"Would it help if we were engaged?"

"NO!"

"Yes!"

The room seemed divided in their responses and they shared a worried glance before looking back out at the living room filled with her family. The in-laws were uncomfortably scrunched into a corner and Nathan wanted to slap himself for the perfectly terrible timing they had chosen.

"Ow," he immediately complained, holding the back of his head where Taylor had just delivered a none too light slap. Haley hastily turned his head toward her, checking for any damage. "Hales," Nathan whined, "Come on, I'm fine. Taylor hits like a girl. And by the way what was that for?"

"What have we told you about proposing? You're an idiot! You are not going to propose to my baby sister just to avoid the wrath of our asshole older brothers. Pansy!" Taylor blew out, pushing Haley back onto the couch when she tried to stand and interrupt.

"Listen, you're not getting engaged and you're definitely not getting married," Connor cut in smoothly, abandoning Alyssa's side to stand directly in front of them.

From the other side of the room, Adam raised his voice, "Why not? Following her fiancé or husband across the country or wherever is a hell of a lot better than following her boyfriend."

"Because! What if they break up? Then she's going to need a divorce. And just breaking up with her boyfriend is a hell of a lot better than canceling a wedding or getting a freaking divorce," Connor mocked back, shooting his younger brother a death glare. Adam merely shrugged and took a drink of his beer.

Haley stood and pushed Taylor away from her. "Seriously, just shut up, Tay. I don't care if you mean well," she hissed at the blonde, who retreated with her hands in the air. "That goes for all of you. This has to be the worst weekend ever to do this but it needed to be done. That said, the only people I am going to ask and consult with on this are our parents. The rest of you can butt the hell out!"

"Mom, Dad, Nathan, kitchen now!" she ordered, grabbing Nathan by the hand and dragging him with her.

Lydia and Jimmy, though slightly pale and shocked, shared an amused look, loving how their youngest had just put all of her older siblings in their place.

"Stay," Jimmy commanded with an uneasy smile, glancing meaningfully at his sons. He followed his wife through the door, closing it firmly behind him.

Inside he found his wife staring down their youngest and wrapped a comforting arm around her. "What's this about, Haley Bob? I could barely catch a word with your loud-mouthed siblings in there."

Sighing, she laced her fingers through Nathan's and raised her eyes to meet them squarely. "As you already know," she began calmly, catching the look her mother gave her. "Fine. Okay, Nathan's entering the draft. He's got a really good chance of going top ten and a lot of different teams want him."

"We know that, Haley. We're very proud," Lydia added, tossing a wink Nathan's way as he smiled gratefully.

"Alright, so, none of those teams are on the East Coast and we were thinking of ways to stay together because let's face it, we just don't do very well apart," she gave him a small smile that grew when he lightly kissed her temple. "The easiest solution would be for me to transfer to a school wherever he gets drafted," Haley rushed out, vaguely hoping they didn't hear her clearly and would just agree.

"I see," Jimmy returned thoughtfully, avoiding his wife's concerned gaze. "So this is what your brothers don't like so much? You giving up your life and following Nate to basically anywhere?" he questioned in a flat voice.

Haley sighed exasperated, clutching Nathan's hand tighter. "Daddy, he was going to give up the NBA for me. Okay? Nathan seriously considered withdrawing and staying at Wake with me even though he may never get another shot like this. I'm not some naïve little girl fated to get her heart broken. We love each other and we've been practically living together these past two years. We may not know exactly what we're doing but we know we want to figure it out together."

She didn't protest when Lydia approached and drew her into a tight hug, taking her from Nathan's side.

"I want you to know I meant what I said out there," Nathan began clearing his throat nervously. "I want to marry Haley someday. If us getting engaged will make you more comfortable with it, then I'm ready. I'll go out and get a ring right now," he offered fervently. He ignored the eye roll Haley sent his way and did his best to meet Jimmy's gaze.

"You mean that?" Jimmy questioned levelly. "You're about to go off and make millions. Be on TV every week. Have women throw themselves at you. You're sitting here in my kitchen in Podunk, North Carolina and offering to marry my daughter just to what? Keep her near you?" He ignored Haley's exasperated "Daddy!" with a shake of his head.

"Yes, sir," Nathan responded surely. "I know it's not going to come down to this because you guys love her too much and I love her too much," he took a deep sigh, almost unbelieving he was about to say these words out loud to Haley's parents, "but we're prepared to do this on our own if we have to."

"Is that true?" Lydia cut in with a quiet voice.

Haley drew back slightly and smiled shakily at her mother. "Yes. If you don't want to, or can't, support us, then we understand but that's not…going to stop us. I already turned in the transfer applications to a bunch of schools so it's up to them and up to who wants Nathan." She shrugged lightly, "Like Daddy said, we'll be fine financially in just about any case so it's a matter of your emotional support."

"Coasting on Nathan's coattails?" Jimmy shook his head disparagingly and Haley sent him a dirty look.

"I've never been scared of hard work, Dad. And if Nathan does have to support me for a while, it'll be a loan. I'll start paying him back the moment I'm done with school and working," Haley asserted even as Nathan shook his head 'no'.

"What's mine's yours," he declared gruffly, trying his hardest not to break for the kitchen door.

The silence seemed suffocating for a moment before Lydia broke it again, in the quiet tone Haley had rarely heard from her. "My god, Nathan, what do your parents think of this? Have you talked to them about it?"

Nathan nodded, biting into his bottom lip agitatedly. "Mom's not too happy but she's not acting up or anything about it. She still thinks we're rushing things, moving too quickly. Dad couldn't care less. I'm going to the NBA. I could tell him I cross-dress in my spare time and it wouldn't register with him. Then again he probably trusts Haley more than those stupid skanks who won't let up so I doubt he minds having her along." His eyes widened as he realized what he'd just said to his girlfriend's parents.

Jimmy could hardly contain his smile at the image Nathan had brought to mind. "You're ridiculous, you know that?" he muttered fondly. With a simple look to Lydia, they both nodded and shrugged. "Okay."

"Okay?" Haley repeated as a question, not really understanding what that was supposed to mean.

"Okay," Lydia reiterated, a hand gently running through Haley's hair. "Bob, it'd be no different than if you'd decided to go out-of-state straight out of high school. At least now we know Nathan will be there to look out for you. But I'm going to miss you so much, my baby," she murmured, pressing a long kiss to Haley's forehead.

Nathan heaved a sigh of relief, staring dazedly into the backyard. "Call me old-fashioned, Nate, but we can provide for Haley perfectly fine. Now when you two get married, that'll be a different story," he firmly clasped Nathan's hand in his, smiling when Nathan nodded back surely. "We'll talk about that another time," Jimmy whispered conspiratorially.

With Jimmy and Lydia leading the charge, they made their way back into the living room. The siblings easily read the expressions on their parents' faces and the room devolved into a cacophony of whispers and arguments.

"Wait!" Nathan called, tightly gripping Haley's hand. "Everyone just wait." The wide eyed, panicked look she was giving him was not helping matters at all. "Okay, um, crap. Look, Haley's applied to some really good schools. Stanford included," he threw out for Vivian's sake, "And there's not a doubt in my mind that she'll get in to all of them. I'm sorry you're all upset but I'm not trying to take anything away from her, or make her into someone she isn't, or dumb her down, or whatever. I love Haley just the way she is…and that's why we're doing this. We love each other and we want to be together. So please just try to understand. We're doing the best we can here."

"Shut up, Connor," Haley all but growled before smiling lovingly up at Nathan. "I made this decision on my own, okay? Don't a single one of you dare imply that I don't have my own mind. I love Nathan, I'm proud of everything he's accomplished, and I'm so grateful he wants me by his side for the rest of it. Y'all can shove it if you don't like it."

Her heart sunk when without a word Connor stood and slammed his way out the front door. Alyssa immediately stood to follow him, sending Haley a sympathetic glance, before Nathan stopped her. "Let me," he stated calmly, urging her back into her seat. With a small hand squeeze from Haley, he chased the older man onto the driveway, hyperaware that the James family would undoubtedly be watching.

Connor was simply angrily pacing the sidewalk in front of the house, barely glancing up to acknowledge Nathan's presence. "I'd stay back right now, Scott. I'm not thinking too clearly and I'm sure the last thing you want is a broken anything."

"Get back in that house right now," Nathan demanded with little heat to his voice. "Do you know much you're breaking your little sister's heart?"

"Not as much as you will, superstar," he growled angrily, "when you forget about her on your road trips, or start treating her like some dumb trophy wife, or cheat on her with some skanky groupie, or—"

"Shut up! Just shut up!" Nathan shouted. His irritation and breathing had increased with every word out of the eldest James brother's mouth and his fists clenched heavily by his side. "Are you out of your mind?"

"I get it, okay? Haley's practically a saint and I'm a lucky ass SOB to have her," Nathan spoke and Connor nodded along as if to say "Duh." "Look, I'm pretty much worthless without her so I'm not going to do anything to screw this up. I know it seems like I'm getting everything handed to me, the NBA and Hales, but life hasn't really been all that great to me and I know I'm freaking lucky right now. The fact that she's willing to come with me…she's doing it for herself too okay? I hate to bring it up to you but Haley loves me and she wants to be with me. This is her decision. So fucking deal, alright?"

"No," Connor returned simply, reaching for his car door.

Nathan scoffed in disbelief. "Fine, leave. Piss off your sister, your parents, and probably your fiancée. Why? Because Haley was lucky enough to find the guy who wants to be with her forever at 17. Because she doesn't have to put with assholes breaking her heart and treating her like crap. Because you're too stubborn and overprotective to realize that we know what we have and we'll do whatever it takes to keep it."

With a deep sigh, Connor ambled slowly up the driveway. "Just because you talk pretty, Nathan, doesn't mean you can back it up. I still don't trust you with her. But you're right. I leave now and Haley, Alyssa, and Mom will be after me. And I like my balls where they are."

"I know you can't because you have a job and your own life but maybe if you were around more, you'd see it." Connor raised his eyebrows in question and Nathan sighed, "How much we love each other. How much I didn't want her to do this. I'm the one who's going to benefit from this. Barely any of those schools are better than Wake. Haley's not going to…anyway, I already feel like an asshole about her doing this."

Connor simply scoffed and rolled his eyes, "Good."

Nathan could only watch as Connor stormed up the driveway and back into the house. He stayed outside for a moment, watching while Lydia tried to slap his head off. A second later, Haley stepped onto the porch, immediately wrapping her arms around his waist. "I'm sorry about that. Thank you for trying, though. Connor's not normally—"

"It's fine. I'm fine," he cut her off with a shake of his head. "He's just trying to protect you so…you know, whatever. Doesn't bother me. How are you?"

Haley shrugged lightly, sighing when he bent to kiss her forehead. "I'll be alright. He'll come around eventually or Mom will browbeat him into it. He just doesn't understand what we have, which is okay. What we have is special, right? Wouldn't be very special if everyone got it and understood it."

"Sure," Nathan agreed as she burrowed into his shirt. His fingers traced the smooth skin of her arms but he couldn't stop thinking of his last words to Connor.

Everyone stared in quiet disbelief as the door slammed shut. After a moment, Haley rose to follow him but Lucas held up a hand, "Wait, Hales, let me try."

All eyes followed the blonde while he ascended the mahogany staircase, not even Dan had a word in response. Their eyes flicked back to the television when his name was called and a number of eyebrows rose in surprise. Not even a second later, they heard a thud and another door slam.

Lucas sheepishly descended the stairs, a hand rubbing the back of his neck. "Hales," he called almost pathetically. She immediately bolted for the staircase, unaware that Lucas collapsed into an armchair and ignored the "Why'd you even bother?" look from Dan.

"Hello there, future NBA superstar. Whatever are you up to?" Haley tried for a light tone as she quietly shut the door behind her. Nathan lay in his bed, feet now dangling off the end, and stared blankly at his ceiling. "Nathan?" she called slightly panicked and he stretched an arm out toward her.

Haley settled onto the bed with him, leg thrown over his. "Number five. Oklahoma City. That means University of Oklahoma for me." He merely nodded so she took his chin forcefully, pulling it her way, "You need to say something. Now."

"This wasn't how it was supposed to go," Nathan muttered quietly and Haley resisted rolling her eyes. Of course this wasn't what they had planned. The number one pick went as expected but the Pistons had surprisingly gone with a different player, leaving Golden State to grab who should have been the number two pick. The Clippers, in desperate need of an inside man, chose the best center of the class, and Oklahoma City eagerly snatched up Nathan Scott.

"Isn't Oklahoma City better? You said almost all the players should have developed over the off season and they're almost guaranteed to make the playoffs," Haley rattled off. She had little to no idea what it meant but Nathan, Lucas, and Dan had said it enough over the last few weeks.

Nathan sighed heavily, "It's not about that, Hales. I really don't care where I play or for what team. Basketball's basketball and if I'm the player I'm supposed to be, we'd be at the playoffs in a few years anyway. OU's not where you're supposed to go. I get the NBA and you get Stanford; that was the deal. Now what the hell do you get out of following me to Oklahoma?"

Her head pulled back in shock and she blinked blankly at him for a few seconds. Nathan instantly regretted the words that fell out of his mouth but was unprepared for the sharp shove to his shoulder. "Excuse me?"

"I thought I was getting the love of my life but, well, you're not him," Haley muttered, glad when he finally began to show some Nathan-isms, namely scoffing derisively and rolling his eyes. "Do you not get it? I really have to spell this out for you? I don't work without you around either. Have you ever asked Kara what it was like to live with me? If we hadn't gotten back together when we had, I wouldn't have been surprised if she just snapped and took me out one day."

"All I did was talk about you, stare at pictures of you, call our friends and ask about you. I basically couldn't function. I mean, they put up with it and dragged me out with them but I was pretty much pathetic. Just be glad you're pretty because Kara totally would have killed me if you weren't so much fun to look at," Haley nervously ran a hand through her hair as Nathan stared on in complete astonishment.

"I know you think I'm independent and everything but that's because I have you. Knowing you're behind me every step of the way, loving me and supporting me, that's what gives me the strength and confidence to do…whatever it is I'm doing. This move isn't just about you, okay? I need you just as much as you need me. So wherever you are? That's where I'm going to be," she finished her short speech, watching anxiously as he continued to stare at his ceiling, "Nathan?"

"Do you think anyone would mind if we had sex here and now? We never did cross this bedroom off our list and we're going to be moving soon so—" he couldn't even finish before she slanted her lips over his, effectively cutting off his laughter.

Ignoring his previous remarks, Haley pulled back slightly, "I love you. Are you happy?"

"Are you trying to brainwash me to say 'yes' every time you ask if I'm happy by saying I love you before? Because it's kind of working," Nathan smirked, wincing when she pinched his arm. "Yes, I am. You make me extremely happy and getting the NBA…it's more than I deserve."

"You might want to do something jackass-ish later. That was pretty cheesy of you," Haley teased, unmindful when he sat up and lifted her off the bed in his arms.

"Hah, I'm just glad it's only the family here. As if Dad doesn't already think I'm a pansy about you," he scoffed, setting her on her feet at the top of the stairs. "Can we just pretend this never happened?"

Haley could only imagine if he had this kind of reaction at Madison Square Garden. Nathan hadn't wanted anyone but her around, but she'd forced a compromise with only his closest family at Dan's house. Their friends would be joining them at Karen's Café for a celebratory party later that night. Of the other former teammates in the draft, one was at home in Indiana and the other was at the actual ceremony in New York so most of the team would be driving over from summer classes at Wake. Jenna, currently passing the time with visiting Quinn, had driven up from Georgia earlier in the week.

"I'll never mention it again, well, unless you piss me off. I don't know about everyone else," Haley answered, clutching his hand that rested on her shoulder.

They finally finished walking down the stairs, finding everyone else attempting to pay attention to the rest of the draft. "James went to Chicago," Lucas announced nonchalantly when they noticed the two standing in the room.

The phone rang suddenly and Dan merely rolled his eyes before yanking the cord out of the phone's base. "Here," he muttered, tossing a Thunder's t-shirt and hat to Nathan. He pulled the fitted cap on his head and nudged Haley until she raised her arms and he could slip the t-shirt over her outfit.

"Alright, what'd we miss?" Nathan questioned, urging Haley onto his lap. The room stared at him in disbelief, waiting for any reaction larger and happier than the one he'd just had. "What?" he mumbled to their disbelieving expressions.

"Jerk," Haley poked his side before turning to them with a huge smile. "He's happy." She immediately shrieked when Lucas all but jumped on them and she ended up in the middle of a Scott brothers sandwich. She managed to wriggle her way out and laughed heartily at the discomforted look on Nathan's face as he was hugged tightly by Lucas.

The party was just beginning. A few of the players had already arrived and had begged to watch the draft in one of the local sports bars, promising they wouldn't start anything. Nathan had gone to get them as Karen went to open the cafe and Haley went to save Jenna from Quinn's clutches. For some reason, she seemed to believe the younger girl was an appropriate sounding board for her relationship issues.

"Oh my god," Karen muttered from behind the counter as the rest of the team arrived. It wasn't so much the number of them—they were all sharing rooms at Dan's and Deb's for the night—but the height and mass of them. Haley knew there were less than fifteen coming but they seemed to take up half the cafe. She merely nodded at Karen's expression of horror before turning when someone called her name.

Haley immediately knelt to hold out her arms to the little boy running her way and gave him a hug. "Hi, Matt!" she looked up at his two parents with sheer surprise, "I didn't know you guys were coming."

"We're just stopping by," Catherine West answered with a smile, "We're on our way to the Outer Banks, Deb called to drop us an invitation, and we just couldn't say 'no' to a little detour." The older woman immediately and happily began to chat while her husband and Matt glanced around the room, obviously looking for Nathan.

"Oh gosh, hold on, let me find Nathan for Matt if you have to get going" she bowed out quickly. It'd be a few more hours of driving and the sun was nearly down. "I'm sorry it's so chaotic. The boys," Haley waved her hand in the general direction of the towering giants, "just got here and it's a little insane." She flagged down Deb and Karen who were down the counter and hoisted Matt into her arms as the adults began the introductions.

"You're getting heavy for this, bud," she grimaced as her arms began to ache.

"I know," the eight year old replied sagely, glancing down to where his feet dangled in close proximity to the floor.

"I should probably let you down, huh?" Haley questioned, laughing gently. "Alright but hold my hand. It's like a forest in here," she muttered and squeezed her way through some bodies. She figured he'd be right in the thick of it all and was right.

Nathan noticed as they entered the semicircle that had formed around him and gave a smile to Matt who was clutching Haley's hand. He quickly tugged free and ran to Nathan. The older players greeted him out of recognition while the younger ones stared on in slight confusion. Their heads swiveled from Nathan to the boy to Haley.

"Yep, he's ours," Haley announced proudly, smirking when eyebrows shot up and jaws dropped. "I'm kidding, guys," she held her hands up innocently after no one responded for a minute, "We did not have a kid when we were like 12. Come on now." Most of them shared a chuckle while the rest of the players breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Can I borrow him for a minute? Some family friends just dropped by and they have to get going soon," she questioned quickly. The guys agreed easily and fell into their own conversations as they followed Matt back to his parents.

"So the Wests are here?" Nathan murmured, dropping his mouth close to her ear.

"Just the parents and Matt," she was fast to reassure him. Haley was certain Nathan didn't want Damien anywhere near his celebration party. "Are you alright? You looked a little... she turned her head to view his completely relaxed and easygoing expression if not a little confused, "Never mind. Must be me."

The Wests were quick to take off again, much to Matt's disappointment. They walked the family outside where Nathan promised Matt tickets to every game they had at Charlotte and waved off the absolutely packed car.

Haley wrapped her arms around his solid middle when Nathan furrowed his brow, "I haven't seen Jake or Jenna yet."

"Ah, right, they're making out in the back corner. I'm sure they'll come up for air sometime, soon, maybe," Haley muttered. Nathan cursed under his breath and she let out an amused laugh, "What?"

"Wish I could be doing that," he smirked down at her. When the chuckle or pinch he expected didn't come, he glanced back down, "What?"

Haley opened and closed her mouth a few times and they paused outside the cafe door. "Is something wrong? It seems like something's wrong but I can't put my finger on it."

"Since when do you not know exactly what I'm thinking, Haley James?" Nathan joked, a hand already pulling the door open.

He was surprised when he felt her hand cover his, pushing the door back closed. "Right now, and to be honest it's kind of freaking me out. Will you please tell me what's going on?"

Nathan immediately pulled her to the side of the building, away from the windows and people inside. "Look, I'm just...I'm a little nervous about the NBA. Expectations are kind of high. Scouting reports are one thing but actually playing against and with guys with this much experience and talent?" He gave a small shrug, "I'm just worried."

"Oh," she murmured before leaning up and pressing her lips to his. "Well, there's nothing you can do about it right now so seriously just relax and celebrate. And complete lack of basketball knowledge aside, I have no doubt you're going to kick all kinds of ass in the NBA. You're just as talented and the experience? It'll come so stop worrying. You don't need to psyche yourself out before the game even starts."

Nathan smiled at her analogy, sports for once, and dropped a kiss on her nose then her lips. "Thanks, baby. You always know what to say."

Haley returned the smile and watched him saunter back into the cafe, the renewed confidence rolling off him in waves. That was one problem solved. If only she could figure out what else was occupying his mind.