actually have a relationship with someone. Or that you actually believe you're going to find a girl willing to do it with you."
Nathan confused and offended asked what she meant by that.
"Face it Nate." Rachel scoffed, "all THA girls are the same. They're all sluts that want a piece of the Nathan Scott, falling at your feet practically begging to get laid. And you know that, it's another reason you stuck with me."
Nathan frowned at the point she was making, "You knew that if we broke up you'd just have a bunch of girls after you that are just like me." She added as an afterthought, "Though they wouldn't be as hot…or satisfying."
The look on her face told him she thought she'd won. That she'd come up with a reason why he should just stay with her. But a certain pretty blonde's face popped up in his mind again, and he realised what she said was not completely true.
He didn't know Haley that well yet. But he could already tell she was different from any other girl he'd met. She was certainly different from all the other girls in THA. There's just something about her…
Rachel observed his face watching a smile creep onto it slowly.
"Unless…" She snapped him out of his trance. "You've already found one." A sudden fury took over her features and Nathan almost gulped. "Is that what this is about?"
What?
"You've found some new hussy to screw around with?" Rachel shrieked aghast.
"What? No! I just think our so-called 'relationship' is bullshit and I want out!" Nathan yelled back, anger radiating from his demeanour. He'd had enough, couldn't she at least let them break up with some dignity?
Apparently Rachel wasn't listening; she was too busy ticking off the many candidates she believed Nathan to be thinking about.
"Well the only girls that are different are the nerds and geeks…but it's not like you'd hook up with them! It can't be any of those freshman sluts…even you're not that low. Maybe it's that fat witch Glenda!" She pondered it for a second. "Nah, you don't do super-size (Nathan sputtering at this point at her cruel words) and there's no way in hell its one of the cheerleaders since you've probably banged them all anyway. ("Hey!" Nathan shot out indignantly – that for one was not true). Well then there's really only Brooke and Peyton…and I know you wouldn't go there. So who the hell does that leave? I mean yeah, there's that new girl, Holly? But it's not like you'd be interested in her!" She laughed at that point, but stopped when she saw the awkward look on Nathan's face and how he averted his eyes from her gaze.
Realisation dawned on her and Nathan blocked his ears expectantly.
"Holly?" She screeched.
He shouldn't of but he couldn't help it. "Her name's Haley," He bit out.
"Oh, so you're admitting it!"
"Admitting what?"
"I see how this is." Rachel crossed her arms and gave him a heated look. "She's the one who talked you out of this relationship isn't she. That manipulative bitch!"
"Ok, you know what, that's it." Nathan put his foot down; he didn't know how much more of this he could take without ripping his ears off, or throttling the girl before him. "This has got nothing to do with Haley and everything to do with you. You're a crazy slut, crazy being the main theme right now. And honestly I just can't deal with being in a 10 foot distance of you anymore. I tried to have a civilised talk with you, so we could at least break it off on good terms, but you're just…INSANE!"
He walked towards the door, grabbing the handle and turning round. "We're over. Deal with it." And with that he opened the door, and walked as far away from her as possible, without looking back once.
As he made his way back to his dorm room he ran into Lucas who was on his way out.
"Hey bro, I wondered where you'd got to. Are you planning on bringing your lazy ass down to the beach and helping out? Brooke is not happy right now." Lucas rambled slightly and Nathan noticed he was being perfectly cordial to him, which was far from what he deserved.
They probably didn't tell him what happened last night.
"Luke..." Nathan's tone stopped his brother from going any further.
"What?"
Nathan let out a deep breath. "I owe you an apology."
Lucas's face turned serious. "If this is about last night, don't worry about it."
Nathan did a double take. "You know?"
He nodded. "I came back to the room this morning to find Rachel and Peyton about to go at it outside our room. When Rachel left, after providing some really nice comments, Peyton filled me in on what happened"
"So how come you're not mad?" Nathan asked his big brother as they started walking back down to the beach.
"I was." He replied. "But I had the whole night to think about it while I bunked at Skills and Jake's." He had seen Nathan and Rachel making their way back to their dorm the other night, and decided to stay over at their friends, not wanting to interrupt whatever they may have been doing. "And I figured that I'd forgive you if you told me that you'd done something to prevent this from happening again."
He eyed his younger brother warily. "Have you?"
Nathan looked Lucas in the eye and he smiled. "Actually..."
And they walked off as he told his older brother something that would have him clapping his back and congratulating him later.
I know some of you are waiting for the party scene, and that will be the next chapter. I just wanted to get some things out the way before then!
Thanks for reading! xxx