One in a Million Chapter 7: Standing Still, an one tree hill fanfic

Do you want me, like I want you?
Or am I standing still, beneath the darkened sky?
Or am I standing still, with the scenery flying by?
Or am I standing still, out of the corner of my eye?
Was that you passin' me by?

"Seriously Nathan, you don't have to help if you don't want to." Haley still didn't understand why Nathan would want to spend an afternoon helping her with her afterschool program. Not to mention the fact that this was their last rehearsal before the kids' concert that night, which Nathan also insisted on attending. Did he seriously have nothing else to do?

"But I want to." Nathan sat on the edge of Haley's desk as he watched her gather papers here and there and put them away. "Coach gave us today off and I want to spend some time with you. So if you're here, then I'm here too."

Haley smiled as she gathered her coat from the back of her chair and grabbed her bag from the floor. "Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you."

Nathan hopped off the desk and walked with her to the door. "You make it sound like I'm going to my death or something."

"Some people might see it that way," Haley laughed as she reached for the handle to open the door to the hallway.

"What time is it?"

Haley glanced at her watch. "It's 3:26."

"And your program starts at 3:30?" She nodded. Nathan pushed the door closed again and slowly backed Haley up against it, wanting to capitalize on their being alone. "So that means we have a few minutes to spare."

Haley caught on to where he was going with this. "I suppose that's true," she managed to get out before Nathan had his lips pressed against hers. She felt herself fall back against the door as Nathan brought a hand up to hold her face to his. Her arms itched to wrap around his neck, her hands begged to run through his hair and hold him close to her, but her coat and bag in hand kept her from being able to do so. And she knew if she did, they definitely wouldn't be on time.

After a few breathless minutes she reluctantly pulled back. She leaned her head back and smiled, looking up at Nathan. "I think having you around today might be a bit of a distraction."

Nathan returned the smile. "I'll do my best to make myself irresistible."

Haley laughed as they went out into the hallway and she locked up her classroom. "Gee, don't give yourself too much credit Mr. Scott."

"I would never do such a thing," Nathan replied in mock appall. He put his hands in his pockets as they walked down the hallway to the auditorium. He was looking forward to seeing Haley's afterschool program. Whether she knew it or not, she absolutely lit up whenever she talked about the kids in it. This was a part of who she was, and Nathan had every intention of learning all about what made Haley tick.

At 3:30 on the dot Haley and Nathan made their way into the auditorium. As they walked down an aisle Nathan looked at all the kids up on the stage, just messing around and waiting for Haley. They got about halfway down when she turned to him.

"I have to go up and talk details about tonight and then they're going to run through their pieces, so you can hang out back here if you'd like. But after they're done we could really use some of those professional athlete muscles of yours to help move around some of the risers and tables backstage."

Nathan pretended to think about it. "I don't know, that might go against my whole 'irresistible' thing."

"I think I'll risk it." Haley gave him a wink then went to go do her thing with the kids, leaving Nathan completely awestruck. He moved into the center section and sat in a seat. He knew absolutely nothing about music, or kids for that matter, so he found himself focusing on each of Haley's movements. He couldn't help but smile when she laughed at something one of the kids said and her laughter rang throughout the auditorium. He watched as she would absentmindedly run a hand through her hair, allowing him a better view of her face. And every now and then she'd sing something to show the kids how it was supposed to go and he felt himself melt away. How could one woman have such an effect on him?

After a bit Nathan watched Haley make her way back to his row, taking the seat next to him. "Hey. How's it going back here?"

"It's going great. The kids are looking really good."

Haley smiled and looked back up at the stage, watching as the kids set up and began to run through their rehearsal. "They've been working so hard; I think I'm more nervous than they are for tonight though."

Nathan reached over and took her hand, then leaned over to give her a kiss on the cheek. "You're a great teacher. I'm sure they'll do great."

She looked back at Nathan and blushed. "Thanks." He loved how he could make her do that. They watched as the kids ran through their performance. Towards the end of what Haley said was their last song Nathan heard some sort of clicking noise behind him. He turned and saw a photographer standing in the back of the auditorium. He was about to pass it off as just a school photographer or something but he noticed that the guy's camera wasn't pointed at the stage; it was pointed at him and Haley.

Shit. Nathan turned to Haley. "I'll be right back."

xxxxx

Haley watched as Nathan took off down the row and up the aisle, chasing after the guy with the camera. The only reason she came up with for why Nathan would be upset with this guy was if he was some sort of paparazzi or something. But why would Nathan have a problem with him taking a picture of them? She looked up on the stage and saw that the kids were still running through their song so she got up and went after Nathan.

When she got up to the hallway she saw that Nathan had the man pushed up against a wall. She froze when the guy looked at her, followed by Nathan doing the same. He looked at her for a minute before turning back to the photographer, dropping his voice as he spoke. Haley stood there for a brief moment before going back into the auditorium.

She went back up on the stage and had the kids start setting up the risers on the stage, and setting up some of the tables back stage. She tried to focus on setting everything up and getting it all ready for the concert but her mind kept racing with reasons that photographer upset Nathan so much. She was directing a few of the boys carrying a table when Nathan came up on the stage.

"Hey. Sorry about that. I, um, had to make a call. You guys need some help?"

Haley turned to go backstage and see how the kids were going back there. "Nope, I think we're good here. You can go if you want." She really couldn't deal with this right now.

She wasn't surprised when Nathan followed her. "Wait, what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Are you sure you don't need any help?"

"Yep." She waved the last few kids back out onto the stage, leaving her and Nathan alone.

He shoved his hands in his pockets. "Alright, well, I guess I'll see you tonight then?"

"I don't think that's a good idea Nathan."

"Why not?" He took a few steps closer to her. "Look, if this is about what happened in the hallway, it was nothing. I promise. Just some stupid newspaper photographer. Nothing."

"Nothing? So is there a reason you don't want to be seen in public with me?"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Everywhere we've been together we've been alone; the restaurant, the park, here. I know that I'm not the kind of girl you're usually seen with in public. I mean, that girl you talked to in the bookstore? If that's the kind of girl you need to be with then I don't think this is going to work out."

"Haley, that's not even-"

She cut him off. "I think you should go."

"Haley-"

"Just go. Please." She watched as he wrestled with staying or leaving. Thankfully he turned and headed back out to the auditorium. Against her better judgment, she didn't think she'd be able to defend herself if he kept talking. Once he was gone she let the tears fall down her face. She really thought he was different, not into the whole 'appearance' thing of being a professional athlete. But how were they supposed to have a relationship if he didn't want them to be seen in public together?

Haley regained her composure and headed back out to the stage. These kids were depending on her to put on their concert. She didn't have time to get emotional right now, and the kids definitely didn't deserve her not giving her best because she had a fight with a guy she just started dating. No, she wasn't going to let this get in the way of their night. She was going to put a smile on and go back out there and give them her best.

xxxxx

Nathan threw his phone on the couch back at his apartment before plopping down next to it. He hadn't handled this afternoon very well, but that photographer was out of line. When he called Clay right after he knew there was probably a better way to have handled that situation, but he was only trying to protect Haley. He didn't want her to wake up in the morning and find her picture in the newspaper. It wasn't fair to her to have that happen, especially since Nathan hadn't been able to explain how dating a professional athlete went. Probably because once she saw how different it was she was going to decide that he wasn't worth it and she'd let him go. He didn't want that to happen without her getting to know him first. If only she'd let him explain earlier. Then maybe this wouldn't be such a mess.

He jumped off the couch. Nathan wasn't ready for this relationship to be over yet. He was going to make her hear him out and if she still didn't want to date him, then fine. But it certainly wouldn't be for his lack of trying.

xxxxx

Haley locked her front door behind her and let out a sigh, dropping everything she was carrying to the floor. The concert had gone off without a hitch, the kids performed amazingly, and she couldn't be more proud. So why did she still feel so down? Oh yeah, Nathan. She'd told herself that she wasn't going to get too emotionally involved in this relationship until she knew how it was going to go, but obviously her heart didn't listen. She choked back a sob. Nope, her heart definitely didn't hold back on this one.

She stepped over everything and went into the living room, but stopped short when she saw who was there. "Nathan?" He was sitting on their couch, with Peyton and Brooke sitting in the chairs across the room. She looked to them as they stood up.

"We'll be, um, not here." Brooke grabbed Peyton's hand and the two went off down the hall towards the bedrooms. Haley turned back to Nathan.

"What are you doing here?"

He stood up and walked over to her. "You deserve an explanation for this afternoon, and I want to make sure you know all the facts before you give up on me." He gestured for the couch and the two went over to sit. It took him a minute before he started.

"So, part of being a professional athlete is that the press like to know every single detail of your life. It doesn't matter if it's what you eat for dinner or your favorite color; they want to know everything. And the detail that gets the most attention is what kind of relationship you're in. Before you've even finished your first date they'll have your picture splashed across the front page telling the world how long they think your relationship will last. The previous girls I've dated loved the attention and didn't care what was said about them, just that they were more popular when they were with me. But I didn't want you to feel pressured into anything. The reason I planned our date alone is because I didn't want people staring and making you feel uncomfortable."

"Nathan, you should've told me and let me decide for myself."

He looked down at his hands. "I know, but I didn't want to scare you out of dating me. Maybe that was selfish of me, but I didn't want anything to ruin our chance. And I didn't want to pressure you into being my girlfriend."

Haley felt her heart start to pound when he said that last word. "Your what?"

Nathan looked up at her. "My girlfriend." He reached over and took her hands in his. "Haley James, will you be my girlfriend?"

Now the heart-pounding sound had moved into her ears. Any prior reasoning as to why she shouldn't date him flew out the window and she smiled. "Yes."

He smiled back and leaned in to kiss her. As his lips met hers she felt her heart start to mend itself back together. Maybe she'd been too quick to judge him. It wasn't her fault; blame Chris and Dean for her inability to let guys in without making them jump through numerous hoops to win her over. But Nathan had played all her games without question. It was time to let him in. It was time to take a chance. It was time to see how love felt again.

-Jewel, Standing Still

A/N: I hope this chapter was satisfactory to y'all! I'm on break now (finals are over! Can I get a boo yah? lol) so I should be able to get updates out sooner, but no promises…you all know how the holidays are :) I hope you all are enjoying time with friends and family this holiday season! As always, drop me a review or PM to let me know your thoughts on this story :)