A/N: OH DEAR! YOU ALL MUST HATE ME! I am so sorry for the late update. How long has it been? A month? I am so so sorry. Some things have been keeping me away from making a new update. Final exams, a broken computer, and writer's block took over. But now I'm back. I hope you all didn't give up on the story. I'm here now. I hope everyone is enjoying their Summer Break and celebrating SEASON 8 PICK UP!

HOPE ALL IS WELL! I LOVE YOU

XOXO ANNIE.

Chapter 13 When I Look At You

"What in the world is going on here?"

I quickly pulled apart from Nathan and we both turned to the kitchen entrance and found Olivia standing there curiously.

"Grams – we were just uh –," I began.

She took a step inside and grabbed a few papers from above the fridge and said, "I'm not that old, baby. I know what you two were doing." She started flipping through the envelopes and glanced at us with a blank stare. "If I had known that this was what Nathan was up to, I probably wouldn't have let him stay over."

"Olivia, you've misunderstood. This is not why I stayed," Nathan stated, taking a few steps towards her. "I –"

"Don't hold your breathe, Nathan," Olivia said with a smile on her face. She grabbed the enveloped she needed and put the rest back on top of the fridge. "It's okay. Don't get your panties in a twist."

I started to giggle when I saw Nathan's expression. He looked completely embarrassed, but at the same time he still looked absolutely cute.

Olivia looked at her watch and then said, "It's still early. So if you want to keep your job, you should start heading home and get ready for work."

"Yes, ma'm," Nathan replied. He nodded at Olivia and then turned to me with a smile. "I'll see you at work then?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'll see you at work."

He was hesitant at first to give me another kiss because Olivia was still in the room, but he just gave me a kiss on the cheek instead. We both said our last goodbyes for the morning and I watched him as he left the house. As soon as we heard the front door slam shut, Olivia came up to me with a mischievous smile.

"Look at my granddaughter," she stated, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. "I have a feeling you're going to have a good day today, don't you think?"

I couldn't help but believe that she was right. This was probably the best part about finally confessing your true feelings to the person that you really want. The butterflies in my stomach are flapping their wings really fast right now. And the weight on my heart has been lifted. I've never been so happy in my life, yet I was so scared at the same time.

I was so excited to see Nathan again. Now that he knows that I really like him, it's a lot easier to be around him. When I finally entered the bakery, I found Nathan standing behind the counter already in work mode. But when he saw me walk into the place, he glanced up and gave me a smile that was only meant for me.

"Haley, do you feel okay today?" Merriam asked, from the kitchen entrance. "Nathan told me you weren't feeling too well last night."

"Yeah, I was down, but he definitely made me feel a lot better," I answered. I looked over at Nathan and he was smirking while he was talking to one of the customers.

"I better hope that means something else," Merriam stated, grabbing an apron from the hooks.

"Oh, don't worry. It's not what you're thinking, Nan," Nathan stated, picking up two blueberry muffins from the display cabinet.

"Good," she replied. "But I'm glad you're okay, Haley."

"Thank you, Merriam."

"We have a busy day today, so get prepared," she began. "After last night's festivities, we need to make a lot of hangover pastries. Some of the people in this town partied a little too much."

I let out a laugh and grabbed an apron from the hook and wrapped it around my waist. I was probably one of those people who partied too much. But I don't think I would call it partying per say. It was more like me drowning myself in alcohol. I wouldn't mind having a hangover pastry. Even if I did have a huge breakfast, I still feel the need to eat one.

When I walked into the back of the bakery, Eliza was already there mixing up a batter.

"Haley, you're here!" she cried out. "I didn't think you were going to show up after last night. You looked really messed up."

"I was a wreck wasn't I?" I replied, standing beside her.

"Yeah, I was really worried. But good thing Nathan took care of you. If it wasn't for him, you'd probably be lying on someone's lawn right now."

I let out a laugh. "Yep, good thing Nathan was there," I smiled.

"You don't look like you even have a hangover," she stated, looking up from the bowl of batter.

"I had a really bad hangover earlier this morning, but somehow I feel a lot better."

"What did you do?"

"I just had a really good breakfast," I smiled again.

"It must've been a million dollar breakfast because you're glowing."

"It's because I made it," Nathan stated from the doorway.

Eliza quickly glanced at both of us at the same time as if she was trying to solve a math problem. "Wait a second. He made you breakfast? Did you two –"

"No, we didn't!" I replied quickly.

"We just kissed," Nathan explained. "After she told me she loved me."

Facepalm! "Okay, I didn't really mean to say that last night. I was just really upset and I guess you were there so it just happened."

"So you don't love me?" Nathan asked jokingly.

I started to feel embarrassed and tried to avoid his eyes. "I never said that."

"So you do love me?"

I glared at him playfully and quickly turned to Eliza. "So what do we need to make today?"

"I'm making blueberry muffins right now, but you can start making a new batter for the chocolate chip muffins."

"Alrighty."

"Are you avoiding me now?" Nathan asked again, jokingly.

"No I'm not avoiding you, Nathan."

"It looks like you are. I think it's because you secretly love me."

I was starting to get frustrated with Nathan joking around about my confession last night. That boy thought he was so funny. So I took a hand full of flower from the package and showered it all over his face. Eliza and I busted out laughing as soon as we saw his face.

"Oh, you're going to get it now," Nathan stated, grabbing a handful of flower from the package.

My eyes widened and I ran away from him as quickly as I could. He looked like a ghost with all that powder all over his face. I kept running around and he kept chasing me.

"Get away from me!" I cried out.

Nathan was making a lot of mess with the flower. It was sprinkled all over the floor and I had a feeling we were going to get in big trouble shortly. Soon enough Nathan caught me and smothered the left over flower onto my hair.

"I'm not cleaning that up," Eliza stated as she mixed her batter.

We both chuckled. I patted my hair and noticed a light cloud form and I quickly glared at Nathan.

"You look cute," he smiled.

I stuck my tongue out at him and smiled back. "Come on, Mister Flower Power, we need to clean this up before your grandma yells at us."

After hours of baking and designing cupcakes and cookies, I was finally done with work. Today was the busiest day I think I've ever worked since I started. Who knew so many people were going to show up and order so many desserts. I even noticed Brooke and Lucas walk in with an order of a dozen pastries. I wasn't sure if it was for them or for a whole family. It didn't really surprise me. Those two were the first ones to get drunk at that beach party.

I decided to go home after work. I never got a chance to sit down throughout the day - too many orders and too much baking. Merriam and Olivia didn't even give us a lunch break. We were surrounded by food so what was the point of going out and buying it somewhere else. Even though I was stuffed with sugary sweetness, I needed something else to balance it out. Pretty soon, I'm going to be sick of sweets.

Later tonight, Nathan wanted to spend time with me. He said we were going to have something similar to a first date. Even though we've hung out alone before, he wanted to do something that was a little bit more romantic. It was really sweet of him to do something like that for me. It kind of made me nervous. I'm not too sure what to expect. Or to expect anything at all.

While I was in my room, I found the blank book that Olivia had given me the first day I arrived. And I finally had something good to write in it. After what I've been through, I think it's time to write it down on paper before I forget. It was kind of like my own little diary.

I was almost done writing about my summer when I heard the door open and close. The sound of Olivia's keys dropping onto the foyer table was clear. Olivia was home and I couldn't wait to tell her about tonight.

"Haley, are you home?"

"I'm here, Grams!"

"Alright, making sure. " I finished the last few sentences in the book and quickly closed it. I hurried down the stairs and saw Olivia grabbing a glass of water.

"Is it still busy at the bakery?" I asked.

"It's dying down, finally. John, Merriam, and Eliza are still there. I'm sure they can take care of the rest of the day," she replied, sipping from her glass.

"Yeah, they're good at that," I replied. "So, Grams, Nathan and I are supposedly having our first date tonight."

"You are? That's so great! I knew things would work out between you two," she smiled. She pulled me into a hug and combed her fingers through my hair.

"I don't know what I should wear though. He wasn't very specific about the events tonight."

"You've been on a few first dates before, haven't you?"

"Yeah, but they usually tell me if we were going to see a movie or eat dinner or something. Nathan didn't say much about it at all."

"Well since this is probably a special first date, my guess is to wear a casual dress and leave your hair down."

"That sounds good to me," I smiled.

"I'm sure it's going to be a good one. I hear that Nathan's a romantic. So try not to fall in love too fast tonight."

I laughed, and gave her one last hug. "I'll try not to."

"I thought we were going to a fancy restaurant."

Instead of going to dinner, Nathan brought me to the River Fest. It was still going on for the weekend. I haven't been to the fair in forever so I'm glad we went somewhere casual.

"I figured since we're just starting out, I should bring you to a smaller venue," he said. "What, are you disappointed?"

"No, this is completely fine," I replied as we walked around the fair. There were different booths with men shouting at the citizens to play games to win stuffed toys. It was kind of like they were needy people in hope for some cash.

"I'm glad," he replied. "So do you want anything?"

"You know what I want?"

"What?"

"I want you to play one of those games and get me a stuffed toy."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. Isn't that what fairs are for?"

"I guess," he replied.

I pulled on his arm and lead him towards the basketball game. "Do this one," I ordered.

"Oh this is going to be easy," he replied.

I rolled my eyes at him and gave my attention to the middle aged man in charge of the booth.

"This man right here wants to play."

"Good choice. Is this for you, sweetie?" he asked. I nodded and elbowed Nathan in the rib. "Alright. The rules to the game are to get twenty shots in a row in order to receive the biggest stuffed toy."

"Is that too hard for you?" I asked Nathan politely.

"Nah, I can do it, give me a ball," Nathan replied. The man tossed him a soft orange basketball ball. I noticed Nathan straightening his form and targeting the basket that was just a few feet away from him.

"Don't strain yourself," I joked.

"I won't," he replied. "So which stuffed toy do you want?"

"I want the . . ." I started scanning the shelf of stuffed toys and immediately spotted the bear with the basketball jersey. "I want that one. It reminds me of you."

"Alright, I'll get it."

"You better."

"Whenever you're ready," the man stated. Nathan gave me a wink before he started shooting the baskets. I was pretty impressed when I noticed that he wasn't missing any of the shots. They weren't kidding about him being a basketball all-star in high school. He was pretty good. He got all of them without any effort. It was like he was some kind of basketball wizard.

Fifteen shots later. "You need just five more shots and you'll be able to get the bear for your little lady here," the man stated.

"Come on, you can do it, Nate!" I cheered.

While he was about to finish his last shots, I looked out to the crowd and found a familiar face approaching us with a not so happy expression. I watched as she came closer and closer, but I decided to look away and focus on Nathan's game. He shot three more shots, and I was getting really anxious.

"I only have one more to go after this one and that bear will be yours, Hales," Nathan stated, tossing the little orange ball through the hope.

"Just one more, son and you win!" the man cried out.

I was crossing my fingers as Nathan straightened his form and eyed the goal. I looked beside us and noticed that Zoey was on the other side of him. As soon as Nathan threw the ball, Zoey shoved him on the shoulder causing him to miss the winning shot.

"HEY!" Nathan called out.

"Why did you just leave me last night?" Zoey asked, her eyes furrowed.

"You made me lose the shot," Nathan replied. I could tell that he was upset about not making the winning goal. It wasn't his fault. If only that stupid Zoey didn't come crashing in.

"Too bad," she replied. "That's what happens when you leave me hanging."

"I apologize for that, okay. I had something to do last night."

"Like what? Her?" Zoey asked, glaring at me.

"Look, she wasn't feeling too well so I had to bring her home. Again, I apologize for not calling or telling you," Nathan explained. I could see Zoey's nostrils flare at the sight of me and slowly focused back to Nathan. Suddenly her expression softened and smiled.

"Well then you can make it up by spending the rest of evening with me," she suggested.

"I can't," he replied.

"Why?"

"I'm kind of spending it with Haley."

"Ugh," she complained. "You know what, when you're done messing with her. You know my number." She quickly turned away and disappeared into the crowd. I really wanted to strangle her right now. Isn't it obvious that Nathan would rather be with me than her?

As soon as she left, Nathan turned to me and placed his hands on my arms. "I'm sorry that I couldn't get you the bear."

"It's okay," I replied. "It's not your fault."

"Are you sure? I could try again if you want me to."

"No, let's just go get something to eat," I suggested, a little disappointed.

"Wait!" We both were about to walk away from the booth until the man stopped us. "I noticed that that lady messed you up, so I'm going to give you the stuffed toy anyways. You were pretty close, so you deserve it."

"Really?" I asked. The man let out a jolly laugh and reached over to grab the jersey wearing bear. He gave it to Nathan and then Nathan gave it to me.

"Thank you, sir," Nathan stated.

"No problem. You two have a nice evening."

"You too," we both said. I held the bear close to me like a little girl and looked up at Nathan. He looked so happy to see me smile.