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Thank you to everyone who is reading this story. It may be a slow start but I will make every attempt to update as often as I'm able to.

~~~"I'm Never Alone, I'm Alone All the Time"~~~
*Chapter Four*

A pounding noise woke Nathan from his peaceful slumber that he was thoroughly enjoying.
"Huh?." He called out in annoyance as he bolted up sitting on his bed somewhat confused.

His bedroom door flung opened and a body burst in.

"What on earth are you doing lying around? I have been calling your phone for like five minutes!" He said sternly.

Nathan rubbed his eyes and glared over at his dad.

"How the hell did you get in first of all? And secondly, what do you want?" He growled back.

"You are slacking off, ignoring my texts and phone calls. I have a key to your house and the guard at the gate had no problem letting me through." Dan barked at his son who was glaring back at him.

Nathan glanced at his iPhone that was lying on his bed next to him. He checked the time and grunted.

"Seriously? You are all worked up and it's only 6:30 at night. What the hell is your problem?" Nathan asked standing up from his bed and brushing past Dan's shoulder and then down the hall towards the kitchen. He heard Dan's feet stomping closely behind him. 'Here we go!' Nathan thought to himself as he opened the refrigerator door and pulled out a Powerade. He welcomed the cooling liquid down his throat hoping it would help calm the anger brewing in his stomach. He did not possess the patience to deal with a typical Dad blowout tonight. Not after the practice he had earlier.

"You have a photo shoot tomorrow morning as well as a magazine article all before 10 am. I'm working on lining up an endorsement deal with Nike and I may be able to squeeze another three years out of them." Dan stated as he stared Nathan up and down searching for a response.

"I received the confirmation email you sent me this morning already. I'm not completely incompetent of being able to show up to an appointment on time! God, I'm not a child Dad." Nathan shot back gritting his teeth. It seemed even though many years had gone by, his dad refused to see him as a man no matter what Nathan did.

"I'm well aware of that fact however! Do you even think you'd be where you are right now without my attention to detail regarding your basketball career? I've been there every step of the way for you up to now. If anything you could be a little more grateful of all the work I'm doing for you! Nathan, especially after everything that's happened." Dan replied as he walked over to an end table near the dining room. He picked up a small black picture frame and glanced at the picture. Nathan watched his Dad closely as he studied the people in the picture. His anger inside was beginning to form into pure rage.

"I remember this day just like it was yesterday. I was so proud of you son. If you aren't careful, all of this could slip away in a moment. Nathan, don't disappoint me." Dan said looking Nathan directly in his eyes. He carelessly set the picture face down and headed towards the front door.

Dan opened the front door and looked back at Nathan once more.

"You're lucky I'm only taking 15% as your manager and agent. I could be taking you to the cleaners. Consider it a family discount! I'll see you in the morning son." He said to Nathan and then was out of the door letting it slam behind him.

Nathan marched over and picked up the picture frame to place it back properly. He fought the urge to hurl the frame towards to door after his father. He turned the frame over and looked at the picture. Staring back at him was a happy looking family. His mother looked beautiful as she had her arm around Nathan who was in the middle. Deb's smile appeared genuine however maybe if Nathan had paid more attention, he would have realized it was anything but. Dan on the other hand was standing on the other side of Nathan looking smug. The picture was taken when Duke won the championship his 2nd year of college. It captured one of the last happy moments his family had together. His mother died later that year.

Nathan headed back to the bedroom and decided to take a shower. He let the hot water pound away on his sore muscles trying to melt away any aches or pains from the day's workout. He hated to admit it but he still felt out of shape despite the months of rehab he'd been doing on. He exited the shower and dressed in basketball shorts and an old Clippers T-Shirt. His growling stomach could no longer be ignored prompting him to find a takeout menu. Nathan quickly phoned in his order and flipped the television in an attempt to kill time until his food arrived.

Nathan was glancing at the latest copy of Men's Fitness when he found his foot tapping to the beat of a song coming from the television. He watched the video carefully and couldn't help but be pulled in by the catchy lyrics. A band made up of two chicks and two guys weren't all that common these days. Nathan continued to watch realizing he had never heard the song before however he wasn't always up to speed with current artists. A brunette with an amazing smile flashed on the screen signing the last lyric as the video came to an end. The music video was nearing an end and the words appeared in the bottom left hand corner of the screen.

"Who the hell are The Fire Pistols?" He said to himself.

The last image he saw was a close up of a brunette playing the final few chords of the song on her guitar. She glanced up at the camera again and a flirty smile appeared across her face again. The screen went blank and then MTV cut to commercial.

Nathan rubbed his buzzed head in slight confusion. There was something about her that triggered his memory. But of what he didn't know. He felt like he'd seen that smile somewhere before. Was that even possible? It was beautiful.

Quinn crept in the front door as quiet as a church mouse trying not to wake Haley or the dogs up. She locked the door behind herself and reset the security alarm. She didn't even notice Haley sprawled out on the living room couch until she spoke to her.

"You must have had quite the night dear sister?" Haley teased with a grin.

Quinn looked over at her in surprise that she was still awake.

"Yeah it was great if you didn't notice that I'm home a little late." Quinn said in a soft tone. Her goofy grin was a sign that she was instantly being taken back to the hours before when she was out with her boyfriend.

"Why did you even bother coming home this late? You should have just stayed at Clay's." Haley said.

"What are you still doing up?" Quinn asked back ignoring Haley's previous question.

"I was just about to go to bed myself." Haley answered with a slight yawn.

"Well good night." Quinn said and then was on her way up to her room.

Haley watched Quinn walk through the kitchen and up the stairs for a moment but then her attention went back to the television screen. She had been watching it for hours in search of what she didn't know. She just felt he needed to watch it just a little bit longer. She decided to flip through the channels one last time and then retire to her room for the night. Haley watched the screen with just the smallest hope that she would see him again.

The next few days passed on as normal. Haley's lingering thoughts left her and she regained her focus on the task at hand. The "Fire and Ice" tour was about to start and the excitement was growing as each day passed. The bands' time was consumed by interviews, photo shoots and rehearsals just to name a few. Quinn and Clay were gearing up to say good bye to each other one more time. Walker was perfecting his latest drum solo for the kick off date. Chris was checking and double-checking the instruments and songs for any flaws that could have been missed. Haley on the other hand was pretty much just there. Of course she was anticipating the start of the tour just like the rest of them but there was something that was holding her back this time around. Haley was always motivated and the main driving force of The Fire Pistols. She thrived on the tour lifestyle, living out of a tour bus and sleeping in a new place every night. She had spent much of the band's break trying to figure out what she was feeling and when it shifted.

Once the tour would begin, the band would be torn away from their friends, some family members and expected to perform day after day and be perfect. Sure that wasn't a lot to ask of anyone. But it was what they had to do. Haley James had to be perfect for this tour. She seemed to have a constant inner battle with being a perfectionist. In many ways it was a wonderful quality to have and others, it seemed to be a curse. Touring was hard on all of them in many ways. It was one of the aspects of her career that made it nearly impossible for Haley to truly get close to anyone. Quinn was lucky she found Clay before they hit it big so she knew his motives from the start. But the game was different for the rest of them. They were constantly forced to be skeptical of those who craved their attention and wanted to get close to them.

Thank you to whoever is reading this story again! I appreciate it very much. Please leave a little review of what you like, what you didn't, or what is making you want to continue reading this story. :)