"Joining us tonight is up-and-coming actor- and the buzz in Hollywood this week- Nathan Scott," Jimmy Kimmel's voice sounded over the speakers but it soon faded among the shrill screams penetrating from the audience.
A shy grin saddled across Nathan's lips as he walked out onto the small stage and met Jimmy for a firm handshake. The audience's applause (particularly the females) grew louder when Nathan threw them a bigger, brighter smile accompanied with a perfunctory wave.
He sat down next to Jimmy's desk in a steel blue cushioned chair, fidgeting slightly to get more comfortable. No matter how cool and confident he appeared, the truth was, Nathan Scott was a nervous wreck. This was his first live TV interview ever- no amount of time spent prepping with his agent, Clay Evans, could adequately prepare him for what was to come. As much as he loved acting, Nathan was still wary of the growing spotlight; which seemed to have burst brighter in a matter of 48-hours.
"Thanks for joining us, Nathan," Jimmy smiled when there was a lull in the audience.
"I'm excited to be here," he folded his jean clad leg over the other in an attempt to ease his anxiety. The camera zoomed in on his steady grin.
"How are you?"
"I'm doing well actually," Nathan revealed with a nod and short chuckle, "it's been a crazy few days, though."
Jimmy's eyebrows rose in the direction of the camera, "I'll say. And I don't mean this in an offensive way but before Friday, I didn't really know your name. Now you're a household name!"
"I know," an easy laugh fell from his parted lips, "it's overwhelming."
And it was- he went to bed as a D-List Actor and woke up with over 2 million new Instagram followers. The whole thing was insane.
"So, I know you just made your debut role in Robert DiNiro's new movie, but before we get to that, I think we have to address your other video appearance from Friday night-,"
The crowd erupted into another burst of cheers as a still image of a shirtless Nathan appeared on a screen overhead. But he wasn't alone in the picture; his blue eyes were wide and locked intently on a beautiful, brown-eyed woman who the world knew as Haley James: two-time Grammy award winning singer.
The picture was a screencap from her latest music video in which Nathan happened to be the leading actor in; in this particular image, they were standing in front of an open-window with the Eiffel Tower seen in the distance. Thin white and wispy curtains were blowing in the wind as Nathan's long fingers were in the midst of reaching out to brush a piece of Haley's honey blonde hair behind her ear.
Her teeth were sinking into her painted red lips- a look of utter seduction as she waited for him to lean in and kiss her. She was standing on her tippy-toes, dressed in nothing but white lace negligee, exposing both her ample cleavage and long tanned legs.
Nathan's other hand was wrapped securely around her waist, with Haley's fingers threading through the loops of his dark jeans, pulling him close. If someone had seen the image without knowing the context of the music video, it would have looked like a photo from a couple's honeymoon.
"Should we play part of the music video?" Jimmy asked the audience, then laughed when they proceeded to cheer.
Nathan looked out into the crowd and tried to cover his smile with the back of his palm- he was still, quite frankly, blown away by the response to the video. He quickly learned just how loyal Haley's fanbase was (and rightfully so), but he certainly wasn't expecting such a warm welcome.
"Go ahead," Nathan looked up at the screen and inhaled a slow and steady deep breath. The video starts with a clip of the beach; the lap of waves delicately crashing against the shore before it flickers to a shot of Haley in a long flowy black dress, running barefoot in the sand. The music starts and she's singing the words to the camera. Wind sweeps a tendril of her honey blonde hair across her face but her smile- God, that smile, Nathan thinks- is bright enough to replace the sun.
It cuts to the next scene; Haley's still singing, only this time she's standing in the hotel room- Paris on display behind her- as she sensually runs her hands down her body, standing only in that thin negligee.
Nathan couldn't take his eyes off the screen. He nearly had to pinch himself to remember that he was there; he watched this being filmed- he was lucky enough to reach out and caress her- to kiss her- and yet, seeing it now, it felt like it was all a dream.
Haley's back on the beach and she's running towards Nathan's open arms. It's the first shot he's in, but viewers can't yet see his face- until it zooms in on him twirling her around. The biggest grin is on his lips, and even though she's singing, it's clear they were both talking and laughing during the scene. Haley winds her arms around his neck and begins unbuttoning his white collared shirt. Nathan's hands are on her cheeks and he's staring intently into her eyes; they're about to lean in for another kiss before the camera switches to a new scene and Haley begins a new verse.
They're back in the hotel room; Haley's spread along a white comforter singing to the camera. It pans to Nathan's 'character' and captures the way he's looking at her. A look of pure mesmerization falls across his features; the blue in his eyes shades to midnight.
In the next shot, Haley wraps her arms around his naked stomach and the camera zooms in on her nails scratching at his abs.
The viewers in the audience scream and Nathan decides to stare at his shoes. Was it getting hot in there? He suddenly regret opting to wear the long black sweater he had on and surreptitiously pulled at the collar.
Haley's singing into the camera again as Nathan leans down to kiss her neck. She tilts her head to the side and snaps her eyes shut- the video switches back to them on the beach, innocently wrapped up in each other's embrace as Haley sings to him. He doesn't take his eyes off of her once…
Jimmy paused the video and the entire audience stood to their feet.
Nathan felt his cheeks burst with heat and shifted on the chair; his boxers were suddenly a little too tight.
"All I can say is, wow," Jimmy smirked knowingly. "That was one hell of a music video."
"It was all Haley," Nathan admit quietly. He attempted to suppress a grin but it was to no avail. The crowd was ecstatic.
"So now is the part you tell us you're together in real life, right? Because there's no way with a video like that you aren't."
Another image popped up on the screen and it was one of Nathan looking completely smitten with Haley on the beach; a few of the women in the audience let out a chorus of 'aww's' - including Jimmy.
Nathan tried to discreetly wipe his hands on his jeans and gulped.
"I don't want to let you down Jimmy, but no, Haley and I aren't a couple." He tried not to sound defeated; it felt as if he were under a microscope and every lilt of his voice was being analyzed.
"I don't believe it," Jimmy laughed and pointed to the picture, "I mean, look at the two of you together. Married couples don't even have that kind of chemistry."
"Haley's extremely talented," Nathan admit, "really, she's incredible."
"That sounds like something a boyfriend would say about his girlfriend," Jimmy prodded. Nathan couldn't help but laugh.
"I promise I'm telling the truth. Honestly, that was the first time I met her. My agent is a friend of her photographer and set the whole thing up. I was filming my movie in Paris at the same time she was planning to shoot the music video. We got the whole thing done in one weekend."
"Wow," Jimmy's dark eyebrows jumped, "so you didn't know each other?"
"No- well, I obviously knew who Haley was. I've seen pictures and heard some of her songs but I never actually thought I'd ever get the chance to work with her. It was all pretty surreal."
"What was it like on set? Things looked pretty steamy," Jimmy further prodded with a jovial dance of his eyebrows.
Nathan chuckled, "Haley's super professional. She knew exactly how it wanted to go- and the lyrics are about being in love, so I think it came out great."
"So the song isn't about you?"
He shook his head and faked a pout, "No, but it's funny because when the song was playing while we were filming, I was worried she wrote it about a boyfriend and he'd beat me up when he saw the video, but luckily that's not the case."
"It wasn't awkward?"
Nathan cleared his throat, and shifted nervously again. "I don't intend for this to sound demeaning in any way, but let's just say, I didn't really need to act very much during filming. Haley's beautiful; so no, it wasn't awkward and it definitely wasn't a difficult job."
Once again, the crowd clapped- and a few hollered. Jimmy chuckled at Nathan's now pink cheeks.
"Yeah, I was going to say, it all looked so natural. I guess that's why I find it so hard to believe you're not together in real life."
Nathan didn't know how to respond- he wished like hell that he and Haley were a couple, but he wasn't about to admit that on television in front of the world. He valued her far too much to do something like that.
"It was fun. I really enjoyed working with her."
"Let me just get this straight, Nathan; are you single?"
The women cheered.
"Um, yeah, I am."
"And Haley's single?"
"As far as I know," he mumbled.
"And you had incredible chemistry on set?"
Nathan remained silent but nodded.
"So- and I'm asking this on behalf of most of the world right now- why aren't you two together?"
He exhaled deeply, there was no getting out of this one. "I'll admit, do I have a tiny crush on her? Yes. Of course, I do. Like I said, she's beautiful and talented and incredible. But I also value Haley far too much as a person and an artist to exploit her work into a relationship. I'm a new actor but everyone knows who Haley James is. I'm fortunate she gave me the opportunity to be in her music video, but if I asked her out, it would look like I was taking advantage of her and that's the last thing I would ever want. And, well, I don't really think I have a chance."
The audiences' murmurs were cut short by Jimmy's next words, "let's find out, shall we?"
"Wait, what?" Nathan's eyes expanded to the size of Neptune.
"Please give a warm welcome to Haley James!"
His jaw visibly dropped but stood up quickly, along with the rest of the audience, and watched as she appeared from behind the stage.
He swore in that moment his heart skipped a beat the second his eyes met hers; even dressed in jeans and a simple top, she was stunning. His breath got caught in the back of his throat when she winked at him- it was as if the rest of the room faded. It took everything in him not to reach out and kiss her senseless.
"Thanks for joining us, Haley," Jimmy greeted her as she took a seat next to Nathan, smiling at him in the process.
"Thanks so much for having me."
Nathan was still rendered completely speechless but couldn't remove his eyes from her. Haley turned slightly, catching his gaze and giggled. Sure enough, he was bright red.
"Nathan, you look surprised," Jimmy pointed out.
"I, uh, yeah, hi-," he awkwardly fumbled over his words but couldn't help the grin on his lips when she kept smiling.
"Hi. It's nice to see you, SuperStar."
The edges of his ears flushed pink, "it's nice to see you, too."
"Have you seen each other since the music video?" Jimmy asked, breaking their flirty banter.
"Unfortunately, no. Our schedules have been so busy and it was such a quick turn around from shooting the video, but I've been meaning to reach out," Haley answered. "I had a lot of fun."
"Me too," he whispered just loud enough for her to hear. They traded giddy smirks in secret.
"So," Jimmy wriggled in his seat, "not to stir the pot or anything but right before you got here Haley, Nathan said he doesn't think he has a chance with you. What do you think?"
Her brown eyes collided with Nathan's shy gaze and she grinned knowingly, "I'd say he definitely has a chance. I mean, did you watch the same video I did?"
Nathan perked up in his seat as his eyes sparked with a new beam of light. Haley reached over and grabbed his hand, threading her fingers through his.
"I knew it," Jimmy Kimmel smirked into the camera. "Chemistry that explosive can't be faked."
The credits started to roll, but the camera still caught Haley lean up to press a short kiss on Nathan's lips. Jimmy clapped, "I want to be invited to the wedding."