In Name Only - Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Thirteen
“Nathan! C’mon, put me down!” Haley squealed as her new husband carried her over the threshold to the beach house.
“Nope, it’s tradition and seeing as our getting together has pretty much been anything but traditional, I think it’s a good idea to stick to as many of them as we can,” Nathan teased. Once inside, he gently put her down before collecting their bags from where he’d placed them on the porch and then closing the door.
“I guess it can’t hurt,” she agreed, her fingers fiddling with the hem of her sweater. After they had said goodbye to Lucas, Brooke and Gracie, they had returned to their hotel room and gotten changed into their regular clothes before making the journey back to Tree Hill.
“So, what do you feel like doing now?” He asked, taking her hand in his and leading her into the living room.
“Uh, whatever you feel like doing is fine with me.”
“Well, if you’re hungry we could order in some takeout or--”
She laughed lightly. “Thanks, but I think I’ll pass on that since food is the last thing I want right now. I’m still stuffed from everything we had at the restaurant.”
“Me too. We could…uh…watch a DVD or something.”
“Or we could talk?” she suggested shyly.
His lips curved up into a half smirk. “I was wanting to say that but I didn’t want to push it, not after we agreed to put it on the backburner for today.”
“Well technically it’s tonight so…”
He chuckled at her reasoning. “You’re right. What do you say we get changed first and get a bit more comfortable before we get started?”
Haley nodded her agreement. “That sounds good.” Getting up from the seat she had taken beside him on the couch, she made her way out of the room and towards the stairs. She had only taken a few steps when she stopped and turned back to face him. “I, uh, I just wanted to say that today was really nice and I’m glad we had Lucas, Brooke and Gracie there with us.”
“It was nice,” he agreed, smiling up at her. “And I’m glad they were there too, even if Brooke did ream us out at first. By the way, what did you two talk about outside the restaurant?”
“Oh, she…uh…” She wasn’t sure whether to tell him the truth and in the end decided against it. Instead, she replied, “She just wanted to say she was sorry about going off on me at the hotel. I think she felt bad about what she’d said.”
“I’m glad. I know you two are close and I wouldn’t want your friendship to be affected.”
“Yeah, me either. Anyway, I won’t be too long,” she told him before leaving the room and running up the stairs.
“I’ll be counting the minutes,” he called out before laughing and he laughed harder when he heard her call out, telling him he was so cheesy.
Pushing himself off the couch, he made his way out of the room and picking up his own bag, he headed up the stairs to get changed too.
* * * * *
A short while later, Nathan and Haley were back downstairs, dressed in their sleeping attire consisting of a pair of purple plaid pyjama pants and a plain purple tank top for her and a pair of dark blue sweats and a Knicks T-shirt for him. They were sitting at opposite ends of the couch but turned towards each other.
“You know, I feel like I’m assisting in the corruption of a minor,” he told her gesturing to the beer bottle she was holding in her hands.
“Very funny,” she quipped. “You might as well get all those jokes in because I’ll be twenty-one before you know it. ”
“That’s true. I’d better be careful though since once I hit thirty you’ll have cause to call me an old man.”
“Now you know you shouldn’t have told me that,” she said giggling. A few moments later her laughter faded and the expression on her face turned serious. “Um, I thought I might give my parents a call tomorrow and…”
“You’re going to tell them about the wedding over the phone?” he asked interrupting her.
She quickly shook her head. “No, I’m going to see if they’re free for me to go up there this weekend so I can tell them face to face.”
He tilted his head slightly to one side and asked, “Wait, what do you mean about you going up there? You don’t want me to come with you?”
Biting her lip, she shrugged her shoulders. “Uh, I-I…”
Giving her hand a gentle squeeze, he said, “I’m more than happy to come with you.” Seeing the disbelieving look on her face, he added, “Okay, maybe happy isn’t the right word but it’s only right I go with you and meet them. It’s not going to look good if I leave you to tell them all by yourself.”
“I know but…I just don’t want it to go badly. I don’t want them to say anything horrible to you,” she confessed.
Cupping her cheek in his palm, he smiled as he spoke. “Hey, I’m a big boy, I can take it and it’s bound to be a shock for them. Maybe you can prepare them when you speak to them on the phone and just let them know that you’ve got some news to tell them.”
“Aww, you feeling scared all of a sudden?”
His smile widened at the teasing tone of her voice and instead of answering her verbally, he pressed his lips against hers in a soft kiss. Pulling back a brief moment later, he looked into her chocolate brown eyes and drank her in. He didn’t know what it was but he loved the way her skin flushed a light pink whenever she was nervous or embarrassed and it just served as a reminder of how much younger than him she was.
The women he had been involved with in the past had all been around his own age and he couldn’t help but be surprised at how much more comfortable he felt with her than he had ever really done with them. He had never confided in them and, to be honest, he had never actually wanted to, yet with Haley, it was a completely different story. It was almost as if he wanted her to know everything about him.
“Hey, where did you go?” Her quiet voice broke into his thoughts and bringing his other hand up to her face, he cupped it between his palms.
“Just thinking,” he told her as he inched closer and rested his forehead against hers.
“Thinking what?” Haley marvelled at the way his eyes had darkened and she couldn’t tear her eyes away from him.
“Thinking about how gorgeous you looked in that wedding dress earlier on and how gorgeous you look now.”
“Nathan…” Her skin flushed a darker pink and she broke eye contact with him. A second later she felt his fingertips underneath her chin as he directed her gaze back to him.
“I’m serious,” he said before quietly asking, “Can I kiss you again?”
Sucking her bottom lip into her mouth, she found herself nodding her head, silently giving him her consent and as his head tilted to one side and his mouth moved closer to hers, her eyes fluttered shut as she anxiously awaited the feel of his lips on hers.
She sighed into his mouth, losing herself in the kiss which at first started off gentle but didn’t take long to turn intensely passionate. Tiny mewls and gasps emanated from both of them as they both poured all of their previously pent up attraction for each other into it.
Haley’s fingers ran through his hair, her blunt nails raking across his scalp and down across the back of his neck. She smiled against his lips when she felt the little shiver that went through him at her action. It had been quite some time since she had last been kissed, but she couldn’t recall ever feeling an ounce of what she was feeling at this very moment or having ever been kissed this way before, for that matter.
The boys back home had all been aware of who her older brothers were and she had always been seen as ‘the good girl’ of the James clan so that in itself had meant that she didn’t get that many dates. The kisses she had received from the couple who did pluck up the courage to ask her out were nothing in comparison to what she was experiencing with Nathan.
When he broke the kiss several moments later, she expected him to draw back from her but he didn’t. Instead, his lips kissed a path across her cheek to her ear where he sucked the lobe into his mouth and nibbled on it. An involuntary moan left her throat at the sensation while her fingers curled into his neck, holding him that little bit tighter to her. The feel of his late in the day stubble rubbing her skin was sending tingles shooting throughout her body and her moans grew louder when he began kissing and then sucking on her neck.
Somehow, Nathan managed to maneuver them so that he was lying down with Haley on top of him and it was his turn to moan when she straddled his waist in an attempt to get into a more comfortable position. With his hands on her hips, his fingers slipped under the hem of her tank top to stroke against her warm, baby soft skin.
He automatically tilted his head to one side when he felt her kiss his neck and he groaned when he felt her teeth graze against his skin and his hold on her hips tightened in a reactionary response. His breath was coming in short pants as her body moved on top of his and he forced himself to keep still and not grind a certain part of his anatomy against her centre. Her hair fell around them like a curtain and when the kiss ended, his eyes slowly opened to be met with her wide open ones looking back at him.
“Hi,” he whispered, a smile curving his lips.
“Hi,” she replied shyly.
“Are you okay?”
Haley nodded. “Uh huh. I…um…I…”
Nathan could sense her nervousness and when the earlier blush deepened further, a light-bulb suddenly went off in his head and he realised that she was most likely as innocent as she looked in certain other…things. A primal surge flowed through him at the mere thought that she was untouched and he took a much needed deep breath in order to calm himself down.
“C’mere,” he told her a moment later, opening his arms and wrapping them around her back and laying down on top of him, she rested her head just under his chin. “I guess we got a bit carried away there, huh?”
He felt her smile against him at his question and he breathed a quiet sigh of relief. The last thing he wanted to do was make her feel embarrassed and uncomfortable.
“Yeah, I guess we did. I-I’m sorry th--”
“No, don’t apologise. I wanted to kiss you and I’m not sorry so you shouldn’t be either,” he told her but when a thought suddenly occurred to him, he added, “Unless you didn’t want me to kiss you.”
“I did. Believe me, if I didn’t want you to kiss me you’d know all about it,” she joked. “I-I really wanted to kiss you.”
Threading his fingers through her long wavy hair, he smirked. “Yeah?”
She giggled. “Yeah.”
“Well, that’s good to know. So, I guess now would probably be a good time to, uh, start talking about what happened between us this morning at the hotel.”
Taking a deep breath, Haley shifted her position on top of him so that she was lying a bit more on her side and was propped up on one elbow, looking into his face. “Yeah, we should,” she agreed.
“Do you want to go first?” He chuckled when she shook her head and lowered her gaze from his. “Okay, I’ll start then.” After a short pause, he began speaking. “I meant what I said this morning, Hales, I--”
“What did you call me?” she interrupted.
“Huh? I’m sorry, I don’t know where that came from--”
Shaking her head again, she smiled. “You don’t have to say sorry. It’s just…I think that’s the first time you’ve called me that. You usually just call me Haley. No one except for my family calls me Hales,” she told him.
“Oh, well I won’t call you that again if…”
“No! I-I want you to call me that… It, uh, it feels nice,” she confessed in a quiet voice.
Taking her left hand in his, he ran his thumb over the wedding band he had placed on it earlier that day and he smiled. “Okay, but only if you’re sure you don’t mind me calling you by that name.”
“I don’t mind at all and besides, you’re my family now. Well, in the eyes of the law anyway.”
Leaning towards her, he covered her mouth with his and kissed her gently before pulling back after a short while. “Not just in the eyes of the law,” he told her honestly. “As I was saying before, I meant what I said earlier about being attracted to you but it—it’s sort of more than that. I like you, I’ve liked you since we first met thanks to Lucas wanting to help me out with my dilemma.”
“I liked you too.”
“Really? ‘Cos I sort of got the impression you thought I was a bit of a jackass,” he teased.
“Well, that wasn’t exactly all your fault.”
“True, I’ve got my mom and Brooke to thank for that one. Anyway, remember that day in the café when it was supposed to be our very first meeting?”
“The one for Deb’s sake?”
“Yeah, well…I, uh…I didn’t have to pretend about not being able to take my eyes off of you,” he admitted.
Haley’s mouth fell open at hearing that and she felt her body grow warm. While they had got on well pretty much from their first meeting, she had never imagined he had felt as attracted to her as she had to him.
“Are you serious?”
He nodded his head, his eyes trained on her face.
“Wow!”
“Was that a good wow or a bad one?”
Tracing her fingers over his jaw-line, she replied, “It was a good one. I, uh, kinda had trouble taking my eyes off you as well but I figured it was better for Deb to think you were more into me than I was to you. It sort of made sense given that all I’d heard from her and Brooke was how you were a bit of a…um…”
“Manwhore?” He suggested, a smirk tugging at his lips.
“Uh, something like that, yeah. If I’m being honest, it surprised me that she would talk about her own son that way, you know, in such a negative light.”
Nathan shrugged. “It used to bother me but now, now I just shrug it off. My parents weren’t what you could call normal which is why I spent so much time over at Luke’s. If it wasn’t for them, I’d have probably gone off the rails even more than I did.”
Haley’s heart went out to him and despite his words, she had a strong feeling that the situation still bothered him. Sliding her hand up his face, she cupped his cheek in her palm. “I’m sor--”
Her words were cut off by his lips crushing against hers and her eyes immediately fluttered shut as she got lost in his kiss once again. She moaned into his mouth when she felt his slightly calloused hand caressing the small of her back under her tank top and she pressed herself even closer to him.
“You feel so good,” he whispered against her throat once the kiss had broken. The feel of her small hand under his T-shirt stroking his back felt amazing and he knew he could easily get addicted to her gentle touch.
“You do, too.” They shared a long, lingering look and it was only broken when she lowered her eyes and focused on his chest. After a few minutes had passed, she glanced back up at him and shivered at the heated way he was looking at her. “W-What happens now?” she finally asked and she regarded him curiously when he smirked back at her.
“I was just going to ask you the same thing,” Nathan told her and they both chuckled. Knowing that she most likely wanted him to go first, he suggested, “How about we just see what happens?”
“Okay… Um, how do you mean?”
“Well, I know we’re married but we haven’t exactly been on that many dates so we could just go out on dates and spend time together at home and do what most couples do.” Seeing the surprised look on her face combined with the telltale rosy blush, he realised what that might have sounded like and he quickly added, “Oh, I…er…didn’t mean that. Not that I don’t want to or anything… Crap, I’m just making this sound all wrong.”
Haley couldn’t help giggling at him being all tongue-tied and cupping the back of his neck, she drew him in for a kiss. Pulling back from him a moment later, she looked into his clear blue eyes and smiled. “It’s okay, I know what you meant. And the dating thing sounds nice, a little backwards considering we’re married but still really nice.” Pausing, she took a deep breath before she said what she knew needed to be brought out into the open.
“About the, uh, other stuff. You know, uh, sex.” Her cheeks felt warm and she knew she was blushing profusely but she forced herself to talk. “It’s not that I, uh, don’t want t--”
“I know, Hales, and I’m not expecting anything. I mean, we haven’t known each other that long and, like you said, everything has been so backwards with this whole thing… It wouldn’t feel right to rush into something we’re not ready for. I meant what I said before, Haley; I like you… Actually, that’s not quite true.”
“It isn’t?” Her head lowered and she bit her bottom lip to stop her eyes from welling up. The feel of his thumb stroking her cheekbone had her looking up at him and she saw him watching her intently.
“I more than like you,” he told her as he brushed his nose against hers in a soft Eskimo kiss. Their eyes locked on each other and they could both feel the electricity crackling around them as their mouths slowly drew closer until their lips were touching. The kiss was soft yet the underlying passion was evident and soon the only sounds that could be heard were those of harsh, panting breaths as the kiss spiralled out of control.
Nathan had to literally force himself to keep his hands on just her face or on the small slivers of skin that were revealed due to her tank top not quite meeting her pyjama pants when his fingertips literally itched to touch other parts of her. He had meant what he had said to her about them not rushing into anything and he had a feeling that he would be indulging in a lot of cold showers while they got to know each other better.
When she began licking a hot stripe down his throat, his control nearly flew out of the window and he knew he had to stop things now before he let his arousal get the best of him.
“H-Hales… Oh god…” Her blunt fingernails scratching along his abs under his shirt almost threw him over the edge and had him saying ‘Fuck it’ but he managed to wrest control and force himself to say the words, “I-I think we should stop.”
“Wha—Why?”
“Because if we carry on for much longer I don’t think I’ll be able to stop.”
“May…maybe we shouldn’t…stop, I mean.” Glancing into his eyes, she saw his shock at her words and a part of her wished that she’d kept quiet. If was just that kissing him felt so good…and so right that she was scared she wouldn’t feel that way again if they stopped now. That maybe he’d feel differently about her tomorrow.
“I don’t think tonight’s the right time,” he told her seriously. “I don’t want us to…”
“Have sex?”
He shook his head. “I don’t want us to make love and for you to regret it afterwards. I want us to really get to know each other and see where it takes us. Who knows, you might find me to be the jackass that my mom and Brooke warned you about.”
“No, I won’t,” she told him vehemently. “You’re not that guy…not anymore anyway. And just so you know, I wouldn’t regret being with you, not if it’s half as good as the way you kiss,” she teased.
“It’s way better than that,” he teased back, a full blown smirk fully in place and he laughed at the shocked expression on her face.
“You’re terrible, you know that.”
Nathan laughed louder. “I’ve been called worse than that, but not when it comes to a certain activity.”
“Hmm, I think I’ll have to rethink things now I know how big your ego is.”
“That’s not the only thing that’s big,” he quipped.
Haley’s face was bright red as she slapped her hand across his mouth to stop him saying anything else. She quickly moved it though when he licked her palm.
“I love making you blush,” he told her as he lowered his lips to hers and kissed her deeply.
“I’ve a feeling when these three years are up I won’t be blushing as much as I do now.”
“Somehow I don’t think three years will be enough.”
“What?” Her mouth dropped open as she waited for him to clarify that statement and confirm what she was already thinking he might have meant.
Looking into her beautiful brown eyes, he took a deep breath before he spoke. “If you’re not bored of me by the time that contract ends, I was thinking you might want to…uh…stick around.”
“Y-You might be bored of me by then, Nathan.”
He shook his head. “I can’t see that ever happening. I’ve never met anyone quite like you, Mrs Scott, and I doubt I will again.” Seeing the sudden tears in her eyes, he wasn’t sure what to think. “Hales, what’s wrong? Have I said the wrong thing?”
Biting her lower lip, Haley shook her head. “No. It’s just…that’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me. And I…I feel the same. I don’t think I’ll ever meet anyone quite like you again either.”
They each wore big smiles as they continued to look at each other and it wasn’t long before they were kissing once more, their arms tightly wrapped around one another.
* * * * *
The next morning, Nathan was up bright and early. After spending an hour in his home gym, he had showered and gotten dressed and he was now in the kitchen preparing breakfast for himself and Haley.
He couldn’t get over how amazing making out with her on the living room couch had been last night. Her soft kisses and warm, gentle hands had driven him wild and he was still surprised at the amount of control he had demonstrated. There was just something about her that made him want to look out for her and protect her and he loved how despite them not knowing each other for very long, that she seemed to feel the same way about him. She hadn’t judged him based on his mother’s and Brooke’s words to her when she had first arrived in town and that meant a helluva lot to him. There weren’t that many people who genuinely had his back but he knew for sure that she did.
When she had told him during their hot and heavy make-out session that maybe they shouldn’t stop, he would be lying if he said he hadn’t considered it for a split-second because he had. But deep down he knew she wasn’t ready to take such a large step and especially with someone she didn’t know that well. He knew that if things continued the way they seemed to have been going, that the likelihood was they wouldn’t be waiting for too long. And besides, in the meantime, they could have fun learning everything about each other which would make things even more perfect when they finally took that next step.
“Morning.”
Hearing her voice behind him, Nathan turned around and smiled at his new bride. “Morning Hales, sleep well?”
“Uh huh,” Haley replied as she picked up the jug of orange juice on the kitchen counter and poured herself a glass. “Have you been up long?”
“A while. I thought I’d make us breakfast so I hope you’re hungry.”
Smiling at him, she nodded. “I’m starving. Uh, should I go and get dressed first?” she asked, seeing that he was already showered and dressed.
“Nah, I think I can control myself around you while you’re wearing your pyjamas,” he said giving her a wink.
She laughed out loud and said, “Right, like you controlled yourself last night on the couch.”
Walking over to where she was standing, he wrapped his arms around her waist and lowering his head, he covered her mouth with his. “I didn’t hear you complaining,” he replied, lightly slapping her ass.
“True.” Her arms twined around his neck and standing on her tiptoes, she pressed her lips against his and kissed him softly before tugging on his bottom lip. “So, what’s for breakfast?”
“There’s, uh, toast and scrambled eggs. I can make something else though if you want.”
Haley shook her head. “No, that’s more than fine, thank you.”
Taking her hand in his, he led her around to the other side of the counter and moved a stool out for her to take a seat on which she did. Going over to the stove, he checked on the eggs before removing them from the heat and dividing them onto two plates.
As he worked, she couldn’t take her eyes off of him and she smiled at the trouble he was going to for her. Her heart melted when she saw the vase with a single red rose in it just in front of where she was sitting. Leaning forward, she sniffed it’s delicate fragrance and turning her head slightly, she noticed that Nathan was watching her.
“Do you like it?” His voice held an almost shy tone to it and she realised that doing something this sweet was probably out of character for him.
“I love it, Nathan. Thank you.” When he had put down the plates he was carrying onto the counter and taken a seat beside her, she cupped his cheek in her palm and stroked over it with her thumb.
“You’re welcome.” Coughing to clear his throat, he then said, “C’mon, let’s eat before it gets cold.”
They were halfway through breakfast when the phone rang and getting up from his stool, Nathan went over to answer it.
“Hello… Oh, hey Mom. What’s up?”
Haley felt her stomach flip flop at the knowledge that they would be breaking news of their marriage today to Deb and that it wouldn’t be long before the entire town would get wind of it. It also reminded her that she needed to call her parents as well and at least try to prepare them for what she would be telling them when she next saw them. A part of her couldn’t help hoping that they wouldn’t be free the following weekend but she knew that was probably wishful thinking.
The last thing she wanted to do was hurt her parents and she knew without a doubt that they would be deeply hurt at her having gotten married without them and the rest of the family being present. Oh well, she’d made her bed and now she’d have to lie in it.
So lost in thought was she that she hadn’t realised the phone conversation was over. It was only when Nathan took his seat beside her again that she was brought back to reality. “Is everything okay?” She asked a moment later after taking a sip of her juice.
“Uh yeah, she’s invited us to dinner tonight and I figured that since we need to tell her the news sooner rather than later, I accepted. Is that okay?”
“Can I say no?” she teased.
Returning her smile, he nodded. “I could make an excuse for you if you’d rather not come. Maybe it’s better if I tell her the news on my own anyway.”
Covering his hand with hers, she said, “I was joking. Of course I’ll come with you tonight. I can’t say I’m looking forward to it but I wouldn’t let you do this alone. If we’re going to be convincing, then we need to stand together.”
Nathan nodded. “Yeah, you’re right.” Leaning closer to her, he rested his forehead against hers. “You know, I don’t think convincing people is going to be as big a problem as we first thought.”
“You know what, I think you might just be right.”
Closing the gap between them, Haley touched her lips to his and as they kissed, she silently prayed that dinner with her new mother-in-law would go well that night, more for Nathan’s sake than for hers. The last thing she wanted was to be the cause of an even bigger rift between mother and son.