CHAPTER 5 - 6 MONTHS LATER
Exhausted and emotional, Haley threw her purse onto the wobbly, chipped coffee table as she entered her Nathan's small apartment. She had just finished a 12 hour shift and 15 minute bus journey and was starving so her first stop was the refrigerator. It was almost 7.30, Nathan would be home soon so she fixed them both a sandwich with the leftover turkey from yesterdays dinner and relaxed in front of the TV that they had bought last week.
After months of struggling, they were finally starting to make some progress in the whole 'independent living' thing. Nathan had eventually had a stroke of luck and had landed a job in an auto shop over on the east side as an apprentice mechanic. All those years of helping his uncle Keith had paid off, and although he wasn't getting paid much more than Haley, they beginning to cope with the bills and rent.
On the coffee table, Haley's purse beeped and vibrated and she reached in and pulled out her cell phone. It was a text message from Lucas.
'HEY HALEY BOP - JUST GOT SETTLED INTO DORMS - ROOMMATE A LITTLE CRAZY, NOT ALWAYS BAD, RIGHT? HEADING TO PARTY WITH PEYT, CALL YOU LATER!'
Haley tittered to herself at the thought of Lucas at a college party that she knew Peyton would be dragging him to. She was overjoyed when Lucas and Peyton both got accepted to NYU. It brought them closer to her and Nathan and they couldn't have been happier. She sent a quick reply;
'BEHAVE YOURSELF, YOUNG SCOTT! MISS YOU HEAPS, WANT DETAILS OF COLLEGE LIFE! LUV YA!'
As the message sent, Nathan arrived home . "Hey." he sighed wearily as he slumped into the armchair. Both were too tired to greet each other properly.
"How was your day?" Haley asked routinely
"Same. Busy. You?"
"Usual. I got a text from Lucas, he moved into the dorms today. He and Peyton are going to a partying." she rolled her eyes.
Nathan laughed lightly at the image. The party was definitely Peyton's idea, she had told him all about it during their hour long conversation last night. She had moved to her dorm a couple of days before to get the 'feel' of New York and so far she was loving it and the parties every night.
"You think Peyt is going to corrupt your baby Lucas?" Nathan joked.
"She corrupted him the day she met him!" she laughed. "Could you imagine living in New York? It would be so amazing. Maybe we should've moved there, we'd be nearer to them." Haley mused.
"Cost of living is way too high, we'd have to take second, even third jobs, just to get by. We're better off here, just a train ride away." Nathan surprised himself with how sensible he was getting. This time 2 years ago, he was the stupidest kid he knew. Throwing wild parties at his parents beach house, getting drunk, flunking out of school and not caring and having sex with cheerleaders. The new him was kind of surreal, working 55 hours a week, paying rent and utility bills, budgeting to buy things that he now considered luxuries - a television, dvd player even the armchair he was sitting on had involved a strategic financial plan. He and Haley finally had to cave in and accept help from Karen and Keith so that they could secure the apartment as they were six weeks in Hartford before Nathan had found the job at Mikey's Auto Repairs. It had been a tough few months but things were looking brighter, especially now that Lucas and Peyton would be visiting at the weekend.
Nathan flicked the channel on the television to a sports show reviewing the highlights of a basketball game. Haley groaned and buried her head into a cushion. "I thought I'd escaped basketball!" she squealed and threw the cushion at him.
The party was in full swing by the time Lucas and Peyton arrived. Peyton grimaced as Justin Timberlake belted out 'My Love' through the giant speakers located all over the house, but rolled her eyes and laughed when Lucas bopped his head in perfect rhythm to the tune. "What? I'm not allowed to enjoy the music?" he asked, a little miffed. Peyton just shook her head and moved further into the house, spotting the keg and pouring herself and Lucas a drink.
"I'm going to go and find my date…" Peyton called over her shoulder as she walked away and ventured even further into the abyss.
"Date? You have a date? I don't have a date…I didn't know we could bring dates…" Lucas shrugged when he got no reply so he browsed around the room, feeling a little uncomfortable that the only person he knew in this entire city had just abandoned him in a house full of strangers. He awkwardly sipped his beer but almost spilled it all over him when he heard a voice from behind.
"Lucas Scott! Oh my god!"
Lucas whirled around at the sound of his name and his jaw dropped when he saw the brunette bombshell that was Brooke Davis standing before him.
"Brooke?" he spluttered, the shock obvious in his voice.
"I can't believe you're here! Are you going to NYU?" she asked, surprised but delighted to see a familiar face. A hot familiar face. Even though she hadn't gotten to know him back in Tree Hill, Brooke now saw an opportunity to do what she never had the chance to do back home.
"Uh…yeah I moved here today, actually. You're going here too? I thought I'd get the chance to talk to you over the summer…"
"I moved here right after graduation." she explained. "My parents own an apartment in Manhattan so I'm living there. I can't believe you're here, I guess God does like me after all." Brooke laughed and her dimples sent a shiver down Lucas's spine. He couldn't believe that he was talking to Brooke Davis. She'd been his dream girl as long as he could remember but he'd always been too shy to do anything about it, not to mention that Brooke always seemed to have a boyfriend. He thought he'd missed his chance with her completely but now here she was. Unless…
"Are you here with your boyfriend? Felix wasn't it?" Lucas enquired as casually as he could.
"No, um… Felix and I broke up, he's in Florida." she answered coolly. "Besides, I was only with him because the guy I really liked never asked me out."
"Who'd be crazy enough not to ask you out?" Lucas snorted, but flushed when she raised her eyebrow at him and gave him a cheeky grin. "I…I guess I always thought you'd say no. I mean, you're Brooke Davis."
"And you're Lucas Scott, so what? What do names have to do with anything?" she did that eyebrow thing again and Lucas thought he was going to faint. She moved closer to him and before he realised what was happening, they were in the middle of the room, dancing to a song he didn't recognise but had just become his favourite. "So, Lucas Scott. Now that we're away from the shallow halls of Tree Hill High, are you ever going to ask me out?"
Lucas gulped and pinched his hand which was currently resting on Brooke's hip. He pulled her close and decided to just go in for the kill. It was now or never and he'd been wanting to do it since he was 12 years old; he kissed her. Softly at first, but when she responded he pressed a little harder. It was everything he had fantasised it would be, no, it was even better.
After a couple of hours, Peyton happened upon them getting to know each other a little too well for a public audience on a couch in the main room.
"Ahem." she coughed as she stood over them, a little disgusted at seeing her best friend with his tongue down some random girls throat. When they broke apart, she saw just who the 'random' girl was.
"Oh. Hi Brooke" Peyton nodded at the brunette, not really surprised that at all the parties, in all the cities, Lucas would still find Brooke Davis. It was just his kind of luck. She turned her attention back to Lucas. "I'm gonna go back to the dorms, I'm wiped. You need a ride?"
Lucas unwrapped himself from Brooke and stood, smoothing his shirt, a bashful look on his face. He looked back at Brooke with a dopey grin and she winked at him, flicked her hair, looking at him expectantly.
"If you wanna stay…" Peyton sensed the sex vibe in the air and didn't want to get in the way.
"No it's ok, I better go."
At that, a tall wiry guy came up behind Peyton and put his arm around her and kissed her. "You ready?" he asked, smiling at both Lucas and Brooke. "Hi, I'm Jake." he said offering his hand to Lucas.
"I'm Lucas." he replied, his demeanour becoming guarded and protective of his friend. He looked at Peyton in confusion.
"Jake is my date." she explained. "We met a few days ago when I got lost on the subway." she smiled up at him and leaned closer. "He rescued me."
Lucas rolled his eyes. Peyton wouldn't be Peyton if she didn't meet a guy on her first day in New York. Brooke stood now, not quite sure if she was welcome at this little introduction party, but making her presence known. "And I'm Brooke Davis." she announced, shaking Jakes hand. She turned to Lucas, a little peeved that he was about to ditch her for the tomboy and Jake the hottie. "Are you leaving?" she asked him, one hand on her hip, the other seductively pulling at the waistband of his jeans.
Lucas leaned in closer to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "I have to go, but I want to see you again." Brooke pouted at him, her eyes mercilessly torturing him so that he found it impossible to pull away. "I don't want this to end up a one night stand, Brooke. You're too special for that." he whispered into her ear. Brooke rolled her eyes at him, convinced she was getting the brush off.
"Ok, Lucas. See you around." she began to turn but Lucas grabbed her and pulled her into an intense kiss. Brooke couldn't hear anything but the sound of her heart beating furiously. Oh and the song playing in the distant background. That's right, Damien Rice's haunting voice was perfecting the moment. Emptiness filled her when he pulled away, leaving her breathless and panting. She clung onto his shirt, her eyes wide and staring into his.
"Nothing's ever going to be the same again." he whispered and then disappeared into the crowd, following Peyton and Jake. Brooke stood there staring at the space he had filled, and after a few seconds she blinked and realised what had just happened. She looked around self-consciously but smiled to herself as she put on her coat. If she'd known Lucas could kiss like that, she would've done it years ago.
As she walked back to her car, Brooke couldn't stop smiling. Lucas was right, nothing was going to be the same again. Right now, she didn't think anything could get better than that moment, and if that was the way it was going to continue, then bring it on.
A/N Sorry the chapter is so short, I just wanted to introduce the couplings. This is mainly going to be a Naley fic but the others will be put in their two cents as well!
