This chapter starts out as a flashback on the second night of the vacation. Nathan and Haley aren't together yet, I know it can be confusing, so I hope that clears things up a bit. Also, the flashback that Haley has is the one when she and Nathan sneak off, (discussed in the first flashback) So even though it's the second flashback it really takes place before the first one. Sorry, it's confusing but I hope you like it. Sorry for the long wait. Enjoy!
"Where the hell have you been?" Lucas asked as he looked up from his book as his cousin came walking through the door.
"Oh, I was um, out with a friend." Nathan replied quickly.
Lucas laughed, and placed his book down on the table next to the couch. "Does this friend have a name?"
"Nope." Nathan replied as he walked into the small kitchen, trying to avoid Lucas's questions. Lucas however, wanted to know why his cousin didn't get home until 1 am, and followed Nathan into the kitchen where Nathan was standing in front of the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water.
"So I'm guessing you met someone new?" Lucas asked from the doorway.
Nathan looked over at Lucas, and rolled his eyes. "Why do you care?"
"Because you were complaining the entire way here, and now you're all happy. What's up dude?"
Nathan shrugged and took a sip of water, "Nothing, I just got to know someone that will make this vacation a lot less sucky."
Lucas smirked, "That's good to hear." He had an idea of who the person was but he didn't want to come right out and say it because he knew Nathan would get all defensive. "So where were you though?"
Earlier in the night, Lucas, Brooke, Peyton, Nathan, Haley, and Jake all went to a party on the beach a few miles from their beach houses, and at one point Nathan had split off from the group and disappeared.
"I went for a walk along the beach, and I got lost." Nathan explained.
"Yeah, but who were you with?" Lucas pressed.
Nathan let out a long sigh. "The girl I met."
"So she's a girl?" Lucas smiled.
Nathan rolled his eyes, "Yeah she's a girl."
"So why didn't you bring her back and have one of your one night stands?" Lucas joked.
"Because she's not like that." Nathan shrugged.
"Either that or she's ugly." Lucas laughed.
Nathan smiled, "No, she's definitely not ugly. She's actually really pretty."
"So do you like her?" Lucas asked.
Nathan tried his hardest not to smile, "I think I do. She's really great. We talked for hours, and I got to know her."
"That's cool, so are you going to see her again?" Lucas asked intrigued.
"I hope so." Nathan smiled.
"You should ask her out." Lucas advised.
Nathan almost chuckled, "Yeah, I might."
"So when can we meet her?"
"Um... I don't know." Nathan lied.
Lucas laughed, "You're so weird."
"Whatever." Nathan smirked as he walked out of the kitchen and back in the living room, with Lucas hot on his heels.
"So have you seen Haley tonight?"
Nathan stopped dead in his tracks, and his face turned white. "Uh, no." Nathan cleared his throat. "I haven't seen her." Nathan lied again.
"Oh okay, because she left right around the time you did." Lucas explained.
Nathan bit the inside of his cheek, and gulped. "That's weird. Maybe she was with Jake and Peyton?"
Lucas nodded, "Yeah, probably. Brooke and I should have stayed with her more but we kind of got wrapped up in our own little world." He said shyly.
"Um ew. I didn't need to know that!" Nathan said covering his ears.
Lucas laughed but stopped when he heard his cell phone ringing in his back pocket. "Oh it's Brooke, hold on." Lucas excused himself.
"Hello?" He answered.
"Hey Broody, I just wanted to let you know that Haley just came home."
Lucas furrowed his eye brows together. "That's weird. Nathan just came home too." He whispered into the earpiece so Nathan couldn't hear him.
"Do you think..." Brooke started.
"I don't know. Maybe. Try to figure it out what you can. Nathan just told me he went for a walk and got lost."
"Okay, I'll ask Haley about it, and I'll text you." Brooke whispered.
"Okay good thanks. I love you pretty girl."
"Love you too, bye."
"Bye." Lucas said and quickly hung up the phone.
Brooke hung up the phone with Lucas and starred at Haley.
"What?" Haley asked self consciously.
"Who were you with?" Brooke asked.
Haley bit her lip, "I.. um... met someone."
"Oh my god!" Brooke shrieked. "A guy?"
Haley blushed, "Yeah."
"So what happened?"
Haley shrugged, "I went to get a drink, and I turned around and my drink spilled all over him-"
"Was he hot?" Brooke asked eagerly.
Haley giggled, "Insanely hot."
Brooke clapped, "Okay, go on."
"So I apologized and he was really sweet about it, and he bought me a new drink. Then we went on a really long walk, but we got lost-"
Brooke smirked. She knew it. "Oh really? You got lost?"
Haley furrowed her brows, "Yeah, why?"
"Oh just wanted to make sure I heard you right." She smirked and quickly pulled out her cell phone to shoot Lucas a quick text.
"She said she got lost too... Hmm..."
Haley laughed at Brooke. "Okay, so yeah, we got lost, and I got to know him and he's really sweet."
"Hmm I see. What's his name?" Brooke asked as she read the newest text message from Lucas: "Seems suspicious. They were definitely together..."
Haley gulped, "His- his name?" She stuttered.
Brooke laughed, "Yeah. You know his name right?"
"Right um yeah. I'm going to tell you but please don't freak out." Haley pleaded.
Brooke rolled her eyes playfully. "Oh don't worry I won't. I already know it's Nathan."
Haley's jaw dropped open, and her eyes widened. "How did you- how? What?"
"Oh hunny, I know everything." Brooke smirked.
Haley blushed, and bit her lip. "I-I-I..." She stuttered.
"Don't worry. I called it. I think you guys would be cute together."
Haley blushed, "Really?"
"Yeah. So did he kiss you or anything?" Brooke asked.
"No." Haley blushed, 'We just talked. It was really nice. He's so funny and really sweet."
"Are you sure we're talking about Nathan Scott?" Brooke joked.
Haley rolled her eyes, "Yeah, I don't know what you're talking about. Nathan's really sweet."
"He is. So do you like him?" Brooke asked.
Haley bit harder on her lip, "I don't know, I mean he's cute, actually more like hottest guy I've ever seen,- he's funny, compassionate-"
"So what's not to like?" Brooke asked.
Haley shrugged, "I guess I just don't want to start a relationship. I'm afraid of falling hard, because I know I will. We're going to different colleges. Long distance would never even work-"
"So then why can't you have just a summer fling?" Brooke asked.
"It starts off as a fling, but then someone- most likely me- will fall in love, and then I'd get my heart broken. No thanks." Haley stated.
"But you like him right?" Brooke asked.
"Yeah I do, but I'd be fine just hanging out with him, and occasionally flirting." Haley chuckled.
Brooke laughed, "I think you should just go for it. Take a risk, Hales. I think it'll be worth it. I mean think about it: You being Nathan Scott's girlfriend. Even if it's for a little while."
Haley blushed, but smiled widely, "You're right. I guess we'll see what happens. I mean he never even asked me out."
"...Yet." Brooke smirked.
Haley giggled, "I don't want to get my hopes up. He probably won't."
"Why would you think that?"
Haley shrugged, "I don't know. He doesn't seem like the relationship kind." She said sadly.
Brooke frowned, "it's okay, I'm sure everything will work out!"
Haley smiled, "Yeah. Right now it's just fun getting to know him."
Brooke smiled coyly and texted Lucas one last time,
Lucas and Nathan were watching an old NBA game, when suddenly Lucas felt his phone vibrate. He smiled when he read it, "She just admitted it was Nathan. BOOYAH!"
"What are you smiling about?" Nathan asked suspiciously from his end of the couch.
Lucas smiled, "Brooke just texted me."
"You guys are sick." Nathan said in disgust.
"Actually it's about Haley."
Nathan felt his heart start to beat faster. "What about her?" He asked trying to hide his eagerness.
"Apparently she met some guy tonight." Lucas smirked.
Nathan gulped, "Oh, really?" He asked trying to be covert.
Lucas nodded, "Yep."
"What did the text say?" Nathan asked with wide eyes.
Lucas laughed, "Why do you care so much?"
"I don't!" Nathan snapped.
"Calm down, I was joking." Lucas defended himself.
"Oh." Nathan shrugged.
"Yeah so apparently Haley really likes this guy." Lucas smiled.
Nathan felt his heart rate speed up. "Really?" He asked a little too happily.
Lucas squinted his eyes, "Yeah. I thought you'd be jealous. It seemed like you had a thing for her at the beach yesterday."
Nathan gulped, "Oh no, I'm happy for her. She deserves a good guy to treat her right,"
"Yeah well I heard the guy was an ass." Lucas tested.
Nathan's eyes widened. "What? Who told you that?"
Lucas bit his tongue to try and keep himself from laughing. "Because I know him."
Nathan became confused. Haley was with him the entire night. Who was the guy she liked? Was she with someone before him?
"Well who is he?" Nathan asked.
Lucas snickered, "You should know."
"What?"
"It's you, idiot!"
Nathan was baffled, "What?" He choked out.
Lucas playfully rolled his eyes, "I know you were with her Nate, you don't need to lie."
"I swear, we were just hanging out! We didn't even do anything!" Nathan quickly defended.
Lucas smiled, "Hey, it's cool, you don't have to lie. Why didn't you just tell me it was Haley in the first place?"
Nathan felt his cheeks get warm. Was he actually blushing? Nathan Scott does not blush. "I don't know." He shrugged, "I guess I was worried you'd be mad or something."
"Mad? Nah I'm not mad. But don't make me mad." Lucas joked.
"What do you mean?"
"Don't screw with Hales, she's my best friend." Lucas warned.
Nathan smiled, "I know. I would never do anything to hurt her."
"Good. I'm happy for you. Haley's a great girl." Lucas smiled.
Nathan nodded, "She is."
"So you agreed to be friends?" Lucas asked his cousin who was sitting opposite from him at Karen's Cafe.
Nathan nodded and took a bite of his sandwich. "Yeah, it was so weird. She just came to my hotel room and asked to be friends. I thought she hated me!"
Lucas laughed, "I doubt she ever hated you man."
Nathan shrugged. "When I saw bumped into her at the food store, she definitely looked like she hated me. Plus, Brooke told me how she thought I had a girlfriend the first year at Duke."
"Why would she think that?" Lucas asked.
"She was there that night."
"What, are you serious?" Lucas cried as he almost choked on his water.
"Yeah, I didn't even know! My friends from high school also were there that night, and one one them happened to be a girl, and Haley must have seen her hugging me and so she left."
"Wow that sucks!" Lucas blew out.
"I know. I feel horrible now. I kept thinking about it last night. What if I saw her, you know? What if she told me she loved me? Do you think we could've worked it out? Maybe we would still be together!" Nathan marveled.
Lucas sighed, "I don't know. You can't think about the 'What if's' though, it's done, so don't even think about it anymore. You can't change anything."
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
"So what are you going to do?" Lucas asked.
"Well I know what I want to do, but I also know what I have to do." Nathan replied.
"And what's that?"
Nathan took a deep breath and looked at his cousin. "I want to be more than friends, but I know that I have to pretend to be friends until the wedding, then I'm heading back to Charlotte to start a new chapter in my life."
"Wow." Lucas said surprised. "What do you mean by a new chapter?"
"I want to settle down. I want to meet 'the one', I'm tired of random hook ups."
Lucas smiled, "I never thought I'd see the day. Are you serious? Like you actually believe in 'the one'?"
Nathan shrugged, "I guess so. I mean, I'd never actually tell anyone that. You know it's all a part of my bad boy image, but I'm getting tired of that."
"I'm really proud of you, but are you sure you want to give up on Haley?"
Nathan nodded, "I don't want to, but I need to. I think I need to find someone like her."
Lucas snickered, 'Good luck with that."
Nathan rolled his eyes, '"Yeah, I know. Haley's one of a kind, but I don't think I'd be happy with just anyone. I know what I want, and I want someone like her."
"Someone like her, or actually her?" Lucas countered.
Nathan took a deep breath. "I don't know, but I do know that I won't be able to ever love someone as much as I loved Haley."
"Loved?" Lucas joked.
Nathan rolled his eyes, "You're a pain in my ass."
"Whatever, so Brooke wanted me to ask you if you can come for dinner tomorrow night?" Lucas asked.
Nathan nodded, "Okay, that sounds good."
"I'm going to get a drink, I'm really thirsty." Haley excused herself from the small group, and walked toward the beach bar. The truth was, she was starting to feel like the fifth wheel. Peyton and Jake were playing volleyball together, and Brooke and Lucas were making out the entire night. Nathan said he was going to the bathroom, but he left twenty minutes ago, and never came back. He probably went back to his room, which Haley was tempted to do because the party completely sucked. The people who worked at the beach were throwing a huge Start of Summer Barbecue, but it was completely lame. Haley and her friends were the only teenagers there. Mostly there were a bunch of elderly people, or families with little kids. The oldest kids were about 15 and there was no way they would hang out with them.
Haley took a deep breath, and ordered herself a glass of punch. Considering this was a family place, and there were hardly any teenagers, she knew it probably wasn't spiked. As soon as she turned around, she collided with a muscular body, and spilled her drink all over the guy's white collared shirt.
"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" Haley cried. "I'm such a klutz!"
Nathan was about to scream at whoever spilled a red drink all over his new white shirt, but instantly calmed down when he saw who it was. He became a loss for words when he looked into her beautiful brown eyes.
Haley looked up and felt her heart about to leap through her chest. She looked into a familiar pair of crystal blues eyes, and her stomach danced with butterflies. "N-Nathan." She stuttered.
Nathan smirked, "Hi Haley."
"I'm sorry I spilled my drink on you. Do you hate me now?" Haley asked with a small pout forming on her lips.
Nathan chuckled, "Nah, it's okay. You're actually my new best friend, because now you gave me an excuse to ditch this snooze fest." He joked.
Haley giggled, "Yeah, it is pretty boring. Brooke and Lucas were just sucking each other's face off, so I went to get a drink and now I spilled this, and I'm rambling, and I'm so sorry!"
Nathan laughed. She was truly adorable. "It's cool. I should have remembered I can't trust you around drinks." Nathan joked referring to when they were at the beach yesterday and he tossed her a can of lemonade, but she dropped it. "Seriously though, I'm sorry for bumping into you. Do you want another drink? I can buy it for you." Nathan said seriously.
"Oh no it's okay." Haley declined sweetly. "Thanks though."
"No seriously, I can get you a new drink. I want to."
Haley bit her lip, "If you want to, then okay."
"What were you drinking?" Nathan asked.
"Punch."
Nathan snickered, "You're cute."
Haley felt her cheeks burn with fire.
"I mean, uh, it's cute how you got fruit punch. Are you sure you don't want like a beer or something? I can use my fake ID." Nathan clarified.
Haley laughed, "No thanks, I don't drink."
Nathan shrugged, "Okay." If anyone else said that, he would have looked at them like they were crazy, but considering it was Haley, it made him like her more. She didn't drink to 'fit in' and she didn't do things to please anyone. It was a different quality he was used to seeing, but he really liked it.
Nathan bought her another punch and handed it to her carefully.
"Thank you so much." Haley smiled.
"No problem." Nathan smiled back. "So do you want to get out of here?"
Haley laughed lightly, "Yeah, where were you going?"
Nathan shrugged, "I was going to go back to my room, but it's a nice night, so we should go for a walk." He suggested.
"Okay." Haley agreed, and followed Nathan as he led her to the edge of the water.
"So thanks for ditching the party with me." Nathan smiled as they descended further away from the barbecue.
Haley giggled, "Oh it's fine. You're a lot more fun to hang out with."
Nathan smiled genuinely. "I can say the same about you."
Haley blushed lightly, "So how are you and Lucas related, and why have I never met you before this vacation?"
"Our dads are brothers, and when Luke and I were little we used to pretend we were brothers."
Haley smiled, "That's cute."
Nathan laughed, "Well yeah, I'm clearly the cuter cousin."
Haley giggled girlishly, "I'm going to have to agree with you on that."
Nathan smirked, "Thanks." He felt a rush of pride run through his veins. Hundreds of girls told him he was hot, but none of them were ever Haley James. "So are those guys from yesterday still bothering you?" Nathan asked. "Because I can beat them up for you if you want."
Haley smiled, and her heart swelled in her chest. "I haven't seen them thank god, but if they bother me I'll let you know."
"Okay good. That one guy was so creepy. He had no right to touch you like that!"
Haley laughed, "I know, and he saw you near me, I'm surprised he didn't assume we were dating!"
"Yeah, what if I was your boyfriend? Either way, he shouldn't have done it." Nathan said angrily.
"Well thanks for sticking up for me." Haley said sweetly.
"Sure, no problem."
"So what made you come here for the summer?" Haley asked.
Nathan shrugged, "Well Lucas and I originally planned on going to Miami, but I guess since you and Brooke asked him to come here, he decided to drag me along." He smirked.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I know you probably would have enjoyed Miami a lot better, but I love it here. I usually go with my family for a week every summer, but Brooke and I decided to spend the entire summer out here, and obviously she had to bring Luke,"
Nathan smiled, "It's okay, I'm starting to like it here too."
Haley blushed slightly. "That's good."
"So where is your family?" Nathan asked. "Lucas said something about your parents staying in your beach house?"
"Oh yeah, they'll probably come up in July for a week or two. Luckily they let us rent out the house. I know now why they did. There aren't any fun parties or kids are age for miles." Haley joked. "And I'm sorry we all couldn't share one house, but my parents would have freaked out, and plus there isn't enough space."
"It's okay, I understand. If I ever have a daughter I'm going to be very protective of her." Nathan said seriously.
"Really?" Haley asked in a high voice.
"Yeah. Guys can be real ass holes. I wouldn't want my daughter to be treated badly."
Haley's heart melted, "Do you want kids?"
Nathan shrugged, "I don't know. I've never really thought about it. The only kids I've ever really known is Lucas's little sister, Lilly. She's practically my little sister. I love her more than anything."
Haley giggled, '" feel bad for her. Between you and Lucas, she's never going to have a boyfriend."
"Good, I hope it stays that way." Nathan said smugly, causing Haley to laugh. "So what about you? You want to be a teacher, so I'm assuming you like kids?" Nathan asked.
Haley smiled at the fact he remembered their conversation from yesterday and that she wanted to be a teacher.
"Yeah I do love kids. I used to babysit a lot, and in high school I was a tutor, hence the name tutor girl, and I just love teaching people and seeing their face when they finally understand something." Haley gushed.
Nathan watched her face as the moonlight reflected off of it, and he smiled. She had such a passion for what she was speaking about, and he really admired her for it.
"I bet you're going to be a great teacher one day." He said sincerely.
Haley smiled, "Thank you."
"I wish you could have tutored me. I was so dumb."
Haley looked at Nathan and frowned. "You're not dumb Nathan."
Nathan shrugged, "I was a C student, and I never applied myself. I needed someone like you to keep me in line." He smirked.
Haley giggled, "Yeah well I was a loser in high school so I bet you wouldn't have talked to me if we weren't on vacation together." Haley said sadly.
Nathan stopped walking and grabbed Haley's hand, both of them felt a tingling sensation shooting through their arms, but chose to ignore it. "Haley, of course I would have talked to you. In fact, I wish we could have met sooner. I'm jealous Lucas got to know you his whole life. You're really fun to hang out with, and I'm glad we met." He said kindly.
Haley felt her heart about to jump through her chest, and she felt giddy inside. "I'm glad we met too." She said in a whisper.
Nathan smiled and pulled her in for a hug. They stood there wrapped in each other's arms until they heard a whistle from a security guard.
"You're not supposed to me here. It's private property, so you two need to break up this little love fest and move somewhere else." The guard explained.
Haley blushed and Nathan cleared his throat. "Really where's the sign that says it?" He countered.
Haley bit her lip, "Nathan!" She scolded lightly. "Let's just go. Sorry sir, have a good night." Haley rushed out, and ran away from him.
Nathan laughed and chased after Haley. "Hey, wait up!" He called.
"Nathan we could have been arrested!" Haley said in a short breath.
Nathan rolled his eyes, "Haley it's fine. You need to live on the edge."
Haley smiled softly, "That guy was scary."
Nathan chuckled, "Tell me about it."
"Where are we anyway?" She asked.
"I have no clue." Nathan replied with a humorous tone.
"Nathan Scott, you're going to be the death of me." Haley joked and lightly punched his arm.
"So why did you just randomly decide to be friends?" Brooke asked.
Haley shrugged, "I don't know. I'm tired of holding a grudge, I guess. I didn't want any tension at the wedding either." She explained.
Brooke nodded, "So do you think it's actually going to work?"
"What?"
"The friendship thing." Brooke elaborated.
"I hope so."
"It's Nathan though. You actually think you can just be friends with him?" Brooke countered.
Haley bit her lip, "I'm going to try."
"So you want him back in your life?"
"Just for now. He's going back to Charlotte though, so nothing can happen."
Brooke laughed, 'Funny. You said that when you were 18, but it happened anyway."
Haley frowned, "I know, and look where we ended up."
Brooke sighed, "Okay, well listen. We'll talk later, I need to go, but do you want to come to dinner tomorrow night?" She asked.
"Okay sounds good." Haley agreed, not knowing that Nathan would be there too.
Thoughts?