Jay knocked on Hailey's door at eight in the morning the next day, his heart beating a little faster than it should. He didn't blame her for not answering this morning, if he was able to fall asleep, he still would be. He couldn't stop thinking about the night before, he honestly couldn't believe it actually happened.

"Um, Hailey, what the hell?" Stella asked, pulling his attention.

"Uh," Hailey looked between him and their friends, looking like she had seen a ghost. He knew they were just friends, but he didn't think she found him quite as repulsive as her face looked.

Camilla was nowhere to be found, so that was no longer an issue, but her drink and what she caused him to do was. Kim looked at them, flabbergasted, "Are you two together?" She asked, not looking as pissed as Stella previously was.

Jay took note of his hands still on her waist and Hailey's on his shoulder, it wasn't looking good for them as just friends. He let go of her, ready to explain everything, but then he saw Adam walking towards them, pulling Wendy along by her hand. That dress looked so much better on Hailey. "Yes," He said, looking directly at Adam. Hailey stiffened next to him, but didn't say anything.

"Well I'll be damned," Kevin said, appearing beside Kim. He looked around at the group, "Come on guys, we all knew it would happen sooner or later." Jay was taken aback, maybe it was because he knew how she felt about Adam, but he never thought his feelings would be reciprocated.

It wasn't some master plan, to kiss her and make her fall for him. He loved their friendship, and he was willing to put how he felt aside just to be her friend. But he needed an out with Camilla, he had the opportunity, he wanted to kiss her, and now he never wanted to stop.

Hailey had yet to say a thing, she just stood there staring at everyone. Jay grabbed her hand, getting her attention. "Why don't you go to the car, I'll go grab your keys and we can change?" He asked.

She nodded, saying a quiet goodbye and kissing Kevin on the cheek before saying happy birthday, then she was gone. Jay let out a breath, he didn't understand why she looked so scared, it was just their friends. Granted, he dropped a pretty big bomb in her lap and then expected her to let it blow up in her face.

Jay waved to everyone, ready to remove himself from their stares. He grabbed Hailey's keys and bag out of the kitchen and made his way to the door, telling Kevin happy birthday on the way. "Jay, wait." Adam said from behind him.

"Yeah?" He asked, turning to face him.

Adam had his normal lazy smile on his face, rocking back and forth on his heels. He shoved his hand in his pocket, "So you and Hailes, huh? I didn't see that coming."

"Honestly," He glanced towards the door, a smile pulling on his face, "She didn't either."

Adam nodded, "Well, good for you guys, you're a lucky guy."

Jay smiled, "I am." They said their goodbyes and Jay headed out the door, finding Hailey leaning against the side of her jeep.

"You can drive."

The door swung open revealing Hailey, she was wearing a sports bra and leggings, he must have caught her in the middle of a workout. "Hey," She said, opening the door all the way. "Sorry, I just saw that I missed your call, I was about to call you back."

Jay walked past her into the house, "Oh, no problem. I just wanted to talk."

Hailey exhaled, nodding. "Yeah, me too. Let me go throw a shirt on." She said, walking towards her room. She turned around, "I'm really sorry for the way I treated you last night by the way. That wasn't fair of me."

"You can drive," Hailey said, pulling open the door of her jeep and sliding in the passenger seat. Jay nodded, walking around and getting in on the driver's side. He had to move the seat back, he could barely get in the car.

They rode in silence for a few minutes, "I'll just drop you off and bring it back in the morning." Jay said, breaking the quiet.

"That's fine." Hailey sat still, looking out the opposite window from him.

Jay sighed, "Hailes, I'm sorry. Will you please just talk to me? I know you're upset." He said, hoping he would appeal to the rational part of her. Hailey had a rough family life when she was younger, and she had always been adamant with all their friends, especially him, that they talk things out.

Hailey faced him, "You're right. I am upset. That wasn't fair." She said calmly, in her 'I'm really mad at you right now, but I refuse to yell' voice. Honestly, it was a lot scarier than her screaming. "You know I would do anything for you, you could have just asked me. You know I can't stand her, I would have gone along with whatever you needed. Instead, you sprung it on me without any warning, and then made me look like a liar in front of our friends. Did you see Stella's face? She looked so hurt, they are our best friends Jay, and this - if it was even real - would change a lot of things. I would have never wanted them to find out this way!" She took a breath, collecting her thoughts. "Now, no matter what we say, we lied to them, and - and, Jay, Adam was right there! If I didn't have a chance then, I definitely don't now."

By then they had made it to Hailey's house and Jay pulled into the driveway. "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking."

"I know you weren't thinking," She said getting out of the car, "And now because you couldn't deal with Camilla we have a massive mess to clean up. Goodnight Jay." With that she shut the door and walked in the house.

Jay drove home the night before feeling awful, it wasn't a big deal to him because he had been waiting years for just that, but Hailey wasn't. She had always made it clear that she wanted that with Adam, but unfortunately Jay's heart didn't care.

He had poured himself a cup of coffee and settled in at their kitchen table while waiting for Hailey, who walked out wearing one of his old practice t-shirts. She was an absolute thief when it came to his clothes. She poured her own cup, sitting down across from him. "I don't need an apology for last night, you were totally right." Hailey nodded, letting him continue. "It wasn't fair of me to put you in that position at all."

"I understand, and I appreciate that." She smiled brightly at him and Jay returned it, her smile was one of his favorite things in the world. "We need to tell them that we aren't together though, explain what happened, all that stuff." She said, sipping her coffee.

Jay's heart rate picked up, "Or we could not…" He said slowly.

"What?"

"Hear me out," Jay said, leaning forward. He was thankful that neither of her roommates were home. "You said last night that this would ruin your chances with Adam, but I think it helps them. Last night, he did not look happy when I said we were together, and when we were leaving he stopped and asked again. I think he was a little jealous."

Hailey looked shocked, "Ok, what are you saying?"

"I think we should 'fake date'." Hailey opened her mouth, but Jay continued, "Think about it, it's perfect. It would keep Camilla off my back, you'd be able to make Adam jealous. When he inevitably ends things with Wendy, we can mutually end things and say we were better as friends, everything would go back to normal except for you would have Adam."

He watched the gears turn in her head, he was sure she would say no. Hailey wasn't the person to play games, and neither was he, but he was pretty sure he would do just about anything to kiss her just one more time. Hailey grinned at him, "If this is going to work we are going to need a plan," She said.

"Are you serious, you want to do this?" He asked again, just to make sure. He chest thumping at the thought of the next few weeks.

Hailey nodded, "Yeah let's do it, we're already so far in, we might as well see what happens."

Jay grinned ear to ear, he knew it wasn't real for her, he knew he was setting himself up to get hurt. But it was real for him, and if he could convince her by the end of this that he was better for her than Adam, then it would all be worth it. Maybe he could have her for real.

Later that night Hailey sat at the same table with Kim and Stella, who had a million questions for her. They had just gotten home a few hours earlier, and bombarded her as soon as they walked through the door. She told them that she would make dinner, and then they could ask her whatever they wanted.

So, here they were, Hailey's famous chicken salad in front of them, the two girls literally bursting at the seams in front of her. "Okay…fire." Hailey said, jokingly bracing herself against the table.

"How could you not tell us?" Kim asked immediately, "This is big news Hailey!"

Hailey smiled, laughing to herself about how ridiculous this was. She wasn't sure who was more surprised when she said yes, her or Jay. It wasn't like her at all, it was spontaneous and rash, everything that she wished she could be. And she would never admit it to him, but Hailey was excited to get to experience a side of Jay that she never had before. She would finally get to see what girls were always fawning all over. "I don't know, I just wanted to make sure it was real first." She said, smirking. It was closer to the truth than either of them could possibly imagine.

Kim took a bite of her food, looking satisfied with her answer, thank God. "How did it happen?" Stella asked, "Kev said last night that he saw it coming, and maybe I'm a bad friend, but I didn't at all. I thought you had a thing for Adam."

Hailey nearly chokes on her tea, "Huh, why?"

"I don't know," She said, pushing her food around on her plate, "You just clam up around him, like you don't know how to talk all the sudden, but with everyone else you are crazy outgoing. I always just thought it was weird." She wiggled her eyebrows, "It doesn't matter now though, tell us everything!"

"Stell, you aren't a bad friend. I didn't see it coming either." Hailey made sure to start with that before diving into the story that she and Jay agreed on. "It was last week, I was at his place and we were watching a movie, like normal. He and Camilla had broken up like the week before, and he was still feeling pretty guilty about how hard she took it, so we were talking about it. He let it slip that when he dropped her off that night, she told him that she didn't care because he was a bad kisser anyway." she began to laugh at how ridiculous the story was, Jay said that was what made it believable. "So, I told him to kiss me and I would be the judge of that. He did, and it felt right, so we didn't stop. Now we're here." She shrugged, like it was no big deal. Kim and Stella thought otherwise.

"Okay, you two are gross. That's freaking adorable." Stella said, shoving a bite in her mouth.

"I'm so jealous," Kim said, "That's always been my favorite book trope you know, best friends to lovers." Hailey took a moment to imagine her and Jay as Hannah and Garrett from The Deal, the only Romance series that Hailey had ever borrowed from Kim. There were three distinct differences, Jay wasn't a hockey player, Hailey couldn't sing and they would not end up together in the end. When Adam ended things with Wendy and Camilla was finally off Jay's back, it would all be over and Jay would go back to being Jay. Her best friend.

"Don't be, we're still just Hailey and Jay, we just make out sometimes." Hailey found herself smiling, it was kind of fun, it brought her back to her (very short) theater career in high school. Track ended up being more her thing, but she still remembered the basics. You play your objective, and hers was Adam.

Stella burst out laughing, "I'm sorry, this is just going to take some getting used to."

"Yeah, for real." Kim said, "I mean he's already here almost every day, is he going to start spending the night too?"

Hailey knew they were just joking on her, but she could feel the anxiety in the pit of her stomach. Would he? How far would they have to go to make this believable? "I don't want to make either of you uncomfortable -"

"Hailey, stop," Stella said, "It's Jay, we love him, nothing has to change. We will support you wherever this goes, please don't stress about us in this." Hailey let out a breath, she really did have the best friends in the world. "Now if I find you two naked on the couch, that might be a different story."

Hailey laughed, that would most definitely never be happening.

At nine o'clock that night Jay swung open the door to his apartment to reveal his best friend. Girlfriend? Not girlfriend? That was going to take some getting used to. "Hey," He said, barely getting a word in before she came barreling through the door. "Woah, what's wrong?"

"Oh nothing," Hailey said, walking straight to the couch where he was previously watching a game from last season on tape and having a beer. "I'm just being crushed under the weight of our elaborate lie." With that, she dramatically threw herself on the couch, then proceeded to down the remainder of his beer.

Jay chuckled, grabbing another from the fridge for both of them. "I'm guessing telling the girls didn't go well…" He said, making his way to his couch and handing her the bottle.

"No, they took it really well, almost too well." She said under her breath, staring down the now open bottle. "They were really happy for us, I felt a little guilty."

"Hailes, don't," He said, sitting back. Hailey was the most selfless person he had ever met, it was one of the things he loved the most about her. "Do something for yourself for once." He joked, attempting to lighten his much more serious statement. He meant it though, most things she did were for the benefit of others.

Hailey groaned, she set her beer down, laying down so that her head was in his lap. "This is just all so weird, like the girls mentioned you spending the night at our place, and I just froze. Are we supposed to do that? I just don't know how this all works."

"Yes you do, you just can't stand that you can micromanage every moment of it, you feel out of control." Jay looked down at her, stating purley facts. He watched her face contort and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"I hate it when you do that, I swear to God you know me better than I do."

Jay smiled, feeling a little too proud of himself. He prided himself on knowing her better than anyone else, and the fact that she wanted him to know her better than anyone else. "We don't have to do anything you aren't comfortable with, you call the shots here."

She sat up, blonde hair cascading over her shoulders, her gaze fixed directly at him. His throat felt dry, he really had it bad. "You are such a great guy Jay, seriously, it's a shame Camilla was such a bitch. She didn't deserve you." With that she was back in his lap, and she had no idea that he was completely puddy in hers.

He watched her as she scrolled through instagram, completely oblivious to his eyes on her. He liked how at peace she was with him, it seemed to be the only time she truly let her guard down. He was the only one who knew the whole history with her parents, who knew what the scar on her left leg was really from, why she hated yelling. Just like she knew about his rocky relationship with his dad, and how hard he took his mom's passing. She knew just how much his first relationship wrecked him, and why it was so hard for him to trust people.

They knew the best and worst parts of each other, she was the only person in the world that understood him. Hailey valued that, they both did. He knew it, which is why he never understood her feelings for Adam. Sure, they were friends, but he was much better friends with him than she was. She never let herself get close to him, and he couldn't help but think that was because she was scared of scaring him off. That she felt because of her past he couldn't love her the way she wanted to be. Not only that, but Jay couldn't help but wonder if he had been the one to help her up that day, not Adam, maybe everything would be different.

"Ugh, I wish I could actually hate her," Hailey exclaimed, covering her eyes and throwing her phone against the couch. "She's just too damn nice." She groaned.

Jay chuckled, "All right, let's see the damage." He picked up her phone, the photo she was referring to showing bright on the screen. It was of Wendy and Adam hugging, her back to the camera, brown curls falling over her shoulders as she laughed. Adam was staring at her like she was his whole world. Ouch. "It's not that bad." Hailey glared at him, and Jay held his arms up in surrender.

"We're insane." Hailey said, "This is never going to work. Not to mention, it's pathetic."

Jay shrugged, giving her a lopsided smile. "At least we're pathetic together.'' They held each other's gaze for a moment, Jay inevitably breaking it. "Come here."

Hailey reluctantly sat up, moving to sit next to him. Jay scrolled through her phone, finding the snapchat app and handing her the phone. "What?" She asked.

"If they can post, we can post. Now come on, act like you like me." Hailey rolled her eyes, but did as she was told, leaning back against him and smiling bright for the camera. Jay pressed his lips against her cheek, closing his eyes. A second later it was over, and Hailey put space between them, much to Jay's dismay.

"That's actually really cute," Hailey said, pushing her hair behind her ear and looking at his sheepishly. She held up the phone and pointed at it, "Also, look at your jawline."

Jay whistled, "That baby could cut steak."

"Yeah, okay." Hailey jokes. She spent the next few minutes editing the picture, finally deciding on a simple white heart emoji and tagging him before posting it on her story. "Done."

"Glad to know we're capable of being a basic couple." He said, holding up a hand for her to high five. She smacked it, then settled back in next to him. "Movie?"

"Always.." She smiled bright, giving him the look. He knew she wanted something. "Can we watch Sixteen Candles?"

Jay sighed, stifling a laugh, "Hailey, we watched it last week."

"And," She asked, with more than a little sass. "It's a classic, perfection actually. Plus, now I have my own Jake Ryan." She exclaimed, gesturing to him.

Jay's heart swelled at the comment, it might be a little strange, but so was Hailey's unhealthy obsession with the movie. She had said for years that her perfect man was Jake Ryan him and Nathan from One Tree Hill), she obviously had a type when it came to fictional men.

"Well, we have to watch now. I need to take notes."

"I like the way you think, Halstead."

And I like you, Upton.

a/n: Yay! Chapter 2! I really hope you all are enjoying it. I know this chapter was pretty slow, but I needed to get some exposition out of the way! Anyway, as you can tell, this is not a Burzek story. I just felt like I needed to say that, haha. Thanks for reading!