A/N - I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I had updated at OTH Central and thought I did here. Short term memory, really sorry.
Okay slight change of plans. The place where Haley works knows that Nathan is engaged but other newspapers, magazines, tabloids, etc. don't know.
There was an insistent pounding on her door and Haley slowly rose from her groggy state. Watching TV since Nathan had left, she had accidentally fallen asleep and was surprised to see that it was now dark out. She opened the door still rubbing her eyes and immediately had a six-year-old girl attached to her leg.
Haley picked up Jenny from where she clung to her leg and looked up at Jake who was smiling sheepishly. "Sorry, I couldn't hold her back with all this."
"Oh, sorry come in," she responded finally noticing the overwhelming number of bags he was carrying in his hands. "When Nathan said dinner, I didn't think he meant it for an army."
"Yeah, well he was never one to do what was expected," Jake said placing all the food on the table in the corner.
"Aunt Haley where's Uncle Nate? I thought he was here," Jenny said looking around quizzically.
Haley laughed at the expression on the young girl's face. "I forgot how much she's like you," she said to Jake, who was sitting at table watching the interaction between the two. "He's here. He just had to go to work tonight. But you can see him tomorrow morning," Haley responded answering her, then looked back up at Jake for confirmation. "You are going to the game, right?"
"Yeah, of course, wouldn't miss it for the world. I haven't seen anyone in so long. Which reminds me, why are you here? You almost never leave the city," Jake asked.
Haley smiled at the question, knowing the truth in it. "Yeah, well, Nate put up a good fight this time. And I got Brooke to take care of Peyton while she's in town. She was braiding Jenny's hair as she watched the TV in front of her. Noticeably Jake brightened up at the mention of the other two girls but she wasn't sure for which one or for what reasons.
The few quiet moments were broken when Jenny pulled herself out of Haley's reach. "Aunt Haley? I'm hungry." Jake and Haley laughed for a moment before setting up the food to please the girl.
Early next morning Haley and drove to the arena, not surprised to see the parking lot empty. She quickly grabbed the parking slip and chose a spot closer to the actual entrance. Haley wandered around the premises before attempting to open a door, suddenly she was accosted by a security guard. "Hey, what are you doing?" he asked obviously annoyed at having to deal with someone this early.
Haley stepped back a bit surprised at his sudden appearance before smartly whipping out the badge Nathan had left for her. He examined it closely before speaking again, "Follow me. They don't like people to see others arrive early so you're supposed to use the side entrance."
"Oh," was all Haley could manage to his explanation. She tagged behind him to another security guard who he also showed the pass to and handed it back to her. The second guy opened the door for her and gave her directions before closing the door behind her. "Go straight. Left at the second hallway. Third door on your right."
In her mind she repeated the instructions hoping not to get lost. Slowly Haley opened the instructed door only to come across an empty locker room. Turning back to the hallway, she saw a janitor further down and walked up. "Excuse me, but could you tell me where the teams are?"
"Do you have a pass young lady?" Haley held it up in response and he motioned for her to follow him. He opened a door and the bright stadium lights blinded her vision. She thanked him profusely before walking inside and being greeted by a harsh yell.
"Scott! Where is your mind? Shoot like that one more time and I'm benching your ass." Haley winced at the sharp reprimand he got and attempted to slip unnoticed along the sidelines. Nathan spotted her and air balled at the same time.
"Scott!" The coach yelled angrily again, grabbing the ball from where it had been bouncing along, causing the entire team to look over and stare. "That was even worse than before. What in hell are you staring at?"
Everyone including the coach followed Nathan's gaze to where Haley had frozen along the wall. "That your girl?" he questioned. Nathan nodded mutely and the coach slammed the ball into his fixed hands. "Don't screw up again."
The Coach walked back to the sidelines and the rest of the team took that as a cue to start warming up again. "Haley James?" he asked approaching her from where she was sitting.
"Coach Whitmore. It's a pleasure to meet you," Haley said smiling warmly.
"Don't even say you've heard nice things about me. No one on this team would ever do that." He laughed predicting the next words to come out of her mouth.
"You caught me. How's my fiancé?" she asked changing the topic to a safer one.
"Safe from the press. But not from me. I'm almost glad you don't travel," he said, confusing her. He smiled the wrinkles showing on his worn face. "It keeps him from using you as an excuse. These past few games he's been a wreck wondering what you'll think of him."
Haley laughed since it sounded so unusual from Nathan's regular self. "It's true, though. You could probably be my own daughter with how much me and the other boys hear about you. And it's all good things...unlike the comments about myself."
"Are you sure you're a mind reader and not a coach?" she joked getting a laugh out of the usually stern coach. "He does enjoy being on the team and that wouldn't happen if he didn't have a good coach. I remember his coach at the university. Hated him and almost quit the game."
"Let's get back to topics you're more comfortable with, Ms. James. When's the wedding?" he said watching her struggle with the memories.
"Haley and we don't know yet. Definitely in the off season though."
"Kevin or Coach either works fine. You can have your wedding any time. I wouldn't ever want to deprive a woman of her dream wedding, especially since mine almost got driven into the ground," he responded surprised at her announcement.
"It's alright. I want a summer wedding any ways. What happened with yours?"
Coach smiled recalling the details. "Our parents didn't get along. We ended up eloping with a justice of the peace and a few of our friends there along for the ride."
"I'm starting to think we might just do that," she said grinning at the thought of fighting in-laws. "As you probably know, Nate's not that close to ether of his parents any more. And my family's so large no gathering can last without a fight. Not weddings and not even funerals."
Coach was still keeping a close eye on the court and saw that the other team was heading back inside. "Looks like we're heading in now. They're probably beginning to let the fans in. It's almost time for the game. You should find your seat soon."
Haley watched the team retreat back to their locker rooms and Nathan's gaze until he disappeared behind the closing doors. Sure enough, a small trickle of observers filed in until the entire arena was full of eager fans. She watched the game with anticipation as it was the first one she had been to in a while and also because the score was close.
With a few seconds left on the clock, Nathan made a fade away jumper to break the tie. The scene reminded her of one long ago except she couldn't get to the floor to congratulate him and there were other girls and cheerleaders clinging to his arm. Of course since Haley had made sure no information was leaked to other sources and Nathan was required to remove his ring for games, not many people knew he was engaged.
Haley followed the cheerleaders into the locker room, the security guard recognizing her from before. Most of the girls and a few bystanders stared at her oddly but she continued despite the weird looks. Haley stood outside the locker room confused on what to do until the Coach returned from somewhere.
"Ah, Haley, what are you doing standing in the hallway?" Coach Whitmore asked smiling at her.
"Um, I wasn't sure if I was allowed in, Coach."
"Of course you are, go on in," he noticed her mortified look and reassuringly said, "Don't worry. I assure you that by now all the boys are dressed and ready for the press conference."
Slightly calmer, Haley entered to find that the Coach was right. All of the guys were freshly showered and dressed, most were sitting down discussing the game with others. Nathan on the other hand was sitting in a corner, studying a piece of paper.
Haley bounded up to him and hugged his side. "Hey what are you looking at?"
Quickly Nathan folded the paper and tucked it away in the gym bag on the bench next to him. "Nothing important." He pulled her into a deep kiss before she could ask any more questions. "What were you doing here so early? I wasn't expecting you till later."
"Oh, I just wanted to see how well you really play. Seemed a little jittery when I first got there. Hope I didn't make you nervous?" she questioned slyly, having already gotten the answer from Coach.
"Course you do. My hands start shaking and my heart races," he said, knowing she would recognize the line. Nathan pulled her down into his lap and gave her another kiss before noticing that something was off.
They both looked up to find the team staring at the couple. Haley buried her face in Nathan's chest while he laughed and spoke up. "Haley, this is the team. Guys, this is Haley, my fiancé."
Haley managed to squeak out a small 'hi' before the team gathered around them and began introducing themselves.
When a certain guy came up, Nathan laughed out loud. "See, Tim, I told you I wasn't lying."
"Yeah sucks for the rest of us, but you weren't," he said laughing.
A/N - An odd note to end on but just remember no one knows.