Told You So
Title: Told You So
Author: Diane
Entry: 10
Fandom: One Tree Hill
Pairing: Nathan/Haley
Rating: Adult Rated
Genre: Romance
Disclaimer: I don't own a thing!
Spoilers/Warnings: None as it's AU. Story contains scenes and language of a sexual nature.
Word Count: 6,137
Summary: If someone had told her back when she was sixteen that she would not only be best friends with Nathan Scott, star and co-captain of the Tree Hill Ravens, but that she’d end up sharing an apartment with him she’d have said they were delusional. But here she was doing just that.
Author's Notes: This has been written for The October Writing Challenge).
A huge thank you goes to Jen for reading over this and reassuring me about it. You're a gem! *hugs*
Setting his travel case by the front door, Nathan Scott walked over to the kitchen where his best friend and roommate was pouring cake batter into a round tin. He smiled at the way her tongue poked out between her lips as she concentrated on not spilling any of it onto the counter and it reminded him of their tutoring days back in high school. While he was supposed to be working on his assignments, he’d find himself drawn to watching her as she worked on her own and she’d have such a look of total concentration on her face, much like she did right now.
“I can feel you staring,” Haley James stated, glancing up at him before returning to the task in hand.
“Sorry,” he said, smirking. “So, what time are your parents arriving?” Reaching over, he scooped some cake batter onto his pointer finger and proceeded to lick it off.
“Hey!”
“C’mon, Hales, you know how much I love licking the bowl.”
“Fine, give me a minute and it’s all yours, okay.”
Nathan’s smirk deepened. She could never resist him. “So, your parents?”
“Oh, uh, they’re arriving around four depending on what the traffic is like.”
“Say hi to them for me and apologize that I couldn’t be here.”
“I will and don’t worry. I think they’ll understand that meeting your possible future step-dad is more important,” she teased.
“Very funny. My mom’s only just started dating this Greg guy… somehow I doubt it’ll turn into anything serious.”
Haley’s voice lost her teasing tone when she next spoke. “I don’t know, Nathan. This is the first guy she’s wanted you to meet for a long while so I think there’s a good chance she's pretty serious about him.” Wiping her hand on a dish towel, she placed her hand over his which was resting on the counter. “Just give him a chance.”
“I’ll do my best.” Looking at the clock on the oven, he said, “I'd better get going. My cab will be here soon so I think I'll go and wait for it downstairs.”
“Okay. I’ll see you in a couple of days.” Untying her apron, she removed it and laid it onto the counter before turning back to her best friend and giving him a hug. She sighed quietly when Nathan wrapped his arms around her waist and gave her a gentle squeeze. “If things get a bit too… intense, just give me a call and don’t worry if it’s late. I’ll be sleeping on the couch so it’s doubtful I’ll be getting any sleep,” she quipped.
Knowing from experience how uncomfortable their couch was to sleep on, Nathan said, “You can sleep in my bed while I’m gone. I changed the sheets yesterday so it’s clean and it seems stupid sleeping on the couch while my bed lays empty. Or have your parents sleep in there, if you prefer.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. Just don’t go snooping,” he joked, gently tweaking her nose and then laughing at the way she scrunched up her face.
“Oh, you know I will.” She winked.
“You’re such a snoop.” Lowering his head, he brushed his lips against her cheek before retreating. “Okay, I’m off. My cell will be on so if you need anything just call. Enjoy your weekend with your parents.”
“I will and enjoy yours with Deb and Greg. Remember, try not to give him too hard a time.”
“I’ll do my best.”
Haley watched him walk over to pick up his suitcase and then open the front door. With a final wave and shared smiles, he was gone and it was just her in the now silent apartment. Even though he wasn’t going to be gone for long, she already missed him and couldn’t wait for him to get back.
If someone had told her back when she was sixteen that she would not only be best friends with Nathan Scott, star and co-captain of the Tree Hill Ravens, but that she’d end up sharing an apartment with him she’d have said they were delusional. But here she was doing just that.
The only time they had been separated was when they had attended different colleges; Nathan at Duke and her at Stanford which had been her dream school from when she was eight-years-old and she’d visited the campus with her parents and one of her older sisters.
Her love of books and tutoring had steered her towards a path in education and so it hadn’t been a surprise to her family and friends when she’d talked about becoming a teacher.
After college, she had decided to stay in California which kind of worked out perfectly since Nathan had been called up by the Clippers. With the money he was bringing in, he could easily have bought himself a huge mansion and been living the high life but, instead, he'd bought himself a fairly modest two bedroom apartment – modest, at least, in comparison to those some of his team-mates lived in – and asked her if she wanted to share it with him.
With the exception of her dad and brothers, Haley had never lived with a guy before and, as close as they had been in high school, she was more than a little apprehensive about his offer. They had gotten along so well that they had ended up completely forgetting about the trial period they'd agreed upon.
One of the things that had initially concerned her about them living together was his love life. Nathan had had quite the reputation in high school and with him now in the NBA... well, she'd worried that there would be a revolving door of groupies entering and leaving the apartment so it had been somewhat surprising when that hadn't happened. She'd actually called him on it one day and he had just shrugged and told her that he wanted his home to be his sanctuary; that he wanted one place where he could completely relax and be himself. Plus, he'd said, this was her home, too and he didn't want her feeling uncomfortable.
After that, she hadn't given the topic much more thought. All she knew was that she loved sharing a home with him.
* * * * *
Haley laughed as her mother regaled her with the latest of her older sister's antics. Taylor was definitely the wild child of the James clan. “I can't believe she said that to him. Wait, what am I saying? Of course I can.”
“How's Nathan doing?” Jimmy James asked his youngest daughter.
Swallowing her sip of water, Haley replied, “He's great. He said to tell you he's sorry he couldn't be here to see you guys.”
“Tell him we said hello and that we can't wait to see him next time he's back in Tree Hill,” Lydia said, smiling.
“I will.”
“So, are you two dating yet?”
Her father's question surprised her and she almost choked on the piece of potato she had just popped into her mouth. “What!? Daddy, I ca—”
Jimmy laughed. “Don't 'daddy' me. I've seen the way you two look at each and it's obvious there are feelings there. I just want to know if you're finally acting on them.”
“We're best friends so of course there are feelings there. Where's all this coming from?”
“Best friends, my ass,” he mumbled before taking a swig from his bottle of beer.
“Jimmy,” Lydia chided. “If Haley says they're just friends, then—”
“You've changed your tune,” he told her, a half-smile curving his lips. “You were the one asking me on the journey here if I thought they'd finally told each other how they felt.”
“Mom?”
“It's just—”
“Nathan and I don't have feelings for each other... at least not like what you're implying. Are we close? Yeah, we are but that doesn't mean it's more than friendship. He's been there for me through the good and bad times and I'd like to think I've been there for him just as much.”
“You have, sweetheart, but surely you've seen the way he looks at you. He—”
“No,” Haley interrupted her mother again. “I don't mean to be rude but I really don't want to hear another word about this. Nathan is my best friend and that's all there is to it.” Pushing her chair back, she rose from the dining table and began collecting the dirty dishes before leaving the room.
Lydia sighed and gave her husband a pointed look. “You couldn't have left it alone.”
“Hey, I only said what you and I have both been thinking for a long while now,” he said. “Anyway, don't you think she was a little too defensive?”
Getting up from her seat, she leaned over and kissed the top of his head. “You're incorrigible, you know that. I'd better get in there and make sure she's all right.”
“Okay. Look, I'll apologize to her but, Lyd... I don't think we're wrong about this.”
“I know,” she agreed quietly. “But they're going to have to come to the realization themselves, honey.”
“Well, they'd better do it soon 'cause neither of them are getting any younger,” he quipped, his eyes twinkling.
Walking in the direction of the kitchen, Lydia shook her head as she pushed open the door and she immediately saw her daughter's back straighten. “Haley... honey, I'm sorry. You know what your dad's lik—”
“Well his joke wasn't funny,” she cut in.
“He wasn't joking,” the older woman replied, “We weren't joking.”
Pausing in cutting the cake she had made earlier that day, she turned to face her mother. “Seriously? You're really going along with this... this nonsense?”
“Is it nonsense?” Lydia asked. “You're twenty-seven-years-old and you've only had one serious relationship in your life, not to mention that over the course of the last few years it's your name that's always being linked to Nathan's in the gossip magazines yet you insist the two of you are just friends.”
Haley shook her head. “You need to stop reading those rags.”
“That's all you have to say?”
She threw her hands up in the air in exasperation. “What is it you want me to tell you? If it's an admission that we're in a secret relationship where we spend all of our nights here screwing like bunnies, then I'm sorry to disappoint you. We're best friends and that's it. End of story. And as for me only having had one serious relationship... can you blame me?” She refused to let herself think back to that time in her life.
“Haley...” Lydia's voice softened as she approached her daughter and rested her hand on her arm. “Just answer me one question and I'll promise I'll leave the subject alone.”
“Fine, what is it?”
“Hasn't the thought of being romantically involved with Nathan ever crossed your mind?”
Haley considered lying but she knew her mom would be able to tell. “I guess it has once or twice but... My friendship with Nathan means the world to me, Mom, and I'm not about to jeopardize it for something that probably wouldn't work out.”
“And what if he's actually the guy for you, honey? You can't let fear stop you from moving forward and—”
“I answered your question so please... just drop it.” Turning back to the counter, she added, “Thank God Nathan's not around to hear this stuff.”
“Okay,” Lydia agreed. “Do you want me to make some coffee to go with dessert?”
“I'll do it. You can go and keep Dad company in the living room.”
Pausing in the doorway for a moment, she looked at her baby girl with sadness in her eyes before finally leaving to rejoin her husband.
* * * * *
Later that night, Haley tossed and turned in Nathan's bed. Thanks to her parents and their comments, sleep was alluding her since all of her thoughts were now consumed by her best friend and the relationship they had with each other.
She'd lied to her mother earlier when she said it had crossed her mind once or twice about being more than just friends with him... It was a lot more frequent than that.
There were times she'd find herself zoning out and daydreaming about them dating and she recalled a particularly vivid one where they were actually married. When she had seen him at home that evening she'd felt so awkward, almost as if he could read her thoughts.
For a while now she hadn't had any of those dreams but now her parents had raised the subject she was sure that was all about to change. As much as she loved them, right now she couldn't help but curse them for their meddling.
* * * * *
Being mindful of how late it was, Nathan quietly let himself into the apartment and then secured the door behind him. He was always the one to lock the place up at night mainly because Haley had a tendency to forget but, on this occasion, he decided to let it slide and not mention her memory lapse. The last thing he wanted was to wake her or her parents up. Dropping his bags in the corner by the door, he shrugged out of his jacket and laid it on the back of the couch. He eyed the piece of furniture distastefully, knowing it was unlikely he’d be getting any sleep even though he was exhausted.
After grabbing himself a beer from the refrigerator and taking a long swig of the refreshingly cold beverage, he kicked off his shoes and laid down on the couch; doing his best to make himself as comfortable as he could. Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful in his endeavours and he decided in that moment that he and Haley needed to get rid of the expensive piece of shit and buy something that wasn’t going to put him in traction for a week.
From his position, Nathan could see his bedroom door and he looked at it longingly, imagining the softness of his bed… the cool crispness of his cotton sheets. He almost regretted telling Haley she could use it while he was away. If only he’d known that his flight would end up being cancelled due to a technical problem with the plane.
“Fuck this!” he mumbled to himself after ten minutes had passed and he still couldn’t get into even a semi-comfortable position. Finishing his beer, he made his way towards his room and carefully opened the door. His eyes, which had already adjusted to the dark, rested on a single form in his bed and he smirked. At least he wouldn’t be getting into bed with Jimmy and Lydia, he thought to himself.
Sharing a bed with his best friend wasn’t something out of the ordinary. It had actually happened fairly frequently during the times he'd had run-ins with his domineering father. Haley had provided a sanctuary for him and she’d always left her window unlocked in the event that he needed to escape and find some solace.
Stripping down to his boxers and under-shirt, Nathan eased back the covers and crawled in. His body instinctively curled around Haley’s so that his chest was lightly pressing against her back in much the same way as he used to do in her old single bed whenever he'd stayed over at her house. As his thighs came into contact with the backs of hers, he inwardly groaned at the realization that she wasn’t wearing much. Her usual sleeping attire tended to consist of sleep shorts or pajama pants but he figured that due to the hotter than usual weather they were experiencing right now she had decided to forego either of those choices and, instead, sleep in just her panties and a T-shirt.
He sucked in a deep breath when she suddenly stirred and inadvertently pushed her butt into his groin causing him, much to his chagrin, to harden. Apparently, his libido didn’t care that this was his best friend.
“What the hell?” Haley exclaimed, startling awake as she became aware of someone spooning her.
“Shh, it’s okay, Hales. It’s just me.”
“Nathan?” For a moment, she'd thought her imagination had conjured him up. Turning over to face him, she brushed away errant strands of her hair as she squinted to see him in the dark. “What are you doing back?”
“The flight was cancelled… technical issues or something. I should’ve called but it was late when the announcement finally came and I figured you were probably already asleep so I didn’t bother.”
“How did your mom take it?”
“Not good. I’m sure she thinks I somehow sabotaged the plane to get out of meeting Greg.”
Laughing softly, Haley placed her hand on his forearm. “Call her tomorrow and suggest you go up there next weekend. She won’t be expecting that and it’ll show her that you do want to meet him.”
“You have an answer for everything,” he teased.
“So, do you want your bed back now you’re home?”
Nathan shook his head. “Nah, you can stay. I’m sorry for creeping in here but the couch was killing my back,” he told her. “We're definitely buying a new one.”
“Okay, I think we’ve suffered with it for long enough,” she agreed.
“You don’t mind if I sleep in here with you, do you?”
“Of course not.” Even as she said the words though, her face grew hot as she remembered waking up a few minutes ago to the feel of his obvious arousal pressing against her. She’d never been more grateful for the dark.
“Thanks,” he replied. As he shifted down further into the bed, he noticed her loose T-shirt had slipped off of one shoulder and his eyes were instantly drawn to the slope of her exposed breast. When he lifted his gaze, he met her own and he knew he’d been busted. Instead of her rebuking him, he watched her tongue snake out to lick her lips and that tiny action had him throwing caution to the wind and urgently pressing his mouth against hers.
He kept his lips there for what felt like forever but, in reality, was probably just a few seconds, waiting for her to push him away and yell at him but she didn’t. Her lips parted and she sucked on first his top lip followed by his bottom one and he felt his cock grow even harder when, upon opening his eyes, he realised she was watching him while she did it.
“Christ, Hales...” he said when they drew apart long moments later, his voice not much more than a husky whisper. “What are we doing?”
Haley bit her lip as she looked at her best friend from beneath her lashes. “I-I don't know... You kissed me first.”
“Yeah.” As Nathan watched her, he felt an almost desperate urge to kiss her again. In all their years of friendship they had never kissed – other than friendly pecks – but he'd be lying if he said he'd never wondered what it would be like. There had been a couple of occasions where he'd been tempted to just go for it but he'd always chickened out; too scared of ruining things between them.
“Nathan...”
He hated seeing the uncertainty etched upon her pretty face. “I-I'm sorry, Hales.” He began to move away from her but her warm hand on his arm stopped him.
“Don't go,” Haley whispered. Her hand moved from his arm to his cheek and she cupped it tenderly, her thumb gently stroking back and forth along his stubbly skin.
He couldn't help leaning into her touch and his eyes fell shut as he savoured the feel of her touching him. She had the gentlest touch of anyone he'd ever met.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure, what is it?”
Her mouth went dry as she debated whether or not to say the words. Ugh, her parents had a lot to answer for.
“Hales?”
“Have you ever... uh, thought about us being... you know, more than just friends?”
Nathan's eyes widened as he heard her question. “Where is this coming from?”
“Nowhere... God, just ignore me.”
“Whoa, you can't ask me something like that and then not explain,” he told her.
Lying back against the pillows, Haley covered her face with her hands for a minute before removing them and meeting his gaze again. “It was just something my parents said at dinner.”
“What did they say?” Shifting over onto his side, he rested his head in his palm as he waited for her to respond.
“My dad asked if we were dating yet and said something about the way we looked at each other. I would've thought he was kidding if my mom didn't then join in with him.”
“Wow!” he exclaimed. “Sounds like I missed an interesting afternoon.”
“Believe me, you're lucky you weren't here. I felt so embarrassed.”
A smirk tugged at her lips. “Thanks.”
“I didn't mean it like that,” she said, rolling her eyes. “You're as bad as them.”
He chuckled. “So, what did you tell them?”
“I told them that we're just friends and that's it. My mom pressed me on it when we were alone and I... um...”
“You what?” Nathan prodded when she didn't continue.
Hesitantly, she replied, “I admitted that the thought of us being more had crossed my mind once or twice.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Yeah?”
Haley sunk her teeth into her bottom lip. “Yeah, but I lied about that, too.”
A surge of disappointment ran through him at hearing that. “Oh.”
“It's been way more than just once or twice,” she admitted. The moonlight streaming in through the window enabled her to see the darkening of his blue eyes causing the butterflies in her stomach to suddenly take flight.
Without saying a word, he inched closer to her and covered her lips with his; his fingers gently stroking her cheek. “I've thought about it, too,” he confessed.
She sighed with relief. “Yeah?”
“Uh huh,” he murmured huskily, shifting his position so that he was lying on top of her, his weight braced on his forearms. Lowering his head, he kissed her cheeks followed by her forehead and each eyelid before, once again, arriving at her mouth. Kissing her hungrily, his hands stroked everywhere they could reach as he physically demonstrated just how much he wanted her.
Haley's mind was a whirlwind of emotion. Without even thinking about it, she parted her legs and wrapped them around his waist; crossing her ankles and resting them on his butt as she squeezed him between her thighs. Her hands wandered all over his back before slipping them beneath his T-shirt and caressing his warm skin.
She knew they should talk about this before they went too far and did something they would end up regretting but, right now, all she wanted to do was feel him against her. What he was doing to her felt amazing and it had been so long since she'd been touched like this...
She moaned his name when his palm covered her breast and he began kneading the soft mound over her T-shirt.
“Is this okay?”
“Mm-mm,” she mumbled, her body arching against his which caused his erection to press into her even more.
“I want you so much,” Nathan said just before his mouth fused with hers. Finding the hem of her top, he pushed it upwards, exposing her breasts to his greedy fingers. When she broke the kiss a few seconds later, he was worried she was going to tell him to stop.
“Take it off,” Haley pleaded.
He was only too happy to oblige and, together, they managed to remove her T-shirt quickly followed by his. He groaned at the feel of their bare chests coming into contact for the first time. The sensation of her pebbled nipples grazing along his skin felt incredible.
Kissing his way down her throat, he sucked one of the little nubs into his mouth and playfully bit it.
Haley's fingers gripped his hair as his lips and tongue worked their magic on her and, directly in response to it, she began undulating her hips against him. Sliding her hands down his back, she slipped them beneath the waistband of his boxers and dug her blunt nails into him.
Nipping her chin, he brushed his lips over hers before asking, “Do you want to stop? It's just... with your parents here...”
Shaking her head, she said, “I don't care... I want you.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Nuzzling her lips against his cheek, she whispered into his ear, “We'll just have to be really quiet.”
Nathan smirked at her. Making his way down her body again, he kept his eyes on her face as he swiped the flat of his tongue over a pert nipple while kneading her other breast.
She watched through heavy-lidded eyes as he shifted further south and she held her breath as he fingered the lace trim on her panties.
“Can I take these off?” he asked, his voice soft and low.
Haley nodded. “Yes,” she replied just as quietly. Raising her hips up off the bed, she aided him in removing them and their gazes locked on each other as she waited for his next move. She thought she would feel shy and self-conscious in front of him like this but she was surprised to find that she didn't. Not at all.
The first touch of his tongue on her clit had her eyes falling shut. “Oh God...” One of her hands gripped a fistful of the bed sheet while the other cupped the back of his head, effectively holding him in place as he lapped at her wet, swollen flesh.
Knowing she needed to be quiet, she released the bed sheet and placed her forearm across her mouth, biting down as her pleasure increased. When Nathan slid a finger inside of her, swiftly followed by another one, the tight coil in her belly snapped and she exploded in a mind-melting orgasm.
Rubbing himself against the mattress, he tried to alleviate the increasing pressure in his groin as the fluttering of her sheath around his digits brought his own climax even closer.
Smiling shyly at her best friend, Haley held out her arms to him and a wave of relief washed over her when he instantly crawled up her body. She mewled into his mouth when he kissed her, her clit throbbing at tasting herself on his lips. “You feel so good,” she told him breathlessly, her palms massaging his back and shoulders.
“You do, too,” he said before diving into the maelstrom again. A low, long moan rushed out of his throat when he felt her fingers slip between their bodies and wrap around his shaft.
“I want to touch you,” she said when they had broken apart again to breathe in more air.
“God, yes...” Securing his arms around her, he let her roll him over onto his back and he felt himself harden even more when she started pumping him in her fist. He watched as she peppered his chest and then his abdomen with open-mouthed kisses; his breathing becoming even more ragged as she stripped him of his boxers and he waited for her next move.
When the scorching heat of her mouth surrounded the head of his cock, Nathan reached behind him to grab at the headboard. “Christ, Haley!”
“Shh, quiet remember,” she said, pausing in her ministrations to look up at him; a wanton smile curving the corners of her mouth.
As she licked and sucked at his throbbing flesh, he almost felt like pinching himself to make sure this was really happening and wasn't just an awesome dream. A feral growl ricocheted around the room when Haley hollowed her cheeks and added more suction while, at the same time, rubbing at a sensitive spot just behind his balls. “Baby... y-you need to stop... I'm gonna come...”
With a final lick to the underside of his cock, she kissed her way upwards, rubbing herself against him until her mouth hovered over his. “Do you have any condoms?”
He swallowed thickly. “Uh... yeah, in the nighstand.” Before she could reach over to open the drawer, he circled his fingers around her wrist. “Are you sure, Hales? I don't want you to feel like you have to—”
“I'm completely sure,” she replied. Leaning into him, she kissed him; softly at first and then with a fiery passion. “I... I need to feel you inside me.”
Haley's heated words spurred him into action and he flipped her over so that he was back on top. Fusing his mouth with hers, their kisses were frenzied as they lost themselves in each other. Blindly, he reached a hand out to his nightstand, pulling open the drawer and rummaging around inside of it; desperately hoping to find at least one condom in there. His fingers finally closed around an unopened box and he withdrew it.
She voiced her disappointment when Nathan broke the kiss but seeing the reason for it, she wasn't about to complain. She watched as he tore open the cellophane wrapper and retrieved a foil disc from inside it. Her blood sizzled in her veins when he began rolling the thin latex down his more-than-impressive length and she felt herself grow even wetter.
Sliding her arms up his biceps as he leaned across her and coiling them around the back of his neck, Haley lifted her head from the pillow to meet his kiss; her breath ghosting against his lips as the underside of his cock rubbed deliciously along the seam of her pussy.
“Please,” she begged.
Slanting his mouth over hers, Nathan kissed her hotly as he slowly pushed inside of her, his eyes almost crossing at the exquisiteness of the two of them being so completely joined. After holding still for a long moment to savour the feeling, he began to move; thrusting into her over and over while making sure his pelvic bone rubbed against her clit.
The blunt edge of his teeth bit at the base of her neck while one of his hands kneaded her right breast in time with his movements. A faint tingling at the base of his spine signalled that the end was in sight for him and so he picked up the pace to the point where his headboard was starting to knock against the wall. Thank God her room wasn't next door, he thought to himself.
Haley felt her own orgasm gathering pace, a trail of fire licking up her spine and spreading across every one of her nerve-endings. She couldn't remember anything ever feeling this perfect. Her fingernails curled into his skin as she tipped her pelvis back slightly so that Nathan slid in even deeper. “Nathannn...”
When her cries started getting louder as she began to climax, he urgently pressed his mouth against her lips to try and muffle the sound. It took just three more hard, deep strokes before he careened over the edge, emptying himself into the condom.
Collapsing bonelessly on top of her, he buried his face in the hollow of her neck as he tried to catch his breath. The feel of her palms running all over his back was slowly lulling him to sleep; something he wasn't quite ready to succumb to.
“Nathan?”
“Hmm?” Finding the strength to raise his head from where it rested against her, he looked into her flushed face.
“Was that okay?”
Nuzzling his nose against hers, he replied, “It was amazing... you were amazing.” The smile she gave him in response illuminated her entire face and he felt her body relax.
“You were pretty amazing, too,” she said.
Smiling back at her, he popped a kiss onto her lips. Reluctantly withdrawing from her, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat up and after grabbing a few tissues from the box on his nightstand, he removed the condom and tossed it into the trash can by his dresser. When he felt her fingers trailing up and down his arm, he turned to look at her and was startled by the look on her face. “Hales, what is it?”
Sucking her bottom lip between her teeth, Haley regarded him nervously. “This won't change us, will it? We'll always be friends, right?”
Ducking down, he sealed his mouth overs and kissed her long and slow before retreating. “Best friends,” he corrected, “but I was kind of hoping that after what we just did we could be more than that.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, unless you don't want to.”
“I do,” she was quick to tell him. Lacing their fingers together, she gently pulled him forward until he was lying on top of her again.
Brushing his nose against her cheek, he asked, “So, what's the plan with your parents? Do we tell them that they were right all along?”
“And have them never let us hear the end of it? I don't think so,” she said, laughing. “I want us to have a chance to get used to this before we tell anyone.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “We'll have to be discreet... you know what the paparazzi is like. I don't think Jimmy or Lydia will be too happy to find out the news second hand.”
Cupping the side of his face, Haley rubbed her thumb along his cheekbone. “Uh huh, though since the gossip rags have spewed crap about us for years it'll be easy to just deny it.”
“Not if the photos show us making out,” he teased.
“Hmm, I guess we'll just have to keep that for when we're alone, then.”
“I guess we will,” Nathan said, smirking as he rolled them over so that she was now draped all over him.
* * * * *
The next morning, Jimmy was up bright and early. He wanted to apologize to his daughter for upsetting her yesterday, even if he did think he was right, and so he decided to make her favourite chocolate chip pancakes. As he passed through the living room to get to the kitchen, he noticed what looked like a man's jacket on the back of the couch together with an opened bottle of beer sitting on the coffee table.
He had been the last one to bed last night, having stayed up to watch an old Clint Eastwood movie that was playing on TV, and he knew the beer bottle wasn't there when he'd left the room.
With a shake of his head, he headed into the kitchen to make a start on breakfast.
* * * * *
When Lydia walked into the room about thirty minutes later, she smiled at her husband flipping pancakes by the stove. “Mm, something smells good in here.” Pressing a kiss onto his clean shaven cheek, she added, “The pancakes do, too.”
“Well, I try.” Jimmy laughed as he turned his head and kissed his wife's lips. “Hey, could you do me a favor, Lyd, and wake Haley up?”
“Sure, honey, no problem.” Exiting the kitchen, she made her way towards the bedroom where Haley had slept last night and rapped her knuckles lightly on the door before turning the handle. The blonde gasped when she saw her daughter lying entwined with Nathan; both of them fast asleep and clearly naked beneath the thin cotton sheet. The shock on her face quickly melted away to be replaced with a smile which stretched from ear to ear. Backtracking, she quietly closed the door and practically sprinted back to the kitchen to tell her husband the good news.
“Jimmy! Jimmy, wait until you hear this!”
Fin