The five players jogged down the court easily, their point guard taking his time to cross the half-court line. The buzzer rang and the ball flew up into the air, destination unknown, as the team cheered along with the rest of the packed stadium. It was the first game of the season, non-conference and against North Carolina Central, a local school that wasn't exactly good, but the rush of the first collegiate victory was amazing.
Nathan bounced enthusiastically to the other side of the court where the school's avid basketball fans had their own section and waited at the bottom, his eyes scanning over the tie-dyed crowd. He had scored 8 points and made two steals and four assists. The statistics were nothing near his high school best but this was college, a whole new level, and he had made a solid contribution that helped his team win. Not to mention, he was one of the three freshmen to start.
"Baby!"
His head turned towards the unmistakable voice and he opened his arms to the little ball of energy that flew at him. "You were amazing!" Haley continued as she hopped into his waiting arms and peppered his face with short kisses. "That was so cool!" she gushed happily, her hands flying animatedly as he held onto her tiny waist. "Like that one part when the other guy looked away and *POOF* you had the ball and ran to the other end and DUNKED it! I didn't know you could dunk!"
"Well, that's cause it's illegal in high school games, Hales," Nathan chuckled good-naturedly. "You've seen me dunk before. I've done it plenty of times just to impress you. You've seen me play before, too. What's all the excitement about?" he questioned, laughing as her eyes lit up in recollection.
"Oh, yeah, I remember. It was still cool though," she promised, leaning in to place a smacking kiss against his lips. "This is so much more exciting. In high school, I sat next to Mouth who was always doing his announcing thing. But, here, everyone's so excited and they do all these chants together when…things happen. Don't look at me like that," she chastised him lowly, "I may not know what everything's called but I'm trying to be supportive here."
"You're being supportive," he agreed, smiling and setting her back on her feet. A few people clapped him on the back as they went on to rush the court and other players and he shouted a late "Thanks!" over his shoulder. "I think you should show me a little more of that support when we get back to the dorm," Nathan suggested smirking triumphantly when she slid her arms around his neck and pressed close.
Haley popped a kiss on his chin before chuckling, "Oh you're definitely getting some action, superstar. With a game like that how do you expect me to resist?" A shocked look appeared on Nathan's face as his girlfriend's words began to process. "Jenna's already promised to clear out of the room and I'm making good on that. Plus, it's been like a whole week."
His eyebrows shot up and he let out a disbelieving chuckle. "You're oversexed, babe," Nathan remarked, bending his head to drop a short kiss on her lips. As if to prove his point, Haley pulled him closer and stealthily parted his lips with her tongue. "Not that I'm complaining," he murmured, diving back in for more action.
Nathan groaned softly when he heard the familiar voice of his coach calling the team back into the locker rooms. Celebration time was over. "I'll see you in your room?" he questioned eagerly when one of his teammates grabbed his elbow and started dragging him backwards. Her enthusiastic nod completed his bright smile as he turned and began jogging to the locker room, anxious for the team meeting to be over.
***
Nathan crossed his arms over his chest angrily, watching as two petite females scurried all over his room. He felt equally bad for Jake who was putting up with Jenna's doting behavior despite the fact that they weren't dating. At the very least, he was being thoroughly compensated for dealing with all of Haley's craziness.
Over the weekend, they had won their second game against James Madison University, a fairly decent school. Haley had been all smiles then, too, equally impressed with his style of play. Tomorrow, he and Jake would be leaving to play Bucknell, in Pennsylvania, a much better team than the ones they'd competed against so far. His frantic girlfriend with her pacing and the shoving of things into his overnight bag was not doing a damn thing to help his nerves. Did he mention that it would also be their first nationally televised game?
He wanted so badly to jam his headphones into his ears and close his eyes, drowning out the vision of the two blonde furies, but knew better. Jake was sitting, shoved into a corner, moodily strumming his acoustic guitar. He could hear the exasperated sigh the brunette would blow out every time Jenna held up something of his, wondering if he needed it for the game. He figured the idea of playing so close to home was freaking out the other player, much like the idea of Dan watching him play on the big screen in the study was freaking him out.
Haley must have noticed his exhaustion since she was by his bed in an instant, soft hands smoothing over the lines of his forehead. "Nathan?" He blew out an unsteady breath, trying to give her a reassuring smile and failing horribly. She leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek before sending Jenna a beseeching look that the blonde responded to almost immediately.
"Come on, Jacob," Jenna threw out to Jake, her frustration with his refusal to answer her questions evident. "Let's go get some dinner and leave these lovebirds alone," she muttered, gesturing for him to follow her out the door. Jake seemed to perk up at the mention of food and carefully set his guitar on his bed, following the blonde out with a smile and a wave.
"What's wrong?" Haley murmured softly, crawling into his bed with him. She placed her head on his chest and curled into his side, their legs tangling. "Tell me what's wrong," she commanded, taking his hand and interlacing their fingers.
"The game's going to be on TV. Dad's going to see it," Nathan returned, lifting their locked hands to kiss the back of hers. "He's going to go ballistic. I can just imagine it now. He's going to call and talk all this shit about how I shouldn't have made a pass or I should have taken more shots or got that rebound…anything really. And then I'm going to get pissed off and we're going to fight. I don't want to play this game, Hales."
The confession was soft and quiet and he heard her gasp in response. "Here," Nathan continued, a small, deprecating smile playing on his lips. "I'll hold my arm out like this," he stretched his right arm out into the air in front of him, "and you just…you take Jake's guitar and smash it right over my elbow. Then Jake'll get into a fight with me and we'll both get suspended from playing and he can stop brooding about having to go back to Pennsylvania. Problem solved."
"Problem not solved," she said harshly at the same time taking his elbow and kissing it gently. "That's like a giant can of worms. For starters, Jake's teaching me how to play the guitar so we can't very well break his," Haley breathed out against his chest.
Nathan chuckled lightly then, "Yeah, because your guitar playing skills, or should I say your lack of them, are so top priority right now."
"Well, if we break your arm, what use are you to me then, hot shot?" Haley quipped haughtily, pulling away from him and trying to climb off the bed.
Obviously quicker, Nathan grabbed her waist and threw her back against the mattress, lightly resting over her body. "I can think of plenty things I can do with one hand. Don't you underestimate my sexual abilities," he growled into the side of her neck, playfully biting her there. Haley threw both of her arms around his neck, pulling him tightly to her, and buried her head in his chest. "Hales?" Nathan questioned confused when he felt small wet spots soaking through his shirt.
"Don't talk like that," she mumbled against the cotton fabric of his t-shirt. "I know you love this game, Nathan, and hearing you talk like that scares me. Your father loves you, okay? I know it hasn't always seemed like it but he does and he's trying. I promise you that he will not call after the game and if he does he'll say nothing but good things to you. If I can promise you that, will you stop talking about hurting yourself? Even joking about it? It scares me so much."
"Hales, wha…what's going on?" Nathan asked helplessly. He rolled them over so that she was sprawled over his chest but she kept her face hidden from his and he could still hear loud sniffles coming from his shirt. "What are you so scared of? I was just joking, I swear. I didn't mean to make you cry. I'm not going to hurt myself and I'll play tomorrow, no matter what my Dad has to say about it after. I was just being dumb, please stop crying."
"Please don't be mad at me," she mumbled dejectedly, her fingers tightly clutching the loose material of his shirt. "I…your Dad called the night of your first game," she admitted, wincing when she heard his sharp intake of breath. The hand that had been lightly resting on her lower back clenched into a tight fist and she could feel his entire body tense against hers. "Don't be mad," she pleaded again and raised her head to meet his eyes. "You guys have been getting along so great—well, that's a relative term—but I didn't think you would care."
Nathan forced himself to breathe. To be honest, he had no idea why he was reacting so badly. She was right, to an extent, and he had been 'getting along' with his Dad much better than he could ever remember. "Then why didn't you say something sooner?" he managed to ask, trying not to sound so upset.
"Well, Dan asked me not to," she confessed. "I kind of understood why so I went along with it, I'm sorry I did. Your first two games weren't on TV or anything, so he just asked me to call after and tell him how you did. He didn't want you to know because he didn't want you to think that he only cared about basketball, like it was before," Haley murmured quietly, knowing how strained the father-son relationship had been early junior year.
"It is just like before!" Nathan burst out. He moved her off his body and quickly climbed out of bed, pacing the short length of his room. Haley shrunk back against the pillows, watching as his anger seemingly took over the small room. "It is! He's just interested in my basketball. He doesn't give a shit about my life! And the bastard's using you to get to me! And you let him. How could you just let him use you like that?" He was standing at the end of the bed now, angrily glaring at her down the length of it.
Haley moved forward to kneel on her knees, her hands coming to rest on his which were fiercely gripping the wood of the bed frame. "I'm not letting him use me and, more importantly, he's not using me," she spoke calmly, trying to transfer some of that to her raging boyfriend. There was no doubt that half the hall had heard his outburst but they certainly didn't need to hear more. "Dan cares about your life, basketball or no basketball, okay? The thing is that basketball is a huge part of your life, Nathan, and it can't be ignored."
"It's the same way with me, Nathan. I love every single part of you, not just number 23. Although I can't say I don't love that cocky SOB, too," Haley sighed in relief, seeing the corners of his mouth twitch up just a bit. "Dan wants to get to know you and you mean basketball. He doesn't want to go back to where you guys were before, like in high school, so he's trying to take a more hands-off approach, I think. Does that make sense? That he doesn't want to scare you away or give you the wrong impression?"
Nathan nodded imperceptibly, just a small downward tilt of his chin. He caught her eyes and sighed wearily. "Is that what he told you? Did he tell you all of that?"
Smoothing out the lines of his forehead, Haley gave him a small smile. "Yeah, he did, and then some. It was a lot about how he knows he pushed you too hard and how defensive you are with him now. He said he knew that talking to you about basketball would give you the wrong idea but he can't help his curiosity. He wants to know how you're doing, Nathan. Bad or good, he's just interested. Plus, I'm pretty sure he just likes watching basketball games. I mean you do get it from somewhere."
"I do," he agreed solemnly, sighing heavily again. "I don't know. Before, when we weren't in season, it was easier to believe that he wasn't going to grill me about my playing time or my stats. Now that we're starting, I can't get it out of my head that he's going to yell at me or tell me I suck or whatever."
"You don't suck," Haley reprimanded him, pinching his arm lightly. "You've got, like, the best stats out of all the freshmen on your team. And no offense to Jake, but you play a lot more than him. You've been doing damn good so far so why don't you tell me what's really bothering you about Dan?"
"Lie down," Nathan ordered gruffly and she raised a suspicious eyebrow at him. "Not like that. Lie down, okay? I'm not going to start throwing things so stop looking like you're going to have to tie me down." Haley reluctantly eased herself back onto the bed, giving him a reassuring smile as he sat beside her.
"The first two games we played I was okay, you know? They weren't really good teams and I'm just a freshman so it didn't really matter," Nathan spoke slowly. "But Coach told me yesterday that he wants to play me more," he revealed, unable to do anything but feel better when she beamed proudly. "The first games…Dad…he couldn't say anything. I mean, sure, he could read about it later on the Internet or whatever but he couldn't say anything right away. Even if I had played badly…poorly," he corrected at her look, "he wouldn't know till morning. So I kept waiting, I've been waiting, for him to call and just say something like 'why didn't you get more rebounds against NC Central?' or 'don't let a guy like Andrews keep you out of the paint.'"
"I keep waiting for him to call, Hales," he swore softly under his breath. "I said I wouldn't go back there and that I'd stop caring about what he thinks but I can't. I just keep waiting and it sucks because I don't need him to tell me that I had a good game to know I had a good game. But…"
"But you still want it," Haley finished for him quietly when he dropped his head. "I get that, Nathan. I may not know what it's like but I understand. It's okay to want it. It's okay to want Dan to be proud of you. There's no shame in that."
"Maybe not," he allowed slowly. "But I'm too proud for that. You know me, Hales." He took a quick cleansing breath. "This game's going to be on national television. He's going to see it live, every damn move I make on that court. If he calls me right after and even if he doesn't say anything, it's just going to piss me off, no matter what. I'm going to be in a shit mood the rest of the time and the team's going to hate me and so will you when I get back here and act like an ass."
Haley grabbed onto his shoulders and pulled him down to lie next to her. "You can't think like that, okay? You're going to play great, Nathan. And your Dad, if he does in fact call because he's trying to respect you and give you space, will have nothing but great things to say to you. Stop your scowling," she chided lightly. "I love you. There, now you have something to be happy about. Smile a little."
"What? I'm supposed to be happy with life just because you love me?" Nathan questioned teasingly. He turned over to face her, his expression still serious and contemplative. "Yeah, I think I could do that," he mumbled, returning the bright smile she sent even as she leaned forward to take over his lips.
"You're going to do great, okay," Haley reassured, pulling back to stroke his cheek softly. "Trust me. Trust that I love you. Trust that our love can help you do amazing things." Nathan nodded slowly, allowing her words to sink in, before gathering her in his arms and hugging her tightly. "Well, I never knew you were one for the cheese, Scott," Haley laughed quietly as she cradled him to her, her fingers running through his hair.
***
"God!" Haley blew out frustrated at the big screen TV in the main lounge. At least half of their small dorm was piled into the room, stretched out along the couches and floor, and staring at the television with barely concealed frustration. The guys let out quiet chuckles at her nervousness, having never before seen a girl so wound up about a basketball game.
Haley resisted the urge to pace the floor, knowing that someone would immediately take up her primo seat right in front of the big screen. "This is ridiculous," she muttered lowly, ignoring Jenna's light laughter next to her. They had both been camped out in front of the TV since they got out of classes and Jenna appeared almost as nervous for Jake as Haley was for Nathan.
A small smile came to her face as she thought about the way her boyfriend had played during the game. They were about to go into overtime and, while Nathan hadn't played the last few minutes of the game, he had contributed 15 points and five assists, his best so far. And from the way he was standing by the free…throw line next to another teammate, she could only guess that Coach Prosser had decided to put him back in. The referees were doing…something while all the players and fans stood around, annoyed as hell over the delay. Finally, one of the refs moved toward center court, where the two players were eagerly waiting for the jump ball.
"Oh!" Haley jumped straight out of her seat and everyone's eyes moved over to her for a split second before returning to the screen. Scrambling, she found her cell phone in the pocket of her discarded sweatshirt that had been thrown in the direction of the TV late in the second half. In her haste, she climbed over the back of the couch and waved off Jenna's cry of outrage when two of the guys quickly ran to take her spot, the loser ending up sprawled out on the floor.
Making sure she had an ID card to get back inside, Haley went outside to the porch where she wouldn't be interrupted. As the phone rang, she peered eagerly into the lounge, frowning when, by the groans of her dormmates, Wake lost the jump. She nearly jumped when a deep, growling voice answered the call. Sighing heavily, Haley rolled her eyes, "Yes I know the game's back on. I need you to do something. No, not for me, for Nathan."
***
Nathan couldn't wipe the smile from his face if he tried. He had made the assist to their power forward, who sidestepped a Bucknell player to make an easy lay up. The shot sealed their victory, 86-83. The rest of the team was practically bouncing off the walls of the locker room as they filled it with exuberant shouts and whoops. Even Jake was sporting a small smile when he dropped down onto the metal bench across from him.
Immediately, Nathan reached for his cell phone on the top shelf of the locker. He flipped it open and his smile grew larger when he saw the missed call and voicemail from his girlfriend. Almost as if it burned, Nathan nearly dropped the phone when he saw the second name on his missed calls list.
Nathan watched as his fellow teammates headed for the showers and figured that Coach was saving the talk for the bus ride home. Of course he had no problem with that, the Bucknell fans had been less than enthused when the final buzzer rang, and he didn't want to stick around any longer than they had to.
Still, he lifted the phone to his ear after holding down '1' and slowly pressed in his password. He didn't know how he had missed the '2 Voicemails' message but somehow he had in his excitement of winning the game and hearing from Haley.
"Nathan! I just saw the win. You played great…just like I said you would." Nathan grinned widely when her laughter rang clearly through the receiver as she conversed with someone next to her. "Everyone here says congrats, too. Anyway, if you're too busy to call back, have a safe drive back to Wake and I'll see you in the morning. Love you."
His expression soured as the automated message announced the next voicemail and he steeled himself for his father's voice. "Nathan, it's Dad. I just wanted to say…I'm proud of you. I'll see you at Thanksgiving." The phone beeped in his hand and Nathan jumped slightly, the automaton continuing with the date and time of the message. Glancing at the clock hanging on the wall, he noted that the message had been left a half hour earlier, well before they had won the game. The smile started slowly as he replaced the phone on the shelf and slowly shook his head in disbelief before letting out a loud chuckle, ignoring the odd looks his teammates sent his way.