Chapter 2

There is no need to test my heart, with useless space.

These roads go on forever and so do you and I.

So I'll hit the pavement its got to be better than,

waiting and pushing you far away cause I'm scared.

So I'll take my chances and head on my way up there.

Cause turning to you is like falling in love when you're ten.

--Living in your Letters Dashboard Confessional

Haley rolled her eyes and sighed as Lucas snatched her books from her, "God Lucas don't you have somewhere to be? I'm not incapable of handling myself you know."

Mr. Broody himself had shown up on her doorstep that morning when she stepped out of the house, offering her a ride. Who could refuse?

Seeing the opportunity to spend more time with her now usually busy best friend, she had accepted with a smile.

But she had seen more of him in the last 48 hours then she had seen of him last week as a whole.

That in itself had made her realize a few things; like how much she missed those little talks they had, those little offhanded jokes about life and in general just his presence altogether. She missed him.

However the feeling of being overwhelmed began to snatch at her mind.

She realized that Lucas' sudden overbearing presence had to be because of something. And she had a pretty good idea of just what that something was.

A few days ago she had felt the strain of their relationship when he found out that Nathan had spent the night at her house. Lucas was infuriated that she would do something like that, even if nothing else but sleeping happened. He felt uncomfortable with Haley spending the night with some guy. It was just … wrong. As much as she tried to convince him otherwise, that nothing had happened between her and Nathan that night, she could tell he didn't believe a word further from her mouth then. And since then he had avoided her like the plague.

Now? Now, he was everywhere. Like a worried mother-hen. It would've been quite comical really, had it been another situation.

But the sudden attention was a bit much.

It kind of felt like he was spending time with her because he was afraid she'd…be gone the day after.

She swallowed soundly to damp her parched throat.

However as Haley's eyes traveled up to his handsome face, trying to read him; it seemed that Lucas had forgotten about the whole ordeal. It was just as well. She didn't like it much when Lucas thought that she was lying to him.

A clingy friend is always better than a distant one, right?

Right.

"Haley?" There was a slight apprehension in his voice; and it rose as he called for her again, "Haley? Are you okay?"

Blinking as she refocused on the present, Haley nodded an affirmative, "Yeah just fine." She must have drifted off.

Lucas' brow went up and his jaw tensed as he too nodded albeit slowly. "If you're sure …" he trailed off purposefully, hoping that she would tell him what was going through her mind. But she didn't.

He parked then, close enough to the school this time to catch the happy-go-lucky faces of various groups of students loitering around campus in the early morning. What was that perturbed feeling tackling his stomach? It seemed to come so often now.

A sigh escaped from between his lips as he looked back at Haley, it was obvious now she wasn't going to tell him anything. What was he thinking? He made a move to climb out of his truck but paused and turned back to her when she placed a hand on his arm effectively halting him.

"Wait Lucas …" a wisp of her auburn hair was tucked behind her ear; a nervous habit. Her eyes focused on him for a moment and then on something behind him before once again refocusing on him. She was edgy.

He looked at her expectantly, his expression yielding in concern.

"I … Please don't tell anyone Lucas." There was a sort of pleading quality in how she stated that relative question and he had to look away. Did she even have to ask him? Wasn't it a given that he would keep it a secret because of their friendship anyway? That's what friend's do right?

"Yeah sure," he smiled one of those warm smiles reserved only for her and leaned in to give her a kiss on the forehead. She squirmed from under his affections and stepped out of the truck very abruptly.

A heavy silence hung in the air as she slowly stepped toward his side.

"I…just don't want anyone to know yet. You know?" When she finally spoke, her words were short and so un-Haley-like.

Lucas' head bobbed up and down again mutely as he concurred. But was his decision to consent to her wishes wise? It seemed that with every conversation they had, she was growing further away from him. She didn't even bother to try and explain herself anymore. Her spirit seemed dimmer somehow.

She was different lately; sort of distant and detached.

The scary thing? She was like this before they found out about her condition.

Ever since they met the 'popular' gang, Lucas felt as if their friendship had been rather awkward and sort of forced. She'd never talk to him about anything anymore. Not even about those little crushes she sometimes liked to babble on so much about.

What once was a beautiful budding friendship was now falling apart in its most resilient places.

And part of it was his fault.

Now this he realized a while ago and he wasn't about to deny the obvious. Basketball had taken up a lot of time. Well, basketball and girls.

His lips were pursed, forced together into a straight line. No he wasn't at all happy with the way their relationship was going. But he wasn't going to force it.

Lucas turned toward the school, just in time to see a frowning Nathan stalking toward them as the other boy's gaze flickered to him briefly. Nathan was obviously confused, if not frustrated.

"Haley," Nathan began as he reached Haley and Lucas, his brows scrunching together in bewilderment. "Where were you this morning? I was waiting for you since 6:30."

To both boys' surprise Haley barely acknowledged Nathan's presence; her eyes never met his, "You were?" And as she bent over to retrieve her books from Lucas' trunk, she shrugged, "I must've forgotten."

Taken aback at her sudden coldness, Lucas threw a warning glance at Nathan, who was trying to pick up his jaw from the ground. "You forgot?"

"Yeah so?" She was sounding surprisingly brash while tucking a wayward strand of hair behind her ear.

The next words were very careful as they slid out of Nathan's mouth uncertainly, "Is something wrong?"

"Hmm…nope," with that Haley began her stroll to the school, a carefree saunter in her step; leaving in her wake an incredulously gaping Nathan and a skeptical best friend.

"What the hell…" Nathan replied after finding his voice again while looking almost helplessly at his adversary.

Lucas shrugged slightly and let the first lie slip, "She must be having a bad day." The understatement of the year.

As Haley headed straight for her locker, her boots clicking soundly on the concrete floor, she closed her eyes for just a brief moment to compose herself.

Who knew keeping secrets would be this hard?