A/N: Thank you for the kind reviews! I'm glad to be back and I'm happy to hear from readers old and new. Thank you for sticking with this story. Now, onto the next chapter! I am working to build out some longer chapters after this one. Hope you enjoy.
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Chapter 18: A Tree Hill Raven always knows, when life gives you lemons, put a cherry on top.
"I wonder what it's going to be like down there," Rachel says from the bathroom, applying a final layer of lipstick. She blots, thinking.
Nathan sits on the end of the bed, tying a knot in his high-top converse. Freshly shaven, now-dressed in an open button-down, he'd been wondering the same thing, but more like who was going to be down there.
"Nathan?" Rachel repeats, peaking her head in the doorway to find him staring at his shoelaces.
Nathan snaps back to action, robotically tying his shoes. "I'm sure drunk and disorderly."
"Well, we'll be there," Rachel laughs. Going back to her final make-up touches.
"About that, I'm really tired. I don't know how much I'll drink tonight."
"Yeah, right," he hears Rachel retort.
"I'm serious, do whatever you want. I'll be nursing a beer," Nathan says, getting up to button his shirt in front of the mirror. He eyes himself, god, he looked a lot different than the last time he was in Tree Hill. He'd always been tall, but he finally got NBA height with a solid 6'4" in college; his shoulders were now broad, his arms extra-muscular, and his abs, he was happy to say, next level.
He runs his hands through his hair, styling. He looks decent, but tired. Not from a lack of sleep, more perpetually exhausted with no rest in sight. There was always something.
Rachel rushes out of the bathroom, grabbing her purse, "You ready?"
Nathan straightens up, grabbing his wallet, "I guess I am."
"Great," Rachel chirps, leaning up to kiss him on the cheek. "They're going to eat you up."
Nathan gives Rachel a look, stop.
"Tree Hill Prep's most eligible bachelor," she quips. "Kind of."
"Rachel," Nathan cuts in.
"Look, I get it," Rachel sighs, grabbing the door handle. "We're not really a thing. We just do things. It's convenient."
"Yup," Nathan agrees.
"But does everyone need to know that?"
….
Haley stands at the bar, ordering another drink. It was her third in an hour, not that she was counting, not that she was worried, and not that she was drinking for confidence. Not at all. No, she was having a blast, by herself, at her high school reunion.
The bartender hands her a drink, and she takes it to her little corner table, keeping a lookout for Jake. He'd always had her back, ever since they bonded at Thanksgiving many moons ago. They didn't talk a lot, she hadn't seen him in years until today, but he was someone who always picked up where they left off. Thankfully for her, Jake was one of the only people she'd left on a good note.
We all have our secrets, he'd said with a shrug, giving her a hug. And he left it at that. The rest of the gang? Well, she wasn't so lucky.
Haley fiddles with her straw, playing with the cherries at the bottom of her whiskey sour. Even as an adult, she couldn't resist asking the bartender for a million cherries, a trait she never even knew she had before Nathan. God, this place really was memory lane…
...
10 Years Ago – August
She couldn't believe it was already here, senior year. And yet, here she was, at a bonfire in the woods just outside school grounds, cheers-ing to her final days with her best friends, in the best place that ever happened to her.
Haley leans back against Nathan on a log, he wraps his arms around her tighter. He'd been doing that ever since she got in from California. They'd never been apart that long, and it turns out, Nathan Scott is a big ol' teddy bear.
"When's Lucas getting here with the booze?" Brooke whines, plopping herself down next to the snuggly-couple. "Mama's thirsty."
Haley laughs as Nathan shakes his head, "Brooke, we all left at the same time. He just had to swing by the canoes to grab the vodka."
"Well Captain," Brooke chides, "Looks like you may need to add some suicides at practice, because your boys are slow as hell."
"Oh I'm slow as hell?" Lucas accuses from behind.
"Not at all Broody," Brooke coos, skipping over to meet him.
"Mhm," he smirks, amused. "Where's Peyton and Jake? They were grabbing mixers."
"Probably rounding second base," Nathan jokes. Haley swats him.
"Nathan!"
"What, have you seen those two since we got here?"
"Yeah, they look a lot like you two," Lucas grumbles. "Gross!"
"I think it's sweet," Brooke says, unscrewing the cap of the vodka bottle. "But it is time to get the party started."
"You're gonna drink it straight?" Haley questions.
"Lucas will be my chaser," Brooke winks, Haley laughs. Brooke will always be Brooke.
"Hales can be mine," Nathan states, burying his nose in her hair. Haley giggles at the contact.
"Well, no offense hotshot," Haley jokes, "but I'm going for cherries."
Haley reaches into her jacket pocket, pulling out a wrapped-up napkin, she unfolds it to reveal a pile of maraschino cherries.
"It was sundae night," she says sheepishly. "I couldn't resist."
"Your sweet-tooth is next level," Brooke laughs.
"I've been obsessed with these things since I was a kid," Haley laughs. "Every time I got a Shirley Temple, I'd somehow end up with half a jar of in my drink."
"You're so weird," Nathan says, standing up from the log.
"Oh yeah?" Haley says, lifting herself to stand on the log, her face eye-level with Nathan. "Well, did I ever tell you I learned how to tie a stem with my tongue?"
Nathan gulps, this girl was going to be the death of him. He shakes his head 'no'.
"Sure did," she says, placing a small peck on his lips, before hopping off the log. "Now, are we doing this or not?"
Brooke jumps up onto a huge tree stump, whistling to the crowd below her, the party turns, all eyes on Brooke. She raises the vodka bottle into the air with triumph, looking like the Statue of Liberty.
"Speech, speech, speech!" Haley, Nathan, and Lucas chant, the rest of the group joins.
"All right, all right," Brooke shouts. "As Student Body President of Tree Hill Prep, I now commence senior year! Some of us have been here for years, others a little newer."
Haley winks in acknowledgement.
"But no matter!" Brooke calls. "Once a Raven, always a Raven. And as we all know, a good Raven never turns down a party. So drink up, hook up, and don't snitch! We're seniors!"
And with a final tip of the bottle to the crowd, Brooke takes a long pull, wincing before handing it over to Lucas. He takes a swig and passes to Nathan, who takes a swig and passes to Haley.
Haley takes a pull from the bottle, then stuffs a bunch of cherries in her mouth to sweeten the blow. Nathan eyes her in amusement, "Really?"
"I wasn't lying," Haley giggled. "Maraschino cherries cure everything."
"Oh they cure everything?"
Haley nods, "Is your mouth a little bitter from that hot-ass vodka?"
"Yeah, that shit is gross."
"Well, then kiss me," Haley requests, a glint of humor in her eyes. Nathan looks at her curious, but doesn't move. "Oh you're really not going to kiss me?'
"What are you up to?" Nathan questions, suspicious.
"This," Haley yelps, tipping up on her toes to grab Nathan's face and bring it down to her in a passionate kiss. Nathan melts, wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her up as close to him as possible. He can't get enough.
When they finally come up for air, Nathan laughs, "You taste like cherries."
"And you taste like stale vodka," Haley jokes.
"Not anymore," Nathan whispers, bending his head down for another kiss. "You've got to bring your cherry stash around more often. That's better than the lip gloss."
Haley swats at Nathan's face playfully. "OK, hotshot. Settle down."
Nathan laughs, placing a kiss on Haley's forehead, before wrapping her into his side. They start walking into the crowd, joining Brooke, Lucas, and their peers, celebrating a final year they would never, not even if they tried, forget.
...
A throat clears, snapping Haley back to reality. She looks up to find Lucas Scott, great.
"Lucas!" Haley says sheepishly. "Um, hi."
"What are you doing here?" He asks.
"Drinking this fine spirit," Haley jokes, shaking her glass for effect. Lucas rolls his eyes.
"You shouldn't be here," Lucas states. He's not angry; Haley sees the flashes of concern.
"Well, I'm allowed to be here," Haley states. "And I'm tired of running from my problems. I wanted to come to my high school reunion, so I did."
"Yeah, well, that's not the only reunion that's going to happen," Lucas quips.
Haley takes a long, long, long sip of her drink. "I know."
Lucas looks at Haley as she stirs the straw in her drink nervously. She was the same doe-eyed, sarcastic, pint-sized fireball she'd been ten years ago. But the light in her eyes was a little dimmer, and her quips felt a little heavier. She seemed tired and he couldn't help but feel bad for her, as much as he shouldn't, because there's only one other person he'd ever seen that sort of exhaustion in.
And he just walked through the door.