Sorry! I've been away for sooo long, and I'm still not going to be back for a while, so I don't know if i'll get another chapter in before august, this was hard as it was. So to anyone who is still reading, THANK YOU!

(PS: this doesn't take place in February, it's just the title of a song.)

"I know you're living way out west and I don't think that I confessed everything I feel"

"And that's a wrap!" Everyone in the crew started clapping. They'd finished the promos and what would most likely be the cover for the record. It'd been 3 months since the decision to have the photo shoot before the recording process, it was an unusual way of going about things, but so far it seemed to be working. Haley was thrilled to be done, as they had started sitting her behind guitars, they were making her feel fat, even though she didn't look it at all. They were planning on releasing a double disk CD, featuring solo songs from both Chris and Haley, and a few duet songs. They both knew they wanted to move beyond the duet, but Maverick had been looking for a different act, and it was their opportunity to at least get into the business. Both were becoming rather disenchanted with the whole fame thing, they never expected it to be as cut and dry as it was. Play a crappy club gig, fake a smile for a photo shoot, and sit in meetings forever.

Haley had yet to tell Nathan about the little "slip up." She hadn't had the guts to tell Lucas either, even though she'd come so close several times. She still talked with Luke regularly on the phone. He was falling in love with Brooke, she could tell. Peyton hadn't heard from Jake, and Haley worried about her everyday. You can only go on so long just trying to survive, Haley could contest to that. She thought every once and a while about the letter Peyton had showed her that one night, but never even considered saying anything about it. Life was too confusing already without any new skeletons and hidden closets.

"I feel like omelets and ice cream," Haley stated she walked back with Chris to another to grab her stuff she had brought to the shoot.

"Haley, I'm seriously dying here, my stomach can't take all this random food anymore!"

"Yeah, yeah…" she looked over and stuck her tongue out at him. "You have a date with Julianna tonight anyway…" she replied.

"Shit! What time is it?" Chris started looking around frantically for a clock.

"It's only like 5:30." Haley picked up her stuff, but grabbed something off the buffet to eat before she left, she had barely gained a few pounds, but she was starving all the time.

"Damn it!" Chris grabbed his stuff and started to head towards the door.

"But you never meet her this early," Haley stated, stuffing food in her mouth.

"I know, but I had something special planned…" he trailed off as he left the room. "See ya later!" he called back before he was out of distance for her to be able to hear.

Haley just shrugged her shoulders, she had gotten used to being alone. She fell back onto the couch, she was exhausted. She pulled her cell phone out of her purse and held it in her hand. It had taken her a while to get past talking to Nathan, it had taken a lot of pain and a lot of struggle. She considered calling him again, just as she considered calling him hundreds of times before. She looked down and her hand fell to her stomach as a rush of fear passed over her. She hated feeling alone. She flipped open her phone and went to dial the number to the apartment…it didn't take her long to realize her phone must have run out of charge sometime during the day. She leaned her head back, either fate was giving her a hint, or she should have gone home a long time ago.

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Chris tried to see if he could grab a cab, because he knew he knew he was already late to meet Julianna. He had run home and changed, he didn't take a shower as his hair was still looking pretty good from their last photo shoot that day. He hated the promotional crap, but he knew it was part of the business.

After a few minutes without avail he hopped on the train and headed downtown to the South Street Seaport. He was able to transfer to the express without any wait, so he was making up time rather easily, and passed the Strand bookstore on his walk towards the Seaport after the subway ahead of when he thought he would.

"Jules," he walked up, meeting her in front of the gap along the row of stores, and kissed her for what felt like forever. "Sorry I'm late," he pulled away, holding her hand as they walked towards the pier.

"No, it's ok, I came early to look around at a few stores, and I ended up walking over here later than I planned," she held up two bags. "I missed you," she looked over at him, her hair blowing in the wind. He looked over at her, it almost seemed too perfect, how could his life be falling into place, and how could everything seem too cheesy even for the worst romantic comedy?

"I know, things have been way too hectic, but we're finally done with the marketing, and maybe now I can actually do something musical."

She laughed, "I love when you try to act like a distraught artist."

"Ha! Thanks a lot!" You want to eat at Il Porto tonight?" he always stumbled over any word that wasn't English, and Julianna always picked on him.

"It's Illlll Porto," she corrected his pronunciation. "Sure, I love the pasta there, and I haven't eaten there in forever."

He smiled coyly, it had been a while, their first date in fact, but he didn't want to ruin any surprises.

Walking into the restaurant, it was packed. Julianna looked up at Chris shrugging, giving him the sign that they could always just go somewhere else. "Hold on a sec," he walked over to the hostess, and asked her something. He started walking back over to Jules. "Guess we got lucky," he gestured for her to go ahead of him and meet the waiting hostess, ready to lead them to their table. He'd made a reservation earlier that day, he knew she'd want to go there.

"How was yesterday?" she asked after they were seated, not even seeming suspicious of the fact they had seemed to bypass the line.

"Eh, you know…marketing crap and stuff," he replied looking down at the menu.

"How's Haley?" she asked. Julianna and Haley had become rather close, but considering the age gap, it was kind of weird. Everyone was kind of feeling the age difference, but the ironic thing was it seemed Haley was older than everyone. Julianna, however, did have a lot of sympathy for Haley though, she herself had only known Chris for about five months, but she couldn't imagine not having him around.

Chris was silent for a few seconds, and when he finally looked up from the menu, Julianna quickly looked down, she didn't want to make him angry. She had felt the tension between the two in previous encounters, she didn't want to say Chris was inconvenienced by Haley being there, but she could tell he felt like he needed to get away. Haley could be an emotionally draining person, it was also probably hard for him dealing with the delays. He had worked so hard before he met Haley, but now so much of his career seemed to be intertwined in the actions of a 17 year old. It wasn't her that bothered him, it was just the situation. "I don't think I have an opinion anymore," he replied blankly. Julianna looked up from her menu waiting for him to continue, but when he didn't they both looked down at the menus deciding what to get in an uncomfortable silence that wasn't broken until the waiter walked over to take their order. As the waiter asked what they wanted, Chris got what he usually got at any Italian restaurant, lasagna. He ordered for Julianna, who always got the same thing, fettuccini alfredo. Even though they both seemed to always order the same thing, they still always seemed to look through the menu. He handed the menus over to the waiter and looked over at Julianna, she had a disappointed look on her face.

"Why do you always do that?" she looked over at him.

"What?" he asked smiling, he kind of thought she was joking.

"It's not funny. You always order for me, you always assume," she replied seriously.

"Well, you ordered the same thing on our first four dates to Italian restaurants, I guess I just assumed…" he trailed off, kind of confused about whether or not she was mad.

"What if I don't want to be predictable anymore? You can't assume I'll get the same thing forever!" She seemed to be getting extremely fired up over something trivial, she didn't normally do that.

"Well…sorry," he replied, defeated. He was pretty sure his plan for the rest of the night wasn't going to work out. He was starting to wonder if fate was leading him in a different direction.

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They finished dinner with what seemed like no new conflict. Julianna was just quiet for most of the time, as Chris tried to ask a few questions, but just gave up by the end. As they were leaving the restaurant and heading towards the edge of the pier near the water, the ten minute silence was broken.

"I'm moving to L.A." Julianna looked over at Chris for a reaction, but he just stared at the water. She bit her lip as her eyes filled with tears. "I'm sorry…" she tried to provoke any type of reaction from him.

He looked over at her, a blank stare. If his plans for the future hadn't already been devastated, they definitely were with what she just said. "Why?" he asked coldly, staring back out at the ocean as they stood on the pier.

"I got a job; it's a crappy one, but it's an opportunity to work in production as well as dance. You know how much both of those things mean to me…" she trailed off, the tears practically springing from her eyes, she hated how emotional she was.

"And I bet you expect me to wait around for you." He felt like he was losing the only thing he was sure about in his life. His music career was basically up in the air, and he didn't really have anyone to depend on if the plan failed. He was losing her, just when he was sure he wanted to keep her forever. It'd only been five months, but now it seemed like all forces were against him.

"Chris, don't do that," she replied weakly, kicking at the gate on the pier.

"You actually expect me to wait for you." He looked at her, trying to read her expression.

She didn't reply and they both looked away.

"How long have you known this?"

"2 weeks." She looked down, biting her lip.

Chris sighed and looked away, ticked off. "Were you just going to leave without ever telling me?" his volume to the "almost creating a scene" level.

"I knew I had another week left to tell you," she retaliated pleadingly.

"You leave next week?" He started to walk away, she obviously didn't care as much as he did.

"I would never walk away from you, so don't walk away from me." She tried to catch up with him.

"And moving cross country isn't walking away?" he turned back and asked her in a serious tone.

She shrugged, still trying to keep up.

"…You're right, it's running away," he snapped, walking away faster than before.

"Just give me a chance," she begged. He stopped for one minute. "Long-distance isn't giving up."

"Yeah, but moving away from someone who would love you for the rest of your life is." He disappeared into the group of people heading down the steps toward the subway.

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Chris opened the door to his apartment, and slammed it behind him. He brushed past Haley and her stupid questions as he headed toward his room. Slamming that door behind him, he pulled out a small black box from his pocket. He opened the box and stared at the small glistening stone and platinum band which lay neatly in the surrounding velvet.

He threw the box on the floor, the carpet ruining the effect. He looked at a picture Jules had placed in his room. It was the two of them in front of the skyline at night from the Brooklyn Bridge. He listened to the satisfying sound of the glass cracking as the frame landed in the trash.