Moving Forward
Title: Moving Forward
Author: Diane
Pairing: Nathan/Haley
Rating: Mature Rated
Disclaimer: Nope, I don’t own a thing!
Spoilers/Warnings: This story is set after episode 1x19 'How Can You Be Sure' but before 1x22 'The Games That Play Us' and is a sort of AU scenario compared to what we got in those in between episodes. It contains scenes and language of a sexual nature, although it’s not what I’d call graphic..
Summary: “You’re going to be the death of me, you know that, Hales?”
Author’s Note: This has been written for Viv as my birthday gift to her. Hope you had a wonderful day, sweetie. *hugs* I have to give a shout out to the lovely Medine for her initial suggestion for this fic when I was asking for ideas. Thanks, hun. *hugs*
Nathan could feel it spiralling out of control and he knew he needed to slow things done before he crossed the line that would make things awkward and uncomfortable between them. The thing was, he didn’t want to stop. What she was doing to him felt so damn good and it was taking all of his control not to flip her over and do all the things to her that he’d been dreaming and fantasizing about doing for months.
Sure, things had been progressing nicely between them and he had no complaints with what they had been doing so far. No complaints at all. But, he knew there was a line even without her having to verbally tell him. He’d sensed it the few times early on in their relationship where he’d slipped up and got carried away, touching her breast. Her body had immediately stilled against his and he had quickly removed his hand and placed it on her waist or her hip.
So, since then, he had felt an almost reluctance to move things further forward and he always tried to keep himself in check but it was so hard—literally—when she was sucking on his tongue and rubbing herself up against him or when her hands wandered beneath his shirt to stroke his stomach and would play with his belt buckle. If it had been anyone other than Haley James he would’ve had them pegged as a tease but he knew that wasn’t her at all.
Her touches had an underlying innocence to them that made his heart beat wildly in his chest while causing a particular part of his anatomy to stand to attention, just as it was right now. He couldn’t help the deep moan that tore from his throat when he felt her sucking furiously on a patch of his skin at the base of his throat. God… The things she could do with her mouth and yet he knew if he even said those words to her she’d be blushing like crazy. That was another turn-on in itself.
He held his breath when he felt her shift lower and he nearly choked on his intake of breath when she pushed up his T-shirt and began licking circles around his nipple using the tip of her very talented tongue. When she sucked the little nub into her mouth a moment later, he felt like all the blood in his body had headed south. Fuck! He couldn’t remember ever feeling this aroused.
Nathan tangled the fingers of one hand in his girlfriend’s long, auburn hair while the other gripped and kneaded her butt, pulling her in even tighter to him. The make-out session had started off on his couch but they had soon found themselves lying tangled together on the floor in front of it. While the floor wasn’t the most comfortable place to be doing this, he didn’t want to suggest moving this to his bedroom in case that had Haley running for the door. He’d rather put up with a little discomfort, which wasn’t too bad really, than have her leave just yet.
The little mewling sounds she was making as she kissed and licked his chest were driving him out of his mind and, once again, he desperately wanted to flip her over and start reciprocating, although he wasn’t sure how far she’d let him get. While they had progressed to some under-the-clothes touching, he hadn’t yet gone as far as touching her beneath her bra. Boy did he want to though. She had the best body as far as he was concerned—gorgeous curves in all the right places—and she definitely had the best rack of all the girls at school, not that he’d been paying them the attention that he had done once upon a time. He only had eyes for one Haley James. He chuckled to himself as he wondered what Tim would say if he could hear his thoughts.
Nathan was brought of his thoughts when he felt her slim fingers begin lowering the zipper on his pants and he sucked in a breath as his forehead crinkled in a frown. What she was doing was certainly new. Covering her hand with his, he stilled her movements and maneuvered them so that while they were still entwined, he could now look into her eyes.
“Hales?”
“D-Don’t you want me to?”
He could hear the nervousness in her voice and he gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “Want you to what?”
Haley could feel herself blushing and she lowered her gaze away from her boyfriend’s. She licked her suddenly too dry lips and taking a small, deep breath, she forced herself to say the words. “Give you a hand j--”
“Woah!” he interrupted. His eyes widened and his mouth fell open in shock. He felt like he’d suddenly been sucked into the Twilight Zone because he sure as hell wasn’t expecting those words to fall from her beautiful kiss-swollen lips. Seeing that she was getting ready to move away from him, he did what he’d been wanting to do all evening and finally flipped them over, effectively pinning her beneath him.
“Let me go, Nathan!”
“No!” Moving one hand to her face, he caressed her cheek and tilted her face up so she was looking into his eyes. “Talk to me, Hales; tell me where all this is coming from. I-I haven’t been pressuring you, have I?”
She automatically shook her head. “No, you haven’t. Don’t even think that,” she told him.
“Then why? I don’t understand why you’d suddenly be willing to…you know, when we haven’t…I mean, I haven’t, um…”
Haley couldn’t help giggling at a completely flustered Nathan and she felt some of the tension drain away. She felt lighter still when he joined in with her laughter and then blew a raspberry against her neck. “Nathan!”
“I love it when you scream my name,” he whispered into her ear and he felt her shiver in response.
“H-How can you love it when that’s the first time it’s happened?” she queried, cocking her head to one side and turning it slightly so she could see him better.
“Ah, well that’s because you do it all the time in my dreams.”
She blushed in response to his words but somehow managed to keep her eyes focused on his. “Oh, is that right?”
“Uh huh.” Lowering his head, he captured her lips with his and kissed her long and slow. When they broke apart several moments later, they were both panting harshly and once their breathing was back under some semblance of control, they inched towards each other again.
As before, Nathan was careful not to push the envelope too far and in the back of his mind he knew they needed to talk, that what they were doing was a distraction from it, albeit a fucking fantastic one. He couldn’t get enough of kissing and touching her and he had a feeling that wasn’t about to change any time soon, if ever.
“I love you,” he told her when they again drew apart and his stomach seemed to do a somersault at the beautiful, shy smile she rewarded him with.
“I love you, too, Nathan.” Her fingers idly played with the hair at the nape of his neck as she felt herself get lost in the clear blue of his eyes.
Pressing another kiss to her lips, he shifted onto his side, bringing her along with him and taking one of her hands into his. “Will you talk to me…about what you said before?”
“Yes,” she said quietly. The concern she saw etched on his face gave her the push she needed. “I, uh, heard some girls talking today in the, uh, changing room after PE.” Her eyes left his and she looked to the side as she continued. “You were the hot topic of their conversation.”
He inwardly groaned, having a fairly good idea of what they might have been talking about. “Haley…”
“No, it’s fine. I knew you had a past… I guess I just wish that the whole school didn’t know about it, too.” She released a quiet sigh. “They were talking about things they’d apparently heard about you and your, um, reputation and were discussing if it was all true. The conversation got pretty graphic and I…”
Releasing his hand from her grasp for a moment, he tucked her hair behind her ear before cupping her face in his palm. “You what?” he asked a moment later when she hadn’t continued.
“I felt jealous,” Haley confessed. “I felt so jealous of all the girls you’ve been with and the fact that you…that you’ve done things with them that you won’t do with me.”
Nathan’s mouth dropped open as he regarded his girlfriend’s blushing face. “First of all, you’ve got nothing to be jealous of. I know this is going to make me sound like a bastard but you’ve got to believe me when I say I didn’t feel anything for those girls. The way I feel about you, Hales… I’ve never felt that for anyone else.
“And it’s not that I won’t do those things to you, it’s that I don’t want to pressure you into doing something you’re not ready for. I-I love you too much to ever do that.”
Haley breathed a sigh of relief as she moved closer to him and pressed her mouth against his, sliding her tongue between his lips to tangle with his own. Her hand moved to cup the back of his neck, holding him to her as she tilted her head and slanted her mouth over his to deepen the kiss.
“What if I-I’m ready to move things forward?” she asked, the blush still in force as she voiced her question.
“Are you?” His thumb stroked along her cheekbone in a soothing motion as he waited for her response.
Slowly nodding her head, she whispered, “Yes…but I-I’m still not ready to, um…”
“I know,” he said, quick to reassure her. “Like I said before, Hales, it’s not about sex with me. Okay?”
“Okay.” Her smile lit up her entire face and snuggling into him, she buried her face into the crook of his neck and breathed in his familiar scent.
Nathan ran his fingers through her hair, hugging her tightly to him and breathing his own quiet sigh of relief. “So, are we good now?”
“We were always good,” Haley said before pressing her lips to his neck in a series of butterfly kisses.
He tilted his head to the side to give her better access and he moaned when she grazed her teeth along a particularly sensitive spot. “Hales…” His moans were swallowed by her eager mouth when she kissed him again and his fingers dug into her hips as he rolled onto his back and pulled her in even closer.
Haley could feel him hard against her and while her stomach was all a flutter with nervous anticipation, she couldn’t help be thrilled that she had such an effect on him and it made her feel almost light-headed.
“Stay here tonight,” Nathan whispered into her ear long moments later when they took a break to refill their lungs with some much needed air. He took the break as an opportunity to move into a sitting position before standing up and reaching down for her hands, he pulled her up so she was standing in front of him and he then placed his hands on her hips.
“Nathan, I--”
“Please.” He kissed the corner of her mouth while keeping his eyes on hers and gave her what he hoped was his best puppy dog expression. “We could cuddle?”
Haley raised one eyebrow. “Do you mean cuddle cuddle or your own special version of cuddling?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” he replied, but the smirk he graced her with told her all she needed to know.
“Uh huh.”
“C’mon, Hales. Would you rather stay at home in an empty house or stay here with me?”
“You know the answer to that,” she answered shyly.
“So stay here. It’s not like we haven’t shared a bed before and it’s not as if I’m suggesting we sleep together naked, although I’m totally open to it if you insist,” he teased.
“Shut up!” Her giggles had him smiling back at her and he felt more than a little satisfied that he had the ability to help make her feel better. It was a really nice feeling.
Nuzzling her cheek, her hair tickled his nose and he breathed in the fruity scent of her shampoo. “Is that a yes?”
Twining her arms around his neck, Haley stepped up onto her tiptoes and rubbed her nose against his in an Eskimo kiss. “Yes.”
“What about the nakedness?” he asked which was followed by a yelp when she pinched the top of his ear. “Ow! You’re a feisty little thing, aren’t you?”
“And don’t you forget it.”
“I guess that’s a no, then.” She gave him a look which made her answer very plain and he grinned. “Can’t blame a guy for trying.”
It was her turn to yelp with surprise when Nathan suddenly picked her up and she tightened her hold on him as she wrapped her legs around his waist. “What are you doing?”
“What do you think I’m doing?” he breathed into her ear, grazing his teeth against the lobe.
Haley didn’t answer him verbally. Instead, she placed her hands either side of his head and held him still before covering his mouth with hers. As the kiss grew in its intensity, she was vaguely aware of them moving and the next thing she knew she was lying on his bed with him on top of her. “Nathan?” Her voice was breathy when she spoke and she could see the effect it was having on him given the way his eyes suddenly darkened.
“Yeah.”
“Do you have a shirt I could change into?” She bit her lip to stop herself from laughing when she saw how hot and bothered her question had gotten him.
“Uh…yeah. What would you prefer, a T-shirt or a button-down one?”
“Buttons,” she replied against his lips, adding a moment later, “You know, for easier access.” Before he had a chance to respond, she’d managed to slip out from under him and headed for his closet to grab one of his shirts.
Nathan turned and flopped onto his back, covering his face with one arm as he tried to calm himself down. The thought of Haley wearing one of his button-down shirts with several of those buttons undone…Damn! “You’re going to be the death of me, you know that, Hales?”
She had just stepped into his bathroom when she heard his words and so peering around the door, she smirked at him. “Oh, I know,” she teased before closing the door.
The faint sound of her giggles had him smiling broadly and all he could think was, what a way to go!
Fin