23 | Nathan Scott

chapter eleven

Allie was walking with Peyton to class when Brooke came up to them. "So who's the guy that's got you smiling so much?" She asked Peyton. "That would be my dad." Peyton answered and laughed. Brooke smiled, "Oh, I'd be smiling too but for entirely different reasons." Brooke initiated.

"Ew Brooke." Allie said and pushed her head. "Dude, that's my dad! Don't go all horndog on me!" Peyton said and smacked Brooke's arm. "Speaking of which, I need some help connecting with Lucas." She said and turned to the two girls. "I thought you were already doing that?" Peyton said.

Brooke laughed, "Well, the making out is great but it only goes so far. Could you guys help me out?" Peyton and Allie looked at each other, "Uh, yeah." "Yeah." They both agreed to her request. Peyton pulled out a CD from her bag, "Give him this and tell him that tracks 8 and 11 make you think of him." Brooke smiled and ran off, "Thanks P. Sawyer! Love you guys!"

"Getting used to them yet?" Allie asked Peyton. "Um yeah, it's not so hard on my heart anymore." Allie smiled, "Good. Let's head to class." The two walked to class before they were late.

-

"Did you finish The Little Prince?" Allie asked Nathan. The both of them were in the tutor center catching up on any homework. "No, I just rented the movie." Nathan replied bluntly. "Nate, you're not gonna pass if you keep renting movies." Allie says and grabs his hand.

"Well, it's not like I have a lot of time to sit around and read." Nathan scoffed. Allie sat back and thought before a smirk made its way onto her face. She leaned in closer to his ear, "How about if you finish reading this book, you and I finally get to do that thing we wanted to do." She felt him tense up and pulled away with a smile.

Nathan looked at her with wide eyes, "Are you sure? Are you ready?" Allie nodded her head yes, "You better finish that book." She said with a laugh. "Are you ever gonna tell me how the therapy session went?" She asked and put her hand on the back of his head.

"She asked me if I really want to play basketball or not." He admitted to her and grabbed her hand from his head. "And what did you say?" Nathan paused for a second, "I didn't know what to say. Nobody's ever asked me that question." Allie reached over and kissed his cheek.

"Wow, that's really big." She says after. "These last couple of weeks without it... I mean if I didn't play, I might actually have a life." He admitted to his girlfriend. "Well, what would you do?" She asked him. "I don't know, at least I'd have some time to figure it out though." He said and looked at their intertwined hands.

Allie spoke up, "I think you're really brave... to consider rebuilding who you are. I'm proud of you." Nathan smiled and brought his face close to hers. He closed the gap and kissed her lips before pulling back and smiling at her.

"I don't know if I could ever do that." Allie stated, looking away from him. He sighed and grabbed your chin to make you face him. "I believe you could if you wanted to." He said lovingly and staring into her eyes. Nathan let go of her chin, "Well. I have to go." Allie began packing her things, "Hey, practice starts back up again today right?" Nathan sighed again, "Yeah, I'm just not sure if I do." He admitted to her and kissed her lips once more before leaving.

Allie left the tutoring center in hopes of finding Peyton before cheer practice. When she finally found her, she walked up to her. "Hey, you got a sec?" Peyton nodded her head, "Yeah, what's up?" Allie sighed, "Nathan's talking about quitting the team and I don't know what to say to him." Allie confided in her.

Peyton looked at her, "I wish I could help you, but to be honest there wasn't really a lot of talking between Nate and I," Allie nodded her head. "But for what it's worth, he's lucky to have you Allie." Peyton said to her and together they walked to the gym.

After the girls got ready for practice, the basketball players ran through the gym, Allie looked up hoping to find Nathan. Unfortunately not seeing him, she let out a sigh and walked towards Peyton who was with Jenny.

She was lost in conversation when Coach Whitey called her name. "James, you're Nathan's girlfriend, where is he?!" Allie looked around and made eye contact with Lucas, "Uh, I'm not sure coach. I saw him at school today."

Whitey gave her a look, "You spend every day and every hour with him, but you don't know where he is right now?" Whitey gave her an uncovinced look. "Sorry coach." Allie said and went back to stretching and let out a sigh. She looked at Lucas once more who gave her a look. "Practice is gonna suck." She says to Brooke and Peyton.

-

Allie was walking out from her class and hoping to see Nathan, she tried calling him last night but he didn't pick up. When she found him was talking to Lucas. Allie carefully walked up to them in amusement. "Am I hallucinating or were you and Lucas talking?" She asked her boyfriend once Lucas walked away.

"Hey gorgeous, and no, he was trying to talk to me." Nathan explained. Allie nodded and placed a kiss on his lips, "Wanna walk to English?" She asked him. "Um, actually I think I'm gonna cut a little early, wanna join me?" He asked, placing his hands on her hips.

"Are you serious?" She asked and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Yeah, why not. You up for it?" He asked her again. "I wish, but I can't." She explained to him. He nodded his head, "Alright, well I gotta get out of here so I'll catch you later." He kissed her lips again and walked away.

-

The next day Allie was sitting with Peyton in her car. "So, your dad just came back and now he's thinking about leaving again?" Allie asked Peyton. She looked at Allie with tears in her eyes and nodded her head. "I'm sorry P." She brought Peyton into her arms and let her cry.

"He already took the job offer, without even telling me or talking about how it could affect me." Peyton cried out in her arms. "I'm sorry Peyton. I'm so sorry. You'll always have me." Allie said and rubbed her head. "I love you P." Peyton wrapped her arms around Allie's form and cried harder.

-

Allie walked into her room and heard her cell phone ringing. She looked at the caller ID and saw Nathan's name. "Hey, how was the trip?" She asked him. He sighed, "Not great but I'm officially done with basketball." He said over the phone. Allie sighed, "I'm really proud of you, you know? I don't know if anyone said that to you, but I really am."

She heard him suck in a breath as if he was going to cry at any moment. "Thanks, Alles." She smiled, "Of course." The line went quiet for a bit until Nathan spoke up. "Can you just keep talking? It's helping me calm down." He asked in a small voice. "Of course." She replied and began talking about random things. She didn't know the reasoning behind Nathan's decisions, but she would always support him no matter what.