1.

Chris, despite his best intentions, was falling apart. One child with Sophie and he knew that something was wrong. The spark, the fire he once shared with his lover was gone—permanently doused. It must've been the look, the first smile his daughter, Emilie, gave to him. Father's loved their children with every fiber in their being but Chris didn't—he couldn't.

A family wasn't something he deserved especially after the hell he had put Sophie through. They were living in a small, cheap studio apartment. Rats and cockroaches infested the place, and the previous night Chris had gotten into an argument with his long-term girlfriend. She wanted to live somewhere better; she wanted more for Emilie.

Apparently the elites of Brighton, also known as the BP's had finally gotten under Sophie's skin. She was transforming into one of those snobs. God, how Chris hated anything pertaining to Brighton, that ridiculous prep school in Manhattan. He had eventually convinced Sophie to run away with him, to run away from her dreams and her family. Chris knew it would destroy her future, but he wanted Sophie to himself.

And the knee-deep trouble that he was in—well, there was only one option. Move. At first, the destination was unknown. And then it didn't matter. East Coast. West Coast. It was all the same. As long as Sophie Kerr was with him, he felt like a million dollars. Hell, he didn't enjoy using her, but she had been the one so bent with helping him. He never had any intentions of falling in love. And because he did, the rest was her fault.

Lynn warned her. Karen even held her doubts and suspicions.

"Chris, baby?" Sophie questioned groggily, collapsing against him.

Surprised, he nearly stumbled backwards from her sudden weight. She was breathing shallowly, and her body felt like dead weight against his. Her eyes were closed, tightly, he noticed. A sense of panic washed over him as he watched her; unconscious, she looked so breathtaking that he nearly fell in love with her again. But he couldn't. He destroyed Sophie's life and he wasn't about to destroy his daughters, so Chris did the one thing he was good at.

He ran.

- - -

When Sophie woke up, she couldn't recognize her surroundings. Everything was a blur of white and cleanliness. Machines were noisily beeping in the background. Blinking, she focused the best she could—gasping in turn. It was a hospital, which was one of Sophie's greatest fears. Groaning, she put a hand up to her head and tried to remember anything before this, but she couldn't. How she got to the hospital was one, huge blur.

"Soph?" a soft, masculine voice called out.

Her eyes filled with tears. She recognized his voice—it was Gideon, Gideon Lustig, her best friend from Brighton. The familiarity was enough for her to cry out with her arms outstretched. His warm arms embraced her in a tight hug, and she deeply inhaled his scent. Millions of thoughts swirled through her mind as she wondered how Gideon had found her. Chris and Sophie had been extra careful to cover their tracks.

Seattle, the rainy city, was far away from New York and pretentious Manhattan's upper class of graduated BP's from Brighton.

"How did you find me?"

A deep voice in the doors threshold cleared his throat. "Gideon, may I speak to my daughter quickly?"

He simply nodded his head and whispered into Sophie's ear, "I'll tell you later." He brushed hair out of her eyes and he lightly placed a kiss on her forehead. Surprised, she smiled weakly and mumbled a quick 'okay' in turn. Her stomach was in knots as Gideon left her alone to deal with her father.

Daniel Kerr was always the nicest of Sophie's parents, but by the look on his face—he suddenly didn't look like he was. Embarrassed and feeling foolish, she turned her head towards the window, but it wasn't much of a relief. There wasn't a view. It was just a brick building.

"Sophie Kerr, I demand you to look at me right now."

Her bottom lip trembled and she knew she'd burst into tears if she looked at him. Five years was a long time, and she had grown up a lot.

"Sophie, I'm not going to yell at you just yet." He sighed. "I really want to talk to you."

"There's nothing to talk about," Sophie whispered hoarsely.

Daniel furrowed his eyebrow at his daughter. "Since when have you become sarcastic?"

She pursed her lips together. "Since…a while." Her thoughts of Emilie drifted into her mind. She was barely two months old, and as a mother, she worried where her daughter was or where Chris was for that matter. Determined to change the topic, she asked, "Dad, where is Chris?"

In response, all Sophie got was silence. Ever since Daniel had met Chris, the two had clashed badly. A few verbal disagreements had been exchanged about Sophie and she could only watch in horror.

"Please. I'm worried."

She sounded so fragile, so broken. The confident, happy Sophie was just a mirage.

Again, Daniel sighed—much more loudly this time. "He's gone."

"Is he back at the apartment?" Daniel shook his head.

"Did he take Emilie out? He's barely given her any affection in the past two months." Daniel just shook his head again.

"I give up. Where is he?"

"Oh Sophie, dear, this is hard to say…so I'll do this as gently as I can. Chris left a note at your apartment. He left you, for good."

Her eyes welled up with tears. Chris was her fiancé. They had made plans to get married once Emilie was a few months older; they didn't get into any fights…recently. Sure, Chris seemed more detached than normal, but Sophie just thought he was stressed and depressed by their financial situation. After all, it had been Chris Prichett's big idea to run away.

From one thing or another, he was always running away. But for the life of her, Sophie couldn't understand why he'd ever leave her and Emilie behind. He was their family. They were his family. Things weren't supposed to splinter and fray like this. What happened to the Chris who loved to sit and read? Or what about the Chris who was talented with calculus? And what about the Chris who was genuinely happy?

"When?"

"A few days ago." Daniel shrugged, taking a seat on the edge of Sophie's bed. "Honey, I'm not going to yell at you for running away, but I am going to ask what possessed you to do it." His tone had instantly changed from worry to curiosity. Sophie wasn't even sure if letting him in on the truth would make much of a difference.

She sighed. "Oh dad. Does this have to happen now?" She cleared her throat. "Besides, it's better if you don't know. The reason was stupid and pointless. I was naïve and very trusting, dad. And for that, I'm sorry. I really am. I know that I screwed up everything—especially Brighton."

"You did a little more than screw up, Sophie Kerr. You fucked up badly!" Daniel screamed at his youngest daughter. "I know I've done some foolish things in my life but Brighton was everything you wanted." He took a deep breath. "I don't believe that bullshit about you being naïve. You're not. You never were. You were always better than Karen."

Anger surged through her veins. "Dad, I know that you and Karen don't get along, but don't you dare bring her into this."

"What has gotten into you? Why would you foolishly run away with that horribly irresponsible boy?" he demanded angrily.

"Chris is amazing dad. I didn't want to be split with the custody battle, so I just packed up and…"

"Got yourself knocked up," he added distastefully. "I raised you so much better than this, Sophie. What happened to you?"

"I grew up," she added weakly, straining to see beside her father. A small, petite blonde was hiding behind him. She was wearing tighter clothes than Sophie ever imagined wearing, and the girl was about thirty pounds lighter than Karen. Her face was very pale. The only thing perfect about the petite woman was her perfect curls that framed her skeletal-like face rather nicely. "Who is she?"

Daniel looked down at the floor. "Soph. It's been a while, but I'd like you to meet Francesca Adams."

Her eyes grew as wide as saucers. "The girl you were banging back in New Mexico?" she asked darkly. "Karen's best friend."

He sighed and ran a hand threw his dark brown, short hair. The wedding band on his left hand ring finger glistened. The divorce between Sophie's parents's had been finalized—Daniel made that clear. Why was he still wearing that damn thing?

"I've realized I was in love with her. We got married last year," he added softly. "Francesca had some plastic surgery because she didn't want Karen to recognize her. In front of Karen, Fran's name is Felicia. Understand?"

She shook her head. "No, no dad. I hate you. Get out of my room, NOW!" she screamed at him. "I never want to see you again." She threw the first thing she could reach, which was the remote to the T.V. "I'm not joking, dad. GO."

As if he understood his daughter, he left. Francesca lingered, smiling brightly. She was the epitome of a whore. Sophie scowled, disappointed in her father when Francesca finally left. For so long, she felt that she best connected with her dad. Sadly enough, that was no longer true.

Daniel Kerr was not the man he once was.

- - -

Gideon, much to Sophie's surprise, came back to visit her later. He seemed awfully uncomfortable and shy. The Gideon she knew wasn't nervous. He was much more confident, especially after things, oddly enough, had a way of working out. When Sophie left Manhattan and New York behind, Gideon and Annabel had finally gotten past that awkward stage of their relationship. It was no longer brother/sister feelings they held for each other, but much more intimate ones.

"Sophie, I'm sorry about your dad. I wanted to tell you but—"

She shook her head and raised her hand. "No, Gid. Don't apologize to me. It's not your fault. I should be the one apologizing."

"Why?"

"I ditched you. Annabel. Brighton." Her gaze lingered out the window. The guilt was raising up her esophagus a lot acid. She tried to force it back down, but it just wanted to come out.

"Come on, Soph. You hated the BP's more than anyone. I'm sure Brighton was the last thing on your mind when you took off."

"Maybe, but I was foolish, Gideon. You have no idea how I screwed up my dreams of college. God, I'm such an idiot." She balled her hands into fists and pounded them on her bed. "I could have been a professional photographer and instead I'm a stay-at-home mom."

The silence in the room was deafening.

"You have a kid?"

Sophie nodded curtly. "Her name is Emilie. She's hardly a few months old."

"Wow."

She knew that tone. Gideon was shocked—speechless. Sophie couldn't blame him because she never intended to have children. If she hadn't gotten drunk and her Chris hadn't taken advantage of that, she wouldn't be stuck with a child. But it wasn't so bad. Until today. Her father said that Chris left without much more than a pitiful note. The guy didn't have much, but they were in love. Chris didn't turn his back on love. And hell, he loved Sophie, didn't he?

Defeated, she slumped into the pillows. "I hate this." There was a knock on the door but Sophie didn't acknowledge it. "I don't look forward to seeing my mom's reaction…" she trailed off miserably.

"About that, Soph, I have something else you might like to know."

"Gid," she looked up at him cautiously. "Is she okay?"

He nodded and placed his arm gently on her shoulder. "Your mom is fine. But there's something you should know…" he trailed off.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I haven't written anything that wasn't original in quite a long time, now. This is based on the T.V. series on ABC Family called Beautiful People. I fell in love with the show and writing this story was my own way of saying thanks. If anyone watches this show, please leave me a review. I'd love to know how I'm doing. Really.