A/N: so sorry for the wait! juggling multiple stories across multiple fandoms makes it a bit hard to stay consistent with updates, but I will do my best to post chapters a bit more regularly.
This one's a bit shorter –I didn't want to keep you all waiting even longer – but also one of my favourites of the chapters I've planned out thus far. I hope you enjoy!
Week One – Day Four
"Welcome back, Bachelor Nation!" Chris smiled into the camera "As we saw, our bachelorettes were separated into two teams for this challenge, a friendly game of basketball; Brooke, Jayana, Erica, April and Gloria are our 'Red Team' and Monica, Pheobe, Erin, Elise and Katie are our 'Blue Team'."
'How original.' Nathan thought, fighting the urge to roll his eyes.
Truthfully, he didn't know how he felt about this date. When the network had pitched him the idea of a basketball game, his first thought was that it seemed very cliché – but the network had promised it would be entertaining. But watching ten women try to play this washed-down version of basketball had been exactly what he thought it would be. There were some catty hits and shoves, and the occasional embarrassing trip or fall; from a television ratings standpoint, he knew the audience would eat it up. But for a guy who spent his life dedicated to basketball, in love with the artful beauty of the game; it felt almost disrespectful to reduce it to this.
The score was 20-18, with the Blue Team leading. The first team to reach twenty-one would be the winning team, earning a group date tomorrow evening. Additionally, Nathan would pick an 'MVP' at tonight's Rose Ceremony who he would take on his first singles date tomorrow evening as well.
"Ooh, looks like Jayana is making a break. This could shake things up a bit!" Chris says, looking to the camera.
Nathan focused back in on the game. He was supposed to be the ref, although he had been directed to let a few things slide – apparently calling fouls and awarding penalty shots didn't make for great television for Bachelor Nation.
Jayana dribbled the ball well, Nathan was pleasantly impressed by her skill level throughout the whole game. She managed to manoeuvre passed Monica and Katie, and just as Elise went to block her, she jumped straight up and took the shot.
The ball flew through the air, bouncing back and forth as it hit the rim of the hoop. Everyone watched in anticipation, waiting for the moment it finally stopped teetering between the rim and fell through the net.
It wasn't a perfect shot, but it was a three-pointer. Which meant it was a win.
The Red Team cheered, Brooke and April rushing to Jayana and hugging her; the three jumping up and down excitedly. They'd been the most competitive on their team, and Nathan was quite amused at their reaction. He had been surprised to see the ferocity of their skills on the court. April's made sense – she was a trauma surgeon, the adrenaline rush likely got her going the same way it did in surgery. Jayana was fit – Nathan knew how demanding the NBA cheerleaders training schedule was, but he hadn't expected her skill level to be so competent in the game. Brooke threw him completely. In all the years he's known her, at every event they've mingled, she's always been so polite and soft-spoken that he was pleasantly shocked by how competitive she got on the court. Even if she wasn't the most competent with dribbling a basketball, or successfully getting a shot in, she was damn good at blocking the other girls and stealing the ball off them. She had a certain aggressiveness to her seemingly cute and innocent demeanour that intrigued Nathan greatly.
Chris walks towards the girls clapping, the camera following him, "Red Team, congratulations. You've secured a group date for tomorrow, and one of you lucky ladies will be crowned the 'MVP' and get to go on the first one-on-one date with Nathan."
The girls smiled excitedly as the losing team clapped and offered half-hearted congratulations. Haley watches from a distance, her focus on Nathan as he congratulates and consoles the girls accordingly. He seems withdrawn, like he's not comfortable, which surprises Haley because she would've expected him to be in his element considering it's a basketball-themed challenge.
"And … cut!" Julian calls, and the crew immediately begin packing up and moving the girls back onto the bus so they can head to the next location.
Nathan hangs back, taking a couple shots at the far end of the court. He's in his own world, not worried about what's going on around him in the slightest.
"Nathan," Haley calls, "Your driver is on his way, there was a problem with the car so they're a bit delayed."
"That's fine, thanks." Nathan stops bouncing the ball, turning to look at her, "Hey, what did those guys mean earlier? Why can't you play?"
Haley's cheeks turn bright red, her gaze dropping to the floor, "Oh, um, it's nothing. I'm just not the most coordinated, so I kind of steer clear of sports and similar physical activities. It's safer for everyone involved." she chuckles.
"Surely you can't be that bad." Nathan says, bouncing the ball towards her.
Haley startles, fumbling the ball in her grip as Nathan says, "Show me what you got."
"Nathan, I don't think that's a good idea."
"Come on, what's the worst that could happen?"
Haley gives him a heated look, one eyebrow high on her face as she tells him, "I gave my brother a black eye playing ping pong. Trust me, you don't want to know what the worst could be."
At that, Nathan takes a few wide steps back. Haley rolls her eyes at him, "Alright, this should be a safe enough distance. Go for it."
Haley looks around, noticing most of the crew is gone. Julian's the only one waiting for her, since they're in the same transport vehicle, but he's preoccupied packing up his equipment. She groans and drags her feet forward, standing at the three-point line.
Nathan watches as she stands in line with the hoop. He takes in her stance and immediately he knows this isn't going to work. Haley stretches her arms overhead and pegs the ball forward as if she's trying to do an overhead pass. The ball hits the backboard loudly, bouncing off the back edge of the hoop rim and jutting back out to her. Haley squeals and ducks, the ball landing on the court somewhere behind her.
She hears Nathan's quick footsteps, presumably chasing the ball that she's let bounce astray. When he comes back, there's a look of disbelief on her face. "I told you…" she stammers, then lifts her eyes to meet his. There's a moment before Nathan breaks into laughter, doubling over. When he stands back up, Haley looks unimpressed.
"Sorry. I'm sorry, I just- you really weren't kidding."
"No shit, sherlock." She grumbles, "This is why I didn't want to do this! Ugh, this is so embarrassing."
"No, it's fine. Your stance is just really bad, it's an easy fix." Nathan steps forward, stopping short with his arms outstretched, "Um, can I …"
Haley looks at him confused, until Nathan motions his hands. She nods and smiles at the nervous look on his face. It was charming, how respectful he was being in this moment. She could understand why this season had the largest amount of applicants – the possibility of meeting this version of Nathan Scott was too good an opportunity to pass up.
Nathan stands behind her, his hands on the side of her waist pushing her forward so her hips dropped. He then placed a hand against her back, pushing between her shoulder-blades to straighten her posture and Haley felt goosebumps break out when his finger grazed the skin of her back exposed by her racerback shirt. His touch was warm, comforting in a way she wasn't expecting.
"Um, so you want to keep your feet parallel to your shoulders," Nathan says, his foot gently pushing the inner-side of hers so she shuffled her positioning, "And you need to keep your arms in, uh, kind of a right-angle. And your hands have to make a W."
Nathan stood beside her, showing her the technique. Haley mimicked his actions, Nathan stepping behind her again to adjust the bend of her arm. His hands rested atop hers, moving them with his as he showed her how to shoot the ball. Haley was trying her best to focus on what he was saying, on what he was demonstrating, but he was just so close. His cologne was so subtle yet it invaded her sense, earthy with an undertone of sweet citrus; it had her feeling fuzzy.
"Now just breathe," Nathan rested his hands on her hips again and leaned in, his lips right up against her left ear as he looked up at the hoop, "And shoot."
Haley snapped out of her daze and quickly chucked the ball in the air. They both watched as it hit the rim, debating on which way to go over the edge. She held her breath, and Nathan's fingers instinctively tightened on her body as they waited to see which way the ball would fall. In or out?
In.
"Oh my god," Haley gasped, "Did I just do that?"
"Congrats Haley James. Looks like you're no longer a complete failure at sports."
"This is so exciting!" Haley squealed, bouncing on the spot as she turned to look at him and gave him a hug, "Thank you, Nathan."
Nathan's arms wrapped around her waist, holding Haley up from the ground as her hands intertwined behind his neck. He could feel every curve of her body pressed up against his muscular figure, her soft skin against his, her breath on his neck. It stirred something inside of him, a brief feeling he couldn't quite discern.
Haley's excitement died down and was suddenly hit with the realisation that this moment, though well-intended, was entirely unprofessional. She let her hands go, landing on his shoulders and sliding down his arms in the same way her body slid against his as he set her back down on the ground.
"I'm sorry. That was totally inappropriate. I was just so excited; I got a bit carried away."
"No, it- it's fine." Nathan stammered.
They were thankfully saved any further awkward conversation, a car horn blaring out and breaking them apart.
"Uh, that's your car." Haley says breathlessly.
"Yeah." Nathan sighs, "I … I guess I'll see at the next place?"
"See you there." she confirms.
Haley watches Nathan walks to the car, glancing back at her once more before he gets inside. She's so lost in her own thoughts she doesn't even realise Julian is standing right beside her, until he asks, "You want to tell me what that was all about?"
"It's nothing, he was just showing me how to shoot."
"I bet." Julian chuckles, earning a shove from Haley, "Come on, we've got to head back to the main house. Big bosses are requesting a sit-down.
Haley and Julian stood at the end of the conference table in the office space located within the main house, where the Bachelorettes were staying. They watched as the projector screen filled with the face of the network executive representative – Kensi Mcloughry.
"Good afternoon, Kensi," Haley smiles politely at older woman, "This is a surprise."
"Haley, Julian. Hi. Yes, well there's a few changes we need to discuss and not a lot of time to discuss them."
Julian and Haley share a look of concern, Julian asking, "Is something wrong?"
"Well, the network feels that with such a strong ratings boost this year; it's important that Nathan makes the right decisions going into the rose ceremony each week."
Haley frowns, "I'm not sure I understand what you mean. The audiences love Nathan so far, like you said our ratings are great. Why would the rose ceremony affect that?"
"Look, it's very obvious that there are fan favourites, and with a powerhouse like Nathan Scott as our Bachelor, we're hitting demographic marks that we've never reached before. The age group for viewers has expanded by 75% over the last three days since the season starter, and our sponsorships have broadened, too. If we're going to have any shot at retaining these viewer stats, these brand partnerships, then we need to make sure that the right contestants stay in the game." Kensi explains.
Julian looks at the woman in shock, "I'm sorry, are you …"
"Are you asking us to rig Nathan's season?" Haley asks.
"To an extent." Kensi says, "Obviously, the woman he picks at the end is entirely his choice. But we need to keep viewers thinking that their favourites still have a chance. We need them to be invested in this journey, so that even when their favourite picks are eliminated, they'll be in too deep; they'll want to see Nathan through until the end of the season."
"Kensi, with all due respect, viewers are invested as it is." Haley argues, "Nathan's essentially the America's sweetheart of basketball. Bachelor Nation has been pretty vocal pre-season about wanting to join Nathan on his journey and that's hugely due to his authenticity. If we start messing with that, it could have the opposite effect."
"This isn't a negotiation, Miss James." Kensi snaps, "Based off the research we've conducted, there are eight women that viewers are especially attached to. You need to do what you can to ensure that they stay in this competition for as long as possible."
"This is highly irregular, Kensi. We've never interfered in the show like this-"
"And we've never had the endorsement opportunities that we've got with a name like Nathan Scott attached to the Bachelor Franchise. This is the momentum we need to expand the Bachelor in Paradise series. You should've received an email with the list of names, as well as some of the upcoming episode changes that have been added in." Kensi pauses, staring Julian and Haley down through her computer, "our marketing team has incorporated new elements based on polls by the viewers, as well as social media posts of what they're hoping and predicting to see in Nathan's season."
Haley flits through the email, her eyes widening as she sees the Week 4 changes. She looks to Julian, equally as surprised.
"This is ridiculous." Haley mutters, "Kensi, I'm sorry but I'm just not comfortable with this."
"Well, you better get comfortable real quick, Miss James. Or else I'll find someone else to fill your role."
"We can't do this, Julian. I promised Nathan we would do everything we could to make sure he found someone in the realest way he could in this setting. This goes against everything I promised him, everything I told him that this show could do for him! It's bullshit!" Haley fumes.
Julian sighs, "I know it is, but I don't know that we can do anything about it Hales. You heard Kensi, if we don't do it she's just going to find someone who will and we'll be out of our jobs. We can't do much to help Nathan find a real connection with one of these women if we're kicked off set."
"Well, we have to figure out something. He's more susceptible than people think, Julian. I don't feel good keeping this from him. Not after I promised to do everything I could to make sure this experience was as authentic as it could be for him."
"Look, we're gonna figure it out, okay? But for right now, you need to pull yourself together and get back in Director mode. We still have a rose ceremony to film."
Haley groaned and followed Julian, the email flagged and stored on her phone felt like it was burning a hole through the back pocket of her jeans. But unfortunately, Julian was right; she didn't have time to be worrying it about at this second. The show must go on.
A/N: Okay! I know this might seem like an odd place to wrap up a chapter, but like I said before; I want to give you as much detail of Nathan's first week as the Bachelor because there's aa lot of pivotal factors in that first week that will play out in through the competition.
A few of you have asked for some Julian and Brooke content, and I wasn't originally planning on having too much of it but if it is something you'd like to see let me know and I'll see what I can do!
Also, I've updated my other story 'What I knew I Always Wanted' this past month also if you'd like to check that out :)
Please leave a review and let me know what you think!