Hi guys. I'm so so sorry for the long silence. A lot of things going on right now I hardly have time to even breath. Ok exaggerating here lol. First of, wow a lot of Rachel haters out there LOL. I'm glad that you guys have strong reactions towards Rachel and Michael. Thank you so much for your reviews. You guys are awesome as usual. So here's the new one. I hope you'll like it. Thanks for sticking with me and the story. And usual leave me some love (or hate) ;). Cheers!
Chapter 5
Nathan silently played with his food throughout dinner, which didn't go unnoticed. "Nathan, you've hardly eaten anything. I made your favourite pot roast. Is the food really that bad?" Deb jokingly asked. She had never been a good cook, but being friends with somebody who owned a cafe had its perks. Her cooking had become a lot better over the years thanks to Karen.
"No, mom the food's great. I'm just not very hungry," he said looking around the table at the expectant faces of his parents, Lucas and Karen. Especially Lucas, who had a knowing look on his face. He tore his eyes away from Lucas's piercing gaze and continued to poke his food. All evening his mind had wandered to the scene he saw at Karen's, of Haley and Michael laughing over drinks. They looked like they were having fun. Who am I to spoil that for her? At the same time, he couldn't stop wishing that it was him Haley was laughing with.
"So Lucas, how's the wedding preparation coming along? Do you need my help in anything?" Dan asked, turning his attention to his eldest son. "And Nathan's right, Deb. This pot roast is wonderful," he said between mouthfuls. Deb smiled lovingly at him, squeezing his hand in gratitude.
"It's going great so far, Dad. As long as I don't get in Brooke's way. Her idea of me helping is turning up on the day itself," Lucas said making everybody laugh. Even Nathan managed to muster a smirk. To a stranger, the Scott dinner scene might seem odd, but not to the Scotts themselves. Karen had never held a grudge against Dan and Deb and their relationship with each other was stronger than ever. Nathan was very proud of the fact that his parents' marriage was like a rock, totally unshakable, and he thought of himself as lucky as he had a second mother figure in Karen.
"She's still letting me make the cake right?" Karen asked worriedly. She had volunteered to make the wedding cake for her son and future daughter-in-law and she was pretty excited about it.
Lucas patted her hand reassuringly. "Yes mom, you're still making the cake."
Suddenly everybody's attention turned to Nathan who had gotten up from his chair. "I'm sorry guys. Can I be excused? I don't feel too good."
"Are you alright Nathan? Do you need to see the doctor?" Deb asked, her eyes full of concern over her only son.
"No, I'm fine. I think I just need to lay down for a while," he said and left the table. I don't think any doctor can fix this pain.
"Guess what?" Brooke asked gleefully at Peyton and Jake who had come over to help finalise the wedding plans. Haley had gone out to get food and drinks.
Peyton and Jake exchanged looks before she turned her attention to Brooke. "I'm afraid to even ask," she said.
"You're gonna be sorry you didn't," Brooke said mischievously.
Jake rolled his eyes and said, "I have a feeling you're gonna tell us anyway. So what is it?"
"Lucas told me that Nathan told him that he's in love with Haley!" she exclaimed, jumping up and down in excitement.
"What??" Peyton and Jake said at the same time. "When?" Peyton continued.
"Justnow at practise. Isn't that awesome?"
Jake grinned upon hearing the news. "It kinda is. Does Haley know about it yet?"
Brooke looked at them ruefully, all the giddiness disappearing. "Well, that's the thing. She doesn't and I'm thinking Nathan is too much of a chicken to tell her. Plus sleeping with the skanky Rachel doesn't really give him a star in Haley's book."
"Hey, you don't know Rachel well enough to call her a skank. Just because she's sleeping with Nathan doesn't make her one. She could be nicer than you for all you know," Peyton said smacking Brooke on the arm.
"Yeah right. As if that is humanly possible." It wasn't that she didn't like Rachel. Peyton was right, she barely knew her. It was just that she was rooting for Haley and Nathan to get together. "Oh yeah, and you can't mention this to anybody. Lucas will kill me. He made me swear on my wedding dress."
Jake burst out laughing. "Swear on your wedding dress? I've never heard of that before." But one look from Brooke managed to silent him. "Besides," he continued. "There's no way we can tell Haley."
"Tell me what?" a voice interrupted them from the doorway. All three of them froze on hearing Haley's voice.
"Shit! Do you think she heard?" Brooke hissed.
"Tell me what?" Haley asked again.
"Tell you that...we wanted burgers instead of pizza," Peyton stammered the only thing that she could think of.
"What? Are you for real? I had to wait an hour for these pizzas and now you say you want burgers. Do you have a deathwish Peyton Sawyer. Do you??" Haley yelled as she dumped the carrier bags containing the pizzas on Peyton's laps.
Brooke jumped in to save her friend from being murdered. "You know what? Pizza sounds good. It's all good."
Haley crossed her arms and glared at them. "That's what I thought. And you guys better finish every last slice of those pizzas."
"Yes ma'am," Jake said and quickly grabbed a pizza. An angry Haley was one person he didn't want to cross.
"Good, now what can I do to help?" Haley asked. Brooke, Peyton and Jake looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief as they started to busy themselves.
A couple of hours later, all four of them were slumped on the couch yawning. "Brooke, I'm almost afraid to ask, but can we continue this tomorrow?" Peyton timidly asked.
"Oh sorry guys, I can't tomorrow. I'm going with Nathan for a movie," Haley said. She was beginning to feel drowsy from eating too much pizza.
Brooke perked up upon hearing her words. "Oh? That's nice," she said, winking at Peyton and Jake.
"Yeah, I haven't been spending much time with him lately since coming back from New York. And I'm going out with Michael the day after so you can count me out for Wednesday too."
"You what?" Peyton yelled.
A startled Haley looked at her curiously. "I'm going out with Michael," she repeated. "Why do you sound so upset? I thought you guys like him."
"We do Hales, but you just met the guy-" Jake started saying before he was interrupted.
Haley groaned. "Jake, I know what you're thinking. Enough of the over protectiveness already."
Jake put up his hands in the air in mock defeat. "Ok Hales, whatever you say. But does Nathan know?" he asked and judging from the way she was wringing her hands nervously, he guessed that Nathan didn't.
"No, he doesn't yet. And you guys can't breath a word about it to him. I just don't want him to declare a war against Michael. You saw what he was like the last time Michael hung out with us."
Peyton came up to her and patted her back. "Well, he's gonna find out sooner or later Hales. Tree Hill is a small town and everybody knows everybody. It's not like you can go on a date to some secret place nobody knows about."
That's it! We'll just go somewhere nobody knows about, Haley thought, silently thanking Peyton for the inspiration. She looked at her friends and said aloud, "ok, point noted. But right now, my bed is calling me. I'll see you guys later. Peyton, are you coming?"
Peyton looked at Jake and smiled. "No, Jake's taking me home. I'll see you later foxy."
Haley looked at Peyton and Jake, and for a moment she was jealous. She longed to have that kind of relationship with that somebody. The problem was that somebody happened to be Nathan, which made her wish almost impossible.
"Wow, a party and we're not invited? I'm crushed guys," a grinning Lucas said as he went up to Brooke and planted a kiss on her lips. "Hey gorgeous. Did you miss me?"
"You know it Broody. And there's a reason why you were not invited, and you know it."
Haley's smile upon seeing Lucas was wiped away when he saw Nathan trailing behind him. For a second she was afraid that her friends might blurt out her date with Michael. She gave them a warning look before going over to Nathan and hugged him. "Hey buddy, how was the dinner?"
Before Nathan could answer, Lucas butted in. "Well dinner was good. Deb made a nice pot roast which my dick of a brother hardly touched, and he left in the middle of it, claiming he wasn't feeling well."
"What? Are you ok?" Haley asked, feeling his forehead for a sign of fever.
"Hales, stop fussing. I'm fine," he said. He felt his skin burn, not from fever but more from her touch. "Anyway, I came by to see if you guys need any help."
Brooke rolled her eyes. "Yeah right, perfect timing Nate. We're done. Thanks for volunteering," she said sarcastically. Suddenly it dawned on her that she was going to get married next weekend. "Oh my God, the wedding's next weekend. What am I talking about? Of course I'm not done. Nothing's done yet. Nothing! Nobody move. We're all camping here tonight!" she yelled hysterically.
Lucas laughed and put an arm around her shoulders. "Brooke, breathe. I think you need to get some sleep. You're working yourself too hard. And the wedding's gonna be perfect, so quit worrying."
"You're right. Of course it's gonna be perfect. It's my wedding."
"Aaaahhh, that's the Brooke we all know and love," Nathan said, making everybody laugh. For some reason, he felt himself more at ease now with Haley around. He lazily slung an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. Haley took in the feel of his arms. To an onlooker, they definitely looked like a couple. Haley knew that she'd be lying to herself if she said that Nathan's action was nothing more than a friendly one.
"Ok guys, I'm heading out," she said, at the same time untangling herself from Nathan's arm.
"Do you need a ride home?" Nathan asked, hoping she would say yes.
"No, I'm good. My car is parked outside."
Making up an excuse just to be alone with her, he said, "I could drive you home. You must be tired, coming here from work." He held his breath waiting for her answer, although he knew that his excuse was pretty lame.
"Actually, that's not a bad idea," Haley said, completely surprising him. She was really tired and could use someone driving her home. "Come on buster, take me home."
The gang watched them leave without even saying goodbyes to them, as if they were both in their own world, completely oblivious to everyone else. "They're both idiots," Jake said, and the rest nodded their agreement.
Once outside, Haley involuntarily shivered as the late night breeze blew. "Cold?" Nathan asked.
"Yeah, a bit." She saw him starting to take his jacket out. "Stop it, you freak. My car's just there," she said laughing.
"Ok fine. But don't blame me when you end up in the hospital with pneumonia. And who are you calling freak? You're the one with the death wish."
"Shut up," she said, smacking his arm playfully.
Nathan turned to look at her with eyes wide open. "That's the best you can come up with? Shut up? That's really original Hales."
"Oh you're so dead, Nathan Royal Scott!" she yelled as she jumped on his back and started hitting him. This is how it's supposed to be. I'm his friend. His best friend. This is how it's supposed to be, she thought to herself, if only to make herself feel better.
Haley spent the following morning listening to demo discs sent by hopeful artists. She was very proud of what she and Peyton had achieved. Both of them had a love for music and turned their passion into something great. She looked around the studio she and Peyton had created and marveled at how far they had come. But all the success came with hard work. She sighed for the hundredth time that morning after listening to countless demos.
Peyton watched her friend and laughed. "Too much for one morning?" she asked with raised eyebrows. "I was thinking of the second one you heard. She's quite good. What's her name again? Kate something."
"Voegele. Kate Voegele. Yeah I actually was thinking of the same thing. She's got a beautiful voice. I think I'm gonna call her today for a meeting." Just then she heard her stomach growling. She grinned as she looked at Peyton. "Oooops looks like it's time for lunch. Karen's?" she asked. One of the perks of being your own boss is having to go out for long lunches whenever they pleased.
"Oh this is too good," Haley said an hour later, slurping the last of Karen's chicken pot pie. She leaned back against her chair admiring the empty bowl in front of her. She looked up and grinned seeing Peyton was in the same position as she was, except with her eyes clothes and her plate of spaghetti completely wiped clean. She threw a napkin at Peyton who reluctantly opened her eyes.
"Hey watch it," Peyton grumbled. "Karen! You have got to stop making good food!" she hollered making Haley laugh. Remembering something, Peyton said, "hey tonight's your date with Nathan right?"
"Please, it's not a date. We're just going out for a movie."
Peyton scoffed. "To you maybe."
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like Haley," Peyton said while looking at her squarely in the eyes. "You can deny it all you want, but he's in love with you and my guess is, you're in love with him too. So quit all this play acting." Her statement was met by silence. Peyton sighed, "I'm sorry Hales. I'm just telling it the way it is. Why are you so afraid to admit it?"
"Because he's Nathan Scott. That's why."
"So you're not denying that you feel something too?" Peyton pressed.
"It's complicated Peyton."
"How complicated can it be? Boy meets girl. Boy and girl fall in love. Boy and girl live happily ever after."
"Happily ever after only happens in fairy tales. Besides, this boy I've known practically my whole life. He's my best friend Peyton. What if we do get together and he gets tired of me, just like he does with what a million other girls? It would hurt too much. I don't want to lose our friendship because of that."
Peyton reached across the table and patted Haley's hand. "Honey, you're not like the other girls. Besides, isn't there a part of you that's itching to find out what might happen?"
Haley screamed in frustration looking at the mess she made in her room. Nathan was going to pick her up in fifteen minutes and she still wasn't ready. Peyton came rushing into her room and her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when she saw what had happened.
"Errr Haley, did your room explode or something?"
"I have nothing to wear! This is ridiculous. How can I have a closet full of clothes and still have nothing to wear?"
Peyton laughed at her friend's antic. "God Hales. You've been hanging around Brooke too much. Here, try this one," she said handing her a pair of skinny jeans and a halter top.
Haley grudgingly tried them on and looked at herself in the mirror. "Hey, this doesn't look too bad." The outfit accentuated her petite figure, hugging her curves in all the right places.
"You're welcome. Oh by the way, I'm spending the night at Jake's. I thought it's only fair since he's been hanging out here all week. Will you be alright?"
"Yeah, sure. Anything to get me some sleep at night. Boy you guys are seriously loud," Haley said giving Peyton a dirty look.
"What? It's fun. You should try it sometime," Peyton said suggestively.
"Ok get out already," Haley said, throwing a pillow right at her face, which she expertly ducked.
"Hales?"
"Oh shit, Nathan's here. I'll be right out!" she yelled back. She heard his footsteps coming towards her room, and before she knew he was standing next to Peyton.
"Wow, you look-" he couldn't continue as he felt his breath caught in his throat. "-amazing," he finally said. He feasted his eyes on the vision before him. He never thought that a girl could look so beautiful in jeans and halter.
Peyton watched Nathan looking at Haley and. Oh yeah, they're definitely gonna get together. She knew that look. And it definitely wasn't lust. And for someone like Nathan, that was definitely a change. "Ok kids, I'm leaving. You guys behave ok?" she said giving Nathan a knowing grin and left.
"Nathan I'm not ready yet," Haley said, brushing her hair frantically. Suddenly she felt his hand grabbing hers.
"Yes, you are. You look beautiful Hales," he said softly. He gently lifted her face and kissed her softly on the lips. She closed her eyes at the touch, amazed at how with one kiss, Nathan could make her go weak in the knees. "Come on, we should go," he whispered against her soft lips, breaking the kiss. "So have you decided what to watch yet?" he asked, clearing his throat as he took her hand and led her out.
Haley snapped back into reality, still reeling from the kiss. "Huh? No, why don't you choose this time." In all honesty, she was afraid of what tonight might bring. Ok, here goes nothing, they both thought at the same time.