This story is almost over! I've done a little time jump and filler before the final chapter (with a time jump) & an epilogue. Thank you for all of your patience with waiting for the story! I've enjoyed writing this story!

Chapter 18: Lucky

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again

Lucky we're in love in every way
Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed
Lucky to be coming home someday

- Lucky, Jason Mraz

1 year later

Nathan bounced his leg up and down furiously. He got up and down out of his seat about twenty times. Haley watched him every time and rolled her eyes each time.

"Nathan, sit the hell down."

He looked back at her and sighed, "I'm sorry, Hales. I'm just so nervous."

Haley opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on their front door. She gave Nathan a smile and walked to the front door, opening it and smiling as she saw Lucas, Peyton, and baby Sawyer.

"Did we miss it?"

She rolled her eyes in response, "No and he's about to go crazy waiting."

Peyton adjusted Sawyer on her hip and gave her friend a supporting smile, "Well we brought take out!"

"And the cutest baby in the world."

Haley smiled and reached for Sawyer, pulling her from her mother's arms. Peyton gave Lucas a pointed look and they followed Haley into the house. As they shut the door, they heard another knock.

Lucas turned back to answer it and Brooke and Julian stood outside, "Has it happened yet?"

"Not yet, but apparently he's real nervous."

Brooke let out a breath and gave Lucas a pointed look as they followed him into the house. It had been a little over a year since Haley and Nathan moved into the house. It had been about six months since baby Sawyer had arrived and they were now all entering the end of their senior year of college. Nathan had finally decided to enter into the NBA draft.

Most college basketball players, especially those with Nathan's talent, opt to enter the draft way earlier than their senior year. Most college basketball players, however, do not have Haley James as a girlfriend. She always told him how important getting a degree would be and even if everything worked out perfectly for him in the NBA, this would just be another accomplishment for him.

Nathan hastily waved hello to his friends and continue to pace around the living room. He was currently waiting to hear from a scouting agent. This agent was going to tell him who was interested in him and where he was more than likely going to play professional basketball.

"Are you guys going to New York tomorrow?"

Haley bounced Sawyer up and down on her lap and shrugged her shoulders. Nathan had been going back and forth about it all week long. She knew he was going to be a top prospect in the draft so he knew he should go. Everyone wanted him to go, but Nathan seemed hesitant about it lately.

Lucas looked between Brooke and Haley before leaning forward and whispering, "I think you should just make him go."

"I don't know if he wants to."

"He's wanted this all of his life, he wants to."

"I thought so too and I've been pushing him, but he keeps saying no."

Lucas pursed his lips and scrunched his eyebrows, "I'll found out."

Nathan plopped himself on the couch in between Brooke and Haley. He grabbed Sawyer's hand and cooed to her for a minute before closing his eyes and looking away.

"Nathan, what are you so nervous about?"

"Everything, Luke! I've worked my whole life to get here and now I'm just twiddling-."

The phone rang and everyone stopped. Nathan held the phone out and saw an unfamiliar number. His heart started to pound and he continued to stare at it.

"Nathan! Answer it!"

Haley held the baby in her hand and stared at her boyfriend impatiently. He nodded his head and pressed the green button, pulling the phone up to his ear.

"Hello?... Yes sir… I would love to… I… okay, great," his eyes flickered from the floor to Haley, "Oh, no I won't be there…. Yes, I can call in… Thank you… okay, bye."

Nathan pressed the red button after he pulled it away from his ear. He could feel all of the eyes on him burning into him. He slowly moved to a chair in the corner of the room. He sat down and looked straight ahead and gave his friends an innocent, "What?"

There was a chorus of 'Nathans' and 'come ons' before Nathan smirked at them, "You're looking at the new point guard for the New York Knicks."

"Nathan where are you taking me? Let me take this thing off."

Haley placed her hands on the blindfold covering her eyes. The two of them took a surprise weekend to Tree Hill to celebrate Nathan's happy news. His mom was ecstatic, his dad was thrilled, and Whitey was beyond proud. They had decided to go out to eat when Nathan placed the blindfold over Haley's eyes. He had been driving for about fifteen minutes and Haley was going crazy.

"Just relax, we are here. But don't take that blindfold off!"

Nathan pointed his finger at her out of habit, but he sucked in a breath as he watched her pout her lip. He looked out of the car windshield at everything set up in front of him and let out a shaky breath before getting out of the car.

He walked around to the passenger side of the car and closed his eyes for a moment, looking for confidence. He opened the door and held out his hand to help Haley out of the car.

"Okay, so can I take it off now?"

"Haley James, you are so impatient."

Nathan scoffed at her and walked her a little further before she started guessing where they were.

"I'm walking on grass… are we at the Rivercourt?"

He rolled his eyes and squeezed her hand before moving behind her to take off the blindfold. Haley blinked a couple of times to adjust to the change in light and she did see the Rivercourt, but she saw it in a way that she's never seen it before.

There were candles all over the court. The candles were illuminating the court and there was a path leading to a small table in the center of the court. The path was lined with purple flowers.

Haley felt the tears well up in her eyes and she covered her mouth, "Nathan…"

He didn't say anything, but smiled down at Haley and grabbed her hand. Haley moved closer to his body and bit her lip as she walked with him down the pathway. They stopped when they reached the table. Nathan pulled out the chair for Haley and she placed her hand on her chest.

"My, my, what a gentleman."

Nathan chuckled and sat across from Haley after she was sitting, "So we have, here with us, the food of the gods."

Haley's face lit up, "Mac and cheese? Nathan! This is so sweet, but we're supposed to be celebrating you this weekend."

"Being on a date with you is a celebration, Hales."

She felt her face flush as she stared at him, "You're so sexy when you're romantic. Wanna get outta here?"

He chuckled again, "Haley James, you are trying to corrupt me. Let's just eat our dinner please."

Haley held up her hands in mock defense and smirked back at him. They started talking about how excited Nathan was and Haley was giving him praise and returning his excitement.

"I love you, Hales."

"Well, I love you too, Nathan… where did that come from?"

Nathan let out a shaky breath and grabbed Haley's hand, "I never knew what I was missing until I met you. I know we didn't have a traditional relationship, but I wouldn't trade what we have for anything in the world. You make me happier than anything. I would give up everything just to be with you for the rest of our lives. You are my dream, Haley James. I know that everyone thinks it's basketball, but it's not. You are it. You're everything I've always wanted, but didn't know I needed."

The tears were spilling out of Haley's eyes as she bit her lip. She closed her eyes tight as she watched Nathan stand up from his chair and get down on one knee in front of her. She opened her eyes to see Nathan in front of her with a ring box in his hand.

He gave her a bright smile before he asked, "Will you marry me?"

She returned her smile and nodded her head quickly, "Yes, yes, yes."

Nathan slipped the ring on Haley's finger and pulled her out of her chair to meet for a kiss. Haley wrapped her arms around Nathan's neck and pulled him closer to her. The two of them pulled away from each other and rested their foreheads together.

"I was kind of thinking you were going to say no," Nathan said through his breathless voice.

"Well you definitely surprised me."

Haley smiled down at the ring on her finger, putting her lip in between her teeth.

"You know you don't have to brag."

Haley rolled her eyes and gave Brooke a pointed look, "I'm not bragging, I'm just happy."

Brooke grinned back at her, "I know… I'm so happy you're happy. Where's Nate?"

Brooke had arrived at her best friend's house 30 minutes ago to hear the story about how he proposed. The two of them sat comfortably on the couch and Brooke loved listening to the story. She hadn't even noticed Nathan wasn't there until Haley was done tell her story.

"He's in New York."

"I thought he wasn't going to go to the thing?"

Haley shrugged her shoulders, "Lucas talked him into a boy trip. They left last night. Peyton and Sawyer are staying here until they get back."

"Oh! I wanna stay! We can have a girl's night!"

"So you're going to leave poor Julian on his own?"

"He'll be fine!" Brooke shook her head and waved her hands dismissively. Haley chuckled and nodded her head in agreement.

Brooke squealed in delight and clapped her hands together, "We are going to start on your wedding plans!"

"Nathan, where the hell are we going?"

Nathan rolled his eyes as he walked down a New York street, "Well if you weren't texting Peyton the whole time I was talking, you would know."

His brother returned a sheepish smile and shrugged his smile, "I miss her and Sawyer."

"We're going to look for an apartment or a condo, I don't know. Just somewhere for me and Haley to live."

Lucas scrunched his eyebrows, "Why are you doing this with me instead of Haley? You don't think she's going to want a say in where you two live?"

Nathan stopped on the street and turn back to Lucas, "I'm going to make a lot of money."

"Gee, thanks for rubbing it in."

Nathan punched his shoulder and gave him a pointed look, "Shut up, Lucas. I just mean… Haley's not used to having this type of money and she won't want to spend the kind of money I'm planning on spending on a new place for us. So you're the female version of Haley and you're here to tell me if she would like it or not."

"I'm the female version of Haley? That kind of hurts," Lucas rubbed his shoulder and nodded his head continuing, "but I get it. I don't know if I'll be much help, I've never had this kind of money either or ever thought it was possible."

The two of them continued with walking down the street while Nathan reassured Lucas that he was going to be able to help. Lucas asked Nathan about the proposal and their wedding plans. Nathan, of course, shrugged his shoulders and told him that he would do whatever Haley wanted him to do. Once they reached an apartment building they were greeted by an overzealous real estate tycoon. He was wearing a tight fitting suit and leather shoes. Half of his hair was buzzed and he wore rings on his fingers. Nathan fought the urge to roll his eyes as they guy came in to shake his hand and he could barely feel it.

"Nathan Scott? I'm Chris Keller."

Nathan shook his hand anyway and made sure he gave him a firm shake and smirked when he saw him wince. He knew that this guy thought he was hot shit, but he was more than likely a douche bag. A douche bag that was going to try and swindle the young, naïve professional basketball player out of a lot of money. Nathan, however, knew that would never happen.

"This is my brother, Lucas Scott."

"Oh. Are you in the market for a new place? Do you play basketball too? I actually played a little in high school."

Chris had started walking into the building and pointed at the security guard standing by the door and said something passively friendly. The guard gave him a confused look and then shook his head. He had never seen that man in his life.

"So obviously, this is the first place I have for you. It's at the low end of your budget, but I figured I'd show you what you were working with at that amount."

Nathan chuckled, "Sounds great."

"So I'm assuming you're looking for a bachelor pad? I know that pro basketball players generally meet lots of women. The next place we go to will be great for that."

Nathan blew out a breath and looked to Lucas who met his look. Lucas could tell that this guy was getting on his brother's nerves and he figured he would attempt to intervene before Nathan punched him, "Oh no. My brother actually just got engaged."

"Oh no way, congrats. Well in that case, this place might fit for you as well. Do you have a picture?"

He pulled out his phone and showed a picture of him and Haley to Chris, smiling as he stared at Haley's smile. It took a lot for them to get here. They had been through so much and it felt so good to be in this place.

"Haley James?"

Nathan flickered his gaze up from his phone to Chris as he heard Haley's name. The elevator dinged and the three of them stepped off the elevator.

"How do you know Haley?"

Chris chuckled and clutched the phone in his hand, turning to face the brothers as they stood in the light decorated hallway, "I went to Oak View with her when she was there. I was… well, I was actually friends with Damien."

Nathan visible tightened his body at the mention of his name. There wasn't a lot that made him go into a blind rage, but thinking of Damien's treatment of Haley was definitely one of them.

"Talk to him lately?"

Lucas rocked slightly as he asked the question. He could feel how tensed up his brother was and he was trying to get Chris out of the line of fire.

"Oh no. I couldn't believe what he was doing to her. I told our coach a couple of times that I thought something fishy was going on, but he never did anything. I tried to help her leave him, but it was pretty hard for her. She felt so embarrassed about all of it, she wouldn't tell her parents or her friends back home because she fought so hard to leave."

Nathan started to relax and realized that this is the guy Haley told him about all those years ago. She had told him about a guy that tried to help her out of the situation she was in, but she never felt comfortable enough to leave. She always said she never felt strong enough, but Nathan hated that. He hated that she felt weak and that he made her feel weak.

"She told me about you. I know she definitely appreciated everything you did for her."

Chris hung his head low and put his phone in his pocket, "I wish I was able to do more. When I found out her friends came down and saw what was happening to her, I felt so relieved. I remember how mad Damien was at first when he saw them on campus. He came to my room and ranted about it. He sounded so possessive. It was terrifying. I was actually on my way to the dean's office to tell him about Damien when I saw her coming out of her dorm with her friends carrying all of her stuff."

Nathan never knew that. He never really thought about what could have happened if they hadn't pried the truth out of Haley. How different their lives would have been right now. How they could have lost her from her psychopathic ex-boyfriend. Nathan looked to Lucas and saw his intense thinking face and assumed he was thinking the same things that Nathan was.

"Well you should definitely call her. I can give you her number, I know she'd love to hear from you."

Chris grinned back at Nathan, "I'd like that and hey, I promise I won't hit on her too bad."

Nathan clenched his teeth and looked to Lucas before following the fast-paced Chris Keller to the apartment, "This is what I get for being the nice guy."

Lucas chuckled, "Calm down, Nate."

"Hales?"

Nathan softly closed the front door of his house and breathed in the scent of the familiar house. He had been gone for a week, but it felt like forever. He and Haley spoke daily through video chat, phone calls, and texts. But it was nothing compared to being with her.

"Ouch!"

"Haley? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine… I just, I was trying to run to you in a big romantic movie kind of way," Haley's voice got a little louder and Nathan could tell that she was moving closer to the front of the house. She blew out a breath when she saw him finally and smiled, "but I'm clumsy as hell and I ended up stubbing my toe and now I feel like an idiot."

Nathan chuckled at her and stared at her for a moment. She started to blush and pulled at the t shirt she was wearing, "You're early though, I would have cleaned myself up a little bit-."

"I'm definitely okay with that," Nathan's eyes roamed his fiancés body and sucked in a breath as he saw here wearing one of his Duke shirts and a pair of shorts. Her hair was up in a messy bun and she wasn't wearing any makeup. He could tell that she had been studying because there were pen marks and highlighter marks on her fingers. The girl was totally clumsy with the pens.

"You're making me uncomfortable, Nathan."

She bit her lip and stared at him, sucking in a breath as he started to move closer to her. He wrapped his arms around her and dipped her, as if they were at the end of a romantic dance, "How about this for a big romantic movie kind of move?"

Haley giggled and closed her eyes as she met Nathan's lips for a kiss.