ANd we're back for another update. and this one is on time too yeahy! I hope you have all been well and that you enjoyed your long weekend last week. :)any ways here we go chapter 17.
Chapter 17
It was Lucas who saw the bright red sports car zoom past him first thing the following morning. He had been on his way to the river court to meet Nathan for a game of one on one. Taking the ear bud out of his right ear Lucas watched as the car screeched around the corner, almost coming up on two wheels. Rolling his eyes he put the ear bud back in and continued his jog to the River Court.
"Some people have more money than brains," he said as he finally arrived, he pulled the buds out and smirked at his little brother who was warming up. Nathan looked over at Lucas as he took the shot, and as usual nothing but net. He went to ask what Lucas was talking about when the red sports car that Lucas had seen drove almost entirely onto the court. The door opened and a young man stood up and grinned.
"Nate! Dude you never invited me to the house warming party. So get in loser we're going drinkin'!" Lucas looked over at Nathan who was smirking and shaking his head. Chance Xavier, he well he was a bit of a tool, Nathan couldn't deny that, he was what you got when you were raised by two people like his uncle Dan.
"You'll find that Haley was in charge of inviting people and she only invited family. Chance you know that Haley can't stand you" Lucas wasn't surprised there, Haley wasn't critical of people but well she had a short fuse for people like the guy in front of him.
The young man laughed before grabbing the ball off Lucas he lined up, shot and swoosh nothing but net. Chance noticed that Lucas was far from impressed shrugging he turned his attention back to Nathan, what his friend saw in this place he wouldn't know. But the little woman had him whipped.
"So how bout it? For old time's sake?" he asked Nathan looked at Lucas who nodded and let his little brother go. Shaking his head Lucas watched Nathan get into the car as it sped away. Pulling out his cell phone Lucas hit Haley's speed dial and smirked as he heard his sister in law yell at her son to stop what he was doing.
"Hey Luke what's up?" she asked she knew Nathan was meeting him for a game of one on one just the two of them and Jamie had been tearing around the house since.
"Uh just a heads up Hales some guy named Chance turned up and he and Nathan have gone for drinks I guess why someone would want to drink at nine on a Saturday morning is beyond me." Lucas heard her swear and he guessed that Nathan was right Haley didn't like this guy very much at all after a quick goodbye he hung up and decided it was too a nice a morning to waste so he decided to shoot hoops by himself.
Haley looked over at her mother and Erin who had been talking, Lydia unlike Karen embraced Erin she was a source of information about the young family one that she didn't have to go all over the country to find. Both women were looking at her strangely. It wasn't like Haley to swear often at all both women knew that.
"That was Luke, it seems Chance has found Nathan" she said Erin groaned Chance Xavier was a pain in the ass. He had been in the same class as Nathan and Haley back at Stanford and he had been on the same team as Nathan. Chance wasn't the brightest person in the world. He got into Stanford purely because his whole family had attended and his parents had bought his place, both in the school and on the team. Nathan was about the only person Erin knew who could stand him. He said that the obnoxiousness was just a facade but he was about the only person who thought that. To everyone else including Nathan's own wife; he was a spoilt little rich kid who got everything.
"How did he even find you?" Erin asked as far as she knew Nathan hadn't seen or heard from Chance in almost three years. Back then Chance played a big part in Dan's sick and twisted idea of a game. He had almost cost Nathan and Haley, Jamie it was Dan's plan for the young couple to have their young son taken away from them by child protective services. Erin had been the only reason Jamie had been raised by his parents. She had stepped up to bat for them proving as an invaluable character witness for both of them. The case had been thrown out of court before Dan had even arrived in California, it was then that a target had been placed on Erin's back and she became a pawn in Dan Scott's sick and twisted game.
"Chance is a freaking bloodhound when it comes to Nathan. Last time he found us Nathan kicked him out, he was still pissed off that Chance had helped Dan. Which is why I want to know why my husband has taken off with him" said Haley biting her lip and thinking about why Nathan would willingly go with the irritating young man.
Nathan looked over at his so called friend; he hadn't forgotten what Chance had done, thanks to him, Nathan and Haley had almost lost Jamie. The stupid twit beside him had never understood back then why Nathan had been so mad at him, and he probably thought Nathan had gotten over it but that wasn't something you got over.
Sure he made it seem like it was all water under the bridge, but really he was only setting up his "friend" for a fall. The only place in town to drink was Tric. A place his mother co-owned with her best friend.
Deb took care of the day to day running of Tric, his mother was more a silent partner in whole thing. She owned the building, Tric and everything about it was Deb's baby. However after her little performance yesterday, Nathan knew his mother would want someone to vent to about Erin someone who hadn't met her, so that they wouldn't give her, the be reasonable, chat that everyone else was going to give her. Nathan also knew, from his sister mainly, that what she was like yesterday, used to be her good days, back when she was three different types of meds just to balance out her moods. It gave him an idea of what she had been like and it gave him another thing to hate his uncle for. He was always telling Jamie that hate was a bad word to use when you feelings about someone. But he absolutely loathed his uncle and what Dan had done not only to himself and Haley but, what had happened to those who they had left behind. He finally looked over at Chance again, and had to resist the urge to roll his eyes.
"Where's a good place to drink in this dinky little town. I gotta say I don't see you as a 'little town' kinda guy, dude" said Chance if he had looked over at his friend he would have seen Nathan succumb to urge he had before and roll his eyes. No matter how many times he had been told Chance always conveniently forgot that Nathan and Haley grew up in Tree Hill and that they always wanted to come back here.
"Turn here" said Nathan it was the first thing he had said since answering Chance's question at the River Court. Chance sighed and turned the corner, he grinned as he saw the sign for Tric come up in front of him.
"Ok, no way seriously? The Tric, dude I've heard stories about this place. The owners are hot, a friend of mine says the dark haired one is feisty" Chance looked over at Nathan who thumped him in the arm.
"That's my mum you dick head, come on let's get this over with, the less time I spend with you the less time I spend in the dog house with Hales" Nathan got out of the car slamming the door and heading over to the stairs. Chance ran up behind him and grinned when Nathan opened the door. He had a few friends who had played this place and they all seemed to like it. Walking in he looked around, yeah he could see why Nathan moved the little woman here, although he'd never call Haley that to Nathan's face he'd likely thump his face like the time he cracked onto Haley back in their freshman year in college.
-Flashback-
It was the end of the first training session, Chance Xavier walked out of the dressing room and saw a young woman sitting on the bleachers near him. She had a book resting on her lap as she chewed on the end of a pen.
"God loves me," he said looking up at the ceiling before walking over. He came up beside her and sat down, too wrapped up in actually getting in her pants he didn't notice the wedding band or the toddler sitting next to her playing with a small basketball.
"Hey honey if you were a booger I'd pick you first," he grinned and cocked an eyebrow as she looked up.
"You really expected that to work? My 18 month old could do better then that and all he can say is ball. For another my husband happens to be standing behind you" Chance laughed he'd heard a few things for girls to get rid of him but a kid and a husband at 18 yeah right.
"Nice try baby, but really is your dad a fire fighter? Cos really baby your on fire" he didn't see fist before it was too late and had connected with his jaw. Looking up after everything stopped spinning he saw the chick he was trying to hit on standing in the arms of one of his team mates. Nathan if he remembered correctly, he also noticed a kid in her arms so she wasn't lying about that.
"Hey fare game dude I was here first!" Chance got up and noticed the fowl look on Nathan's face. Yeah he hadn't seen that look in a while, it had been the last time he'd hit on someone in a bar, how was he to know she was seeing someone, but geez that chick's girlfriend could hit hard.
"Hey dude, stop hitting on my wife." said Nathan Chance watched as she rested her head on Nathan's chest and stroke the little boys head. Holding up his hands Chance walked away.
Dam why is it all the smart hot ones are taken? He thought.
Nathan walked over to the bar where his mother and her friend were talking.
"You're not still going on about Erin are you? Mum you have an amazing opportunity here. Erin has had insight into our lives like no one else, she is the only person who knows everything, has been there for everything the only things she wasn't there for was that first year and a half apart from that she has been in our lives ever since. If there is one person who can give you a different perspective on our lives Erin is it. Lydia jumped at the chance, why won't you? Speaking of chance, this is a college buddy of mine. Chance Xavier" said Nathan, Chance stepped forward and smiled his mega watt smile if he knew that Nathan was using him as a way for his mother to finally accept Erin he probably would have thought twice about coming inside but, Chance didn't pick up on things like that, until it was too late.
"Nice to meet you Chance, what a strange name, sorry I don't mean to offend you I just you don't hear names like that around here much" said Karen, Chance was too busy checking both women out to even actually care what they were saying Nathan noticing this rolled his eyes once again, it was something that came with being around him. Nathan was gonna let the guy have a drink first but the last time he'd seen Chance eye someone off like that had been Haley.
"Chance that's my mum stop it" he said when Karen waved Nathan off as if to say the young man in front of her was harmless Nathan took that as his in.
"So you're willing to let a total dumbass ogle over you, a dumbass who almost got your grandson taken away from his parents, but Erin who is really the only reason Haley and I got to keep Jamie you have a problem with? Ok mum that makes total sense" said Nathan shaking his head and walking towards the door. He looked up as Peyton walked in; she smiled at her brother in law till she noticed the young man behind Nathan and how his jaw dropped. He looked like one of those pathetic guys she had seen in LA, guys that drooled over anything that had a heart beat.
"Baby if I could rearrange the alphabet I would put you between F. C. and K" he said completely ignoring Karen and Deb now that a younger woman had walked in. Peyton had to hold back a laugh she had heard some pretty bad pick up lines but wow, and from the look on Nathan's face this guy was full of them.
"Friend of yours Nate?" she asked laughing as Nathan gave her a look that said he used to be. Pushing past Chance she walked towards her office that sat on the other side of Tric behind a massive door that said Red Bedroom Records. Chance looked over at Nathan and grinned.
"She was hot!" shaking his head, Nathan knew Chance was never going to change, he would chase after anything in a skirt well anything with breasts really. Because it was a well known fact that Chance Xavier hit on women where ever he went, it didn't matter if they were married, straight, gay or bi if they were of the opposite sex they were fare game according to Chance.
"Ok first of all why do you constantly have to hit on every female you see? Really are you that desperate? Secondly Peyton is married, to my big brother so now you've hit most of the women in my family. My wife, mother and one of my sister's in law. And no I will not introduce you to the others. Two don't live in town, one does and she lives with her boyfriend. It's really time you stopped looking in the Scott family for a girlfriend Chance you're not gonna find one." Chance looked over at his friend; out of the two of them Nathan had changed the most. Sure he'd always been the more responsible one if you could call having a kid and getting married at 17 responsible. But this, this was a Nathan he didn't know and kind of didn't like. They were young men they should be out having fun. But no Nathan had settled down he had a wife, and a five year old and he was only twenty three.
"You've changed man you're no fun anymore, you used to do crazy shit as well" said Chance and it was true when Nathan could get rid of the old ball and chain they had, had some fun back at Stanford.
"It's called growing up, Chance try it sometime. I swear my little sister acts older then you sometimes" when Nathan saw the look on Chances face he sighed.
"Dude she's eleven! As for the "Fun Stuff" yeah I still have fun, I was hanging out with my brother till you decided to turn up. You really thought you could help my twisted uncle in his sick game and I'd still be friends with you. You almost cost me my son Chance, Haley and Jamie are everything to me and you thought it would be ok to try and get Jamie taken off us? Dan has been a constant thorn in my side, you know this you were there when I tried to beat the crap out of him and you still went along with his stupid game!" Chance stepped backwards he knew that look all too well and knew that coming from Nathan it was never a good thing. If there was one thing that Chance knew it was that Nathan was extremely protective of his family. He would do anything for them, sure he had learnt that the hard way but he still knew that.
"Hey Nate chillax man the rugrats still with you, no need to go mental" as soon as he said it he knew it was the wrong thing to say the look on Nathan's face said it all he was a dead man. How and why did he get himself into these things? He really had to learn to think about what he was saying before he said anything; his father had been telling him this for years. Why was it that he was now just starting to listen? Oh yeah the red faced guy in front of him was probably a good start. He looked around for an escape route when he saw, Nathan's mother coming over, she didn't look to happy either.
"The only reason Haley and I got to keep Jamie was because of Erin. She was a character witness for the both of us. She made sure that the judge knew that it was my uncle who set that up, that it was all just a way for him to mess with our lives and that we were good parents. She proved to them that Jamie was safe, that he had a roof over his head, a clean bed to sleep in, food to eat and parents who would do anything for him. When he bought up the fact that we were both studying she made a point of telling him that we were studying to better our future and the future of our son. Your lazy ass didn't even get there till half way through and you were hung over at the time, which I never thanked you for. As you were a witness for Dan and not us the judge took one look at you and laughed then threw the case out, if you think I was mental. You have seen nothing yet" Nathan point to Karen who had originally come over to see what the two men were talking about, Nathan had piqued her interest when he said 'Dude she's eleven.' Now having heard what her son had to go through to keep his own son she wanted this Chance's head on a platter if she couldn't get Dan right now she wanted this guy.
Chance looked over at Nathan with a freaked out look on his face, Nathan's mother was one scary lady but upon noticing the look on his friends face he knew that was a lost cause. Nathan hadn't forgiven him and this had all been a set up.
"So this is Tree Hill huh? The place you and Haley love so much, well you can keep it I'm outta here. Have fun with your little woman Nate hope she cheats on you with some other douche" said Chance and not for the second time in his life and probably not the last Chance Xavier found himself laying flat on the floor. Although this time it hadn't been Nathan who had flattened him. To his complete and utter shock, Nathan was holding back his mother. Wow she's got one heck of a punch Chance thought before getting up and running for the door. He wasn't gonna stick around in a town where everyone hated him. Dan Scott might have had the balls to do that but there was no way in hell that Chance was sticking around, getting to his car he jumped in and sped off leaving only flying dust and dirt in his wake.