Told you guys I had updates! Thanks everyone for the reviews! I had fun writing this chapter! The end will have you guys going crazy! Next chapter was my favorite to write, and I'm sure it will be your too! Enjoy 3

"Haley, honey," I heard a faint voice say. "Sweetie pie, time to wake up." What the hell did she want now? I turned onto my stomach and put my pillow over my head.

"Go away," I said in a muffled voice.

"I have a present for you though, you have to get up."

I groaned and sat up in my bed, facing the woman who was sitting at the edge of it. "Yes?" I asked her in a tired and annoyed voice. It's monday and the first day of no school this week, I was not planning on waking up at ten.

"Look honey I know things have been a little testy since saturday and what happened," she said in a motherly voice. Is it bad to want to punch your own mother?

"Yeah, I guess it has," agreeing with her.

"And I thought that maybe to make up for what happened," the whole slapping me thing, "that I get you something."

Right then I heard a small bark, was that a dog? I looked at Elizabeth, "what did you get me?"

She smiled before leaning down to the side of my bed and picking something up.

"You bought me a dog?" I asked when I saw it. I was so not expecting this.

"Isn't he gorgeous? He's a Czechoslovakian Wolfdog, and he's one of the best breeds there is." He was small, gray and white. He was adorable as he made his way up my bed and onto my lap.

"Why did you get me a dog mom?" I asked her petting him while looking at her. She was completely crazy.

"Well I know that I'm not always home and I thought that maybe your attitude has something to do with my absence."

I scoffed, "trust me, that's not it."

However she ignored me and kept on smiling, "so what do you think? This way maybe you won't be so lonely."

"Mom you do know that someone has to take care of it while you and I are both away at work and school right?" Did she even think about this?

"I know, that's why I hired a professional dog carer. He'll come in during the days and teach him how to behave. Soon we will be able to leave him by himself."

I looked at her like she had four heads. I can't believe this.

"So what do you think? Do you like him?" She asked me talking about my new dog.

I looked down on him and smiled, he was really cute.

"Yeah mom, I love him," I said the best I could. Elizabeth smiled and got up off the bed walking over to my door.

"I was thinking that maybe you can go shopping today and get some stuff for him," she said turning around.

"I have to pick up grandma and grandpa at the airport."

She smiled at me, "don't worry about it. I can pick them up, you bond with your new dog."

I gave her a small smile, "what's his name anyway?"

Elizabeth smiled, "that's your call." She left without another word.

I looked back down at the small puppy now sleeping in my lap and smiled. It took me awhile but I figured out what I was going to call him, looking to my wall and one of the many poster's on it I looked back down onto my dog,

"Hey Tar-Heel, hey you," I cooed to the puppy.

"She bought you a dog?" Lucas asked through the phone.

"Yep," I answered back. Luke had a whole bunch of his relatives over, and since he was the oldest he had to baby-sit all the kids while the adults had their own fun. Lucas was relieved when he saw I had called, he needed a break from all his wild cousins.

"To make up for your little fight?"

"Well, to make up for all the fights we've had. I swear she's high."

Lucas laughed, "wow. And you named him after your favorite school?"

"Our favorite school," I reminded him. UNC is where Lucas and I planned to go. We've been a tar-heel since sixth grade. And right now I totally have a crush on their leading basketball player Tyler Hansbrough.

"Wow Hales, your mom has really done it hasn't she?" He asked laughing a little.

"Oh yeah, and get this. She even let me off the hook of picking up my grandparents this afternoon. Instead she wants me to go get stuff for him and 'bond' with my new dog."

"That'll be fun," he said sarcastically.

"Oh so much," I said laughing.

"Hey, how about I come with you?"

"Sure if you want to, just want to find an excuse to get out of the house don't you?"

"You know me too well James," I laughed.

"Come by around three."

"See you then," we both hung up.

"So what exactly are we looking for?" Lucas asked me when we walked into Pet's Galore. The smell in the store was unbearable, it was more like rat's galore.

"Um, food, bed, leash, and toys," I said trying to remember the mental list I had made. We decided that it would be best if Tar-Heel came with us, maybe the people who worked here could help us if they knew what the dog was like. Elizabeth sort of forgot to buy a leash when she bought him so I had to carry him everywhere. Good thing he wasn't that heavy yet.

"All right lets get shopping!" Lucas yelled and started walking towards the dog section, I followed him with Tar-Heel in my arms.

It took about two hours to finally get everything and buy it all. It was actually pretty fun, Tar-Heel made a lot of the choices. Lucas and I would place a bed in front of him and he would bark for the ones he didn't like, and for the ones that he did like he would just keeping laying there. He was slowly growing on me, and I could tell he was growing on Lucas too.

We walked out of the store, Tar-Heel on his new leash, Lucas holding all the bags.

"So, where now?" I asked him when we reached his car.

"Do you want call Jake and see if he's up for going to the river court?" Lucas asked starting the engine up.

"Wow Luke, the river court? We've never been there before," I said sarcastically.

"Just dial the number," I laughed at him and wiped out my cell phone.

"Hey Jakey-poo!" I said when he answered.

"Never call me that again please," he said.

I laughed, "so what are you up to?"

"Nothing, mom and dad are out doing shopping while my aunts and uncles went site seeing. How bout you?"

"Lucas and I are headed to the river court, want to join us?"

"Sure, I'll meet you guys there."

"Bye Jakey-poo!" I hung up before he could respond.

"What's the verdict?" Lucas asked.

"He'll be there."

"What the hell is this?" I turned around to see Jake a couple feet away looking at Tar-Heel playing with a toy basketball.

"This is my new dog," I said standing up from the bench and facing him.

He looked at me, "excuse me?"

I laughed, "long story dude, but short version? I have a new dog and his name is Tar-Heel. Do you like him?"

Jake smiled, "yeah he's cute." He looked back up at me, "Tar-Heel Haley? Seriously?"

"What?" I asked innocently.

"You're so weird," he said shaking his head and walking past me.

Lucas met him half way, "I tell her that every day." Him and Jake did their man-greeting- handshake thing.

"Shut up," I said to him sitting back down on top of the bench.

The two both laughed and started shooting around with the ball. I let Tar-Heel off the leash about ten minutes later, I thought he would like to roam around a little. He stayed pretty close to me, I only had to get call him back a couple times. He started barking and then ran away towards the parking lot. I turned around to see what he was doing when I saw Nathan walking towards us. I sucked in a breath, what was he doing here?

"Hey Nate!" Lucas called out when he saw him.

Tar-Heel ran up to Nathan and started jumping on his hind legs, wagging his tail like crazy. Nathan reached down and picked him up, making his way over to me.

"This yours?" He asked me standing next to the bench.

I nodded, "yeah, mom got him for a truce type thing."

He gave a small smile, "what's it's name?"

"His name is Tar-Heel."

Nathan laughed, "now see we have a problem."

I smiled, "and why's that?"

"Because I'm a huge Duke fan."

"Oh, well I guess we do have a problem then don't we."

His smile turned into a smirk, "I think I can make an exception this one time."

"That's good."

"Hey man," Lucas said coming to stand next to Nathan.

He turned to him, "hey."

"Want to play?"

Nathan glanced at me quickly, "sure." He bent down and put Tar-Heel back on the ground, Tar-Heel not liking that he started barking.

We all laughed, "looks like he likes you Nate."

"Yeah that's all I need, another dog hanging around me."

Lucas laughed, "ouch!"

I tried to hide the hurt in my face, what did he mean by that? I met Nathan's gaze and knew that he didn't mean me.

"Hey Hales you want to play?"

I looked at Lucas, "you know I suck."

"That's okay, you can be on my team. It's not like I can't beat these punks by myself," he said with a smile on his face.

"Hey Luke!" Lucas turned to Jake, "go Brooke yourself!"

We all cracked up, oh if only Brooke was here.

"All right, Haley and I are a team, Jake and Nathan one."

I tied Tar-Heel up to the bench and walked over to Lucas, "sorry if we lose."

"Don't worry, we got this," we bumped fist and faced our opponents. How did it end up that I got paired with Nathan?

Lucas and Jake stood in the center of the court, about to check the ball.

"You better be able to control yourself James," I heard Nathan whisper to me. I turned to him, he was pretty close, a little too close.

"And why's that?"

"Seeing me all sweaty, you might not be able to keep your hands off of me," he said with a smirk.

"I'll have you know, that I can control myself just perfectly," I shot back.

His smirk grew wider, "whatever you say Hales."

The next thing I know, he darts past me and runs to the basket. Jumping up when Jake passes him the ball and slamming it into the net.

"Haley!" I turned my head towards Lucas, "where were you?"

I smiled, "sorry!"

The game pretty much went down hill from there, Lucas learned not to pass me the ball. He did when he had to, which was not much. I really did have to control myself though, Nathan and Lucas even took their shirts off in the middle of it. Seeing Nathan all hot, sweaty, and his bulging muscles was probably the most greatest thing ever. That boy has no idea what he does to me.

There was one point in the game where I had the ball and my back was turned, and Nathan was pressed really close to me. His bare chest touching me, and his sweat dripping onto my shirt. In the end I ended up losing control of the ball and Nathan stealing it away from me. I prayed that Lucas and Jake didn't see how flushed I was.

The game ended, 21 to 10. Yeah I really sucked at sports, that's why I am always on the sidelines. Tar-Heel barked every time Nathan scored a basket. He really liked Nathan, which may cause a problem.

"All right, well that was fun," Lucas said, his sarcasm very noticeable.

"Don't be a sore loser," Nathan said smacking him on the back.

Jake laughed, "yeah man, you had the best player on your team."

Nathan and Jake laughed and I glowered at them, "you both suck."

"Shit," I looked at Lucas.

"What's wrong?"

"It's past seven, mom wanted me home twenty minutes ago. We have to go Hales," he started walking towards his car.

"Okay," I turned around towards the other two, "bye guys."

I looked at Nathan, and gave him a small nod.

"See you guys later!" Lucas called back. He needed to get home.

I untied Tar-Heel and started following Lucas.

I climbed into his car, Tar-Heel in my lap, and Lucas started the car.

"That was fun," he said pulling out of the park.

"Yeah, that was," I looked back at the river court to see Nathan and Jake shooting around. I smiled, Nathan was really starting to fit in.

"Haley-Bub!" I smiled and ran into grandpa's arms.

"I missed you," I said still hugging him.

"I missed you too princess. Where were you?" He asked when we pulled away.

"I was with some friends, down at the river court." I let Tar-Heel in the backyard, we had a fence so it was okay to let him loose.

"That sounds fun, how are you sweetie?"

"I'm good, I'm good. How are you grandpa?"

We started walking towards the back door, "old dear, I'm old."

I laughed, "I don't believe that. You look like you're forty."

He laughed, "don't get my hopes up dear."

"There's my gorgeous granddaughter," I turned my head to see nanna and mom sitting on the chairs on the patio.

"Hi Nanna," I wrapped my arms around her. I loved the smell of her perfume, it always made me feel safe.

"How are you?" She asked.

"I'm doing okay, but how are you? You look great," I said looking at her. They were both 72, but they looked so much younger than that.

"Thank-you, I was just telling your mother how she doesn't look a day over twenty."

Elizabeth laughed, her obviously not knowing it was a compliment. That's what I loved about them, they did not like Elizabeth at all. They only put up with her for me, because I was their son's daughter. And even know he's gone, they still make the effort to come and see me.

"I'm gonna go and order some thai, is that alright?" Elizabeth asked.

"Sure dear that's fine," grandpa told her.

"So Haley, hows school going?" Nanna asked me once Elizabeth left.

"Great, I'm just excited to get out of here."

She smiled at me, knowing exactly what I meant by that.

"Have you heard from any of your colleges?" Grandpa asked.

I turned to him, "Notre Dame, Stanford, Princeton and Yale."

"And? What did they say?" Nanna asked.

"I got in to all of them," I said with a beaming smile on my face.

They both yelled in excitement, "that's great!"

"Have you narrowed it down?

"Well I still am waiting for one other college," I told her.

"Which one?"

"University of North Carolina," they both smiled.

"Just like your father," Nanna said.

I turned to her, "sorry?"

"Honey that's where your father went," Grandpa said.

"Really? I...I never knew that," I said in a whisper.

Nanna put a hand on my knee, "he was a Tar-Heel."

At that exact moment, Tar-Heel came running and jumped onto my lap, surprising Nanna.

"What's this?" She asked laughing and petting him.

"This, grandpa and nanna, is Tar-Heel, my new dog."

"You got a dog?" Grandpa asked.

I nodded, "mom got him for me." I left out that why though.

Having nanna and grandpa here really made happy, it made me feel like I was loved in this family. Elizabeth decided that she was going to go against her parents plans for her and live her own life, that was the last time she talked to them. Both her and dad were only childs, so no aunts and uncles for me. Having them here was a good comfort, reminding me of what dad was like.

Later that night, I was in my room watching T.V. with Tar-Heel sleeping next to me. I was catching up on my soap, General Hospital, when my cell rang. I looked at the caller i.d. and smiled. It was Matt, aka Nathan. I thought it would be a good idea if I put his number under a different name, just in case anyone started looking through my phone. Questions would be asked if they saw that I had Nathan's number in there.

"Hello?" I said into the receiver.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" His silky voice asked me.

I smiled, "nothing, why?"

"Because you're going for a ride tomorrow, with me."

I was confused, "where?"

"You'll see, meet me at the river court..." I interrupted him.

"Mom is taking my grandparents to Surf City tomorrow, they are thinking about buying a house down here. You can pick me up here," I told him.

"Be ready by noon," then he hung up.

I closed my phone and returned to watching General Hospital. However I had no clue what happened in the rest of the episode because all I could think about was tomorrow. I fell asleep along side Tar-Heel and waited for my day tomorrow with Nathan.

Hope you all liked it! Don't forget to review please!

I know the whole dog thing was kind of random, but it is my favorite type of breed and he will be important later. You'll see why! I also named him Tar-Heel because that is my favorite school! Go UNC!