For the rest of the week, my back was pretty sore, but not as bad as that first day. I was able to go to school, but I had to be very careful. Blake helped me as much as he could, but there was only so much he could do.

            By the time the weekend rolled around, I was physically exhausted. I spent Saturday morning lazing around, watching TV and generally doing nothing. When Blake came over in the afternoon, I still had no energy, but I made the effort to entertain him.

            We were sitting in my room, listening to some music, when he suddenly stood up and pulled me to my feet. I groaned as I stood up. “Why are you making me move?”

            “Because you’re being boring. So you’re going to sing something for me.”

            “I am?”

            “Yes, you are. I want to hear what you sound like.”

            I grumbled a little, but agreed anyways. We walked to the music room and I had him sit down on the bench beside me. “What should I play?”

            He shrugged. “Whatever you want too.”

            I thought back over the last few days, and how the pain in my back had all started due to a text from Marcus. A smile played over my lips as I started playing the piano.

I haven't been to church since I don't remember when
Things were going great ‘til they fell apart again
So I listened to the preacher as he told me what to do
He said you can’t go hating others who have done wrong to you.
Sometimes we get angry, but we must not condemn.
Let the good Lord do His job and you just pray for them.

Blake started chuckling when he recognized the song, and he joined in the singing when I started the chorus.

I pray your brakes go out running down a hill
I pray a flowerpot falls from a windowsill

And knocks you in the head like I'd like to
I pray your birthday comes and nobody calls
I pray you're flying high when your engine stalls
I pray all your dreams never come true
Just know wherever you are honey, I pray for you

I'm really glad I found my way to church
'Cause I'm already feeling better and I thank God for his words.
Yeah I'm going take the high road,
And do what the preacher told me to do,
You keep messing up and I'll keep praying for you.

I pray your tire blows out at 110.
I pray you pass out drunk with your best friend and wake up with
his and her tattoos.

I pray your brakes go out running down a hill.
I pray a flowerpot falls from a window sill and knocks you in the
head like I'd like to.
I pray your birthday comes and nobody calls
I pray you're flying high when your engine stalls
I pray all your dreams never come true
Just know wherever you are, near or far, in your house or in your
car,
wherever you are honey, I pray for you.
I pray for you

            When the song was done, Blake turned to me. “What brought that song on?”

            “I was thinking about what happened this week, and it was all triggered by Marcus. This song just portrays what I feel about him.”

            Blake nodded. “I can understand that.”

            “People suck, don’t they?” I asked.

            “A lot of them do. But not us. We rock.”

            I laughed and then stood up from the bench. “You hungry?”

            He stood up as well, but instead of answering me, he grabbed my arm. “How are you feeling?”

            I sighed. How was I feeling? Angry, frustrated, confused. “You want the truth?”

            “Yes.”

            “I don’t know. Physically, I’m tired and my back is still bothering me more then usual. Emotionally, I’m just as tired and I keep dreaming about the accident.”

            He pulled me into his arms and held me gently. “It’s just been a bad week, hasn’t it?”

            I nodded. “It really has.”

            Blake brushed a hand over my hair lightly, and I leaned into him. So many emotions were running through me that I couldn’t make sense of any of them. The only thing I was sure of at that moment was that I wanted more from him. I hadn’t felt this since I first met Marcus, and that paled in comparison to these feelings.

            “What are you thinking about?” Blake asked.

            I chewed on my lip. “Nothing,” I lied.

            He sighed. “Hailey, I know you’re thinking about something, so don’t lie to me.”

            I debated on what to say for a few moments. “Why haven’t you kissed me?” I finally asked quietly.

            He tensed. “What?”

            I blew out a breath. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked you that. I mean, if that’s not what you want from me, then you can just tell me.”

            “It’s not that I don’t want to, I just didn’t think you wanted that.”

            “Why would you think that?”

            “Well, considering what your last boyfriend was like, I figured you weren’t looking for that from me.”

            “I’m not stupid enough to think that all guys are cheating bastards, Blake. It’s true that I haven’t been with anyone since Marcus, but that’s because until I met you, I wasn’t interested in anyone.”

            He laid his cheek on top of my head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that you wanted anything more from me. I’m not exactly the kind of guy girls go after anymore.”

            I couldn’t prevent the snort that escaped me. “You’re joking, right?”

            “No. Why would you think I am?”

            “Well, there was the waitress at the restaurant that was checking you out, and the girls at the park.” I pulled away a little so I could look up into his face. “Plus, some of the girls at school check you out sometimes too. They’re just too scared to come up to you.”

            His lips pulled up into a smile. “Really?”

            “Yeah. It’s kind of annoying, actually,” I muttered.

            His smile widened. “Are you jealous?”

            “What? Of course not,” I scoffed.

            He chuckled. “Oh, you’re jealous alright. It’s kind of cute.” His face turned serious and he raised a hand to stroke my face. “You have nothing to be jealous about, you know,” he murmured.

            I shivered slightly. “I don’t?”

            “No,” he replied as he slowly lowered his face to mine. “You’re the only one I’m interested in.”

            A smile tugged on my lips. “Are you going to kiss me now?”

            “If you’ll shut up long enough, then yes.”

            I moved my hands up to his neck and he lowered his head the last few inches until our lips brushed together. A current raced through me at the contact and I stretched onto my tiptoes so I could press my lips to his fully.

            His reaction was immediate and his arms tightened around me, pulling my body flush against his. He tilted his head slightly so he could change the angle and deepen the kiss. When his tongue swept across my bottom lip, I didn’t hesitate to part my lips and give him access.

            Tremors raced through my body as his tongue explored my mouth. One of his hands left my waist to trail up my side and over my arm, stopping once he reached my face. He slid his hand around to cup the back of my head, his fingers tangling in my hair.        

            By the time we finally broke apart, we were both breathing heavier and he rested his forehead against mine. “Christ,” he panted. “I haven’t done that in two years.”

            I took a moment to catch my breath. “It’s been more then eight months for me,” I replied. Then I realized what he’d said. “Wait, you mean you haven’t been with anyone since the accident?”

            He shook his head. “No. My girlfriend at the time left me when she realized I had gone blind. She couldn’t handle me having a disability.”

            Anger coursed through me. “What a bitch,” I stated.

            He nodded. “Yeah, she really is. But after that, I just couldn’t bring myself to be interested in anyone. I couldn’t handle knowing that any girl I was with would pity me.”

            I pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “If anything, I think you should pity me.”

            “Oh really? And why is that?”

            “Because I have to put up with your cranky ass all the time,” I replied with a smirk.

            He chuckled. “You’re probably right.” He pulled back a couple of inches and cupped my cheek with one hand. “Where does this leave us?”

            “Where do you want it to leave us?” I asked a little nervously.

            “You’re the only person I like being around, Hailey. I care about you, more then I thought I’d ever care about anyone again. So I want to be with you.”

            I smiled and leaned my face into his hand. “Then you’ll be with me. You’re the only one that I can talk to freely about everything. Jared and Liam coddle me too much, and Amanda tends to analyze everything, although I know she means well.”

            He gave me a light kiss. “So you’ll be my girlfriend?”

            “Yeah, I’ll be your girlfriend.”

            “You’ll probably regret it at some point.”

            I laughed. “You’re probably right,” I agreed teasingly.

            He leaned in to kiss me again, but a throat clearing interrupted us. I turned my head and saw my uncle standing in the doorway, one eyebrow raised. “Am I interrupting something?” he asked.

            “Yeah, you are actually,” I replied with a cheeky smile.

            Liam chuckled and shook his head. “And here I was hoping I wouldn’t have to worry about you dating. Now I’m definitely going to get gray hair because of you.”

            I rolled my eyes. “Liam, you’re twenty-five. If you get gray hair already, then it won’t be because of me.”

            “I’ll just have to start dying it if that happens I guess. Anyways, I came in here for a reason. It’s Grace’s night off, so we’ll be going out for dinner, since I’ll end up burning the kitchen down if I cook. Where do you want to go?”

            Blake spoke up. “Actually, I was going to see if she wanted to go out for dinner with me.”

            I looked up at him. “You were?”

            “Yeah. I figure if we’re going to be together, I should probably take you out on a date.”

            I smiled. “I’d like that,” I told him.

            “Well, you kids have fun then. Maybe I’ll just order takeout or something then.”

            I frowned at him. “Why don’t you just go with Jared?”

            Liam rolled his eyes. “He’s going out with Cindy and I really don’t want to be a third wheel with those two,” he said with a shudder.

            I chuckled. “I can understand that. I think we need to find you a girl, Liam.”

            He gave me a flat look. “Remember the last time you tried to set me up with someone?”

            I gave him a sheepish look. “What? She didn’t look like an ex-con…”

            “You set your uncle up with an ex-con?” Blake asked incredulously.

            “I said she didn’t look like one. And it’s not like she really did anything too bad. Just computer hacking or something like that.”

            “Yes well, we won’t be repeating that experience,” Liam said warningly.

            “Fine. But you should really find someone to go out with. I mean, Jared has Cindy and now I kind of have Blake…”

            “What do you mean kind of?” Blake asked with a furrowed brow.

            “Sorry, it’s just that this is so new. It’ll take a while to get used to being with someone again,” I told him.

            “Hmm, you’re right. I haven’t had a girlfriend since the accident, so I might be a little rusty at the whole relationship thing.”

            I patted his cheek lightly. “I’m sure you’ll do fine. I’ll let you know if you mess up.”

            “I have no doubt that you will. Do you want to get going now?”

            I looked at my uncle and chewed on my lip. I felt bad about leaving him by himself, but I really wanted to go out with Blake on a date. Liam must have read my expression, because he quickly spoke up. “You two go have fun. Maybe I will call someone and see if they want to go out.”

            I smiled. “Good. Then I’ll see you later tonight?”

            “Sure thing kiddo. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” he added with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

            I rolled my eyes at him. “You do realize that leaves me open to do pretty much anything, right?”

            He froze in the act of walking out and he cursed quietly. “That’s true. In that case, just don’t do anything too stupid.”

             “No promises,” I responded with a grin. He left the room, muttering about disrespectful kids these days. I chuckled quietly as I pulled back from Blake and took his hand. “What do you want to do with Abby? Do you want to leave her here? Or we can drop her off at your place before we go?”

            “Actually, let’s bring her with us.”

            I looked at him in shock. “Seriously? But you don’t like bringing her in public because of all the attention it brings you.”

            He shrugged. “Well, I’ll be walking into the restaurant with a gorgeous girl on my arm. Maybe I want all the attention on me.”

            “That was really sweet,” I informed him.

            “Don’t get too used to it. I’m not really into all that mushy crap.”

            “I think I’d have a heart attack if you turned completely sweet all of a sudden.”

            “You probably would. Let’s get going, I’m starting to get hungry.”

            When we got to the restaurant, I found a parking space quickly. Blake and I both climbed out of the car, and Abby hopped out behind Blake. She was wearing her harness and the blanket that said she was a service dog. Blake gripped her harness and she stood at attention by his side.

            I walked around the car and took Blake’s free hand. “I feel like I should have brought Tonto as well, so that the dogs could have had a date as well.”

            Blake chuckled as we headed to the front door of the restaurant. “Only you would think of setting our dogs up on a date.”

            “What? Don’t they deserve to be happy too?”

            “I guess. Maybe we can arrange something once so that they can come on a date with us then.”

            “Good,” I replied as I opened the door. We walked in and stopped at the hostess’s stand. “Think they’ll try to give us grief because of Abby?”

            “They can try. But they can’t ask us to leave, since she’s a service dog.”

            “I know that. But not everyone does.”

Just then, the hostess approached us. She looked a bit older then us, with dark red hair and hazel eyes. Her eyes widened when she saw Abby and her eyes flicked to Blake quickly. He was wearing his sunglasses, so she quickly put two and two together and she offered me a polite smile. “Table for two?” Her eyes flickered to Abby again. “Or should I say, three?”

I laughed. “Two is fine. Abby here likes to lay on the floor so she can catch any food that falls to the ground.”

“Or to eat the veggies you sneak to her,” Blake said dryly.

“Well, I don’t like broccoli and neither does Tonto. Abby is the perfect solution when you’re over for dinner.”

“Uh huh. Let’s just go sit down.”

I turned to the hostess again. “Sorry. A table for two will work, thanks.”

“Follow me then,” she said and then she headed into the dining area.

I kept a hold of Blake’s hand as we followed her. Abby trotted along happily, her nose twitching as she inhaled all the new scents. Some of the other people in the restaurant did a double take when they saw us, but to my surprise, no one started to stare.

 Once we got to the table, Blake and I sat across from each other, with Abby settling herself on the floor by Blake’s chair. The hostess handed me a menu, and then hesitated for a moment, obviously unsure if she should give one to Blake as well. “Don’t worry, we can just share one menu,” I reassured her,

She blushed a little. “Sorry, I just didn’t know if he needed one or not.”

            “No problem. Blake just prefers it when I read the menu to him. I think he just likes the sound of my voice,” I told her with a wink.

            She chuckled a little. “I’m sure he does. Your waitress will be here shortly.” And with that, she fled.

            I sat back with a smirk. “That was fun.”

            “You like to screw with people, don’t you?” Blake wanted to know as he removed his sunglasses.

            “I admit, it can be amusing sometimes.” I proceeded to then tell him the layout of the table and he familiarized himself with it quickly.

             Our waitress appeared and the only way to describe her was stunning. She was tall, with long blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes, and a figure that models would kill for. “Hello, I’m Melanie. I’ll be your server tonight. Can I start you with something to drink?”

            We gave her our drink order and she left to get them. I let out a breath when she was gone. “I’m actually kind of glad that you’re blind right now,” I told Blake.

He frowned. “Why?”

“Because our waitress is gorgeous and you’d be ogling her all night if you weren’t,” I replied.

He let out a soft chuckle. “I doubt that, Hailey.”

“I don’t. Hell, I’m straight and even I’m checking her out a little.”

He laughed outright at that. “You really are strange,” he mused.

“And proud of it,” I said with a grin.

He reached his hand across the table carefully and grabbed mine. “Thanks for being you.”

“Well, who else would I be?”

He shook his head with a wry smile. “No one,” he said. “Do me a favor? Describe the setting of the restaurant and the people in it, will you?”

“Okay,” I answered. I turned to scan the restaurant. “Well, you said you used to come here sometimes before the accident, so you know what the general area looks like. The lights are a little dim, so it’s kind of romantic. Some of the tables have groups of people, but for the most part, it’s couples like us.” I paused as the waitress came back with our drinks. “Crap, we haven’t even looked at the menu yet. Can you come back for our order in a few minutes?”

Melanie smiled at both of us. “Sure. I’ll be back in a bit.”

When she left, I quickly read the menu to Blake. After he chose what he wanted, Melanie came back. We ordered and then I returned my attention to the room around us. “Right, I was describing the people. Well, like I said, it’s mostly couples. A few of them keep looking over here, likely because they saw Abby. There’s an older couple sitting two tables away, and I’d guess they’re celebrating an anniversary or something. There are a few people our age- Oh shit,” I muttered.

Blake straightened in his chair. “What?”

“Rachel and David just walked in. And now they’ve spotted us. They’re coming over here.”

“Great,” he muttered.

“Hailey! What are you doing here?” Rachel asked as she bounced up to the table, David trailing behind her.

“Um, eating dinner?” I replied.

She laughed. “Of course, silly me.” Her eyes suddenly zeroed in on my hand, which was still in Blake’s. Her eyes turned accusing. “Are you on a date?” she demanded.

I was taken aback by her tone. “Um…”

“Actually, Hailey and I have been having an affair for the past month,” Blake interrupted.

All three of our gazes snapped to his. “Blake!” I exclaimed.

“What?” he asked innocently.

“You were cheating on Jared?” Rachel asked incredulously.

“What? No, of course not! Blake is just being an ass, like usual.”

Blake grinned at me. “You like it when I’m an ass.”

I scowled at him. “Not right now, I don’t.”

“Wait, so you aren’t on a date?” Rachel asked in confusion.

I blew out a frustrated breath. “Yes, we are on a date, but it’s our first one,” I told her.

“You were supposed to tell me when you were ready to start dating again,” Rachel said with a pout.

Ah, that explained her tone earlier. “Sorry, this was just kind of last minute.”

“Hailey, you shouldn’t keep lying to your friend,” Blake said. His tone was light, but I immediately felt guilty about lying.

“What is she lying about?” Rachel wanted to know.

“Blake, I swear to god I will kick your ass if you don’t shut up.”          

“Hailey, what is he talking about?” Rachel asked impatiently.

I groaned and vowed to myself that I would get Blake back for this. “Jared was never my boyfriend. He’s just like a brother to me.”

 Her and David both looked at me questioningly. “Then why did you tell us he was your boyfriend?” David asked, speaking for the first time since they got to the table.

“Because I knew Rachel was going to try and set me up with someone, and I really wasn’t ready for that. I had a really bad relationship that ended earlier this year, and I just couldn’t handle being set up.”

“You could have just told me that,” Rachel said.

I raised an eyebrow. “Would you have listened?”

She had the grace to flush. “Maybe. What happened with your ex?”

I stiffened and my face went blank. “I don’t want to talk about it,” I said in a hard voice.

Blake rubbed the back of my hand soothingly. “Sorry Hales, I should have just kept my mouth shut.”

“It’s okay Blake. I felt bad about lying anyways.”

Rachel looked between the two of us. “So Blake knows what happened?”

I closed my eyes briefly. “Yeah.” I opened my eyes again. “It’s a really long story and it’s very hard to talk about.”

“Did he hurt you?” David asked, his tone icy.

I shook my head. “Not in a physical way. But in every other way, yes.”

“Want me to go kick his ass?” David offered.

I laughed. “You sound like Jared,” I said in amusement. “Thanks for the offer, but it’s okay. I’m over him now and I want keep the past as just that; the past.”

Abby chose that moment to sit up from where she’d been lying, and both Rachel and David jumped a little. Then Rachel’s eyes lit up. “Puppy!”

David grabbed her arm before she could move. “No Rachel, leave the puppy alone,” he said sternly.

Blake chuckled. “It’s okay David, she can pet her if she wants too.”

David was obviously shocked that Blake had addressed him, but he recovered quickly. “No, if I let her pet the dog, then she’ll never leave. And we need to get to our own table. Thanks though.”

“No problem,” Blake replied.

Rachel turned to look at me. “I’m sorry you felt like you had to lie about dating Jared, and I won’t pry into what happened before. But you can always come and talk to me if you need to, okay?”

I smiled gratefully. “Thanks Rach. I appreciate that.”

She waved her hand in dismissal. “No worries. We’ll see you on Monday?”

I nodded. “Yeah, see you both then.”

“Okay. Bye Hailey, bye Blake.”

After they had left, I slumped back in my chair. “Well, that was interesting.”

Blake smiled sheepishly at me. “Sorry about that. I was just messing around, I didn’t expect it to turn into that.”

“It’s okay. It feels nice that they know the truth. I don’t like lying to people.”

“That’s a good thing.”

“Yeah. You surprised David, you know.”

“What do you mean?”

“When you talked to him directly, he looked shocked. Maybe you should give him another chance,” I said.

He frowned. “Why?”

“Because you’ll need a guy friend to bitch about me to when I piss you off.”

            His expression cleared. “You do have a good point,” he agreed.

            “So will you try talking to him again?”

            “I’ll think about it.”

            “That’s good enough for me. Think we can get through the rest of our date without anymore mishaps?”

            “Knowing us? Not likely.”

            I grinned. “Ah well, at least we’ll have an interesting relationship.”

            Blake chuckled. “I have no doubts about that.”

*********************************************************************

Here you go guys :-). They're finally a couple! Now you can stop harassing me about them lol. Hopefully you all thought Blake was still sarcastic enough, even though he did say a few sweet things.

David and Rachel weren't going to be in this chapter, but they somehow managed to worm their way into it. At least they keep things entertaining lol.

So I think I'll start working on the bonus chapter now. That means it might take me an extra day to upload chapter 16, but then you'll get two chapters kind of, because I'll post the bonus one as well.

I wanted to let everyone know that if you see me online, don't hesitate to chat with me. I'm always happy to talk to my fans, as long as you don't just bug me about uploading. I upload as often as possible and it's hard sometimes because of my little munchkin trying to "help" me on the computer.

As usual, comment to let me know what you thought of the chapter! Love you all, you make me smile so much :-D :-D :-D <---- See? Lots of smiles! I think I need to lay off the caffeine.... lol