Make A Wish
Title: Make A Wish
Author: Diane
Fandom: One Tree Hill
Characters: Nathan/Haley
Category: AU
Prompt: 15 – Birthday
Rating: Teen Rated
Disclaimer: Nope, I don’t own a thing!
Spoilers/Warnings: None as it’s an AU fic which I’ve set sometime during Season 2. As per the show, Haley is tutoring Nathan but they never got together and so aren’t dating, let alone married.
Summary: What kind of parents forgot their own kid’s birthday?
Author’s Notes: This has been written for my fanfic table at 25fluffyfics and is dedicated to the lovely Hana as a birthday gift from me. I hope you're having a wonderful day celebrating and that you enjoy the ficlet. *hugs*
He couldn’t believe they’d forgotten what day it was. Sure, he wasn’t expecting everything to be the way it had been when he was younger given how things were between them these days, but still… What kind of parents forgot their own kid’s birthday?
Sitting at the picnic table down by the docks that he considered to be his and Haley’s, Nathan stared out at the shimmering blue water. It wasn’t even 7am yet and today already sucked. His dad had woken him up at the crack of dawn to go for a run and, at first, he’d figured it was a joke since his birthday had always been the one day he’d been “let off” having to work out.
As he’d gotten dressed, he’d actually thought that maybe it was something new to throw him off what his parents had planned for him and that when he went downstairs they’d laugh and joke about it before giving him his gifts.
Yeah, no such luck.
His mom was nowhere to be seen when he walked into the kitchen less than ten minutes later and when he’d asked his dad, Dan had just shrugged before telling him to grab them both some water and to get his lazy ass moving.
As soon as they’d arrived back home and he was showered and dressed, Nathan had grabbed his backpack and was out of the door in a flash despite it still being way too early for his tutoring session to begin. He just needed to get out of that house which was getting more and more claustrophobic by the day.
God, he couldn’t wait until he was in college and away from the madness. While Duke had always been the plan, a part of him couldn’t help wishing he could go somewhere further away so th—
“Nathan?”
Haley’s voice brought him out of his thoughts and a smile immediately crept onto his face. Turning his head, he looked at her and his smile deepened. Even dressed in a simple pair of figure hugging jeans and a green T-shirt, she looked gorgeous. It was sort of weird but, in that moment, just seeing her standing in front of him, it felt like all of his worries just lifted right off of his shoulders. “Hey, Hales.”
“What are you doing here so early?” she teased as she took her usual seat across from him and set down the bags she was carrying.
A frown marred his forehead as soon as she asked her question. “I, uh, needed to get out of there,” he told her, knowing she’d understand exactly what he was saying without him having to go into too much detail.
“Are you okay?” she immediately asked.
Nathan could see Haley’s concern for him in her rich chocolate brown eyes and he felt his heart rate speed up. If she’d been any other girl he would’ve made his move by now but he hadn’t and he knew why. She was so different from anyone else he knew and he liked it. He liked it a lot and he didn’t want to mess things up, although he didn’t know how much longer he could go without making a move.
She didn’t fawn over him or let things slide the way everyone else did just because of his ability to shoot a basketball or because his family had money… That alone made her unique in his book but one of the things he liked most about her was how she really listened to him. He’d told her all about his family… the ups and downs and she didn’t judge or pity him.
In the time that she’d been tutoring him, Haley had quickly become his best friend which was pretty strange considering she was his half-brother’s best friend and had been since they were little kids. He actually had her to thank for bringing them together and while things could still be awkward at times between him and Lucas, they’d become fairly close despite their father’s objections.
“Nathan, are you okay?” Haley repeated when he hadn’t answered her.
“Uh… Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“There’s not much to talk about except for the fact that my parents have forgotten my birthday but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised since right now they’re too busy fighting over who gets what in the divorce.”
Reaching out her hand, Haley placed it over his. “I’m sorry. Are you sure they’ve forgotten? I mean, could it be they’re planning a surprise for when you get home from school?”
“Well, let’s see… Dan woke me up just before five to go for a run, something that I usually get out of on my birthday and I didn’t even see my mom this morning. I guess she was sleeping off another hangover or something so it seems doubtful.”
Giving his fingers a gentle squeeze, she grabbed one of the bags she’d brought with her and placed it in front of him. “I know somebody who didn’t forget,” she said, smiling warmly at him. “It’s nothing much but…”
Nathan returned her smile and reaching into the Karen’s Café bag, he removed a box and opening it up, he smiled at seeing the large chocolate frosted cupcake with ‘Happy Birthday Nathan!’ written across the top in white icing. Before he knew it, Haley was inserting a thin candle into its centre and cupping her hand around it, she lit the wick with the lighter she’d remembered to bring.
“Taken up smoking, huh?” he teased, gesturing to the lighter.
“Shush you,” she said, giving him a mock-glare. “Now blow out the candle before the breeze does it for you… Oh, and don’t forget to make a wish.”
He knew exactly what he’d be wishing for… Hell, he’d been dreaming about it for months now and he could only hope that it would come true sooner rather than later. “Wait, aren’t you going to sing Happy Birthday to me?”
“You’re so greedy,” she quipped. Taking a quick glance around to make sure no one was in close proximity to them, she sung the song for him, her face flushing slightly at the intense way he was looking at her. “There, happy now?”
“Very. Thank you,” he said, beaming back at her.
Reaching into her schoolbag, she retrieved a blue envelope and slid it over the table towards him. “Happy Birthday, Nathan.”
Tearing it open, he pulled out the greeting card, smiling at the basketball themed one she’d picked out for him and when he opened it to read what she’d written, something fell out from inside of it. “What’s this?” Picking up the piece of paper, he saw it was a $20 gift certificate to the local music store. “Haley...”
“I know you’re into rap but I didn’t know what to get you so I figured giving you a gift voucher and letting you pick was the best option,” she rambled.
“Thank you... For the cake, card and the certificate but...”
“But?” she prompted when he didn’t continue.
“But, more importantly, thank you for being my friend. These past few months have been... They’ve been so hard with everything that’s been happening at home and just in general, but having you to talk to and take my mind off of it all... It’s been so great. I don’t know what I’d have done without you,” he confessed.
“Nathan...”
“Does that sound selfish?” he asked a second later when he realised how that might sound like. “Do I just take without giving anything back?”
“What? No, of course not. Why would you even say that?”
Nathan shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know... I guess sometimes when we’re hanging out together it feels like all we talk about is me and what’s going on with my family or with basketball and I’d hate for you to think I’m not here for you.”
“I know you’re here for me,” she said and lowering her voice slightly, she added, “I love hanging out with you.”
“Yeah?” His lips curved upwards into a smirk.
“Ah, there’s the ego I know so well,” she said, laughing.
“So, uh, since I haven’t got any plans for after school, do you maybe want to hang out and celebrate my birthday with me?”
“Um... what about your friends? Won’t Tim and the other guys want to hang out and—”
“I doubt they’ve remembered either. And besides, I’d much rather spend it with you.”
A rosy blush tinted her cheeks at hearing his words. “What do you want to do?”
“How ‘bout we go see a movie and grab something to eat afterwards?”
“That, uh, sounds good. Although...”
“Although what?”
“It sort of sounds like a, um, date.”
Covering her hand with his own, he rubbed his thumb back and forth over her soft skin. “Would that be such a bad thing?” he asked, holding his breath as he waited for her answer.
She slowly shook her head. “No, it wouldn’t be a bad thing at all.” The smile he rewarded her with threatened to turn her into a puddle of mush.
“Sweet! So, do you want to go straight from school or should I pick you up at your house later?”
“Let’s go straight from school... We could catch an early showing and then go to dinner.”
“Don’t want to be seen in public with me, huh?”
“What! No, I promise it’s not that,” she said quickly, trying to reassure him.
“I was just kidding, Hales.”
“I just... I don’t want you to go home and have your dad ruin your good mood,” she confessed, her eyes looking everywhere but at him.
Placing his thumb and forefinger under her chin, he gently raised her face so she was now looking at him. “Thank you,” he said. God, could this girl be any more amazing than she was already?
Coughing to clear her throat, Haley said, “Since it’s unlikely we’re going to get any work done this morning, how about we head to school?”
“Sure... There’s no chance I could convince you to blow off classes today, is there?” he asked, even though he already knew what her answer would be.
“Hmm, it’s tempting but as Ms Ryan mentioned something about a pop quiz in History today, I’d better pass.”
He nodded as a smirk tugged at his lips. “We’re definitely on for later though, right?”
“Right,” she agreed.
“Cool. I’ll meet you in the Tutoring Centre at five?”
“Okay.”
“So, uh, do you want some of my cupcake?” he asked a moment later.
“I thought you’d never ask. You could always save it for lunchtime though.”
“Yeah, I know but if the guys haven’t remembered it’s my birthday, I’d rather not let them see this since, like I told you, I’d rather spend it with you.”
“Makes sense,” she said, watching as he removed the foil from the cupcake, her tongue snaking out to wet her suddenly too dry lips when he licked off some frosting that had gotten onto his fingers.
“So, how do we do this?”
Grinning at him, she replied, “I brought a couple of plastic forks with me from the café ‘cause you know how messy I can be when eating anything made from chocolate.”
Grabbing the two forks from the bag, he handed one to her before digging in to his birthday cupcake. “This is so good... Thanks for getting Karen to make it for me.”
“Actually, she didn’t. I made it. Karen contributed the box, bag and forks.”
Nathan felt himself grow warm all over at her admission and, if anything, it just deepened his feelings for her. “Thank you,” he said, his voice slightly husky.
“You’re welcome,” she said, smiling shyly at him. “I made a batch of cupcakes last night so maybe when you drop me off tonight you could come in and have some more.”
“I’d like that.”
When they’d finished eating the cupcake, Nathan threw away the trash and going back over to Haley who was still sitting down, he took her hands in his and gently pulled her up. Blue eyes met brown and without thinking about what he was doing and before she could say a word, he covered her lips with his and kissed her softly. Bringing one of his hands up, he threaded it through her silky, auburn hair as he slanted his head and deepened the kiss. When he felt her free hand slip between them, he was sure she was going to push him away but she didn’t. Instead, she gripped the front of his letterman jacket and pulled him in tighter.
When the kiss eventually broke so they could breathe in much needed air, he nuzzled his nose against hers and said, “I’ve wanted to do that for so long.”
“I-I’ve wanted you to do that for so long,” she whispered.
Breathing a sigh of relief, he dipped in for another kiss and when he drew back a moment later, he said, “After a crappy start, I was so sure the rest of today was going to suck ass but I can honestly say it’s one of my best ever birthdays... if not the best.”
“Nathan,” she said, ducking her head as she felt her face heat up with yet another blush.
“What? I’m serious. Just seeing you this morning lifted my mood, Hales, and then receiving a card and birthday cake as well... not to mention finally getting to kiss you...”
Pushing herself up onto her tiptoes, she brushed her lips over his, enjoying the feel of his arms tightening around her waist as she did so. She squealed against his mouth when a second later she felt him lift her off the ground completely. “Nathan!”
“Is there really no way I can convince you to skip school today and hang out with me?”
“Nope, sorry. Just look at our date tonight as an incentive to get through the day.”
“So it’s definitely a date?” he asked, cocking his head to the side.
“Uh huh.”
“Good,” he stated before stealing her lips again. The feel of her fingers brushing along the nape of his neck was sending his temperature soaring.
“I hate to say this but we’d better get moving if we don’t want to be late for school.”
“Yeah... Popping one more kiss onto her lips, he reluctantly pulled back from her and after they’d made sure to grab their bags, he intertwined their fingers together as they made their way to where he’d parked his car. Smiling over at Haley, he couldn’t wait to get through the school day so they could go on their very first date.
He had a feeling his birthday was only going to get better!
Fin
Sequel : Wishes Really Do Come True