THE CURE ▶ NATHAN SCOTT [1]

TWENTY TWO

Their lips met briefly before they pulled back, their foreheads resting against one another's. That was until Nathan quickly kissed her nose and hopped out of the car, slamming the door shut.

"I hope you're ready baby because this is gonna be a long night."

---

The walk to the front steps of the house was short and simple. Nathan took a deep breath and opened the door, taking his time to wipe his feet on the doormat before stepping inside.

"Hey everyone! You all remember my girlfriend Carly right?" Nathan introduced her to the dining room full of people. She smiled brightly as Nathan's grandma rushed to tackle her in a hug. Keith also wandered over to give her a greeting as well as Dan and Deb.

In fact, the only person that hadn't greeted her was Royal, and Carly knew exactly why. When it came time for his turn he spoke to her like he hadn't seen her in months. Which would have been the case if she hadn't overheard the conversation he had with Haley in the cafe earlier in the day.

"Carly, my you've grown. Nathan's treating you well I hope. Here come have a seat next to me." He pulled out her chair before she could respond, urging her to sit down.

She felt Nathan's hand brush the small of her back and she instantly felt comfortable within the awkward dinner party. She heard another knock on the door and looked to see Whitey walk through the door. She glanced over at Keith who wore a smug grin on his face.

Carly began to giggle until Nathan poked her in the side of her exposed leg, silently telling her to settle down. She grabbed his hand and gave him a sympathetic look as Whitey took a seat across from her.

"Still glad you came?" Nathan whispered in her ear, ignoring the gaze of his father who seemed to be displeased with his son's actions at the dinner table.

"Of course." She beamed at him

---

"How's the team doing this year, Whitey?" Royal broke the calm silence that surrounded the area as the patrons of the dining room enjoyed their food.

"Oh, we're-" Whitey began, but was quickly cut off by Dan, who saw his perfect facade fading quickly.

"Still undefeated actually." He quickly diverted the topic of conversation to fit his plan, waiting for an awkward silence to emerge to change the subject.

"I'm surprised he didn't bring up the father's game as our only loss, that certainly would have sent my grandpa on a tangent," Nathan whispered in Carly's ear as she chewed on her salad. She grinned, giggling under her breath as an ensuring herself not to be caught by the adults in the room.

"I think that's the point." She smiled. Carly caught May's gaze and the older woman sent her a wink. "So Carly, how's the cheer team doing this year? Have you had any big cheering events yet? I would love to go to one. That could give me a break from all this sports talk." She picked at her food uninterested, but the sincerity of her voice was true.

Carly mentally wracked her brain for the next cheer competition that May could possibly attend, disregarding the ones that had passed. "I think the next cheer competition is the Sparkle Classic, which is after Nate's big tournament. But I think we should save the sports talk until a little later okay?"