TITLE: FEAR: PART 1- BETTERMAN
Song: Better man by Pearl Jam
Warnings: Abuse, domestic abuse, violence etc etc.
Style: Tarantino style (jumping from now to ten years ago and other etc)
Pairing: Abby/OMC
Disclaimer: I own Thomas and Shayla. No one else.
Author's note: Since closed on us fanfic writers and then the resource got rid of me, here I am.

**Ten years earlier**

waitin', watchin' the clock, it's four o'clock, it's got to stop
tell him, take no more, she practices her speech
as he opens the door, she rolls over...
pretends to sleep as he looks her over

Vanessa's heart drops as she hears a key in the lock. He's home. And by the way he slammed the door, she knows this evening is not going to be pleasant. She squeezes her eyes shut as he pushes open the door to their bedroom, violently. Even if she was asleep, he makes sure she is no longer. Tonight was the night she told herself that it was going to end. Vanessa was going to leave Thomas. He was not going to make it easy for her but she had practiced her speech well enough.

she lies and says she's in love with him, can't find a better man...
she dreams in color, she dreams in red, can't find a better man...
can't find a better man
can't find a better man

It wasn't always this way. When she is at her worst after another of his attacks, she flashes back to days before he was like this. When he only put his hands on her to love her or remind her that he was there for her. Now every single caress made her sick to her stomach. Vanessa had had potential. And all through her life, she never took abuse from anyone. It wasn't as if she had grown up in an abusive home with evil parents. All through high-school, she was tough. Never let a guy bring her down and defended anyone that was being hurt, that meant anything to anyone. But this man had hurt her. And now it was ritual.

talkin' to herself, there's no one else who needs to know...
she tells herself

Vanessa was ashamed. And embarrassed. She waited months to tell anyone that he hurt her. The usual, 'I fell down the stairs. That's why I have two black eyes and finger shaped bruises on my arms'. Only lasted so long. Eventually, her best friend dragged her to a hospital after he nearly killed her. Now she was trapped. The doctor thought it would be nice to inform Vanessa that she was carrying Thomas' child. The 'happy' couple would soon be parents. Vanessa's heart slammed into the ground. Never had she felt so help-less.

memories back when she was bold and strong
and waiting for the world to come along...
swears she knew it, now she swears he's gone

**Present time**

Now as she flashes back to that time in her life, she physically feels the pain once again. That's why she has become the person she now is. Happy, and bouncy and effervescent are all words that have been used to describe Abby Sciuto. Formerly Vanessa Caldwell. Anyone that knew 'Vanessa' would in no way associate her with Abby. Right down to her Goth threads and even blacker hair, she had shed herself of the person she once became. For herself and for Shayla.

she loved him, yeah...she don't want to leave this way
she needs him, yeah...that's why she'll be back again
can't find a better man