10/12/08…

"Party Wolf!" TJ yelled before howling at the top of his lungs.

"Yeah…" Amanda responded, the 18 year old getting that feeling as she sipped her whiskey.

"Hey try that punch it's so good." TJ slurred.

"No. I'm gonna go check on the birthday girl." Amanda replied before she set the glass down, headed upstairs and pushed a door open.

And her eyes widened at seeing Phil Brooks on top of Ashley… and Amanda grabbing a bat and storming over.

Phil yelled out as he felt the impact of the bat on his head, Ashley covering herself up.

"Mandy what the fuck?!" Ashley exclaimed.

"Ash, he's a grown ass man and you're barely 21!" Amanda yelled as Phil pulled his boxers on. "So much for Mr Straight Edge, huh?!" She responded.

"So who cares?" Ashley asked.

"Who cares?! We're supposedly little sisters to him, he promised he'd never take advantage of us!" Amanda yelled as Ashley got up and got dressed.

"You need to leave!" Ashley replied.

"No, he does!" Amanda shouted.

"Oh just fuck off Mandy! My bday my rules!" Ashley yelled, Amanda noticed a tiny bit of blood on the sheets.

"She at least waited til her twenties." Phil replied.

"Yeah! So go, you little whore, no one wants you around anyway!" Ashley screamed.

Amanda dropped the bat on Ashley's right foot, flipped both of them off and stormed out, ignoring Maria calling after her and following her… when she walked outside, TJ noticed the tears and stopped her.

"Aw what happened little lady?" TJ asked.

"Ashley doesn't want me around… so I'm outta here." Amanda responded after readjusting her coat over her silver mini sequin dress before she left.

The Chicago area was cold as Amanda walked around… but she didn't care.

Ashley would calm down at some point but Amanda didn't want to see her or Phil for a while…

Present time, 9/30/15…

Rue woke up and decided to check on Amanda and Finn… and found them curled up on Finn's king sized bed.

"Aw they're too cute to be just friends." Rue said before leaving them alone.

She headed downstairs to see what she could order for dinner and saw a rental car outside before she saw Ashley.

"Uh excuse me but who are you?" Rue asked.

"Friend of the woman that lives here." Ashley replied.

"5'1", shoulder length chestnut brown hair, hazel eyes and one of them bruised?" Rue asked.

"Her right eye?" Ashley replied.

"Yeah, someone punched her pretty damn hard. Someone who Finn told me gets angry a lot and tries to pull Mandy away from him." Rue responded.

"Who are you exactly?" Ashley asked.

"I'm Rue, I'm a friend of Finn's." Rue said.

"That explains it." Ashley responded.

"She's been in your life since you two were kids… protected each other, helped each other through hell even when the other didn't want it. Maybe it's best if Mandy has a little distance from Seth. To clear both their heads." Rue explained.

"Really?" Ashley asked.

"Any man who punches a woman, who resorts to that needs to back off. I saw the scar under Mandy's shoulder blade, the scars near her left eye… you protected her from one violent man. Hearing this from someone who wasn't there… is it helping clear your mind a bit?" Rue responded.

Ashley turned after hearing footsteps… but her mouth fell open in shock when she saw Amanda's bruised eye, bruised ankle and scratched up knee.

"Ah so now your little hazel eyes have opened." Rue said to Ashley.

"What happened?!" Ashley asked.

"Seth went crazy on Monday night, then a jogger went crazy at me earlier today." Amanda explained, her undamaged phone in her hand as Finn helped her sit down.

Ashley took a picture of the bruised eye and sent it to Seth with the text 'You realise that what you did to her was assault, right?!'.

Seth hadn't responded… and that had Ashley worried.

"When he doesn't answer, that means he's either drunk or is avoiding the truth." Amanda replied.

"Or he's in bed with another woman." Finn muttered, Ashley glaring at him and Rue turning startled.

"He's a cheater?!" Rue asked.

"He cheated on his ex fiancee for months and then slept around behind his mistress's back." Amanda explained, Ashley turning to her. "What? I tried telling you this last time but you wouldn't listen." She responded.

"And why should I? People change, Mandy. That includes you throwing Seth aside when Finn showed up, you started spreading your legs for Finn and it didn't take long, did it, you little tramp?!" Ashley replied, shouting the last part.

And that was what set Amanda off… the brunette punched Ashley right in the nose and tackled her as the fight escalated and Finn pulling Amanda back as Rue pulled Ashley away.

"Calm down, both of you!" Rue responded.

"Rue's right, now's not the time to fight!" Finn replied as he tightened his grip on Amanda.

"I hate you, Amanda!" Ashley yelled as she tried to get free.

"Fine! If that's how you truly feel, then go! I tried telling you the truth but you just don't want to listen to me, you want to listen to some guy you've only been with for not even a month. So just fucking go! I hope he's truly worth it!" Amanda shouted before Ashley left, slamming the door.

Finn loosened his grip to a more relaxed one around Amanda's waist, kissing her on her right shoulder before resting his head on it.

"I'm sorry, guys, I really thought she'd listen." Rue responded.

"I'm the one who went off at the little bitch. I want to think that she's on drugs again but Ashley Louise Hardy is just a depraved person who lost her morality a long time ago. Seth can have her and they can both stay out of mine and Finn's lives… that works just fine." Amanda replied before Finn turned her to him and held her closer to him.

Amanda wrapped her arms around him as her tears fell and Finn kissed the side of her head as he rubbed his right hand up and down her back as she buried her face into his torso… and Rue had the feeling that Amanda had been hurt one too many times in her life.

Finn picked Amanda up and took her upstairs once he and Rue realised that Amanda had cried herself out, Finn tucking Amanda into the bed before he looked to Rue.

"Now that she's not keeping all that pain and anger trapped, she'll feel better." Finn replied quietly.

"Maybe they meant every word, maybe they didn't… but once what's said or screamed is out, there's no putting it back." Rue responded as Finn glanced back at Amanda and lightly brushed her hair back.

Rue went to go see what she could find for the three of them to eat as Finn stretched out next to Amanda and lightly encircled his arms around her, Amanda resting her head on his right shoulder.

'They can say and do all the hurtful things they want but I'll always protect you.' Finn thought as he lightly kissed Amanda on the top of her head.

He didn't like how Ashley and Seth had been treating Amanda… and from what he could tell, Ashley had a lot of buried anger and hatred directed at Amanda.