living on this charming life
you can write the prefect setting
but the story i'm not buying

Framing Hanley- Count Me In

James Oliver sat in the leather chair behind the dark mahogany desk, the top was littered with papers, all business documents, some legal others not so much. The one frame sat on the edge next to a cup of hot coffee he had yet to touch, the photo inside was his late wife Ellen. None of his two children, Jeremy and Adam, just his wife. It wasn't that his children weren't important, it was that in this office, to him they were associates, nothing more than employees.

Sitting forward in his chair he watched the monitor near the edge, the figure of his oldest sons right hand man Nick approaching the front steps. The older man had sent him looking for his son. He wasn't worried, but furious that Jeremy had missed a meeting with potential clients, leaving an empty slot in the books. He wanted a damn good reason for the lack of respect his son had shown.

Taking a drink from the blue mug, he waited for the light knock on the door. "Come in."

Sitting back in his seat he watched the heavy double doors open, Nick coming in wearing his usual suit. "Mr. Oliver."

The doors shut behind him, he approached the desk, James watched him carefully, motioning for him to sit before speaking. "Did you find my son?"

The younger man shook his head, his face filled with a regretful expression. "No, but I found Haley, the girl-"

"The distraction. She was nothing more than a distraction and he's better off without her." James was now irritated, not finding much to be pleased about. His son was still gone and Nick had come to him with nothing more than news of his son's missing play thing. Clearing his throat he shook his head. "You can go."

Nick hesitated, only standing. "Mr. Oliver, there's more." The older man just looked up at him, clearly not seeing it yet. Nick sat back down, "The girl has friends, and from the looks of it they could have something to do with Jeremy's disappearance."

James sat forward, his elbows on the top of his desk. "How do you know?"

Nick cocked his head to the side, "I don't, but I know your son. Jeremy doesn't give up,. he doesn't play nice, and he doesn't let people go until he's ready."

"Do you mean to tell me something different or just educate me on my son's behavior? I raised him, Nicolas, something new or get the hell out of my office."

Nick nodded. "Jeremy was there, Haley had a few tells, one obvious sign was the bruise on her arm that was fading the other being wide eyes at my mention of Jeremy. She knows where he is and what happened to him."

James nodded. "Find out, I want everything about the friends you mention, the girl's life, I want everything. Find my son, Nicolas, or I find him and you lose your position."

Nick nodded, swallowing hard before leaving the office. He'd never been one of the oldest Oliver's favorites, the only reason he was even holding his position was because of Jeremy, without him he was in danger of losing his set up.

Leaving the house he made his way down the long driveway, his shoes crunching the gravel. The car parked next to his was familiar, as was the man sitting on the hood. The man in question was hardly a man, only twenty five with an attitude. Jeremy's younger brother, Adam.

"So, brother dearest gone incognito?"

Nick raised a brow. "How would you know anything about that, Adam? Did you find that out by playing with your cars? Or maybe with your whores?"

It was clear that Adam didn't care about the tone Nick used, only taking a drink of the Monster in his hand. "Yeah, maybe it was the whores… or the unicorn in the back yard…. Yeah, that was probably it."

"Is there a point to this?"

Adam slid off the hood of the car, shrugging his shoulders. He knew he wasn't like his father or brother, he knew he never would be. It was obvious from the young age of five that to his father he would never be any more than the spare, the reason his wife wasn't around anymore. Not that he craved them man's attention, but now with Jeremy gone he was put under a microscope.

The younger man sighed, facing Nick with a careless expression. "So, he's out banging that chick and all you're covering for him? He's hiding out somewhere right?"

Nick smirked. "Naïve, aren't you? Your brother is a man, not an immature kid with a Porsche. He wouldn't run off to 'bang some chick'. He's missing." Nick defended Jeremy, not liking the way his younger brother thought of him.

Adam nodded, "Ahh… I see. Well, any clues? Hints? Maybe I could help you out?"

Nick laughed, shaking his head and moving to the driver's side of his car. "Adam, I wouldn't let you help, not if my life depended on it."

"Again, Ahh. It does doesn't it?" With the newly angered expression on Nick's face Adam continued, now kicking some gravel with the toe of his sneaker. "Yeah, it does. So, let me help, I got skills Nicky."

Nick shook his head, opening the door of his car. "No thanks, don't you have some bike to jump or a tramp to pick up?"

Adam shrugged, smirking. "Yeah, sure I do."

With a wave the younger Oliver watched Nick leave, climbing into the driver's seat of his Porsche and pulling out onto the road. With a sigh he pulled out his phone. "Adam?"

"Hales… what the hell happened?"

Charming

Haley sighed, sitting on the half made bed. She'd been cleaning up her room, smoothing down clean sheets on the bed when the phone rang. Now she sat paralyzed on the edge of the mattress, her mouth slightly open in shock. "Haley?"

She nodded, "Yeah, I hear you… What do you mean?"

"I mean, why in the hell is Nick looking into you and the bikers? Why does he suspect Jeremy is there?" The guy on the phone was quiet for a minute, before sighing. "He showed up?"

She played with the frayed edge of her shorts, "Yes, and… it was bad."

"Shit, I'm sorry Hales, I didn't tell him anything, I swear."

She nodded. "I know, he just showed up in the way that only Jeremy could." Haley looked across the room, the window open letting the light wind sweep inside.

Jeremy's younger brother had been the one she trusted the most, the one that looked out for her when she was involved with Jeremy, the one who patched her up on more than one occasion. She thought of him as family, and hated that he had been left in the dark about it.

"Is everything okay? You got quiet, Hales."

"Yeah, just… thinking. I thought it was all over."

"I'm sorry, but now we have to be proactive. The old man sent Nick to look you up, watch you and the biker guys."

She smirked, "How do you know that?"

He laughed dryly, "Babe, I know everything that goes on in that little compound my dad's so proud of, I have my ways."

She nodded. "Okay… thank you Adam. I appreciate this."

"No problem, think of it as your Christmas present. Besides, if you need me just give me a call, I miss ya."

She nodded, "Yeah, sure thing."

HE sighed, "Alright, I gotta go, give me a call sometimes, let me know how things are."

"Yeah, see ya Adam."

Flashback

Haley sat on the edge of the counter in the bathroom, the white tiled floor looked too white, the towels too blue. She hated everything about the bathroom, everything about the house, and everything about Jeremy.

"Hales, you okay?"

She looked up at Adam, his dark hair long and wavy. His grey eyes sympathetic and on her lip. "Let me help you out?"

She nodded, wiping the tears off her cheeks. "Please."

He moved to stand in front of her, pulling a first aid kit out of the cabinet next to the towel rack. "I'm sorry, Haley."

She looked up and shook her head. "Don't apologize for something your brother did."

He took out an antiseptic wipe, cleaning the cut on her cheek before seeing the one on her arm. He took out another for that one, cleaning it thoroughly before smearing Neosporin on both and covering them. "You can't live like this Haley, not anymore."

She nodded, pushing her hair out of her face. "I know… trust me."

Adam leaned against the wall, his eyes on her face. "Let me help?"

"How? He… Jeremy won't let me leave."

He nodded, "I'll get you out Haley, promise. You just gotta take care of yourself until then, play nice." He helped her off the counter, grabbing her wrist before she could go. "When I say it's time, be ready Hales, and don't question it, okay?"

She nodded, her blue eyes on him. "But-"

He shook his head, his smile coming out. "No buts, just be ready."

Two weeks later Haley was asleep when she was shaken awake. Opening her eyes she saw Adam, with his index finger on his lips, signaling for her to be quiet. She nodded, slipping out of bed before following him out of the room. He'd told her to pack her bags the night before, and to be ready the next morning. It was the next morning and she was ready to leave, to be somewhere she felt safe.

Adam held her hand and led her down the stairs into the garage, her bags were already in her car and he was ready to get her out. He thought of Haley like family, the kind he'd have liked to have rather than his dysfunctional one. Closing the door soundlessly behind them he turned to her, smiling. "Okay, now everything's ready." Handing her one set of keys, the one to her car, he had the car keys Jeremy had given her. "Now you go, don't call for a while… at least not until I call you. Just drive and don't stop, okay?"

She nodded, "But what about you? What if he finds out?"

He smiled, shrugging his shoulders. "Trust me Hales, I can take care of myself… Just worry about you for now."

She nodded, "Okay, thank you, Adam… really."

HE nodded, giving her a hug before motioning her towards her car. She pulled out of the garage and he waited a few minutes before sliding into the seat of the car Jeremy had given her, a blue BMW. The car was okay, just not his style. Pulling out of the garage he headed in the opposite direction as Haley, knowing that the car was rigged with GPS and Jeremy would see within the hour.

He knew that when his brother found out it'd be bad, but at the moment all he wanted was to know Haley was okay, not getting beaten up and used. She was too good for his brother and he knew it. Adam could only hope that Haley made it, and never had to see Jeremy again.

AN- I updated faster this time, mainly cause last time was so short and I felt bad :) So, Jeremy's family, not all of them are slime and I hope everyone likes Adam. Let me know how I did with the family, because it all came pretty easily and I'm kinda nervous about them... Oh, and I was thinking about bringing Adam into the story more, like maybe he takes a trip to Charming later on, let me know what you think :)