"Peyton, don't hate me, but I remember what happened to your car," Nathan says apprehensively, walking down the steps of his beach house.
Peyton doesn't respond; instead she just crosses her arms and glares at him. Even though he's afraid she's going to murder him, he continues.
"I… wrecked it last night."
"You did what?!" Peyton screams, standing from the couch and looking like she was about to rip his head off.
"It was an accident!" Nathan says, putting his hands up and backing away from her.
"No, you know what was an accident? Me staying with you for all this time, thinking that you were going to grow up. But you haven't. You're still the immature little prick you were when we first started dating." Ouch. "The truth is Nathan, you're just an asshole, and I wan't no part of it. The way you treated your brother -"
"Don't call him that," Nathan says, his heart stinging at the sound of that name.
" - and the way you're playing that girl."
"Who, Haley?! She doesn't mean anything!" Nathan yells. Did she see them last night on the dock?
"Well in that case, you're an ass. Even if you're lying and she does mean something, you're still an ass, and what's really sad Nathan, is that you're too stupid to get that. So, thank you for being such an amazing son of a bitch last night, you've really made this a no brainer."
Peyton rips the necklace off of her neck and throws it at him
"This is the necklace I gave you," Nathan says, catching it and holding it in his hand.
"You mean the leash? Keep it. I mean it, Nathan, we're done," Peyton spits, shoving him as she walks past him. He just stands there and watches as she walks away, leaving Nathan dumbfounded. Clutching her necklace, he sits down on the couch and sighs.
Despite how he's been acting, he still cared for Peyton a lot. Hell, he even loved her once, but that was before.
Before all of this craziness.
He heads home after that, wanting nothing to more than to just lay in bed all day. As he enters the kitchen, his mood instantly lifts.
"Mom!" Nathan says, running up to give his mom Deb a hug. After pulling away, he notices she isn't smiling.
Uh-oh.
"So, wrecking your girlfriend's car and trying to blame it on your brother, huh? Unbelievable, Nathan," She says, giving him a look of complete disappointment.
"M'sorry," Nathan mutters, looking down at his feet.
"You drive drunk, get in an accident, leave the scene of the crime and all you can say is 'sorry?'" Deb asks, her tone rising. She turns to look at Dan, who was sitting at their kitchen table. "Are you going to say anything?"
"What do you want me to say?" Dan asks her, after which she sighs.
"I don't know anymore, but I do know one thing," Deb starts. ", you two have gotten far too comfortable when I'm not around. I'm going to start cutting back on hours at the foundation, and no more travel."
"Come on, Deb, you don't have to do that," Dan scowls.
"Don't sound so disappointed," Deb says.
"Look, if you guys are going to argue, I'm gonna head to my room," Nathan says, trying to sneak away from the kitchen.
"Not so fast, mister!" Deb yells, pointing at him. "First, you're going to go to Lucas and apologize."
She has to be kidding.
"But mom," Nathan whines. Deb isn't having it.
"The only 'but' I wanna see is yours marching straight to Keith's shop. Move," Deb orders, pointing towards the front door.
Scowling, Nathan shuffles out of the kitchen to his truck, wondering how the hell he's going to even be able to look Lucas in the face after last night.
He plays it out in his head a million times on the drive to Keith's, planning on making some grand apology.
All of it goes away when he sees the fury in Lucas's eyes.
"What do you want?" Lucas asks, his anger cracking Nathan like a whip.
"How much is everything going to cost?" is all Nathan can muster.
"I don't know. A lot. Why?" Lucas snaps.
"Give me the invoice when you're done, and my dad will write a check," Nathan offers. What is he doing? He should be apologizing, not using daddy's money to make things better.
He needs to work on his brain to mouth filter. A lot of stuff gets lost along the way.
"No thanks," Lucas responds. God his brother can be stubborn.
"I said we'll pay you. I feel bad for dumping this on you," Nathan says. Lucas might not think so, but he's being sincere.
"Save it, okay? I know you're only here because you have to be. Wanna pay me? Stay away from me," Lucas spits. Feeling a lump in the back of his throat, Nathan nods and turns to walk back to the truck.
"Oh, and stay the hell away from Haley," Lucas adds before turning around himself.
In one day he's managed to get in a car accident, lose his girlfriend, and fuck things up with the one person who matters most to him, even if he doesn't want to admit it.
Feeling empty, Nathan calls the one person who can potentially bandage this bleeding heart of his.
"Hey Haley, it's Nate," He says into his cell phone. "You down for some tutoring today?"
—-
"You ass!" Haley says, smacking him on the shoulder. "I thought you said you were gonna be nicer to him!"
If one more person yells at him today, he might lose it.
"I was drunk, stupid, and I feel like total shit about it, can we not talk about it anymore?" Nathan sighs, opening his math book. "Believe it or not, I'd rather study."
He pulls a box of Cracker Jacks out of his back pack. "Breakfast of champions," He says, pulling the prize out of the box.
"Please let this be a cheat sheet," He jokes, opening the package. It's a tacky kid's bracelet.
"Cute," Haley says, chuckling.
Smiling, Nathan holds the bracelet out to her. "It's for you."
"Stop," Haley says.
"Come on."
Sighing, Haley takes the bracelet and puts it on.
"Don't say I never gave you anything," Nathan says. In response, Haley holds her math book over her face.
"You see this book? This book is me. I am math," Haley says. What?
"What are you talking about?" Nathan asks, puzzled.
"I'm saying that you can try to work your whole "I'm Nathan Scott, Mr. Bigshot, scoring my touchdowns" technique on someone else, because -"
"I don't even play football," Nathan laughs.
"Whatever," Haley says. "The point is, all of your bullshit doesn't mean anything to math because math don't care and neither do I."
"Does English care? Because I really suck at that, too."
"Nathan, focus!" Haley says, pointing to his book in front of him. "I want your eyes there, not here," She says, motioning to her breasts.
"All right, all right," Nathan chuckles. He looks over and sees her smiling, which means that despite what she says, he's getting somewhere.
She isn't Lucas, but she's the best damn band-aid he has.
—-
It's been a week since Lucas has spoken to Nathan. The two of them have been avoiding each other at all costs since the party fiasco, not even looking at each other in practice. Lucas can't bear to have Nathan keep screwing him over; it just hurts too bad. So, he's been going out of his way to be around him as little as possible.
It's supposed to be making things easier, but lately all Lucas can think about is that goddamn kiss, and how good Nathan's lips felt against his..
Lucas was awakened by the sound of someone pounding on his door. He groggily gets up and opens it, seeing a very distraught Haley standing in front of him.
"We need to talk," She blurts out.
"Okay..?" Lucas says, standing aside to let her in. He shuts the door and flips on the light. Haley was standing in front of his closet, pacing. Something must really be bothering her.
"What's going on, Hales?" Lucas asks, wiping the sleep out of his eyes.
"Um, okay… shit, you're not gonna like this. In fact, you're going to hate this. But I feel like in order to keep being a good friend to you I have to tell you," Haley starts.
"C'mon Hales, what could be worse than you tutoring Nathan?" Lucas asks, jokingly. However, Haley doesn't answer. Instead, she just stands in front of him and sighs, and Lucas suddenly feels like he's deprived of oxygen.
No.
No no no no no no no.
"You like him?" Lucas asks. Please Haley, for the love of all things good, do not say-
"Yes."
If he's alive, he can't tell. Haley definitely just obliterated him from existence.
What the hell is he supposed to say to her?! "No, sorry, you can't like him because, actually, I like him. You know; the friend code and stuff." No, if he says that, she'll never speak to him again, and he can't bear to be in a world without Nathan and Haley. He has no choice but to let this happen. Plus, at least with Haley his brother has a chance at being normal, because if he and Nathan ever did end up together, Nathan's life would be filled with nothing but hardship and isolation.
Plus, if he has to see Nathan with anybody besides himself, he'd rather it be his best friend. At least then she'll be happy.
"What are you brooding about? You're freaking out, aren't you? Damn, I knew I shouldn't have said anything," Haley says, running towards the door. Haley can see right through him sometimes.
Scary.
"Hales, wait," He says, stopping her in her tracks. "I… understand, okay? Sometimes you develop feelings for people, and you just can't help it." He should've stopped there, but out of some morbid curiosity, he continues. "But… what do you see in him, anyway?"
"I dunno, different stuff," Haley answers, shrugging. "Underneath the rough exterior, he's actually really sweet. I know he can be a royal prick, but I'm telling you, that's just a defense mechanism."
His defenses must be on high alert every time Lucas is around him, then.
"Just… be careful, okay?" Lucas tells her, forcing the best smile he can possibly muster right now.
"I will, promise," Haley says. "And don't worry, I won't let anybody come between us. Friends forever, right?"
"Right," Lucas says.
—
A/N: Ugh! I wish these two would just admit they like each other already!
But what kind of writer would I be if I made it that easy?
I know, I'm a terrible person. :)