A/N: Hey guys...hope you enjoy this Naley one shot. :). Lyrics go out to the Fray, who are awesome by the way.
I'll Look After You
"Did I tell you how much I hate you right now?"
"Not in the last five seconds." I chuckle and even though she's wearing a blindfold I know she's glaring at me. She's cute when she's impatient and irritated and sometimes I just do it so I can smile watching her.
"Nathan!"
"What? You can't hate me anyway; I bring you Cheerios and strawberry ice cream at three in the morning." I reply which merits her sticking her tongue out at me.
"Which brings me to my next argument…I carried you're child
"And you're point is?"
"My point is, I'd hope you'd treat the mother of your children a bit better than this." She complains and all I can do is laugh.
"Hales, I hardly think this is cruel and unusual punishment."
"Close enough for me." She says clutching onto my hand even tighter. "I don't understand what we're doing."
"Why do you have to fight me on everything?"
"Because you think it's cute."
"Not always." I mumble to which she laughs. When I first met her she was probably the quietest person I had ever met but when she laughed for the first time, at me I might add, it was the most heartfelt, deep laugh I had ever heard. From then on it was my favorite sound to listen to.
"Why are we walking so far?" she whines and I roll my eyes. "Don't roll your eyes at me Nathan Scott." Yes, she's that good…she can't see me but she knows all my little quirks.
"Heaven help our child."
She grunts and I just shake my head in amusement. Today is special for us…today is eight years after the fact of our first date. She's complaining a lot and that's understandable; she's nearly five months pregnant with our second child. But I can tell she's excited, wearing a goofy grin along with her white sundress.
"Okay we're here." I announce pulling her into the open area containing a waterfall, a lagoon, and a field surrounding it filled with tiny purple flowers…her favorite. Carefully I remove the blindfold and await her reaction.
"Oh Nathan." She gasps covering her mouth and looking around in wonder. Now, I've got a goofy grin because she's so radiant right now. "How did you…"
"See that's a secret." I smirk in her ear and walk ahead of her. She pushes my chest lightly and I grab her hand pulling her into my body and kissing her softly on the lips.
Mmm…strawberry…my favorite.
"Okay so I give up on how you found this place but you have to tell me why we're here."
"Because today is special and I want it to be special for us." I explain and she points her finger at me and narrows her eyes but smiles anyway. I shove my hands in my pockets as I watch her walk over to the pond, slip off her sandals, and gingerly slip her toes into the clear water.
"This is nice." She finally says glancing at me over her shoulder.
"Good." I nod my head, satisfied. I make my way over to where she's standing and place my hand on her belly as she rests the back of her head against my shoulder. "But I've got a bigger surprise for you."
"Well I'm waiting Mr. Scott." She says turning around and placing her tiny hands firmly on her waist.
"It's more of a favor really." I announce and she quirks up her eyebrow in interest. I step back and extend my hand to hers and she takes is curiously. "I need you to teach me how to dance."
"But you have no rhythm." She busts out laughing.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence babe."
"Aww…you know what I mean." She come up to me and rubs her nose against mine. "Why do you want to know how to dance anyway?"
"Hmm…maybe I wanna take you out dancing sometime."
"Maybe that's a line of crap."
"Maybe…but you know you still want me to know how to dance." I concede and she contemplates this for a second before finally placing one hand on my shoulder and the other in my hand.
"First of all, you're supposed to lead but since we both know you have two left feet, why don't we try with me leading first."
"Like this?" I ask moving in perfect rhythm with her.
"Yeah…hey, when did you learn how to do this?"
"Maybe it just finally came to me." I suggest.
"Please." She scoffs. She squeals in surprise as I spin her around and dip her. "How did you…"
"Shh…" I quiet her and pull her closer to me as her cheek rests against my own. "If I don't say this now, I will surely break…"
I feel her smile against my skin as I sing to her one of her favorite songs. I'm pretty much tone deaf compared to her angelic voice but for some reason she loves to hear me sing to her. Throughout her first pregnancy she wouldn't go to sleep a single night unless I sang to her bulging belly.
"You remember when I first sang this to you?"
"Oh yeah…you had messed up big time mister." She laughs and I nod.
"Well forgetting you're birthday was pretty big."
"Don't forget that I was trying to tell you I was pregnant with Maggie."
"Yeah, that was pretty bad." I agree. It was also the most scary and happiest day of my life up until that point. We were only juniors in college and I was on the fast track to basketball stardom. In fact, I had just been offered the chance to join the NBA.
"I'm glad you chose us over basketball." She says interrupting my thoughts.
"I technically chose you over basketball." I point out and she nods. "You know, what made me decide that it was you I wanted? You gave me the option. You would've let me go to pursue my dream even though it probably would've broken us apart. I knew I couldn't lose you then. You were something special…you are something special."
"I think you're something special too mister." She winks pulling on the collar of my shirt and kissing me.
"There now, steady love, so few come and don't go, will you won't you, be the one I always know, when I'm losing my control, the city spins around, you're the only one who knows, you slow it down…"
She still smiling and till this day it's one of my most favorite things to look at; no matter how bad my day is or how crappy I'm feeling, her smile is one of the only things that warms my heart and makes everything in my world right once more. I felt even more privileged when our daughter inherited the very same smile.
"Thank you." She whispers in my ear.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure." She answers as she sways with me in my arms.
"Why have you stuck around so long with me?"
"Because I love you." She says simply. "Because I like the way you're brow furrows when you're thinking; because I hate the way you always know what I'm thinking; because I love the way you take care of me and Maggie; because I'm who I'm suppose to be when I'm with you."
"How long have we been together? Eight years? Why haven't I married you yet? You supported us through school and I don't think I ever fully showed my appreciation for that, "
"Whoa, slow down Nathan. I don't need a piece a paper to tell me that I'm yours." She tells me but I can't stop now.
"You had my daughter; God, Haley that little girl makes my whole world that much brighter. You gave her to me and this little one inside of you, " I cry placing my hands on her stomach, "you're giving me this too. Do you realize how many times I just wanted to drop down on one knee and ask you to be mine?"
"I am yours." She murmurs allowing a tear to slide down her cheek. "Where is all this coming from?" she asks searching my eyes for answers.
"I love you, you know that?" she nods her head as I cup her face and kiss away her tears. "How come you never pressured me? How come you never once asked me to settle down and marry you?"
"You putting a ring on my finger isn't gonna change the way I feel about you." She sighs. "But you are the most stubborn person I know besides myself and I knew you would come around in your own time. I mean, don't you think you should be asking yourself those questions?"
"I have been asking myself those questions. I was scared that I dunno, if we took that step we would lose our fire and our passion and I didn't want to be one of those couple that are married for years on end and lack everything that made them spark to begin with."
"Nathan, don't worry about anything alright? I mean we have our daughter and another one on the way and we're both successful in our careers and we're happy. That's the most important thing we can have. Whenever you're ready, I will be too." She tells me and I nod pulling her close to me as I begin to sway with her once more. I softly hum the music as I gather my strength to say what I'm about to say.
"It's always have and never hold, you've begun to feel like home, what's mine is yours to leave or take, what's mine is yours to make your own, Oh, oh, oh, Oh, oh, oh, be my baby, Oh, oh, oh, Oh, oh, oh, be my baby, I'll look after you."
"That was horrible." She giggles and I shake my head.
"Hey, it's the effort that counts."
"Why are you doing all this Nathan? I mean dancing and singing to me and being uber sweet. What did you do?"
"Okay well, I have a little confession to make. I didn't really want you to teach me how to dance; I've actually been taking lessons for a quite a while now."
"But why…"
"I wanted to prove to you that I won't make you look anything but graceful on our wedding day."
"Oh." She pauses and I try to stifle my laughter. "Wait, what?" I smile, all the while cracking on the inside as I step away and get down on one knee.
"Marry me."