"Leap, My Love"

By CalAbra

AN: AU, OOC, nonsensical (which, judging by past stories, is hardly surprising)

Disclaimer: I own nothing, especially the NH quote

"You'll love this restaurant," Nathan assured. "I've been here a couple of times before and the eggplant parmesan is the best I've ever had."

"Sounds great," Haley enthused. "I love Italian food. I don't know how you even managed to get reservations here. It's always so packed."

"Just luck, I suppose," Nathan said with a wink.

"Such a pretty night, huh?" Haley said conversationally as they were steps away from the restaurant's entrance. The restaurant was located on the boardwalk alongside the river. The quiet night was filled with laughter from children and couples out on dates. The serene canvas of the sky was sprinkled with emerging glowing stars.

"Simply beautiful," Nathan agreed, his sight set on Haley instead of the sky. "Breathtaking even."

Nathan politely opened the door for the petite blonde before stepping into the upscale Italian restaurant behind her. The two met earlier this week at a local coffee shop during their morning routine. Little did Haley know, Nathan had actually noticed her weeks ago and fueled by an extra cup of coffee, finally mustered up the courage to ask her out on a date that fateful day. Frankly, to not ask her out at this point would begin to border on stalker territory, since Nathan knew exactly what she ordered everyday (skinny mocha latte with whipped cream), how she preferred her hair on rainy days versus warm days (ponytail and curly, respectively), and he can easily recall from memory how she filled out the red scoop neck top that she usually wore every other Tuesday (right-o, one cold shower coming up).

"Good evening," the sharply dressed hostess greeted. Her smile lingered on Nathan for a moment longer than his date would have liked, though Haley was happy to note that Nathan barely so much as glanced in the skinny redhead's direction.

"Hi there," Nathan responded. "We have a reservation for four under Scott."

"Four?" Haley asked surprised. She didn't know this was a double date. Were they meeting friends here? Maybe she had been reading his signals wrong...

"Yeah, four," Nathan said with a nod as he checked his watch.

Right then, the restaurant door opened and in walked an older couple.

"Darling," the older woman chirped as she sailed over to Nathan. Busing his cheeks, she apologized, "I'm so sorry we're late. Your father came home late from the dealership, as usual."

"Don't listen to a word she says," the man, presumably the husband in question, scoffed. "She couldn't decide which pair of shoes to wear and that's why we're late."

"No problem, we just got here a few minutes ago," Nathan said. "Haley," he turned towards her and brought her forward with a slight nudge of his hand on her back. "These are my parents, Deb and Dan Scott. Mom, Dad, meet my girlfriend, Haley James."

Haley's eyes widened and mouth fell open. What the what? They were having dinner with Nathan's parents? She was his girlfriend? Since when? This was their first date, for crying out loud!

"Haley, it's so wonderful to finally meet you," Deb gushed as she brought the stunned younger woman into a big hug.

"We have heard so much about you," Dan added with a hearty handshake.

"Err ... I ..." Haley croaked. Clearing her throat, she said tried again, "Hi?"

"She's charming!" Deb trilled, bringing Haley into another full body hug and kissing her cheek. "No wonder you love her so much, Nathan!"

Haley's head whipped to Nathan. Love? First she was his girlfriend and now he loves her? What is going on here? Expecting her date to explain this egregious mistake, she just about died when instead, Nathan agreed, "I told you she's great. I knew you'd love her as much as I do."

"Let's eat, shall we?" Dan asked as he began to follow the hostess to their table. "I'm famished."

Not wanting to make a scene, Haley took a seat next to Nathan and kept a strained smile on her face. If these were crazy people (and there was no doubt about that, clearly), maybe it was best to keep them happy for the time being. Who knew what the heck they might do?

"So Haley," Deb began once the waiter took their orders. "Tell us about yourself."

"Umm," Haley hesitated. "I work as an editor at the local newspaper and I really enjoy it."

"A smart girl," Dan praised. "Good job, Nathan."

Nathan simply smiled and nodded, a look of pride on his handsome face.

"Right," Haley whispered, while glancing longingly at the front door. Feeling Deb's gaze on her, she wracked her brain for something else to talk about, "I, uhh, I come from a large family. Seven kids in all." Insert nervous laughter.

"Seven kids?" Deb asked. "That's such a large family!"

Haley nodded as she took a sip of her strong cocktail. She rarely drank, but tonight was certainly the exception. She made a mental note to make her martini a double next round.

"Do you also want seven kids one day?" Deb asked. "With Nathan?"

Haley choked and coughed violently. She reached for her napkin and tried to soften the harsh coughs with it. Nathan quickly thumped her back and Dan signaled the waiter for a glass of water.

"Mom," Nathan drew out, clearly annoyed. "Look what you did. Stop the crazy talk."

Haley resumed her normal breathing and gave Nathan a thankful look. Maybe he wasn't entirely insane. Who talked about babies on their first date?

"We have to get married before we even start thinking about kids," Nathan said in a matter-of-fact tone. He slung his arms around Haley and pulled her closer. "Ask us again in a couple of months."

"What?" Haley blew up. "Marriage? Kids? Seriously? Deb, Dan, you know that this is our first date, right?"

"Of course we know this is your first date," Dan said. "Nathan told us when he invited us along yesterday."

"So ..." Haley said with raised eyebrows. How were they not connecting the dots here?

"So ..." Dan repeated with a confused look. He looked to his wife who shrugged and mirrored his furrowed brows. "So, we like you," Dan said slowly. Maybe this girl wasn't so bright after all. "So, we think you two are going to be great together."

"Okay," Haley breathed, tossing her napkin on the table. "This isn't going to work. Apparently y'all are from the crazy farm. Excuse us, I'm gonna need to steal your son away for a minute." Taking her martini glass, she chugged the remaining liquid fire and addressed Nathan, "Let's go, buddy."

Nathan rose from his chair and said, "We'll be right back. Just a couple's thing, ya know?" With a wide smile, he followed in Haley's footsteps.

"Why are your parents here?" Haley asked once they stepped outside the restaurant. She walked towards the river's edge and Nathan followed. "You love me? I'm your girlfriend already? Are you crazy? Is this a joke or something?"

"So many questions," Nathan said with a rueful shake of his head. "It's a good thing I knew this would happen. You're too adorable." He tapped her nose.

Swatting his hand, Haley said, "Stop that! And answer my questions!"

"Hales, calm down," Nathan said. He put his hands on her shoulders and bent to meet her eye level. "You're freaking out for no reason. We both know what's going to happen anyways. Now c'mon, why don't you try that eggplant parm, huh?"

Nathan began steering her back to the restaurant, but Haley resisted.

"Nathan! You haven't answered a single question yet. I'm not comfortable with being here. Your parents are in there! I feel like I entered into a Twilight Zone episode," Haley screeched. "Here I thought you were a nice and normal and decent looking … okay, okay … really really good-looking man from the cafe who wanted to go out with me. That's normal. That's nice. Instead, I find out I'm practically betrothed to you at this point, dowry and all! It's just ... it's not normal!"

"So? I'm not normal. What I'm feeling is definitely not normal and to be honest with you, Haley, I don't ever want to be normal. Not with you. I'm serious," Nathan replied. His eyes trained on Haley and what he couldn't say with his words, he conveyed with the sincerity in his eyes.

"Nathan," Haley began. "I. This ... I just ... we just met a couple days ago!"

Nathan held up his hand before Haley could continue. "I know you think I just asked you on this week, but the truth is, I've noticed you for so much longer. There's something about you ... I have this strong feeling in my gut. You're it for me, Hales. And I know I sound like a psycho but you gotta trust me on this. I'm going to learn everything about you—what you love, what you hate, what makes you laugh, what makes you cry. Tell me you feel even a tiny bit of this too. Tell me you know what I'm talking about."

Maybe it was the silent plea in his eyes, or the most sincere expression Haley had ever seen on anyone, or maybe it was even that growing tug in her heart that begged her to take a chance on this silly loon standing in front of her; whatever the reason, Haley found herself whispering softly, "Yeah, I know ..."

"So, what do you say? A little eggplant parmesan? Dinner with my parents?" Nathan cajoled. "They love you already, I can tell. And I know you don't believe me yet, but I love you. I love you, Haley."

"You love me?" Haley repeated, still in disbelief. Maybe she needed to get her hearing checked. And her head, while she was at it.

"Yeah, what is there to not love about you?" Nathan rhetorically asked. "I want to get to know you because that only means I will love you even more. Give me a chance here. Give us a chance."

"Don't you think we're moving way too quickly here? I mean, most couples don't meet the parents until at least six months in."

"I told you, I'm not normal and I never want us to be normal. I just want me and you. That's all. So say yes. Say you want this too."

In years to come, Haley would re-tell this story and blame it on the glowing moonlight, the soft violin notes coming from nearby, and the lull of the river, but in that moment, all she saw was the overflowing love in Nathan's beautiful sapphire eyes and taking a huge leap of faith, she took a deep breath and said, "Yes."