She sat on the cold hard floor with her back up against the front door; she held her knees close to her chest as the tears softly fell from her eyes.

He had done it again, promising over and over he would not ever touch her like that again, he had lied.. But that was nothing new.

She hated the way he made her feel, scared to even be alone in her own house, the doors were all locked, and the lights were dimmed. She sat once again terrified of every little noise and or movement.

She jumped and her heart skipped a beat at the sound of the doorbell.

"Who is it?" She asked trying not to sound as scared as she felt.

"It's me.. Lucas."

She jumped to her feet, wiped away her tears and straightened out her clothes all before opening the front door. "Thanks for coming over."

"Are you alright Haley?" Lucas asked walking into the house, he had no clue.. No clue at all about anything.

"I'm fine." She faked a smile as she shut the door behind him and did not forget to lock it.

"Why is it so dark in here?" Lucas asked looking around.

"No reason.." She answered quickly. "Wanna watch a movie or something?" She asked walking over and flipping on a lamp in the living room.

Lucas sat down on the couch. "Sure.."

"You pick out a movie.. I have to use the bathroom." She said before smiling at her best friend and leaving the room.

She entered the bathroom and slowly shut the door; she starred at herself in the mirror for a moment before lifting up the sleeve that was covering her bruised arm.

The pain was slowly going away, but this wasn't bad.. he had done worse before.

She splashed some water on her face before returning to the living room sitting next to the one and only person she could ever count on.

"Where's Nathan tonight?" Lucas asked looking to his friend.

She held her breath a moment before responding. "I think he had plans with Skills." Sure he had plans alright.. definitely not with Skills… more than likely either Brooke or Peyton.. sometimes at the same time.

He had been drinking all day again.. It had become a habit.. Maybe an addiction, she really didn't know. He was once so perfect, they were once so perfect.. that was until he discovered how much fun alcohol can be. Suddenly she didn't matter to him anymore.. but he meant everything to her… she loved him… always and forever.

"I saw Skills today.. he didn't mention anything to me." Lucas replied looking to her.

Inside she panicked.. but on the outside she was getting better at the lying and hiding the pain. "It was probably a last minute thing." She shrugged.

She could never figure out how Lucas was so oblivious to his brother's actions.. then again she knew how charming Nathan was, how could she not.. he promised her the world, but all that he gave her was bruises on her body and her heart.

She kept her mouth shut, always… as promised, she loved him but she also feared him. She knew the damage he could do.

Lucas sat back, she rested her head on his shoulder like she always did.. like she always had. He was there to comfort her, he took her pain away.. inside and out, the only thing was he had no idea.

She closed her eyes for a brief moment as Lucas kissed the top of her head.

-

She came storming into her house, tears streaming down her face, so fast she couldn't even control it. She headed straight for the bathroom, front door still unlocked and all. He had gone too far.. she didn't care anymore, she was hysterical.

She slammed the bathroom door shut and flipped on the light to see her horrid reflection in the mirror. The left side of her face was a black and blue mess, her hair was all over. She took deep breaths to try and calm herself down as she slowly stripped off all her clothes.

Her body ached as she stepped into the shower and let the hot water run on her. She sat down and let out a small groan of pain as she sat in the shower curled up in a ball, tears still streaming down her face.

She should have never gone over there, he took it too far this time. She should have left him alone, he was drunk.. but she saw his car at Peyton's earlier that day, and at Brooke's the night before, she just wanted to know why… why he didn't love her, why he took advantage of her, why he felt it was necessary to hurt her over and over again.

The first swing just burned.. it always did, but that was soon followed by more than she could handle. Is it sad to say she got used to him hitting her, but when he forced himself on top of her was when her whole world was shattered.

There she sat, battered and bruised… now the victim of a traumatic experience she will never get back. This time the pain wasn't going away, it wouldn't stop… she felt wretched and dirty.

Her thoughts were interrupted by her shower curtain being flung open.

"Haley!" Lucas screamed looking at the image of a broken girl right in front of him.

"Go away Lucas!" Haley screamed over her tears, her voice was weak but she still managed to get a yell out.

"Haley what the hell happened to you?" Lucas asked in panic mode.

"Please go!" She cried again.

"Haley.." Lucas said lightly grabbing her bruised arm.

She jerked her arm away as fast as he laid his hand on it. "I said go away!" She screamed jumping to her feet and grabbing a razor she had sitting on the ledge.

Lucas looked at her, putting his hands up defensively as he slowly stood up and examined all the bruises that were placed on her body, he was in shock.

"I mean it Lucas… I'll cut myself, go away!" She screamed, her voice at this point was just full of terror.

"Haley.." Lucas said in a soft voice. "Don't do this okay.. just.. step out of the shower.."

She dropped the razor but her eyes suddenly got very, very cold. "Why? Why Lucas? You wanna fuck me? You wanna have YOUR way with me too?" She jumped out of the shower coming at Lucas.

"Here let me help you!" She cried unbuckling his belt and his jeans as well. "Just lose these!" She cried pulling his jeans down as they hit the floor. "And these.." She said placing her hands at the top of his boxers.

"Haley!" Lucas cried placing his hands on top of hers, stopping her from going any further. He had never seen her like this before, he was scared… not necessarily of her but of what had happened that turned her into this.

She froze, the second his hands touched hers a relief feeling ran through her body. It wasn't the touch of Nathan's hard cold hands, it was the touch of Lucas's loving warm hands.

"What the hell happened to you?" Lucas asked burning his eyes on her.

"Oh God.. Lucas.." She moaned as she collapsed into his arms and all the tears came back. This time she wasn't crying out of fear, she was crying because Lucas was there.. holding her.. caring for her.

Lucas held her, careful enough not to touch her bruises, and he stroked her hair. Within minutes he wrapped a bathrobe around her body as he pulled his pants back up. He lead her to the couch, once again that is where they sat.

"It was Nathan.." She spoke softly looking into the eyes of her best friend. She explained everything to him, it pained her. She didn't mean to let it get this far, she should have left Nathan a long time ago.. and even worse she should have told Lucas.

Words couldn't even explain how Lucas was feeling after all that, it broke his heart to hear everything she told him.

She started to cry again.

Lucas couldn't watch her cry anymore; he pulled her close in his arms and held her tight enough so she felt protected, but light enough not to hurt her fragile body.

"I will never, ever let anything bad happen to you again Haley James." Lucas spoke with such passion as he kissed the top of her head.

A warm rush ran through her body as she listened to his words, she looked up at Lucas and pressed her lips up against his kissing him.

He kissed her back; she knew he felt it too.

She pulled away and rested her head up against his chest with her eyes shut. The tears finally stopped, the pain finally stopped and a small whisper escaped her mouth. "I love you Lucas Scott."