Quote of the Day:
Max: I'll have an alien blast!
Liz: (thinking about him) Me too!
Chapter Seven –So Close, Yet So Far
It was getting late and Nathan was tired. He had tried his best keeping busy today with playing with the kids. Being around the kids meant that he didn't have time to think and that was a good thing. A really good thing. It meant he couldn't think about last night and about her words.
Today he was just Uncle Nathan and the boys kept him busy.
But now things were slowing down. Once he pulled up to his Lucas's house, he got out and waited for Hayden to do the same thing. They were both exhausted from the long day of playing. Hayden looked tired and Nathan reached down and lifted the little boy in his arms. His head fell on Nathan's shoulder and Nathan's hand instantly went to rub his back soothingly.
He walked them towards the house not bothering to knock. He made his way upstairs and placed Hayden in his bed before covering him and turning out the lights. Then he quickly made his way downstairs. He didn't know why he had been stupid not to eat for lunch earlier with the rest of the guys. Now his stomach was aching he was so hungry. He could hear it making a few noises as he made it downstairs.
He found Peyton and Lucas cleaning the kitchen together. The sight of it shouldn't have affected him but it did. He had seen them this way often. Why did it stir some hidden desire within him now? He quickly pushed that thought out of his head.
"You're back," Peyton smiled as she heard him from the door.
He nodded. "Sorry, it's so late. They didn't want to leave. Hayden's already asleep."
"Sounds about, right," Lucas chuckled.
"We won at football," Nathan pointed out with a smug grin. "Of course, Uncle Keith dropped by and helped us out. Hayden loved that. You should have seen his victory dance. It's as worse as yours, Luke." He grinned as Lucas rolled his eyes.
"Ha," Peyton laughed loudly.
"The twins?"
"Not so much," Nathan chuckled. "They did vow to kill us this Sunday though."
"I see a little of Brooke in them everyday," Lucas smiled as he glanced at Peyton and she laughed. He shook his head before he finished saving the dishes. Nathan glanced around the kitchen.
"Your plate is in the microwave," Peyton smiled knowingly.
He couldn't help but walk up to her and lift her in his arms in a bear hug. "I love you."
"Hungry much?" Lucas chuckled as he glanced at the two.
He nodded before going to the microwave and getting his plate out. He sat down at the table and started eating the fried chicken right away. Lucas placed a beer in front of his plate as both of them took a seat as well. The food was good.
"When's the last time you ate?" Peyton questioned.
He looked up from his plate thinking. "When's the last time you cooked?"
"Last night," Lucas answered with a smile. "You're lucky Peyton feeds your sorry ass."
"I know," Nathan nodded with a big smile. It was nice to be taken care of. He loved his family. Everyone was always looking out for him and he needed that. It was nice to know that someone cared. If it wasn't his mom bringing food over it was Brooke or Peyton. Karen sometime called him over for dinner during the week. It was nice to know that they cared about him. At least, someone did.
He finished the food in no time and once he was done he brought his plate to the sink. He washed it quickly before making his way back over to the table. They were waiting for him. He sat down before looking at Peyton nervously.
"Well…?"
Peyton smiled. "She wants me to sign her to my label. She wants to sing."
"That's it?" Nathan asked, blinking.
Lucas chuckled. "I was in shock, too."
"That makes so much sense as to why she wanted to see you," Nathan mumbled.
"The point I was trying to tell your brother," Peyton eyed Lucas before looking back at him and smiling. "I don't really know why she came back here. I know she's saying it's because I can help her but I heard her and she can get signed anywhere. Why here?"
"You're going to help her though, right?" Nathan asked.
"Of course," Peyton nodded.
"She even offered to sign her right away," Lucas smiled proudly.
"She doesn't want me giving her anything. I promised that I would think about it."
"But, I mean, you're going to sign her, right?"
"Absolutely," Peyton smiled.
"Is she…good?" Lucas asked while glanced at her.
She smiled before nodding eagerly. "So good that I want to cry when I hear it. How she is not signed already, I'll never know."
"That good?" Nathan smiled proudly.
Her eyes were nearly popping out of her head as she nodded. "Amazing."
"So, that's what she meant about not staying long," Lucas mumbled.
Nathan felt a pain in his heart. "Right."
She just came back for her music, not for him. He took the words in slowly as he processed each one. She really wasn't staying. Peyton would help her become a huge star and then she would tour the country. She was going places and it wasn't here. She wouldn't give that up for a life with him.
"How long?" Nathan whispered.
"I don't think –"
"Peyton," Lucas mumbled looking at her. Looking up, he noticed the pain in his brother's eyes. Lucas was hurting just as much as he was right now. He felt for his brother. This was hurting them both and even though both of them wanted her to stay, he knew that neither of them would stop her from her dreams, not if it's what she wanted.
"Months," Peyton said honestly. "It all depends on her."
"And you would help her with everything?"
"Yes," Peyton nodded. "We'll be spending a lot of time together. A lot of late nights. I don't know how long it will take. It depends on where she is emotionally and how she connects with her music and then recording...writing…it could be a while."
She was giving them hope. Nathan knew that. So when Lucas smiled pleased, he did the same. She was just trying to make them feel better. He loved that about her.
"It's enough time to make things right with her," Lucas smiled.
For you, Nathan thought. He still hadn't told his brother about last night. He didn't know if he even wanted to. He didn't even want to think about last night and the words she said to him…the way she looked at him.
"Don't look so depressed. Brooke's working on a plan," Peyton smiled.
"Brooke and the word plan don't go together," Lucas chuckled. "This can not be good!"
"Well, it's quite genius, if I say so myself," Peyton smirked.
Nathan placed his hands in his face before shaking his head. Brooke Davis-Baker was a force to be reckoned with. What did she have up her sleeve? What kind of plan? Would it work? So many questions rolled around in his head as he thought about it.
"I think we should celebrate," Peyton declared as she stood up.
Lucas looked at her like she was crazy. "Celebrate for what?"
"Me signing Haley James, of course," Peyton stated before kissing his cheek. "I think I'll go get ready for some fun tonight."
"What about the kids?"
"I'll watch them," Nathan offered.
"Don't be ridiculous," Peyton laughed. "You're coming with us. It'll be fun. I'll call Brooke and then Haley to come and meet us."
"She's coming?" Nathan asked looking at her.
She smiled. "Like I said fun!"
"Oh, wife of mine," Lucas sang while standing up. "What about our children?"
"I'll call your parents," Peyton stated before disappearing out of the kitchen.
Lucas looked at his brother and shrugged before Nathan stood up. "I guess we better get ready, then."
"Going out on a Monday night, eh? And people call you boring," Nathan teased as he playfully punched his brother in the arm. Lucas chuckled before hitting him back. They started play fighting until Peyton started to yell at them to go get ready. He couldn't stop laughing as he made his way out of the house. Maybe, tonight wouldn't be so bad.
~***~
He had been wrong, tonight sucked. After getting dressed and then heading straight here, he found out that he was the last one. Brooke made a joke about how he spent all of his time in front of the mirror. He really didn't think that was funny, but everyone else seemed to enjoy it. When he had noticed that she wasn't at the table, he asked Peyton about it, and she told him how Haley had already been here with her sister.
She was here alright.
Looking out onto the dance floor he noticed her dancing and laughing with Taylor and a few other guys. They were clearly having fun. Nathan didn't care for the guy with his hands all over Haley. He quickly took his eyes off of them. They hadn't been there that long and everyone went to the bar to get drinks. He turned his attention next to him. His eyes landed on Julian and he couldn't help himself.
"Is that a new hat?"
"Yeah. Why?"
He shook his head. "No reason. I just…"
"Am I not pulling it off?" Julian asked as he fixed the hat on his head.
"Nah, it's fine," Nathan muttered.
"No, if it was fine you wouldn't have mentioned it. It would have just blended in."
"Really, it's fine." He noticed Julian shake his head before looking away and he felt bad. The hat really didn't look that bad but with the way that Julian was acting, he had to hold in his laughter.
Julian scoffed. "I told Brooke that it was stupid."
"What was that, hubby?" Brooke asked as she walked up to the table with three beers in her hands. She placed one in front of Nathan before handing the other to Julian, before taking a seat. Her eyes stayed on Julian's the whole time.
"Nothing," Julian said pushing the hat on his head.
"Is someone making fun of your hat?" Brooke questioned before eyeing Nathan with a death glare. Julian wouldn't sell him out, would he?
His face dropped as Julian nodded. "I told you it wasn't for me, babe."
"I'll have both of you know that these are in in New York," Brooke stated while glaring at each of them. "And I think that you look adorable!"
Julian smiled pleased before kissing her cheek. "The things I do for you."
When Brooke looked away, Julian grinned at Nathan. He knew that Julian really didn't like the hat but only wore it for Brooke. It was kind of sweet. Julian was like that though. He loved making Brooke happy and Nathan didn't see anything wrong with that. If Brooke asked him to wear the hat then he would have…maybe, not in public, but he would have worn it at home.
Lucas and Peyton joined them minutes later.
"Hey, what's with the hat?" Lucas asked.
Nathan instantly chuckled as Julian quickly pulled the hat off of his head before smoothing out his hair. He handed it back to Brooke and she rolled her eyes before placing it down on the table angrily.
"Men," Brooke huffed.
"Tell me about it," Peyton smiled.
"So why are we celebrating again?" Julian asked quickly to change the subject. He knew that if he let them, they could talk about how horrible men were all night. He didn't want to sit through another one of those. Nathan and Lucas both looked grateful at the change of subject.
"I'm going to sign Haley to my label?"
"Nathan's Haley?"
Nathan couldn't help but smile. It didn't matter that she wasn't his. It also didn't matter that she was having fun with another man tonight. Julian didn't know how happy his comment made him. His grin was wide as he relaxed himself into his seat. His Haley. He liked the sound of that.
"Yup. That's the one," Lucas nodded. "She's going to be a huge star. I just know it."
"Go, tutor girl," Brooke smirked. "Why isn't she celebrating with us?"
"I kind of haven't told her yet. I don't think she knows that we're here."
"Well, I can change that," Brooke declared while looking out onto the dance floor.
Lucas held up his hand to stop her. "Brooke, don't –"
"Tutor girl, get over here," Brooke shouted as she waved her hand for Haley to come over to them. Nathan watched as Haley reluctantly stopped dancing, before whispering something to her sister. Nathan also noticed the death glare Taylor sent him before she turned her attention to the boy in her arms. Haley slowly made her way towards them. His heart started pounding.
She looked beautiful. She was wearing a white dress with pretty little pink flowers on it. Pretty? Really? Yep, pretty, he thought. Just like her. Her hair was flowing down in waves. Her face was prefect, as always. And her legs…God, her legs looked amazing. They were tan and beautiful. He could picture himself so clearly last night touching them when he removed her hills. The way they felt…it was making him hot just thinking about it.
As she got closer he quickly looked down. Hopefully, she wasn't drunk again. He didn't need her to be mean again. That's the last thing he wanted. He was just thankful that he was here in the same room with her now.
She made it to their table and waved nervously. "Hey, guys."
"Hales…I mean…Haley," Lucas nodded.
"Hey, yourself," Brooke smirked. "I hear congratulations are in order."
"What for?" Haley asked nervously as she stood before them.
Brooke looked at her confused. "For Peyton signing you to her label, of course. You're going to be a huge rock star!"
"Brooke, I didn't tell her yet," Peyton muttered under her breath.
Haley stood there frozen before looking down at Peyton. "Really?"
"Yeah, of course. I listened to the song and everything. It was amazing, Haley. I'd be honored to work with you. I can't believe that you haven't been signed by a label yet but I'm glad that you aren't. I can't wait to start. We'll sign all the paperwork tomorrow. Tonight let's just celebrate you being back in town."
"I don't know what to say," Haley mumbled still in shock.
"You don't have to –"
Lucas cut her off. "Say you'll celebrate with us."
Nathan watched as she thought about this. He could see the argument that she was having with herself and he hated that something so simple, wasn't easy for her, once again he was reminded of what he did to her. She couldn't even decide if she wanted to celebrate with them or not.
"Yeah, I will," Haley nodded finally smiling. Peyton moved over and made room for her. She took a seat right next to Peyton.
"Perfect," Brooke announced. "I'll get a round of shots!"
~***~
The night had been perfect so far. Well, as perfect as it could be. He just sat there listening to them laughing and having a good time. He didn't say a word and thankfully no one asked him anything. He understood that they knew what would happen if they did. She would leave. He was sure of it. He didn't want that. He loved being this close to her.
Every once and a while Peyton would look over and smile at him letting him know that she hadn't forgot he was there. It made him feel a little better. He just sat there listening to her.
Mostly he just listened as Haley told them about Stanford and all the cool people that she met there. Nathan also noticed how she only seemed to be talking to Peyton, Brooke, and Julian. She had spoken a few words to Lucas but nothing big. He knew that this was hurting his brother.
"Why don't you take me out on the dance floor brother-in-law?" Peyton suggested.
All eyes turned to him. Her eyes. He was suddenly very nervous. "I uh…"
"I'll do it," Lucas smiled as he stood up and pulled her with him. He winked at his brother before pulling his wife to the dance floor. "You know Nathan can't dance." Everyone laughed.
Nathan had never been more grateful to his brother in his life. His heart was still pounding in his chest as he glanced across the table and noticed that she was still looking at him. He quickly looked away and went back to looking at the beer bottle in his hands.
"So your roommate from college sounds awesome," Brooke commented as she noticed the tension at the table. She focused her attention on Haley and smiled at the girl.
Haley nodded. "She was very Brooke like. You would have liked her." Haley told them all about how amazing Bonnie was. She missed the girl. She made a mental note to call her soon and see how she was. She hadn't seen her since the wedding.
"You're stroking my wife's ego again, Haley," Julian stated in a disapproving tone.
"I know," Brooke smirked. "I'm very much falling in love with you, Haley James!"
Nathan smiled before looking over at the dance floor. What, it had been an hour since Haley came over and joined them? The whole time she had been mostly talking to Brooke and Peyton. They had been in their own little world. They were bonding and he felt bad for not liking it a little. It was only because he couldn't bond with her himself. But he was happy that Brooke seemed to really be getting along with Haley. Out of all of them, Brooke and Haley hadn't really known each other before they both left Tree Hill.
The two girls continued to giggle and talk. It wasn't long before Brooke had that look in her eye. Nathan instantly felt himself cringe when she smirked at him. What the hell was going to do?
"Babe, I think we need to show the Scotts' a thing or two on the dance floor."
"But I hate to dance," Julian complained.
Then Brooke gave him the look. Nathan knew that look. It meant that her word was final so you better listen to it. Brooke had gave him the look a lot over the last year. The girl was bossy. Nathan noticed Julian out of the corner of his eye. Julian laughed nervously before correcting himself.
"I mean, I love to dance. Let's hit it."
"Let's hit it?" Brooke laughed. "Please, don't ever say that again."
"What's wrong with that?" Julian asked as he stood up.
She stood up as well shaking her head before kissing him tenderly. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and leaned in closer to him before smiling. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing."
Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Haley smiling at them. He felt something warm spilling all over him. It was washing over every part of his body and making him feel great. He didn't know what it was. He just didn't want it to stop. He watched them walk away and he knew what Brooke was doing. She was trying to get them alone. That would have been perfect if she was actually talking to him.
Which she was not. She wasn't even looking at him.
Say something you idiot, he thought. He searched for something to say but the only words that came to his mind were I'm sorry. She was watching the two couples dancing. She was smiling and it almost looked like she was enjoying watching them. It made his heart pound in his chest. Should he ask her to dance?
"Uh, congratulations."
"Thanks," Haley mumbled sheepishly.
"You're going to do great, I know it. I always knew you were destined for something amazing."
She kept her eyes on the dance floor and when she didn't answer he didn't say anything again. He just kept watching her. It was minutes later when he noticed a guy walking towards them. It was the guy that was dancing with her from before, the guy with the flannel shirt and the cowboy hat. Nathan felt that weird feeling at the pit of his stomach again. Only now it seemed to be worse. She was smiling at the guy.
"You said you wouldn't be long."
"And you said you could dance, but hey," Haley smiled.
The guy laughed. "Ok. How about I prove you wrong?"
"Well, in that case," Haley smiled before standing up. She reached for his hat before taking it off of him and placing it on her head. He laughed at her before she pulled him onto the dance floor. Some stupid Justin song was playing in the background. He vaguely registered the words what goes around comes back around.
Nathan felt sick. She had been flirting with that idiot right in front of him. He wanted to throw up. Before he could even get the chance to stand up he noticed someone standing on the side of him and looking out onto the dance floor at Haley. His heart nearly dropped when he noticed it was Taylor. Even in Haley's descriptions, nothing compared to seeing Taylor up close. He was truly terrified.
"It sucks doesn't it," Taylor commented, her eyes never leaving her sister.
Nathan didn't answer. Instead, he just sat there watching her dance with that other guy and trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with him. Why did he feel this way? He hated it. He never felt this way before. Why couldn't he look away?
"I mean, she's back and looking like that," Taylor smirked. "You've got to just be beating yourself up for letting her go."
You have no idea, he thought. God, she was beautiful. She was swaying to the music and laughing in that idiot's arms. He couldn't stand it. The feeling in the pit of his stomach was becoming unbearable now and his hands were shaking. Still he couldn't bring himself to look at Taylor. She was enjoying this too much.
Enjoying his pain.
Bitch.
"She told me what you did to her," Taylor continued. "How you used her in some game against Lucas. She even told me that you were embarrassed to be seen with her. That was low, Nathan. Even for a pig like you. I couldn't believe it when she told me that. She's the best person I know. She's not like us and you ruined that. You ruined her. I've never seen someone so hurt in my life. After what you did you don't even deserve to be sitting at this table with her."
"I know." It was all he could say.
"It took her a long time but eventually she got over you," Taylor smiled. "In all these years, Nathan, she hasn't mentioned you once."
He felt the effect her words had on him. It had his guilt and anger mixing in with that stupid feeling at the pit of his stomach. It was only making him feel worse. He wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole. Anything would be better than this. This was torture. The pain was bubbling inside of him.
"Now, look at her," Taylor taunted. "Look how beautiful and confident she is. I guess I should be thanking you but I won't. In fact, I'm going to break my promise with myself to kick your ass. I don't need to prove anything to you. She's doing that all by herself dancing with him. Jealousy is a bitch. You nearly killed her the last time and, Nathan, if you don't leave her alone then you'll be sorry. I can promise you that. Just stay the hell away from her. She hates you. Revenge is sweet, isn't it?"
She pointed out to the dance floor where Haley was laughing loudly at the guy in her arms. With that Taylor walked away and Nathan felt himself go numb. The mixture of anger, guilt, and…jealousy…no she had been wrong. He didn't get jealous. He never had been jealous before in his life. But watching her dancing with that other guy stirred something deep inside of him and it made him want to hurt that perfectly harmless guy with her. What was wrong with him?
He hated feeling this way.
The anger, guilt, and jealousy weren't having the best effect on him. He felt like he could hurt someone. Was that all this was about? Did she just want to get even with him? Hurt him like he hurt her? It was working. He never felt anything like he was feeling now. He didn't know how to deal with it.
~***~
"…so after graduation I moved to New York."
Nathan sat there listening to her continue to talk. Everyone was listening intently to her and even he was very interested. He had wanted to know what she had been up to all these years. It was over an hour later and now that that idiot left with Taylor and her friends, his jealousy was gone. Hell, he even felt happy when Taylor and the guy Ty came over and asked her to go with them. When she said that she was just going to stay here a little longer it only made him smile.
He didn't like this jealousy thing.
It was unnerving. In fact, he hated it. She continued onto her story about how much she loved New York and the thrill of the big city. It also helped matters that Brooke pushed a few extra shots on her. They all were a little drunk. And by that, he meant the girls. They were the ones that had too much to drink. They were the ones that couldn't stop laughing. He found it quite amusing. Seeing Haley this relaxed was amazing.
"…it's just an amazing city to live in. They have everything. I mean everything…"
"Excuse me."
Nathan glanced up and noticed Owen tapping Haley's shoulder with a drink in his hands. He seemed annoyed and Nathan waited to see what he wanted with Haley. He held out the drink in his hands.
"Yep."
"The guy over at the bar bought this for you," Owen mumbled before pointing to the blonde at the bar. Nathan glared at the guy and smiled triumphantly when she shook her head. She didn't even bother to look at Owen.
"No thanks," Haley muttered.
Owen nodded before walking away and Nathan smiled proudly as he continued to listen to her story. He couldn't help but notice how irritated his brother seemed to be with the whole situation as well. For all that guy knew there were three girls and three guys. Haley could have easily been with one of them. The nerve of that guy.
"…so it's four in the morning and…"
"Excuse me again," Owen muttered nervously. "He insists that you take the drink."
"Well, insist back that I don't want it," Haley said looking up at him.
She didn't sound mean and Nathan was happy that she was standing her ground. But the second that he noticed the guy grabbing for the drink and walking towards them, he fought with everything in him not to stand up and knock the guy out. How long had it been since he actually really fought with someone? High school? He needed to take a good swing at someone. It had been a while.
He kept himself calm as the guy walked up to Haley and held out the drink. He knew that nothing good would come if he tried to help her out. She would just see it as some...jealous attempt. And he was not jealous of this guy. He was just irritated that the punk wouldn't listen.
"I just wanted to buy you a drink," the guy commented. "Beautiful."
"Okay, guy in need of a clue. Here's one. Women send signals and that was a brush-off. Before you dip into your shallow pool of wit, let me paint us a picture and save us both the trouble. Here's your evening. You are going to slink back of to your buddies, laugh this off, get wasted, go home, and make nice with yourself. But don't be thinking of me. Because even your fantasy of me isn't interested in you," Haley snapped.
The guy muttered something under his breath before walking away. Everyone instantly started laughing. Everyone but him, that is. He felt immensely proud at the moment. Only because he had been ready to save her and pound the guy into the ground but she didn't need his help. She didn't need him. She could handle herself. She was strong and independent. He felt himself falling more in love with her.
"I couldn't have said that better myself," Brooke declared while giving Haley a high five.
"Wow," Peyton muttered amused. "Just wow."
"You guys never told me Haley James was such a badass," Julian grinned.
"I'm a little afraid of you," Lucas commented as he smiled at her. She rolled her eyes before pushing his arm playfully.
"Whatever, Luke."
He couldn't help but notice the smile on Lucas's face after that. Haley had been joking with him. They weren't even close to being like they used to be, but still this was a start. Haley had been being nice to Lucas all night long. Maybe, she did come back for their friendship. Peyton gave Lucas's arm a little squeeze and smiled at him, letting him know that she understood what just happened.
All he could be was happy for his brother. At least, she was being nice to one of them. She still hadn't glanced his way or even said anything to him. If this was her revenge then it was working. The little happiness he felt at the moment was nothing compared to the pain he felt in his heart. How could she be so close yet so far? Emotionally she was a million miles away. What would it take for her to understand how much he needed her, wanted her, and most importantly, loved her?