A method, an apparatus, and a computer program product for wireless communication are provided. The apparatus receives a resource assignment from a serving base station for a device-to-device (D2D) link with a transmitter, attempts to receive a data packet from the transmitter based on the resource assignment, sends an acknowledgment (ACK) only to the serving base station when reception of the data packet succeeds, and sends a negative acknowledgment (NACK) only to the transmitter when the reception of the data packet fails. In an aspect, the apparatus receives a resource assignment from a serving base station for a D2D link with a receiver, sends a data packet to the receiver based on the resource assignment, and assumes the data packet is successfully received at the receiver unless a NACK is received from the receiver, wherein the NACK indicates a failed reception of the data packet at the receiver.