A/N: Back with another update. Another long one. Thank you for all the reviews and for those Brooke haters - unfortunately she's still alive lol. I hope you enjoy this one. I'm writing them right after the other so I'll be updating frequently :) READ AND REVIEW. I'd like to know what you think! :)

Chapter 9//If I Fell

"What?!"

Peyton paid for her corndog as I waited for her beside the food stand on the boardwalk. She called me earlier to hang out with her for a bit before she met up with Brooke at the mall. I told her what happened yesterday at the tween birthday party. I even told her about Zoey and Nathan dancing. It pained me to recall the story in my head. I know I shouldn't be angry about this because we're not even dating, but it still hurt. It always hurts when you see the person you are infatuated with in someone else's arms.

"Yeah, that's what happened," I said as we started walking down the board walk.

"Zoey Daniels, huh? I always knew she had a thing for him until she moved."

"And I think he has a thing for her too," I replied, trying not to show my sadness. "I thought you said he was interested in me."

"Yeah, I know I did," she replied taking a bite off her corndog. "And I still think he does."

"How could you even say that when he's talking to some . . . airhead," I snapped, crossing my arms.

Peyton glanced at me, lifting an eyebrow. She knew that I was getting upset about the situation. She already had a feeling that I liked him, now it's pretty obvious that I do.

"Slut," she stated.

"What?"

"You could call her a slut instead of air head," she corrected.

"I don't even know the girl." I rolled my eyes. "She could be a virgin for all I know."

"She's definitely not a virgin," Peyton stated as we started walking towards the pier. "I've heard from some mutual friends that she had some kind of reputation back in her old town."

Well that just makes everything so much better knowing that she only wanted sex from him. It added on to some of the reasons why I disliked her.

We both stood against the railing of the pier as the wind blew past our hair.

"You weren't kidding when you said that Nathan liked girls, a lot," I stated as I watched the water ripple by.

"Yeah but I'm sure he won't like Zoey as much as I know he likes you."

"He's not doing a good job showing it."

"Well he's oblivious," she said, taking another bite off her corndog. "He'll figure it out eventually. . . Have you figured it out already?"

I looked at her. She was waiting for me to admit it. I closed my eyes, feeling the ache in my chest. Then I nodded.

"Unfortunately," I answered, turning back around towards the ocean.

"It'll happen, Haley," she replied, rubbing my back for comfort. "I know Nathan pretty well and you're the kind of girl I could see him with. You're actually the only one I've approved of. All the other girls he's been with have always been kind of skanky."

I laughed at her last comment. But I still didn't want to get my hopes up. I can trust Peyton and her word, but something in me keeps putting up this wall. Like it's telling me to stop before I even start. Everything always has to be difficult when things start to get a little too comfortable.

"You know I'm only here for the summer then I'm going back to California for college," I said. "It's not even going to matter."

I heard her draw out a long sigh as she leaned forward against the railing.

"There's nothing wrong with summer love," she said.

I didn't give her a reply. It's too early to be thinking about love. Or am I in denial? Somehow I feel like Nathan could be a good guy for me, someone who I can talk to and laugh with. He's practically one of my best friends now. But I really don't want to find myself in quicksand – sinking down in the ground knowing I shouldn't have even taken that big step.

I let out a frustrated sigh.

----------

After Peyton and I chatted, she received a call from the nagging Brooke. We still haven't met up with each other since the beach incident. I was still waiting for that apology. Nathan and Peyton's didn't count because they weren't Brooke. I wanted her to personally apologize to me, but that really didn't matter right now. So I went back home. Olivia was getting better, but she was still coughing here and there. Like Merriam said, it might take a while for her to fully recover. She was still very weak.

When I walked inside, I found her watching her usual soap. She had one of those TV dinner tables in front of her with a bowl of chicken noodle soup on top. Also beside the bowl was a little leather covered book. She was reading something out of it. It looked ratty and torn.

"Hi Grams, how are you feeling?" I asked, placing my bag on the coffee table and settled down next to her. She slowly closed the book and smiled up at me.

"A little better," she replied, her voice scratchy. "I'm still kind of icky and too weak to go anywhere."

I smiled at her as I laid my head against her shoulder. She still felt a little warm against my cheek. But at least she was awake. She slowly wrapped her arm around me and kissed my hair. She leaned forward to sip the soup from her spoon and began petting my head.

"How was your day sweetie?" she asked.

"Blah," I mumbled. "I'm just waiting for you to get better. How long do you think that will be?" I asked, remembering what Merriam told me yesterday in the bakery.

"Maybe a few more days, still not sure."

"Okay." I looked at the television and watched one of the female characters walk into a hotel room and found a couple lying in bed. Obviously they were having sex. Then I heard her say "I hate you!" and ran out. I almost knew what that girl felt like. Torn.

"Is something wrong?" Olivia asked, as she took another spoonful into her mouth. "You look upset."

I shook my head. "I'm fine."

"You're not fine, Hales. Something's on your mind."

"It's nothing important."

"Important or not, you should tell me," she suggested, brushing my hair with her fingers.

I lifted my head from her shoulder and gazed at her. The color in her skin was dull, but I shouldn't be surprised, being sick does that to you. I refrained from the way she looked and drew out a deep sigh.

"Okay," I began. I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to hold back whatever emotions that were about to erupt. I didn't want to look too hurt. This was just a crush, or whatever it was. It shouldn't be making me feel so damaged. "Grams, I think I like Nathan," I said opening my eyes.

I looked at her, waiting for a reaction. All I saw was a growing smile on her lips. "And what's so wrong about that? Nathan's a good guy."

"But I don't want to like him, Grams. I'm not here for a summer romance. Besides, I don't think he even feels the same way."

"Well is he nice to you?"

"Yeah."

"Does he make you laugh?"

"All the time."

"Is he honest with you? I mean, is he really honest with you?" she asked.

"I don't know. Maybe," I answered, shrugging. "He said he trusted me yesterday."

"Then there's your first sign. If Nathan's willing to trust you then that's a good thing, Hales."

"I don't think I could trust him, though. What if he's fooling me like the rest of them?" I asked.

She moved her hand on top of my mine and squeezed it in her grip. "I know it's been hard for you to trust other people, sweet heart, but sometimes you have to let your guard down and let people in," she advised. "Your past boyfriends are the past now. They are nothing compared to Nathan. He's kind and gentle. He knows how to treat a lady-"

"Ladies," I cut in.

She paused and tilted her head. "Is that why you can't trust him, because he's been with other girls?"

"He's been with a lot of girls. Peyton even said so," I answered, pouting. "He's actually working on another one right now."

"You?" she asked.

I scoffed, and shook my head. "No, that Zoey Daniels girl," I said, sickened by the name. "And who knows, I just might be an addition to his collection."

"Oh stop that, Haley. Give the boy a break," she snapped. "I know Nathan. Merriam tells me the stories about him and the girls all the time. He's only been committed in two real relationships. The others were just girls he's dated a few times and nothing more. They were obviously not good enough for him."

"He's a man-whore if he's dated more than fifteen girls!" I exclaimed.

I noticed Olivia shaking her head amused by my reaction. "He's a man," she corrected. "What do you expect them to do? Curl their hair and shop all day?"

I groaned and sat back against the couch, frustrated. "I think I'm going to make myself hate him. It'll at least stop me from liking him."

"You're acting childish right now."

"Ugh, it's frustrating, Grams. One moment he's flirting with me and then the next thing you know he's talking to some chick and who is in fact prettier than I am. I don't like feeling this way. Vulnerability is not my best friend," I complained.

"Vulnerability only makes what you're feeling real," she said, rubbing the top of my hand. "And maybe she's pretty, but you are beautiful, Haley."

"I'm probably just a friend to him," I stated.

"Being friends is a start," Olivia replied. "Your grandfather and I were best friends before we fell in love with each other."

I glanced at her when I noticed her face light up at the thought of grandpa.

"Tell me about that," I asked, hoping a good story could help calm my aggravation.

"It was frustrating," she answered. "I was just like you. I thought your grandfather was this really obnoxious man when I first met him. I didn't think he had a single good bone in his body, but I can surely admit that he was a handsome devil." I smiled. Olivia really loved mentioning how handsome he was. "Oh he was such a good looking man, I couldn't take my eyes off him, but I pretended like I wasn't interested at all." Sounded just like me. "And he knew that I was pretending. Every day he'd find me and tried to make me admit that I liked him, but I wouldn't budge. I wasn't going to give in that easily," she said, once again zoning out. It was like she was back there, living the moment with him, and retracing her steps. I couldn't help but feel better at the sight of her. She still looked totally in love.

"Even though I wouldn't admit my true feelings about him, he'd still want to be around me. He liked me and he wasn't afraid to show it. Sometimes I was rude to him, but he knew that I was just playing around. Then we became really close friends. We were practically inseparable. Then one day your grandfather was really angry and upset with me. I didn't know where it was coming from, but he came up to me one spring morning; standing on my door step, his hat in his hand, and said 'I don't want to play games anymore, Olivia'. I didn't know what he was talking about at the time and what triggered him but all I knew was that I didn't like the tone of his voice. He was really angry," she laughed. "And then he said, 'I know you love me. Stop pretending because I can't take it anymore.' He looked so cute all aggravated and impatient. He looked at me, waiting for a response, but all I could do was smile. And you know what I did?" she asked me.

I think I knew. I smirked at the thought and she continued.

"I kissed him," she whispered like a little girl telling a secret. "I grabbed his face tightly between my hands and gave him the biggest kiss in the world." She smiled, her eyes watering a little bit. "It was the bravest thing and the best thing I have ever done in my life. And after that," she paused, a tear falling down her cheek. "We started our life together."

I wiped the tear from her cheek and she closed her eyes. My heart ached for her. I knew that she missed Grandpa a lot. I missed him too even though I didn't get a chance to meet him. I heard he was a great guy, and Olivia was obviously in love with him. I don't think Jim could ever take his place. Their love story was beautiful and I wished someday I could have the same thing.

"I loved him so much," she whispered, opening her eyes. "Someday that will happen to you," she said. "Maybe it could be with Nathan."

I groaned again. "I don't think it'll happen. He seems pretty infatuated by Zoey."

"Only time will tell, honey."

Only time will tell.

--------

The next day at the bakery Zoey decided to visit. She came for a couple of cookies, but it was pretty obvious that it was just an excuse to see Nathan. It was almost disgusting for her to make excuses just to get his attention.

When it was lunch break, I decided to jet out of there before anything got awkward for me. It stung me when he was around her, flirting back. I think he was about to talk to me when I walked out the door, but I was gone before he could even let out a word.

I was in the mood for steak. I needed something to balance out the sugar in my stomach so I decided to go to William's Steakhouse. Salty meat sounded pretty delicious right now. So I crossed the street and went inside there alone. I remembered Olivia telling me that this was where she and grandpa had their first date. It felt right to be here when I entered.

I saw Williams III by the bar, sporting his long red beard. He nodded at me as he gave someone a glass of beer. When I approached the counter, a girl with short blonde hair and a lip ring came up.

"Only one?" she asked.

"Sadly, yes," I replied, realizing how truly sad that was.

She smiled. "It happens all the time here," she said grabbing a menu from the stack. "Would you like the bar or booth?"

I glanced at the booth areas and thought it would be kind of depressing to seat in that much space alone. Then I looked over by the bar and noticed a few people there sitting by themselves. Perfect. It wouldn't make me look too tragic.

"Bar," I said.

The girl nodded and led me around the counter, towards an available seat. Then she handed me the menu that she brought with her.

"I'm Helen and I'll be your server today. What will you like to drink?"

"Just water, please."

"Alrighty, I'll be back with your water. Just tell me when you're ready to order." I nodded as she left the bar and walked into the back room.

I started glancing through the list of food. Everything looked pretty good, but I decided to settle with prime rib instead. After I remember what I wanted, I placed the menu on the counter and glanced around the room. I saw few older men, a family, a young couple, and plenty of other people that I didn't know. Then I turned around when Helen came back with my drink. I told her I was ready to order and said prime ribs. She was pretty nice. Although her hair was platinum blonde and had a silver ring pierced in her lip, she was cool.

Being here made me think a little about my feelings toward Nathan. It was complicated for me. It's never easy to fall for someone you don't want to fall for. It wasn't intentional and I really didn't think it would ever happen. I wasn't prepared to actually find a guy I liked here. I'm trying so hard, so very hard, to stop liking him, but every time I see him, my heart begins to race. It aches when he's near me. My palms begin to get icky and I get this warm feeling in my stomach. I'm happy when he's around but I don't want to get my hopes up.

Being in a relationship with a guy who only pretends to love you and care for you is the hardest thing in the world. I was naïve and I truly trusted Aaron. He made me think that he actually listened. He told me that there would be no one else in the world for him, but then he goes off and kisses another girl, even worse, he'd sleep with them. Not one girl, like three. I put my heart out there for him in those few months, telling him how much I really do care about him. I even told him that I was a virgin and that I was going to wait for the right guy – it was something that meant a lot to me. And the one thing that I really wanted from Aaron was to respect that. But he still betrayed me. He lied to my face and thought I would believe him. Eventually I stopped trusting him, and I knew that he was not the one for me. I cried for days after we broke. That was until I realized that guys were jerks. They are dicks with faces. And maybe that's why I'm a little hesitant with showing my feelings towards Nathan. I'm scared of being betrayed again.

After a while of waiting for my food, I heard the door open. The first thing that came to mind was "Oh shit!" It was Lucas and Brooke; the girl who hated my guts for no reason and the brother of the guy that I didn't want to like. I tried to turn away from them, but Lucas quickly caught my eye.

"Hey there's Haley!" he called out.

It was too late to avoid them. They already knew I was here. So I turned towards them and gave them a fake smile. I wasn't expecting anything from Brooke, but surprisingly she smiled back. Helen was now talking to them. They looked like they were negotiating something. Then Lucas quickly glanced at me before she led them to an empty booth. As I watched them, Lucas waved me to come over.

I shook my head and pointed to my seat. I was fine with sitting by myself but Lucas obviously didn't like it. He didn't want to accept "no" as an answer, as always. I looked at Helen, she was smiling at me like she knew I was coming. Brooke didn't look so happy. She really didn't have any emotion on her face at all.

"Come sit with us," Lucas called out again.

If I didn't, they'd probably move over here so either way it was going to be awkward. I grabbed my glass of water and headed towards their table. Lucas and Brooke sat by each other and I slid on the other side, sitting across from them. They took their drink orders and then we were finally on our own.

"What were you doing here by yourself?" Lucas asked.

I fiddled with my straw and took a sip from it. "I'm on a lunch break."

"What about Nathan, isn't it his lunch break too?"

"Oh, he was busy," I answered, thinking about him and Zoey again. I cringed a little bit, hopefully they didn't notice.

"Busy doing what?" Lucas said, chuckling.

"Talking to some girl," I answered monotonously.

I noticed that Brooke quickly looked up from the menu and slowly put it down.

"He's talking to a girl? I thought he was interested in you?" I wasn't sure how to take that. Was it in a nice way or a mean way? I don't know how she wanted me to interpret that but I just answered it without an edge of annoyance.

"Her name's Zoey Daniels," I answered, avoiding her second question.

"Zoey Daniels?!" they both asked, eyes wide.

"She's back in town?" Brooke asked again.

"Obviously, we saw her the other day when we delivered a cake."

"Slut face!" Brooke exclaimed, quickly looking over at Lucas. "You better not go anywhere near that STD infested girl," she ordered Lucas.

I couldn't help but smile when she said that. Brooke apparently didn't like the girl either.

"I promise I won't," Lucas replied with a smirk. "I got you, babe." I almost spit the water out of my mouth when he said that. I couldn't believe he just quoted a Sonny and Cher song.

"I can't believe Nathan is talking to her," Brooke complained, shaking her head as she returned her gaze to the menu.

"Maybe he doesn't know what you know about her."

"Every one knows."

"I don't," Lucas stated.

Brooke glared at him for a bit. "You seriously don't know a thing about her?"

"I know that we went to middle school together."

"She's a whore," she snapped. "A skank, slut, prostitute, stripper, hoe, hooker, nympho, floozy, tramp-"

"Okay, okay. I get it," Lucas cut in. "She slept with a lot of guys."

I laughed quietly to myself as I sipped from my glass. Brooke looked pretty annoyed by Zoey and her new arrival in town. I wondered if this was how she acted when she found out about me. I still wasn't sure what made her say those ugly comments at the beach.

"That's why you should stay away from Zoey. Nathan too," she advised. "You will definitely catch something from her just by breathing the same air."

"I'll try not to use my lungs next time I see her," Lucas replied.

"Good, it's only for the best."

I laughed again. Lucas didn't seem to be fazed by it. He was obviously used to her blunt personality. I could tell that they really cared about each other. I could see it when they looked at each other. But even though they were cute most of the time, it was awkward for me. I felt like I was intruding on their date. I was sure that Brooke didn't like me being there. I didn't even like me being here.

After a while, Helen finally delivered their drinks and our orders. I was happy to have an excuse to not speak. That's what's so great about food. Once we started eating what was on our plates, I could feel the awkwardness between me and Brooke. Lucas and I were fine, we chatted a bit about California and his volunteering at the fire department. Other than that, Brooke refused to say one word to me.

I was actually starting to get irritated. At the beginning of today's lunch, I thought she was okay, but now things changed. She started pretending that I didn't even exist.

"Can you pass me the salt?" I asked, Brooke. She didn't budge. She just continued eating her food. I grew a little angry and reached over to her side of the table for it myself. "Thanks so much," I said sarcastically as I salted my ribs.

"You are soo welcome," she replied.

I rolled my eyes at her as I started salting part of my ribs.

"Nathan told me you were going to Stanford this fall. That's a really good school," Lucas stated.

"Yeah I know. I still can't believe I got in. I worked extra hard."

"I would too. That's a prestigious university. You must be very intelligent to get in there," Lucas stated. I smiled and shrugged my shoulders.

"I guess," I replied, putting a piece of rib against my lips to bite.

"So does that make you better than us?" Brooke cut in.

I slowly put the rib down on my plate and looked at her curiously. "What?"

"Since you're going to some high status college that makes you better than us, right?

"I don't think so," I answered slowly. "What makes you think that?"

"Oh I don't know, just the whole town is talking about how you're little Miss Perfect. It's getting kind of annoying to hear about it."

"Brooke, don't," Lucas stated, shaking his head at her. She glanced at him and ignored his order.

"You were here for, what, a week and you're automatically best friends with my best friends," she continued.

"Is that a bad thing?" I replied.

"Yes, it's a bad thing," she snapped, glaring at me. "They are my friends," she repeated.

"They're still your friends aren't they? I'm not trying to take them away from you," I replied, calmly.

She scoffed. "It takes a lot of to impress them. What's so great about you? Nathan quickly offers you a ride in his car, which he rarely does. And Peyton doesn't just invite people over to hang out with her and listen to her records. That just doesn't happen. And the whole town is like raving about you and how perfect you are. I don't see what the big deal is," she complained. I don't know what the big deal is either, but she's obviously upset about it. I was getting really angry at her attitude. I wasn't going to sit back and let her act this way. I remembered what Nathan said, I should fight my battles.

"Are you mad at me because I'm stealing your spotlight?" I snapped back.

She scoffed. "No, not at all," she lied.

"Apparently you are."

"Give me a break."

"No, you give me a break." I said quickly, the tone a lower than usual. "I have done nothing to you. You have no right to disrespect me and make assumptions when you don't even know me."

"I know people like you -high achievers and city girls. You act like you're better than us."

"I act like I'm better than you?" I laughed. "Look who's talkin. You're the one who's acting like this big stuck up bitch who thinks she owns the place. Just because you think you're so popular doesn't mean you should look down at everyone else. You should look at yourself in the mirror and reevaluate how you read people. I have done no harm to you or anyone else in this town. I don't think I deserve this behavior from someone who hasn't even gotten the chance to know me. Obviously your friends like me because they looked past everything else. They didn't judge me," I finished. My hands were shaking and the blood in my veins was boiling. All of a sudden I lost my appetite and did not want to be here anymore. That was all that I could say. I am not going to sit here in front of a girl who had no idea who I was.

I pulled out the money I owed Helen and threw it on the table. Then I slid out of my seat and looked at Lucas. "I'm sorry I have to leave Lucas, but I can't stay here any longer."

"It's fine," Lucas said, giving me a sympathetic look. I had a feeling he was going to talk to Brooke about this later.

"And just so you know, Brooke. I'm far from perfect," I said. "I'm not even close and popularity doesn't mean shit to me. I don't want it. You can have it, you can have it all!" I felt my bottom lip begin to tremble when I said the last few words. They both looked at me, like they felt sorry for me. I didn't want that. I don't like it when people felt sorry for me. So I quickly turned away.

I heard Lucas call out my name, but I ignored him and continued my way out of the place.

The moment I stepped out of William's Steakhouse, I felt my stomach clench. My hands were shaking from all the anger that had erupted inside of me. My throat was dry and I could feel the water works coming. As I tried to hold my composure, I walked down the sidewalk, avoiding any contact with the pedestrians. I couldn't stop trembling so I folded my arms across my chest to keep myself calm.

When I finally approached the bakery, I noticed that Zoey was still standing by the register talking to Nathan. My heart immediately ached at the sight. He was smiling back at her, obviously entertained and I closed my eyes for a minute. I needed to find some oxygen. I wasn't his girlfriend. Nathan had the liberty to talk to other girls, I just wished he didn't.

Then I thought, I wasn't ready to go back inside the bakery. I couldn't let him see me like this. I didn't want him to see the pain on my face. He was going to ask me what was wrong and I was going to end up lying to him anyways. And I really didn't want to lie to him, so I walked past the bakery. Hopefully Merriam and Olivia wouldn't mind. They would probably get angry, but I can't show my face in there.

And so I walked and walked. I don't know where I was going, but all I knew was that I wanted to be far away from here.

--------

After thirty minutes of walking and crying around town, I found myself at a park. There was a basketball court and a set of bleachers. I had to sit down. My feet were killing me. My flats weren't made for walking marathons, so I hurried to the bleachers and sat on the cold seat.

I sighed deeply and looked behind me. It was the river. A tugboat was floating by and I could see the boardwalk from here. Everyone looked like little ants walking down the pier. Then I looked away. I was getting kind of tired so I decided to lie against the bleachers. I didn't really care if anybody saw me, I was tired and I was going to lie down. Then I slowly closed my eyes.

"Don't you have a bed of your own?" someone stated. My eyes shot open and I noticed a familiar figure standing in the middle of the court. It was Jake. His hair was still disheveled and instead of a guitar in his arm, he had a basketball. Great, another athlete in town.

"Yeah, but I thought a nice steel bleacher would be more comfortable," I answered without any facial expression and turned away. I didn't want anyone to see my swollen eyes.

I heard him laugh. Then eventually I heard the bounces of the basketball against the concrete.

"Did you walk here?" he asked.

"Exercise is good," was all I said.

He chuckled. "Yeah it is, people should do it more often."

I sighed. I wasn't really in a mood to talk to anyone right now. Jake seemed like a nice guy but I was definitely not ready to make nice.

"What do you want?" I asked him, shielding my eyes. Good thing there was sun, so it looked like I was blocking the rays.

"Nothing," he answered."I'm only trying to make small talk."

"Well . . . I don't feel like talking right now. Go play your little basketball game," I shooed him.

"What if I sit next to you and ask you what's wrong?" His voice was now nearer and I could see him walking towards me.

"That would be a pointless idea."

"Because?"

"Because it's pointless to ask a girl what's wrong after they said they weren't in the mood to talk."

"What if I try?"

"Still pointless," I answered. "So can you please go away? I want to be alone right now."

"I just got here. I'm not going to leave."

I glared at him as he continued to bounce the basketball.

"Fine then! I'll just leave," I snapped. I sat up from the bleacher. I brushed down my shirt and stood up.

"On foot?"

"Yeah, exercise is good, remember?"

"You know I could drop you off wherever you want to go," he suggested, now holding the ball in his hand.

Another boy offering me a ride wouldn't be a good idea. "Nah, I'm going to walk."

"Are you sure?"

"Definitely," I confirmed.

"Do you even know your way back to where you came from?"

"Yeah, a plane ride to the west," I replied.

"That's not what I meant."

I looked down to think about my steps. I was too busy moping to know where I was walking. So I shook my head.

"Well let's go then," he said, motioning over to his truck. "Where're you headed?"

I followed him, giving in and said, "MO's bakery."

"You work there?" he asked while I tried to stay behind him.

"Yeah, just a summer job. My grandmother owns half of it."

"Sweet Olivia," he said.

"You know her?"

"Everyone knows Olivia. How do you think everyone knew about you?"

I shrugged. "I don't know."

"She is the sweetest and kindest person in town. When everyone found out that her granddaughter was coming, they were excited."

"A little too excited. I'm not used to the sudden admiration," I said. "or hatred," I added.

"It's a small town. What do you expect?"

"Privacy?" I smiled.

"You're going to have to live under a rock for that to happen," he advised.

That couldn't be anymore true.

R&R

I know there wasn't much Naley, but remember this is in Haley's POV and world. But I promise there will be more NALEY in the next chapter. =)