Chapter 9:

Nick sat her down on the couch and made two cups of his famous hot chocolate. He sat down next to her and placed the cups on the table. "You wanna tell me what happened?"

"I can't Nicky. I...I just couldn't be alone right now."

"Fair enough." They sat there for a while in comfortable silence. Nick was trying to figure out what made her like this. He always thought of her as a strong person. In fact there had only been one other time he saw her cry and it had been by accident.

They had spent the day watching movies and goofing around. Nick glanced at his watch and saw that he had to be in work in an hour. He showered and dressed in faded jeans and a dark blue t-shirt. They piled into his truck and Nick drove Hailey home.

The ride was silent except for the radio playing, and usually Hailey would sing along to the songs that she knew, or didn't know, but tonight she was silent. He stopped his car in front of her building and put the car in park. "You gonna be alright?" He asked concerned.

She let out a big sigh. "Yeah. I'll be fine." She turned to him and gave him a faint smile. "Thanks."

"Don't even mention it." He leaned and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Call me if you need anything." She nodded and shut the door. "I meant it, anything." He called out through the open window. She gave him another faint smile and walked to the door. He made sure she was in safely then left for work.

Hailey showered and dressed in jeans and a t-shirt that Greg had left at her place one day. She looked at the shirt and had to laugh. It was a black shirt and had a white stripe across the front and on it, it said 'masturbating is not a crime'. She went to her fridge and wasn't surprised to see two beers, some left over Chinese that was at least a week old, and condiments. She shut the door, grabbed her keys and left for the grocery store.

She was balancing the two bags of groceries and somehow managed to unlock the door. She set the bags on the counter and began taking things out and putting them away. When she was finished she made herself a bowl of cereal and thought about her situation.

When she first met Jacob he was a really nice guy. He was polite, a real gentlemen, and he showed no signs of the abusive person he really was. She looked up at her bulletin board and saw the picture in the corner. It was the only picture she kept. She was being held up by two guys on each side of her. Hailey began to tear up at the memory of that day.

"Hurry take the picture Cam." Ryan yelled. Cameron, Ryan's sister, was holding the camera trying to get a picture without Hailey squirming.

"I got it!" She yelled, pleased with herself.

Patrick and Ryan ran toward the ocean water. "I'm Serious you guys, I will kick your asses if you throw-" but before Hailey could finish her threat the two boys threw her into the cold ocean water.

Hailey surfaced and wiped her eyes. "You guys are so dead." She ran towards them and jumped onto Pat-pat's back. "I can't believe you did that."

After running around they all settled on the blanket. "So, did you guys set a date?" Ryan asked.

"For crying out loud. He just proposed a month ago." Hailey answered.

"Hail, you're my best friend and I would never do anything to hurt you, but this guy is bad news." Pat-pat said, being the only brave one to say what they were all thinking.

"He loves me." Hailey responded.

"He controls you." Cameron added.

Hailey tried to defend him but Ryan interrupted. "He tells you what you can and can not do, who you can hang out with, and even when you can hang out."

"Not all the time, he just worries." She replied not fully believing herself.

"It's only a matter of time before he starts getting physical." Pat-pat added.

"You guys are wrong. And he would never hit me."

"I've seen it happen Hail, get out now while you can." Ryan finished.

"I can't believe you guys. I'm engaged and instead of being happy for me you want to ruin it for me."

"Don't listen to us then, but I can't sit by and watch another person I love suffer." Patrick said before he stormed off down the beach.

Being the people that they were Ryan and Cameron knew they wouldn't get through to Hailey by yelling at her, so they lifted the mood up.

That was the last time Hailey saw Ryan and Patrick. A week later she went over to Patrick's house to apologize and found them both violently murdered. She knew Jacob had done it, or paid someone to do it, because just two days before that he was yelling at her, saying that she was cheating on him with Ryan and Pat.

Hailey pushed her bowl aside, put her head in her hands and cried again.