Chapter One: Returning to Normal

It felt wonderful to be back in New York, back where she belonged and she was only slightly panicked that at any moment her entire family could come bursting into her life. But it wouldn't matter because in two days she and Megan would be living with Tyler, officially. They already lived with him, all their stuff just wasn't moved in. She didn't want to stop being Megan's roommate and she also didn't want to live with Tyler but it was necessary. If she returned to her dorm then she'd be a sitting duck. So both she and Megan were moving in with Tyler, she'd already given the bouncers the names and pictures of the most likely people to come and find her, Matt, Simon, or her Father.

Megan lay down beside Ruthie causing the bed to shift underneath her as she lay on her back staring up at the ceiling. She rolled over so that she was face to face with Megan, their faces so close that she could almost count her eyelashes. Megan smiled gently and reached a slender hand out and brushed the thin strands of hair away from Ruthie's eyes. Megan ran her hand down the back of Ruthie's head feeling her hair and grinned.

"I love your new haircut," She said putting her hands under her head and shifting position slightly. Ruthie smiled and rolled back on to her back. "I think Tyler likes it too." Megan giggled. Ruthie looked at her from the corner of her eyes and raised her eyebrows.

"Oh, why is that?" Ruthie asked. Megan smiled evilly.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's because you look hot!" Megan said. Ruthie looked at her and laughed. She loved her new hairstyle it was different then she'd ever had it in her life. She loved change; it made her excited, like she could really do anything.

"Yeah. You're right," she said smiling. Megan grabbed the pillow from behind her head and smacked Ruthie in the face with it. Ruthie laughed and grabbed the pillow behind her and started a pillow fight. It felt so normal here; these moments with Megan were perfect and made her forget about the rest of her life. If her parents could see her now they wouldn't think she was in trouble.

Tyler walked in holding a beer; he took a sip and walked over to the bed. He watched as Ruthie and Megan rolled around flinging pillows.

"What are you doing?" Tyler said suddenly. Ruthie and Megan stopped and looked at Tyler who was eying them strangely.

"Nothing…" Ruthie said dropping the pillow. Megan smiled and swung her pillow smacking Ruthie in the face and knocking her off the bed.

"I win." Megan said standing on the bed and doing a little happy dance. Ruthie was on the floor in a strange position.

"Ow!" Ruthie said laughing as she picked herself up off the floor. "That was sneaky!" She hissed.

"Yo, we going or what?" Tyler interrupted. Ruthie turned and glared at him.

"Yes. We are. Just give us a minute to get ready." She said shortly she made a face at him and turned to look at Megan who rolled her eyes. Tyler shook his head and left the room mumbling to himself. Ruthie got up and walked over and ripped open one of the boxes.

"Whoa, superwoman, no need to destroy the box." Megan said sitting criss-cross on the bed.

"He just." Ruthie stopped and lowered her voice. She walked over and closed the door. She looked at Megan and lowered her voice, "He just pisses me off! He's so fucking moody. Sometimes I just want to slap him across the face. Martin's never like that—"Ruthie stopped and turned away from Megan. A lump forming in her throat as she thought about him. She couldn't believe she'd said Martin, before she'd gone back to Glenoak she never thought about Martin let alone compared Tyler to him. But here she was, thinking how much better Martin was when all he'd done when she was home was make her nervous, shy, exactly like she used to be…a love struck fifteen year old…

"Martin?" Megan said confused. "That guy in Glenoak?"

"Never mind." Ruthie said quietly. There was no point thinking about Martin, besides Tyler had one quality Martin didn't, he accepted her lifestyle. She pulled out a short jean skirt and tossed it over her head onto the bed. Megan crawled over to the side of the bed and reached under pulling out one of her boxes that was already open.

"I just wish he could say one thing without whining, or giving me attitude." Ruthie said returning to bashing Tyler. Megan shrugged and pulled off her pajama shorts and top leaving her in her bra and underwear. Ruthie continued searching through the box for a top. Finally she found a black camisole with white lace. She pulled off Tyler's pajama shirt and got dressed. When she looked back at Megan she was wearing a tight white skirt and a red halter top. After they finished doing their hair and makeup they informed Tyler they were done.

"So where are we going anyway?" Ruthie asked

"I told you, a party." Tyler said. Ruthie frustrated glared at him and crossed her arms. "Stop being so fucking difficult!" Ruthie didn't say anything. She just walked out of the apartment with Megan and waited for him downstairs.

The three of them got into a cab and took it down to a rundown area of Tribeca. The cab pulled in and they stepped out, it was dark out and relatively deserted except for the crowd of people outside of an apartment building down the block. The block they were on split in two half way through and there was a sort of alley with rundown buildings. The crowd was in front of one of 

the buildings. Tyler got out of the cab and put his arm around Ruthie, who looked up at him. His eyes were so dark that she felt so lost looking into them, but sometimes when he was sorry she could see a tiny light shine through. He smiled earnestly and pulled her close that shine in his eyes and Ruthie forgave him.

The three walked down towards the apartment building, the crowd actually wasn't as large as she'd thought. It was only six men standing in a group blocking the steps leading up to a rundown brownstone. Ruthie watched them as they approached and saw them smiling and eyeing Megan and suddenly Ruthie had an idea where they were going.

Tyler walked up to them and greeted them, he whispered something Ruthie couldn't hear and then nodded for Ruthie and Megan to follow him. Ruthie looked at Megan, she was a little nervous she felt like she had when Megan took her to the HotSpot the first time; Nervous, insecure, excited.

Ruthie looked back at the men watching them, one grabbed Megan's ass, but Megan just took Ruthie's hand and led her into the building.

The change in scenery was quite drastic compared to the cold, damp, dark outside. The inside was warm; the air coated with smoke was so thick she could taste it. Everything had a red tint to it, the furniture and walls were either blood red or dark colors like black or green. There were men and women pawing each other all over the place, hanging on to the walls and railings.

"Hey," Ruthie pulled out of her trance to see Marcus standing in front of her. His black hair pulled back in a ponytail, his hair less greasy so that it complimented his caramel color. He'd grown a goatee and gotten rid of the hideous trench coat. He was now wearing grungy black jeans, a grey hoodie with a black zip up sweater on top.

"Marcus…" Ruthie was surprised by his appearance he actually looked decent, just as frightening but decent.

"Ruthie, right?" He said checking her out. Megan smacked his chest and he pulled his eyes away from her breasts. "California did you good."

"Uh, thanks." Ruthie said. She couldn't help but think that her breast had not changed but maybe it was the slight tan and new haircut that made her look better overall.

"Megan," He looked at her and gestured for her to follow him. Megan looked at Ruthie.

"I'll be back." Megan disappeared with Marcus, leaving Tyler and Ruthie alone. Tyler took Ruthie's hand and grabbed them each something to drink before taking her back into one of the rooms. The room was quiet and dark, with the lights dimmed. Tyler and Ruthie sat down on the bed. Tyler handed Ruthie a drink and pulled open a drawer.

Ruthie watched him setup a needle. "Is this like your room or something?"

"Or something…" Tyler responded. Ruthie said nothing and continued looking around the room. She took a sip of her Bacardi and felt her stomach burn as the liquid filled her insides, a warmth creeping up her cheeks.

Ruthie watched Tyler shoot up in a daze; it was strange to return to her life after being in Glenoak. She felt so out of place, like she didn't belong. She realized how much things had changed in the week she'd been gone. She was nervous about going back to work tomorrow, how weird would it be to be back on stage. She couldn't believe so much had changed in one week.

Tyler gently took Ruthie's arm bringing her out of her daze. She looked at him innocently and blank, like a child. His eyes were glazed over as he wrapped her arm tightly and took out the needle. Ruthie hesitated and pulled her arm back slightly.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you…" Tyler said softly stroking her hair. Ruthie looked at him nervously but held her arm back out to show that she trusted him. She felt a small twinge as the needle entered her skin but the pain dissolved as an exciting new warmth rushed over her, erasing every thought in her mind.

Tyler leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips, which she returned by pulling him closer and wrapping her arms around his neck. He pushed her gently back on to the bed so that she lay flat beneath him. She could feel his heart pounding against his chest as his body grew closer to hers.

Ruthie wanted to speak to tell him she loved him, but she couldn't. She couldn't speak, she couldn't breathe all she could do was focus on Tyler and hope that he wouldn't let go of her, afraid if he did she'd fall endlessly. She held on to him tears in her eyes. He stopped and pulled back. He looked at her confused and put one hand on her cheek wiping away some of the tears.

"Am I hurting you?" He asked. Ruthie looked at him, her eyes deepened with pain and confusion. She didn't know what to say, it wasn't his fault. What he was doing was wonderful, but an overwhelming feeling of pain and fear had overcome her and she didn't know why.

"No. I'm hurting myself…" She cried quietly. Confused Tyler pulled her up and hugged her close. Ruthie cried into his shoulder, fear consuming her every sob. Whether it was the pain of the past week releasing itself, the fear of what was to come, or whatever Tyler had given her she wasn't sure. But at that moment it didn't matter what the cause was, just how painful it was.

Author's Note: Finally, I'm back. I hope you all enjoyed this first chapter I worked really hard on it because I wanted to start off the sequel well, I think it came out well let me know what you all think. I'm still working out the kinks in the outline, I know what I want to have happen but I need to work everything out so that it will run smoothly. But I really wanted to get a chapter out for all of you.

Sorry if the chapters not that long I really wanted to focus on details instead of length. Some of the details I really like, other are...eh...I'll update as soon as I get the next chapter done.

Katie :)