May 4th 1994
"Nathan" Haley grunted.
"What?" The six year old grunted turning around.
"You pushed me." She said crossing her arms over her chest.
"No I didn't."
"Yes you did!"
"I'm sorry that I didn't push you." He smirked.
"What?"
"Nevermind...come play basketball with me."
"Promise not to laugh." The young girl called out following him.
February 16th 1997
"Nathan! Nathan!" Haley yelled running after him.
"What?"
"Tag you're it."
"I'm not playing tag."
"You are now" Haley smiled before running away. He sighed and chased after her.
July 10th 2002
Haley sat at the dock with her feet in water, guitar in hands as she lazily strummed it.
"Hey Hales, what are you up to?"
"Nothing." She said quietly.
"Wanna play something for me?"
"Nathan." She said looking away as she blushed.
"C'mon Hales." He pleaded.
"Fine."
Making my way downtown
Walking fast
Faces pass
And I'm home bound
Staring blankly ahead
Just making my way
Making a way
Through the crowd
And I need you
And I miss you
And now I wonder...
If I could fall
Into the sky
Do you think time
Would pass me by
'Cause you know I'd walk
A thousand miles
If I could
Just see you
Tonight
"Wow Haley, that was...amazing."
"Thanks...Do you ever think about what you're going to be when you grow up?"
"I mean not that much because I already know, I'm going to be in the NBA. Why?"
"I just...I'm unsure."
"If you want to be a singer, be a singer. If you don't you don't" He said as she smiled and nodded her head.
February 12th 2005
"Crazy, get in the car." Nathan said pulling up next to Haley on the road.
"What, I'm not crazy."
"Yes you are, now get in the car." She rolled her eyes and did so. "Why the hell are you walking on this road, it is the busiest in town and people get hit all the time."
"It's the quickest way home." She shrugged.
"Yeah...don't ever do that again. If you're in a rush, let me know I can give you a ride"
June 5th 2006
Haley wandered around the cafeteria looking for someone, anyone. It was graduation day but suddenly everyone around her in gowns looked like strangers.
"Hales!" Nathan shouted from beside her.
"Hey Nat..." She started to say before being cut off as he pulled her into the hallway.
"Finally some peace and quiet." He sighed.
"It's so loud in there."
"Insanity." He groaned as Haley laughed. "What?"
"Your tassel is on the wrong side."
"No it isn't." He said moving backwards. "Your's is."
"Nathan, I know these things and unless you already graduated, it is."
"I can't believe we're graduating." He said shaking his head.
"I'm going to miss you." She said leaning in to fix his tassel before freezing. Their eyes locked, he bit his lip before taking the plunge and leaning in to kiss her. Her hand moved from his tassel to his cheek and the couple was only separated by the sound of someone over the loudspeaker in the gym "All students please start to organize yourself by homeroom." The pair quickly split and stared at each other. "Where is the valedictorian?" Someone insider the gym questioned. Haley started to walk backwards toward the gym looking at Nathan still, before turning around. Neither of them to ever mention the kiss.
June 11th 2008
Slowly Haley skipped down the beach, finally she was home for the summer from Stanford and couldn't be more excited. Quietly she pranced before jumping on Nathan's back.
"Oh" He groaned, instinctively grabbing for her legs to hold her.
"Hey Mr. NBA star."
"That's me." He smirked, even though she couldn't see it, she knew he was.
"I'm so proud of you." She said wrapping her arms around his neck as he carried her down the beach.
"How's school? We haven't talked much since you left."
"I know, I promise to call more, but it's great Nathan. I really love it." She started to say as he smiled. It was everything she ever dreamed of.
May 23rd 2011
Nathan sat in the back row at the Main Quadrangle building on Stanford's campus. "And finally, the last graduate of the 2011 Stanford class is our valedictorian Haley James." Nathan smiled as he loudly applauded. He had kept on his hat and sunglasses inside. Even though he knew it seemed rude this was Haley's day and he didn't want anyone to see him.
He had skipped out on pictures after wards but Lydia knew he was in town and told him what restaurant they would be going to after. He bit his lip in excitement as he walked through the restaurant, hearing her laughter coming from the back room. He moved to stand in the doorway of the private room and knocked on the frame of the door. "Any seats left?" He smirked.
"Nathan!" Haley shouted getting up moving to hug him. "You came?"
"Of course I did. You graduated as the valedictorian at STANFORD. I was there, I just didn't want anyone to see me and take away from your day."
Haley smiled up at him before handing the phone in her hand to her brother. "Landon, take a picture of us please, we didn't get to after the ceremony, but we should have one."
"Yeah, I need a photo with Haley James before she gets too famous and I can say I knew her back when." Haley looked up at him questionably. "Luke told me how you started having meetings with labels."
August 1st 2013
"Hi Hales." Nathan said walking onto the roof of the cafe before she ran and jumped into his arms.
"I've missed you!" She said quickly.
"You too Ms. number one on iTunes and the Billboard charts."
"You saw?" She smiled.
"More like I bought ten copies in the store. I was hoping you would sign them for me." He laughed.
She bit her lip. "I don't know, normally I don't just sign copies for anybody."
"Even a life long friend."
"Not good enough." She laughed "I'm not the only one who is following her dreams. Youu've started all season and have been killing it in games."
"You pay attention to my basketball games?" He asked surprised because she barely knew what a free throw was.
"Of course. I DVR the game if I can't watch it live and if I can I try to make it to a game every now and then."
"Why didn't you tell me, I would have gotten you floor seats or even talked to you after."
"I wanted to watch you in your element, without you knowing I was there." She smiled. "You're the best one out there."
"I really did miss you." He smiled. "Seeing you one week every other summer isn't enough."
"I know." She said, she missed him too, a lot.
Nathan bit his lip, he had been holding in his feelings for a while, but it was getting him nowhere, so today was the day he was going to bite the bullet. He locked eyes with her and put his hands on her cheeks as he moved in to kiss her. Before he knew it she was kissing him back.
The entire week Nathan and Haley were both home in Tree Hill they had been inseparable. They we constantly holding hands, kissing, talking, and were thankful that their were no paparazzi in Tree Hill. When the time came for them to get ready to go back to L.A. they were sitting in Haley's living room as she packed.
"Hales." Nathan said. They hadn't spoken since he got there ten minutes ago. They only sat in silence thinking about what was to come.
"I know" She whispered.
"This past week has been great...I can't just stop this."
"Me either. But our careers are each so demanding." She sighed.
"We could make it work." He said quietly as she looked up.
"You would want to?" She questioned, hopeful.
"Of course I would, I want to be with you."
"Me too." She smiled leaning in to kiss him gently. "But if you don't mind I want to keep it silent. I don't want our relationship on the cover of every tabloid. I want it to be private. To be ours."
"I completely agree." He smiled back.
Nathan smiled as he pulled out a chair for her in the small restaurant. They had been back in L.A. for two weeks now and things couldn't be better between the two. They had been on several dates and were lucky enough to find secretive places to go. Nathan had rented out the restaurant for the next two hours so they could enjoy each others company without having to worry about the press. "Thank you." Haley smiled up at him before he moved to sit down across from her. "This is nice." She said looking around. "Italian is my favorite."
"I know." He smirked back at her. "Thanks for coming out with me."
"Of course. I love spending time with my boyfriend."
He smirked. He never liked being a girl's boyfriend, but now hearing it come out of her mouth he couldn't be happier. "I'm glad we're making this work."
"Me too."
"So how was your week?" He asked picking up his menu.
"Good, I did some co-writing and worked out a deal with management for my upcoming shows. Brooke also sent me some sketches for the wardrobe on my next tour. But I missed you." She somewhat sighed at the end.
"I know, I missed you too." He had had two away games that week, one in Miami and the other in Boston so he was gone for four days. "But I'm in town for the next week and a half with no interruption.
"And then you go to Chicago and that's where my radio tour starts incidentally."
"And incidentally we are staying the same hotel. The Peninsula." Nathan smirked.
"That hotel is beautiful. I remember I stayed there once with Brooke and I never wanted to leave." Nathan nodded in agreement taking a sip of his water. "You looked great on the court this week."
Nathan smiled now knowing that she never missed a game of his. "Coach says he thinks I'm playing better than ever and wonders why. Do you have any idea?" He said reaching across the table to hold her hand as their eyes connected and she smiled back.
February 17th 2014
Nathan carried their luggage up the stairs in Haley's house. He hadn't officially moved in yet but spent at least five nights a week at her place. She always said they could go over to his house for a little bit but her liked her place a lot better. His home was bare, and not a home, just a house. Her's felt like home, it was nice and most importantly it was Haley's.
"I think that's the last of it." He said placing her bags next to the washer as she opened them to start sorting out the clothes so she could wash them.
"Thank you again. That was the best five days of my life." She smiled sticking her chin up. That was a sign Nathan came to know and love, Haley wanted him to lean down and kiss her as she worked, so he did.
"You didn't need to keep thanking me."
"Oh I think I do." She said placing down the clothes and moved to place her body against his and kiss him again.
"I mean I'm not going to argue." He laughed kissing her. He had surprised her with a trip to Bora Bora for Valentine's day. They had their own private beach and suite so they could do whatever they wanted without having to worry about others watching. They loved being able to walk around without the concern of someone seeing them. "Although I do have one more surprise for you. For your birthday, so you are going to go out with Brooke and find a nice dress to wear."
"What? But my birthday isn't for a week."
"But we will be in Vegas celebrating Brooke's birthday too and I want to give you my present when it's just the two of us. It's special."
"Nathan Bora Bora was special enough. You didn't need to get me something else.''
"Don't argue." He laughed. "Just head over to Brooke's and let me get it ready. She's waiting for you."
"Okay" She said raising her eyebrows, she grabbed her purse and kissed him quickly before walking out of the house.
Haley walked into her house four hours later, in a brand new knee length blue dress, after Brooke had done her hair and makeup. Apparently Brooke was in on whatever was going on and Nathan had texted her when she could send Haley home. She looked around in shock as she saw the rose pedals on the floor leading her through the house out the back door, when she opened it and stepped out she gasped. "Nathan."
"Hi Hales." He smiled in his suit, he stood on the grass in front of a table set for two. The entire yard was decked out in lights and it looked beautiful. He walked up the stairs to the deck before taking her hand in his, kissing her, and leading her to the table. He pulled out the chair for her before moving to his seat.
"What is all of this?" She asked still in awe.
"Your birthday dinner. By the way, you look beautiful."
"Thank you, you don't look to bad yourself handsome." She smiled looking him up and down. "This is amazing, thank you."
"Well there is one more thing." He smiled bigger than ever. "Hales, I love you. More than words can express and even though we haven't been together for that long, I love you and nothing will ever change that. You are the one person that I can't imagine my life without. You're my one. We've known each other forever and now that we are finally together I couldn't feel happier and nothing has ever felt so right so..." He said smiling as tears brimmed in her eyes knowing what was coming as he moved to kneel on one knee next to her. "Will you make me the happiest man alive, Haley James, and marry me?" Nathan opened the engagement ring box as she flung her hand to her mouth. She quickly nodded as he slipped it on her finger. "Yes. Of course, yes." Haley said beaming as she threw her arms around him in a hug before kissing him.
Haley beamed walking down the Vegas strip with Brooke. They had just attended the Britney Spears show and now were headed back to the hotel. She was excited to see Nathan again. That was the only place they could really hang out because they were embracing the whole private relationship thing, which was worth it in the end. "That was amazing." Haley said linking arms with Brooke as they entered the hotel.
"She is the queen." Brooke nearly shouted, she had had a few too many margaritas at the show.
"Let's find Lucas for you." Haley laughed as she walked by the hotel bar, seeing Lucas and Nathan at a table. They caught eyes on her and walked out to join them.
"Hey guys" Lucas smiled moving to grab Brooke as Haley let go. "How was the show?"
"So good!" Brooke said enthusiastically as everyone laughed. Nathan looked around, and when he saw no one around he quickly kissed Haley.
"I'm going to get her to bed. See you guys in the morning." Lucas said as they nodded and walked the other direction.
"I'm not ready to go to sleep yet." Haley said leaning on Nathan as they walked down the hall.
"Okay, lets walk around the hotel a bit. It's huge."
"I wish you could've came tonight." Haley said quietly.
"But then people would have known...do you not want to keep us a secret anymore?" He questioned.
"I mean I like not being in the tabloids and people focus on our careers in interviews not our relationship but...I wish I could do things in public with my fiancé."
"I get what you mean." He said kissing the top of her head. "How much longer do you want to keep us a secret?"
"I don't want to keep my husband a secret. Let me put it that way." She said. "So maybe when we get back to L.A. we just start going out in public together and maybe give an interview about it."'
"Okay" He said. "When do you want to get married anyway?" He asked. They had yet to have had that conversation.
"Soon." She smiled up at him. "I don't know how much longer I can wait to Mrs. Scott." SHe felt giddy at the thought.
Nathan stopped them mid stride. "What about now?" He asked as Haley turned to see they were standing in front of the hotel's wedding chapel that had a sign saying they were open 24/7.
"Nathan, we can't elope." She laughed, although she started to think about it.
"Why not? I want to be your husband as soon as I can, and you said it yourself you wanted our wedding to be as small and private as possible."
Haley smiled at the thought. "Let's do it." She said reaching to grab his hand and walk in until he stopped her.
"Wait." Nathan said "Are you sure?"
"Nathan you're the one that suggested this."
"I know but I don't want you to feel like I'm forcing you." He worried as she reached her hand up to his cheek.
"You're not, trust me. I want to do this and I want to marry you tonight."
"Okay" He smiled. "Let;s go."
"But I will not get married by an Elvis impersonator." She objected as they walked in and he laughed.
Nathan and Haley smiled nervously at one another as they pulled up to the set of Good Morning America one week later. Before they even left their hotel room the next morning the press had already found out of the wedding because it was now in the public records. Apparently most magazine stalked those listings for any celebrities. After getting back to L.A. both of their managers were enraged that they got married secretly but aside from dealing with the uproar it caused, Nathan and Haley couldn't be happier.
"It's all going to be fine." Nathan whispered to her before getting out of the car to be swarmed with paparazzi. He quickly made his way to help Haley out of the car before rushing them inside away from the madness. It was Haley's interview that she had prescheduled to promote her new album but now it would just be her up their under fire.
"Please welcome Haley James!" Robin Roberts announced as Haley walked out waving and took a seat.
"Haley James Scott actually." She smiled
"Sorry." Robin laughed. "That leads me to my first question for you...could you explain your relationship with him a bit?"
"Nathan and I grew up together actually. We are both from Tree Hill and his brother was my best friend growing up. Our relationship wasn't as sudden as it seemed. We started dating over six months ago so the marriage was a little rushed but it wasn't like people thought it was."
Haley bit her lip nervously before she saw something in the corner of her eye and suddenly she was being kissed on the cheek from behind her. She relaxed when she realized it was Nathan. "What are you doing?"
"We face things together, remember?" He smiled handing her a bouquet of flowers and sitting next to her as the audience awed.
"What, you didn't have these when you came in." She said gesturing to the flowers.
"I have my ways." He smirked.
"Well thank you, their beautiful."
"Anyway, Haley and I were always close. I don't know if she knows this but I always loved her. We didn't start dating until six months ago but I always knew we were meant for each other, from our first kiss."
"This summer."
"No." Nathan said looking at her.
"Nathan I'm not going to count the time when you kissed me when we were five."
"I'm not either. The day we graduated high school." He smiled
"I completely forgot about that." She smiled back at him. "Nathan kissed me right before graduation and nothing happened because...I guess I was afraid of getting attached before we went to college so we never spoke of it again."
"Then I came to your Stanford gradation and surprised you." He smiled as Haley pulled out her phone to show Robin the photo from that day. "But things changed this summer. "I was sick of seeing her once every other summer, so I kissed her again and then we decided we would make it work and commit to being together."
"And ever since it's been amazing. I mean I miss him when one of us is on the road but so far we've been good at managing schedules and making sure we aren't separated for more than a few days."
"How will you manage when you have to go on tour and Nathan has away games?" Robin questioned.
"I will only tour during the off season, so he can come with me, or plan my tour around his games so we are in the same city at the same time." Haley explained.
"Now would you like to play us a song?"
"How about I play first a cover of Waking up in Vegas, since everyone thinks that's what our marriage is?" Haley asked Nathan as he laughed. "Could you hand me my guitar babe?" She questioned as he reached next to him to grab it.
You gotta help me out
It's all a blur last night
We need a taxi 'cause you're hung-over and I'm broke
I lost my fake ID but you lost the motel key
Spare me your freakin' dirty looks
Now don't blame me
You want to cash out and get the hell out of town
Don't be a baby
Remember what you told me
Shut up and put your money where your mouth is
That's what you get for waking up in Vegas
Get up and shake the glitter off your clothes now
That's what you get for waking up in Vegas
Why are these lights so bright?
Oh, did we get hitched last night dressed up like Elvis?
Why am I wearing your class ring?
Don't call your mother
'cause now we're partners in crime
"Alright that's enough of that." Haley laughed placing her guitar on the ground as Nathan wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"Nathan what do you think of Haley's music?"
"I love it, I always have." He said looking into her eyes.
"Not many people know this but Nathan was the first person I ever played for, you remember that?"
Nathan nodded with a smile "We were fourteen."
"We were fourteen, at the docks. I was just plying my guitar and Nathan came along and forced me to play."
"I didn't force you to." He rolled his eyes.
"You basically did but that's okay because..that's what got me here. I don't know if I ever would have started playing without that day. He said something that day that I will always remember he said "If you want to be a singer, be a singer. If you don't you don't"" Nathan smiled as Haley moved to hold his hand, he leaned in to kiss her forehead as Robin asked. "If you don't mind me asking, why did you go to college and not just start working on your album?"
"To be honest I didn't think I could do it so I had a back up plan. But then Nathan made it into the NBA and accomplished his dreams and he made me realize that it could happen for me to...your art matters Nathan. That's what got me here."
"Well you're the reason I am the man I am, you inspired me to be a better man for you, so I AM."
"Now why did you keep your relationship a secret?"
"We didn't want the press involved in our relationship. Relationships early on are fragile and I didn't want that to ruin it. We wanted to figure things out on our own first before we let others in. I also didn't want it to over power our careers. Yes we are married but I'm a singer, he plays basketball. That's why we are famous, not because we're married to one another."
"Makes sense" Robin smiled. "Thank you for coming in now, would you like to sing us out with a song from your new album."
"I would love to. This is my newest song called We Are Man And Wife, I wrote it for Nathan." SHe smiled picking up her guitar.
All the things you are to me
Darling you have set me free
Always give you what you need
and what you deserve
All the joy and all this love
I know that it is from above
And now together there's enough to fill this world
'Cause you are the love of my life
You are the love of my life
And now we're man and wife