A/N: Ok, firstly… I hate Brooke/Lucas, but I hate Peyton/Lucas even more. I just finished watching 2x10, and I kid you not I almost got tears in my eyes when Jake showed up at the end. I love Jake/Peyton. They were just… So right for each other. Ok, there, I've said my piece, now on to the story!! …Oh, if you like… Just push that little button thingy at the bottom and let me know! This is a little bit different version on what happened in 2x10… Enjoy!!

Ever notice how you never really appreciate something until it's gone? How much you take things for granted while they're there? Then as soon as it's not there, you wish you had it back. You wish you had never let them go, or –sometimes, if the pain is bad enough –that you'd never had them in the first place.

I've done that a lot in my life. Hell, it's the story of my life. Peyton Sawyer, Mistress of Regret and Self-inflicted Pain.

But I had never missed anything in my life as bad as I missed Jake that week. Sure, I'd missed him before that. I thought about him constantly. Wondering how him and Jenny were doing. If they were still alive, if Nikki had found them…

But that week, with the formal, with everyone hooking up, with all of the stress I was dealing with… I couldn't stop thinking about him. I know people say that all the time, and I know most of them have no idea what it's like to think of a person non-stop, 24/7. From my first waking thought in the morning to my last sleepy thought at night, I thought about Jake and Jenny.

I just… needed to get everything out of my head for a while. I needed to clear everything out, and just… forget it all for a little while.

When I called Rick, I knew that I shouldn't be doing it. I knew that I should 'toughen up and brighten up' as my dad liked to say. But I couldn't.

I've never really opened my heart to anybody. I let Luke see bits and pieces, let him look through the keyhole; I let Brooke see a little bit more, letting her look in through the window. But I kept the door closed, with the number one rule posted on it:

Don't let anyone in.

But the time I spent with Jake and Jenny… It was like before I could even register what was happening, they'd found the key, and were pushing it open.

And then, just as soon as I was getting up the courage to invite them in… they left. It was like someone was tearing my heart apart again.

And that pain just kept on getting worse and worse as time went by. Brooke was busy with boys, and doing whatever the hell it is that Brooke does, Lucas was busy 'reinventing himself' or whatever the hell it is that Lucas does, and Jake… Jake was just… gone.

I felt like everybody in the world had someone to belong to, someone to run to, and a shoulder to cry on. Everyone… but me.

And coke… as much as it left me feeling worse afterwards… for the moment, I could feel alive, as if my heart was still actually beating, instead of being a ripped apart mess in the pit of my stomach. I felt like I didn't need anybody, like I could take on the world by myself, and screw anyone who felt differently. It made me feel like I was Peyton Sawyer, and I could live just fine all alone.

I was more than a little nervous when I first stepped out of the car. I was more nervous when Rick actually showed me the bag. But I grabbed at it anyways, hoping to just get it and get it over with.

"Hey, hey, hey, you got some cash for me, little lady?" He asked, grinning as I swiped at it and he pulled it away.

"Uh…" I froze, feeling completely stupid and humiliated. Of course I didn't have money with me… I had more important things to think about. Like trying to forget my life. "I uh… don't have any money."

"Then you're gonna have to come up with another way to pay me, Peyton. There are no free rides here," He said with a smile.

"I… I don't have any money," I said again, stupidly. I was so desperate that I couldn't really focus on what he was saying.

That is, until he pushed me against the car, and starting grinding himself against me.

"I don't want your money," He said roughly, kissing my neck.

"What the hell are you doing?! Get off m-" My words were cut off as he forced his tongue down my throat. I tried screaming. I tried fighting.

But it didn't work. He just slapped me a few times, and punched me in the gut, and all the fight went out of me along with my breath.

He had his pants unzipped when I seen the shadow. Somebody was coming. I didn't even care who, just someone please save me…

Before I could even register what was happening, Rick was on the ground, and I was wrapped up in someone else's arms.

"Oh my god, Peyton. Are you ok? Peyton, look at me. Are you ok?"

That voice… Those arms… I couldn't speak for a moment, so caught up in everything.

"Jake? You… you came back?"

"Peyton, did he hurt you? Oh god, Peyton, tell me you're ok."

"I… He… I…" I mumbled, unable to form a clear sentence.

Jake's arms slowly slid away from my waist. I watched as if in slow motion. Jake walked over to Rick, who was still lying on the ground, and lifted him up with one hand, before slamming him up against the concrete wall.

"You listen to me, and you listen good you lying piece of shit. If I ever see you around Peyton again, so help me God, I'll cut you apart piece by piece."

Rick brushed himself off as Jake let go of him. "Well. Fine. Stupid high school chicks."

Jack held me tight as Rick stalked away.

Everything was right again… Even if only for a little while…