Chapter 3

Haley looked around the crowded club. She was supposed to go on in a half hour and Nathan was nowhere to be seen. He had promised that he would come and watch, but he had yet to show. She had really wanted him to be here. Her friend Emily and her boyfriend Patrick were there, but Haley could really care less. All she wanted was for Nathan to show up. She didn't know why she cared so much; she guessed it was because he had given her the guitar. She wanted to prove to him that he wasn't wrong and that she could play.

After the thirty longest minutes of her life the club manager told Haley it was her turn. Nathan had yet to show up and her heart was crushed. She reluctantly took the stage and tried her best to be happy. As she started to play she looked up and saw a tall figure in the crowd. They lifted up their baseball cap and Haley could tell it was Nathan. Her mood instantly lifted and she put all the emotion and energy she had into playing.

Nathan watched Haley perform and could not believe how good she was. You could tell she was putting her heart and soul into it. The crowd seemed really drawn to her as well and got into it. When Nathan saw Haley up on stage he knew he did the right thing buying her the guitar. As the end of her set came up Nathan was sad to see Haley leave. He went over to the bar in hopes that Haley would be able to find him easier after she came from backstage.

As Haley walked around backstage people kept coming up and congratulating her on the set. The club owner came up and personally asked her to come back whenever she wanted. As much as she loved the praise, Haley wanted to go and see her friends. After she packed up her guitar and checked to make sure it was alright to leave back there till she left she headed down the hallway towards the floor of the club when she ran into something.

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry." She apologized profusely. She looked up and into the eyes of a man. He wasn't anything spectacular to look at. He had brown spiky hair and was kinda skinny. He looked the exact opposite of Nathan.

"It's alright, can't blame you." Haley nervously laughed and tried to leave when he started talking to her again. "You're Haley right?"

"Yeah and you are?"

"Chris Keller. I saw you out there tonight. You were pretty good, but not great."

"Thanks I think."

"A little rough around the edges, but with some work you could become decent."

"Okay. Well look it's been nice talking to you, but I have to go meet some people."

"Look I have some studio time coming up. I like your sound and think we could do something with it. Here's my card, call me sometime if you want to come in and jam." Chris handed Haley a card with his name and number on it. They said goodbye and Chris took off down the hall. Haley watched him go still a little dazed. No one had ever invited her to a studio to record before and she didn't quite know what to think about it.

Haley came out from the back and found Emily and Patrick fairly quickly. "Girl you did SOOO good," Emily squealed giving her a hug.

"Thank you."

"Yeah, you were really good Hales. How did it feel to be up there?" Patrick asked her. As Haley gushed about the experience and what the manager had told her, she quickly scanned the crowd looking for Nathan. He was easy to spot out because of his height. Grabbing her friends she pulled them towards Nathan telling them she had someone she wanted them to meet.

"Nathan," Haley yelled as she ran up to him and gave him a hug. Nathan was more than willing to return the gesture and squeezed her back.

"You did so good. Much better than that crap performance back at the café. Seriously if I had known you were that good I would have bought you a guitar much earlier." Haley playfully swatted him and told him to be quiet and that she wanted him to meet her friends.

"Nate, this is my friend Emily and her boyfriend Patrick." The three shook hands and introduced themselves. Patrick looked at Nathan and thought he looked familiar but couldn't quite place it. He knew he had seen Nathan somewhere before but wasn't quite sure where. As Haley told everyone about the set another act took the stage. Haley looked up and saw it was Chris Keller. "That's Chris."

"Who?" Nathan asked.

"Chris Keller. We met backstage. He said he liked my sound and said he'd like to jam sometime together in the studio. Wow, he's really good." Nathan didn't like the way Haley was talking about Chris. He had never met the guy and Haley wasn't his property but he couldn't help but feel protective. He had met a lot of male musicians in his time and knew they were less than trustworthy.

"Oh well that's nice." The four hung out a little bit longer and then Emily and Patrick said they needed to go because Patrick had an early shift at the hospital.

"Haley do you want a ride?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, that'd be nice. I just need to get my guitar first." Acting on instinct Nathan offered to take Haley home. He had never seen her apartment and was interested to see what it was like. "Would that be out of the way?" Haley asked. Truth be told she was interested in getting to know Nathan more than on a café level. Every time they spent time together he intrigued her more and more. There was just something about him that drew her towards him.

"No, it's no problem. I don't have much to do tomorrow anyways." The four said goodbye and Haley and Nathan headed backstage to collect her things. After they got her guitar they headed out to the parking lot. When they reached Nathan's car Haley was in shock. She expected to see some flashy expensive luxury car but instead came face to face with an old beat up Honda. She climbed in wondering what was going on.

"You look confused." Nathan stated as they started driving.

"Your car, it's not what I expected you to drive at all." Nathan smiled.

"Yeah. This is just one of my many. I don't really trust this area of town all too much and I just like this car. It reminds me of different things."

"Like what?" Haley was always happy when Nathan would open up to her. From the very first time they had met she could tell that he was a closed off person looking for a friend. Since that time she had tried to be the very best friend she could be to him.

"When I was sixteen I became emancipated from my parents. My mom was never home and when she was she was high off painkillers. My dad was a tyrant, always pushing and pushing me. Finally I had enough and got out. My uncle Keith gave me a chance at his body shop when I need a job even though I had no experience. With him and my brother Lucas we rebuilt this car. Whenever I drive it I'm reminded of them and where I come from."

"That's cool." They got to Haley's apartment soon and Nathan parked the car. "You want to come up?"

"Sure." Nathan was ecstatic. He couldn't wait to see Haley's apartment. Since they'd become friends he had opened up more to her than she had to him. He was interested to see what made the girl who knew him better than anyone else tick.