Disclaimer: I own nothing...

Thank you to all of you who are reading this story and enjoying it so far. I apologize for the slow update this time. Unfortnately I had a little incident of "art" imitating "life" resulting in a major knee injury for myself. It will require surgery in the next week or so. I have a long road to recovery ahead of me :( The good side is I will have more free time to continue to work on this story assuming people are enjoying it and I should continue it. Thank you to those who have taken the time to write a little review. I appreciate it so much! Enjoy

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

A steady buzzing sound slowly pulled Haley from her sweet slumber. She rolled over in her bed and stretched her arm out to find her smartphone on her bedside table without opening her eyes. After a moment of fumbling around, her finger connected with the vibrating object and she answered it.

"Hello?" Haley croaked into her phone.

"Girl are you still asleep? The bus is loading up the bus in 2 hrs! You better be ready."

"No I'm awake just groggy." Haley fibbed as she sat up quickly in bed. She rubbed the remainder of sleep out of the corner of her eyes desperately trying to come to. She was going to need a good dose of caffeine pronto.

"I'm packed and ready to go don't worry Peyton. Is everything ok?" Haley asked while glancing over at her packed suitcases next to her closet.

"We're all set on my end. I plan to meet you guys in Houston in a week or so for a little while. Sounds like you're awfully sleepy today. Did you have a late night last night?" Peyton responded.

Haley felt her cheeks flush and instantly felt warm.

"Yeah something like that."

"And so it begins. Look Hales I'm gonna let you go. I'll be in touch with you guys soon. Safe travels." Peyton replied matter of factly.

"Alrighty. Later." Haley concluded and then hung up her phone.

She flopped back on her bed and closed her eyes letting out a big sigh. Those blues eyes slowly crept back into her thoughts as she played back her car ride home with Chris the night before. As expected he grilled her for information the entire drive back to her house. Haley made attempts to turn the focus back to his evening which normally he would enjoy talking about but not that time.

"You mean to tell me you spent over an hour dancing with Nathan Scott from the LA Clippers and you have nothing to tell me." Chris exclaimed in disbelief.

Haley giggled almost like a school girl before she responded to her friend. "We were just dancing Chris. You know having fun as in the whole point of us going out tonight. I did exactly what I intended to do tonight. Have fun and enjoy myself for a change. It was nothing more."

Chris smirked at Haley as he took his eyes off the road for a few moments.

"Did you get his number or give him yours at least?"

"Be serious! Why on earth would I do that?"

"Hales, live a little! You're not a nun!"

"Please, like he'd actually call again anyhow. He's a NBA player and probably dates super models or actresses." Haley rebutted with him.

"Way to be judgmental! And what you go after only rock stars? Shall I remind you of the last douche bag you dated?"

Haley shook her head instantly feeling that sinking feeling in her stomach. She most definitely did not want to go back there again.

"No you don't thank you very much."

"Whatever, that guy was an asshole! Like his movie career will take off anyway! Serves him right for what he did to you."

"Chris, I don't want to talk about him anymore. Can we change the subject please?" Haley stated sounding a bit annoyed.

"Fine I just want to say this and then I'll drop it. You looked like you were having fun with him and letting your guard down a bit. It was just nice to see the real Haley."Chris concluded and turned the radio on signaling he was honoring her request.

She was left in her thoughts for the duration of the way back to her house. The butterfly feeling had yet to leave her stomach once she left his arms that night.

Haley finally crawled out of bed and got herself ready for the long day that was before her. She glanced around her bedroom one more time to ensure she had everything she might need while on tour. And with that she brought her suitcases downstairs and placed them next to Quinn's.

"Today you've got a satellite radio interview which should focus on your rehab. Keep it positive but vague. Don't go into too many details about the injury and keep spinning it back to your game now." Dan lectured as Nathan tapped away on his iPad. He nodded every so often in hopes that would be enough for Dan.

"Then you have a creative design meeting for your shoe contract on Friday. You need to play your best in the games leading up to that meeting. They need the best impression possible of you going into this thing. Nathan….Nathan are you listening to me?" Dan demanded staring Nathan down.

"Huh?" Nathan mumbled without taking his eyes off his work.

"Quit playing around with that shit and focus on what's important." Dan snapped back.

Nathan ignored Dan and quickly finished what had him preoccupied not wanting the situation with him to escalate any further. He didn't want to be any later to the gym than he already was.

"I heard everything you said and I understand Dad. I'll do what it takes to make sure the interview and meeting go as you've got planned. There's no way I'm screwing anything up after all that's happened so far." Nathan said in an attempt to reassure his manager.

Dan nodded with contentment and looked Nathan up and down.

"How is your knee feeling these days anyway? You're not having any trouble are you?" He asked showing concern. The question was it truly genuine from his father and not his manager.

Without much thought, Nathan's hands reached for his leg and rubbed it for a bit. Visibly there were only scars signaling something had happened recently. He pulled up the knee brace to cover up the scars.

"Things are fine Dad. I'm sticking to the program and doing my rehab. Speaking of which I need to get going to the gym anyhow." Nathan said and then picked up his gym bag from the floor. He headed towards the door feeling Dan hot on his heels.

"Have a good workout and practice today. Let me know if anything comes up out of the ordinary at the satellite radio interview." Dan added as he walked to his car. He stared Nathan down waiting for a response.

"Yes Sir." Nathan said and then climbed into his car. He tossed the bag into the passenger seat and dropped the car into gear. Within seconds, Nathan was driving away actually feeling excited about working out.

Nathan arrived minutes later and made his way into the gym. He casually greeted fellow team mates not wanting to interrupt others workouts. He stretched his legs and most importantly his knee out before stepping on the treadmill. He secured the ear buds in his ears and then set his ipod to begin playing. Nathan started out jogging at a steady pace letting his muscles warm up. After a few minutes, he turned up the mph and felt the stress from Dan slowly leave his thoughts. His feet pounded away as he approached a quarter mile, a smile then formed on his lips. Nathan had purchased The Fire Pistols collection on iTunes earlier while Dan was playing "Manager". A sense of calm spread through Nathan's body as Haley's voice entered his ears.

'This is going to be a killer workout' He thought to himself as he sailed past the mile mark on the treadmill.

A few days later

Chris had camped himself in front of the television on the tour bus for hours to play xbox with Walker. It was a good way to pass the time especially while they were traveling all day. Quinn had kicked them out of the front of the bus so she could Skype with Clay for a while without "distractions". Haley found herself hanging with the "boys" trying her best to tune out their mindless talk while they played video games. Occasionally she'd glance up from her iPad when she found their banter entertaining. It was nice to have tour life back to normal. Haley had always found it took her a few days to adjust to being on the road again. She loved playing in a new city each night. It felt freeing to be on stage doing what she loved. And she was good at it.

Haley found herself searching the web for information. She had tried to keep her thoughts at bay but was finally giving in. Satisfied with her results she turned her iPad off.

"OK Boneheads! I'm taking over the television. You've had enough game time!" Haley joked while looking for the remote control.

Walker reluctantly turned off the gaming system without much fuss. He knew Chris would give enough for the both of them.

"You're not going to make us suffer through some romantic chick flick shit are you?" Chris whined. He tossed the controller on the floor in front of the television.

"Either you watch what I want or you can go sit out there with Quinn. You two could chaperone her Skype date with Clay. Anyone up for a foursome? The decision is yours." Haley said with a mischievous smirk. She tried to stifle her laughter as best as she could however the look on the Walker's face said it all.

"Bring on Ryan Gosling, Channing Tatum, or whatever piece of meat you girls are fantasizing about now! I'm sure there's a leading lady in it worth tolerating for an hour and a half." Walker joked as he settled next to Haley on the couch.

Haley laughed out loud and slightly shook her head as she flipped through the channels until she reached her desired destination.

"Oh ye of little faith! I'm the fun "James" sister right?" She kidded back.

Chris remained focused on the television as it slowly came back from commercial break. His right eye brow arched ever so slightly as he shifted his focus to Haley.

"Well, well…..Chris Keller is definitely down for a little hoop action tonight. I'm grabbing a beer. Anyone want anything?" He asked the pair.

"Yup, Thanks bro." Walker replied without taking his eyes off the screen.

Haley didn't answer having been completely entranced by the glowing screen in front of her.

"Hales?" Chris called to her as he waited for it to register.

She looked back at him with a questioning look on her face.

"Red or white babe?"

"Red."

And with that Chris was gone to retrieve the requested beverages. Walker and Haley watched a few moments in silence listening to the announcers during the pre-game coverage.

"I have a feeling the Thunder are going to dominate this game." Walker stated.

She brought her feet underneath her tiny body and hugged her knees. She was nearly beside herself with anticipation.

"I don't think they'll pull it off tonight." She stated with confidence challenging her band mate knowing very well he was always up for it.

"Darling, Oklahoma will probably be up at least 8 points by half time. You can quote me on that one!" Walker shot back bumping his elbow against her side.

Chris walked back in and caught the last exchange between the two. He distributed the drinks and then sat beside Walker.

"I'd put money on the Thunder!" Chris declared before he took a swig of his beer.

Haley finished a large sip of her wine welcoming the warm feeling going down her throat and into her chest. She smiled with contentment as she gazed at the television.

"I'll take you both on. My money is on the Clippers tonight!" Haley exclaimed as she studied his figure on the television. He looked amazing in his uniform shooting warm up baskets. She watched closely taking in Nathan's muscular form.

"This is might prove to be an interesting game after all." Chris said once he saw Nathan Scott on the court.

Nathan walked out of his physical therapy follow up appointment feeling on top of the world. He quickly got into his car and headed for home. He soon found his thumbs tapping the steering wheel in beat with the music from the radio. Sure he had just received an excellent report as far as his progress with his ACL injury and was physically feeling like his old self. But that wasn't the sole reason for his chipper mood. He had been working on a plan and it was finally starting to take motion.

He drove through his gated community and right into his garage. As if on cue, the moment he entered through the door his iPhone began to vibrate. He dropped his gym bag on the floor next to the kitchen counter as he dug in his pocket.

"Hello?"

"Nathan Scott please.."

"This is." Nathan said into his phone after he quickly glanced at his phone to see the number of his mysterious caller.

"Hi Nathan, this is Miranda I'm calling on behalf of…"

"Yes, I've been expecting your call. Were you able to work all the details out?" Nathan interrupted. He couldn't help himself.

"Mr. Scott, we've just received official confirmation this morning so everything should be set for Friday night." Miranda replied in a professional tone.

He couldn't help but grin with excitement. He was rather pleased with himself for managing to arrange this without Dan catching wind of his phone calls.

"I'm pleased to hear it's all set and glad it worked out at the last minute. Thanks again for making this happen." He said.

"Let me just say on behalf of everyone here, it was a pleasure working with you. Have a good day Mr. Scott." Miranda concluded signaling the call was ending.

"You too. Good Bye!"

Nathan went to his bedroom and began pulling items out of his closet. He tossed them carelessly on top of his bed. He knew it was a little early to be packing but he didn't care.

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