Title; On Love and Autumn
Author; Ems
Disclaimer; I'm a poor chef's apprentice to be. I literally own NOTHING.
Rating; K
Author's Note; This was my entry for the 'Old School Naley challenge' on OTHC, and it got me 2nd place.

The ball soared through the air, all eyes on it. Everyone held their breath as it balanced on the rim, and Nathan closed his eyes. A load roar erupted as the ball fell through the hoop and Nathan opened his eyes, a wide grin on his face. The buzzer went off, signalizing the end of the game as he punched the air and looked up in the stands where he locked eyes with Haley. She beamed back at him, clapping and laughing. The crowd poured onto the court, the defeated team retreating to their locker rooms. He was hoisted up on the eager shoulders of his team mates, their cheers deafening.

Everything seemed to be going in slow motion as he laughed and cheered. Several people were chanting his name, and the pride swelled in him. This was why he played. The rush of adrenalin after they'd won a game, the glory and the way Haley looked at him. There was an extra sparkle of pride whenever he played a good game, even though she'd never admit it. But he saw it, and he loved it. It was the one thing he could do to impress her. She had her books, her charm, her brains, her beauty, her kindness and her innocence. He had this. And for Haley, that was enough.

She watched as the crowd carried him around the court, but the cheers were calming a little. She was pretty much the only one that was still sitting in the stands, but she knew that she'd have time to congratulate him later... He could bask in his glory with everyone else. Besides, she didn't mind sharing her boyfriend with them for a little while. It wouldn't be fair if she was the only one who got to see how great he was.

When he was finally hoisted off of shoulders of the crowd, his legs were stiff and sore. Haley was still smiling down at him, sitting alone in the stands. She winked at him and he smiled back before shuffling along to the locker room with his team mates. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Lucas ran up to her and gave her a hug quickly and running back down. Smiling, he slapped his brother on the back and shook his head. Who would've thought?

"Good game."Lucas said and raised an eyebrow at him. Nathan smirked and nodded. "Yeah, I know." he said. Lucas snorted and shook his head. Nathan was the first to finish his shower and get changed, because he knew who was waiting outside for him. And just as he had predicted; Haley was leaning against the wall outside the locker room, twirling her necklace absentmindedly. When she heard the door open, she turned and greeted him with a huge smile. He took her hands in his and leaned down to kiss her. She never stopped smiling, even when she kissed and he laughed.

"You sure are happy for a high school basketball game win..." he teased as they pulled away and started to walk down the street. She looked at him and shrugged, still smiling. "Well, my boyfriend scoring the winning goal might have something to do with it." she said. Nathan burst out laughing and grabbed her waist, pulling her closer.

"It's called a basket, Hales." he told her, shaking his head. Haley blushed a little and bit her lip. "But never mind." he said, chuckling a little. They walked on towards his apartment, neither of them speaking. He stole the odd glance at her, wondering how she was so oblivious to her own weird antics. The lip biting, the hair twirling, the feet shuffling and the way she moved her eyebrows when she spoke. He supposed these were things you noticed when you loved someone; things they didn't notice about themselves.

Nathan didn't believe in love at first sight. This is somewhat his train of thoughts; it's just not possible to look at someone and immediately love them. Lust, desire, want at first sight? Yes. Love? No. Falling in love is like the change in seasons; it doesn't happen overnight or with the snap of one's fingers, it happens gradually. The trees gain a little more colour, the wind blows a little stronger and colder, the rain is a little more frequent. You don't really realize, just hustle along the days normally until one day, you stop and look down at the leaves dancing at your feet, the steady rain being whisked into your face by the wind and you realize... it's autumn. At first, you wish you were back to the summertime with hot sun, lazy summer nights on the beach and light clothing. But then you think about how beautiful everything around you looks; the brown, yellow, red, orange and dark green of the remaining leaves and how the sun shines so gracefully upon them. And soon it'll be winter, with snowmen, snowball fights, snow angels and hot chocolate, and it's not so bad after all...

And that's what it's like when you fall in love. You don't think about it, you can't stop it, it just happens. Naturally. You start to notice little things about the other person, you think about them all the time, you miss them when they're not around and you smile more. When you do realize what's happened, you immediately get a little scared. You want to go back to when it was easier and there was less to risk, you never know how the other person feels. But then you experience how wonderful it is to be in love; that bubbly feeling in your stomach, the joy of being around that person as much as possible, feeling on top of the world. And it's not so bad. It's actually kind of nice. And maybe, if you're lucky, the person you love will love you back...

She did.