Long A/N at end of chapter! This chapter is ALL Nathan and Haley (a thank you for sticking with me). The other characters will be back in the next chapter.

Chapter 15

"This is the start of something beautiful, this is the start of something new," - Ed Sheeran

"That was quite the dramatic speech you gave in there Scott"

"Well I had to do something to get your attention didn't I James?" he smirked proudly at her, "you sure do like to make me work for it I'll give you that"

She smiled back at him.

To think this morning had started out with her vowing to ignore him for as long as it takes, and now they were walking hand in hand in the courts of their very own academy. Somehow they wound up following a trail back to the same basketball court that she'd had her first one-on-one conversation with the guy by her side.

Considering there were a lot of strange things that had occurred on this day, she just chalked it up to another one on the list.

"So James, the balls in your court" she raised her eyebrows at his very much intended pun, "where do we go from here?"

They took a seat at that very same park bench, he was still holding her hand, not taking the chance that she'll take it back somehow.

"I'm not too sure to be honest," she chewed her lip thoughtfully, too busy staring ahead of her to notice him staring with avid interest at said lips. "It all feels a little surreal"

"What? You and me?"

He felt a little nervous. She'd pretty much made it out that she wanted this too. Since they left the ice cream parlour she'd kept by his side, didn't shirk off his hand when he went to hold her fingers between his. And she was smiling. Those were all good signs.

Right?

She turned to look him straight in the eyes, and he was distracted for a moment with how she looked in the faint light of the setting sun. Those hazel eyes of hers were doing things to him that he didn't think he'd ever felt before. All those weird feelings in his stomach were back again and seemed to set up camp whenever she was nearby.

"Kind of...yes" she smiled softly at him (again not a bad sign), "I mean, its not every day I go on a date with one guy, and then leave with a different one"

"The right one" he said smugly, and she could have sworn he was actually puffing out his chest.

"That remains to be seen" she teased

"You doubting me James," he scolded her, despite the fact that she could see the slight upturn to his lips

"And if I am? What do you propose to do about it Scott?" she challenged him, taking the reigns and flirting right back for the first time tonight

"Guess I'll just have to prove to you that this is exactly where you're meant to be," he kissed her hand and stared at her determinedly.

"What – the basketball court?"

He was right, she was going to make him work for it.

He shook his head, seeing right through her little ploy.

"You know exactly what I meant James,"

"Still...I might need a little more convincing" she started playing with the zipper on his hoodie, slowly trailing it up and down. He watched her movements with interest. "I mean, I did just break up with another guy for you"

He scoffed, "it's not like you were actually on a date"

"I actually was"

"Please, you were just trying to get to me"

It was her turn to scoff, cocky as always. "For the record, you had been the one trying to get to me all week. And I happened to like Ryan just fine"

He grabbed hold of her other hand, so they were both in his, his actions pulling her in closer to him, his face commanding her attention.

"But he wasn't me was he?"

For once his words were soft and with no underlying arrogance. He looked at her imploringly, not wanting to push her into saying anything she wasn't comfortable with, but at the same time – hoping that she would see this for what it was. He really did like her, and he had been wanting to have a chance to show her this entire time. He was hoping he hadn't taken too long or been too stupid that she was doubting her feelings at this point.

She looked at him earnestly.

He really is handsome. Especially when he looked so open and honest and full of possibility. She was constantly seeing all these different sides to him than the one he used as a show for the world. And she found that she liked navigating the waters of Nathan Scott's emotional depth. And it meant something to her that he would allow for her to see him in such states. She knew for a fact that it wasn't an easy feat for him.

And its not something she wanted to take for granted.

"No, he wasn't you"

The answering grin almost melted her a little and she decided there and then that she needed to toughen herself up a little. Nathan Scott, his ways and charms were having entirely too much of an effect on her and dammit she was not going to let-

Oh.

His mouth was on hers and just like that all thoughts and ideas filling her head had been effectively shut down. All she could feel was him. His lips pressing against hers urgently, as though he hadn't been able to last another second without them fused together. His scent surrounded hers in that amazing heady way that had it completely taking over her senses. And his arms. She could feel them curl around her, pulling her onto his lap, as one hand then went to cradle her head, running through her hair and keeping her right where he wanted her most.

She moaned slightly, as her hands came up grabbing hold of his shirt collar, not wanting to give him an inch because dear god how had they not been doing this until now?

When he pushed back slightly she groaned in protest and he chuckled before surging right back in again. Peppering kisses along her jaw, up her cheek and then honing right back onto her lips. He nipped softly at the bottom one causing her to gasp slightly and, ever the opportunist, he took that moment to sweep his tongue along her bottom lip before pillaging into her mouth without any remorse. Haley James not being one to back down gave back just as good as she got and they both groaned in response to the sudden heat building in their interactions.

It was only supposed to be an innocent kiss.

She should have known better when it came to Nathan. And judging by the response she was getting against her thigh, she knew she needed to bring things down a notch before they got out of control.

Pulling back slowly (and with a lot of effort), it was her turn to smirk slightly as he seemed to follow her movement with his lips.

Shaking her head, she placed a hand against his mouth and he just looked at her almost mournfully. She giggled before relenting and placing a quick, chaste kiss against his lips, moving back before he tried deepen it to the point of no return.

"Ah Hales, I have a feeling you are going to be the death of me," he mumbled resting his head on her shoulder. She took to running her hand through his hair, falling naturally into the act as though they'd been doing this for years.

He moaned slightly at her talented fingers running over his scalp, and she grinned.

"So...does this mean we're together now?"

His head jumped up at that.

"Well yeah, I thought that much was obvious" he raised an unamused eyebrow at her and she rolled her eyes good naturedly.

"Exclusively?"

It was clear this was an issue for her, if the furrowed brow and tentative look in her eyes meant anything. He would have to tread carefully.

"Is that what you want?"

Yes.

It really was.

At least, for the old Haley James, there would be nothing else it could be.

But she was no longer that same gullible, eternal romanticist who would take such leaps of faith. She wasn't naïve to high school politics and when it came to Nathan, he just happened to be at the top of the gossip mill totem pole. She wanted to be with him and give them a try, but he had just broken up with his ex not too long ago.

"It's not that I don't want to be with you Nathan, and I'm not a huge fan of hiding things or lying to people I care about. But the facts are, you are THA's most popular athlete. You just broke up with your cheerleader girlfriend not too long ago. If we're suddenly together and out in the open, people will talk. Rachel is no doubt going to be a pain in the ass. Other people will be talking about how I'm a rebound or a slut...or both. There are going to be rumours going around like crazy, and its going to be hard to avoid all the social antagonism. It will put pressure on us when we're only just starting out in a new relationship."

He stared at her for a few seconds.

"I didn't realise that dating me would be such a hardship for you"

He said it coolly but she could trace the hurt underneath it and cursed herself.

"No that's not what I mean at all," she held his face in her hands and made him focus on her. She did not want him getting the wrong idea here. "I like you a lot. I do. And I want to date you. And hold your hand. And kiss you whenever I feel like it,"

"No arguments here" he quipped, a small upturn to his lips returning.

"But I just feel like if we go out there in front of everyone tomorrow, there's just going to be a lot of talk and a lot of judgement. And I don't want that kind of pressure and negativity following us straight away. I want to give this relationship a real shot and I think keeping it to ourselves for now is the best way to do that."

He seemed a little perturbed by her train of thought, and she couldn't blame him to be honest. Here he was making strides to be with her, and she's saying she wants to be with him, but only behind closed doors. She didn't want to be that person, but she couldn't stop that fear inside her saying that this was the best way for now. She couldn't help but think of the last time she was in this position, so sure that she was with the right person and falling all in, only to be burnt in the worst possible way later on.

It may not be best thing to do right now. But it felt like the safest way to ensure that her heart didn't eventually fall to pieces. Nathan had her all tied up in knots, and she already had the feeling that if she really invested in this, in him, she could potentially fall hard. And it terrified her. The idea that the man before her could make and break her was scary as hell. And having been there before and never taking caution of the warning signs, she certainly wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. She wanted to do things properly this time around - she wasn't the same naïvely innocent, heart-on-her-sleeve girl she used to be. And if she wanted to give her and Nathan the right chance, she had to be smarter with her choices this time around.

"So what you're saying is that you want to be together, but not in front of everyone?"

He didn't get it. If there was one thing he knew about Haley, is that she didn't hide – not her emotions, her thoughts, her principles. Nothing.

So why is she hiding now?

"Just for a little while. Just until we've spent some time together, and know where this is going. Is that okay?"

He was confused but looking at her, trying to decipher her mood, he couldn't figure out what had her feeling this way.

The only thing he could think was that it was him.

She wanted to be with him, but only in secret. She didn't feel comfortable being with him out in the open.

He could honestly say he had never been in this position before. Most girls would boast proudly if he so much as winked in their direction. Here he was, fighting to date her, and she wanted to keep it strictly under wraps.

It just didn't seem like the Haley he had gotten to know.

And if her expression was anything to go by, she didn't particularly like what she was suggesting. But then why suggest it to begin with?

He knew he wasn't the most observant type. Lucas was better at that kind of thing, he had always been the more sensitive Scott (to a certain extent, because lets face it - screwing over two best friends at the same time was bordering more on the insensitive scale, by a wide margin). But Nathan knew enough to know something else was going on here. And he had already realised that where Haley was concerned, he didn't know near enough the amount that he wanted to know about her.

He wanted to turn around and shoot her idea down. Tell her that he wanted to be able to show off their relationship to the world. To kiss her in public and walk the halls with her on his arm. He couldn't deny that it didn't suck that she wanted to date in secret, and that it made him not only feel like crap, but slightly angry- almost as though she wasn't taking this as seriously as him.

But he couldn't say it.

Not any of it.

Because there was a look in her eye. A look he'd seen before when staring at his own reflection. A deep, unrelenting fear. His issues were almost always related to his father, his brother, his game or the consistent idea that he was not enough. For anyone.

Staring at Haley now, he could see the mirror image of the same fear in her eyes.

He may have his demons, but clearly she had hers.

And though he had no idea what they were or how to help her deal with them, he knew he wanted to be there if she decided to share them.

"We'll take it as slow as you want"

She softened and moved forward to hug him, and he held her back just as tightly.

It would seem like the hard parts were over. But they both knew that this was just the beginning.

A/N: So a few things to address,

1) Yes, after a lot of indecision I have decided to continue with this story. After my first (and only) A/N that I posted as the previous chapter (and hope never to tease like that again when any readers get the email thinking its an actual update) I read and re-read the reviews and got more than a few PMs asking for me to continue this story. I have to admit, for the longest time I lost the heart and muse to do it. Naley were and are my first favourite ship ever. And I still adore them and their story til now. With regards to the show, OTH started going downhill for me after Season 4. I hated the Nanny Carrie storyline, got a little bored of the show when Peyton and Lucas left - not that I believe they were centric to its ultimate survival, but the Scott brother storyline was one of the main parts of the show and it felt weird no longer having that (and all the awesome Lucas/Haley scenes that we no longer got). I continued feeling a little bored with seasons 7/8, and really didn't see the need for another cheating/third party storyline with Renee - they couldn't think of anything else for Naley? Season 9 lifted my spirits eventually thanks to Nathan getting that buzzcut back, and finally a DIFFERENT plot for NH. Nathan and Haley were badass that season and the ending of the show really brought it back for me (like the season 4 ending). Along with my rollercoaster emotions over the show, I started getting into other shows and ships which took over my creative writing muses and so this poor story suffered as a result. It was literally a recent PM from a thibbs65 that felt like the swift kick up the ass I needed to finally get something back down on paper for this story. And I finally finally did. So thank you everyone who messaged and reviewed, and hoped you liked this chapter :)

2) Secondly, this chapter may seem slightly different to previous ones, as my writing has changed slightly over the course of having more stories and practice since when I had first started posting this story (many many moons ago!). As a result - I have mentioned on my bio profile too, I have been going back and re-editing chapters to make the story flow better in regards to grammar, language and style. There isn't any massive changes to plot line, so the gist of the story is still exactly the same and will remain that way

3) Because it has been a while, I will be changing some of the original ideas I had outlined for the characters of this story - not just Nathan and Haley. Lucas, Peyton and Brooke will all get their own individual closures, and all will end up in relationships (though I'm not giving away if any of them will end up together). There are still minor side stories regarding Mouth, Tim and Jake which will be addressed. Instead of dragging all the original plots out, I will be wrapping some of them up quicker than originally planned as I would like to wrap this story up sooner rather than later. I had envisioned a really long multi-chap fic, but based on how long I've already dragged it out I am going to reassess how long I want it to be at this point.

4) My writing will be sporadic. I'm sorry but I can't change that at the moment. I've been studying for the last 6 years at university, and am now doing a placement year (kind of like an intern) where I work full time and still have assessments every few months. So updates will always come second to that, and I ask that readers respect that.

Having said all of that, thank you to everyone who has stuck by this story. I know it's not easy, and I certainly don't make it so. Trust me when I say I want to see it all end properly just as much as you do. If there is anything you would like to see happen, message or review and I'll try to slot it in ;)

xxx