Always and forever and in between

Chapter 8

"The good news is that you did better, and the bad news is, better is a D" said Haley handing him back his practice test; they were at Nathan's house.

"Yeah, I guess, I didn't really give this one my best shot"

Nathan was upset and he wasn't even trying to hide it, something new had happened, Haley asked "What's going on with you?"

"Well, you know me and Peyton broke up" he reminded her, of their conversation a few hours before.

"Peyton and I" corrected Haley.

"She broke up with you too?" he joked and Haley rolled her eyes.

"Just, I didn't know, she was gonna take it this hard, she went off on Brooke in practice, kinda worried about her"

Before she could stop herself, Haley jibed "Well, maybe you should've worried about her more when you were together" when Nathan looked up, face hard "I am sorry, but it's true"

"No, you don't know the first thing about Peyton and I" he responded defensively.

She cleared her throat and said "me and Peyton"

"Whatever"

Haley took a sip of her tea, as Nathan avoided her gaze and looked over his test; it was so confusing with him, one minute it was jokes and niceness, the other it was the cold-treatment. She stared him down for a long time but he continued avoiding her gaze until she spoke "listen, I should go"

"What?" his eyes snapped to her "we still have time"

"Yeah, I think that's enough for today"

Nathan groaned "No, listen, Haley, let's just forget it and continue"

"It's no use Nathan" she tried "you clearly aren't focused enough"

"Well, then let's watch a movie or something" he said desperately.

"I can't, I have..."

"You were going to stay with me for three more hours, anyway, don't try to convince me you have plans, if you aren't going to teach me anything, then let's just hang" he offered "I will make popcorn"

Haley huffed "Fine, but we are watching something educational"

"Educational?" his brows rushed together in a frown.

That was the day Haley found out how heavily Nathan breathed when he slept, they had gone out to a nearby rental store to find a DVD, when she insisted on the story they were assigned to in class 'a midsummer night's dream'. Haley had read that book countless times, reveling in the enchanting events yet slightly disappointed in what seemed to her as one dimensional characters. Nathan, on the other hand, tried as hard as he could to pull her in the direction of the Austin powers movie, but Haley was adamant. She had said educational and she was going to stick by her statement.

By the time, the third scene had started, Nathan's head was slumped against her shoulder; sound asleep, Haley just continued eating the popcorn he microwaved, moving slightly lower so he wouldn't get a kink in his neck.

"Haley" she heard him say.

"Yeah?" Haley asked but he never responded, when she looked over at him, she realized he was still sleeping and came to the conclusion that she must have imagined it, she threw another handful of popcorn in her mouth.

Her shoulder had fallen asleep an hour ago, but she didn't have the heart to shift, the bowl of popcorn was almost empty. All of a sudden, Nathan's mom entered the room, Haley sat up a little straighter, Nathan's head slid lower, his face squished against her arms but he still hadn't woken up.

"Oh" she stammered "hello, Mrs. Scott"

"Hello"

She tried moving to shake her hand. But Nathan chose that precise moment to close his arms around her in a vice grip, mistaking her for a pillow, and she shrieked as he, pulled her down with him. Haley blushed as she lay slumped awkwardly to the side, Nathan still holding onto her, his heavier weight not allowing her to budge a friction. The older woman stood there, her arms crossed. At that point his mother seemed to be upside down.

"I am Haley, Nathan's tutor" she looked down, Nathan had drooled a little on her "we are just- umm, studying"

Nathan then started to snore and Haley sighed closing her eyes.

"Well, you are doing a great job"

Haley gave a sheepish short laugh, attempting to push Nathan off, man, he is heavy "I should go"

"No, I wouldn't dream of it" the older woman said, walking away "if it weren't you for you, how could I be sure my son was getting enough sleep?"

The tutor groaned in embarrassment, her meetings with Mrs. Scott were getting more and more awkward each time.

Long after the credits rolled on screen, Nathan had started stirring; opening his eyes ever so slightly, before jumping up in shock; he had noticed Haley, stuck under him, eyes showing boredom, she was staring stoically at the blue screen of the TV.

"Morning, sunshine" she said with a sarcastic smile.

"Ughh, what happened?" Nathan mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

"You were enjoying the movie so much; you decided to watch with your eyes closed"

"Sorry" he responded meekly.

"Study and I will see you tomorrow, after school" she said, Nathan watched her walking away; somehow, he didn't feel that embarrassed. Actually, it felt natural, waking up in her arms. But a tiny voice in his head mumbled that it was wrong, at least, like he was cheating on Peyton.

Peyton and I are broken up, shut up.