To my readers:
ALERT LONG CHAPTER ahead!
Thanks Lou for reviewing as always :) I won't be much help answering your questions but I promise you'll find more answers coming up soon! There are some new info in this chapter that you can mess around with :P
To others, let me know how I'm doing by reviewing! Thanks!
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"Hales, what are you doing, still sitting there looking like a potato sack?" Brooke cringes as she tries to squeeze into her Zac Posen corset dress.
"I don't know about this…about tonight," Haley, exclaims as she rolls up into a ball, lying in her bed.
"No, no, no, you are not pulling the roll-up-ball treatment on me, lady!" Brooke quickly runs to Haley and unravel her.
"You arranged it, you unorganized it" Haley stares at Brooke.
"Is that your way of saying 'thanks best friend for setting me up…tonight is going to be super fun'?" Brooke excitedly claps her hands.
Haley gives Brooke a face, an annoyed one.
"Okay, lay it on me, what's wrong?" Brooke locks arm with Haley as they sit down on Haley's comfortable beanbags.
"This has to be weird on some level, don't you agree?" Haley states as she crosses her legs.
Brooke shakes her head. "Weird as in? Me and Lucas? Or you and jerk face?"
Haley's definition of weird is that she likes both Lucas and Nathan. How in the world is she going to double date with her best friend when two guys she likes are eating at the same table? Talk about awkward.
"What do you think?" Haley asks, hoping to get an insight into how she feels about Lucas.
"Well, me and Lucas had a tough beginning with the whole caffeine fight but as I got to know him, he is very sweet. I love how caring he is with my friends. Remember the last time when you were locked in that booze room with jerk face? I called him and he was here like a shooting star. I love that I can count on him and he won't flake on me" Brooke smiles warmly.
Crap. When Brooke speaks like that, you know she's for real about the guy, Haley thought.
"Tigger, let's go on that date!" Haley fakes her excitement, just a little.
"Don't do me any favors now! I know you kind of like basketball twerp but if you don't want to go on a date with him tonight, I can cancel for you" Brooke said as a matter of fact.
"Are you sure about this?" Haley asks jokingly.
Haley knows too well Brooke needs her.
"…Yeah I'm…sure" Brooke looks away as she clinches her fist.
"Okay! I--" Haley said out loud but Brooke quickly breaks out the pleading.
"Best friend, you can't do this to me! What happens if Lucas talks about some literature dude that has bad hair? I need you to be there to spark notes me!" Brooke holds onto Haley's hand as Haley quietly giggles.
"You didn't let me finish" Haley's cute smile appears on her face.
"This better be good!" Brooke adorably pokes at Haley's cheeks.
"I'm going to go get dress," Haley announces as she stands up and walks to her glass closet.
An hour later.
"Haley, get your hot butt out here now! The boys are going to be here in five minutes!" Brooke shouts as she puts on her shoes.
Haley comes out of the bathroom, as Brooke looks at her stunned.
"O-M-G is that Caroline Seikaly dress?" Brooke drools.
"Do I look okay in it?" Haley twirls around in her little black lacy sheer mini.
"Okay?! You look more than okay! You are so going to make Nathan drool like a dog that needs saliva control!" Brooke said as she can't keep her eyes off Haley's dress.
"Thanks! Very reassuring Brooke!" Haley laughs as she tries to block out Nathan looking like some dog.
"Say, I look hot, don't I?" Brooke twirls around and shows off her corset dress in red.
"You're on fire! Don't suffocate those puppies now" Haley winks, as she puts on her Christian Louboutin heels.
"Trust me, it won't suffocate much longer when Lucas unhooks them tonight" Brooke smiles.
Haley tries to smile. Oh god, what am I doing? I should've cancel, she thought.
Door bell rings.
"They're here!" Brooke excitedly screams as the pair head down stairs to open the door.
"You ready?" Brooke gets all jumpy.
"Ready when you are" Haley said with not much enthusiasm as Brooke.
Brooke turns the doorknob and there stood two brothers looking mighty fine.
"Hi boys" Brooke squeals.
"Haley" Nathan tries not to sound like some pervert but he couldn't control it.
"Hi Nathan" Haley turns around, showing off her calf muscles.
"You look incredible…" Nathan's eyes sparkle.
"You're drooling" Brooke whispers to Nathan. Nathan fans her away.
"Hi date" Brooke excitedly grabs onto Lucas's arms.
"You look great, Brooke" Lucas says in the most sweetest voice.
"Thanks! You're not so bad yourself" Brooke winks as she fixes Lucas' collar. "So are we ready to go boys and girls?"
"Let's go!" Nathan let Haley go first as she walks out, while she gives a sweet smile to Lucas as he returns the favor by staring at Haley's legs.
"Let's go Brooke" Lucas grabs on his date hands as they shut the door behind them.
"You got us a hummer?" Brooke 's jaw drops.
"Technically I did" Nathan exclaims, giving Lucas the cold stare.
"Remind me to pay you half, Nate" Lucas stares back.
"Sure thing, Luke" Nathan rolls his eyes.
Gentlemen escort their respective ladies inside the big limousine.
"Make yourself comfortable girls. Me and Luke need to have a talk with our driver" Nathan closes the door.
While the boys were outside doing god knows what, Brooke is absolutely fascinated with the inside of the limousine.
"Brooke, what are you doing? You're making it look like you have never seen the inside of a limo before" Haley exclaims as she takes out a mirror to check her hair.
"Correction, I have never seen this limo before! Look at the all the booze. We're so going to get messed up tonight!" Brooke grabs four glasses and set them at the mini table.
"Correction! Remember last time when you got drunk and you forgot all about me? Look Brooke, I want you to have fun but I don't want you to get all wasted. We need each other tonight. God knows what the boys have planned for us" Haley rolls her eyes.
"Fine! But can I have one innocent drink, please? On the rocks?" Brooke scoots toward Haley with a pout.
"God Brooke, one drink! That's it!" Haley let's out a laugh as Brooke fills the four cups with liquor.
Meanwhile…outside the limousine.
"Nicely played, Luke" Nathan smiles evilly.
"Aw, gee, the credits are all yours, Nate" Lucas shoot back.
"Look, we fake whatever this is for the girls, but after tonight, we are done, you got that?" Nathan's eyes got bigger as he lays down the rules.
"Good plan, do you want to get ice cream after?" Lucas sarcastically said in a annoying baby voice.
"If you don't want diary coming out of your nose, you better keep that sarcasm of yours to a minimum" threatens Nathan, grabbing onto Lucas's shirt with force.
"Let go or you are going to have a fun time explaining to Haley on why you have a black eye" Lucas clinches his fist.
Nathan quickly let go of Lucas.
"Get inside before the girls are wondering why we took so long" Nathan orders Lucas.
"After you" Lucas nods playfully.
Nathan opens the door, seeing the girls perfectly arranging the mini table into a romantic table for four. Lucas follows suit.
"Where should we sit?" Lucas questions.
"Next to your girl, of course" Nathan's eyes Lucas, giving the dumb question look.
"Actually, no, Luke sits next to Haley so you can face me. And Nate, you sit next to me so you can face Haley" Brooke ecstatically exclaims.
"Glad to" Lucas eyes Nathan, as Lucas slowly sits down next to Haley.
"Nice seating charts Brooke. Now I can see Haley fully" Nathan tries to smile while Lucas wants to barf.
"Great, here are your drinks, let's toast!" As Brooke and the rest of the gang cling their glasses together.
"Haley, you get the first toast" Nathan smiles at her dreamily.
"Um, here's to a great night!" Haley said quickly as she tries to scoot away from Lucas.
The tension in the limo is getting too hot.
"Nathan, your turn" Brooke elbows him.
"Here's to Haley, for making my night absolutely wonderful so far" Nathan grabs Haley's other hand.
"My turn, my turn!" Brooke shouts. "Here's to me and Haley looking hot!"
The guys and Haley laugh!
"Last but not least, to Brooke, thanks for picking me as your date and to Haley, you look stunning tonight" Lucas gives Nate an evil stare and then turns to Haley as Nathan clinches his fist.
"Thanks Lucas…" Haley said softly as she blushes.
"If I didn't knew you had a date, Luke, I would have thought you were hitting on mine" Nathan states loud and clear with a fake laugh.
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"We're here!" Nathan exclaims as he opens the door and holds onto Haley's hand as she steps out of the limo.
"Hill's Palace" Haley softly exclaims in excitement.
"Bonus points for you Nathan" Brooke nudges him as she looks at Haley cheerily.
"Why does he get bonus points?" Lucas questions, giving Nathan a big fat mug look.
"Because this is Haley favorite restaurant" Brooke whispers and Lucas begins to look devastated.
"How did you know?" an impress Haley asks Nathan.
"Well, first I did a lot of digging and then I did some more digging" Nathan smiles adorably.
"What…like I'm some scientific artifact underground, trying to get discovered?" Haley giggles.
"You want the truth?" Nathan asks charmingly.
"What happens if I say no?" Haley bites her lip.
"I'm still going to tell you" Nathan brushes Haley's hair.
"I thought so" Haley chuckles, putting her hands on her hips.
"Oh!!!! You think you got me all figured out now, don't you?" Nathan looks deeply into Haley's eyes.
"No, actually, you're complicated man" Haley stated truthfully in her quirky little voice.
Bingo.
"Ironically, you fascinate me, Haley. I can't wait to do more research about you" Nathan captivatingly said.
Haley's heart melts.
Nathan takes Haley's hand as they head toward the restaurant. While Brooke and Lucas trail behind as Brooke lies quietly on Lucas, enjoying his shoulder. Despite the fact that Lucas is giving his undivided attention to Haley and Nathan the whole time. They were absolutely flirting, he thought. And Lucas knows somewhere in his heart, that he was nowhere near hers.
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"Nathan, Nathan, Nathan, god, he's a prince, isn't he?" Peyton evilly bites her lips, watching the live feed on her 52 inches plasma screen.
"She's eating right out of his hand" Tim exclaims over his little headphone set, hiding on the other table with a big menu in his hand, pretending to order.
"Keep filming Tim. This is getting good" Peyton talks on her little headphone.
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"Let me know when you're ready to order sir" the waiter whispers to Nathan's ears.
"God! I'm hungry" Brooke sits down, scooting closely to Lucas.
"You know what you want to order, Brooke?" Lucas asks as he shares the menu with Brooke.
"Why won't you surprise me," Brooke whispers as she delicately nibbles on Lucas's ears.
Lucas uncomfortably turns away. "Yeah…sure this could be fun…"
Lucas turns to look at Haley but she was paying attention to Nathan.
"This place has the best macaroni with herb cheese" Haley drools.
"Macaroni? Aren't those food for three years old?" Nathan looks at her sweetly.
"Oh! Are you trying to make fun of me?" Haley leans back on her chair.
"Yeah, what are you going to do about it?" Nathan teases.
"Okay…but don't eat off my plate when it comes" Haley cutely whispers to Nathan's ears.
"How about we share a plate?" Nathan moves in closer as he puts his hand on Haley's thigh.
While each couple is consulting each other on what to order, the waiter comes by and takes their order.
"Ready?" the waiter asks.
"Yeah, this pretty lady would like macaroni with herb cheese and I would like a medium done steak with bleu French fries" Nathan orders.
"Okay. And you mister?" the waiter looks at Lucas.
"And we will get Alfredo fettuccini with white wine sauce" Lucas gives the menu to the waiter.
"Alrighty, your food will be here shortly" the waiter gathers the menus and left the table.
"Lucas…my orders are the same as yours," Brooke smiles.
"I'm sorry…is that a problem? I could change it" Lucas said sweetly.
"No, no, don't. I can't believe you order my favorite dish" Brooke's heart melts.
"Really? This happens to my favorite too" Lucas lied and smiles as he puts his arm around Brooke, knowing Haley and Nathan was paying attention.
In fact, he didn't want to order pasta; he really wanted to try Haley's macaroni. Macaroni was one of his favorite foods as a kid, reminding him of his most memorable moments as a child.
"You know what they say, food brings people together" Brooke snuggles into Lucas's chest.
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"Yum. Macaroni looks good" Tim said over the headphone, not remembering Peyton was on the other end.
"What did you say, Tim?" Peyton exclaims, while holding the remote control.
"Did you know cheese gives you gas?" Tim quickly changes the subject.
"Just shut up," Peyton said firmly. "Look at her dress, what a whore!"
"A whore Nathan will fall for" Tim replies.
"What Tim?" Peyton gets fired up.
"…It's obvious she dressing to impress Nathan. Look at how short and see through that dress is" Tim said immediately, adjusting his headphone.
"That's better" Peyton smiles devilishly.
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"Hmm…Bleu cheese French fries are not bad" Haley said as she cutely twirl around her fry and finally puts it in her mouth.
"And…I have to admit, your macaroni is pretty good" Nathan licks his lips.
"Pretty good?" Haley shot Nathan a look.
"Okay, fine, very good" Nathan said loudly.
Haley giggles. 'That's better"
"Hales, bathroom, now!" Brooke takes Haley's hands as they walk to the girls' room.
Inside the girls' room.
"Brooke…is everything all right?" Haley asks, nervously.
"It's Lucas" Brooke answers.
"What about, Lucas?" Haley asks, concerned.
"I think I'm falling for him" Brooke replies with a blush.
"…That's gr-ea-t!" Haley stammers.
"I never felt this way about anyone before. I mean, with other guys, it was about money and games but with Lucas, it's more than that" Brooke sincerely expresses her feelings. "…I want him"
"…I'm happy for you…Brooke. Lucas is a great guy…." Haley gets a little disappointed.
"Yeah, he is. But I can tell that I'm not the only one who's happy, I see you and jerk face are getting along pretty well" Brooke joyfully hugs her best friend.
"Yeah, I guess we are" Haley nods with a smile.
"Well, let's get out of here. We don't want the boys to wait too long," Brooke giggles.
"Wait, don't you need to go to the bathroom?" Haley exclaims, holding in her legs.
"No, but apparently you do! Go!" Brooke laughs, seeing Haley struggle to hold it in. "I'll see you outside, babe"
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Haley washes her hands and then exits the restroom. She turns left to return to her seat when she bumps into Lucas coming from the other side as he just got out of the men's room.
"Where's Brooke?" Lucas asks, trying to make it seem like he cares about Brooke.
"Um, she went back to her seat" Haley claims, as she looks down on the floor, trying not to look Lucas in the eye.
"So…it looks like you and Nathan are hitting it off" Lucas gulps with pains shooting up his spine.
"…Yeah same with you and Brooke" Haley said with a little heartache.
"Yeah…about that, Brooke is a nice girl, she is but I don't think anything can happen between us" Lucas admits, looking straight at Haley.
"It takes time to get to know Brooke. Give her a chance, Lucas" Haley tries to convince Lucas to take Brooke in, even though she has a thing for him.
"Haley, I---" Lucas was about to confess to Haley about his feelings but Nathan and Brooke interrupts.
"Haley, there you are!" Nathan quickly grabs Haley away from Lucas.
"Nate, I was just coming out of the bathroom, so was Lucas" Haley said, feeling a little guilty.
"So what were you and Lucas talking about?" Nathan eyes Lucas evilly.
"Lucas was about to tell me something…" Haley naively said.
Lucas stays quiet.
"Oh really?" Nathan gives Lucas the death stare.
Brooke holds onto Lucas's arm and smiles. "Did you want to say something to Haley, broody? Make it quick cause we need to get back to our seats for dessert" Brooke unpretentiously asks.
"Um, yeah, I was just wondering if I could borrow the crucible? I accidentally left it in my locker. I just need to find a few quotes for my paper…" Lucas lies, he already finished his paper.
"Yeah, no problem. Drop by the tutoring center tomorrow and I'll lend it to you" Haley smiles.
"That's great, thanks Haley" Lucas sincerely replies.
"Dessert is here," Brooke shouts as she pulls Haley away from Nathan to head to their seats.
Seeing as the girls went to their seat, Nathan has a few words for Lucas.
"Don't you dare pull any of your literature-philosopher-wanna-be stunts on Haley! She's not going to fall for it. And why is that? She already has me," Nathan confidently proclaims.
"God, it's so great to see you all riled up because of me, Nate! Maybe it's not Haley the one you're after. You like me, don't you?" Lucas nauseatingly smiles, heading towards their table.
"You better clean up that mouth of yours because what a shame it would be if one day you woke up and suddenly, you're ass can't speak again" Nathan threatens.
"Actually, that will be kind of nice because I won't have to talk to you…again" Lucas playfully said, as he goes and join the girls.
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"Hmmm, this rosy posy crème cheese cake was so good!" Brooke takes the last bite of her cake.
"Yeah, that was a great pick Lucas" Haley smiles as Lucas fondly smiled back at her.
"You are right, Hales, this was a great choice Luke. I just hope you didn't get prick by any thorns while you're eating…how humiliating that would be" Nathan grins sinfully at his brother.
"Aw, gee thanks for caring Nate but I think the thorns reside more on the right side of the cake. Oh! Right! You cut on the right side, don't choke now!" Lucas maliciously shot back.
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"So…dinner was great you guys, now take ten minutes with your date to share something special about tonight and then meet back at the limo after…. toodles" Brooke quickly said as she grabs Lucas to the other side with a great ocean view.
"That Brooke, does she always boss you around?" Nathan giggles as he check his monitor, so Peyton can receive her live feed.
"Sometimes" Haley laughs but Nathan can tell she loves Brooke like a sister. "She's just being Brooke"
"So what is it like being Haley?" Nathan questions, trying to find out more about her.
"Well…I like to sing and tutor…very normal things" Haley answers with a little laugh.
"Glad to know that you're normal" Nathan jokes. "What happens when things are abnormal?"
"What do you mean?" Haley asks seriously.
"Have you done things in the past that you wanted to take back?" Nathan asks, being a bit pushy.
Flashback
"Hales! Guess what, Ryan asked me out and we're going on a date tonight" Claire hugs Haley from behind.
"Omg! That's so great Claire. I'm so happy for you! So what are the big plans for tonight?" Haley asks enthusiastically.
"We're going to club Infinity, you have to join us!" Claire exclaims.
"There's no way I can go…I don't even have a date" Haley said, unexcited.
Claire had it all planned out. "I know someone who wants to go with you. He has a crush on you since forever!"
"What? Who?" Haley asked, having no idea she had a secret admirer.
"Ethan, you know captain of the football team. He thinks your hot stuff" Claire said joyfully.
Oh, him. Haley didn't really care. "I don't think so Claire, besides I have a paper due tomorrow. I think I'm going to pass"
Claire gets a little uneasy as Ethan stands by the quad listening in on the conversation and he doesn't like what he was hearing.
"Hales, you just said you didn't want to go because you don't have a date and now that I found you a date, you're not coming! C'mon, I swear you'll like Ethan" Claire pleads. "Besides I need you there if something goes wrong"
"Okay, fine! In one condition, I can bail anytime I want" Haley demands.
"Sure" Claire answers.
"Alright, see you later on tonight" Haley left.
Seeing as Haley left, Ethan comes out from hiding.
"Great job Claire" Ethan smiles suspiciously.
"So am I going out with Ryan tonight?" Claire asked eagerly.
"You kept you're end of the bargain. I see, why not?" Ethan said with annoying smirk, the one you just want to slap off.
End Flashback
Haley went into a daze and Nathan snaps her out of it.
"Haley? You didn't answer my question" Nathan asks, demandingly.
"Um…. life is too short for…. regrets" Haley catches her breath.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have ask you that…I just wanted to get to know you better…" Nathan deceptively said.
"Oh, no, it's not that…it's just…." Haley chokes.
Everything comes rushing back to her. Haley gets disorganized. She's sweating. She's running. She's crying and finally there it was. His face comes popping out of nowhere.
She screams.
"Haley, are you alright?" Nathan worries as he grabs her into his arms.
After a few minutes later, Haley's nerves calm down. She wipes her tears away and looks up to Nathan.
"I'm so sorry for ruining the night…" Haley said apologetically.
"Don't you dare say that. Everything went perfectly. I can't ask for a better night. And I have you to thank for that" Nathan winks, still wrapping his arms around Haley.
"I have a confession," Haley said, looking deep into Nathan's eyes.
"Should I be nervous?" Nathan grins.
"At first, I didn't want to go on a date but I'm glad I did" Haley sincerely said. "I know I will regret it if I didn't come out tonight so thank you for a great night I will always remember"
Nathan's heart sank. This isn't happening. He can't do this to her.
"Haley, I haven't been totally honest with you" Nathan said genuinely.
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"What the hell is Nathan doing?" Peyton angrily said, looking at the TV.
"I told you that dress is going to work…he's falling for her and I mean not the crush kind, the falling over the heels kind," Tim said over his headset. "Aw, look at the sparkles in his eyes"
"Shut your little hole up or else you're going to have to go get a new set of lips!" Peyton screams as she throws her headset to the TV.
"I guess I'm going to have to make a special appearance" Peyton punches her fist into the wall.
To be continued.
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