A/N - And I still could'nt get the number of updates right. I'll get smarter eventually, I swear.
Haley and Nathan walked out of the locker room together, careful to drop their hands before anyone could notice that they were intertwined. Nathan followed the rest of the team up to the stage while Haley opted for a seat in the back with Jake and Jenny. "Hey I didn't see you earlier," she said after sitting down.
"Yeah, well , you were to busy staring at Nathan. You're lucky Jenny, here, didn't take any offense." The little girl then climbed into Haley's lap smiling up at her. Haley laughed and played with her until the conference started or technically Tim started.
Tim swaggered over to the podium, beer in hand, having pilfered it from behind the bar. "Hey, before we start..." he trailed off as most reporters weren't paying attention to him. "Excuse me everyone!" he yelled out and slowly the room began to quiet down. "Like I was saying. Before we start, I would just like to congratulate my man Nathan Scott over there on his engagement."
At that precise moment the entire team froze along with Haley and Jake in the back. Nathan jumped to his feet and grabbed Tim by the back of his neck, dragging him back over to his seat. "You weren't supposed to tell anyone, you damn drunk. You've only had half a beer. Can't hold your liquor?" Nathan whispered tersely in his ear as he slammed the other guy down in his seat.
Tim attempted to protest but the guys on either side held him down. Nathan looked at the Coach bewildered but no one knew what to do. The reporters had finally started firing off questions in his direction and Nathan did the only thing he knew. He lied. "I'm sorry. Tim there is a little tipsy and he might have misunderstood one of my comments." As he said this he locked eyes with Haley who still had Jenny in her lap.
She looked away first and he felt guilty for lying. Still the press continued to question him even as he faded into the background and the Coach changed the subject. Sitting next to her Jake also tried to change the subject. "So when is Peyton landing?"
"Damn it, Peyton, where in hell is your flight?" Brooke muttered angrily as she stood at Gate 27 B. She looked around for something to do and spied a magazine shop. Brooke checked her watch before going in. "11:15 now. Delayed till 11:45 am. I've got time to kill."
Brooke walked into the store and began browsing through some magazines none of the usual stuff caught her eye and she went for her last resort. "Tabloids here I come." She grabbed for a National Enquirer and read the headlines on the front, muttering all along. "Heard that. Like that would ever happen. Hm, NBA star to marry. Wonder which tall, dark, handsome, and rich guy got snagged up now."
She flipped through the pages finally coming to rest on blown up picture of Nathan and Peyton hugging outside some restaurant. Brooke yelled the headline out loud causing the entire store to look over at her. "NATHAN SCOTT AND PEYTON SAWYER HEAR WEDDING BELLS!!!"
Brooke read the article in its entirety before laughing at the ridiculous details. "Scott and Sawyer rekindle high school romance. Tortured artist Sawyer and basketball star Scott have been known to enjoy each other's company. The pair now sport engagement rings during their recent outings."
The picture did look recent though Brooke couldn't recognize the location as Nathan traveled everywhere. She checked the time again and realized she was ten minutes late. She slammed a five down on the counter before racing out the store and almost colliding with Peyton who was just getting off the plane.
"You have to read this!" she yelled before coming to a full stop, tossing the magazine Peyton's way. The girl laughed at her friend's antics before sitting and opening to the requested page.
Her eyes widened at the picture of her and Nathan hugging in front of the restaurant in Atlanta. Then proceeded to become even more shocked with every word she read. "You have got to be kidding me. I would never marry Nathan. It's not my fault we got engaged at the same time. Haley is going to kill me." was the last thought to run through her mind before turning back to a disgruntled Brooke.
"Come on let's get back to the apartment. We have to call them," Brooke said pulling on a frozen Peyton.
Haley heard a distant buzzing and smacked the snooze button on the alarm clock. She snuggled back further into Nathan's arms before realizing that the ringing hadn't stopped. She grabbed for the phone and managed a groggy, "Hello."
Her movements woke up Nathan and he sat up along with her disoriented. Thank god the Coach had let him stay with Haley after Tim's debacle the last night. "Hales, what are you doing?"
"Is that Nathan with you?" Brooke demanded on the other line. "Put me on speaker. This is going to blow your socks off."
"Brooke, I don't really know what time it is. But it's early. What do you want?" Nathan questioned realizing who Haley was talking with.
"Let me read you a headline from the National Enquirer. The teaser on the front says 'NBA star to marry'. The full headline on the inside says 'Nathan Scott and Peyton Sawyer hear wedding bells'. Now it might just be my memory but I could have sworn you were marrying Haley," Brooke said unnecessary bitterness in her voice.
"Oh god, that must have been the press conference. I'm going to kill that guy," Haley said fully awake and ready to maim.
"It's not just that. There's a picture. When was the last time you saw Peyton, Nathan?"
Nathan rubbed at his eyes trying to remember. "Don't act like I cheated on Haley, Brooke. We had dinner two weeks ago in Atlanta when she was visiting one of her friends."
Haley gave him a hug trying to reason all this out. "Okay I knew about all that. Damn it, what do we do now?"
"Tell everyone the truth?" Nathan suggested.
Haley turned back to him glaring, "You're the one who wanted to keep it a secret in the first place. Cause you wanted me to have a normal marriage."
"I do. It's just that, right now, secrecy is not an option anymore. And to be honest I'm a little sick of hiding you." Nathan smiled charmingly, kissing her bare neck.
"Hello still on speaker," Brooke called out a little perturbed at being ignored.
"Okay, Brooke, tell Peyton to call her fiancé and straighten things out with him. I'll call my boss and finally tell him who Nate's marrying then we'll figure it out from there." Brooke hung up and Haley went to dial another number but Nathan's hand stopped her.
"Wait, you aren't actually going to call your boss? I thought you were just getting rid of Brooke."
"I'm sorry but I have to call before he decides to pick up a National Enquirer or some other magazine that pairs you up with some random girls and I'm suddenly out of a job." Nathan pouted at her response but let her call.
"Mr. Jameson? This is Haley. I have some news for you," she said right away, having called his direct line, not wanting to deal with secretaries.
"Haley, I've already heard. How could you let this happen? Do you know how much hell this is wreaking on our reputation, your reputation?" he questioned her angrily.
"You don't know the half of it," she muttered under her breath before speaking in her normal voice, "I'm sorry, sir. But I was sworn to secrecy. Now that this is all being blown out of proportion, I have to let you know the truth. I'm the one engaged to Nathan."
There was silence on the end from the other line. Nathan begrudgingly took the phone away from a scared Haley. "Mr. Jameson?"
"Ah, Mr. Scott, this must be some sort of elaborate scheme. Tell Ms. James I don't appreciate her antics," he answered in a cordial tone as this was his client and not his employee.
"Haley's not joking. We really are engaged. I'm the one who asked her to keep it a secret so if you fire her for this, then you are no longer representing me," Nathan responded tuning into the side of him that had not been used in quite a while.
"I assure you, sir. There will be no retribution for this...mix up. Congratulations."