One Tree Hill 1. First Clue

My bag slung over my shoulder, I look at the now empty room. The couch had been there, that was where the television had been, then the shelves were over there...

"Ready to go?" I looked back, seeing my mom's face covered in tears, the clear streaks on her cheeks shining the the dull light of the fading sun. My mom, Rosanne Share, had brown hair the was slight waved and reached just past her shouldes, usually in a bun at the base of her neck. She was fit, young, and loving. The perfect mother. Bright green/blue eyes and dark eyelashes. She was tall, 5'7, while I was 5'6. Her purse strip was slipping down her shoulder and she didn't even bother the lift it back up as the purse lowered past her waist. Walking up to her, I fixed the strap for her, before bringing her into a hug.

"Let's go." I said, resting my head against hers. We each put our house keys on the shelf beside the front door, before closing the door forever. I've lived in this house my whole life, but my mom thinks that it's time to go, only because she doesn't want to see my dad ever again. They had gotten a devorse when she found out that he had been sexually harassing me as a child.

Tree Hill. That's where we were moving to. It was a small place compared to here, but I hear that it's nice, homey. It's been a while since I've felt welcome and at home anywhere. Adjusting the one strap backpack I had on, I could feel as my mom placed an arm around my shoulders, the both of us walking down to the slick black pick-up truck.

Throwing out bags into the back seat we looked at the house one last time, the windows dark without any lights on, and the few rooms that were visible were ghostly, empty. The front porch was plain, nothing to decorate it the way that it had always been bright with lights and a swing, and comfy chairs. Moving on, it's always so hard, right? Wrong, this has to be the best thing that ever happened to me.

~Chapter 1-First Clue~

Everyone sat on Lucas Scott's front porch, his mother inside making some breakfast for everyone. Most people would think that it would be a burden to have to feed half the basketball team and two cheerleaders and a best friend. But not Ms. Scott, she would never think it as a burden, she loved them all, expecially for how happy her son had been lately.

"Hey, you getting some new neighbours, Ms. Scott?" Haley called from the porch, seeing a moving van pull up across the street from the Scott house. Lucas looked up from where he was laughing with Jake to see that the large white van.

"Oh, so someone bought the house. I saw that it was on the market, didn't know that someone had bought it though." Ms. Scott said as she walked out onto the porch, holding two trays. One was loaded with glasses of O.J, ice water, coke, ect. The second was piled with small cut sandwhiches as a snack for all of them.

"So you don't know who it is?" Peyton asked, sneaking a sandwich from the plate as Ms. Scott walked past her. Brooke took the tray and placed it on a her lap, with her being the one that everyone could reach, it was best that way. Lucas took the tray and helped her to hand the drinks to everyone, keeping a soda for himself.

"Nope, but you could go and ask if you want." She said, beginning to walked back inside, pointing to a black truck that pulled up alongside the moving van. They could only see two people in the van, and that would explain the very small amount of things inside the large truck.

"Well, whoever it is, we'll be seeing them at school tomorrow anyway, if they're our age, so I don't see the point of getting all snoopy." Nathan said, leaning back against a faded basketball, his hands behind his head. Haley kicked the ball, causing her boyfriend of fall back with a grunt.

"Be nice, he's new here after all." She scolded and Nathan held his hands up in surender, chuckled slightly at her hard but playful tone.

"More like 'she's' new here." Jake said, and they all looked up again to see the passanger of the truck getting out, bag over her shoulder. They could only see the back of her, but even from there they could tell she was a fair hight, long light brown hair that reached about mid back in heavy waves. From the skin they could see of her arms she had a natural tan color, but it wasn't to dark, more of a soft gold.

Another woman walked around from the other side of the truck, looking up at the house, before smiling to who must have been her daughter. Clapping her daughter on the back, she walked past her into the house, where some movers had just disappeared with a large couch.

As a mover walked past the girl, she stopped him, asking him a question. He motioned inside the house and she nodded her head, letting him continue to carry in the boxes in his arms. She then suddenly turned toward them as though she knew that they had been watching her. From the distance they were, her eye color couldn't be discovered.

She quickly turned away again, hefting her bag over her shoulder and jogged up the steps to the house, running her fingers over the wooden railing.

"Maybe she's just shy." Haley said, breaking the silence that had just fallen over everyone. They seemed to snap out of it, turned back to the food that Ms. Scott had given Brooke to hold. Lucas continued to look at the front door where she had disappeared, wondering why she had seemed so uncomfortable. Probably just the move.

"So, we going to the river court to practice tonight?" Nathan asked, food still in his mouth. Haley swatted the back of his head lightly, causing him to call out a 'hey!' in surprise.

"Sure, we'll meet up here before heading down, you coming, Lucas?" Jake asked, looking at his friend. Lucas looked back over to them, smiling at the mention of the river court.

"Of course." He said, stealing the ball that Nathan had.

"Hey!" Nathan tried to get the ball back, while Lucas dribbled it away from him, dodging his half-brother when Nathan tried to hit it out of his grasp, then as he was spinning back to face him, Nathan was able to get a good hit in and the ball flew from Lucas's grasp, bouncing a couple times, before rolling across the street.

Everyone else, looking up from their smiling when they saw the brothers, they saw that the ball hit the ankles of none other then the teen girl with the long light brown hair. She looked down at the ball, about to take a box from the moving van. Looking back up at them, she picked up the ball.

"Hey!" Nathan ran over, going to get the ball back. He smiled at her, realizing that she was actually pretty tall. Her eyes were an amazing aqua blue, the kind that you would see in those mascara comercials that were trying to tell you it can inhance your eye color. They looked like she was wearing contacts, but he could tell she wasn't. "Hey, new to Tree Hill?" He asked, as she passed him the ball.

"Yea, What was your first clue?" She asked in a teasing manner, smiling. Small dimples showed with her smile.

"Well, the moving truck was a BIG clue." He laughed, fiddling with the ball slightly. "Nathan Scott." Holding the ball in one hand, he introduced himself, holding out his right hand.

"Reily Share." Grasping his hand in her left one, she introduced herself as well, still smiling.

"Well Reily, welcome to Tree Hill." He said one last time, before turning to run back to his friends, Reily resumed in taking the box from the truck and walked back toward the front door of her new home. Nathan dribbled the ball back, passing it to his brother, before taking a seat on the steps again. Everyone stared at him.

"Well?" Brooke asked, watching Nathan steal Haley's sandwich and take a large bite.

"Well what?" He asked with a mouth full of bread and jam.

"Who is she?" All three girls asked at once, causing him to jump and the other guys to laugh.

"Her names Reily Share." He explained, swallowing before he spoke this time. "She's nice though, has a since of humor, that's good."

"I'm gunna google her." Brooke said, looking serious.

"Brooke!" Peyton laughed, her friend only shrugging.

"It doesn't always work, you know that, right Brooke?" Haley laughed, and her friends shoulders slumped, knowing that she had a point. But still mumbled out an 'it's worth a try' before taking a drink of her ice water. Lucas looked back up at the Share house, seeing Reily walking up the steps. Her faded blue jeans were loose and seemed to big for her, and and she wore a blue tanktop, disappearing inside the house, she was gone again. Lucas shifted his attention back to the conversation of his friends, who were deciding who would be on who's team at the river court. 


	2. I'm New Here

I layed on my back, on my bed, staring at the ceiling. There were boxes, some still packed others not, scattered all over my bedroom. Rolling over, it saw that it was sunset again. We had been unpacking almost all day. My mom said that it would be best to unpack my room, since I was starting school tomorrow.

I spotted my guitar and sat up, reaching for the slick pollished wood. I ran my fingers over the strings, hearing the sounds that even that made. Then looked over at my window again, I looked out to see that from where my bedroom was, I could sit on the roof. It wasn't steep, and I was used to doing such a thing anyway.

Opening my window, I slipped out, reaching back inside to get my guitar. Finding a comfortable place beside my large window, I placed the guitar over my right thigh like I always did, draping my right arm over the gently strum the strings. Placing my left hand on the cords, I made sure they were all in the right poissision to start a song. I always wore my pick on a chain around my neck, so I never lost it. Taking the chain off, I pulled off the pick, before snapping the chain back in place.

Beginning the song I had written most recently, I hummed slightly along with the cords, remembering the words that went along with it, but not daring to sing them. My eyes closed as I played, not caring that I was in a new home and people might not like listening to random music as much as my old neighbours.

**~Chapter 2-I'm New Here~**

"Come on, let's go already." Mouth wined slightly, sitting on one of the kitchen chairs in the Scott house. Lucas and Nathan laughed as Lucas passed the ball to his brother.

"Alright, everbody's here, let's go." Mouth made a cheery noise, jumping up from his seat, excited about finally being able to get back to his little anouncer job at the river court. Lucas chuckled, walking out after them. Jake and Peyton walked side by side, talking, while Nathan had his arm wrapped around Haley's waist, and Brooke was chattering with the other guys on the team.

"Hear that?" Jake asked, suddenly stopping, most of the guys just kept walking, but he stopped and look over to the Share house across the street. The sounds of guitar reached their ears and they all looked around to see where it was coming from.

"Come on, let's get to the court." Nathan said, pulling Haley off, toward the cars. Lucas continued looking, seeing someone sitting on the roof of the second story. Reily. She was just sitting, a guitar perched in her lap as she played her fingers over the strings.

"She's good." Jake said, he and Peyton still standing close to him. Lucas nodded numbly, still watching her on the roof.

"Hey, let's go man!" Nathan called, leaning out the window of his car. Lucas snapped back to reality, running after them toward his truck. The song still played as his engine roared to life, all of them pulling away from the house, down to the court to play some basketball before school the next day as well as basketball practice.

Lucas parked in the same spot he did every morning. Grabbing his books and his bag, he slipped from the truck, locking the doors after him. He could see Haley and Brooke talking at the front door with Peyton. When Brooke saw him approaching them, she broke into a big smile and waved him over.

"Hey Lucas, great game last night!" She greeted once he had reached them.

"Hey, nice trip last night." Lucas teased. Brooke's face turned a light shade of pink at the mention of her tripping. They had been getting out of their trucks at the court when her foot caught and she fell forward into the dirt. She had been red for almost the entire time that they were playing.

"Shut up!" Punching his arm, Lucas laughed as he backed away from the angry girl. She glared at him, but there was a hint of a smile on her lips. The warning bell rang, making them all groan. They had homeroom together, but they still didn't like school. Meeting up with Nathan, then Brooke was teased further, earner another punch to Nathan.

They only had first class together, after that, they had to split up and go their seperate ways. Lucas found himself subconciously looking over the faces in the halls for someone new. As he walked making his way to his literature class, he rounded a corner, right where someone else was closing their locker door. He wasn't as lucky to stop when he ran right into them, causing both of their books to fall to the floor.

"I'm sorry-"

"Sorry, I-"

Lucas looked up from the pile of books on the floor into shocking blue eyes that made his whole mind go blank. Reily stood before him, a white top with long sleeves and a black shirt over it, faded jeans again, but these ones fit her better, and her long chocolate hair was pulled back into a pony-tail, the heavy waves still running through it. She smiled at him suddenly, small dimples showing on her warm cheeks.

"I'm sorry about that." She said softly, kneeling to get her books, placing her bag on the floor beside her as she opened it to put her books inside.

"No, it's my fault, I turned the corner without looking." Lucas retrieved the books that he knew were his, and looked across to Reily to talk again, but the bell caused them both to jump.

"I'm gunna be late for class, sorry." Reily said, hurrying to pick up the rest of her books, just as Lucas did.

"Yea, maybe I'll see you around." Lucas said, both running in different directions. Lucas reached the door to his class right as the last few people were walking in, sighing when he realized that he had made it just in time. Slipping into his seat, Lucas put all the books that were in his arms back into his backpack, then turned to listen when the teacher began to speak, writing down pages on the board of what they needed to turn to for this lesson. There was absolutly nothing new in class, they were just going over what was going to be in the next chapter.

"I want you all to read up to page 56 of chapter 3 by tomorrow." There were groans from the students when they heard their work, but Lucas didn't say a thing, 10 pages was easy to read, it was when she assigned questions and actual work that he disliked. The bell rang, signalling the end of class, and everyone rose from their seats, packing their bags back up and pulling on sweaters that they had put on the backs of their chairs.

Walking from the room, Lucas looked down the hall to the left. He would have to pass Reily's locker 4 times a day, going back and forth between his classes. He had his lunch period with Jake, Mouth and Haley, which he was relieved for. Walking down the now crouded halls, he looked at where he had run into Reily, literally.

The lock of her locker was hanging open, and he realized then she had never gotten the chance to lock it, with picking up their books and getting to class on time. As he was passing, he snapped the lock in place, just continueing to walk as though nothing was out of the norm. Fixing his bag on his shoulder, he put his hands deep in the front pockets of his jeans, heading down toward the caffeteria.

"Hey Lucas." Haley called, waving to him front the table she sat at with Mouth and Jake. Mouth was laughing at something Jake was telling him, while Haley rolled her eyes from it.

"Hey, do I want to know?" Lucas laughed as he sat down, placing his backpack beside him on the bench. Haley gave the other two boys a look when they tried to tell him, and they pointedly went silent. There was that awkward moment when you don't know when it's alright to talk again, but Lucas was getting uncomfortable.

"So I ran into Reily."

"The new girl?" Lucas nodded and Mouth made a low whistling sound, staring at Lucas.

"I saw her, she was in my math class. Chocolate brown hair, the glowing blue eyes, soft looking carmal skin-"

"Alright, we get it, Mouth." Haley cut him off, holding her hand up. "Stop talking before you tell us her bust size as well. No!" Mouth had tried to speak again at the mention of her chest, but Haley hit him on the arm before he could.

"Okay, no need to get physical." He said, scooting away from her. Lucas laughed, shaking his head.

"So you met her?" Haley turned back to Lucas, causing him to cease his laughter to talk.

"Well, not exactly. When I said I ran into her, I meant it. We literally ran right into each other in the hall way. She had a locker after before a corner, and I was on my way to my literature class when we bumped." Lucas explained, watching as Mouth was scanning over the room. "Looking for someone over there?"

"Yea, the topic of discussion." He said, pointing across the room. They all looked to where he had pointed, seeing that same blue eyed girl once again. She was sitting near a window, bag leaned again her side, legs pulled up beside her as she read a book that Lucas regonized from somewhere, she turned to the very front of the book and looked closely at something, her eyes widening.

"Seems pretty interested in that book." Haley said, resting her chin in palm. "Well, I want to meet her." She stood abruptly, causing the guys to stare at her as she walked toward Reily. Haley watched as she put the book back in her bag, a look of confusion on her face, before looking up to when she could hear someone approaching her.

"Hey, I'm Haley James. I'm friends with Nathan Scott, well he's actually my boyfriend, just to let you-"

"Ah, Nathan Scott, the one who almost hit me with his basketball. You don't have to mark him, I'm not looking for anyone right now." Reily laughed, sitting properly in her seat. "Reily Share, nice to meet you." She said, holding put her hand, Haley beamed taking hold of her hand and sitting down across of her.

"So, how you liking Tree Hill so far?" She asked, trying to get something to tell the other girls.

"It's awesome. I think I may have made some bad impressions on the teachers though." She laughed, looking sheepish and embaressed.

"Uh-oh, what'd you do?" Haley laughed, she liked this girl, she was open and fun, she coud tell that much already.

"I was half dead when I came into school this morning, I had been up pretty late last night unpacking with my mom." While Reily was talking, Haley looked more closely at her. Mouth was right, her blue eyes were amazing. She had perfect white teeth, smooth skin, shiny hair. The girls at this school were totally going to envy her.

"Yea, well, they should let you off the hook for being new."

"I was hoping. So, does Nathan play a sport?" She changed the subject to fast and smooth that Haley almost missed it.

"Yea, how'd you know?"

"It might have been the basket ball I got hit with when I first met him." Reily said with a laugh in her words. Haley remembered that Lucas had gotten the ball knocked out of his hand and Nathan ran over to get the ball, that was when he had first met her. And stole Haley's sandwich.

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**I Have to get a couple of reviews before I update again, but I do NOT want a flame, that will only make me withhold the next chapter!**


	3. Awkward Introductions

I looked down at the book once again as I sat waiting for the music teacher to come. Lucas Scott was written in neat writing in the front of the book, the back of the cover, and there was a three page essay inside. Whoa, my hand was starting to hurt by just looking at it, and I play guitar regularly. Scott?...was he related to Nathan Scott? It must have been the guy that I had ran into in the hallway at my locker, and I had ended up picking up his book instead. I would have to ask him the next time I saw him.

"Alright everyone turn to page 34 in their books so we can began with the lesson." The music teacher was at the front of the room and I hadn't even noticed that she had entered! Closing the book on my best, I leant over to get my music book, only to shuffle through my bag and find it missing. I knew that I had gotten it from my locker-

Oh crap.

Lucas Scott must have picked it up. They did look a lot alike, both the same colors and size, making it quite easy to mix them up, and I had also made the mistake of taking his book as well.

"Is there a problem, Ms. Share?"

"Uh...I haven't had a chance to get my music book yet, I'm supposed to stop by and get it on the way out of school." Please let her buy it, please let her buy it.

"Alright," She shoots-"You may use one of the extra's for this lesson, be sure to pick yours up for tomorrow though, because there is no excuse if you don't have it." she misses! How the hell am I going to get my book back if I don't even know if it's really him that took it. Someone might have taken my book with their work or something. I had my name in it, but there are disadvantages to being the new girl.

**~Chapter 3-Awkward Introductions~**

Lucas swore very loudly. In his head. His advanced english book was gone, and in it's place was a music book. Reily Share. Damn it! The only time he actually interacts with her and they switch books. At least she probably had as much trouble in her class as he did. He didn't even know this school came with music text books. The whole thing was full of nothing but songs and how to play them, it was giving him a headache to keep looking at it.

"Hey, is that a music book?" Jake asked, walking up beside where he sat on the bench in the change room.

"Yea, I ran into Reily Share today and we must have taken each others books. She's got my english one, and it has the essay I have to hand in tomorrow inside it." Lucas said as he tossed the book back inside his bag. Jack laughed, causing Lucas to glare lightly at him.

"Well, she lives right across the road from you, why don't you just go over and give her the music book, while you can get your homework back and handed in on time." Jake suggested while he opened up his locker with all of his clothes.

"Yea, that'll be interesting. 'Excuse me for interupting your dinner, but I was wondering it you could go get my homework for me?'" Jake laughed, shaking his head.

"It's your grade, bro."

"What's Lucas do this time?" Nathan asked, walking into the room.

"I ran into Reily and we accidently took each others text books." Lucas said, getting tired of explaining it to everyone. He had already told the others all about this almost twice.

"Oh yea, Haley was telling me about that." Nathan laughed slightly, causing Lucas's temper to flare slightly. "Just go over to her house and give it to her, you live across the street." Jake smiled at Nathan.

"Exactly what I said."

Practice was the same as it always was, and luckily there were no fights on the court this time, making it easy to get home without detention or bruises, just tired muscles. Lucas groaned slightly as he got out og his truck, not liking his sore legs that did not like the extra weights Whitey had given him and the rest of the team during their weigh lifting.

His mom had closed the cafe early today, so she should be home. Walking up the steps, he looked back to see the familiar black pick-up across the road. There were lights on in the house, meaning that someone was home, he could leave her book their with her mom, but he would still need to get his own back.

"Hey!" Jumping slightly, the blond looked to where the voice had come from, to meet the same electric blue eyes. "You're kind of staring off into space there, sorry if I startled you." Reily made her way up the path to where he stood on the porch steps.

"Hey yourself." Lucas said as a smile tugged at his lips.

"Um...are you Lucas Scott?" She asked, her brows pulling down in wonder.

"Yea, that would be me, and you're Reily Share, right?"

"Yea, so, how was english without an english book?" A smirk pulled at her lips and Lucas couldn't help but laugh at how the teacher had scolded him for forgetting his text book.

"Interesting. How was music class without a music book?"

"Teacher let me borrow one 'cause I was new."

"Cheater." Reily looked slightly surprised at his choice of word, but was still smiling. Lucas reached into his bag and pulled out Reily's book, and when he turned back to give it to her, he saw that she was also holding his english.

"I'm not a cheater, it was quick thinking." She countered, taking the book he offered to her in exchange for his.

"Sure." He laughed, placing his book in his bag. "so, sorry 'bout today, for running into you." He continued, but she waved it off.

"It's not your fault, we're kind of both to blame there." She smiled, showing her white teeth. Lucas then realized that unlike most girls, she didn't wear lipstick or lipgloss and only a small amount of mascara, defining the blight blue of her eyes. She had a natural smile, not fake and just a show. "Uh, I have to go and finish unpacking, but I'll see you in school tomorrow I guess-"

"Lucas?" Looking over to the door, Lucas's mother emerged, then looked embarressed from interupting them. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's alright, uh mom this is Reily Share, she just moved in across the street. Reily, this is my mom Karen." Lucas introduced and Reily and Karen both stepped forward so that they could shake the others hand more easily.

"It's nice to meet you Ms. Scott."

"Please, just call me Karen." She smiled down at the younger girl, she liked her already. She had manners, and the sweetest smile. Her eyes immediatly caught her attention, but she didn't want to be rude and just randomly ask about them.

"It was nice meeting you, but I should be getting back home, my mom and I are still unpacking from yesterday, and I have some homework to do." Reily smiled again, causing Lucas to smile as well.

"Of course, it was nice meeting you though."

"Nice meeting you too, I'll see you at school Lucas." Reily waved to each as she turned to walk back home. Karen waved back with a smile, and Lucas lifting his hand as well in a farewell guesture, even though her back was already turned. Karen looked down at her son with a knowing smirk, which Lucas looked back at her with "what are you looking at" kind of look, before walking into the house, past his still smiling mother.

"So, what was all that about. She'll see you at school tomorrow?"

"I have to pass her locker about four times going back and forth between classes, I think that there's the stong possibility that we'll run into one another again." Lucas explained as he placed his bag on the table, moving to get a glass from the cupboard. His mother just nodded her head, walking form the kitchen. Lucas leaned against the counter and watched her go. That woman was just far to observative.

Sitting on his bed later that night, Lucas had his english book in his lap and was catching up on the work that he had missed earlier on while Reily had his book. He sighed as he placed the book aside, not wanting to have to finish everything right that moment, he still had a couple more hourse before he would he going to sleep. The sound of a guitar caught his attention and he walked over toward his window, looking out across the street. Reily was once again on the roof outside her window, or what he could only guess was her window, and playing her guitar, but this song was different from the one she had been playing the day before.

Lucas didn't even move from where he was when he heard the sound of his cell phone ringing, just continued to listen to the song from the girl across the road. She was wonderful with a guitar, not once had he heard her mess up so far. Soon the song faded out, and he could see as aReily slowly placed the guitar back in through the window, then slipping iin herself, leaving the window open for the cool air.

Sitting back on his bed, he glanced down at his english book, not wanting to work on any more homework for the night. Letting out a sigh, he picked it up anyway and got right back to where he had been, with still quite a lot of work left to do, and he really just wanted to go down to the court and play, but he knew that he would be in way to much trouble if he didn't have his work done for his class tomorrow. Then it occered to him that his paper that had been in his book, was missing. Was someone trying to tell him something or what?

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**I better get reviews, or there is not going to be an update! People put this story on their alert list but they don't review it!**


	4. Baby Jenny

"Hey Reily!" I looked lifted my head from where it was lying on my binder up at Haley, who was smiling as she walked over to me, books in her arms. I had gotten to school a little early so I was now sitting with my back again the wall on the steps, my head resting on my binder that held my math homework. "Late night again?"

"Yea, but this time it was my fault." I smiled back, to tired. I liked Haley, she was cool to hang out with. She laughed as she threw herself down beside me, placing her books aside. I could see Haley staring at the long sleeved shirt I wore in amazment. It was indeed a very hot day outside, but I had been wearing long sleeved shirts for so long I didn't even notice anymore.

"How can you be wearing that, I would have died by now." I let out a breathy laugh.

"Just the way I am I guess." I explained as I smiled, though I was still tired, at least now I was more awake then I had been a few minutes ago. Haley suddenly smiled at someone else and waved. I looked up in time to see two other girls making their way over to us.

**~Chapter 4-Baby Jenny~**

Peyton, Nathan, Haley and Brooke all walked along the halls with Lucas, meeting up while they were each heading toward their classes. Lucas had been trying to find Reily all day and see if she still had his paper, but he wasn't able to find her. Brooke was going on about how they should meet at the cafe that night, and Haley was throwing in that she wasn't getting a free coffee, when Lucas rounded the coner.

"Oh!"

Second time. Reily tipped back from the force of the impact this time, and had to take hold of her locker to stop herself from falling flat on her butt. Lucas leaned against the wall when he almost fell forward onto her. She looked shaken for a moment, before seeing him and she started laughing quietly. Lucas smirked, knowing how ironic it seemed. How they met like this yet again.

She held up her hand, silently telling him to wait a moment, before she reached into her locked and withdrew Lucas's english paper. She held it out to him with a smile, seeing his surprised look. Brook and Peyton shared a knowing smile, while Haley nudged Nathan in the arm with her elbow.

"We have to stop meeting like this." Lucas said with laughter in his voice as he took the paper from her and tucked it into his book again.

"Definatly, I would like my feet to stay firmly planted on the ground." Reily laughed as she took out her music book and closed her locker, placing the lock in place. She then looked over to Brook, Peyton and the others as well. "Hey, nice seeing you again."

"Hey there new girl!" Haley laughed. She had gotten into that little habit after she had introduced her to Brooke and Peyton by saying, "this is the new girl, Reily Share, new girl Reily Share this is. . ." to each of them.

"You know, you can't call me that forever." Reily smiled and Haley shrugged, she would get the best out of it while she could.

"Hey, we're all going down to this cafe tonight called Karen's Cafe, it's kind of just a hang out spot, want to come with?" Brooke asked, giving Reily a 'please, please, please!' kind of look.

"Sure, I guess I could take a little time off of unpacking." A grin spread across Brooke's face as she let out a victory 'yes!' and hugged Reily, who was laughing the whole time at her new friends odd ways. "Okay, so meet us there at six, alright?" Reily nodded her head right as the warning bell for class went off and they all looked to where they were supposed to go. Lucas and Reily both tried to walk, but ended up nearly running into the other, then did the same thing again.

Lucas laughed slightly as he stopped, he held his book in one hand as he took hold of her shoulders and held her still as he walked around her. Reily stuck her tongue out playfully, before she smiled and waved a goodbye, rushing to her own class. Lucas watched as she disappeared around the corner, before following suit and heading for his next class as well.

Haley caught up with Reily as she was heading out to her truck and got a ride to Karen's cafe with her, giving her the directions so she would know where to go. As soon as they got there, Haley drug the unsuspecting girl into the homey cafe, pulling her along by her arm, Reily barely having a chance to close her truck door before she was violently yanked away.

"Hi again Karen." Reily said as she saw Lucas's mother standing behind the counter, pouring a hot cup of coffee for a young woman.

"Reily, I see you've met Haley."

"You two already met?" Haley asked as she looked between them. Reily nodded happily as she walked over and sat down on a stool at the counter. Haley followed after her, but walked around the counter instead to put on an apron.

"Yea, we met yesterday while I was giving Lucas his book back. So, you work here?" Haley nodded as Karen left to the back room and Reily looked around for what they had, deciding to have a coffee Double Double. While Haley was getting her coffee, Reily almost began to fall asleep where she was, her whole body begging for a bed.

"Wake up sunshine." Brooke's laughing voice pulled her back as she lifted her head to look up at the brunette. She was smiling and sitting next to her, without Reily even hearing her enter the cafe, even with the bell over the door. "Didn't get much sleep huh?"

"I just moved in, what do you think?" Reily countered, causing Brooke to smile, before there was a tap on Reily's shoulder and she looked back to see Peyton standing behind her, Jake at her side. In Jake's arms, was his beautiful daughter.

"Hey, Reily, I would like you to meet someone. This is Jake Jagielski." Peyton motioned to him and Reily smiled. Jake had short brown hair and she could tell that he was also probably on the basketball team by his athletic look.

"Hi. I'm Reily Share." She smiled and held a hand out, which he gadly took while he cradled his daughter against his chest.

"Nice to meet you. Oh, and then this...is my daughter, Jenny." Jake said as he gently moved her so that she was facing Reily. Most people that heard that the baby was his looked on in surprise, not Reily. Her face lit up into a bright smile as she looked at the small baby in his arms.

"Wow, she's adorable." Reily gently held her hand near Jenny and waited until the small hand grasped onto two of her fingers, giggling slightly as she smiled up at Reily, her cheeks lifting up. Reily laughted slightly as she wiggled her fingers in Jenny's grasp.

"Would you like to hold her?" Jake asked, smiling at the way that the two interacted.

"Could I?" Reily looked up at him, her eyes dancing. Jake gently helped her into Reily's arms where she held onto Jenny tightly, leaning her onto her chest so she was supported. Jenny began to play with a lock of hair that was framing Reily's face, tugging on it slightly. The bell over the door chimed as someone else entered, and Reily looked up to see Lucas walk in. He smiled, making his way over to where they were. He stood beside Jenny, who giggled and reached a hand out to him when she saw him.

"Hey Jenny." Lucas said in a soft voice as he let her tap his hand. He then looked up at Reily, who was still smiling. Her blue eyes seemed to glow more with her happiness as she held the baby. Jenny's other hand tapped on Reily's cheek, telling her that she wanted attention. Reily laughed and gently bounced Jenny in her arms, making slight cooeing noises. Jake and Lucas's eyes met and Jake smiled, nodding.

Jake let Reily hold Jenny while he ordered a snack. He had just fed and changed Jenny before coming so she she be alright for a short while longer. The group of friends all talked happily as Heley got them what they ordered, Karen coming back out from the back to help her with some of the orders to go faster. Reily noticed when Jenny began to get tired and while the others were talking, she quietly began to hum to her. Soon, Jenny was sleeping with her head resting on Reily's shoulder, who was now at a loss of what to do with a sleeping baby. Jake laughed softly at her expression.

"Here, time for her to get some sleep." He walked over and gently took Jenny from her arms. His soft laughter continued as he looked at the large drool stain on Reily's shoulder. "You might want to clean that, sorry." He said, and Reily looked down at her shoulder, before letting out a slightly gasp of surprise.

"Bathroom's that way hun." Karen said as she pointed in the right direction. Reily threw a thanks over her shoulder before she took off toward the washroom doors. Haley laughed slightly as she disappeared, and caught Lucas staring after her, a dazed smile on his face. She raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. It was all up to him, there was nothing that she could do about him and his love life.

Haley then realized that she had been holding the baby the entire time and the coffee that she had ordered had gotten cold sitting in front of her. Picking it up, she moved to get her a new one, also taking some of the now empty plates of some of the guys orders. Nathan had joined them all a little while after Lucas, greeting them all and raising an eyebrow at Reily, who just stuck her tongue out at him.

"How about we bring Reily down to the river court tonight, that way she can meet Mouth as well." Haley suggested, jumping up to sit on one of the counters, Reily's new cup of coffee ready and waiting for her to return.

"Hey, how about we all meet her there. Lucas can get her and bring her down to the court. Kind of like a late welcoming." Brooke said as she tapped on Lucas's shoudler vigourisly.

"Alright, alright! Leave my shoulder out of this!" Lucas laughed as he moved his shoulder away from Brooke, who was nearly bouncing with excitment. "I'll go over to her house around eight and see if she'll come, but that's only if she wants to, I ain't forcing her." He said as he kept a weery eye on Brooke. Reily came back out of the washroom, trying to dry her shirt with a paper towel and Karen handed her a cloth from over the counter.

"Sorry 'bout that." Jake chuckled slightly, but Reily just waved it off.

"That's fine, I'll just change when I get home." She walked back to her seat and Haley handed her her new coffe, getting a thanks from the other girl when she did so. Reily sipped the warm drink as the thought about how sweet it was to hold Jenny in her arms.

"So Reily, how do you know so much about kids?" Haley asked casually as she leaned with her elbows on the counter. Reily placed a coffee down and smiled up at her. Haley knew right away that it wasn't something like getting pregnant in high-school with the happy look she had, as well as the eager way she wanted to tell it.

"Me and my mom were close friends with out neighbours and she had just had a new born a couple months before we moved, and she often asked me to baby sit while she was at work. She was a single mother, so it was a bit hard for her, but I was glad that I could help. She luckily met a really great guy that loved her son, so she was able to work without worrying about him." She explained, her smile never leaving her lips. Lucas smiled when he heard the story, knowing that she truly had a wonderful heart.

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**Sorry if it took me a while to update this, but I've been at the cottage and haven't had much time to work on my story's, but I'm back now and shouldn't be long for the next chapter to come out. But I will NOT update if there is not enough reviews!**


	5. River Court

"Finally!" I fell back on my bed, looking around my room. I had finally finished unpacking every box I had, no more of the rushing through boxes to find everything I need in the morning. Resting against the pillows, I thought back to when I was at the cafe with everyone. And when Lucas had first showed up. What was with that feeling I got from his smile. It's so....warm.

Pulling my hair back into a pony-tail, I sat down in front of my laptop on my desk. Opening some files, I found the saved music program that my uncle had put onto my computer. You could make music on the computer, making is easier then having to copy it down on paper. Looking over one of the songs I had, a knock on my door made me look over away from my computer.

"It's open!" My mom showed up, causing me to raise an eyebrow.

"There is a very cute boy at the door asking for you." She smiled, and I rolled me eyes. Grabbing a sweater on my way out, I left my room, I bounded down the stairs, hearing mom coming down a little slower behind me. Walking through the living room, I came to the front door to see a very familiar blond leaning against one of the posts of the stairs on the front porch.

"Lucas?"

**~Chapter 5-River Court~**

Lucas looked up from where he was glancing around the porch to the door. Reily was pulling on a sweater as she opened the front door, her face breaking into a bright smile when she saw that it was Lucas who was standing there.

"Lucas?"

"Hey Reily." Lucas smiled back, and Reily stepped out onto the porch, closing the door behind her. She was wearing baggy shorts that looked a lot like basketball shorts, just a different material and a dark blue. A long tank top was under the grey sweater she now wore and her hair was pulled back into a messy pony-tail at the back with strands hanging loose around her face.

"So, did I accidently take another one of your papers?" She asked, leaning against the opposite post.

"No, I just thought that you would like to see a bit more of Tree Hill." Lucas said, stepping forward to her and offering her his arm, causing her to laugh wholeheartedly, before excepting it. They stepped off of the porch and Reily let out a breathly laugh as she leaned against Lucas's arm.

"So, you going to tell me where we're going?" Reily asked as she looked up at Lucas, who smiled as he shook his head.

"No way, this is a surprise." Lucas laughed slightly as he walked her over toward his truck. "We have to drive there, but when I tell you, I need you to close your eyes." Lucas said as they got into the truck, and Reily laughed slightly while nodding.

"I promise I won't peek." She assured, closing and covering her eyes for extra effect. Driving toward the river court, Lucas continued to glace over and see Reily glancing at everything that passed, trying to remember it all. She smiled one time when she saw him staring at her, causing Lucas to quickly look back to the road, though his lips held a small smile.

Reily continued to look around at everything, every once and a while, when she didn't even know, she would reach over and grap Lucas's arm or hand and point to something where she would ask him what a certain store was, or what was down a certain road. Lucas looked over to her as she was smiling, looking out the window, her long brown hair over her shoulder from the pony-tail it was in.

"Okay, close your eyes." Lucas said, making Reily laugh as she closed her eyes, still smiling slightly. Lucas pulled up to where the River court was and saw that everyone was there and their cars headlights and everything we turned off so she wouldn't see them. Lucas parked opposite of them all and looked over to Reily, and could see her trying to hold back a smile.

"Wait here." Lucas got out from the drivers seat and went around to her door, making sure that the lights were off so she wouldn't be able to see the other cars. Getting to her door, he opened it and could see her jump slightly. Reily undid her buckle and slipped from her seat, Lucas holding her arms from behind so she wouldn't fall.

"So, is this where you kill me?" She asked, and Lucas shook her shoulders, making her laugh. "Hey! Cut it out!" Lucas then wrapped an arm around her so that his hand covered her eyes. "What, do you not trust me?"

"Nope, not really."

"Uh! You suck." Lucas continued to walk her until they got to the center of the court. Taking his hands off her eyes, he smiled when he saw that they were still shut.

"Alright, you can open them." He smiled and she opened her eyes to look around.

"You really are going to kill me aren't you?" She asked as she looked back when she couldn't see anything but darkness. Just then, all of the others turned on their cars, their headlights breaking through that dark and illuminating the court. Reily jumped slightly and gave a low cry of surprise, jumping back into Lucas, where he grabbed her by her sides to keep her up right.

"Hey new girl!" Haley yelled as she stuck her head out of Nathan's passanger window. Reily broke out laughing when she saw her, leaning back into Lucas and covering her face with her hands. Lucas laughed as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, hugging her from behind. Brooke and Peyton laughed as they got out of Peyton's car, Haley joining them, as they made their way over to them.

"You are all EVIL!" Reily said through her hands as she continued to lean against Lucas. "What was that for?" She asked as she moved her fingers apart to peek out at them, and they chuckled.

"Just our way of welcoming you to Tree Hill. Welcome." Peyton said, leaning forward toward Reily so she could hear her. "Now, we're going to watch while the boys play ball." Lucas suddenly loosened his arms around Reily's shoulders, only so that he could then wrap them around her waist and pick her up, making her cry out in surprise as he carried her over toward the bleechers, the other three girls following. Lucas put Reily back on her feet, feeling her body shaking as she tried to hold in her laughs.

"So you guys brought me down here to welcome me, by nearly giving me a heart attack?" Reily asked as she sat down, Lucas running off to join in the game. Another guy ran over toward them and Brooke perked up.

"Hey, you two haven't met have you?" Neither had a chance to answer before she spoke again. "Reily, this is Antwon Taylor, he's also on the basketball team. And this, is Reily Share, she's new here in Tree Hill." Brooke beamed and Reily sighed slightly. New girl.

"It's nice to meet you, Antwon."

"Just call me Skills, everyone does." He said as he held a hand out for Reily to shake. She nodded, grasping his hand.

"Come on Skills!" Nathan called from the court and Skills nodded a goodbye, before taking off toward the others. Peyton, Brooke and Haley all pointed out which player was which and who was on what team so it was easier for her to understand. Even though they had said to try and encourage all of them to play and win, they girls noticed that Rreily seemed to cheer on Lucas with an extra amount of excitment in her voice.

The guys began to mostly joke around as they played and then Nathan suddenly got an evil look on his face as he looked over to the girls, he then whispered his plan to Skills, who laughed and rolled his eyes, keeping an eye on Lucas, who was holding the ball and getting ready to shoot. While the girls were watching the game, the didn't noticed when Nathan, Skills, and Jake all sneek up behind the girls on the banches. Jake went up behind Peyton, Skills behind Reily and Nathan behind Haley. Brooke saw what the guys were doing and silently smirked to herself.

The three screamed in shock as they were grabbed from behind, lifting up off there seats and ran toward the basketball game where the others were all laughing. Reily laughed and screamed at the same time as she tried to squirm out of Skills arms, but he swung her around slightly, making her scream in surprise as she was tossed around. When they reached the others, all the girls were set down again.

"Evil!" Haley yelled as she hit Nathan on the arm, only causing him to laugh. Reily took off running back toward the benches, surprising everyone at her speed. Long legs gives her a high advantage. Skills and Lucas both began to run after her, as Reily reached the bench and jumped over to try and use it as a shield.

"No!" Skills ran right to Brooke, who yelled out in surprise and tried to move away, but was caught before she had that chance. Reily shieked out in laughter as Lucas jumped clear over the bench and tried to turn and run, but as she did, his arm wrapped around her waist and stopped her from running away, spinning her back and pulling her up against him so that her back was against his chest.

"Hey, let go!" She yelled over her shoulder, and Lucas spun them both around, swinging her over the bench easily and carrying her back toward the game. Reily quickly gave up fighting against him when she quickly realized that she wasn't about to win against him. After she was placed back on her feet, she decided at it was time for pay back and snatched the ball away from Nathan while he was busy flirting with Haley and ran for the nearest net, which just to happened to be helping Lucas's team.

She heard running footfalls behind her, but didn't look back as she got closer to the net. She could feel when something someone's hands grabbed her hips, and lifted her up into the air, allowing her to dunk the ball into the net. She was laughing as the hands disappearing and she was left to only hang on the net, looking down at the people on the court. Hanging there, she waited to see if one of the guys would get the backbone to come and help her down, and if not, then she would have to jump.

Arms suddenly came around her stomach and she looked down to see Lucas as he lowered her back to the ground. She smiled to him in thanks, seeing as the others all began to motion and point to them in a 'did you see what he just did!?' kind of manner. Lucas smiled back to her, placing her on her feet once again. He had seen how she was just hanging there, and knew that she was waiting for someone to help her down, seeing who actually would help her.

"Thanks, I though no one would help me." She smirked, drawing a laugh from him as she sighed dramatically.

"Sure, after all, it's the least I could do after you scored a point for my team." Reily hit his arm playfully, before she went and picked the ball up from where it was left rolling on the ground, before she ran back over to the net, and placed one hand on Lucas's shoulder, and then she used him to lift herself up and dunk the ball a second time. As she hit the ground again, Nathan said in a semi serious, semi playful voice.

"Alright, someone's got to take the ball from her!"

Lucas and Reily sat on the bench, waving to Peyton and Jake, who were the last ones to leave, other then them. Peyton waved from the passanger seat, through the window, Reily waving back with a smile as she watched them disappear. Lucas was fiddling slightly with the ball in his hands, before he got to his feet and threw the ball from where he stood to the net, where it dipped right in.

"You've been playing for a long time, huh?"

"Yea, I've always loved to play basketball. What about you, play any ball?" Lucas looked back, after retrieving the ball again, staring over at Reily.

"I played on a couple of teams in elementry school, but not lately. I used to love playing basketball with my dad when I was a kid. He would lift me up and let me get the ball in on him. He always let me win." Reily got up from her seat as she told him her story, smiling slightly in rememberance, but Lucas could hear the hint of pain in her voice.

"Used to?"

"He...left home a little while ago." Lucas wanted to say that he was sorry, that he wished that she wasn't so upset, but he knew from experience that when someone apologizes for something that they didn't do, it doesn't tend to help much. Lucas suddenly bounced her the ball, making her look up to catch it. Walking over to her, he surprised her yet again as he lifted her up onto his shoulder, walking over toward the net. Reily smiled again slightly as the ball went into the net with a swish.

Slowly slipping her off his shoulder, Lucas made sure to have a tight hold on her, so as that she wouldn't fall down. With her feet still not touching the ground, Reily's arms came around his shoulders, smiling down at him, with her face only a few inches higher then his own. Lucas's arms were tight around her waist, kepping her up.

"Thank you, Lucas."

"No problem." Lucas placed her on the ground again, feeling when her arms released his shoulders, his own arms moving from around her waist. "Come on, time I took you home." Sticking his hands in his pockets, he turned back toward his truck. Reily smiled to his back, not even believing that someone could be so nice, and followed after him, heading toward his truck that was still parked where they had first come.

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**Hope that this didn't take to long, but I had a bit of a trouble at the end. You know how it goes, not reivews, no update! and no, a flame doesn't count as a review -.-'**


	6. Her Voice

I glanced up at Lucas as he pulled into his drive, and when I saw his confused look, I looked over toward the house, only to gap. My mother sat one the steps, talking to Karen happily, both with a cup of coffee in their hand. Lucas glanced back at me and I raised an eyebrow in confusion, telling him that I had no clue why she was there either.

"Hey, mom, what're you doing here?" I asked, getting her attention away from the conversation she had just been having with Karen.

"Reily! I came over here look for you because I saw you walking with Lucas, and when Karen told me he took you down to the court by the river, she invited me to talk over some coffee while we waited." She explained as she got up from her seat. She was wearing just normal day clothes, meaning that she must still have all of her clothes packed in boxes. I was going to have to talk to her about that later.

"Ah, I see." I walked over and hugged my mom and in greeting, smiling at Karen as well. She smiled back, ruffling Lucas's already messed hair. He moved away from her hand, letting out a breathy laugh, showing that he didn't really mind much, but the way his cheeks turned slightly red also showed that he was embarassed by it.

"So how'd you like watching your first Tree Hill basketball game?" Karen asked as she put an arm over my shoulder, looking down at me with a smile. I laughed slightly, feeling happy with her good nature. It was hard to find people so nice, but I don't know why I was surprised, with how Lucas is, you can tell that he had to have one of his parents really cool and fun to be with.

"It was fun, I even scored two points against Nathan's team." Her laughter rung in my ears as she looked over to Lucas for confurmation.

Lucas nodded to his mother, a smile tugging at his lips as well. "She did, she helped us win." I scoffed at that, but was still smiling happily. As Karen released me, my mother came and took her palce at my side, patting me on the back.

"Well, sorry to say, but I think it's time we got back. You do have school tomorrow." I groaned at the thought, but let my mother turn me to guide me back to the house. I looked over my shoulder and lifted my hand in a wave, smiling to the two Scotts as we walked away.

"See you tomorrow Lucas!"

**~Chapter 6-Her Voice~**

Lying on his bed, Lucas tossed the ball up into the air, before catching it when he came back down. Sitting up, he looked over to his window, glancing out to where Reily would usually sit and play outside her window. But she hadn't shown up that night. Putting the ball on his chair, Lucas pulled out a pare of sweat pants and a loose t-shirt to change into for bed.

Entering the kitchen, Lucas was surprised to see his mother sitting at the table, a glass of tea in her hand as she looked down at the warm liquid. She jumped slightly when she heard hijm enter the kithen, but then sighed with a small smile.

"You startled me." She confessed as she gave him a small smile.

Walking ove to the cupboard, Lucas picked out a glass, before looking over to his mother again."What's on your mind?" She shook her head at his question, telling him silently that it wasn't for him to worry about. Lucas looked at her oddly one last time before he filled up his glass with water. Making his way out of the room, he stopped beside his mother one more time.

"Goodnight." Leaning forward, he let his mother wrap her arms around his shoulders and kiss him lightly on his cheek, smiling.

"Goodnight, Lucas." Stepping out of the room, he wondered what had his mom thinking about to much. It must have been something that had happened at work, because she hadn't been like that the last time he saw her that morning. As he walked into his room, he stopped dead as soon as his door closed when the sound of a guitar quietly filled the silence in his room. Placing the glass of water on his dresser, Lucas walked up to look out his window to see Reily sitting in the same place she was always in, her guitar in her lap once more.

Turning out his lights, Lucas just layed on his bed as he listened to what she was playing, his eyes closed. But he noticed that this time she seemed almost like the song was much more depressed then any other he had heard her play. Maybe she played songs compared to her mood, but that only made him wonder about why she was so upset when he had only seen her a few hours ago. His best guess was that she was still upset about what had happened at the river court, how she had seemed so sad about her father.

Jake hurried back toward the music room, where he remembered that he had placed his music book on the shelf. Coming up to the door quickly, he stopped head when he heard someone inside. There was a female voice inside sining, as well as a soft guitar play, that seemed to get faster at times, before slowing again. Being as quiet as possible, he opened the door to see who was inside, only to be greeted with Reily sitting on of the of the desks, her feet on a chair. Her hands beat down on the guitar resting on her thigh, her eyes closed as she sang.

"Oh she just couldn't believe it,  
she heard the trumpet,  
from the minitary band,  
and the flowers,  
fell out of her hand.

Baby why'd you leave me,  
why'd you have to go?  
I was counting on forever, now I'll never know!

I can't even breath-" She stopped abrumpty as she looked over to Jake, who's mouth was nearly hanging open as he stood in the doorway. Reily gulped as she slipped off the desk, her cheeks covered in a slight blush when she realized that he had heard her singing.

Jake opened his mouth to speak, but only seemedd to be able to mumble."Wow...you're....wow."

"Um, you weren't supposed to hear that." She mumbled as she moved toward a case that must have been her guitar case. Jake stepped into the room, quickly snatching his text book before he forgot it again.

"Are you kiding me! That was amazing!" Walking up to her, Reily just continued to put her guitar away, not turning to look at him. "Wait, why wouldn't you want people to hear you sing, you have a wonderful voice."

"It's just, I don't really like it when people pay a lot of attention to me. You know, like someone in the spotlight." She huffed as she looked over to him, her shoulders slumping slightly. Jake let out a breathy chuckle as he leaned against the table beside her.

"I get what you're talking about. I won't tell anyone anything, but you really should try to go somewhere with that voice." Reily smiled up at him, snapping her guitar case closed. Her bright blue eyes seemed to calm down as she relaxed.

"Thanks Jake. I'll do my best, but I still just need some time." Jake nodded, pushing off from the shelf.

"I should get going, but I guess I'll see you later. Are you coming down to the river court to watch the game again? I'm going to be bringing Jenny, so you can see her again if you want to." He smiled when he saw her lips pull up into an excited smile.

"Yea, it'll be nice to see her again."

"I'll make sure to pack a cloth for you to lay on your shoulder so that you don't have to worry about getting more drool on you." Reily laughed, pulling her guitar off the table and taking hold of the handle. She and Jake began to walk toward the door, Reily picking up her backpack in passing. "Are you going to be coming with Lucas again?" He asked as the came to the steps at the front of the school, where they had to part.

"I think I'll just get the directions from him. I wasn't able to really watch where he was going because he had made me close my eyes half way there." Waving off to one another, they each made their way to their own vehicles. Reily was careful as she put her guitar in the backseat of her black pickup truck. Driving from the nearly empty school parking lot, she turned down the road toward her home.

Karen sighed as she looked at the grocrie bags that sat in the back of her van. She had to bring them all into the cafe, and then she had to unload them all. Worst off all, Haley had the day off so she had to do it all on her own. A black truck suddenly spun into the parking lot, pulling up near her van. Karen was surprised when Reily jumped out of the driver's seat with a smile. Karen smiled back, watching as Reily walked up to her.

"You look a bit distressed." Reily teased as she walked up to where Karen was.

"I have to put some of these grocries in the cafe." She said as she motioned inside the van. Reily leant over and looked in, her eyes widened at the loads of bags and boxes there. "Haley's got the day off, and I was going to wait for Lucas, but I don't know how long basketball practice was going to last.

"Well, I know that basketball has ended cause I just spoke with Jake before I left the school. But I would be glad to give you a hand if you want." Karen sighed as she looked at the younger girl like she was a savior.

"Could you?" Reily laughed as she patted Karen on the back.

"No problem." Karen reached in and began to hand her some bags until her hands were full, as Reily walked into the cafe to unload her arms. Picking up her own couple of bags, she turned to the store, seeing Reily placing them on the front counter through the window. Her shoulders slumped as she remembered the talk she had been having with her mother a couple nights before. Reily was indeed a very beautiful girl, with her hair so naturally wavy and shiny and pure complection. It broke her heart to learn everything that she had been through with her father. Smiling again as Reily began to walk back out to get more, Karen stopped her before she got to the van again.

"The boxes are heavy, so we'll leave those for when Lucas gets here, alright?"

"Sure thing." Reily ran back to the van and was in the process of loading her arms up with bags when another truck pulled up beside hers. She smiled when she saw the familiar blond that stepped out. "Hey you!" She called with a smile, picking up one more bag.

"Hey, what're you doing here?" He asked as he walked over. He could see his mother inside the cafe beginning to unload some of the bags, her being the only one, other then Haley, to know where everything went. He looked back down to Reily, who was still smiling at him.

"Just helping unload the van. I saw her having standing near her van on my way home and thought I could see if I could help. She said she was waiting for you, but I thought that I could help till you got here." Lucas reached past her inside the backseat of the van and pulled out two stacked boxes, following Reily as she began inside the care. "Look who I found!" She called as soon as the had used her hip to push open the door, holding it for Lucas.

"Oh, good, you're here." Karen smiled to her son, while she help to take some of the bags off Reily's arms. "You can just put those boxes in the back and I'll get to them later." Nodding, he made his way to the back while Reily made her way out to get some more.

As soon as the back of the van was unloaded, Reily and Lucas made there way back inside, after Reily nearly hit Lucas with the door as she was closing it. She was still apologizing even as they were putting everything away. Karen smiled as she watched the two teens, shaking her head. She didn't know how Reily could still be so sweet with the amount of bumps that were in the road her and her mother took.

"I'm so-"

"I'm fine, you didn't even hit me." Lucas laughed as he gently hit her on the head with an empty folded down box. Reily pouted playfully as she ducked her head, getting Lucas to laugh and bring her into a loose hug. "Come on, stop with that face." Reily laughed as she pulled herself away. "You're coming to the river court tonight, right?"

"I would love to, but I don't really know where it is, considering I had to close my eyes last time." She teased, Lucas giving her a mocking face. Take the folded box from his hand, she hit him on the head with it as she stuck her tongue out. "Mock me if you want, but you know it's your fault."

"Oh, is it now?"

"Yes!"

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**Thanks to all who reviewed, and I hope you liked this chapter. I do not own the song that is used, in the chapter, that Reily sings, and probably won't own any of the other songs used in this story. I'll do my best to get the next chapter out soon!**


	7. Studying

I watched as Lucas jumped, quickly sending the ball to the net. As always, it went in with a swoosh, for about the 17th time. I set next to Peyton, Jenny in her lap as we sat on the roof of her car. She bounced her on her lap as she pointed over to Jake, who smiled and waved. I noticed when he and Peyton's eyes stayed locked together for a bit to long. I laid back and gelt the cold metal of the cars hood through my long sleeved shirt.

"You look comfortable." Brooke laughed slightly from where she sat on my other side.

"Not really, no offense Peyton, but your car is hard." I teased with a fake groan of pain. She laughed as she carefully shoved me, but it was enough to push me and Brook sideways, making the both of us slide off the car with loud screams. The guys all stopped as they looked over to where they had heard the screams, only to see Peyton nearly doubled over laughed as she held Jenny up against her.

I rolled away from where I had nearly landed on top of Brooke. She looked totally annoyed as she sat up again, while I couldn't stop myself from laughing. Lucas and Skills ran over to us, giving the goth of us odd looks. Skills laughed slightly as he offered Brooke a hand, which she accepted with a sour look. Lucas came to stand over top of me with a foot on with side of my stomach. I tried to calm down as I looked up at his dancing blue eyes, a smile plastered on my face.

Holding out his hands, I reached up and took hold of his wrists, while he grasped mine. Pulling on my wrists, I was yanked from through his legs up onto my feet again, calmed down enough so that only a smile lingered on my lips. Looking over to Peyton, I could see that Jake had taken Jenny and Peyton had broken down laughing on the roof of her car. Brooke still looked sour as she started at her blond friend.

"What was that for, Peyton?" I asked and she sat up, her cheeks pink and her hair messed. I leaned down and began to dust myself, getting all the dirt from my jeans that I had on. I could feel when Lucas began to dust off my back and shoulders, laughing slightly. "Oh you be quiet." I straightened again, making sure to dust off my butt as well, then hitting him in the arm. He pretended to look offended as he backed away.

"Oh, that hurt." He teased, looking away as he playfully put a pouty look on his face and slipped his hands into the front of his jeans. I laughed and moved forward to hug him around the waist.

"Oh I'm sorry, please forgive me? I just don't seem to know my own strength." I whined slightly, breaking his act as he bust out laughing.

**~Chapter 7-Studying~**

"Hey, you know what you should do?" Haley leaned against the counter, where Reily, Nathan and Lucas all sat on the other side with a snack or drink. Karen stood getting someone their order, putting in a bag. As she handed them the bag, they gave her the axact amount she had asked for, which made Reily raise an eyebrow as she counted off the exact change to hand over.

"Thank you, have a nive day."

"You too." Karen smiled and waved as the woman walked from he cafe, then turned to Haley.

"What should I do, Hales." She asked the teen, who smiled.

"I think you should have an open mic night. You know, like the one you had a couple of months ago. That brought in a lot of people." Reily looked over to the boys, wondering what Haley was talking about.

Lucas saw her lost looked and got into explaining. "We had an open mic night, Jake actually preformed that night, with a song that he had made about his daughter." Reily nodded in understanding. She remembered that he had told her that he had tended to keep Jenny a secret, but then he told Lucas, and that allowed him to get the couage to tell everyone else.

"You should perform, play something on the guitar." Haley encouraged with a smile. "I have some friends in the same music class as you, they say that they've never heard anyone play a guiat like you can." Reily's face heated up slightly as she looked away, causing Lucas to have to hide a smile at the sight of her cheeks gaining a slight pink tint to them.

"I don't know. Maybe."

Karen smiled at the girls, after thinking the answer through. "That actually sounds like a great idea, and maybe Jake could play again too." Nathan and Lucas nodded in agreement, while Haley smiled over at Reily, who looked away. "It would probably have to wait a little bit though, there is a Raven's basketball game coming up!" At her words all the teens cheered, even Reily, who had finally gotten into the swing of things there int he small town of Tree Hill.

"I have to get home, I have a bunch of History homework. Does anyone know about the Generals that helped fight and gave their men in World War 1?" Reily asked as she finished off her coffee.

"Hey, Lucas is learning about the same thing, aren't you?" Nathan asked as he looked over to his brother, who groaned with a nod. He really didn't like History homework. At all.

"Yea, sadly. How about we finish it together?" Lucas looked over to Reily, who was pulling on her thin spring jacket. She paused slightly in thought, before she turned to look at him with a smile.

"Sure, sounds good. Come on Scott, we'll suffer together." Lucas nodded as he got up as well, pulling on his own jacket. He leaned over the counter and gave his mother a hug, before he and Reily slipped from the cafe, calling their goodbyes back to the others. As well as Reily yelling over her shoulder "If we don't come back by morning, we may just have been the first people to die of over-excessive boredom!"

"So, where exactly are we going to study?" Lucas asked as he looked at her. Reily smiled back to him as she was walking toward her truck.

"Were are all you books?" She asked, right before she opened her door.

"At my house, why?"

"Let's both go home and get our books, then come over to my house and we can take my truck. I have an idea." She smiled, climbing into her truck. Lucas laughed as he watched her as she pulled out onto the road. As soon as he reached his house, Lucas went straight to his room as he got his backpack and packed all of his books and anything else that he would need. Locking the door on his way out, he saw that Reily was just placing her bookbag in the back seat of her pick-up.

"So, where exactly are we going?" He asked, coming up behind her. Reily jumping in surprise, then sighed as she looked up him with a playful glare. Lucas let out a breathy laugh. He hadn't even meant to startle her, but things came out that way.

"You'll have to wait to find that out." She teased, taking his bag from him and putting it in the back with hers. "I drive." Lucas shook his head in amusement as he walked around to the passenger side of the truck, watching her as she started the engine.

"You've barely been here a month, how many places can you know?" He asked as he looked over to her. She laughed quietely, looking back as she backed out of her driveway. Looking over to him one last time, she smiled.

"Only one that's important."

In almost no time at all, Lucas saw that they were heading straight for the River Court. He looked over to Reily, seeing her glance out of the corner of her eye at him. They both let out a chuckle when they were caught staring at one another. Looking back to the road, Reily pulled up to the grass that was along the court, seeing Lucas smile as he shook his head.

She found herself wanting to just watch his smile as he reached for the door handle. His blonde hair and lightly tanned skin fit perfectly, and the white shirt that he was wearing made it even more noticable. He had muscles on his arms that showed he was strong, but not freakishly bulky. His head looked hot with the short, but longer the buzzed look. She didn't even know if that was a style, but it suited him.

Opening her own door, she slipped out to get her own backpack in the back seat of the pick-up. Lucas was already getting his when she opened the door on the opposite side. She smiled up tom him before they both closed their doors. Reily walked around the to the back of the truck, stopping their. She saw Lucas beginning to walk toward the benches, but stopped him.

"Where do you think you're going?" She called out, causing him to turn around. She smiled, before opening the back of the pick-up. "Party's over here." Jumping into the back, where she kicked off her shoes, she walked in until she could lean her back against a pillow she had put in there. Lucas walked around to the back of the truck and leaned against they side, looking in. There were a couple of blankets on the floor to make it comfortable, and pillows that they could lean on.

"We are going to study in the back of your truck?" He asked, a teasing grin on his lips. Reily smiled as she shrugged.

"Well, I'm to wierd to just sit at home at a kitchen table and study, and those benches hurt my ass. So get on up here or we'll both fail." She teased, tossing him a pillow. Lucas shook his head in amusement as he hoped onto the back, slipping off his shoes like he saw that she had done. Sitting down beside her, Reily laughed as she pushed his shoulder when he sighed dramatically. "Shut up, you'll thank me for it later when you don't have splinters in your ass." Lucas fained shock as he looked over to her, her only reply was to stick her tongue out.

Hours later, the two were finally finished with their terrible amount of homework, and they were both ont he brink of falling asleep. The sun was setting and they stopped momentarily to watch it as the pinks and oranges mixed together int he clouds. Reily sighed as she leaned moved away from where her back was against he truck, to that she was then laying down along the bottom of the truck, the blankets making it much more comforatable. Blowing some of her long brown hair away from her face, she groaned as her neck ached from leaning over a book for so long. Lucas sighed as he lay down as well, tossing his book to the side, not really caring where it landed.

"If I ever so much as here the word General again, I will scream." Reily finally ground out in the silence that hung in the air, and Lucas looked over to here, though her eyes remained looking up. He smiked as he moved closer to her, his lips so close to her ear she could feel his warm breath on her cool skin.

"General."

Reily let out a shrill scream as she rolled so that she was on her side, facing Lucas, and pounded a fist on his chest. Grunting, he flinched slightly as he laughed, amused by her reaction. Reily hit him again, but not as hard as the first time, before her lips drew together in a thin line, nearly whitening them. Lucas saw her displeased look and slowly stopped the laughed come from within him.

In truth, Reily had almost fainted when she had felt his breath on heer ear, but then realized that he was just teasing her. Why had she gotten so angry though, it wasn't like she could expect anything to gon on between the two of them, though a girl could dream. From what she had heard, he had dated both Peyton and Brooke, and she really didn't want the hate of both those girls on her back if they ever did become anything more then friends.

"Hey, come on, I was just kidding." Lucas whispered as he looked down at her, after lifting himself up onto one elbow. Reily rolled over so that it was her back facing him, crossing her arms across her chest. her face relaxed now that he wasn't looking at her. But she then had to stop herself from tensing when she felt Lucas roll onto his side with his chest against her back before his arm cam around her waist. His breath was on the back of her nexk as she tried to keep herself from reacting to the feeling it caused. She knew that it was just to hard to stay made with him.

Neither had to say anything for Lucas to know that he had been forgiven. The tiring hours of studying made then both begin to slip off into the sleep that had been trying to get to them the entire time they were studying. Reily side as she shifted so that her neck wasn't being strained, and int he process, also came to end up with Lucas's face buried in her hair. But neither really seemed to mind.

Lucas woke again a few hours later, with just the lamps around the court allowing him to see. They had shifted so that Reily had moved to lying with her head resting on his chest, Lucas's right arm curled around her shoulders and holding her against him. She was slightly curled into herself, and Lucas could only guess that it was from the cool air that surrounded them. Reached behind them, he got a blanket from behind him and used his free hand to drape it over the both of them.

Reily shifted slightly when the material was draped over her, moving slightly closer to Lucas as her face came to hide in the crook of his neck. Reaching back. he took hold of one of the pillows that were there to tuck it under his head and make it more comfortable to sleep. It was a good thing that it was the weekend, or they were both would have been ready to kill someone that came near them.


	8. Let's Play A Game

I groaned as I tried to roll over, but there was something strong wrapped around my waist, preventing me from moving from where I was lying on my left side. I sighed as I tried to open my eyes to looked at what was holding me down. When I opened my eyes, all I could see was white. My bed sheets were navy blue....Raising a brow, I sat up more, looking up. There, lying up against the back of the truck, with two pillows under his head, was none other then Lucas Scott.

He had his arm around my waist and was breathing calmly, his chest barely rising and falling with his small breaths. His blond hair looked like it hadn't changed at all, but that only made since with how short it was. His free arm was up behind his head, where he was resting his head on it as he slept. I looked down to where his arm was and saw that his hand was getting very close to a place on my back that I really didn't like being touched.

I carefully pried his arm from around my waist, trying not to wake up him. I didn't want to admit it, but he looked so handsome with his face so calm and his body relaxed. Moving to the end of the pick -up, I let my legs dangle down over the side as I stretched my arms high above my head, feeling as the cool air nipped at the skin of my stomach when my shirt lifted up. Lowering my arms again, I fixed my shirt before looking out at the view of the water.

**~Chapter 8-Let's Play A Game~**

Lucas sighed as he opened his eyes to see the orange and pink colors of the sunrise. The space on the blankets next to him were warm, but there was no one there. Looking up, he saw Reily sitting at the end of the truck, her legs dangling over the side. Her arms suddenly lifted up above her head as she stretched up. Lucas sat up a bit more when he saw striking pale lines along her back. Where those scars....?

Her arms came down again, her shirt once more hiding the marks on her back. She looked out to the water, while Lucas groaned out as he strethed out his body. He could hear Reily chuckle lightly as she looked back over her shoulder. Lucas sat up, before he glanced down at the watch on his wrist. 6:47. He then realized that they had been out all night, and that the others had no clue where they were.

"We're gunna be in so much trouble." Reily's voice pulled him out of his thought, causing him to look up at her.

"We are, aren't we?" He asked as he chuckled.

"We should get back before we are found by the police with somone calling in about missing children." Reahing back, she began to put her books back into her bag, while Lucas did the same thing. After making sure that they had their own books and not one anothers, they each hopped off the back, slamming the back of the truck closed again. Reily stretched again, finally standing after so many hours. Lucas saw again that her hips and some of her navel were also littered with scars. But he knew that he shouldn't say anything, and kept his mouth shut.

"Ready to go?"

"Yea." Reily turned toward the drivers side, but Lucas took hold of her arm, preventing her from going any further.

"You're half asleep, I think that I should drive if we want to make it home alive." Sticking out her tongue, Reily turned and walked past him, toward the other side of the truck. Shaking his head, Lucas reached the drivers door and slipped in. Reily's head was resting against the back of the seat and her belt was on, backpack in her lap. Lucas placed his bag in the backseat, before starting up the truck, the keys left in the ignition.

Pulling up in Reily's driveway, he could see that there were some extra cars in his driveway. He recognized Peyton's, as well as Nathan's. It was then that he knew that he was screwed. Looking over to Reily, he saw that she was leaning against the window, breathing lightly. Gently shaking her shoulder, she jumped as she looked over to him.

"We're here, and I don't think that anyone's going to be happy." Reily looked over to the cars, then inside her house.

"None of the lights are on. I think that my mom is over at your house." She said as she looked back to him. Each getting out of the truck, Reily ran up the steps of her house, opening the door. She stepped inside, Lucas following to stop on the doorstep. "Mom! Are you here?" When they were greated with silence, she shrugged and turned back as they walked from the house, Reily leaving her bag by the door. Lucas made sure to grab his from the truck, before they jogged across the street.

Both pausing as they got to the black door at the side of Lucas's house, he was quiet as he opened it, as though trying to sneek in after doing something wrong. Reily followed after him, both walking toward the kitchen, with Reily letting him lead the way. As soon as they appeared in the doorway, they got a hell of a welcoming.

Nathan, Haley, Brooke, Peyton, Jake, Reily's mom Rosanne and Karen all sat in the kitchen, before swinging over to look at them when they entered the room. Reily's mother was on her feet and running over to where Reily was and wrapped her arms around her daughter. She only held her for a moment before holding her at arms length with a scowl.

"Where on earth were you!?" Reily flinched as her mothers voice rose.

"Sorry, we fell asleep." She whispered, trying her best to smile. Peyton, Haley and Brooke all ran over until they were all surrounding her and hugged her. Reily struggled to breath by all their force. "Guys, ease up."

"Your mom came over looking for you and said that it was never like you to not come home, so we got worried." Peyton mumbled into the hair that draped over her shoulders, with how tall Reily was Peyton was a few inches shorter.

"Sorry, we were studying at the River Court and fell asleep, didn't mean to worry you." Lucas explained as his own mother came to give him a loose hug, kissing him on the forehead as she made him bend slightly from his height against hers.

Rosanne forced Reily home, carefully scolding her along the way. Reily went straight to bed as soon as she had entered her room, though it didn't seem as easy without the warmth of a body next to hers. Reily's mother came in a little while later, looking down at her sleeping daughter. Quietly walking up to her, she gently ran her hand over the exposed skin on her hip, over a long scar there.

"I was afraid he had taken you from me." She whispered to the sleeping girl. Kissing her gently on the forehead one last time, she walked from the room again, closing the door behind her. When she hadn't been back by 3 am, she had run over to Karen's to see if she was still studying with Lucas, but Karen had told her that she hadn't seen either of them since that had left the cafe.

~*"Why are you so worried, she might just have spent the night with one of the girls becuase she's too tired to drive." Karen tried to reassure the woman before her, but Rosanne was not calming down in the least.

"You don't understand! Her father is on his peroll now! She would always call if she wasn't going to come home, or is she was late." Rosanne said as she sat at Karen's kitchen table.

"It's alright. Lucas is with her, he won't let anything happen to her. If they aren't back by at least noon tomorrow, then we'll go out and look, alright?" Rosanne nodded numbly as the other woman soothingly rubbed her back, offering the her something to drink to calm her nerves. As she looked at the shaken mother, she did her best to chance the conversation to whatever came to mind.

"You know, it seems that Lucas is quite taken with Reily, actually." Rosanne looked up at Karen, her eyes wide.

"Reily never really had a boyfriend. She's never even been kissed." She said, looking back down. "He never let anyone near her. I just thought that he was being an overprotective father." She whispered more to herself then Karen when she spoke that last part. "But, I must admit, that Reily seems very calm around the people of Tree Hill. And with Lucas, it's like she had a normal life, just like every other girl."

"I'm actually very surprised that she is so happy and open after what she had been exposed to." Karen confessed and Rosanne smiled a very small smile.

"She was taken to a therapist after the trial to see if there was any trauma to her They said that she was a bit boy skiddish, but other then that she was fine around people. Her nature hadn't changed. They say that it was mostly because he acted like every other father while I was around and the moments that I wasn't were rare." She smiled sadly.

"How did you find out?" Karen asked, leaning forward and asking the questionin a low voice.

Rosanne's sad smile disappeared as she looked down into the tea that Karen had gotten her. "She was 14. She came to me one day saying that her back hurt. I went to look at what was wrong. When I lifted her shirt, her back looked like someone had gone at it with a whip. They were so fresh, and not even cleaned, let alone bandaged.

We packed up some clothes and things to bring along, before I drove straight out of town. He was still at work. I only stopped about two hours later because Reily had said that her back was starting to burn, so I took her to the nearest hospital. She didn't think he had done anything wrong, because he made her think that way. The doctors said that the scars were caused by an unclean knife, and the wounds had gotten infected. It was then that they also found the scars on her hips, whists and ankles. They said that the scars on her ankles and whists were caused by ropes and chains-"

Rosanne's voice cracked as she broke down into sobs, Karen immediatly taking her into her arms and letting her rest her forehead on her shoulder. Her eyes were wide and her heart hammered in her chest from the story. Reily. How could something to terrible happen to such a sweet girl. Ending the discussion there, Karen let Rosanne calm down as she got up to call the girls and see if she was with one of them.*~

Lucas sat at his table, eating his lunch numbly. He didn't even taste the food as he thought back to when he had seen the scars all over Reily. A lot of them were actually pretty long, which gave his stomach a sinking feeling. Sighing, he gave up on eating his food and dumped the rest, putting his dishes in the sink. His mother was at the cafe, and he had no clue what everyone else was doing.

He wished he could ask her about those scars, like how she had gotten them. Maybe she had more on her arms, and that's why she would always wear long sleeved shirtrs, even in hot weather. Walking toward his room, he glanced from his window over to Reily's. Her room was dark, and her blinds were almost all the way closed. She couldn't have gone to bed and still be sleeping at 12 in the afternoon, could she?

Sighing, he decided that he would go down to the River Court for a while. There was nothing else that he could do. Pulling on his grey sweat shirt, he picked up his basketball and jogged out of the house, bouncing the ball along as he went. He had been on that same route so many times that he knew just when to hold the ball because of gravel and then to switch hands because of a hole in the ashfault.

Coming up to the court, he stopped bouncing the ball and froze when he saw someone sitting on the bench, looking out at the water. Long brown hair was pulled back into a pany-tail, a loose tanktop and what looked like soccer shorts. Reily sat on the bench, turned slightly away from him as she looked out into space. She had headphones in her ears and an i-pod strapped to her arm. Instead of a long sleeved shirt like usual, there were sweatbands on her wrists, blue to match her shirt. For some reason, there was a frown set on her features and her eyebrows were drawn down.

Carefully, Lucas tossed the ball so that it hit the bench beside her, before bouncing back in his direction. Reily was jolted back to the real world as she pulled the headphones from her ears, looking over to where Lucas was standing, once more holding the ball, resting it on his hip as he looked over to her with a smile. Her troubled look disappeared as she smiled back to him, turning around on the bench to face him.

"So how much trouble did you get into?" He asked, making his way over to her.

"Got a leacture, but I'm not in very much trouble, per say." She moved aside to allow him room on the bench beside her. "What about you, did Karen get angry?"

Lucas looked over to the court as he squinted his eyes against the noon sun. "Not really. I think that she was more freaked out when your mom came over and said that it wasn't an occuring problem with you. Shook her up a bit I guess." As a silence fell over the two, Reily looked at the ball the Lucas now had resting against his knees, before a thought came to mind, making her smile. Stealing the ball from him, she smiled as she skipped off the bench.

"Hey!"

"I have a game we could play." She smirked as she tossed the ball from hand to hand. Lucas stopped walking toward her, waiting for her to continue. Reily smiled as she turned to the nearest net, lining up her shot, before jumping, and pushing the ball off with her hands. Lucas was surprised when it went in with a slik 'swoosh'. "Let's say I start. If I get the ball into the net, then I can ask you a question, and you have to answer, if you don't answer, then I get to make you do something that I want. But it has to be appropriate and not wildly stupid to the other person. After you do what I want or answer the question, it's your turn to take a shot, and ask me something.

If you miss the net or it bounces off the backboard, you are not allowed to get the rebound shot, it's only a one shoot deal." Reily ran over to retireve the ball, dribbling it as she walked back over to Lucas. "You have to shoot at the same distance every time. Like if we decided that it was ten paces from the net, you're allowed to move to the sides of the net, but have to be ten paces away, or at least roughly ten paces. Any questions?" She looked over to him with a smile, and Lucas shook his head in amusment.

"Yea, only one. Who goes first?"

"You can go first since I've played before." Bounce passing him the ball, she ran up to the net, then walked 15 paces from the net to where they were allowed to shoot. Lucas stood where she had stopped, after she moved aside, and lined up his shot.


	9. Scared

I watched as Lucas lined up his shot, before he put power into it and tossed the ball swiftly into the net. Lucas turned over to look at me as soon as the ball had gone in. I raised a single eyebrow as I waited for what he was going to ask. He breathed in deeply as he thought about what he was going to ask. While he was thinking, I walked over to where the ball was left rolling across the court. As soon as I turned back to him, he was smiling.

"How long have you been playing basketball?"

I smiled. The questions would get harder, they always did. "I've been playing small games with my dad as a kid, and then I started to try out for the teams that were at school. I really loved to play and everyone says that I was one of the best on the girls team." She said as she tossed the ball up, then caught in again. "I haven't played on a team and they said that I should try to stay on the teams at my new school."

Dribbling the ball, I walked to where Lucas had been standing when he took the shot, giving him one more look, before I possisioned the ball, then jumped as I took the shot. Hitting the backboard, it then bounced toward us to hit the rim, before it fell back and went in the net. I smiled and ran forward to get the ball, thinking over what I would be asking Lucas. Walking back over I smiled when my question came to mind.

**~Chapter 9-Scared~**

"Why the hell, do you randomly have a black door on the side of your house!?" She asked as she threw the ball at his chest, laughing. Lucas winced slightly, though there was still a smile on his lips.

"Alright. I had been in love with Brooke at the time, and I went to her appartment to tell her. When I got there, she was sleeping with Chris Keller." Lucas growled out his name, gripping the ball. "So, I kind of lashed out and I painted the side door black." He laughed it off as he dribbled the ball, looking over to Reily.

"Who's Chris Keller?" She asked as she raised an eyebrow. Lucas put an arm over her shoulder, holding up the ball between his elbow and side, sighing loudly.

"Someone I hope you never meet." Reily laughed as she leaned into Lucas's side. "I'm serious, I hate that guy." He looked down at Reily, who's cheeks were slightly pink from laughing as she looked back up at him, her aqua eyes dancing. "Alright, my turn."

Rosanne stepped into the homey cafe as she scanned for Karen. She remembered from when she met Haley, who was now standing behind the counter as she took some orders of the people there. She spottered Karen refilling a couples coffee at a table, before she spotted the other woman. Karen waved to her, before she held a a finger to tell him to just wait a minute.

Rosanne walked over to the counter and sat down as she smiled to Haley, turning down her offer to get her a coffee or something. Rosanne leaned down and sighed in slight worry. Karen walked over and placed the coffee pot back where it belonged, before looking over to the worried mother. Her brow came together as she walked over to her, wiping her hands off on her apron.

"What's the matter? Is Reily alright?" She asked, leaning on her elbows against the counter.

"Yes, she's fine. I was actually hoping that I could ask you a favor though." She asked in a quiet and slightly shaky voice. Karen frowned in worry as she looked at her.

"What's wrong Rosanne?"

"I have to go away for a couple of weeks. I'm trying to get a restraining order against Reily's father and it may take up to two or three weeks. But I'm worried about leaving Reily at home. I would let her choose who to stay with, maybe one of the girls, but I think she would feel better to at least be close to home-"

"She can stay with us." Karen smiled, interupting Rosanne. "We have a guest room that she can use and I doubt that Lucas would mind, with them being such close friends." Karen assured and Rosanne game her a teary smile.

"Thank you so much Karen." Standing up, she embraced her new friend from over the counter. As soon as they pulled away, they were each smiling as Rosanne sat down once more.

"So, when will you be leaving?"

"I know it's really short notice, but I actually have to be at the meeting on Tuesday, which means I'll be on a plane by Monday night at the lastest." Karen's eyes widened.

"Tomorrow?"

Rosanne winced at the shock in her voice, looking up with guity eyes. "Yea. I know it's really short notice! But I just found out the other day and I don't know how to tell Reily." She confessed as she put her head in her hands and her elbows on the counter.

Haley stood frozen where she had handed someone their order. Restraining order? Reily was going to be staying with Lucas? Looking over to Ms. Share, she saw that the two women were oblivious to the fact that she had heard their discussion. But she knew that it would be stupid to tell anyone what she had heard. Shaking it off, she got back to work, thought that same question continued to nag at her brain. Why was Ms. Share putting a restaining order agianst her own husband?Okay, so they were probably divorced, but a restraining order?

The sun was beginning to set and Reily and Lucas were still playing the game at the river court. So far, Reily had made Lucas take off his shirt, and he had made her stand on her hands for a minute straight. He noted when she tucked in her shirt to stop it from falling. He wasn't sure whether that was normal, or she just didn't want him seeing her scars. They both noticed when the sky slowly began to cover over with light grey clouds, but continued anyway.

"Why do you wear long sleeved shirts so often?"

"Next."

"No, you didn't answer, not I get to make you do something." Reily rolled her eyes, though she couldn'y help but smile. Lucas scratched his chin and made a big show of thinking of something for her to do, until Reily threw the ball at him and hit him in the gut with it. His face suddenly became serious as he looked at the ground, dribbling the ball. Reily's smile disappeared as she looked at him, her body becoming still.

"Lucas?" He looked up at her with concerned eyes, stopping to hold the ball in his hands. Taking a deep breath, he stepped up toward her, where she was still frozen. Rotted to the spot.

"Where did you got all those scars?" Reily took a steps back, her mouth dropping open and her eyes going wide as though she had been slapped. But his question stung. Lucas had never seen her eyes look so dull for the couple of months that he had known her. She suddenly turned away.

"You already asked your question, you can't ask two..." Her voice cracked at the end, causing Lucas's chest to tighten at the sound. Walking quickly up to her he placed his arms around her, but as she tried to push him away by pushing on his chest, Lucas just held her even tighter, causing her to surrender to his hold as she leaned into him, her face pressed into his chest.

In a quiet, gentle voice, Lucas began to speak to her, his face buried in her hair. "This morning, when you were stretching, your shirt lifted up and I could see that scars on your back and hips." Reily wimped slightly as her shoulders began to shake, her arms moving around to dig her nails into the bare skin of his back, his shirt still off from while they were playing the game. They stood their for no one knows how long, the clouds getting darker, and the lights coming on around the court. Lucas just continued to hold her to his chest as she cried silently.

Reily pulled her face away after a while, keeping her eyes to the ground though, preventing him from seeing her face. "It was him. This is all his fault." She mumbled after a few seconds. Lucas looked down at her, hoping she would continue, but nothing else came from the burnett. As he opened his mouth to ask, a bright flash made them both look up at the almost black clouds, before the skies opened up and poured. A loud crack of thunder followed soon after, almost shaking the earth.

Reily just closed her eyes and let the water fall down onto her face, hiding her tears, washing them away. Lucas continued to watch her as her hair began to stick to her face and her clothes to flatten down against her form. When she finally did open her eyes, they were shining with tears, almost glowing in the darkness. When her gaze turned to Lucas, hazy blue met aqua as Reily gave him a sad smile.

She whispered quietly, the rain almost drowning out her words. "I'm sorry, Lucas." Leaning down over her, water droplets fell down from his nose onto her cheek as she looked up at him, still holding one another. "I just want to be alone." She mumbled quietly, looking away as her arms slipped away from his form. Lucas released her as well, frowning as he backed up slowly. Turning to leave, Reily brought her arms up to her chest to try and surpress the shivers that attacked her form.

Looking over to Lucas as he moved to get his shirt and sweat shirt from the bench, where her now reuined i-pod also sat. His hair was slightly stuck down from the rain, and his dark grey sweat pants looked almost like they were going to fall from his hips. She felt her heart sink as she watched him walk away from her, she had lied. She didn't want to be alone, she was just afraid of what would happen if she ever got to close to someone. She had wanted to kiss him so badly there, but she had never kissed someone before. The cold rain and cruel darkness around her helped her to finally make a dicision.

Lucas picked up his sweat shirt, seeing Reily's i-pod soaked and broken beside it. He paused as he looked out to the water, that was wrippled and decorated from the pouring rain, as well as the grass that was now shiny and the chains on a nearby net that dripped small droplets of water. He sighed one more time, his shoulders falling. What was wrong with him? How could he have fallen for someone so fast? Reily had only been here for a couple of months and she had already taken his heart without even knowing it. Turning away from the benches, he saw Reily still standing on the court, her arms to her chest as she shivered. Continuing on, he made his way toward the path to the road.

"Lucas!"

Freezing, he turned to look back from where his name had been called. Reily ran fast toward him, her eyes squinted against the rain. He blue tank top was sticking to her skin, her shorts glues to her legs. The bangs that usually flew around her face when she ran, were now wet against her, along her cheeks and jaw. Turning to face her fully, she stopped a few paces from him, her breaths heavy, even though she hadn't run far at all.

"I lied!" She cried against the pounding sound of the rain, "I don't want to be alone!" Dropping his shirt and sweat shirt, Lucas walked up to her in two easy stides, before he ducked his head down and claimed her lips with his. Reily's arms came up around his neck on impulse alone, her head tilting slightly to the side so allow them to press closer to one another. Lucas's arms came around her waist, holding onto her tightly.

The warmth of his body thrilled and excited Reily, pleased at the feel of being so close to him. Her lips turned up into the smallest smiled against his own, her hands slipping up to burry in his hair. She didn't realize that he too, was smiling, holding onto her so tightly becuase he never wanted to let her go. Lucas loved having her in his arms, and not just to comfort her, or in a friendly jesture, but to actually hold her, as he kissed her. But all too soon, they slowly pulled away from one another. Reily's hands slipped down to rest on his shoulders and the croos of his neck. while Lucas brought his hands up and gently held her face in his palms. Smiling to one another, the knew that their feelings were not one-sided.

"Come on, we should get home." Reily whispered carefully, feeling as Lucas's thumb gently caressed the skin of her cheek. Her skin was warm and slick from the rain water. Retrieving his clothes from the ground, he and Reily quickly made their way home, jogging at times and walking others, talking aimlessly most of the way there. Once they had reached the cross between their houses, Reily smiled, lifting herself up and gently kissing him on the forehead. She smiled on last time before parting and heading toward her house. Lucas watched her leave until she was gone inside her home, then jogged up the steps to his own house. His mother was inside the living room, reading a book as she curled up on a chair.

"Oh my god, what happened to you?" She asked in an amused tone. Lucas was still shirtless, soaked and panting from the run back. He waved his mother off as he ditched his shoes by the door and headed straight for the washroom, hearing his mothers small giggling as he left.

Reily sat on the edge of her bed, fresh out of the shower with a change of dry, clean clothes. Her lifted her shirt up, looking down at her hips where several old gashes had scared over. Biting her bottom lip, she covered her stomach back up and doubled over, grasping onto her stomach as a pained sob wracked through her body. She tried to calm herself down at her chest began to hurt, as well as a coming headache.

"Reily! Can you come down here for a moment?"

"Coming!" Taking calming breathes, she walked up to her dresser and took a tissue to try and wipe the tears from her cheeks. Taking more deep breaths, she felt the heat in her cheeks begin to disapate, beginning to make her way down the stairs. Her mother sat in the kitchen, smiling as she held a glass of tea out to her. "Thanks."

"Sure. Reily, um, I'm going to be going away for a couple of weeks for a couple of meetings with the court to see if I can get us a restraining order against...him. I just don't want you to be alone at home, and Karen offered to let you stay with her and Lucas in their guest room while I'm away." She explained, but she didn't noticed her slip up. Reily had.

Immediatly getting to her feet, the flustered teenager rose her voice in shock. "Karen knows!?"

Rosanne flinched when Reily screamed out, gently taking hold of her daughters scared wrist and pulling her back into her seat. Reily sat, though reluctantly. "I am sorry that I didn't tell you sooner, but that day that you went down to the court with Lucas and the others, I just got talking. Karen is the kind of person that you just open up to." She kept her voice low and calm, trying to get it to rub off on her daughter. It worked.

"It's alright." Her shoulders slumpded as she sighed, her finger tracing over the rim of her mug. "So what time are you going to be leaving?" She asked in a calm voice, looking up to her mother. She gave a sad smile that had Reily worried.

"I have to be on a plane tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?!"

Here we go again.


	10. Nightmares Come To Life

"Hey Reily." Karen smiled to me as I set my doufle bag full of clothes onto the floor beside the front door. Lucas was at practice so he wouldn't be home for about another hour. My mother stood beside me and gave Karen a hug, thanking her for what seemed like the millionth time. She had to be on her plane by 6 pm and then there was all the hours of security to go through, so she had to get on her way now.

"I'll be back in a couple of weeks. Be good." My mother brought me into her arms as she kissed me on the cheek. I smiled and hugged her back, squeezing her tightly. My mother and I had never been apart for long periods of time since she had found out about my dad. She never wanted to leave my side, but knew that I had to have my space. She had been away for three days at the most leaving me alone.

But I was never really alone, she would always leave me with someone to help look after me and keep me company. I rubbed my mom back to try and calm down her nerves. She had been fidgeting and fretting since she told me she was leaving. She was worried about me being somewhat on my own, and also about how the case would go. She really wanted to make sure that my father stayed away from us for good, and if he ever did come close, then he would be sent to do even more time.

"I promise I won't break anything, won't run off, and will keep up in school." I rehersed what she had made me repeat over and over so many times that I lost count. All I know was that it was until I had it memorized. She smiled and pulled back, tolding my face in her hands.

"And what else?"

"I promise not to get pregnant." I sighed, mumbling it. I could hear Karen's quiet laugher behind us, but my mom simply ignored it. "Now you are going to miss your flight. I'll be fine!" Kissing each other on the cheek one more time, I waved goodbye as she took her sleek grey car down the street. I sighed when she had left and turned to face Karen. She smiled and put an arm over my shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm the same way with Lucas."

**~Chapter 10-Nightmares Come To Life~**

Lucas walked into the black side door of his house, his mind flashing back to when he had told Reily about how it had come to be that way. He chuckled lightly to himself as he walked through the house toward his room, his bag with all of his gym clothes inside slung over his shoulder. As he was passing the living room, he stopped, turned and smiled.

"Hey blondy!" Reily sat on the couch, notebook up against her knees. Her back was against he armrest and her knees were brought up and used as a surface to make it easier for her to write. Lucas laughed as he walked over to her, dropping his bag beside the couch. Reily closed her book and placed it on the table, turning to face him completely.

"When'd you get here?"

"I came over after school. You were still at practice." She explained as she righted her sitting possision so that she was facing the back of the couch, where Lucas was leaning down toward her, his arms resting on the back to keep himself up. His mother had told him everything that night when he and Reily had gotten back from the court. She took note in his good mood and had asked him about it, but he just smiled and walked off.

Lucas leaned forward and acted innocent as his face come only inches from hers. "So, my mom was telling me about this open mic night at the cafe that she was going to have..." He trailed off as he looked down at her expectantly. Reily huffed as she leaned let her head fall back, exposing her throat to him.

"You know, Haley keeps bugging me about that too. She called me this morning to meet her early, just so she could lecture me about how I needed to perform." She made a slight pouting face, her shoulders slumping. Lucas gave her a sympothetic smile, gently kissing her cheek.

"You'll sort it out." Reily gave him a greatful look, before she leaned forward she gave him a teasing smile.

"And you really need to shower." Lucas gave her a mock hurt look as he moved away from her. Reily laughed as she wrapped her arms around his stomach, which was the only thing she could reach while he was still standing. "I'm sorry, but it's true." She laughed again as Lucas began to chuckle lightly.

"Alright, I'm going." Reily released him, letting him kiss her on the forehead before he left the room, picking up his gym bag as he went. He didn't know it, but when he had bent over to reach for his bag, he had given Reily the best look at him ass. She was not disappointed in the least. Leaning back, she retrieved her notebook fromt he table as she once more opened it to the page she had been writing on before Lucas came in.

A soug was written on the peice of paper, one that she had been working on for a while. Well, about two weeks actually, but she had still been working hard on getting it done. She had started to write it a little while after she had Lucas had started to get closer, when she would be able to joke around with him alot more then with anyone else. Sighing, she leaned back against the armrest and looked at the words. She was hoping to put her guitar into the song, and then perform it at the open mic night.

Things weren't too strange at the house, but even after a week of Reily being there, he still got a shock when he woke up and saw her at the table in her night clothes, half asleep with a coffee in front of her as she attempted to wake up. School exams were coming up, so Reily didn't have any time to practice on her guitar what she had been trying to do, and then realized that she had left her guitar over at her house.

Lucas even remembered one day when she had been lying on her bed studying in her gym shorts and tank top. She even had her sweat bands on her wrists. But her feet were bare and had given Lucas the chance to see scars that were also on her ankles. They almost looked like they were rubbed down and scared over. She didn't seem to notice that she was showing them and smiled up to him.

It was a Saturday and everyone agreed that they needed a break in their studying, and said that they would all go to Lucas's and watch a movie, then maybe go down to the river court after that and play a game or something. Everyone agreed to meet at his house at 9, and said that they would each bring something to take with them for the movie, whether it was something to drink, eat, or watch.

As everyone piled in, they were left int he living room looking arguing over what they were going to be watching. Some people brought over some movies, and Lucas just let them all battle it out as he sat at the side lines incase there was a fight that brakes out. After they had finally settled on something to watch, the girls went to cook some popcorn while the guys set up the movie.

"Hey, I'm gunna quickly run over to my place and get my guitar, before I forget again." They all gave her mumbled answers of waves to tell that she had heard, causing her to laugh as she slipped on her runners and left quickly.

Running up the steps to the house, she didn't bother turning on a light, knowing the house off by heart by then. She found her guitar in it's case in the living room where she had remembered her mother had put it, after she nearly tripped on it while walking out of the kitchen. She had gotten a leacture after that. She scanned over the side as she made sure that all the clips were closed and her case wasn't going to fall open.

"Hey baby." Her hands seemed to go numb as she looked over to where the voice had come from in the far side of the room. A dark figure stood, blended into the shadows, in the far corner of the room. Beside on of the doors out of the room.

"Get away from me." She snapped as she tried to step away, until her back his the wall. She looked over to the window beside her. The windows didn't have screens, so if she was able to get it open and out before he got to her, then she could run back to Lucas and the others.

"I was just coming to say hi to my little girl." The figure stepped forward and Reily inched closer to the window, so that she was standing in front of it and let her fingers slide under so that she could lift it up quickly, after she unsnapped the lock.

"You're sick! All those years, and you were just lying to me, torturing me." She hissed out as he took a couple more steps.

"You know I was only doing those things because I love you. You didn't mind then, you were such a good girl." He then stopped and there was a slight growling noise. "I thought I told you that you were never allowed to date." Reily took the chance when he was standing still to throw up the window. She ducked down and walked able to get half her upper body out, before strong hands took hold of her long hair, pulling her back inside.

She couldn't stop herself when she let out a high pitched scream as she was drug back in. Hitting the ground with a loud thud, her father kneeled next to her, still holding her hair in one hand as he slapped her across the face. Hard. Her hands came up to try and push him away, but he took her wrists and pinned them to her chest. Her whole body moved as she tried to move away, to break free from him. Taking her hair into his fist from the base, he pulled her head up, the slammed it down onto the ground again, forcing a cry of pain when a searing pain shot up through her skull.

"You little bitch-"

"REILY!"

Reily's breath hitched as her father growled again, releasing her hair and her wrists. Tears slipped from her eyes as three more figures appeared in the doorway. "Lucas!" Her father took off toward the second exit to the room, which also so happened to be the side door, leading to the yard. Nathan and Jake took off running toward there he had disappeared, leaving her to watch as they ran out the door after him.

Careful arms came around her shoulders and she looked up at the shadowed firgure to see Lucas's form above her. She sobbed loudly as she wrapped her arms around his neck, his own arms coming around her as he held her tightly to his chest. The lights flicked on as Brooke, Haley and Peyton all stepped into the room. The saw the open door, saw Reily crying...they knew exactly what had happened.

Jake and Nathan appeared through the side door again, panting as they looked over to Reily and Lucas. Lucas looked over to them, but they just shook their heads. He had gotten away. Picking Reily up carefully, she buried her face int he crook of his neck as they all slipped back out of the house, Peyton grabbing Reily's key out of the door after she had locked it.

Lucas put Reily on the couch, where she was immediatly swarmed by the other three girls. They pulled her into a large group hug, though it sure as hell wasn't about celebrating something. Her tears and sobbs slowly ebbed away as she took deep breaths, holding onto the girls that hugged her to for comfort her. When she was sure that she could talk again without her voice hitching, she did her best to smile to the girls.

"I'm alright. Just a bit shaken." Haley shook her head from where she sat on her right.

"I don't think so. Your cheek is already starting to bruise." Lucas slipped out of the room as he made his way to the kitchen, getting some ice for her cheek. Nathan and Jake appologized for letting him get away, but Reily just smiled and shook her head.

"It's alright you two."

"Here." Haley moved aside and let Lucas sit beside Reily as he looked at her cheek closely. It wasn't split, thank god, but there was definatly going to be a dark bruise there. Placing the ice carefully against her skin, she hissed slightly when it first made contact, then held it there so that Lucas wouldn't have to.

"Maybe we should go. We could have the exam break another night-"

"No. I don't want you guys to have to leave. I'll be fine. A bruise and a bump on the head is the worst that I'm going to get, don't worry." Reily attempted to assure them, but her voice cracked at the end.

They gave in and stayed to watch the movie anyway, after Reily had pleaded them stay. There were some blankets laid in front of the couch, where Peyton sat with her back against the couch, Reily's head in her lap. Jake was sitting behind her, with Nathan on his left and Lucas on his right. Haley laid down beside Reily, in front of Nathan on the floor, while Brooke was on the floor on Reily's right. The movie was barely even thought of as all six of the people in the room would look down at Reily, who just laid there, but about halfway through the movie, she fell into a light sleep.

As they stopped the movie and turned on one of the lamps in the room to allow a little light without waking Reily, they could hear when the front door opened, before Karen appeared in the doorway. The smile on her face faultered when she saw the worried look on her sons face as he looked down at Reily. Haley moved away from Reily and quietly explained what had happened, as much as she knew anyway.

"Reily had gone over to her house to get her guitar, and while we were all setting things up here we heard her scream. The guys all ran over before us, but by the time we had gotten there Lucas was with her and Nathan and Jake had gone off after the guys who had done it to her. She's got a bruise on her cheek and the back of her head, but nothing critical."

"We should be getting home." Brooke whispered as she got up as well. Lucas nodded and moved to kneel down beside Reily, where he was careful as he picked her up from off the floor. Her arms immediatly came around his neck as she placed her head on his chest, the bruise on her cheek darker then before. They others all bid them goodnight, before they left quickly, and quietly.

"Lucas...." Karen mumbled as he saw him looking down at the young woman in his arms.

"I'm going to take her to her room." Lucas abruptly walked from the living room, leaving Karen there as she sighed, watching her sons retreating back. She followed after him quietly to the guest room, where Reily was staying.

"Lucas, why don't you go clean up and I'll put Reily into some night clothes so she's comfortable." Lucas placed the sleeping Reily on the bed, while his mother moved over to the dresser the Raily had put all of clothes into. Excusing himself, Lucas turned on a small lamp before leaving as he closed the door behind him. Karen sighed as she walked over to Reily with sorrow in her eyes. She gently placed a warm hand on her cheek, the one with no bruise on it. Her heart ached for the girl, that was for sure.

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**It's hard to believe that out of the over 1'000 hits that I have on this story, only about 3 or more people review. Here's the thing, if I don't get five reviews at the least for this chapter, then I wil NOT be continueing this story. It's your guys choice. NO FLAMES!**


	11. Kiss My Fears Away

**Before I started this chapter, the person who keeps sending in annonymous reviews by the name of 'Jody', I like that you like the story, and I'm glad to hear what you have to say, but please, stop telling me how to write my story. I have idea's and when I need some help, I'll surely let everyone know and then you can help me then. I'm not trying to get you to dislike the story, I just don't really like it when you tell me what to do when I didn't ask for help.**

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'Daddy, my leg hurts!

'It's alright baby, the pain will go away soon.'

"NO!" I shot up in my bed, the covers falling away as I panted heavily, sweat beading on my forehead and chest. I started out into the darkness of the room and shivered against the cold that came when the covers fell away, the sweat on my skin making it worse. Images flashed in my mind as I wiped at my face to try and get the cold sweat off.

My head was pounding, pain jolting from the back forward against my temples. My cheek was sore from the abuse of my father, and my whole body screamed in protest of being forcedly awoken by the nightmare. I sighed as I pushed my hair from my face. Looking down, I realized that I was now in a pair of long pajama pants, as well as a loose t-shirt that hung off of one shoulder.

Slipping out of the covers, I quickly and quietly made my way downstairs to the kitchen. But I was surprised to see the lights already on, and slowly walked in to see Lucas at the table. He had one leg pulled up with his foot resting on the chair, while his chin laid on the lifted knee. I stood in the doorway while he still didn't know that I was there, debating on leaving, but my throbbing headache made that almost impossible.

"Reily?"

**~Chapter 11-Kiss My Fears Away~**

Lucas saw as she jumped when he said her name, making him frown. She had not only jumped, but she had stepped away from him in the same motion. Reily calmed almost immediantly and stepped into the room, a small smile on her lips, though it was a sad one. Lucas noticed how her arms and were covered in bumps, and her face and chest that was shown was shiny with sweat.

"How's your head?"

"Pounding." She mumbled. Sitting down, she heard when Lucas got up and moved around the kitchen. She just looked down at the table top, not looking up at him. Lucas filled up a glass of water, before he stepped back over to Reily. Setting the glass in front of her, he held out his hand that had two tylenol. Giving him a withering smile, she took the two small pills that were in his palm, before she placed them on her tongue. Filling her mouth with the cool water, she swallowed them quickly.

"You'll be better in a bit." Lucas whispered, not wanting to wake his mother, as he took his seat again. Reily sighed as she rubbed her temple carefully, looking over to Lucas as her eyes began to sting.

"I don't think I thanked you for saving me." She said slowly, trying to stop herself from crying. Lucas saw her struggles and quickly got up from his seat and wrapped his arms around her, letting her rest her head on his shoulder. "Thank you, Lucas. Thank you so, so much."

"Hey, it's alright." Rubbing her back and shoulders, he heard Reily taking in deep breaths to try and calm herself down. She pulled away from him slowly as she smiled to him, tear trails on her cheeks. Leaning forward, she pressed her lips quickly, but softly against his. Her head pains slowly began to ebb away as she looked up into Lucas's blue eyes. Lucas noticed that her eyes still didn't seem to glow like they had before the attack.

Reily suddenly let out a soft yawn, though she had tried to hold it back, that never really did work very well. Lucas lifted her up to her feet, even when she groaned in protest. Guiding her back to the guest room, he made sure that she was in bed before he made his way toward his own, telling Reily to get to sleep and that he would see her in the morning.

Reily laid down in her bed, still and quiet. Every movement and every sound that she heard made her jump. Lying on her back, not wanting to have her back to any open space with a fear that her father was going to come up behind and her and pull her away. She continued to look over at the clock on the nightside table, seeing that it would seem to just go slower and slower, while all she wanted was for morning to come.

When it was only ten minutes later, she gave up with attempting to fall back asleep. She had been able to sleep while the girls were around her, and with the guys in the room, because she knew that she was safe then, but now she was petrified. Throwing her covers away, she darted from her room, making sure that she wasn't going to wake Karen.

She remembered where Lucas's room was, and went straight to it, double checking that all the doors and windows were locked on the way there. Opening Lucas's door, she peaked in, seeing that there was some light coming in through his window from the streetlights. Lucas was lying with his back toward the door, and she didn't know whether he was awake or not.

Slipping into the room, she carefully closed the door beind her, before she walked over to the side of the bed that he wasn't on. Lifting the covers, she moved in quietly and carefully, until she was tucked up against Lucas's back. Lucas was taken by surprise when he felt someon up against him, startling him from the doze that he had slipped into. Looking back, he faintly made out the brown hair of Reily as she pushed up to him.

"Reily, what's wrong?" Lucas turned to face her, seeing that her shoulders were shaking and he had a very strong feeling that it wasn't because it was cold. "You can stay here for the night, Reily. I'll be here for you, you know that." He whispered, seeing her numbly nod her head as she rest her head against him chest while he wrapped one arm around her shoulders, and the other under his head as a bit of a lift.

"I'm sorry for bothering you, but I don't want to be alone." She mumbled into his chest, her hands gripping his shirt. Lucas stayed away until he felt the grip on his shirt loosen in Reily's sleep, glad that she was able to get back to sleep without anymore problems, and could only hope that she didn't have anymore nightmares.

Karen opened Reily's door, peeking inside, only to see the bed unmade and empty. She quickly made her way down to Lucas's room, where she would then throw herself into a fit of a panic if she wasn't there with him. Opening the door, she let out a sigh of relief when she saw Reily sleeping soundly, curled into Lucas's side. She left the room quietly, not wanting to wake either of them on a Sunday. A knock on the door made her move away from the door to head toward where the front door was.

"Hi Peyton, Brooke."

"Hi Karen. We just wanted to stop by and see how Reily was." Brooke smiled and Karen nodded her head in understanding as she moved aside so that they two girls could enter the home.

"Reily's actually still sleeping. I just went in and checked on her earlier, and I seems like she stayed with Lucas last night, because when I went to check on her in her room, she wasn't there. She in Lucas's room right now." She explained as she walked the girls into the house. "Can I get you two anything?"

"I'll have a coffee, please?" Brooke asked with a smile, which Karen returned calmly as she moved into the ktichen to get Brooke her drink. They followed after her as she moved around the kitchen, the two girls sitting down at the table. The sound of shuffling feet made them glance back to see Lucas walking through the kitchen door.

"Hey sleepy head. How's Reily?" Peyton asked from her seat, starting the basketball player. He looked over to them in surprise, before just shaking it off.

"She's petrified. She afraid of sleeping in her room by herself and came into my room last night." He explained as he moved past his mother, who was going to give Brooke her coffee. "She was shaking."

"Poor Reily. Who would want to do this to her?" Peyton mumbled, causing Karen to frown, but she kept silent.

Reily shifted from where she lay buried under the covers, her head on a very comfortable pillow. She sighed, before an image of her father in black flashed in her mind, causing her to shoot bolt upright. She looked around to see that she was still in Lucas's room, but he was nowhere to be seen. Panic rose inside her, before she heard the sound of his voice outside the room.

"God..." Falling back into the pillows, she could smell Lucas all around her, calming her frantically beating heart. Wrapping the covers around herself, she inhaled deeply through her nose, an absent though suddenly popped into her mind. Was she in love with Lucas? She once more shot up in the bed, causing the room to spin as the pounding in the back of her head returned.

Groaning in pain, she slowly laid back onto the pillows this time, holding her head. She moved her hand to carefully touch her bruise cheek, only to withdraw it moments later when the throbbing began there as well. She was so sore. She could only imagin what it looked like. Haley had said that it had already been visible only minutes after they had saved her, and now it's been hours. She could only hope that Brooke was really good with make-up, because she was NOT going to be going to school tomorrow with a purple blob on her face.

Covering her head with the pillows, she sighed quietly. The talking outside the room had quieted, then stopped, and she could hear when the front door closed, quietly. She knew that it had to have been Karen, because seconds later, the bedroom door opened again, then clicked closed. Lifting the overs up only to peak out, she saw Lucas smile down at her.

"Morning, how's your head?" He asked as he sat down, looking into her blue eyes. She groaned as she rolled onto her back, moving the blanket aside. Lucas's smile faded as he gave her a sorrowful look. Leaning forward, he gently kissed her temple, causing tingles to shoot through her body, head to toe. she smiled softly to him as he pulled away. "Better?"

"A bit. You know, I think I accadently bit my lip while I was sleeping." She made a slightly pouting face, and Lucas grinned down at her.

"Oh really?" She nodded her head and he leaned closer to her again, "Well, maybe I could help you with that." Placing his hand on her uninjured cheek, he pulled her up toward him, pressing his lips against her, but it was just the slightest pressure. That was good enough for both of them. As they pulled apart, Lucas saw that glow in Reily's eyes again, before it dimmed as her peaceful look faultered.

"Can I have another Tylenol?" She asked quietly. He smiled to her in reassurance and nodded, the both of them sitting up. Lucas help Reily out of the bed, who averted her eyes from anything that she was able to see her reflection in. Getting herself a glass of water, Lucas got her the two pills, same as the night before, while Reily sat at the table.

"Brooke and Peyton came by while you were still sleeping. They said that they were going to be coming back later to see you, but they didn't want to bother you and just let you sleep." He handed Reily the two pills, where the quickly swallowed them down with water, making a sour face. Lucas let out a chuckle as he gave her a light kiss on the forehead, banishing her look of disgust and lighting her face with a blush.

"I'm going to go and get dressed."For some reason, her voice was quiet, as though speaking too loud was going to break some kind of a moment. Nodding, Lucas watched as she slipped from the room, heading toward they guest room she had been staying at for the past week. As soon as she shut the door, she looking into the closet, checked that her window was locked, and made sure that her house key was where Karen had put it.

Pulling on a hoodie and pair of loose jeans, Reily finally moved toward the mirror that stood on the dresser in her room. She let out a groan at the sight of the digusting purple that stretched across her cheek bone almost to her jaw. She was never really one to do well with makeup, so she was definatly going to need help from one of the other girls. Leaving her room, she had her hand over her cheek when she walked past Lucas's room, only to see him without a shirt, searching through his dresser. Looking over to her, Lucas caught her eye, causing her to blush and dash toward the kitchen.

As she was pulling on her shoes, Lucas finally came out, smirking down at her. He was wearing a loose blue t-shirt that was still about to show off his physique. He leaned against the doorframe as he looked down at her where she was pulling on her second shoe. She just looked up to stick her tongue out at him, then stood up, while he just slipped on his shoes easily.

"To the cafe?" Reily asked as she opened the door. Lucas nodded in agreement, stepping out after her. Closing and locking it, they made their way to their trucks, where Reily froze. She really didn't want to drive herself. Her fears were put to rest as Lucas wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her to the passenger side of his truck.

"It's alright Reily. Whenever you need me, I will always be there." Reily sat sideway in the seat, facing Lucas, who stood in the doorway. His hands were placed on her thighs in a reassuring gesture, gently rubbing his hands up and down the clothed skin. She smiled and leaned forward until her lips brushed his forehead, her hands coming to carefully hold his face. Lucas's arms wrapped around her waist and held her close to him, letting her understand that he was there for her.

"Come on, let's get going." She smiled down to Lucas who grinned back, releasing her waist as he kissed her lips gently. He stepped away and let Reily turned forward in the seat, before closing the door for her. They both just stayed silent on the way there, but they were comfortable with it. As they approached the cafe, Reily pulled up her hood to hide the bruise on her cheek, causing Lucas to rub her shoulder sympothetically. As soon as they stepped into the cafe, Haley ran out to them with Brooke and Peyton right behind her.

"Hi! We came to see how you were this morning, but you were still asleep." Brooke explained, then frowned when she saw that Reily was covering her face. Peyton frowned as she pushed the hood away slowly, letting the girls see the dark bruise that had formed there. "Oh, Rei." Brooke brought Reily into a hug, while Haley walked over to Lucas.

"So I hear she stayed with you last night?" She asked, though she didn't ask it in a teasing way, more of a concerned way. Lucas sighed as he looked over to where Reily was still being swarmed by the other two, now sitting at the counter. Brooke and Peyton were looking over her skin tone to see what they could do for the bruise on her cheek, much to her relief.

"Yea. She doesn't want to go anywhere by herself anymore. I'm worried about when we go back to school tomorrow, cause if she can't drive her own truck, then I'm worried about how she'll get home and how things will turn out." He leaned against a free table, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well, why don't you just take the same truck. Her mom's not going to be back for another two weeks or so, and it'll be easy for you two in the same house, and it would be best if we all tried to let her know that we're there." She explained quietly, not wanting to attract attention.

"But what about the days that I have practice?"

"She spends alot of days after school in the music room, so she could stay there while you're at practice." Haley then looked over to him with a much more serious look on her face, her voice dropping further. "Lucas, I overheard her mother and you mom talking before Rosanne left, and she was leaving to meet with a court to get a restraining order against Reily's father."

Lucas froze asked he looked down at her in shock. Haley's eyes were hard and her face masked in worry. He remembered when they had been playing that game at the river court, when he has asked her about the scars, when she had first cried in front of him.

_It was him. This is all his fault..._

* * *

**Well It took longer to get five reviews then I had thought. Seriously, there are so many people that put this story on their alert list, BUT THEY DO NOT REVIEW. And it is pissing me off! Anyway, thanks to those who reivewed, and to everyone else, you suck. I live off of getting reviews, it helps me to continue to know that you like it, but when I just get an alert, all I get from that is "i wonder what'll happen next". PLEASE REVIEW!**


	12. To Protect

Blood pounded in my ears as I looked out the music room window. Lucas had practice and was going to come and get me here when he was finished. Nathan and Jake had been filled in by Peyton and Haley about how Lucas would be giving me rides for a little while. Today had been my third day back and Brooke had done an amazing job at hiding the bruise on my cheek, so now it only looked like a dim shadow.

I had stayed with Lucas again the last couple of nights, not able to face the shadows of my room. I felt like such a child, afraid of the monsters under the bed. But this time, they were real, and the only thing that could make them go away, was my mom, who was doing her best to do just that, miles away, in a board room meeting. The terrors in my life were very real, but I had thought that all of those were left behind when we moved here.

Putting my guitar in its case, I looked down at the notebook where I had written the song that I would be using at the open mic night. No one had heard it, not even Jake, who I often went to when in need of musical opinions. He didn't mind, and loved to listen to what I was working on. He kept my secret, and hadn't told a soul about my singing voice, for which I was grateful. Closing the notebook, I began to hum under my breath the tune that I had come up to go with the words, glad that I had finally had time to work on it.

"You have a beautiful voice."

The pounding in my ears stopped, as did my heart.

**~Chapter 12-To Protect~**

Reily spun around to face the man that had been halting her every thought since that night. He smiled to her, taking a few straps around the desks until there was only one large table separating them. Reily's back was against the chalk board as she tried her best to get as far away from him as possible. He just smiled as he stood there, looking across to her. His short dark blondish hair was unclean and not brushed, his teeth beginning to turn a slight yellow, and she knew that if she were standing any closer, then she would have smelt his breath to be disgusting. His clothes were a mess and old, stained with wrinkles and rips. His dull blue eyes were wide, crazed.

"Just leave me alone!"

"Don't you see! I will never leave you Reily, you're my baby girl." He took a step to the right, trying to make it seem small and unseen, but Reily was on such high alert that she could catch a fly moving outside the window at that point. Lucas was supposed to be out of practice soon, but she couldn't take the chance of trying to stall him. Her hand hit something hard when she took a step to the left, always staying exactly opposite of him.

She immediately recognized the object to be the chalkboard eraser. It had a hard wooden handle on it that was sure to do damage if thrown hard enough. She grasped it in her hand when he stepped closer to her, but this time she let him. She needed him a fair distance to get in a good hit when she threw it. He smiled when she didn't back off, and took another step. With all her might, she brought her arm up and threw the eraser, the wooden handle cracking loudly against his forehead.

She screamed when she saw him jump at her, blood beginning to drip down his forehead. She dodged from around the table and headed for the door, moving desks into his path so that he had a hard time running at her. She glanced over her shoulder when she heard him groan, seeing him holding his head with one hand, blood hitting the floor and the desks as he hunched over when he had ran into the edge of one of the desks. She tried to turn the handle, but found that she couldn't open the door. Looking down, she saw the key in the lock, but the end was broken off.

"REILY!"

She cringed when she heard her father's booming voice, as well as the desk that he pushed out his way as he began to limp toward her. She used her nails to hold onto the end of the key that stuck out the door and was able to turn it when a hand grabbed her shoulder and she was forced to turn around, his blood staining the light top that she had on. Her father's face was inches from hers as she felt tears burn her eyes, the warm liquid dripping down her cheeks as she felt his putrid breath on her face.

"What happened, Reily? You used you be such a good little girl."

"Don't touch me you bastard!" Bringing her knee up, she slammed it right between his legs, drawing a long groan from the man as he fell the lean against the wall beside the door, releasing Reily's shoulder when he doubled over in pain. Swinging the door open, she bolted out of the room before he could recover again, taking off toward there she knew that the gym was. "Lucas!"

Lucas, Jake and Nathan were the last ones in the gym, the other guys all gone to change while Lucas filled them in on why their girlfriends had been over at his house with Reily almost every breathing moment since the attack. Jake knew that it was a good thing that Peyton was there, as well as Brooke, because they had also both been attacked, and would be able to help her out a lot better then any of them would.

"But she's alright to be at school?" Nathan asked from where he was dribbling the ball, then passed it over to Lucas, who did his famous jump-shot.

"Yea. I mean, she's still really jumpy, but everyone knows that someone wouldn't try to attack her while she's surrounded by other students. It's the times that she's alone that freaks her out." Lucas sighed as he remembered the Monday back at school, when he had gone to meet her at her locker for lunch, when she nearly screamed when he came up behind her. He's never done it since. "And when you take her by surprise."

"Is she alright with being in the school alone when no one else is here? I mean, there's usually no one here as late as we are for our practices, so she would be alone in the music room." Jake sat on one the benches, a bottle of water in his hands as leaned on his elbows that were placed on his knees. Lucas looked over at him in confusion.

"You know, she always does seem fidgety after I come to the music room to get her. I never really thought about that being why."

"Come on guys, we should go get-"

"LUCAS!"

All three boys froze, Lucas spinning around to face the door. Moments later, Reily burst through the door, tears running down her face. She went straight to Lucas as soon as she saw him, throwing her arms around his torso as she burned her face in his chest, whether he hadn't showered yet or not. There was blood on the left shoulder of her shirt, but no wound that they could see. Her whole body was shaking as Lucas wrapped his arms around her as well, trying to calm her down.

Nathan and Jake shared a look, before they both took off toward where they knew that Reily had been. The music room.

Lucas picked Reily up and carried her over to the benches, sitting down with her in his lap as he cradled her against him. Reily's shaking never ceased as Lucas pulled her so that almost her whole form was pressed against him, her face buried in the crook of his neck, his arms wrapped around her waist and shoulders. Her crying did calm down to quiet sobs, though, after a couple of minutes. Soon, Jake and Nathan appeared in the doorway again, both looking upset.

"Someone was defiantly in there with her." Nathan said as he walked over to where they were. "There's some blood on the desks and floor. Though whoever was there took off before we got there. The blood was leading away from the gym, so they must have ran."

"Can you guys stay here with Reily, I'm just going to get my things and go. I can change and shower at home, but I want to get Reily out of here." Lucas explained as he looked up at them. Jake nodded, Nathan doing the same. Lucas looked down at Reily, who was still shaking. "I'm going to just get my things, they'll keep you safe." Placing her on the bench, Reily released his shirt bringing her hands up to wipe her cheeks, the make-up on her cheek washing away from her tears to show the dark bruise there. "I'll be right back."

Nathan and Jake each took a seat on either side of her, each doing their best to comfort her. Reily's eyes once more had lost that glow that was always in them, which had slowly begun to come back through the couple of days. Lucas had been doing everything he could to make her laugh, to make her smile. Even just to get a positive reaction from her, and she slowly began to respond more and more, but now they were back to square one.

Lucas quickly jogged into the changing room, where the guys were all off to the showers. Getting his bag, he stuffed his clothes inside, zipping it up and heading back to toward the gyms doors. As he was running past the doors leading to the hallway, he glanced out the glass. A man was limping down the hallway, dressed in dark clothes. Lucas stopped, and walked back to the window, but he was gone. Shaking it off, he resumed his steps and ran off.

Jake and Nathan got up as soon as Lucas came back, Jake still had his hand on her shoulder that had no blood on it, while Nathan stroked her hair in reassurance. Bidding their farewells, Reily's gave a small wave, before they disappeared into the change room. Lucas sat down at Reily's side once more and gave her a one armed hug, with her head moving to rest on his chest. Kissing her hair softly, he held her tightly, before letting her go so they could stand.

Lucas pulled up to the house, sighing softly. He and Reily had stopped by the music room to get Reily's things, then went down to the office and told them that someone had been in a fight in the music room and it needed to be cleaned. Reily refused to tell anyone what had happened, which was a seriously bad idea in Lucas's terms. Looking over to Reily, he saw her curled up in the seat with her back to the window, facing him. Her breathing was even and her eyes closed.

Not having the heart to wake her up, he slipped out of his seat and closed his door quietly, before he quickly moved over to Reily's side, opening her door. She didn't move as he unbuckled her, then grabbed their bags from the back, though he couldn't carry her guitar. Taking her into his arms, he was careful as he adjusted her so that she was lying up against him, her arms immediately coming to wrap around his neck. Using his foot to close the door, he walked up the steps to the house, and was about to knock on the door with his hand that was under her knees, when his mother opened the door and smiled when she saw him.

"Come on." She stepped out of the way and let Lucas walk in with Reily. Lucas kicked off his shoes when he was inside, his mother closing the door behind him. As soon as his shoes were off, he walked down toward his room, while he could hear his mother heading toward the living room. As soon as he reached his room, he put Reily down carefully on the bed, putting their bags on the floor near his dresser.

He heard Reily shift on the bed and looked over to see her turn over until she was lying on her side, then curled up until her legs were tucked up against her body, something that she had come accustom to in her sleep when she was alone. But when she had curled up, the back of her shirt rose to show the long white scars that were scattered over her caramel skin. Walking over to her, he carefully sat down on the bed behind her, his hand moving forward to hover over one scar that was right along her spine.

Making sure that his touch was careful, he slowly traced the large scar there, his face hard as he found the urge to hit something. Who would do this to such a young girl, an innocent girl? He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He put his hand palm flat against her back, then slid it over her skin to feel all the different scars littered over it, slipping it up until it was at mid back. There he stopped when he came in contact with a larger scar than any other. It was diagonal across her spine, deep and long. As he pulled his hand away, he leaned forward until his forehead was resting against Reily's arm.

Karen stood in Lucas's doorway as she looked down at her son with sorrow in her eyes. She silently turned and walked away, not wanting Lucas to know that she had been there the entire time. Sitting back down in her chair, her book on the armrest, she placed a hand over her mouth as she tried to keep herself from crying. She had thought that watching over Reily would be alright, but her father was here and she was scared. She didn't want to lose Reily, she loved her like a daughter, and it scared her that such an evil man was back in her life.

She faintly heard when Lucas closed the door to the washroom and got up from her chair, walking into the kitchen as she picked up the phone. Rosanne had told her to call her only from after 7 pm and up to 8 am. It was now 7:12 pm. Dialling the number of her cell, that she had quickly memorized, she sat down at the table. The shower in the washroom started and she knew that she only had 10 minutes tops to tell her everything before Lucas came out of the shower.


	13. Remember The Fallen

I sat on my bed, dressed in a pair of dry, clean shorts. I had thrown out that shirt with the blood on it as soon as I had taken it off, and was now in a baggy t-shirt that I had stolen from Lucas's laundry. It was huge and hung off one of my shoulders, almost covering over my shorts. Sighing heavily, I leaned back against my bed, both my lamp lights turned on and my windows locked. Lucas was in his room, doing what I had no clue. Karen was in the living room reading, though she was on the phone when I woke up.

Rolling over, I looked over to where Lucas had put my guitar after retrieving it while I was sleeping, and my backpack that I had gotten from his room. Exams were starting next week, and so it would be smart to study, but I was just NOT in the mood. Getting off my bed, I walked from the room and headed toward the kitchen, grabbing a mug from the cupboard. As I made myself a tea, I began to think about what my father had said when I was in the music room.

"I'll never leave you alone Reily, you're my baby girl!"

Shuddering, I looked over to where I could hear someone walking by and saw Karen giving Lucas a hug, before she smiled to me as she headed toward her room for the night. I smiled back and gave a nod, watching as she walked down the hall. Turning to lean down against the counter on my elbows, I held back a yawn that fought to come out, clamping my teeth shut. Lucas stepped up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, letting my lean back against him to rest my head against his shoulder. I wish I could tell him, but I'm afraid of what my father would do to him.

**~Chapter 13-Remember The Fallen~**

Lucas laid on his back as he looked up at the ceiling. Reily had said that she was going to be trying to sleep in her own room, with her mother coming home in only a bit over a week, then she was going to have to go back to her home and her room, by herself. He was just worried about how she would react to being by herself again, after living with him for three weeks, and staying in his room for almost two of that.

Haley had said that Reily's mother was away to get a restraining order against her father, and they would need a very good reason for needing that. Then there was the fact that Reily almost seemed to know the person that was attacking her. It had dawned on him after he had thought back to the river court when he asked her about the scars, and now it was scaring him to think that Reily's father could be the one attacking her.

The sound of his door opening made him look over to where Reily was slipping inside, closing the door behind her. Lucas immediately moved the blankets aside to let her slip under them, sliding up next to him. Lifting his arm, he let her rest her head on his chest, while he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Reily's arm draped over his stomach while her other was tucked to her chest in between them.

"How am I going to sleep when my mom comes home?" She sighed, "What would I do without you." She continued as she looked at him with a smile, before she then let her head fall to rest against his chest again. Lucas kissed her hair softly as he rubbed her shoulder reassuringly.

"You'll be okay." Frowning, Lucas tried to think of a way to ask her about her father, a way that wouldn't upset her like when he asked her about her scars, but he just couldn't come up with anything. "Uh...Reily, I was wondering, about who it was that keeps coming after you. You seem to know them..." trailed off when he felt Reily stiffen in his arms, her hand grasping his shirt in a death grip.

"Lucas....do you remember how I told you that my dad left a couple years ago?" He almost couldn't breathe. His heart was pounding so hard in his chest, he was sure that she could hear it. She sat up from lying in his arms as she looked down at him, watching as he pulled himself up against the headboard. When he nodded, she sighed as she continued on, "Ever since I was really little my dad used to cut me, that's where the scars came from-" She cut off as she held her breath to stop a sob when it tried to break free from her chest. "My mom found out when I was 14 and they went through a really messy divorce. My dad was sent to jail for sexually harassing a minor."

She sighed quietly as she wiped her eyes. Lucas immediately regretted asking as he sat frozen in place. Reily hid her face in her hands as she wiped at the tears the streamed down her cheeks. When a sob broke out from her throat, Lucas finally seemed to be able to move. Pulling Reily forward into his arms, he buried his face deep into the crook of her neck, her hair tickling his cheeks and nose. He held onto her closer, and tighter than he ever had before. Reily held him as well, feeling how tense his body was, and how tightly his arms were wrapped around her form.

Reily's breathing was hard and her body shook. It almost felt like her scars were burning on her body in remembrance. Lucas's hands on her back calmed her, letting her know that he was there, and not her father. She buried her face in the cloth of his shoulder, her hands burying in his hair as he pulled his face into her shoulder further when she felt him beginning to shake as well, running her hands through his blond hair.

"I'm sorry Lucas. I should have told you sooner. I'm so sorry." She whispered quietly, her chest tightening when she felt a drop of wet touch her shoulder. Lucas shook his head against her skin, holding onto her tightly, though he carefully pulled back. Reily let one of her hands release his hair as he looked down at her face, her hand gently touching his cheek as her thumb wiped away a tear that was sliding down.

"Reily..."

"I shouldn't have told you...."

"No!" Lucas let his arms fall from around her as he took her face in his hands, his brow furrowing as his lips formed into a frown. Reily looked up at him as her own tears began to slip free again. "I so glad you told me, I want you to be able to trust me to tell me things." His voice quieted from his outburst only moments before. Reily's eyes widened and the smallest smile found her lips as she looked into his calm blue eyes, her own lightening slightly.

"I do trust you Lucas, more than any other friend I've ever had." She then frowned slightly as she hesitated in her next words. "Or...the first boyfriend..." She mumbled as she looked up at him in worry, though he only smiled down at her, pressing his lips down to hers gently. Reily smile returned as she kissed him back once more, before they both pulled back with smiles, though small, they were there. Reily suddenly made a sour face as she rubbed her temples.

"Ugh, my head hurts now, from the crying." She mumbled, though laughed slightly as she looked up to Lucas again, bringing her lips to his in a quick kiss. Lucas smiled down to her, before he laid down, Reily still lying on top of him. She used his chest as a pillow as she wrapped her arms loosely around him.

Reily, Peyton and Brooke all laughed as they walked down the hall. They had been waiting for the guys to get back from a trip out with the coach. Peyton had been telling them old stories of when she used to go by the river court with just Brooke, letting Reily know everything that had been going on while she wasn't there. She really wished that he mother had been thinking of moving soon, but if she had moved there sooner, then she wouldn't be living right across the road from Lucas.

As they all rounded a corner, their faces dropped as they saw a student standing only a couple of yards from where they stood on the other side of a glass door. Brooke let out a scream, causing everyone else to turn and look at the boy. The halls way broke into a fit of screams and panic seconds before a loud shot rung through the air, only causing the people to begin to flee from the area. The glass of the door shattered, causing Brooke to duck away from the other girls as she then got stuck in the crowd to be swept away.

Peyton ducked close to Reily to try and avoid getting stepped on, the other students all in a rush to get as far away as they could. Making sure she was careful with the glass that littered the ground, trying to stop herself from getting cut. A code Red was alerted, causing kids to all run to the nearest safe room and quickly lock themselves inside. Peyton took hold of Reily's arm, trying to get her off the floor, but got a cry of pain in response.

"Come on Rei, we have to get moving. NOW!" Peyton was about to pull her up, when she saw the deep red painting the floor around Reily. Her jeans were beginning to turn that same disgusting red, as well as the hem of her white shirt. "Oh my god, Reily..." Kneeling down before her again, she moved to cover the wound, but pulled her hands back. "I know that it's going to hurt, but we have to get out of here, fast. Come on, the library's closest.

"I-I can't walk." She stuttered as she put her hand over her hip where the bullet hit her.

"You can, I'll help you. We just have to get out of the open before he comes back." She placed an arm around Reily's back, under her arms, and tried her best to pull the other girl up easily. Reily held back cries of pain so as not to attract attention, and let Peyton pretty much drag her toward the library. As soon as they were inside, Reily fell to the floor behind a bookshelf, blocking her from view of Jimmy, who had been the one to shoot the gun.

"What...what do we do now?" She asked, panting. Peyton quickly moved behind her, resting her back against the bookshelf and lifting Reily up so that she was in between her legs, back against chest. Reily's breathing was getting increasingly heavy, and her skin was beginning to become slick with sweat. Tears stung both their eyes were Peyton began to gently rock them, careful of Reily's hip.

Lucas stepped over the pool of blood on the other side of the door, looking around as he held the baseball bat in a firm grip. Nathan disappeared down another hall, heading for Haley. Following the trails of blood carefully, he made sure to keep an eye out up and down the halls. Once he came to the library doors, be saw the blood leading into the bookshelves, disappearing behind one of the ones close to the door.

Readjusting the bat in his hands, he stepped quietly toward the shelf. He raised the bat, ready to hit, when he stepped onto the other side. Peyton made a cry of fear as Reily let out a sob, both fearful when they saw someone step out from behind the shelf. As soon as Lucas saw that it was them, he dropped the bat and ran toward them. Peyton looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

"Are you two alright, is everything okay?" He asked as he kneeled beside them. Peyton bit her lips as tears began to fall down her cheeks, shaking her head. Lucas looked at her, trying to see if she was injured, when she raised her hands to show them covered in blood. Lucas's heart stopped as he moved around so that he was kneeling in front of Reily.

She smiled weakly at him, her lips pale and her eyes tired, her usual caramel skin was almost white against her brown hair. "Hey...Lucas..." Looking down, his eyes found her hip, where blood was seeping through her fingers, creating a huge stain on her pants and shirt, as well as forming a puddle on the floor. "Lucas...I...I'm cold." She whispered quietly as she tried to blink away the tears, only causing more to roll down her pale cheeks.

"Reily..." Lucas swallowed hard as he looked at the amount of blood that was coming from her hip. "They-"

"He." Peyton cut him off, causing him to look up at her. "It was your old friend, from the time capsule. He's all on his own, there's no one else. But Lucas, when he raised that gun, he didn't seem evil, or crazed..." Peyton trailed off as she looked up at the ceiling.

"He looked scared." Reily finished, her eyes sliding closed. Lucas moved up to her and gently took her face in his hands.

"Reily, you need to stay awake. Alright, please you just need to stay awake." Lucas then got to his feet, glancing out the door to make sure that no one was there. "Do you think we can move her somewhere safer?"

"No, I could barely get her in here. It's too dangerous, if we get her heart pumping to fast, she'll just bleed out quicker." Peyton began to cry again, holding onto Reily tightly. Reily opened her eyes the slightest bit, though she was now fighting for her life as she attempted to stay awake.

"We have to get her out of here, there's nothing else we can do." Lucas carefully moved to the side of Reily where her wound would be against his body, so that there was less chance of it being moved. "We just have to be really quiet." Letting Lucas pick up Reily, Peyton released her as she got to her feet as well. He pan leg that was on her injured side was covered in blood, as well as her hands. "Reily, you have to stay with us, please."

The begin to walk to the door of the library, Peyton glancing out into the hallway to made sure that no one was out there. Her bloodied hands stained the door as she leaned against it, leaving a red hand print there. She opened the door for Lucas, allowing him to step out with Reily in his arms. Peyton moved to follow them, letting the door slam closed behind them, making them all flinch.

"Lucas...I wanted to tell you...for a little while now..." She mumbled as her head fell against his shoulder. "I love you." Peyton smiled, she almost felt like crying when she heard the other teen's words. Lucas looked down at her, catching her blue eyes. They danced with that long lost glow that they had been missing for a while. Her lips pulled up into a small smile, but it was pained, and her lips were beginning to turn blue.

"Reily." Moving quickly, Lucas and Peyton made there was to where Reily had first been shot, to the glass doors. Finally reaching them, Peyton once more held the door open for them and let Lucas walk through with Reily.

"Where do you think you're going!?" Lucas froze as Peyton let out a small scream when they saw Jimmy rushing toward them with the gun raised. Lucas just looked at him calmly, trying not to show how scared he was. But not of the gun, of how Reily was still losing more and more blood.

"She's bleeding-"

"The school's on lockdown!" He screamed, waving the gun at them. Peyton leaned back against the door, covering her mouth as she began to cry again. Reily didn't move, or react at all to the screaming. She was out. Her head resting against Lucas's shoulder and an arm around his neck. Lucas would have loved to be holding her, if only it were a different situation.

"I know Jim." He took a breath before continuing. "But if we don't get you out of here, she's going to die." Jim seemed to lose his anger as he looked down at the girl in Lucas's arms, her skin so pale and her lips turning blue.

His voice was weak as he spoke. "I didn't mean to hurt her."

"We know that Jimmy." Lucas and Peyton both looked over to where Keith stepped of a door beside Peyton. He had his hands up in silent surrender, showing that he had nothing in his hands and that he was in no way trying to offend Jimmy.

"What the hell is this!?" He finally screamed, swinging the gun around. "The school, is on lockdown!" Pointing the gun back at the three once more, his breathing was heavy and he looked like he was actually going to lose it any moment.

"Please, Jimmy, just let them go." Keith said, trying to move closer to him. "We don't have to talk about this. She's hurt Jimmy." His voice became more forceful at the end, trying to get the young boy to understand that it was important she get out at once for medical attention. Jimmy once more seemed to lose his anger slightly as his expression became pained.

"I didn't mean to hurt her." He said again. Keith stepped in between Lucas and Jimmy, putting himself in front of the bullet.

"Go on, Lucas." He said over his shoulder, while he still kept his eyes on Jimmy. Lucas tried to take a calming breath as he and Peyton once more walked toward the door that Keith had just came through. Peyton immediately ran out of the hallway, Lucas pausing as he looked up at him Uncle, soon to be father.

"Keith..."

"Luke, I love you, now go." Lucas hesitated as he looked at Jimmy, seeing the gun still pointing at them. Finally, he stepped through the doors, leaving Keith alone with Jimmy as he hurried to get Reily away. As he made his way to the front door of the school, he let Peyton push open the door. Outside, there were police and ambulances there, everyone waiting for the outcome. Police began to move forward to them, guns raised.

He walked down away from the door and an officer came up to them, gun put away. He held his arms out for Reily, but Lucas hesitated. Peyton put a reassuring hand on his arm as she nodded to the officer. Lucas then let him take Reily from his arms, carrying her away, blood stained down his shirt and pants from Reily's wound. They then forced Lucas and Peyton onto their knees, taking caution.

Reily was placed in an ambulance, immediately, rushed away. Lucas found his mother not soon after the police cleared him. Peyton found Brooke, and they all watched as the ambulance left, before turning their attention back to the school, hoping, and praying that Keith would come walking out, with Jimmy beside him, both safe, and calm.

Their prayers went unanswered, and their hope shattered.


	14. Coming Home

People all grieve in different ways; some cut themselves off from the world. Others try to surround themselves with friends and family. And some just act like nothing happened throughout the entire thing. Everyone has their own way of dealing with things, and I know that it hurts when you lose someone so close to you, but you should never shut someone out.

I lay quietly in the hospital bed, looking over at the night-stand where flowers sat on the table. I was finally allowed to leave the hospital, and Peyton would be coming it pick me up later in the afternoon. Things were a mess right now, with everything that had been happening. Lucas was pissed off with Jim and refused to ever hear his name without having a fit. Karen was pushing everyone away, in pain at the loss of her fiancé.

My mom had called to check on me, but she wasn't allowed to leave New York because if she did, then she would be closing the case against my father. She had been so worried, and wanted so bad to come and see me, but luckily I had been able to convince her that I was fine, and would be even better when we no longer had to worry about my dad. I smiled to myself, despite the situation. She had said that the case was going great, so I could only hope.

My hip bone had taken the impact of the bullet, so it didn't do any intestinal damage. I was lucky. I had been in here for a while, and everyone keeps saying that there is nothing critically wrong, so I wouldn't have to be held there long. There was a bandage on my hip, the wound was almost closed already, so I would be alright to move and walk around in no time. But I had to be on bed rest for a couple more days.

**~Chapter 14-Coming Home~**

Peyton smiled when she came into Reily's room, seeing the other girl already dressed and ready to leave. She was wearing a pair of baggy shorts that hung loose so that they wouldn't bother her hip, and she looked like she could really use a shower and some real food. She had said that she really didn't like showering in the hospital because all of her nurses wouldn't leave her alone. Peyton was glad that she could save her from it and bring her back home. Well, to Lucas's at least.

"Hey there." Reily smiled as she picked up her coat.

"Hey yourself, you ready to get out of here?" Peyton leaned against the door, smiling over to Reily as well. Reily nodded as she limped slightly over to her. Her hip was still very fragile, so it hurt a bit when she put pressure on the leg, but they were giving her some medicine to stop that.

"More then." The two girls made their way out, and after they had handed in Reily's release papers, headed out to Peyton's car. Neither really said anything as Peyton drove them down to Lucas's, both having their minds on separate things. Reily couldn't stop thinking about something that had occurred to her only that morning, when she was thinking about how Keith had saved them.

When she got inside, she waved off to Peyton as she drove off again. Reily knew that things were going to be bad at the house, and she was ready to take that. Closing the door, she sighed as she stepped through the house toward the kitchen. Seconds later, as she stepped through the door, she saw Lucas facing his back toward her, leaning forward with his elbows on the table. Her heart went out for him, that was for sure. Keith had been the man that was Lucas's father, all his life. And now he was gone. Walking up behind him, she carefully wrapped her arms around his shoulders, resting her cheek against his hair.

"I'm so sorry Lucas." She whispered quietly, kissing his hair. Lucas brought one hand up to place over top of hers. He said nothing, only held her hand as she stood behind him, trying to make things better, but she knew that no matter what, it was going to take time. She could feel that familiar stinging in her eyes and closed them as she tried to stop herself from crying. She needed to be strong, for Lucas, and for Karen. Pulling back gently, she moved so that she could see some of his face. "I'm going to go have a shower. Are you going to be alright?"

Lucas turned to look at her and gave a small nod. Reily nodded back as she gently gave him a quick kiss on the lips, holding his cheek in one hand. Her arms left from around his shoulders as she turned to leave. Lucas turned to watch her go, noticing the slight limp in her step when she put pressure on her right leg. As soon as she had left, he placed his forehead on the tabletop, letting out a deep breath of air. He was so glad that Reily was alright, but...she wasn't in the clear yet.

Reily stepped into the washroom as she looked down at the bandage on her hip. She sighed, pulling her shirt up over her head, avoiding stretching her stomach. Bringing her hands down to the bandage, she winced as she pulled the tape from around her bandage off her skin slowly. As soon as the bandage was removed, she flinched at the sight of the red all around the wound, as well as the wound itself. The stitches were going to be removed soon, but they were sticking out in a very uncomfortable way.

"Ugh."

Getting through her shower, she tried to find a way to avoid the water from touching her wound. But the pain began to throb so painfully from standing for so long; and that she had to take her pill for the pain soon. Sitting on the floor, she wrapped a towel around her body, trying to just get the pain to stop by resting her hip. She didn't know how long she sat there on the floor; she had tried to get up once, but was unable to. Falling back onto her butt, she rested her head against the rim of the tub, giving up with trying to move.

Looking at the clock on his night table, Lucas that it had been an hour since Reily had gone to shower. He was starting to get worried when he heard the water stop, but she never stepped out of the washroom. Getting off his bed, he placed his book beside the clock as slipped from the room toward the bathroom. When he came to the door, it was quiet inside. Knocking gently on the door, he leaned in to listen for a reply.

"Reily, you alright in there?" He asked carefully. When there was no reply, he turned to knob, opening the door slowly, giving her time to stop him. Looking inside, he stilled when he saw Reily sitting on the floor leaning against the tub. She looked up at him with tired eyes, wearing nothing but a towel and her hair still sticking to her skin from the water.

"I couldn't get up." She finally said, her face stuck in a pout. Lucas gave her a look of sympathy as he walked into the washroom. Taking his dark blue robe from the hook near the door, he walked up to her. Wrapping the robe around her, her tucked it around her tightly, slipping an arm under her knees and around her shoulders. He was careful as he lifted her up, turning from the shower. Reily's head fell against his shoulder, sighed quietly. "You're always saving me."

"I want to." He whispered back. Heading toward the room that Reily was staying in. When he got inside, he placed her onto the bed gently, kissing her forehead. "Just sleep, alright." Reily gave a numb nod, her eyes closing tiredly. She heard the door close as Lucas left, and it almost felt like her heart cracked. She had told him that she was in love with him that day at of the shooting, and he was yet to say it back. A tear silently fell from the corner of her eye, sliding down her cheek slowly.

Saturday. The day that everyone had to love. Well, Reily did. Her hip didn't hurt, and she didn't have to worry about school or any of that. She could just sit on a very comfortable chair with her guitar on her thigh and her music in her head. Her fingers strummed the stings easily with the pick, pulled off her necklace that she always wore. Lucas sat on the couch, listening to her play as he studied for his English exam that he had the next week. But his eyes kept wandering from the pages to Reily's fingers, sliding up and down the guitar.

"Do you want me to stop? Cause if I'm distracting you then, I could go to my room." She finally said when she had looked up to see him staring at her. Lucas laughed slightly, looking at her as he shook his head.

"No, I think I'd rather you stay." Lucas placed his text book on the table and sat back in the couch, looking over to her again. Reily stopped playing as she looked at him as well, a small smile on tugging on the corners of her lips. "How's you hip?"

"It doesn't hurt at all right now. Probably the pills I took with my dinner, but hey, it helped." Reily grinned at Lucas, earning a laugh from the man. Grinning back at him, Reily moved to place her guitar on the other chair, relieving it from her lap.

"How long do you have to take those pills for?"

"Until the bottle is empty, and if I take two every day, then it should all be gone before the end of the month." She said as she turned over to look at him. Unclasping her necklace, she slipped the pick back onto the chain around her neck. "I can't wait for that to be over." She said as she leaned back into the comfortable chair. Lucas smiled, glad to see her relaxed once more for the first time in days. Her eyes opened again to meet his, calm and happy as she smiled to him.

A loud crack of thunder made them both look over to the window, rain pouring down from the sky of dark clouds. Reily got off the chair as she walked over to the window, looking out into the black. Lucas came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders as he held her back against his chest. Reily put hers over his as she leaned her head back against him, his chin coming to rest on the top of her head. Both had come to get used to the darkness of night, the time that they could both just hold each other in their arms.

Reily was once more staying with Lucas, but not only to comfort herself, but him also. He had been hurting since Keith died, and she wished more than anything that she could help, but it was hard to be there for him every moment. But he had always been there, the while that she had needed help with walking around, he would carry her, when she couldn't stretch her stomach to reach something, he was there to reach for her.

"This storm looks really bad. I hope Karen's alright." Reily mumbled, looking out at the rain that was barely visible in the darkness.

"She should still be at the cafe. She's probably going to be staying there until the storm passes." Lucas looked over to a clock hanging on the wall and saw that the cafe was supposed to be closed in only about 10 minutes, so she should indeed still be there. He let his head rest back on the top of Reily's head, looking out right as a huge flash of lightening lit the area, following by a booming crack of thunder. He could feel Reily shaking slightly and looked down at her to see that she was biting her lip to stop from crying.

"I'm sorry Lucas." Turning around, Lucas released her from his arms as he gave her a look of confusion. Taking a step away from him, she wiped her eyes before the tears had a chance to fall. "It's all my fault."

"What? What are you talking about?" Trying to walk back up to her, she quickly dodged him and walked until she was at the door to the living the room, stopping to turn to face him.

"It's my entire fault that he died. If I had just pulled myself together, then you wouldn't have had to run back in for me and Peyton." Lucas was frozen as he looked at her in shock. She was blaming herself? She was shot, and she is blaming herself. "I should have just pulled through the pain. I am so sorry." She quickly turned on heel and ran from the room. Lucas was stuck in his spot for a few moments, until he heard the front door open, and his whole body kicked into overdrive.

"Reily, wait!" Taking off as fast as his legs could carry him, he took after Reily, who was already down the front steps. Her hip was healing great, but she was still unable to run. Moving quickly, Lucas caught up with her fast enough, but when he tried to reach out to grab her arm, she dodged away from him again and continued on. "Please, Reily, just hold on a second!" Lucas yelled over the roaring winds, but she didn't even turn to look at him. "Reily!"

She finally turned to looked over her shoulder, but she didn't halt in her steps. "What do you want me to say, Lucas?!" His steps stopped for a moment, shocked. He had never heard her raise her voice at someone before, and frankly, he really didn't like the sound of it. Returning to his pace, he took off after her once more.

"Come on Reily, why are you acting like this? It's not your fault, and I know that, so does everyone else!" The both of them were officially dripping with water, their clothes drenched and soaked down to the skin. Reily's hair was coming down in strands and sticking to her face and her back, while Lucas's short bangs were causing water to drip down onto his face and, at times, in his eyes. The streets were littered with huge puddles, which she just seemed to walk straight through them without a second thought.

"But Lucas, it is!" Lucas kept up to her pace as she furiously walked through the raging wing and rain, toward the river court. When she finally got to the path that lead off the main road to the court. He followed after her, trying to reach out to take her hand once more.

"Why are you doing this, Reily? It's not your fault! Keith would have run into that school whether I was in there or not, it's just the way that he is." Reily finally stopped and turned to face him, her face dripping with water and her cheeks slightly pink from holding back tears. "That's not all of what bothering you, is it?" Lucas asked as he slowly stepped up to her, taking her shoulders gently.

Reily shook her head as she bit her lip, looking away from him. "Lucas, when you were carrying me out of the school, I told you I love you." She choked back tears as she tried to breathe calmly. "It's been almost two weeks since I told you, and you act like nothing's changed with us. Like it never even happened. Do you have any idea, who much it hurts when you kiss me, or when you hold me? When you have the best chances to say it, but it's always the same." Lucas was at a loss of what to say, but she continued, "When I woke up in the hospital, I was so happy, and the first time you visited me, I was so excited. But days passed, visits passed, and you still said nothing. It felt like when you lost your uncle, I lost you. I thought that you were pushing me away because it was my fault."

Lucas released her shoulders to take her face gently into his hands. He looked down at her as he made sure that she was looking at him. He could tell that some of the shiny, clean liquid on her cheeks wasn't only rain, but her tears as well. Brushing aside the bangs that were stuck to her cheeks, he looked her in the eye carefully, seeing the pain that truly was buried deep inside of them. He couldn't help himself as he leaned down and captured her lips with his own, bringing one of his hands around to bury it in her hair, pulling her closer to him.

Reily's hands hung limp at her sides for what seemed like forever, before she slowly lifted them up to wrap them around Lucas's shoulders hesitantly. His hands fell from her cheeks, moving to wrap around her waist rightly, bringing her feet off the ground. She lifted her legs up to hook her knees onto his hips, being careful of her wound. Reily's arms came around his neck tightly, holding onto him so that she wouldn't fall to the ground painfully. As the rain poured down on them, they were both smiling happily into the kiss, glad with the others closeness. They soon pulled apart for air, but Reily's feet never touched the ground.

Lucas looked up at her with gentle blue eyes, causing her heard to felt. "I love you." Reily's eyes widened as she looked down at him in shock.

"What?"

"I love you Reily, you need to know that."

Reily never thought that she could be happier then she was at that moment. Releasing Lucas's neck, he was forced to grab onto her thighs to keep her up, and her hands cupped his face as she brought her lips to his again, a huge grin plastered on her face. A large shiver suddenly rocked Reily's body as freezing wind bit at their skin. Lucas pulled away and looked up at her with a raised eyebrow, though a smirk played on his lips.

"Oh shut up, it's cold out here."

Lucas pretty much carried Reily back to the house, because she would have ran, but her hip stopped her from doing so. As soon as they reached the house, Lucas attempted to turn on the lights, but they never came on. Reily let out a small laugh as she slipped of her soaked shoes, then tried to run to the bathroom without tripping, slipping, or drenching ever surface on the way. Lucas quickly ditched his shoes and ran after her, nearly slipping on his pants and hitting a wall, causing Reily to near to the same when she broke into a fit of laughter.

Only minutes later they found themselves in Lucas's room, both in nothing but either a towel or a robe. They had been forced to resort to candles when they had absolutely no clue where a flashlight was, so now they were all littered throughout the surfaces of Lucas's room. Lucas had gotten his blue robe back from Reily, and Karen had surprised Reily with getting her one was well, a light ocean blue on, that was the same style as Lucas's, only a bit smaller. Reily was attempting to dry off her hair from the rain, but there was so much of it that that was going to take a while to do. Lucas on the other hand, was just sitting on the bed watching her in amusement.

"It's not funny!" she finally snapped at him, but there was still a smile on her face.

"You're right, I'm sorry." Lucas said as he fought to keep a straight face, but lost it at the last minute and a huge smile came across his face and small, choked chuckles came bubbling up from his chest. Reily made a small shriek of anger as she gave up and threw the towel at his head, spinning on heel to walk to her own room. "Hey!" Quickly getting up, Lucas caught her right at the door.

"Meany." She pouted as she looked away, only causing Lucas to smile as he took her face in his hands and turned her to look at him.

"I'm sorry, Reily. Forgive me?" He asked in a small voice, causing her lips to twitch as she caught a smile. Lucas then lowered his lips down to her, kissing her gently at first, but the kiss began to grow more heated as Reily wrapped her arms around his neck tightly and pulled him down to her. Lucas's arms came around her waist as he pulled her body up against his. Their breaths came harder, their hands pulling at the other to try and get closer, whether it was limbs, clothes or hair.

Lucas slowly began to push her back further into the room, using his foot to kick the bedroom door closed. As Lucas lay Reily down slowly onto her back, sliding up on top of her. He planted kisses along her collar bone and neck, before finally reaching her lips. Reily smiled up at him, before she pulled him back down her in a searing kiss.


	15. Pains And Fears

I was warm, and it felt good. But I'm never usually this warm when I wake up, no matter how many comforters Karen puts on my bed. I felt like I was wrapped in a heat blanket, warming me to the core. Opening my eyes slowly, I saw the same sight that I had seen for the past two weeks. Lucas's room surrounded me as it always did when I woke up in the morning. Lucas shifted behind me and in the process, his arm moved up from my waist to around my torso.

My eyes widened as I looked down, the only thing covering my body was Lucas's sheets. My face heated up as my mind flooded with memories of last night, and I had to bury my face in a pillow to stop to squeal of happiness that bubbled up in my chest. I sighed once more and snuggled my head into the pillow once more.

"Morning." His voice sent a shiver up my spine as a huge smile pulled at my lips. Looking over my shoulder, Lucas smiled down at me as he lifted himself up on one elbow. Turning my body around, I wrapped my arms around his waist and pressed a kiss up to his lips.

"Good morning." I whispered back. For once, in a long time, I actually felt like there wasn't the weight of the world on my shoulders. When I could just take the time to relax and have my own moments. It felt so wonderful, to be held in the arms of the first man that I ever loved. And to be able to share what I did with him last night.

**~Chapter 15-Pains and Fears~**

Lucas held Reily against his chest as he looked out at the river by the court. They were sitting in the back of her truck with Lucas's back against the truck and Reily sitting in between his legs, her back against his chest. They were both having trouble staying away from the other after they had woken up that morning in Lucas's bed. Luckily Karen had already gone to work, so they didn't have to worry about explaining anything to her.

"So I was thinking, how about we go out tonight, for a date?" Lucas finally spoke through the silence, looking down at Reily. She smiled up at him, her eyes sparking.

She then teased him with a smile, getting a laugh from him. "Well, what do you call this?" Lucas shook his head slightly, before kissing her hair. "I would love to, Lucas." She took hold of the neck of his shirt and pulled him down into a kiss. Lucas's hand came to the back of her head as his mouth moved in rhythm with her own. As the kiss ended, Reily lay back against Lucas once more, his arms resuming their iron cage around her.

"I have another question."

"Oh-oh. Are you going to make this into a game as well?" Reily asked as she glanced over her shoulder. Lucas smirked at her before kissing her cheek.

"No, I'm not going to make it a game. I was just thinking, prom is coming up soon, after exams, and I would like to ask you, if you would like to be my date?" Lucas looked down at Reily, to see that familiar sparkle in her eyes, glowing as she looked up at him again with a smile. She nodded her head happily, causing Lucas to laugh lightly.

"Well, well. If it isn't the prodigal son." Lucas cringed at the sound of his voice and looked up to see Dan standing at the end of the truck. Reily looked down at him with a glare, her eyes hard as she stared Dan down. Lucas had told her all about Dan, and she was already close to hitting the son of a bitch for everything that he had put everyone through. Lucas tightened his arms when he felt her tense against him.

"What the hell do you want?" He asked with venom in his tone. Dan smiled at them, though only a blind person could miss the sinister vibe it sent at the sight of it.

"What, am I not allowed to see my own son?" Dan asked as he put his hands in his front pants pockets, shrugging his shoulders in an attempt to act innocent.

"You never cared for 17 years, why care now?" Lucas scowled down at the man across from him, keeping his hold tight on Reily.

"Well, I just heard that one of my sons had a new girl, I just wanted to see which one it was this time." Dan just kept smiling, leaned against the truck. Reily tore herself from Lucas's arms and got to her feet, using her foot to push Dan until he was a few feet away from the truck.

"Don't touch my property. Mayor or not, you have no right to touch what doesn't belong to you. And I never bought this from you precious little rip off shop, so you have nothing against me. Now drag your sorry ass away from me." Reily's eyes were dark and her shoulders squared. She was a nice person, but when people that she loved were in danger or being hurt, even only verbally, she would not stand for it.

"I will get you, you little bitch. Don't be so quick to forget who you're dealing with." Dan growled out as he quickly turned away, dusting off the dirt from her shoe on his suit jacket as he walked away. Lucas got to his feet and walked over to where Reily was still standing fuming as she watched the man get into his car. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he kissed her neck lightly, looking back up to where Dan glared out the front windshield of his car, slowly backing away.

"I just screwed myself, didn't I?" Reily asked as she finally let her shoulders relax and her weight to fall against Lucas. He sighed and rested his cheek against her hair, looking out where Dan's car used to be.

"Yea, probably. But Dan knows not to mess with me and Nathan, even though he seems to often make a hobby of it." Reily groaned, her eyes closing as her head fall back to land on Lucas's shoulder. He chuckled lightly as he once more kissed her hair, trying to reassure her that nothing was wrong. Though, it did little to calm her nerves, given everything that she had heard about Dan Scott.

Karen looked up when she heard the bell above the door ring, seeing Lucas and Reily walking in, and neither looked none too happy. Lucas was looking down at Reily with a worried gaze and Reily looked fidgety, almost like she had seen her father again. But she knew that she couldn't have, or she would be so much more afraid then at the point she was at that moment.

"What happened?" She asked as she placed the coffee pot down.

"Dan decided to drop by the river court." Lucas explained shortly, causing Karen to Reily again and saw that she was frowning.

"You know," Reily began as she started to walk in the direction of the bathroom. "All this time, I thought my dad was a total freak. And he is. But your dad is a total ass...." Reily looked over her shoulder and Lucas laughed as he looked to the floor, shaking his head.

"Can't argue with that." Reily continued on to the bathroom and Lucas walked over to the counter, taking a seat as he looked up at his mother who was staring at where Reily had disappeared with a worried look. "Hey mom, you okay?"

"What exactly did he say to her? She looked so scared?" Karen looked back to her son and Lucas frowned, looking down to the counter top.

"Reily had started to bitch him out, I don't really know why, but she was just so upset all of a sudden. Then Dan threatened her, saying that she was going to get it. He stormed away after that. I think Reily really pissed him off with what she said to him." Lucas ran his hand through his hair with an aggravated sigh. "I'm worried about what he's going to be thinking of doing."

"Things are really messed up right now." She mumbled as she picked up her coffee pot again. "Well, for now, my customers await. And I would go and make sure that your girlfriend isn't having a panic attack in the bathroom. Dan has that affect on people." Karen teased as she walked past Lucas, patting him on the back.

Lucas was about to get up, when Reily rounded the corner again, and gave him a soft smile. Lucas smiled back and motioned for her to come over to him. As soon as she reached him, she sat down on the stool beside him, kissing him lightly on the cheek. Lucas gave her a quick kiss back, glad that she had calmed down some since they had gotten to the cafe. He really didn't need her freaking out over a whole bunch of things.

"You know, I think I'm going to get something to eat. Anything you want to recommend?" Reily looked back into his blue eyes with a smile, the warmth reaching her eyes.

"Well...."

"This is hell!" Reily lay across Peyton's bed, a scowl on her face as her head hung backward off the mattress. Her expression on her face caused the blond to burst out laughing, only making Reily's face turn sour once more.

"Okay, so there are some jealous girls out there, so what?"

"So what, is that some chick named Rachel tried to slap me across the face because I was talking about how I was with Lucas, but Brooke was there and asked her "Do you want me to pay you back for that punch?" What punch?" Peyton let out a small laugh as she leaned back in her chair and shook her head, her short straight hair shaking around her.

"It was a game one day earlier on in the year, called Midnight Madness. Rachel had been trying to get Brooke's squad and Brooke slapped her one day at a game and then Rachel punched Brooke, after that all hell broke loose, and I kind of tackled Rachel." She explained shortly, mumbling the last part. "So I think she's still afraid that Brooke is going to kick her ass to get payback of everything she did to her, and to her and Lucas."

"Yea, I heard that she had messed things up with them as well." Reily sighed loudly and rolled over until she was lying on her stomach, looking over to Peyton once more. "I am, however, worried about everything that she will do to crack me. Is she obsessed with him or what?"

"She is defiantly obsessed with him, as well as Nathan." Peyton agreed, looking back to the drawing in her lap as she continued to fill everything in. It was a picture of Reily and Lucas when he had been carrying her out of the school that day of the shooting. Reily had been complementing her about it over and over again, how she was such an amazing artist.

"I just hope that she doesn't try to ruin our prom date." Reily spoke almost quietly, and peeked over to Peyton, whose mouth was hanging open as she looked at Reily.

"He asked you to prom!?" Putting her art on the table, she tackled Reily against the bed, both laughing as they forgot all about Rachel, all about everything. "You know, Jake asked me out...just last night." Peyton whispered and Reily held in a scream as she wrapped her arms around her neck. "Okay! Let me breathe, would you!"

"Sorry." Reily pulled away, turning to lay on her back. She seemed to finally be calm, but when Peyton's voice pierced the air, she panicked once more.

"Reily! What happened to your stomach!?" Peyton was sitting up once more, looking down at the scars scattered over her hip bones. Reily quickly sat up and pulled her shirt as low as it could go. Peyton looked up to her face, but she quickly turned away and slid off the bed. Her face was covered in fear and her body was suddenly tense.

"I'm sorry, Peyton. I have to go." Reily quickly ran out the door, holding her stomach as she did so. Peyton tried to follow after her, but the girl was faster then she looked. Damn her long legs. As she reached the door she looked out to see Reily's truck passing away, speeding down the street. She sighed as she leaned against the doorframe. There had been so many scars, so deep, so frightening.

Reily pulled up into her own driveway instead of Lucas's as she leaned her head down against the steering wheel as she clutched her stomach. She felt almost as if the scars were burning as a reminder, searing against her shirt. Letting out a shuddering breath, she held back the tears that stung her eyes, holding it all in. Righting herself once more, she shifted back into reverse and pulled out of her driveway and turned until she was parked back at Lucas's place.

"Reily?" Lucas called from the kitchen as he walked out of the living room, book in hand. Reily turned to look at him, surprised that he was home. Karen was usually home now, still trying to get over Keith, slowly. But she had started to go back to work just a couple of days ago. Smiling, she did her best to stop as more tears took over her eyes, causing them to look glassy.

"Hey Luke. Isn't there practice today?" Her voice shook as she smiled to him, though anyone could see straight through it. Lucas looked at her worried, but Reily could tell that he wasn't in the best shape of his life either.

"What happened? I thought you had gone to go and hang out with Peyton?" Taking a few more steps closer, Reily shook her head, her smile dropping as her tears finally fell free.

"You know, I don't know what's wrong with me. I never used to even frown, but not here I am crying all the time..." She trailed off as she looked down at her feet, before she took a deep breath and looked up to Lucas once more. "Peyton saw the scars on my stomach. She freaked out." Lucas closed his eyes as he let out a deep breath, before opened his eyes to look at Reily once more, but she was looking away from him.

"There's nothing wrong with you, Reily. People just don't know you." Lucas explained as he pulled her into his arms, letting her hide her head in the crook of his neck. "You have to let them in, for them to trust you. And, stay away from Rachel, she's....not someone to go near." Lucas joked, getting a choked laugh from Reily.

"You should have seen her face, Lucas." She quickly went back to crying and wrapped her arms up around his neck. Lucas stroked up and down her back gently, trying to calm her tears.

"Reily, there's something I have to tell you." Lucas pulled back and looked down at Reily with teary eyes. Reily's face became worried as she draw back from him slightly. "Dan had a heart condition, and it's genetic. I had to have a heart test, and I have the same condition that he had." Lucas explained carefully, letting it sink in with Reily. She took a small step back as she looked up at him in shock. "There is a possibility that if I keep playing basketball, then I could die. And If I take the medication, then it slows me down so I can't play."

"Lucas, I'm so sorry about everything that's been happening. Everything that's been going on." Reily looked down to the floor. "I'm sorry that you have to quit the team, Lucas. I know that it's hard for you to give up basketball, I know that it's something you really love." Looking back up at him, she tried her best to give him a reassuring smile, but her tears failed to let that happen.

"I do love basketball. But there are so many things that I love more. And if I keep playing, then I could die. I don't want to die, cause that you mean..." Lucas stepped up toward Reily and took her face carefully in his hands, letting her look into his eyes as he gently wiped away the tears. "I wouldn't be able to be with you again. And I wouldn't be able to wake up every day, and tell you that I love you." Reily smiled up at him, the sadness slowly ebbing away from her eyes.

"I love you, too, Lucas." Reily smiled, before she looked out the window where there was sun sparkling through the window. "You know I think we'll be alright." Looking back at him once more, Lucas smiled down to her and nodded.

"I think we will."


	16. Fear Of The Truth

I leaned back against the side of the car, looking out at Rachel as she laughed around with all the other cheerleaders, aside from Brooke and Peyton who were only god knows where. Rachel had been going between Nathan and Lucas for about a week now and it was driving me and Haley both insane. She was ready to strangle the redhead. I had also been avoiding Peyton, but Lucas keeps saying that I should just try to talk to her but I just can't.

Rachel looked my way and a sneer made its way to her lips, before she flipped her hair and began to walk into the direction of the parking lot, but not toward me, at least, no directly. I looked over to see Lucas talking with Nathan as they walked away from their cars, toward where I was standing. I had been leaving slightly earlier then Lucas for a few days, so that I could get some extra time in the music room now that he wasn't on the team anymore for me to stay after school with him.

As she reached them she looped her arm with Lucas's and rubbed her side against Nathan. I could feel the hatred boil in my blood and scowled toward them. Lucas looked up just in time to see the look on my face as he attempted to pry himself from Rachel's grasp. I could hear someone step up beside me and looked over to see Haley holding her stomach as she glared over to them as well.

"I think it's time we went on a witch hunt." Haley mumbled to me, looking up to me with a dark look in her eyes, similar to my own.

**~Chapter 16-Fear Of The Truth~**

"I think you two need to lock up your girlfriends, or wife in your case Nathan." Brooke laughed slightly as she walked up to where Lucas and Nathan were sitting eating their lunch outside. They looked up at her, before sharing a look, then looking back at Brooke in confusion. "Have you not noticed how they've been glaring daggers at Rachel for the past week?"

Lucas flinched at her words and looked over to his brother, who was trying to avoid eye contact from both of them. "Yea, we try to avoid her, but she has a way of showing up seconds before they do."

"Well, Haley's getting pissed and Reily's not far behind." Brooke took a seat across from them and placed her bag beside herself. "I don't think I have ever seen Reily look so pissed off since I met her." Brooke whispered as she leant toward them so that no one else would here. "Have you even seen the way she looks at you and Rachel when you're together?" Lucas looked to his lap when he heard her say that. He had seen Reily, and never had he seen her so upset and....disappointed.

"I need to talk to her, I know." Lucas picked up his bag and patted Nathan on the back, who knew that he too had to speak to his wife. Walking toward the courtyard, he came up to where Reily had come to love sitting at a stone bench near the gardens. As he walked over toward her, he could see in the corner of his eye when Rachel got up from her place where she sat with all the other cheerleaders.

"Reily!" Reily looked up from her studying and sighed when she saw him quickly coming toward her. But right as he got to her side, Rachel got to his.

"Hey, Luke. Look, I was wondering if you wanted to do something tonight. I mean, I know that since you are no longer on the team then you don't really have much to do." Rachel looked over to Reily in the corner of her eye, seeing that same dark look that she had been getting from the burnet all week. Reily abruptly started to put her books away and got to her feet.

"You know, you should go Lucas! I mean, there's defiantly _nothing_ for you to do at home." Reily pulled her bag up onto her shoulder, purposely hitting it against his free arm as she did so, and abruptly took off toward the direction of her next class. Lucas watched her go, feeling silent laugher as it rolled through Rachel. That's when he lost it.

"What the hell are you doing!? Why is it that you always hurt people, do you find some kind of sick enjoyment from it?" Lucas yelled as he rounded on Rachel, shoving her off of his arm. "I'm dating Reily! I'm not single, so just stop already!" Lucas abruptly turned away and walked off toward the school as well, leaving an angered Rachel and a shocked crowd.

As he quickly tried to catch up with Reily, he ran through the hall, heading toward her locker to see if she was getting anything for her next class. As he quickly walked through the halls, he rounded the corner to only see Reily's retreating back. But he knew, she was crying, as she wiped at her face and ducked her head as she walked. He fell against her locker as he watched her walk away, until she was gone, his head falling against the locker in regret, the metallic thud ringing in the hall.

"So, I don't think your talk with Reily went well." Brooke said as she stopped at his side, looking over to him in doubt.

One word, one name, and Brooke understood fully. "Rachel."

Lucas opened the side door to the house quietly, peaking his head inside as he looked around. No Reily. He also noticed that the small amount of clothes inside his room of hers were gone, her bag wasn't there, but her truck was in the driveway, so she should have been home. Stepping inside, he placed his bag on the floor and stepped from his room once more, heading for the guest room.

Stopping outside the door, the same song that he had heard that one night when she was sitting outside her window, after he had asked her about her father. Leaning against the wall beside it, he tried to take a deep breath and just listen to the song, but he knew that it was tearing him apart on the inside to hear her sadness slip through from her to her music. He had really messed up this time, and he knew that the only way to get her back was to fight for her.

"What'd you do?" Lucas looked over to where his mother was leaning against the doorway leading from the living room, a basket of laundry on her hip. "She came home crying, went straight to your room, took everything that was hers in your room, and then locked herself in there."

"This girl named Rachel has been trying to get at me for a while, and I'm with Reily right now. Rachel's just making everything so..." Lucas trailed off as he walked away from the door, not wanting for her to hear them talking. "I was trying to talk to her today when Rachel came by and tried to get on Reily's nerves again."

"Lucas, you need to talk to her. She's going through a _very_ tough time right now, we all are. And we need to stay together to get through this." Karen patted Lucas on the shoulder, before heading toward his room to put his clothes on his bed. Lucas looked back to Reily's door doubtfully; the song was getting quieter, so he knew that she must have heard them and tried to hear what they were saying.

Knocking gently on the door, the music stopped all together and he sighed as he carefully opened the door. Reily was sitting on the edge of the bed with her back to him, guitar in her lap as her head hung down to hide her face. Cautiously stepping forward, Lucas stopped at her side and took hold of her shoulder gently, trying to get her to look at him. When she still didn't turn, he sat down at her side and hooked a finger under her chin to turn her face to look at him.

"Reily, I love you. Rachel is nothing, she's just trying to make you jealous cause she's been after me since I broke up with Brooke." Reily kept her eyes on her lap as long as she could, but she had to look up into his blue eyes, regretfully.

"How can I believe you? Brooke told me that you had been with Peyton behind her back, and then you and Peyton didn't work out-" Lucas quickly but gently put a hand over her mouth and smiled sadly to her. Reily's eyes widened slightly at the sudden movement and looked at him in surprise.

"Brooke and Peyton are in the past, but I'm dating you right now, and I want it to stay that way." Lucas lifted his hand from under her chin to place it on her cheek as his thumb stroked the soft skin there. A small smile found Reily's lips as she nodded her head. "I love you."

"I love you too, Lucas. And I really want this to work." Reily looked down to her guitar again, trying to stop herself from looking him in the eye. "It's just that, I'm only now being told about all these things. I'm feeling everything like this for the first time, and it's all so new to me." Placing her guitar aside, she looked over to Lucas, finally meeting his gaze. "I've never loved someone like I have you before, and I'm so afraid of what the outcome might end up to be-" Lucas's lips covered hers before she was even able to get the sentence out.

He placed a hand gently at the base of her skull, pulling her up closer to him. Reily let her breath flow out her nose as she let her body relax against his, falling into his chest. Lucas's lips continued to move against hers, trying to get her to see just how he truly did feel about her. Reily's arms came up to wrap around his shoulders, finally giving up against fighting him and kissing him back with just as much want. As soon as his lips left hers, she ducked her head to stop him from kissing her again to let her speak.

"I want to believe you more than anything in the world, I do. But what is it; that only a kiss can show me?" Getting up, she leant down and gently kissed Lucas on the forehead, hearing him sigh quietly, contently, before she straightened once more, running my hand down through his hair one more time, before she walked from the room, snatching her keys and cell phone from the nightstand before she left.

Walking out to her truck right away, she jumped into the passenger side, starting the engine. She pulled away from the house, starting down the road. She didn't really have anywhere certain that she was going, just that she wanted to be able to think. Relaxing slightly against the seat, she looked out over the bare roads, no other vehicle in sight. Keeping one hand on the steering wheel, she reached her other hand down to her hips, running her index finger over one of the longer scars there. She sighed quietly to herself, turning out onto Peyton's road.

Peyton looked down at the picture on the clipboard on her lap. She had been working on this for a couple of days, and only finished it today. Looking over the picture, she sighed. It was of Reily and her, sitting on Peyton's bed. Peyton had a shocked, and somewhat horrified look on her face, while Reily had a panicked one as she began to move away. The sound of a knock on her door made her look over to where Reily stood, her arms loosely crossed over her stomach, her face downcast.

"Reily?" Placing the picture on her desk, covering it with a dry paint-cloth. Reily looked up from where she had been gazing at the floor, her eyes worried and hurt.

"Peyton, about what you saw-"

"It's alright, you don't have to explain. I understand-"

"But you don't. You don't understand at all." Reily stepped further into the room, leaning against the bedpost closest to her. "I don't cut myself, Peyton. I don't. It's much, much more complicating then that." She paused for a moment, thinking of how to continue. "The reason that my mom is away is to go to court with a case of getting a restraining order against my father." Peyton's eyes widened as her arms fell limp at her side, looking at Reily in pure shock.

"Your father..."

"My father sexually harassed me up until I was 14. My mom found out, divorced him, and he was sent to jail or harassing a minor in a sexual way. He was the one who gave me the scars." Tears began to well in Reily's eyes, unfreezing Peyton from her spot. Quickly moving forward, she brought Reily forward into her arms, holding onto her tightly.

"I'm sorry, Reily. I am so sorry." Reily buried her face in Peyton's shoulder, her tears dampening her shirt. Peyton didn't care though, as she continued to hold the other girl, her own eyes beginning to prickle with tears.

"He's back." Reily suddenly choked out. Peyton's blood went cold as her arms stilled from rubbing Reily's back, her heart speeding up. She slowly pulled away from Reily, looking the other girl in her tears blue eyes.

"The attacks. That was your father?" Reily nodded her head numbly, before she was pulled into Peyton's arms once again. "He'll never get to you Reily, not so long as we're all here to protect you."

"_Don't be so sure about that, Ms. Sawyer."_

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**Sorry for the fact that it took forever for me to take forever to update, but I've been working on an actual book that is getting longer and longer by the day, but for now, I hope you all like this chapter, can't wait to hear some reviews!**


	17. Daddy's Not So Little Girl

My heart must have stopped, because my whole body seemed to pale as the chilling voice filled my ears. Peyton's grip on me tightened in her fear, as we both then began to turn out heads toward the door. My eyes met those of my father, who stood in the door smiling. He had a gun raised at us, a twisted smile on his lips.

"You really need to learn to lock your door."

"Get away from us you freak!" Peyton screamed, pulling me along with her as we stepped away from him, toward the other side of the bed. He just smiled and stepped closer to us, walking around the bed. My arms tightened around Peyton's body, who in turn held more tightly onto my shoulders. As soon as he reached close enough to us, he took a firm grip on my hair and pulled me away from Peyton, eliciting a scream from my throat, and a protesting cry from Peyton.

Releasing my hair, I wasn't fast enough to move away before I felt something cover my mouth and nose, as a sweet smelling aroma wafted up into my senses. The room began to spin around me, though I fought to stay awake as I looked up at my father with fearful eyes. He pulled his eyes away from Peyton, whispering into my ear.

"Time to go home."

Slamming the gun into Peyton's head, she fell to the floor, unconscious, blood beginning to drip down her forehead. I gave one last sob, before darkness invaded my mind, my body giving up the final fight, taking me into the darkness.

**~Chapter 17-Daddy's Not-So-Little girl~**

Reily fell to the ground beside Peyton, her eyes rolling back into her head. Mr. Share looked down at the young girls, tossing the cloth away as he put the gun into the belt at the back of his pants. Taking hold of Peyton first, he carried her into her closet and placed her down on the floor as deep in as he could. Walking back out, he closed the large black doors behind him.

Walking back over to Reily, he smiled down at his unconscious daughter, whose eyes were now closed as she lay still on the floor. Stepping over her, he pulled her up by her upper arms, lifting her shirt to expose the skin on her stomach and back, the scars that adorned the once perfect skin. Lifting her over his shoulder, he stepped away from the corner of the room, walking over to the doorway.

"Don't worry baby, you'll be home soon." Carrying Reily out, he walked up to his own truck, leaving Reily's outside Peyton's house. Placing her down in the back seat of the truck, he walked around to the driver's side and started up the truck, looking back at Reily once more. Her hair was in her face, her skin was paler then usual and her shirt was lifted up to show her stomach and hips.

Haley jumped when a loud banging sounded from the door, causing her to look over to Nathan in wonder. He just shrugged his shoulders as he got up to go and answer the door, Haley trailing behind him through the large house. Once they reached the door, opening it, the knocking ceased, and there stood Lucas, a worried look on his face.

"Please tell me Reily's here." Haley immediately frowned, looking at the young man before her.

"She's not, Lucas. What's wrong?" Lucas lifted his hands to bury them in his hair, tugging on it as he leaned against the wall beside the door. Haley looked over at Nathan, but he just shook his head as he looked on at his older brother in worry.

"Luke, what's going on?"

"I can't find Reily anywhere. We had a fight earlier and then she took off, but she hasn't come back yet. I thought she might have come here, 'cause Brooke's on a date, and she and Peyton aren't at their best." Lucas didn't quite know that he was rambling on, but knew that he had to find Reily, soon.

"Lucas, you have to calm down, please. We'll find her." Haley quickly pulled on her jacket, Nathan doing the same as they locked the door and made their way down to Lucas's truck. "Did you check the places that she likes to go, like the River Court?" Lucas nodded as he backed out onto the roads, that was nearly deserted as night approached.

"Maybe we should go and look at Peyton's just in case. I mean, we know that Reily isn't someone to keep a fight up for very long." Haley sat in the back of the truck, looking out the windows to try and see if she could find somewhere the Reily liked to spend her time that Lucas may not have been to. Lucas sped up as he turned down toward Peyton's house.

"Look, there's her truck!" Nathan pointed out the black pick-up at the curb of Peyton's house. Pulling up behind Reily's truck, all three piled, quickly running toward the steps. However, they froze when they all saw that the front door was wide open. Peyton never left her door open, and Reily knew better then to leave it open.

"Reily!" Running up the steps, skipping the first two, Lucas was in the house and running up the steps in moments, Nathan and Haley following more carefully.

"Haley, you should stay back-"

"No Nathan, Reily and Peyton are my friends." Nodding reluctantly, they followed after Lucas, getting to the top of the stairs when Lucas had already gotten to Peyton's room. "Peyton? Reily?" Stepping inside, they saw that the room held no one inside it, though both of the girls vehicles were still outside. Lucas opened the closet doors, looking inside carefully.

"Peyton!" Peyton lay on the floor, blood running down her face. Lucas kneeled down at her side, looking over her head wound. Haley ran up behind him as he gently picked her up off the floor, lifting her into his arms as he carried her over to her bed. Letting out a groan, she lifted a hand to touch her forehead carefully.

"Peyton, you alright?" Haley sat down on the bed beside Peyton, helping her to sit up. "What happened?" When she asked her that one question, her eyes flew open and she grasped Lucas's shirt, pulled him down toward her.

"He has Reily! He took her!" Lucas grasped her arms, causing her took release his shirt. She had tears in her eyes, and it was sure that her head was going to only pound worse now that she was crying as well as had that large bruise forming on her forehead.

"Where is she Peyton, do you know where he took her?"

"He said something about going home." She mumbled as she shook her head, looking down at her lap. Nathan picked up a white cloth, lifted it to his nose when he felt the moist on it. The sweet smell made him quickly pull it away from his nose, shaking his head when it got slightly dizzy.

"Hey, Luke." Lucas looked up at Nathan, who was holding the cloth away from him. "It's chloroform." Lucas cringed when he heard that, but then released Peyton carefully and dug his hands into his hair just as he had done when he showed up at Nathan and Haley's place.

"Haley, you stay here with Peyton, call the police and tell them to go Reily Share's old address." Haley nodded and watched as Nathan and Lucas ran from the room, taking off back to Lucas's truck. She looked over to Peyton, who was whipping tears from her cheeks.

"Peyton, who took Reily?" She asked carefully, trying to look into Peyton's eyes, though she continued to look away. Though she looked fearful and panicked on the outside, she was even worse on the inside. Her heart was pounding loudly as it ached for Reily's safety, her head pounded in pain from the tears and wound from the gun. "Peyton, who was it?"

"Her father."

Nathan looked over to his brother, worry crossing his features as he pounded down on the gas so hard that the truck shot forward and left skid marks on the road behind them. Swerving away from Reily's truck, Nathan had to hold onto the dash board to stop his head from slamming against the window beside him. Lucas's hands were tight on the steering wheel and Nathan could have sworn that if he gripped it any tighter it might just break. He was glad Haley stayed behind.

"Who was Peyton talking about, who has Reily?" Lucas's jaw tightened when the question arose, seconds before they unclenched only enough for him to growl out just four simple words.

"It was her father."

Nathan's whole body seemed to go numb as he looked back out the windshield and looked out into the darkening day, quietly shading into night. Lucas knew exactly where he was going because he and Reily had been talking about where she had lived before, and if she missed it there at times. She had told him all about her old house, right down to the last detail and he loved hearing all about it.

"How do you know that Peyton didn't mean her present house?" He asked, glancing over to his brother, who didn't care at all that he ran red light after red light.

"Because, her father would never touch her when they were outside of her old room. No matter where they were." Nathan gaped at what Lucas was saying. No wonder he looked like he was out for blood, her father was pretty much as bad, if not worse, then their own father. He was caught off guard and groaned painfully when Lucas suddenly spun a turn and slammed Nathan into the window.

"Ah! Slow down! You're going to get pulled over and then we'll never get to Reily!" Lucas looked over to Nathan, though did as told and slowed down, only a bit.

A groan sounded through the quiet room, echoing off the walls. Reily tried to have move from where she was stretched out on her back, but her arms seemed stuck where they were, as well as her ankles. Her head was fuzzy and her throat was dry. Opening her eyes, she could only see the black of a dark ceiling, not light within the room, except for a small strip that was coming through the bottom of the door. When remembered what had happened at Peyton's house, a choked sob caught in her throat as she tried to pull her wrists free from their shackles.

"Help!" Her voice scratched as she screamed, but she ignored it as she pulled harder on the chains. "HELP!"

"No one can here you." The voice came from the darkness of one of the far corners of the room. She couldn't help but stop the scream that ripped out her throat as she tried to get as far away from the man in the darkness as she could. "It's alright Rei-Rei, daddy's here." A hand touched her leg, making her writhe and scream.

"Don't touch me you freak! Stay the fuck away from me!" Wiggling and shaking her whole body in hopes of getting the hand away from her. The hand recoiled as she continued to squirm and wiggle around. Her mouth opened wide as another scream ripped up her throat, echoing within the small room, bounding off the walls loudly.

The hand returned, sending a stinging slap that silenced the screams instantly. Reily looked at the dark form that she could barely see within the room and tried to recoil from it, but she was unable to move anymore then she already had. She could feel as he took hold of one of her ankle shackles, and it then fell off, which he then proceeded to unlock the rest of her bindings on the bed. As soon as she was freed, she pulled herself as far away from his as she, pressing herself against a wall that she knew was stone and freezing cold.

"It seems like you need to calm down for a little while, so I'll just leave you here for a bit." Stepping away from the bed, a small light then flipped on and Reily was forced to close her eyes as the sudden light made her cringe. Turning her face away, her father unlocked the door and slipped out before she could even look back.

"You bastard!" She screamed as loud as she could, throwing her head back in the process. As her voice cut off, she was left breathing hard as she looked around at where she was. It only took her a moment to recognize the room was she in. It was the cellar of her old house. But her father had changed it a lot since she had last been in it.

He had at least had the decency to clean it up, put in a single bed on the far wall, where she then sat. There was a small hanging like in the middle of the room that barely gave off any light. A lock was on the inside, and she knew that he must have put an outside lock on as well. But what made her move back in fear was when she realized that he had made the small room change to look exactly like her room as a child.

"What the hell did he do..." She asked fearfully as she jumped off the small bed. Reaching the door, she looked over the lock that was on the inside, and realized that it was key lock, so if there was a lock on the outside that was the same, there was no way for her to get out through there. Kicking the door violently, she let out a cry as she felt the pain shoot up from her foot to her hip, where she had taken the bullet.

Looking around the small room, she saw that there was that small window that she always used to try and open when she was little, but her parents had it locked. Walking over to the glass, she looked outside to see that she was at her old house, the side yard staring back at her from the darkness of night.

Looking around for something sturdy and strong, she saw that everything in the room was light and toys for younger kids, because it was all from when she was a little girl. Growling slightly in annoyance, she began to tear the small space apart, looking at everything for something hard. When she had gone through two shelves, the dresser and the nightstand, she almost gave up, but something that caught her eye made her grin mischievously.


	18. It All Ends Tonight

I reached around the bed to take hold of the sturdy aluminum metal baseball bat. I smirked in remembrance of when my dad had tried to introduce me to other sports, thought that with the strength that I had in my arms that I could be great, and with long legs I was a fast runner, so that worked out as well.

Spinning the bat around in my hands slightly, I looked over the shiny metal, then back at the thick door that stood between me, and my freedom. But how was I going to get him to open the door? It's not like I could just ask him to, he wouldn't let me out after I had thrown that fit earlier. And he was probably just trying to torture me anyway, I always hated this cellar. A sudden thought clicked in my head and I bit my lip. Here goes nothing.

"Daddy!" Knocking on the door, I placed my ear against it, trying to see if I could hear anything on the other side. There were footfalls nearby, but he didn't respond. "Dad, please let me out of here, I'm sorry! It's cold, and small, and there might still be spiders in here!" Knocking on the door again, the steps got closer.

"Do you promise to be a good girl if I let you out?" He asked hesitantly.

"Yes dad, I promise, I know now, you're only doing this because you love me, and I love you too. So please, just let me out, I'm really lonely in here." I could hear the jingling of the key chains as he pulled it out of his pocket. Stepping away from the door, I heard the lock click and raised the bat to beside my head. Too bad we won't have much time together, _daddy._

**~Chapter 18-It All Ends Tonight~**

Lucas pulled up in front of the house that he knew to be Reily's old home. There were lights on inside, but he remembered when she had said that the house was sold to someone how lived far away and would be moving in within from a week from then to a month. He and Nathan looked to one another, confidence and determination in their eyes. But when Lucas reached to open his door, Nathan stopped him.

"Wait, Luke, you can't just storm in there, imaginary guns blazing. We have to think of at least something if we're going to get Reily and ourselves out safely." Nathan released Lucas's arm and the blond heaved a sigh as he leaned back against his seat. He was right.

"Okay, so what do you suppose we do?"

"Did Reily tell if anything about the house? Like, a back door or basement windows?" He asked motioning with his head toward the house.

"There's a basement, and there are some windows that lead to the cellar on the side of the house, and the basement in the back." Nathan nodded and glanced at the house once more, seeing if anyone was inside, knowing that if her dad saw the truck he might recognize it.

"Well, we can't risk slipping into a locked cellar, so we'll have to settle for the basement." Lucas nodded and they both opened their door, quietly shutting them. Keeping away from the light shining out of the windows, they ran around the side of the house, toward the back. But if only they had run on the other side.

Reaching the said basement windows, Lucas kneeled down and tried to open one, straining the muscles of his arms as he tried to pull it open, but came out with nothing. Swearing quietly, he looked up to Nathan, who was searching around them. His eyes spotted the back deck.

"Come here." Running over to the steps, that snuck up them quietly, looking inside the sliding glass door to see if there was anyone there. Nothing. Reaching into his pocket, Nathan pulled out a pocket knife, flipping open the slick knife from inside the metal case, he brought it down on the lock, hearing the satisfied click when it turned.

"I don't even want to know where you learned that." Lucas mumbled as he pulled the door open quietly. The sound of voices coming from down one of the halls made them head toward the noises.

Reily watched as the door opened, her hands gripping the bat tightly, waiting for her father's face to appear. And there it was. His face masked in shock the moment he saw her, before metal met cartilage as she swung the bat as hard as she could against his nose, making the grown man cry out in pain as he flew back out the door, his hands coming up to his face as he tried to stop the bleeding.

Dropping the bat, Reily through the door, jumping clear over her father's body as she bolted toward the stairs, but was stopped when something hard came to grip her ankle. Her hands flew out in front of her to make her fall easier as she hit the wooden steps, the air rushing from her lungs painfully as she made contact.

"You little bitch."

Swinging her leg back, her heel met with her father's forehead, making him release her ankle. Her breaths came in shallow and laboured as she pulled herself up the stairs. Slamming her side into the closed door, she looked down to see that that was locked as well. Running back down the stairs, her father moved to get up, when she threw a kick into his side, tossing him onto his back with a groan.

The keys were still in the door, making it easy to grab the keys and make toward the stairs a second time, but she ran right past her father, who was starting to recover from her attacks. Running up the stairs again, her hip started to throb as she reached the door and stuck in one of the couple of keys there.

"Reily, you promised to be a good girl!" Her father bellowed from the bottom of the stairs, using the railing to pull himself up. Reily stuck in another key when the first one failed, feeling when the stairs shook slightly when her father began to stomp up toward her. Third time's the charm.

The basement door swung open and she quickly ran out, trying to swing back in time to close the door before her father could reach her, but right as she was about to slam it closed, he pressed hard against the wood and sent her stumbling back as he forced the door open once more. Reily quickly turned to try and run once more, when a heavy weight landed on her back and she was slammed onto the ground, right on her injured hip.

"Don't even think about screaming." His voice was rough and pained in her ear as he covered a hand over her mouth. His hand was covered in blood from his broken nose and injured face from her beating on him. Her hands came up to claw at his arms, shoulders, chest. Anything that she could get her hands on to try and get him to release her. "No one's coming to save you, Reily."

As she was picked up roughly, her father carried her back down the basement stairs, thought she was wiggling and kicking, trying to do anything to get the grown man to release her, but to no avail. As she was thrown back into the cellar, her father slammed the door closed and locked it once more. Reily kicked the door a few times, screaming with each impact, before breaking down into sobs.

The shiny glint of the bat caught her attention and she smirked. Her father may have stopped her from getting out the door, but he didn't do anything about the window. Picking up the bat, she put it on the bed, where she then proceeded to push the bed in front of the door, surprised at how easy it was. Once the bed was moved, she began to pull the small desk under the window, allowing her to be able to climb out.

Standing on the desk, she pulled the bat back, before bringing it forward with one hard jab, breaking the flimsy glass easily. The sound was just as loud as she had thought that is would be, and knew that her father must have heard it. Being quick, she broke away the remaining glass and threw the bat away, before beginning to pull herself up. The banging on the door only made her move faster as she slipped out carefully, cutting her hands a bit on the glass scattered on the ground.

"Reily!"

As soon as she had slipped free of the small window, only a couple of cuts adorning her body, she got to her feet and looked around. Her best way out was to run to the neighbours, but she didn't even know if they were there. Taking off on foot, she began to run toward the road, though, sadly, she had to pass by the front of the house first. Something took hold of her hair before she was more than three feet past the front deck, pulling her back.

"You need to learn when to give up." His voice was hoarse in her ear as she was pulled back roughly, up the front stairs against her will. As soon as the front door closed, Reily took the distraction and brought her heel down on her father's foot, causing him to cry out and release her hair, but before she was out of his reach his arm wrapped around her legs, making her fall forward onto the hardwood floors. A hand clapped over her mouth and she could feel his breath against her ear.

But just as soon as it had come, the weight was off of her and her mouth as released, allowing her to begin to crawl away. But she barely got a foot when someone took hold of her again, arms wrapping around her waist, though keeping away from her hip. An ear shattering scream broke out her throat, but was abruptly cut off when she was shaken and turned around.

"Reily! It's me!" Opening her eyes once more, Lucas stood over her, face masked in panic and worry. "It's alright, you're alright now." Pulling her up against him, Reily wrapped her arms around him tightly, as though she were never going to let go. As she looked over his shoulder, she saw her father lying on the ground unconscious, Nathan standing over him as he shook his fist.

"You alright?" He asked, stepping over the older man's body and over to the two. Reily nodded, tears slipping down her cheeks. Once Nathan had reached them he let her take one of his hands as she thanked him silently. The sound of sirens made them all look over toward the front door, Lucas pulling away from Reily.

"Haley must have called the police." Looking down at her father one last time, she took in a shallow breath, before letting Lucas lead her toward the front. But a thought that came to her mind caused her to stop dead.

"Wait! Peyton, she-"

"Is fine. Haley was with her when we came here. She was actually the one to tell us where you were." Lucas assured as he gently ran his hands up and down her arms carefully. He could feel when she relaxed at his touch and leaned into him, her arms coming around his form.

"Reily!" The loud scream made them all turn back toward where her father was stumbling toward them, gun raised. A shot fired, and everyone froze, both Nathan and Lucas grabbing hold of Reily, as though to protect her from the shot that had already went off. Her father's body fell to the floor, a bullet wound bleeding out on his hip. Reily looked over toward the door, but her jaw dropped at who stood there. Dan Scott.

The loud booming motors and many different planes pounded against her headphones as she tried to drown out the sounds as she stood on the strip, waiting for her mother's plane. Her father had gone back to prison and the chance of him getting out were slim to none after he had gone insane on her on his parole.

"Reily!" Turning toward where she could clearly hear her name cut through the noise, she could see the familiar face of her mother, standing out from the rest of the rush that were getting off the plane. A smile spread across the teens face as she opened her arms, letting her mother wrap her up in a tight hug that nearly made it hard to breath.

"Hi mom. Been a while, huh?" She asked quietly, looking into her mother's happy eyes. Roseanne kissed Reily on the forehead, each cheek, then pulled her into another hug, her hands searching over her daughters figure.

"Are you sure you're alright, nothing else has happened since I got on the plane, right?" She asked, taking Reily by the shoulder and looked her over for the millionth time.

"I'm perfectly healthy. My hip's healed, I've been eating great. Karen and Lucas have been great to take care of me. And, they're actually waiting in the lot." Guiding her mother away from the loading dock, they got to the baggage claim, waiting for her mother familiar black suitcase to come, the red and black sticker on the front that Reily had put on when she got bored on night, to help them know which one was hers.

"Let's go home, our real home." Roseanne said, rolling her back beside her with one hand and her other arm around her daughters shoulders. Reily leaned against Roseanne's side, her own arm wrapped around her waist as they walked toward the parking lot where Reily's truck was waiting, and Lucas and Karen were as well.

"You have no idea how glad I am to hear that."

Roseanna smiled as she looked down at Reily's smiling face, as they walked together toward where Karen and Lucas were standing, leaning against Lucas's truck. As they got closer, Roseanna released Reily and let Karen embrace her in a welcoming hug. But as she looked over to her daughter, she was her and Lucas locking in their own embrace.

"Karen-"

"I'll explain it later." Smiling, she walked over to Reily's truck and put her back in the back seat, Karen helping her to lift the overstuffed bag inside. They both looked over to their teenage kids and saw them smiling to the other, Reily's arms wrapped around his neck and her forehead pressed against Lucas's, where he had to lower his head slightly to allow her forehead to touch.

"I see that I've missed a lot." Roseanna whispered, glancing at Karen. Who just smiled, looking over to the young couple again. Reily and Lucas separated to move to their own trucks, each getting into the driver's seat.

"I don't want you to go." Lucas arms wrapped around Reily's form, his head coming to rest on her shoulder as she placed her clothes into her bag. She sighed and turned her head to look at Lucas, a smile covering her lips as she gently place a kiss on his temple.

"You know that my mom needs me now, and I need her. It's not like you'll never see me again, I'm right across the street." Zipping up her bag, she turned around in his arms, taking his face into her hands gently. "I love you, you know that." Pulling him down, she gently placed a kiss on his lips, feeling more the seeing when he smiled.

"But it's still nice to hear." A knock on the door caused them to pull apart, moments before Karen's smiling face appeared. She looked down at the suitcase on Reily's bed and her smile lowered slightly, before it returned to its usual brightness as she looked up to the couple.

"Reily, your mother just invited Lucas and I over to dinner, so we can help you carry your things over." Reily nodded with a smile and lifted her bag off of the bed, before turning and pushing it into Lucas's chest, getting a groan from him as he rubbed where the bag and hit.

"Great! I'll get my guitar and then I think that's it..." Reily looked around the room, satisfied that nothing was left behind. Snapping the case of her guitar closed, she was satisfied as she lifted it off the bed. "After you, Karen." The two girls smiled to one another as Karen opened the door more to let the pass through easily.

"It's going to seem quiet without you around, Reily." Karen wrapped an arm around Reily's shoulder and gave her a one armed hug, before letting her go so that she could go and open the front door for them. As they stepped out to cross the road, Reily felt Lucas take hold of her hand and looked back at him, her eyes pleasantly surprised as she looked up into his blue eyes. How she loved those eyes, and everything that went with them.


	19. A Song From The Heart

Looking at the electric blue eyes staring back at me, I couldn't stop the smile that rose to my lips as I looked over the dress that I was wearing in the mirror. It was a navy blue velvet, that flowed down to my ankles. Strapless, Peyton had convinced me that it was useless to hide my scars and helped me to pick out a dress that I wasn't afraid to wear. After all, the attack from my father as all over the news, so generally the whole school knew about it. But I didn't really mind, Lucas was there to save me from prying gossiping girls, and even Nathan seemed to have become protective of me since he helped me to get away from my dad.

The dress was tight around my chest and torso, down to my hips, where the material then loosened and flowed around my legs, so that when I spun around it would fan out to a wide spread. I was wearing silver bracelets to decorate my wrists, each shining with the light and matching with the dress. My hair was let loose, letting it cascade around my shoulders and down my back, straightened out to get a new look. My make up was just some light eyeliner and mascara as well as some blue eye-shadow. My mom forcing me to wear a small amount of lip gloss, no matter how much I tried to tell her no.

"Reily! Lucas is here!" I could hear my mom call through the door, tilting my head back so that she could hear me, I didn't look away from the mirror as I called back.

"Be down in just a sec!" Turning around one last time, I brushed my hair aside as I looked over the scars on my back and shoulders. At least my hair was long and hid them most of the time. Releasing my hair and walked over toward the door, my silver high-heels tapped the floor as I walked toward the door, slipping out into the hallway and glancing at the stairs. Please don't let me trip over this ridiculously long and expensive dress.

**~Chapter 19-A Song From The Heart~**

Dressed in an expensive black tux, Lucas saw Roseanne smile excitedly toward the stairs, turning around to look up toward the top of the stair way. He had to catch his jaw when he saw Reily standing, staring down at him with a smile on her face. She was holding her dress in one hand to make sure that she didn't trip on it. It was at that moment, for the first time in over a month, that Lucas saw that same glow in her eyes.

Walking down the stairs slowly, he knew that she was doing her best not to trip on the long blue dress that he had asked Peyton to help her with. As soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs, Lucas took her hands in his, kissing her fingers gently. He saw her tanned skin darken in a blush as she bit her bottom lip.

"Reily Share, will you go to prom with me?" He asked gently, watching as those eyes lit up further, her hands gripping his slightly tighter.

"Of course, Lucas Scott, I will go to prom with you." Standing up to him level, she touched her lips gently to his own, feel his hand gently brush her cheek. As her now free hand gently took his neck and pulled him only a little closer, they both smiled cheerfully into the kiss.

"Alright, pictures!" Reily and Lucas chuckled as they looked over to Karen, who stood with a digital camera raised, before the flash nearly blinded them as it went off. Reily laughed quietly as she looked away from the camera, blinking rapidly.

"Whoa, I think I'm blind." Lucas laughed as he wrapped an arm around Reily's shoulders, turning her back toward Karen and Roseanne. Karen raised the camera again and Lucas poked Reily in the side, right at her ribs where he knew that she was ticklish, forcing a smile from her as she fought against her laughter. As they were forced to stand through almost 30 minutes of paparazzi harassment, before finally being dismissed to prom.

Stepping from the house, Lucas wrapped an arm around Reily's waist as they walked toward his truck. Leaning her head on his shoulder, Reily smiled happily. She had been waiting for so long just to be able to relax and be with Lucas, without having to worry about psychopathic fathers, jealous cheerleaders, and school. Today was a day that they were able to just be together. And maybe be with some friends as well, cause they wouldn't be left alone by them that was for sure.

"You know, I think that this has to be one of the most normal nights that we have ever had." Each slipping into their seats. As they were driving, Lucas took hold of Reily's hand, bringing it up to kiss her fingers. Reily smiled over to him and gently brushed her thumb over the back of his palm. As soon as they reached the school, Reily couldn't hold back the pleased laugh as she watching Lucas walked around the truck to her side and open the door for her, holding out a hand.

"Well, let's make this one normal night, last a lifetime." He whispered as she took his hand, smiling the whole time. Stepping from the truck, they could see where Haley and Nathan were walking from what they knew was Deb's van.

"What happened to you two?" Reily teased as the four walked toward the front entrance. Reily had Lucas's arm around her waist as they walked, Nathan and Haley following behind them. Reily was glad the Haley was able to find a dress that allowed her to be able to feel comfortable in.

"Our car ended up breaking down, Deb gave us a drive." Haley leaned against Nathan's side, looking around to see if they could find the others. Jake and Peyton were sitting at a table, sitting pretty close to one another, while Mouth and Brooke were nowhere to be seen at that moment.

"Damn...great way to start prom off." Reily teased, causing Haley to turn and glare playfully at her.

"Hey foxy! Love the dress!" Peyton stepped up to Reily and lifted her arms, making her twirl around into the dress. Reily couldn't help but sway her hips to make the light material flow. Lucas moved to the side and sat down with Haley and Nathan at the nearest table. Jake kissed Peyton on the temple gently once more before he walked over to join them. As soon as the two girls were alone, Peyton looked over to Reily, pride in her eyes.

"What's with that look?" Reily teased as she placed her hands on her hips, tilting her head to the side curiously.

"Just glad that you still wore the dress, even though I know that you really were nervous about wearing it cause of the scars. You look great, Reily." The burnet smiled as she dropped her stance to look over to where Lucas was laughing with Jake at something he had said, probably about Nathan and Haley at the slightly bothered looks, though there was still amusement in their eyes.

"I am too. I think it's about time I stopped hiding myself. The years almost out, and I think that it's time I took pride in myself, scars and all." Peyton smiled, clapping Reily on the back as she began to walk her over toward the table that everyone else was occupying. When they saw that there was only one seat, next to Jake, Peyton was about to let Reily have it, when the other girl simply moved over to Lucas and placed herself on his lap.

"You're my chair, deal with it." She smiled, kissing the bridge of his nose. The others chuckled, but said nothing at the scene. Peyton simply smiled as she took her place next to Jake, the both of them exchanging looks. Lucas didn't seem bothered in the least and wrapped his arms around her waist, preventing her from sliding off from the slick material that her dress was made of.

Prom was supposed to be one of the biggest, if not the biggest, event of high school for everyone. But yet, not everyone really felt at their best. Haley was pregnant and the punch was spiked with vodka, Nathan was too busy worrying about Haley and the baby to really relax for even two seconds, Peyton and Jake just seemed to want to get away from it all and be alone, and Mouth and Brooke weren't at their best cause they were both without real dates, only coming as friends. Reily was still jumpy about everything that had happened a couple weeks ago, and wasn't able to calm down and enjoy herself, while Lucas was constantly worrying about where Reily was and if she was safe.

"Are you alright?" Brooke asked as she looked down at Reily. She was leaning against the punch table, her cheeks blushed as she looked down at the drink in her hand. Clearly, she hated the vodka in the punch just as much as Haley and Nathan did. She glared down at the drink displeasingly, jumping when Brooke's voice reached her ears.

"Just really strong." She finally choked out. Brooke chuckled as she leaned against the table in front of Reily, noticing when she didn't put the drink down, instead brought it back to her lips.

"Something's on your mind, come on, talk to me." Placing a hand on her arm encouragingly, Reily's eyes dropped to the drink in her hand, biting her lip slightly. She didn't really want to have to worry Brooke, well, not really worry her, but load her problems onto her.

"It's just, I keep thinking about my dad, and because of that, I can't have fun. He's in my head! And I know that I'm making Lucas paranoid from always glancing around and being nervous, and it's just not fair to him." Reily looked over to where Lucas was talking with mouth, seemingly a very animated conversation by their laughter and body gestures.

"Then leave." Reily looked over to Brooke with wide eyes. "I mean-" she quickly scrambled to explain, "Why don't you two go somewhere that you know is safe and comfortable to you. Better than sitting here all night freaking out." Reily's expression softened and she quickly nodded her head, sighing. Placing her glass on the table, she walked away with a smile to Brooke, making her way back over to Lucas.

"Hey, you alright?" Lucas asked as he held his arms out, letting her sit down in his lap. She sighed as she wrapped her arms around his neck and let her head rest gently on his shoulder. Lucas looked down at her as his arms came around her waist to hold her gently to him. Her blue dress draped over his legs as she lay against him.

"Yea..." Looking out, she saw Brooke standing with Mouth, and gave her a supporting smile. "Look, I know what it's not fair for me to be all paranoid when we're supposed to be having the amazing time and all, but I just can't stop thinking that he's still watching me." She finally said quietly as she pulled her head up to look at him as she spoke. But she was left in surprise when Lucas suddenly smiled and pressed a kiss to her lips.

"Thank you for telling me, Reily. And you know that no matter what, I will always worry about you." Lucas mumbled gently against her lips, making the girl smile. "How about, we go for a ride?" Lucas asked as he looked into her radiant eyes, the smile that pierced them reaching his heart immediately.

"I'd like that." She whispered, kissing his lips gently on more time. Lucas gently slid her off his lap, letting her stand and straighten her dress, before he got to his feet as well. He could see when Nathan and Haley were just beginning to dance, a slow song coming on. As they were beginning to walk toward the exit, a familiar voice called a calm to the crowd. Everyone turned to see Jake standing before the mic, a smile on his lips as he looked over everyone.

"Everyone having an awesome time!?" He yelled out, looking over the girls and guys that were smiling and cheering happily. Throwing up their intertwined hands, Reily and Lucas cheered with the rest of the crowd, laughing quietly as they looked over the others. Jake nodded his head in approval, before he spoke again. "Alright, I don't want to go and keep you all from your night, but there's a very special friend of mine that I want to welcome on stage, that's going to be singing for you...." As he spoke, his eyes found Reily. Her whole body froze as she realized what he was up to.

"Oh god..." She mumbled, too quiet for Lucas to hear from beside her.

"Come on up here Reily!" He called from where he was, drawing everyone attention in the room toward her. She flinched slightly when everyone's eyes landed on her, looking from her at all angles. Jake smiled encouragingly, motioning for her to come up on stage. As he looked up to Lucas, she help up a hand, telling him silently to stay still. Walking from where she was at his side, she stepped through the people and was surprised to see no one was looking over her scars in disgust as she had thought they would. Her guitar sat on the stage, waiting to be played.

"I can't believe you, you swore you wouldn't tell." She whispered. Jake just smiled and shrugged, jumping from the stage to make his way over to where Peyton stood, chuckling quietly to herself as she watched her boyfriend. Reily stepped onto the stage, where a couple of other players were waiting, oddly enough not worried about what she was going to play. Damn Jake, she knew that it was never good to lend him sheet music.

As she took her guitar in her hands, she placed the strap over her shoulder and walked up to the mic, looking over to where Lucas was still standing. He had a curious look in his blue eyes as he watched her movements. As the people behind her started to play out the beginning notes, she took a calming breath, making sure to keep her eyes away from the prying boys.

"_Is this a dream?  
If it is  
Please don't wake me from this high  
I'd become comfortably numb  
Until you opened up my eyes  
To what it's like  
When everything's right  
I can't believe_

__

You found me  
When no one else was lookin'  
How did you know just where I would be?  
Yeah, you broke through  
All of my confusion  
The ups and the downs  
And you still didn't leave  
I guess that you saw what nobody could see  
You found me  
You found me

So, here we are  
That's pretty far  
When you think of where we've been  
No going back  
I'm fading out  
All that has faded me within  
You're by my side  
Now everything's fine  
I can't believe

You found me  
When no one else was lookin'  
How did you know just where I would be?  
Yeah, you broke through  
All of my confusion  
The ups and the downs  
And you still didn't leave  
I guess that you saw what nobody could see  
You found me  
You found me

_And I was hiding  
'Til you came along  
And showed me where I belong  
You found me  
When no one else was lookin'  
How did you know?  
How did you know?"_

Lucas, Peyton, Haley and Nathan all watching in shock as Reily smiled over the audience of people, who had begun to dance to the beat of the song, other just watching as Reily's hands slid along the guitar in expert ease, her smile never faltering as she kept her eyes locked with Lucas's. Her hair swayed to the side, showing the scars on her shoulders, but she never even showed that she cared as she just smiled on. Her passion was pouring into the very words of her song, her voice, and they were all meant just for once person alone. Lucas.

__

"You found me  
When no one else was lookin'  
How did you know just where I would be?  
Yeah, you broke through  
All of my confusion  
The ups and the downs  
And you still didn't leave  
I guess that you saw what nobody could see  
You found me

_(You found me)  
(When no one else was lookin')  
You found me  
(How did you know just where I would be?)  
You broke through  
All of my confusion  
The ups and the downs  
And you still didn't leave  
I guess that you saw what nobody could see  
The good and the bad  
And the things in between  
You found me  
You found me_"

As the song came to a close, Lucas made his way through the applauding crowd. Reily finally let her shyness show through as she gave a tentative smile to everyone else, lifting her guitar back over her head to place it safely aside as the old band resumed. Walking over to the steps, Lucas stood at the bottom, holding his hands up to her. She let a smile shine through as she let him take her into his arms, her face burying in his neck as he did so, smelling the strong smell that came from his clothes.

"So that's what you've been working on, huh?" Lucas asked in a teasing voice, looking down at her. Reily's cheeks flushed scarlet as she nodded.

**Sorry that this chapter took me forever to come out with. I was having a bit of writers block. Hope you like it! I better get LOTS of reviews, or the next one is going to take even longer to come out.**


	20. Fights and Road Trips

Lying on my back on my large double bed, Lucas had his head on my stomach, his fingers gently tracing small patters over the smooth skin above my knees. I still wore my dress, though had most of the material hiked up to just below my hips. Lucas had removed his tie and dress coat, leaving him in only his flashy white shirt, the first few buttons undone. I gently ran my fingers threw his jelled hair, the strands clumped together in large thick locks.

"You know, I'm going to have to wash out this goo or glue or whatever the hell this really is, and it is going to take forever." I mumbled quietly, feeling his body shake as he laughed; the sound lulling through the room. My mother had left a note for if I came home early that she was going to be helping Karen at the Café because Haley was still at the dance.

"We could go do that now." Lucas suggested, taking one of my hands from his hair and gently kissing the knuckles. "You're mom's not home, we're all alone..." He rolled over and gently kissed my right thigh. I laughed at the ticklish contact, trying to squirm from his grasp as he took hold of my calves to keep me from moving away. I shrieked in laughed as his tongue slipped across the skin, moving up to where the scrunched up material of the dress ended.

"Lucas..." Pulling himself up, his body slid up the length of my silk covered torso, his arms coming to either side of my head as he leaned down on his elbows, his forehead touching mine. I smiled up at his cheerful eyes, seeing the happiness in the depth of the blue. "I love you, so much." I whispered quietly, pulling him tightly down to me so that I could seal his lips with my own.

"I love you too, Reily." Lucas mumbled quietly in between kisses, his hands moving down to gently make lines down my stomach as they came to stop on my hips, grasping the material lightly. I released my arms from around his neck to tightly take hold of his shirt, my fingers finding the buttons.

"Reily! Are you here?"

**~Chapter 20-Fights and Road Trips~**

The door swung open as Lucas tried in vain to pull away from Reily, but not fast enough as her mother stopped frozen in the doorway of her daughter's bedroom. She stepped into the room in time to spot Lucas's hands holding her hips as he was beginning to pull her dress up further, Reily's hands at the buttons of his shirt, their lips locked.

"Mom!" Reily screamed, Lucas flying off of her as he tripped over the sheets scrunched at the end of the bed and falling off the side of the bed to the floor. Reily gasped in shock as she momentarily forgot that her mother was standing in the doorway, moving to lean over the side of the bed at Lucas, whose face was scrunched in pain as he laid on his back, gasping to get in the breath that had been knocked out of him when he hit the hardwood flooring.

"-Okay!" He finally coughed out. "I'm okay." His voice was hoarse as he pulled himself up so that he was sitting, his head just coming up to the mattress on the high bed. Reily looked back over her shoulder at her mother one more time, seeing that it was red in either rage or embarrassment.

"Reily, may I speak with you, in the kitchen? Now!" It wasn't a question. Reily looked down to Lucas once more, but her mother snapped again and she quickly scrambled from the bed, looking back at him with an apologetic look on her face as she disappeared around the corner. Lucas fell back against the floor with a thud, sighing loudly.

Reily bowed her head as she sat at the kitchen table. Her mother was leaning against the counter behind her, assessing her daughter with a critical eye. Reily could nearly feel the burning of her mother's gaze against the back of her head as she sat still in her seat. She was clenching and unclenching her fists, nerves screwing around with her head and her body.

"Reily, what were you thinking?" She finally asked again, looking at her with a scowl. Reily flinched, looking down at her lap, biting her lip. "I thought I had to worry about you while I was gone, and now when I'm here, then you decide to make a move?" Her voice rose higher with nearly every word that she said.

"Mom, I-"

"Don't even start with me Reily! I trusted you, and you go and do this, what else have you done that I don't know about?" Roseanne walked forward and stood in front of her, her eyes scrutinizing her daughter harshly. Reily shrunk back as she looked up into her mother's eyes, holding guilt and shame.

"I-I-I-"

"You what?" Her mother's voice was low and harsh, making her flinch.

"I...lost my virginity..." She finally whispered, her cheeks burning. Roseanne seemed to go chalk white as she looked down at Reily. Her hand went slack on the table top, her lips parting as her jaw seemed to just fall open. "I'm sorry!" Reily yelled as she quickly got to her feet, turning on heel and running up toward her room. She heard her mother call after her, but didn't turn back as she ran into her room, seeing Lucas sitting on the edge of the bed. As soon as she walked in, he was at his feet.

Tears were streaking down her face.

"Reily? What happened?" Saying nothing, she merely pushed herself into Lucas's arms, her face coming into his chest as he looked down at her in shock, wrapping his arms around her shoulders to draw her closer to himself.

"I think I would have liked it better had we stayed at the dance." She whimpered into his chest. Lucas's tried to sooth her as he whispered quietly in her ear. Reily continued to cry quietly into his shirt as he attempted to sooth her. Her mother never came back up to her room, but was still in the kitchen as she thought over her daughters actions.

"Need ass?" Reily read as she looked down at the cell phone. Brooke raised an eyebrow as she looked up to the other burnet.

"I don't get it, he left with Rachel, why would he need ass?"

"Assistance." Lucas and Skills explained. Reily snorted slightly in laugher as she leaned against Lucas's shoulder. He pulled his chair back slightly to allow her to sit down on his lap, her arms coming around his neck so that she was leaning against him as he held onto her waist so she didn't slip off. Brooke saw the worry in Lucas's eyes at her tired expression.

"Hey, Rei, come help me with ordering some coffee's." Brooke pleaded as she tugged on the young woman's arm. Reily whined slightly, but let herself be pulled off of Lucas's lap, complaining about just getting comfortable. Lucas chuckled as he let go of her waist, allowing Brooke to drag her off. As soon as they were out of earshot, Haley looked to Lucas in concern.

"Has she gotten any sleep?" She asked quietly. Lucas leaned back in his chair and ran a hand through his hair uncomfortably.

"Barely. Whenever she's at my house, she's waking up screaming, and at her house, her and her mother are fighting, so it's like she's going through it alone." Looking over to Reily at the counter, he saw that she and Brooke were speaking of something serious as well. Reily's eyebrows were drawn down together and her jaw set.

"What are they fighting about?" Skills asked carefully.

"Our relationship." Lucas mumbled, looking down at his hands carefully. Haley and Nathan exchanged quick glances, but didn't say anything. Clearly, it was a soft spot for the both of them. "I don't know how to help her out, if I can't even get her to open up."

"Alright girl, spill it. What's up with the dark circles?" Brooke asked as she motioned to Reily's eyes. The burnet looked down at her hands, which held some money to pay for her coffee. Brooke wrapped an arm around her shoulder in support, letting Reily lean her head against arm. After thinking through her words, she spoke.

"I see him everywhere. Even my dreams." She whispered quietly, looking up at Brooke.

"I thought that when you were with Lucas, it made the dreams go away?" She asked quietly. Reily pulled away to take her coffee from Karen, paying for the drink. Brooke did the same, also paying for Peyton's as well.

"Thanks Karen." Both girls said, getting a smile from the older woman before she returned to her other customers.

"I can't stay with him every night. My mom doesn't trust me now that she's back, and when I am at home with her, she never even wants me to talk to her. I _betrayed her._ When I wake up from the nightmares, she doesn't do anything, and I don't go ask her for help." She confessed, her face a frown. As soon as she finished speaking, Brooke just looked at her with a confused look.

"What'd you do to piss her off?" She asked quietly, leaning forward so that Reily didn't have to talk too loudly. Reily leaned forward as well as she blushed slightly, her caramel skin reddening.

"Lost my virginity." She admitted, causing the other to shriek in joy. Reily was caught off guard as Brooke pulled her into a hug, jumping up and down happily.

"I knew it, I just knew you two had done it." Reily let herself smile as she laughed quietly, hugging Brooke back. As soon as they pulled away from one another, they both returned to the table that everyone else was sitting at. Haley had looked up Honey Grove on the internet, and it turns out that it's about 20 hours from here, by car.

"Why don't we all go?" Haley asked, looking around at everyone. Nathan immediately shook his head.

"I appreciate your concern for Mouth, Hales, but you're pregnant and we got finals." Haley pouted slightly at his words, but immediately jumped into another reason to go.

"Come on, we're all graduating soon, it could be like a last hurrah! And hopefully Mouth is okay and it turns into a great road trip. But if not, then at least there's safety in numbers, right?" Everyone exchanged looks, while Reily just nodded her head. It would be great to get away from the area, away from her mother, really.

Reily and Lucas walked from the house down toward the van, where everyone was beginning to pack their things into the trunk. Brooke waved to them enthusiastically as they approached, getting a chuckle from Reily. Now that Brooke knew of their sexual relationship, then there was no way she was going to let them get away with anything too easily.

"Alright, Karen and I made sandwiches, and we got drinks, and snacks, and we're all set." Haley said happily as she carried one of the bags full of food toward the truck. Nathan took the bag and placed it inside beside all of the other things.

"I brought some old yearbooks, though we might be able to get a laugh out of 'em." Lucas held up the yearbooks, catching Reily's curiosity as she looked at the books in his hands. She had never seen any of those before, and she was curious of what Lucas had looked like before she came. "What about you Nate?"

Nathan looked shocked for a moment, before he motioned toward Haley. "I brought Haley, who brought the food, Peyton?" Getting a chuckle from the others, they then looked over to Peyton, who held up a cd.

"Road mix." Placing the cd back in her purse, she then looked over to Reily. She didn't notice however, she was leaning heavily against Lucas, her eyes closed. Her skin was getting strangely pale, and the hallow of her eyes were dark from lack of proper sleep.

"Okay, let's go!" Haley chirped happily as everyone began to move toward where they were going to sit. Lucas noticed her eagerness as he walked toward her and gave her a curious look.

"You seem pretty excited, considering Mouth might be in trouble?"

"Well," she mumbled, "I'm choosing to believe that he's fine. Besides, it's Mouth, how much trouble can he really get into? He's probably having fun." She asked with a small chuckle as she continued on toward the passenger side. Lucas shook his head in amusement as he closed the trunk of the van. Reily was waiting for him in the van already, saving him a seat in the back. Brooke was the one driving, with Peyton in the passenger seat. Nathan and Haley got the middle seats, while Skills sat in back with Reily and Lucas.

Only about an hour on the road, and Haley had pulled out the yearbooks. Reily was sitting forward in her seat to look through the pictures as Haley flipped toward the comments section. She had moved to sit on Lucas's lap, since he was in the middle seat, allowing him to gently message her back. Skills continued to tease them about 'waiting until they had a room'.

"Alright, Brooke, freshman year. Lance Basper? Really?" She asked in exasperation as Peyton laughed from the front seat. Lucas winced and Reily just chuckled at her friends behaviour. Brooke rushed to try and defend herself against the assault on her personal life.

"He was cute, okay?" Nathan flipped through Lucas's old yearbook and held back a laugh as he found a written comment from Haley.

"Hey, I'm not sure I'd go there Hales, check this out; Luke, stay cool forever, Haley." He teased her as he leaned forward to get more in her face. Haley groaned in annoyance as she pushed him away, getting Lucas to laugh quietly.

"So what's wrong with that?" She asked in her defence, getting a pat on the shoulder from Reily. She was really glad that all of her old yearbooks were still packed away inside her basement. Nathan shook his head in amusement, continuing to look through the comments of his brother's yearbook.

"You think that's bad," Lucas said as he found a comment that Nathan was about to miss. "Peyton wrote to me in my Sophomore yearbook," pausing for dramatic effect, he held the book away from Reily as she tried to read what his ex had wrote. "Peyton Sawyer." Everyone let out a chorus of laughter as Peyton looked through the window.

"Aw, come on!" Peyton complained, "I didn't even know you then!" She turned around in her seat to try and look back at Lucas in the back seat. Brooke chuckled at Peyton's attempt, but Lucas continued.

"You know how hard I worked to get my yearbook in front of her." Lucas gave her a playful glare, and noticed that Reily was beginning to tense in his lap. Clearly, she didn't like the subject of past loves. Wrapping his arms around her waist in reassurance, he continued. "And then she signs her damn name. I was crushed." Peyton turned forward in her seat once more, laughing again. Reily was still tense in Lucas's grasp, so he leaned forward and kissed her neck. "Just the past." He whispered so only she could hear.

"Okay, how about this," Haley cut in as she looked back at Lucas. "Lucas, you know you want me...Taylor James." Brooke and Peyton winced with an 'ow' from the front seat and Reily smacked Lucas's leg when he let out a low whistle.

"I wonder what she wrote in Nathan's yearbook." Lucas teased as he looked up at his brother. Peyton and Brooke broke into laugher at his words. Skills chuckled next to Lucas, reading more from the book he had in his lap.

"Hey look. "Luke, you're a great friend. Thanks for looking out for me. See you around"." Skills' smile fell as he finished reading, looking down at the page with a serious look. Reily looked over to see who had written the comment.

"Who wrote that one?" Brooke asked, looking into the rear-view mirror to see Skills.

"Jimmy Edward. Sorry." He apologized as he closed the book in his lap. Lucas looked away, while Reily leaned back against his chest and gently kissed his temple in assurance. No one in the car seemed to want to break the silence now that it had fallen, everyone just looking around in difference places, while Brooke kept her eyes on the road.

Haley was the brave one, as she broke the awkward quiet. "How about," she began, "we just forget about all the pain on this trip, and only focus on the good things in our life?" At her words, everyone chorused their agreement, with some slight hesitation from Lucas and Reily. They didn't know if it would be possible, but they were definitely willing to try.

Soon after everyone had fallen asleep again, they began to rotate the driver every two hours. Once Brooke was behind the wheel a second time, she had only been driving for less than an hour when the motor began to make a slight choking sound. Everyone began to wake up from the loud sound, while Brooke was silently beginning to panic. Reily lifted her head from Lucas's shoulder from where they were sitting in the back with Skills.

"What's going on up there?" Haley asked, leaning forward between the seats.

"I-I don't know." Brooke stuttered as she looked back quickly, before returned her eyes to the rode.

"How long has that light been on?" Lucas asked from his seat in the back. There was a bright gold light with the lettering 'REDUCED ENGINE POWER' written on it.

"Um, just a little while." Brooke confessed. "But it turned a pretty colour and I liked it." Her words made Reily groan in disbelief, falling back against the seat. Nathan chuckled slightly, though a bit sour, as Brooke looked over to him. "Bad call?" She asked as she looked worried, though still just tried to smile it off. As the engine died completely, Brooke pulled over onto the side of the road, the engine continuing to choke. "Bad call."

"I don't know." Lucas finally gave up as he looked down at the steaming engine. "It's all electronic, I can't figure it out." Reily sighed from where she was leaning against the side of the van, her arms wrapped around herself. Now she was wishing she had brought her coat with her, instead of just wearing a thin long sleeved shirt. "What I do know," he continued, looking over to the others as soon as he closed the hood. "Is that we should have stuck to the interstate, not moved to the back roads just so Haley could see the sandwich shaped like Elvis."

"Come on Luke, I too wanted to see the sandwich shaped like Elvis. I'm pretty sure we all did." Peyton intervened, while Reily nodded in agreement. Brooke raised her hand to show she did as well, proving Haley and Peyton's point.

"Admit it Lucas, you wanted to see the sandwich shaped like Elvis too. Didn't you?" Reily asked a she looped her arm through his, leaning against him. Lucas looked about ready to decline her accusation, before he slouched against her a bit as he stuck his hands in his coat pockets.

"Alright, fine I wanted to see the Elvis sandwich too, but that doesn't change the fact that we haven't seen a single car pass by since we stopped." As he spoke, Reily looked back when a pair of headlights shone over everyone. Brooke noticed to and pointed toward the large bus that was beginning to come their way. "Until now." Lucas muttered.

"It's a bus." Nathan confirmed, wrapped an arm around Haley's shoulder.

"It's a tour bus." Brooke said in barely contained excitement. Peyton leapt at the chance and ran to Brooke side excitedly.

"Please be the Foo Fighters." She bounced happily as she wrapped her arms around herself in warmth.

"Please be Kanye." Skills interrupted. The bus began to slow before them, the door opened as someone stepped out. That someone was very familiar to everyone in the group but Reily, who was wearing a blue rodeo shirt and cowboy boots. Chris Keller.

"Well, well." He mumbled as he leaned out the door. Reily looked at the faces of her friends, seeing hate, annoyance, and disgust. Haley seemed to most annoyed as she nearly growled, cussing under her breath.

"Stupid Elvis sandwich."

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**It's been forever since I've updated this story and I'm so sorry. Hope you all like it!**


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