"Your actually gonna let me inside your place?" I ask in the loudest whisper that the librarian is probably going to scold me.

It's been a bit since the party and I like to think that we are all a nice group of friends now, Eric, jess, Jason, Hadley and I. She fits with us like a puzzle. Today she had some work to catch up on so I opted out of sitting outside and went to sit with her in the library while she slaves away. Gotta give it to her she really does work hard and yet all she gets is the good grade attached, somehow she finds great accomplishments in that.

"Well it's bound to happen at some point Fox, you are my friend after all." She replies

I have been bugging her for the last few days to let me come over. You would think the word yes vanished from her vocabulary every time I mentioned it. But today I sat down and asked and she said yes! She insisted that she don't want me to judge her, unfortunately for her she's stuck with me now.

"Yes!" I say proudly.

"You cane come over after school today. I'll probably have stuff to do around the place but I can multi task for you." She says not looking away from her work in front of her.

"Thanks glad you think of me." I joke and we both laugh. "Maybe one day we can all come over and hang out you know, somewhere nice and cozy." Her pencil stops moving. I said something wrong.

"Uh... no I don't think that's a good idea." She says. I look at her for a reason "Dustin, they are great friends really and I love hanging out with them, here or at your place or any of theirs, outside. Whenever but my place?"

"Why would it be any different having them over then having me over?"

"It's just." She sighs. "I'm comfortable with you Dustin, you know me, like really know me. My situation and living situation." I just continue to look at her. She's comfortable with me?

"I get that." I say. We fall into a slightly uncomfortable silence "You're the only one that knows how lonely I get." I break it, not the best subject but the only thing I could think of to say that wasn't along the lines of oh Hadley you're so beautiful and I wish I could just be with you. Unfortunately I don't want her hut so that's out of the question. "I like to think of you now when I get lonely, that usually at the random times I text you."

Since she got her phone back from me I do text her anytime I feel really alone, it makes me feel better to know that she's only a text away from me. Our of nowhere hadly wraps her arms around my neck and hugs me tight. After a second I wrap my arena around her waist and hug her tight back.

"I'm so glad we're friends Fox, I really am" we part and saved by the bell.

"I'll see you after school." She says chipper.

On my way to my class I can't stop thinking that we hugged, what a middle school thought I know. But we hugged. She smelt so sweet. I need to stop, I can't get involved that way. I don't want to hurt her and there is no way I'm going to make that girl cry. She's too precious to break. I'm not right for her. I can't commit.

~ ~ ~

"I must warn, my place is maybe a sixteenth the size of your house." Hadley says to me as we stand outside the door to her apartment her hand resting on the knob very nervously.

"Doll," I reach behind her and turn the handle of the door. "I don't care." I smile and she pushes the door open.

We walk on and when she said it was small she wasn't over exaggerating. I mean it's small but it's not really small. Its comfy. I take the chance to look around at everything, a small living space with a kitchen attached, a small table with four chairs. There is a two in one fridge freezer. I stop and look at all the pictures, drawings and assignments that are posted all over it. Pictures of the three of them, a few of Just Oliver and Hadley. A drawing of a family, by Oliver I presume. As well as reports from school naming Hadley highest grade.

"I like it." I say referring to her place

She sits down at the table and slumps her bag beside her. "Why? It's nothing special." She ready her chin in the palm of her hand and looks at me with a slight tilt to her head.

I sit down in a chair beside her. "Because it feel like a home." I point to the fridge, the potent of her family on the far wall and the welcome mat at the ground door. "It's cozy. A home. A real one."

Hadley closes her eyes and I can hear her take a deep breath. " yeah, it's home." She smiles looking around at the small room. "I wouldn't want anything different, maybe my own room but." She shrugs. Then just sits there.

"Don't you have homework or something?" I ask picking up her bag. I start to open it to get her homework out for her when she places a hand on mine to stop me. "Is the Hadley Patterson not going to do homework?"

She lets out a small laugh," I might like to get my work done but when someone's over I respect and treasure the time."

"You see me everyday Doll, you can do your homework." I insist.

"Dustin." She says again and takes her bag from me. "We are friends yes, I see you everyday yes, but you never know when that might change. One day you might just decide you don't like me anymore, so until that day comes, I will treasure every moment we have unless it's at lunch at school and o actually have to do work."

I stare at her in surprise, "Hadley I'm not going to just up and decide I don't like you anymore." I say. How could she even think such a thought

"I didn't think my mom would ever leave, I never though she would decide that she didn't like me but... she did." She shrugs slightly and fiddled with her hands.

I grab her hands in mine and she looks up to meet my eyes. "Hadley, I'm not her, I'm not going anywhere. There is no way I could not like you." I tell her honestly, not caring about anything.

"Dustin." She says and shakes her head.

"No, Hadley I'm not going anywhere. Ever." I say and pull her into a hug. "I know your mom hurt you but you need to stop blaming yourself."

She stays silent. I'm so glad her brother had some after school play date with a friend. I know Hadley well enough to know that she is his rock, and would never want to see her cry from hurt.

"I'm not going anywhere anytime soon." I whisper in her ear. "You're stuck with me." I laugh. It makes her slightly giggle too.

She breaks away from me. "So, what do you want to do?" She asks wiping one single tear from her eye. I just stare at her. "What?"

"What do you want to do?" I ask her.

She takes a moment to think. "I want to ... I want to do somethings that's gonna make me feel alive."

I grin at her," I have the perfect idea."

She looks at me with a slight look of fear. "It's not something stupid is it?"

"No, but it'll have to wait for the weekend, right now I think we should just hang out."

"Tell me what you're planing Fox?" She says leaning closer to me in anticipation of me telling her. It's not going to be that easy.

"It's a secret." I say putting my finger to my lip. "But I think you'll like it. In the meantime, how about we do some math?"

Hadley sits in her chair not knowing what to do. I reach for her bag and pull out her math book. I flip to the page she has sticky noted.

"You want to do math?" She asks me in awe.

"Hey if we have plans on the weekend I need you rested, ready and work free." I smile at her. "Now get your pencil moving doll."