First Time, First Love - Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Fifteen
Lucas was standing by the front door when he suddenly saw them coming out of the den, Haley being carried in his brother’s arms. The frown on his face deepened at seeing them so close. “What the hell’s going on?” he asked, more than a touch of anger evident in his voice.
Nathan and Haley both turned towards the front door and their eyes met Lucas’s before they quickly turned to look at each other again. As gently as possible, Nathan lowered her legs to the floor so she was standing beside him and feeling her hand on his lower back, he decided the time had come for Lucas to find out about the two of them so he reached behind him and took her hand into his, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
“Lucas, I...”
“I think you should go, Hales. I need to speak to Nathan in private.”
“No,” she told him adamantly. “This involves me too so I’m staying.”
Lucas started pacing by the front door. “I don’t understand. You two haven’t spoken in months and all of sudden you’re carrying her like... like she’s your girlfriend or something.”
Taking a deep breath, Nathan said, “She is my girlfriend.” He frowned when his older brother started laughing. “You think that’s funny?”
“No, actually I don’t. You may be my brother, Nathan, but I know what you’re like when it comes to girls. The longest you’ve ever dated anyone has been a couple of months so I’m concerned about what’s going to happen to Hales when you’ve gotten bored with her and start fooling around behind her back.”
Haley gasped at his words and she could feel the anger radiating off of Nathan. Instinctively, her hand tightened on his and she stopped him from going after Lucas. “He’s changed, Luke, and...”
“How do you know, Haley? You’re attending college at the other end of the country so you have no idea what he’s been up to while he’s been away.”
“Listen you little...”
“Nathan, don’t.”
“For your information, I haven’t been on a single date since I’ve been back in California and you know that for a fact so don’t try and make me out to be a bad guy. I know I’ve treated girls badly in the past but I’m not going to do that to Haley.”
“Oh really, and why’s that? Could it be because it’s more fun for you to have her swooning at your every word?”
“If you don’t shut your damn mouth I’m going to punch your face in.”
“Truth hurts, doesn’t it?”
“That’s not the truth.” Turning to face his girlfriend, he gave her a half-smile and he was relieved when she returned it.
“Stop it, Luke. I know you’re angry and I guess you have a right to be but it’s not like we’re doing anything wrong.”
“I care about you, Haley, and I know he’s going to end up hurting you. He might not mean to do it but he will. And when he does, it’ll probably affect our relationship, too.”
“He won’t hurt me,” she told him.
Nathan was still holding her hand and he gave it another squeeze when he heard what she said. Her faith in him meant a lot and he made a promise to himself that he would never do anything to hurt her… at least not intentionally.
Lucas ran a hand over his head. “You can’t be sure of that.”
“Well I am,” Nathan said.
“Why?” the blonde asked, his eyebrows raised in anticipation of what the answer would be to his question.
“Because I’m in love with her,” he blurted out.
“You... you’re in love with her!? H-how the hell did that happen?”
Nathan heaved a sigh of relief at finally having said the words. “I don’t know, it just did.”
Haley stood there frozen in shock. He loved her. She couldn’t believe it. A tiny part of her wondered if he’d said that to Lucas to make the situation better but deep down she knew that wasn’t true. The way he looked at her spoke volumes and she knew what he was saying was the truth.
Turning to look at her, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into his body, kissing the top of her head. Drawing back slightly, he looked down at her and smiled. “It’s the truth, Hales. I really do love you.”
She could feel tears prickling her eyelids but this time they were happy tears and without another word, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. Standing on her tiptoes, she whispered into his ear. “I love you too, Nathan.”
Hearing her say it back to him had him tightening his hold on her waist and turning his head to the side, he kissed her cheek.
“Look, I’m sorry to interrupt this, um, moment between you two, but will someone tell me what’s going on? How the hell have you two ended up together all of a sudden?”
Nathan knew he couldn’t reveal the truth of what had been going on between him and Haley so he quickly came up with a slightly different version of events. “During the summer Haley came to see me and told me she was really nervous about starting college so we, uh, just hung out and talked. One day we... we found ourselves kissing and it sort of went from there.”
Lucas rubbed a hand over his face as he listened to his brother. “She could have talked to me about that.” A thought suddenly occurred to him and while he didn’t really want to know the answer, he couldn’t help asking. “H-Have you two... um... you know?”
“Luke! I don’t think that’s any of your business but, for your information, no we haven’t.”
“I’m not some pig trying to take advantage of her, okay? I know I have this reputation back at college, or at least I used to... But like I said, since I’ve been back there I haven’t even been on one date. Haley is the only girl I’ve been able to think about.”
“How long exactly have you two been together?” he asked curiously.
Checking his watch, Nathan smiled. “Almost two hours now.”
“What? But I thought you said you got together during the summer?”
“That was sort of what the fight was about. I said something really stupid and messed it all up. I guess we weren’t really together then but that’s what we were doing here before. We talked and got everything sorted out.”
Lucas resumed his pacing up. “I... I don’t know what to say.”
“I’m sorry if you think we’ve been going behind your back but we didn’t know what else to do. We just wanted to give ourselves a chance before we told you,” Haley said releasing her hold on her boyfriend and going over to her best friend.
He nodded at her before his lips curled up in a smile. “It’s okay, I understand. It was just a shock seeing the two of you together all of a sudden.” Glancing behind her, he looked at Nathan. “You’d better treat her right.”
“I will,” he said as his face broke out into a smile. It meant a lot to have his brother’s support in this.
Giving his best friend a hug, Lucas kissed her cheek. “Okay you two, I’m going to go upstairs and pick up my wallet and then I’m off to the gym. If you’re planning on staying here, don’t get too carried away. Mom will probably be back from shopping soon.”
“I seriously doubt that. She’s only been gone a few hours,” Nathan teased and the other two laughed in response.
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Lucas said before he took the stairs two at a time. He was back downstairs a few minutes later and after saying goodbye, he was out the door.
“Well, that didn’t go too badly,” Haley commented as she stepped into Nathan’s embrace again.
“Hmm, you’re right. I was sure he’d blow a fuse.”
“He almost did. At least he’s okay with everything now.”
“Yeah. I know it’ll probably take him a bit of time to get used to seeing us together but it’s a step in the right direction at least.”
“Uh huh. So, what do you want to do now? Do you still want to go upstairs or do you feel like going to get some lunch at the café?”
“I don’t mind. It is almost lunchtime so I guess we could go and get something to eat. Besides, my Mom has the worst timing so if we stay here we sure to get busted by her in a compromising position.”
Haley laughed. “Okay, lunch it is. It’ll be our first outing as a couple,” she said excitedly.
“Yeah, it will.” Lowering his head, he covered her lips with his and kissed her gently. “C’mon then, girlfriend, let’s get going.”
* * * * *
After lunch, Nathan told Haley he had some errands to run and that he would pick her up in a few hours from her house. When she had asked him what he was up to, he just gave her his trademark smirk and told her that she would have to wait and see.
While she waited for the time to pass until he’d be picking her up, she decided to go and see Peyton and fill her in on what had been happening. She knew that her best friend had been suspicious and she was grateful to the blonde for giving her some time and space instead of hassling her about it all.
Despite having seen each other at Thanksgiving, the two girls hugged tightly when they saw one another again. After Peyton had made some tea, they sat on the couch and filled each other in on what had been happening the past few weeks.
“Well, you’re looking a lot happier than when I last saw you,” Peyton said before taking a sip of her drink.
“Do I?” Haley asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah, you do. C’mon, tell me what’s going on. You know you want to.”
The auburn haired girl laughed before nodding. “Actually, you’re right. I do want to. But first I want to say thanks for, you know, not pushing me before. I wasn’t ready to talk about what was going on but now... now I am.”
Peyton’s eyes grew wider and wider as Haley confessed to her everything that had gone on between her and Nathan from the first moment she’d put her request to him during the summer holidays.
“Y-you’re kidding? He was... um... doing... I mean, you were doing...”
“Uh huh. My request for help was pretty much just an excuse for me to get close to him. I’ve been in love with him for so long and he was the only one I wanted. I wasn’t lying when I said I was nervous about starting college without having any experience with guys at all, but Nathan was the only guy I could imagine being that close to and feeling that comfortable with.”
“Wow! And he feels the same way about you, right? He loves you too?”
“Yep,” she replied with a big grin on her face. “He does and he told Lucas that. Hearing that pretty much stunned him into silence which was something I never thought I’d see.”
“I can’t believe I missed all this. You so owe me,” she teased.
“Well, I’ll have to owe you later because I have to go home and get ready for my date,” she told her best friend as she got up from her chair. “Um, I don’t know where he’s taking me but, uh, would you mind...”
“Don’t worry, I’ll cover for you. Go and have fun.”
“Thanks, Pey.” Leaning down, she gave Peyton a hug. “I’ll talk to you later.”
The blonde watched Haley practically skip out of the room and she couldn’t help laughing. Never in a million years would she have guessed that had been going on between her best friend and Nathan Scott.
* * * * *
At six-thirty that evening, Nathan picked Haley up from her house and after talking to her parents for a little while, they were on their way. After they had eaten dinner at Luigi’s, a popular Italian restaurant, he drove them to their destination. Haley snuggled into his side and ran her hand back and forth along his thigh before finally asking the question she had been dreading the answer to. “Is us being together going to cause trouble between you and Luke?”
His arm, which was slung around her shoulders, squeezed her closer to him and he shook his head. “No, it won’t. I’m sure of that. It might be a bit awkward for a while but he’ll come around.”
“I just don’t want to be the cause of you two...”
“Hey, you’re not. Let’s just forget about all that stuff for a little while and enjoy our first date.”
Looking up at him, she smiled and kissed his cheek. “Okay. So, where are you taking me?”
“I told you, you’ll just have to wait and see. We’re almost there though.”
A short while later he pulled into a parking lot and after retrieving a bag from the trunk, he locked the car. Taking her hand in his, he led her towards what looked to be a bed and breakfast establishment.
Before going inside, he stood in front of her and gave her a shy smile. “I want you to know that just because I’ve brought you here doesn’t mean I expect anything. I just thought it would be nice to spend some time alone away from everyone. Now Lucas knows, I’m pretty sure he’s going to be keeping a watchful eye on us.”
Standing on her tiptoes, she kissed him. “I think that’s a brilliant idea and you never know, you just might get lucky,” she quipped, flashing him a wink which made him laugh.
Climbing the porch steps, he opened the door and led her inside.
* * * * *
“What do you mean she’s not coming home tonight? You do realise she’s out on a date with my brother, right?”
“Yes Lucas, I do.” Lydia James said into the phone. “I know that they’re dating and I’m happy for them. Today is the first day in months that I’ve seen Haley truly smile so I gave Nathan permission to keep her out overnight when he came to see me earlier today.”
“I just don’t want to see her get hurt,” he told her honestly.
“I know and I appreciate how much you care about her. But she’s eighteen years old now and we have to stop babying her. She’s a young woman and she can make her own decisions and we have to respect that. I trust Nathan and maybe you should, too.”
On the other end of the phone, Lucas sighed but he knew Haley’s mother was right. Maybe he had gone a little overboard in his need to protect her and while it was justifiable when she was younger, now it wasn’t and he needed to respect her decisions. “I just know what guys are like, that’s all.”
“Not all guys are pigs,” Lydia said with a chuckle. “There’s you and my Jimmy and Nathan for a start.”
He laughed at her words. “Okay, I’ll ease up on her. I guess if she has to date anyone, then Nathan’s probably the best one for the job. I have to admit that he does seem to have changed over the past few months.”
“Thank you, honey. I know Haley will be relieved to know that her dating Nathan isn’t going to come between you two boys.”
“Yeah. And hey, I’m sorry I was a rude to you before.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s nice knowing how much you care about my daughter. Listen, I’ve got to go before our dinner becomes inedible.”
“Okay. Bye, Mrs James, and thanks again. You made a lot of sense, as usual.”
“Well, of course I did. See you soon,” she said before hanging up. She was only too glad she was able to help her little girl out.