Sorry for the long wait! I thought once summer came, I'd have more time but I actually don't. I've been training for tennis, and I have a lot of school work to do for my AP classes next year. (Kill me) So those are my main priorities as of right now, but as you can see, I've been staying up until 1 am every night so I can update. So enjoy. BTW I got tired at the end so the ending of this chapter didn't come out the way I wanted it to, but whatevs- happy reading :)
Thanks for the kind reviews. Love you all
"Brooke, I'm so sorry!" Haley cried. "I wanted to tell you, but-"
Brooke stood with her hands on her hips, and her lower lip pouted slightly. "But what?"
Haley sighed, "It's just- everything is so complicated. We wanted to tell Jackson before anyone else, and I haven't had time to tell you. Plus, we wanted to keep it low key, because of our jobs, and then I was worried about what Luke would say..."
Brooke rolled her eyes, "I'm your best friend Haley! Did you not trust me?"
"Of course I trust you Brooke. Nathan and I wanted to tell you together, there just hasn't been time. I'm sorry you found out this way." Haley sighed.
Brooke smiled slightly, "I'm sorry I found out this way too. Now, come in, and you need to tell me everything!"
Haley chuckled. Leave it to Brooke, to forgive her in a second. She followed her way into the living room, where Jackson was watching tv.
"Hey Jackson." Haley smiled.
Jackson looked over at his mom, and ran to her. "Momma! I missed you!"
Haley smiled, and knelt down next to her son, so she could give him a hug. "I missed you too. How was your day?"
"It was good. How was yours?"
Haley bit her lip, "Um, it was good." She lied.
"Can I come to work with you one day?" Jackson asked with a hopeful look.
Haley swallowed hard, "Uh, we'll see, baby."
"Okay." Jackson said simply.
Just then, Lucas came waltzing in the living room, holding his equipment for today's practice.
"Okay, Brooke, I'm heading to the High School. Be back in an hour." He called, and gave Brooke a sweet kiss. "Oh, hey, Hales. What's new?"
Haley knew she shouldn't lie to Lucas, but realized it wasn't a good time."Not much." Haley lied as she glanced over to Brooke who was giving her a disappointed look.
"Uncle Luke! Can I come to practice with you and Nathan today?" Jackson asked with a sparkle in his eyes.
Lucas looked over at Haley, who was biting her lip. "Um.." She stuttered.
"Please?" Jackson begged as he bounced on his tippy toes.
Haley couldn't resist Jackson's puppy dog face, so she quickly gave in. "Alright, if it's okay with your uncle Lucas."
Lucas nodded, "I think the team could use your expert skills." He joked.
Jackson smiled, and ran over to hug his mom. "Thanks momma! You're the best."
Haley giggled, and placed a sweet kiss on Jackson's forehead. "Be good!"
"Always!" Jackson responded.
"Okay, well have fun ladies. See you soon." Lucas called as he grabbed Jackson's hand, and headed to his car.
Brooke ran to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of wine, and two glasses. She handed one to Haley, who graciously accepted it, and drank it quickly.
"Whoa, slow down Hales." Brooke chuckled.
Haley smiled as she pulled the glass away from her lips. "Sorry, I needed that after the day I'm having."
Brooke sat next to Haley on her brown couch, and folded her legs underneath her. "Okay, now spill."
"Okay, well what do you want to know first?" Haley asked.
"Everything! Like how, when, and where! What your first date was like-"
Haley chuckled, "Okay, I'll start from the beginning. No interrupting though." Haley warned lightly.
Brooke playfully rolled her eyes, "Okay, okay. Now, go!"
"So you know the whole thing that happened, when he told me he liked me, I never answered him, then he went and got drunk, and Rachel said she slept with him?"
"Yeah, how could I forget? I was going to kick his freaking ass!' Brooke shouted, causing Haley to laugh.
"Okay, well then you remember when Jackson went missing right?"
Brooke nodded, and took a sip of her wine.
"Well, Nathan brought him back for me, and he apologized for everything, but left. So the next morning, he's standing on my steps, in the pouring rain, and he gives me this whole speech about how he really likes me, ad how sorry he is." Haley gushed.
"Oh my god! What'd he say?" Brooke asked eagerly.
Haley smiled, "He said a lot, but one of the sweetest things he said was ' I want all of you. I would take back every single hook up, just to be able to go one one date with you.' And then he said how he needed me in his life, and he would be okay with just being friends, but I said we couldn't be friends-"
"What!?" Brooke shrieked.
Haley chuckled, "If you didn't just interrupt me, I would have explained!"
"Sorry." Brooke whispered.
"Anyway, I said we couldn't be friends because I wanted to be more then friends, so I ran out into the rain, and we kissed."
Brooke clapped wildly. "Oh my god! That's so adorable!"
"I know." Haley giggled girlishly. "It was perfect."
"How was the kiss?" Brooke asked with a sly smile.
Haley blushed, "That was perfect too."
"Was it a sweet kiss, or like a hot make out?"
"It started off sweet- but then progressed." Haley stated nervously.
"So like was there tongue?"
"Brooke!" Haley shrieked.
"What?" She asked innocently. "You never told me anything anyway, so now I have a right to know the juicy details."
Haley playfully rolled her eyes, "Fine, if you must know, there was tongue, and it was the best kiss of my life. Happy?"
"So happy!" Brooke cheered.
Haley giggled, 'Me, too. Okay so where was I?" She asked as she took another sip of wine. "Oh right, so then that night, he took me on a date, and it was so romantic." Haley gushed. "He took me to some exclusive hill, that had such a romantic view, and it was so perfect. We had a picnic, and then we just stared at the stars together."
"Aw, that's so sweet. I never knew Nathan could be so romantic!" Brooke smirked.
Haley smiled with a dreamy look in her eyes. "Neither could I."
"So then what?"
"So the date was so amazing. He was so sweet, and I got to know him a lot. He's just so amazing, and-" Haley bit her lip. "I just love him so much!"
Brooke was swallowing wine, when all of a sudden she heard Haley say she loved Nathan, so she started to choke. "What- what did you just say?" She coughed loudly.
"Oh my god! Brooke! Are you alright?" Haley asked standing up, to make sure her friend was okay.
Brooke waved her hand in the air. "I'm fine, fine. But did I just hear correctly?"
Haley sat back down, and blushed. "Yeah. I'm in love with him."
"Oh my god! Does he know?" Brooke asked excitedly.
Haley smiled, "I'm getting to that part!"
"Dammit Haley, I missed so much!" Brooke pouted.
"Okay, so back to the date- So I was pouring a glass of wine, and it spilled all over me, and then I leaned down, and my dress blew up, so he saw my underwear. It was so embarrassing, but he was so sweet about it!"
Brooke laughed, "Aw! Then what?"
"So then he drove me home, and we stood on my porch kissing, then he asked me to be his girlfriend, and we kissed some more." Haley smiled shyly. "So he walked back to his car, and I went inside and screamed happily, but I saw him still in his car, so he got out and ran back to my door, because we didn't want the date to end. So we made out on my couch, and my mom called- she totally knew Nathan and I were on a date because he was kissing me the whole time-"
"Wait a damn second Haley James! You freaking lied to me! That was the night you said you went out with work friends-"
Haley bit her lip, "Yeah... sorry about that."
Brooke playfully glared at Haley and lightly punched her arm. "You suck!"
"I'm sorry! Nathan and I agreed not to tell anyone though-"
"Fine, I guess I forgive you." Brooke smiled coyly.
"Good. Okay, so then we kissed goodnight, and the next day he came over, and my mom found out about us-"
"So she was the first the one to know?" Brooke asked.
Haley nodded, 'Yeah, and don't freak out but Nathan's mom, Deb, and Karen also know.."
"What? How?" Brooke asked incredulously.
"Nathan went to lunch with his mom and he told her, and Karen was there too."
"Hmph." Brooke huffed. "I better be the first one to know when he proposes!"
Haley blushed, "Brooke!"
"What?" You know it's probably going to happen."
"First of all, we've been dating for like a week, and secondly, don't get my hopes up!" Haley scolded lightly.
"So you do want to marry him?" Brooke smiled.
Haley bit her lip, "It's too soon now, but I'm not going to lie and say that I haven't thought about it. I mean, Jackson loves him, and so do I."
Brooke practically bounced on the couch cushion and squealed. "Naley is too freaking perfect!"
Haley playfully rolled her eyes, "Just don't say anything to Nathan. I don't want to freak him out. I would like for it to happen one day, but not yet."
"Okay. My lips are sealed." Brooke said while pretending to zipper her lips, causing Haley to giggle. "So then what?" She asked.
Haley thought about it. "Alright, so then the next day he took Jackson and I out to dinner on the docks."
"That's so cute!" Brooke clapped.
Haley smiled, "I know, so when we finished dinner, we got ice cream, and the boys played some carnival game, and of course Nathan won be a teddy bear."
"Aww!" Brooke gushed. "I wish Lucas would do stuff like that with me."
Haley laughed, "I guess you got the wrong Scott then."
"Wanna trade?" Brooke joked.
"I love Lucas and all, but no one can compare to Nathan." Haley said dreamily.
"Good, because Luke's mine." Brooke said sticking her tongue out.
Haley chuckled."Good, Nathan's mine."
"It's so cute how smitten you are!" Brooke gushed.
"I know. It's weird because I always said I wasn't going to be 'one of those girls', you know? Like when girls are obsessed with their boyfriends, and like so in love that it's sickening? I guess being with Nathan made me change." Haley admitted.
Brooke smiled and put her hand over Haley's. "I know what you mean, but it's okay."
Haley smiled graciously. "Yeah, so then that night, he came over, and we told Jackson."
"Oh my god! How'd he take it?" Brooke asked shocked.
"He was so happy.' Haley gushed. "It made everything so much easier. But anyway, after that Jackson went upstairs... and Nathan and I started to kiss. We were on the couch,..."
"Oh kinky." Brooke winked.
Haley chuckled and lightly slapped Brooke's arm. "Shut up, not like that!"
"Oh, it's bound to happen!"
Haley huffed in annoyance, "First my mom starts this, and now you!"
Brooke laughed, "Oh, Momma James, is very smart. I think she knows, and I think that you know too-"
"Know what?" Haley asked innocently.
"Aw, you're so innocent that it's actually kind of adorable." Brooke gushed, and Haley rolled her eyes.
"I'm sorry, I'm not exactly advanced."
"So you know that you're eventually going to take the next step with Nathan, right?"
"Moving in?" Haley asked.
Brooke rolled her eyes, "No, Haley. Not moving in. Sex!"
Haley blushed, 'Brooke-"
"No, we need to talk about this."
Haley grabbed a pillow that was on the couch and hid her face in it. "I don't want to talk about it!" She huffed.
"To bad, because we are!"
Haley groaned in the pillow, as Brooke continued to talk.
"So clearly, you know Nathan is hot, right?"
Haley nodded.
"Okay, so you know what it means to be turned on right?"
Haley's head snapped up from the pillow, and her jaw fell. "Brooke! This is so inappropriate!"
"Haley, this is a life lesson, and you need to know about it." Brooke explained.
Haley rolled her eyes, "Yeah, okay, whatever. I know what it means."
"So have you ever felt 'aroused' by anyone?"
Haley blushed, "Brooke! This is so awkward."
"No it's not. It's fun. I'm just trying to help you out. Wouldn't you rather talk to me about this rather than your mom?"
Haley bit her lip, "I guess, but I would actually prefer not to talk about it at all..."
"Oh well. We're talking about it. So answer my question!"
Haley blushed, "No, I've never even thought about it, because the idea of sex scares me so much."
"Well you shouldn't be scared because it's actually a lot of fun-"
"Ew!"
"Haley stop acting like a twelve! You're 24 now, act like an adult." Brooke scolded.
Haley bit her lip, "Okay, fine. There was this one time, when Nathan and I were making out- and he got a little... 'excited' and I felt it, and then I felt a little weird-"
"What do you mean weird?"
"I don't know- like I felt some weird bubble in my stomach... and then my temperature increased a little."
"Sweetie, that means you got turned on. This is so exciting!" Brooke clapped.
Haley groaned and let her head fall back against the couch. "It's not really a big deal- I thought I was just nervous- or shocked. I don't know."
"Okay, so obviously he was excited and so were you, so that's good. So usually when that happens, the guy starts to take off your shirt or something, and then make out more. Then when you're both naked, the guy slides himself-"
Haley quickly covered her ears, "Brooke! Stop! I know what happens!"
"No, you know the 'rough' way, but when the guy- like Nathan- is gentle, it's magical."
"Ugh. This is so gross." Haley whined.
"So Nathan being naked grosses you out?" Brooke joked.
Haley bit her lip, "No." She said shyly.
"Well aren't you curious, like what he looks like?"
Haley shrugged, "I don't know. I mean, I guess sometimes I wonder. He is insanely sexy." She gushed, while chugging another sip of wine. If she was going to discuss her love life with Brooke, she needed to have a little bit of alcohol in her system.
"Yeah, and if he's as big as his cousin then you'll be in luck." Brooke winked.
"What do you mea- oh my god. Ew. I'm about to puke! Brooke you're gross!" Haley practically gagged.
Brooke laughed, "I'm just trying to help you out. Because I mean, I wouldn't pass up an opportunity like that."
Haley let out a deep sigh. "Just because I'm not technically a virgin anymore, doesn't mean I still don't want to wait until marriage."
"I know, so if you marry Nathan are you just never going to do it?" Brooke asked.
Haley bit her lip, "I never really thought about it before. It's still really early in our relationship. Yeah, we're in love, but still... sex is a huge step. I'm still not ready."
"I get that, but I think that you should still know what you're going to do, so you'll be ready when the time does come." Brooke advised.
"I guess I'm just scared that I won't be good, or maybe it'll hurt."
"First of all, it's impossible not to be good. Second of all, I won't lie. It will probably hurt- but Nathan will be gentle, and after that it's amazing." Brooke smiled.
Haley sighed and ran her fingers through her brown hair. "I do want more kids some day, and I know the process to get there, but I never worried until now. I guess I never thought I would have a chance, because no guy would want to deal with me, but Nathan is so sweet and understanding- it only makes me love him more."
"So then what are you so worried about? If you know Nathan is understanding and loves you, then you really shouldn't be worried." Brooke stated.
Haley shrugged, "What if he wants to do it, but I'm still not ready?" She asked meekly.
"Well does he know about your past?" Brooke asked.
Haley nodded, "Yeah, I told him the night that he was tickling me. I had a flashback of that night-" Haley gulped, 'And I started to scream and kick him. I felt terrible but I was just so scared, so I ran in a closet. Nathan was so worried about me but I told him to leave. About an hour later, I went to lock up the house and I saw him sitting in his truck. We sat on my front steps and he wanted to know why I freaked out, and he told me he loved me-"
Brooke let out a loud squeal and jumped up and down excitedly. "Aw that's so sweet!" She declared.
Haley smiled as she remembered the night. "Yeah, it was so perfect. I told him that he wouldn't love me after I told him, and he wanted to know, so I told him, and he said that he still loved me, and wanted to be with me. Of course, I told him I loved him back, and the rest was just history."
Brooke started to tear up with happiness.
"Brooke why are you crying?"
"I'm just so happy for you!" Brooke smiled as she pulled Haley in for a hug.
Haley felt her own eyes start to dampen, and she hugged Brooke back. "Thank you Brooke. I'm really happy too."
Brooke pulled away from the hug, and smirked.
"What?" Haley asked.
"I told you so, I told you so." Brooke sad in a 'sing-son' voice.
Haley rolled her eyes, "I guess you're right."
"Ha! For once I am finally right!" Brooke declared.
Lucas stood at the top of the key, with Jackson on his shoulders, who was holding a miniature basketball.
"You ready to shoot?" Lucas asked.
Jackson smiled, "Yep!" He cheered as he threw the basketball and it soared through the air, and swirled around the rim, eventually swooshing through the net.
"I did it!" He shouted happily.
Lucas smiled, as he placed Jackson back on the court, and gave him a high-five. "Nice job, buddy."
"I wish Nathan was here to see it!" He pouted slightly.
Lucas squinted, and pulled out his cell phone from his back pocket. "Yeah, I wonder where he is."
"Probably kissing mommy." Jackson joked.
Lucas looked up from his phone, and starred at Jackson. "What did you just say?"
"He's probably kissing mommy. They always kiss."
Lucas felt his stomach tighten, and he pushed hard on the numbers, dialing Nathan's number. "Right..." He drawled out. "I'm going to call him. You stay here." Lucas advised, and walked toward the wooden bleachers.
Nathan was in the middle of a conference call with Clay, when he heard a beep from his phone, signalling he had another call on the other line.
"Hey Clay, I'm gonna have to call you back. My cousin is calling me." He said into his phone.
"Okay man, good luck." Clay said and hung up his phone.
"Hello?" Nathan asked as he switched called to Lucas.
"Nathan, where the hell are you?" Lucas shouted into the phone.
Nathan gulped. "Oh uh.. yeah I forgot to tell you. I'm not coming to practice today... or tomorrow... or the day after that- and the day after-"
"Okay! I get it!" Lucas mumbled. "Why the hell aren't you coming back?"
"I kind-of-sort-of-maybe- got fired." Nathan rushed out.
"I'm sorry. Did you just say you were fired?" Lucas shouted.
Nathan sighed nervously, "Yeah."
"Why? What did you do now?" Lucas asked.
Nathan scoffed, "It wasn't even my fault. Some bitch told on me for breaking some dumb rule."
"Nathan. What rule did you break?" Lucas asked as he ran a tired hand over his face.
"Uhh.. just some stupid relationship rule."
"Tell me you didn't sleep with a student. Dammit Nathan-" Lucas shouted.
"What? Ew! No. I didn't do that dumb ass."
"What? Did you sleep with a teach- oh my god." Lucas spat.
"What?" Nathan asked innocently.
"You slept with Haley didn't you?" Lucas whispered angrily into the phone.
Nathan automatically clenched his fists, and he felt anger boiling in his blood. "Are you seriously accusing me of this right now?"
"You're unbelievable. I can not believe you did that! You're even more of a Jackass than I thought. You do know she has a past right-?" Lucas shouted louder into the phone.
"First of all- you need to relax." Nathan advised.
"Relax? Are you serious? How can I relax, when you slept with my best friend?"
Nathan almost chuckled. Lucas was freaking out over something that didn't even happen, but what would he do when he found out he was dating said best friend?
"Lucas, I didn't sleep with Haley."
"Oh great. So Haley likes you, and you said you liked her, but you're sleeping with another woman. That's great Nathan." Lucas spat sarcastically. "You're a prick."
Nathan rolled his eyes, and sighed angrily. "You don't know anything Lucas! Maybe if you didn't just accuse me of being an asshole, I'd get to the real reason why I was fired." Nathan shouted into the phone.
"Fine, what happened?" Lucas asked in a calmer tone.
"Well.." Nathan gulped, "Haley and I are dating-"
Lucas's eyes widened as big as plates. "Is this a freaking joke?"
"No. I'm serious!" Nathan stated. "We're a couple now, and apparently that isn't allowed-"
Lucas was ready to explode. He took a deep breath, but it didn't help to calm him down. "I can't believe this right now. I need to go." Lucas rushed out, and quickly ended the call, leaving a dazed Nathan on the other side.
"What just happened?" Nathan asked himself.
Suddenly, he thought of Haley, and knew he had to call her and tell her that Lucas found out.
"Yeah, it was so cute. He wrote our initials on a picnic table in the courtyard." Haley gushed to Brooke. She then heard her phone ringing from her purse, and knelt down to pick it up. The image on the screen that was flashing, made her heart race. It was the picture of her, Nathan, and Jackson on the boardwalk. "It's Nathan." She announced happily.
"Hey you." Haley answered with a flirtatious tone.
Nathan was freaking out about Lucas, but instantly calmed down when he heard Haley's sweet voice. "Hi baby."
"What's up?" She asked.
Nathan sighed, "We have a small problem."
Haley grew alarmed, and the smile on her face disappeared. "What happened?"
"Lucas found out about us."
"How?" Haley asked as she bit her lip nervously.
"I had to tell him on the phone. He called and asked where I was- I'm really sorry."
Haley blew out a deep breath. "It's fine. Was he mad?"
"I don't know, he hung up on me."
"Shit." Haley muttered.
"I know. What do we do?" Nathan asked as he paced his living room.
"I think that you should come to Brooke's. I'm here right now, and I'm sure Lucas will be coming home soon. We can all talk about it."
"Okay, that sounds good. I'll be there soon." Nathan said as he put his jacket on.
"Okay, good, and everything will be okay. Just relax."
"I'll try...I love you." Nathan sighed into the phone.
Haley smiled, "I love you too babe."
"See you soon." Nathan said as he hung up the phone.
"Bye." Haley rushed out, and hung up the phone as well.
"What happened?" Brooke asked as she noticed Haley fall back into the cushions of the couch and let out a deep sigh.
"Lucas found out about me and Nathan, and he's really upset, so Nathan's coming by and we're going to tell him what happened."
Brooke nodded, "Yeah, Lucas is not going to be happy."
"Great." Haley muttered sarcastically.
"Sorry, I'm just warning you." Brooke advised.
Haley stood up and started to pace the living room. "I'm scared Brooke."
"Don't be. If he gets out of line, I'll threaten him." Brooke joked.
Haley cracked a small smile, but it quickly fell when Lucas and Jackson came barging through the door.
"So how long has it been Haley?" Lucas shouted.
Haley turned around and gulped, "Lucas, I'm sorry."
"I can't believe this!" Lucas huffed.
"Lucas, calm down." Brooke advised.
"Do you know about Nathan and Haley?" Lucas asked rudely.
"Well yeah but-"
Lucas flared his arms. 'Great!" He muttered sarcastically. "Everyone knows but me."
"Aren't you supposed to be at practice?" Brooke asked in a calm tone.
"I canceled it considering the head coach was FIRED!" Lucas bellowed.
Jackson ran up to Haley's legs and hugged her, and she softly ran her hand over his dirty blonde hair.
"Lucas, please, let me explain-" Haley pleaded.
"You know Haley, I thought you were my best friend. I can't believe you would keep this from me. I can't believe you're dating him either. I thought I would be okay with this but I'm not! You're a a liar, and you're selfish. Nathan really must've changed you. What ever happened to the old Haley?"
Haley felt the tears prickle behind her eyes, and before she could answer, Nathan walked through the doorway. "Don't talk to my girlfriend like that!" Nathan shouted, and ran over to Haley who had tears streaming down her face.
"Oh look, your knight and shining Armour is here." Lucas spat.
"Lucas!" Brooke scolded. "You need to stop this right now."
"No Brooke! You have no idea how angry I am!" Lucas shouted.
Nathan hugged Haley, and glared at his cousin, "Lucas, you really need to calm down. It's not a big deal."
"Right." Lucas drawled out. "Not a big deal." He spat. "My bestfriend lied to me about dating my cousin. I think it's a big deal."
"Lucas, please let me explain." Haley pleaded.
"No need. You knew I wouldn't be happy about your relationship, so you hid it from me. That's really selfish Haley."
"That's not it at all!" Nathan shouted.
"Shut up Nathan!"
Haley gasped, "Lucas what's wrong with you?"
"No I think you should ask yourself what's wrong with you? You know Nathan is going to break your heart, so why are you even wasting your time?"
"Luke-" Nathan intervened.
"No Nathan! You got fired because of a relationship that won't even last! Do you know what this means for you? You know about your contract! And Haley- when the public finds out about her- all hell is going to break loose!"
Nathan felt his fists tighten. "I know that, okay?" Nathan cried. "I'm sorry. I didn't want this to happen-"
"Well maybe you shouldn't have started a relationship!" Lucas accused.
Haley was full on bawling now, and Nathan hugged her tightly. "It's okay baby." Nathan whispered, and then looked up back at Lucas. "I'm sick and tired of everyone telling me about MY life. I want to be with Haley. I don't care what anyone thinks. I love her. I would do anything for her, and you know what Lucas, I don't care if you're mad at me. I was just trying to protect Haley."
Haley bit her lip to fight the tears, and she turned around and gave Nathan a sweet kiss, causing Lucas to roll his eyes.
"Love? Really Nathan? You're only fooling yourself." Lucas declared.
Haley sighed angrily, "Please stop fighting. I love Nathan, Lucas, and I'm sorry if you can;t accept that. We're in love. I never planned it to happen, but it did and I'm sorry."
Lucas exhaled deeply. "I'm sorry too. It's gonna suck when he breaks your heart- but hey, I warned you." Lucas said coolly.
"Okay, you know what?" Nathan spat. "I'm done with you treating us like this. Why can't you just be happy?"
"Because your relationship was kept a secret from me! You're turning Haley into a liar-"
Nathan couldn't take it anymore, so he let go of Haley and pinned Lucas up against a wall, drawing his fist back, and punching Lucas square in the eye.
Thoughts?