A/N: I was floored by the reviews. Fifteen wow. Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, to everyone who put this on alert, and to everyone who's already favourited it. You guys are amazing. This chapter is mainly based around Ben and doesn't have much of the cannon characters in it, but I wanted to show the other side of things.

Ps. Ages are:
Lilly/Miley/Oliver/Nick- 17
Ben/Max-18
Joe-19
Kevin-21

Disclaimer: I don't own anything besides the plot.

These Words

Chapter Two: Entering the Abyss

The clock was ticking louder than ever and I could hardly concentrate. Less than ten minutes and class would be over, unfortunately. You don't hear too many people say that now-a-days, and usually I wouldn't be saying it either. Except today school was bound to be the better part of the afternoon.

"Ben?" I snapped my head up when I heard my name. It seemed oddly loud for the quiet room. Actually, now that I'm paying attention, why isn't the teacher talking?

"Yeah?" I mumbled back, glancing over my shoulder. Max was leaned over his desk slightly, probably so he could talk without being heard. He just tapped my shoulder, and by habit I reached up to grab the note without even looking back. We usually just talked in every other class but it would have been pretty noticeable today since you could probably hear a pin drop.

I subtly and quietly opened the note and laid it flat out on my desk. Your Gay. Oh wow, your kidding me right? And the point of this was? I shook my head, glancing back at who I regretfully called my best friend. He was laughing. He was also immature. I picked up my pen which had been discarded to the side of my desk at the beginning of the period and scribbled back to him on the same paper. At least I don't have the hots for my sister's best friend. I expertly handed him the note back and waited for what I knew was coming, a smile on my face as I tried not to chuckle. Then he kicked me under the desk and it became extremely hard not to burst out laughing.

Looking back, I saw the scowl on his face and he had leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed. I gave him a sarcastic smile and he sunk even lower, glaring at me. Then I heard the thing I least wanted to. Ringggg.

I grabbed my International Law binder and my glasses case. Unfortunately bad eyesight ran in the family. Fortunately, I didn't have it nearly as bad as Lilly and my Dad. Dad always had to wear his glasses unless he wanted things to be blurry. Lilly on the other hand was pretty much legally blind without hers. Last summer when she ran out of contacts and Mom couldn't get her more until the next week she had refused to wear her glasses. I'll admit it was kind of funny watching her slam her face into the banister. Come on, who doesn't laugh when someone gets hurt? If we didn't, America's funniest Home Video's would be a ten minute show instead of an hour.

"Your giving me a lift home, right?" Max asked from my right.

"Yeah, sure- Oh shit, actually, can you meet me by my car in fifteen minutes?" I looked to him, and he nodded, adding 'yeah, sure.'

"Good. Cause I actually have to talk to Lilly," I almost walked away, but I turned back to him, "No, your not coming with me so you can see Miley." His face fell a little and I shook my head as I walked away toward the English hallway where Lilly's locker was. Of course she has to pick a locker in the absolute most crowded hallway. Stupid freshmen were everywhere, and they just had to stand in the middle of the hallway too.

"Lilly! Hey" I yelled, walking up to her. Or rather, I tried to maneuver my way through the mosh pit of a hallway.

"Hey Ben," Was all she said to me. She slung her backpack over her shoulder and continued what she had been doing. Her friend on the other hand should be on the track team. I don't think I've ever seen someone get up from the floor that fast. Why do girls even have mirrors in their lockers? Miley must be really vain if she likes to look at herself that much.

"Hey Ben," Miley said. She said it in the weirdest voice ever too. She has some serious speech problems.

"Hi Miley," I added quickly. I may not be too fond of my sister's friends, but at least I'm polite. Unlike my sarcastic sister, who comments on just about everything. Okay, maybe not everything, but whatever she doesn't comment on, I know she's saying something in that dark, evil head of hers.

"Look Lilly-" I tried to say, but of course Lilly thinks everything she says is so important. In other words, she basically cut me off. I hate it when she does that.

"Your driving us to class tonight right? Cause dad's meeting with a client tonight and mom's staying late at the office." What? Mom never says late at the office! What am I supposed to eat for dinner?! I can't cook!

"She is?" Was the first thing out of my mouth. Lilly must be lying because Mom would have told me before she left this morning for work. Mommy always tells me when she's going to be home, that way I know if I should order pizza. Maybe we should just get Chinese tonight- No wait, damnit! I'm off track.

"Oh! Wait, Uh, speaking of class, I can't go tonight actually." I told her. Shrugging one shoulder lightly. This conversation had better hurry up or Max'll be pissed I made him wait. To add to it, I still have to get to my locker, which luckily isn't in this hallway. Then again, I still have to get out of this hallway.

"What?" She screeched at me. Okay, maybe not so much screeched, but she had that look on her face that said I was in trouble. I don't see why though, since it doesn't matter much that I won't be in class, she'll still be there. "How am I supposed to get there?" Oh, thats why.

"Uh, I don't know? Walk?" I said nonchalantly. I, frankly, did not care how she got to class. I had places I needed to be, and class wasn't one of them. Crap. I still hadn't finished that painting and I was supposed to ship it out today. That person off Ebay'll be pissed they didn't get their painting on time. Speaking of that, I need to put that check in the bank. Speaking of the bank, I'd better empty what I can out of my account before I see Billy today.

"Ben!" Wow, what a complainer. An hour and a half is not that long to walk. Okay, maybe it is, but I don't think her getting to art on time is nearly as important as where I have to be. "Do you even know how long that'll take me?" I really wanted to say 'Yes, and I don't care,' but I'm not that mean. Really! I'm not! Besides, she was my little sister, and I didn't want her getting into any kind of trouble along the way. Knowing Lilly, that was bound to happen. Also knowing the kids in the neighborhood and what Lilly thought of them, it was almost confirmed.

"Ugh, fine, how about, I'll drive you, but I need to drop you off early." I tried to compromise. If she didn't say yes, she was walking, that was it. Now, all I have to do is calculate how early I'll need to drop her off. It's a fifteen minute ride downtown from our house, twenty minutes to the art school from our house. So that's what? Forty minutes there and back to get Lilly to school, fifteen minutes to get downtown, and I need to be downtown at six. So carry the two, divide by three? Uh, let's just say five fifteen. I was never any good at math anyways.

"Fine," She agreed. I looked down at my watch to see how much time I'd wasted. Crap. Max is going to be mad. "Why are you skipping class any-"

"I'll drop you off at around five fifteen alright? And could you get the notes for me? Thanks!" I yelled to her, taking my eyes off my watch and trying to shove my way out of the mob these people call a hallway. I thought I'd heard Lilly say something as I was leaving but I brushed it off. I wasn't about to go back and find out, especially not with the creepy way Miley stares at me. Is it just me or does she need to see an optometrist? Do her eyes freeze up spontaneously or something?

I got to my own locker, put the combination in as quickly as I possibly could and then shoved my books inside. I grabbed my English binder because we always had homework in that class, whether or not I could remember what it was. I grabbed my backpack off the hook and slung it over my shoulder. I didn't even bother to put the binder into it, I just held onto it, locking the lock on my locker and then taking off down the hallway to the parking lot. Thank god my locker wasn't on the second floor or I probably would have tripped down the stairs. So sue me, I'm clumsy alright?

"Max! Hey!" I came up next to my friend. He didn't seem to notice that I was late because he was so busy texting. Me and Max had been best friends since I don't even know when. I remember I hated him back in third grade, but by fifth the two of us were like brothers.

"Hey man," Max mumbled, not even taking his eyes from the screen of his iPhone. Personally, I didn't see what was so great about an iPhone. Me and my sister both had sidekicks, mostly because that was our Christmas present and one of our Dad's clients hooked him up with a good plan. Besides, sidekicks were better anyways.

"Melissa just texted me about this huge party she's having tomorrow night. You in?" He asked as he climbed into the passenger seat of my Ford truck. Okay, so it wasn't really my truck. Techincally it was my dad's, but since both he and mom took their cars to work and never used it, it was practically mine. Besides, anyone with a brain would have to know it wasn't really mine. What kind of eighteen year old kid can actually afford a brand new truck with surround sound and leather interior? I love my parents and their jobs. Actually, my parents make me wonder how an accountant and a paralegal could have kids like me and Lilly. They've never picked up a paintbrush in their life.

"Small party or house party?" I asked, pulling out of the parking space and then out of the lot.

"I said huge party didn't I?" He asked as if I was mentally challenged.

"Would you like to get out, Max?" I asked back, irritated. Today was not a good day to mess around.

"Woah, someone's in a mood," He answered, leaning back into the seat with his eyebrows raised. "All things aside, you going?"

"I don't know," I told him, eyes on the road, "Depends. I've got some stuff to do tonight, and if it plays out right, then maybe."

"Stuff to do tonight?" Max asked, "Since when do you do anything?"

"Shut up, Max," I responded. He may be my best friend, be he is majorly annoying.

"No, seriously," He started up again. I rolled my eyes. "You never come to parties anymore like you used to. What's up?" He placed on foot up on his seat, the other still on the ground.

"Remove your feet from the leather," I told him sternly. Me and Max never really had these kinds of conversations. It was all jokes between us, nothing serious, and now, he had his 'i-want-answers' face on. He wanted something I wasn't ready to give him.

"My bad," He mumbled, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms. If he wanted to get annoyed with me, let him. I don't care. It's not like he really knows half the stuff that's going on with me anyways.

"Let it go, okay?" I asked him. Even if he was annoying, I still wanted us to be on good terms. He was the one person that would always stick by my side. Well, him and Lilly. I would never admit it, but Lilly was probably the most important person to me. She wasn't just my kid sister, she was my friend- best friend even. The two of us grew up together, and I think I admired her more than anyone else. Through the years she was never really popular and she had to deal with a lot of bullshit that I never had to. I've always wondered how she managed to keep a good head on her shoulders, how she managed to stay out of trouble. I happened to be her more popular older brother, and usually I didn't have much to deal with, and look at what I'd done to my life.

"Whatever man," Max mumbled, "If you don't want to tell me, that's cool. But don't think that I haven't noticed it. I've seen you talking to Billy in the halls lately,"

"So what?" I asked, shrugging. I'm really hoping the nervousness didn't come through in my voice. "I talk to Billy, big deal. So does half our school."

"I'm not stupid Ben," He told me annoyed. I thought he said if I didn't want to tell him it was cool? What a liar. I pulled up in front of his house before he could say another word, and he opened the door and climbed out.

"I'll call you later," I told him, and he just mumbled 'whatever' and turned to leave. I didn't wait another second to pull back onto the street and continue on home. Today was a tense day, and the pool sounded like an extremely good idea.

Less than five minutes later I had pulled into my own driveway, jumped out of the truck and raced upstairs. As I was changing into my swimming trunks I could have sworn I heard Lilly come in downstairs. I went out into the hallway closet to grab myself a towel and put it around my neck. It just occurred to me that I really need something to eat. On my way down the back staircase I heard Lilly yell something to me. And yes! We do have two staircases. The one in the front living room was one of those spirally ones that were basically for aesthetics. The other one was in the back hallway and pretty much lead right into the kitchen. Don't even bother asking, our house is very confusing.

"You going somewhere?" I asked her, not even bothering to look up. My eyes were searching the fridge for anything that looked remotely appetizing. Speaking of food, I wonder what I should get for dinner? Chinese sounded awfully good while I was at school, but now I'm thinking I should order pasta from the restaurant downtown and pick it up on the way home. Yumm, food.

"Yep, to Miley's," Oh thank god. The two of them are leaving! I remember the last time Miley was over to swim in our pool. It was awkward to say the least. I don't understand why Miley doesn't just get her own pool. I mean, they have a house right on the beach so it's kind of obvious that they can afford it. She really needs to stop coming over here when I'm home. Don't get me wrong, she's a nice kid, and to tell you the truth, she's smoking hot, but I just can't get past that weird factor. The girl's eyes are all kooky and it seems like she's always staring off into space. Plus the fact that she stutters... a lot.

"Ben, put some clothes on before you make Miley dehydrated." Say what?! My eyes went a little wide. See, I told you! The girl was just plain weird.

"Funny Lilly," I heard Miley force out. I also heard her kick Lilly. I'd laugh if she wasn't such an oddball. Instead I just crinkled my eyes at her, and answered, "Oooo-kay, sure," and headed out to the pool. Sometime after, the two of them left because the house was pretty quiet. Well, until my phone rang. So I pulled myself out of the pool, rubbing my towel over my face and ten shaking my hair out. I pushed my hair out of my eyes and looked around for my sidekick. Note to self: I need to cut my hair. It's not like it's long or anything, but when it's wet its really annoying, cause it just flops into my eyes and well, yeah. Annoyance at its best.

"Hello?" I answered the phone, holding it in place with my shoulder as I dried off my torso.

"Hey, quick question," Stupid Max.

"Shoot," I answered, walking through the sliding glass doors and into the kitchen. Mom was going to kill me later when she stepped on the water trail and realized that I hadn't bothered to clean it up. Oh well, boy's will be boys. Or rather, Ben will be lazy. I really shouldn't talk in third person.

"You know Lilly?" He asked me.

"No, I don't" I told him sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

"Okay, shut up, obviously you do."

"Just get to the point Max."

"So, I was talking to Lilly earlier today at lunch, and she said something about your mom staying late at work. Since we all know you can't cook, my mom invited you over to eat at our place. Wanna?"

"Since when do you talk to my sister?" I asked him, raising an eyebrow even though he couldn't see it.

"Ever since you suddenly go missing at lunch and I take that opportunity to eat with her and Miley," Is it just me, or does that sound obsessive.

"You eat with my sister and Miley, the oddball, when I'm gone? Wow, you really have no social life."

"Hey! If Miley's an oddball, you should meet that Oliver kid,"

"Oh, I have, I have," I shuddered. My sister really did have strange friends.

"So deal?" He asked me, breaking me out of a horrible memory where Oliver once dressed up

my hamster in my sister's Barbie clothes. He may have been six but I will never get over it. He could have at least used the Ken doll clothes. My hamster was a boy!

"Huh? Oh, no can do. I've gotta go downtown at six. Besides, I'm ordering pasta for pick up on the way home."

"From Romero's?"

"Yep. You ever had their food?"

"Yes! Mind if I tag along?" No way did he just ask me that. What was I going to tell him now? I like to drive around and do nothing all by myself and then eat my food alone? I needed a better excuse than that one.

"Uh, I- Um," I mumbled, running things through my head. Nothing actually good enough to say was coming to me, so on impulse I accidentally said, "Sure." Damnit. This is worse than the night I was expecting. And the night I was expecting was definitely hell.

I picked up Max from his house an hour later. It was five thirty now, and I had already guessed that Lilly was skipping class too when she hadn't been home by five. Oh well, better for me. On the way down I stopped at the bank. I had better tell Max now what's up, before he starts questioning me when I come out of there with a ton of money.

"Look, For the next hour, I need you to not ask questions, okay?" I told him. I'm pretty sure my eyes said it all. He just looked at me, shocked, and nodded. I unbuckled my seatbelt and went inside the bank. If I was him, I'd probably think I was about to rob it. Don't worry, I didn't. I just went to the ATM thing, put my card in, and completely emptied out my account, except for a few measly dollars. When I got back to the car carrying what must've been about two thousand dollars in twenties Max's eyes were beyond wide

"Relax, I didn't steal anything," I told him, and his eyes shrunk back a bit

"But-" He started. I cut him off.

"I said, don't ask questions. It's complicated." I then tossed him my cell phone and told him to call Romero's and order a Pasta for myself and whatever else he wanted for pick up at around six forty five. When he finished the call we were just pulling into a back parking lot. Max had the most confused face on, and he turned to me asking a silent question. I didn't answer him back though.

"Here's the keys," I took them out of the ignition and handed them over to him, "If something happens, take the car and go." It didn't matter if he was annoying, or if he was pushy at times, he was still my very best friend. And whether or not he knew what was going to happen, I was sure he could hear the urgency in my voice because he took those keys within a second. His eyes were still confused, but he didn't say a single word, only nodding to me.

I slammed the door shut and made my way around the building, out of sight. There was an ally there, and I knew the place way to well. I walked down it and then turned another corner to find the person I was looking for. Usually we didn't meet this far back away from the parking lot, but now that it was summer and the sun was staying out much later, he didn't want anyone to see what was going on.

"Here," I started, pulling out all the cash from a bag I had placed it in, "It's two thousand. I promise." He greedily took the money, and I could swear my hands were shaking. My heart was racing, and if it went any faster I was almost positive I'd have a heart attack. In school he was so easy to talk to, but back here, my nerves were wracked and there was fear clear in my eyes. I guess it was because in school, I knew he couldn't touch me. Out here, there was nothing to stop him.

"You owe three thousand, Benny." He sneered, calling me by my much hated nickname.

"I know, but I just don't have that much right now. I can get it to you soon, I promise. I just have to sell a few more paintings and I can have the next thousand to you in a couple weeks."

"Benny, Benny, Benny. I told you last month to have this money to me. I can't keep giving you extensions. I asked for the money, and I expected you to bring it to me. Two thirds is not good enough."

"I know, but-"

"No buts, Benny." This was way out of my comfort zone. If you hadn't already guessed, Billy was the person standing across from me in this dark ally. And if it wasn't obvious, Billy's a dealer- a dealer I hadn't paid yet.

"Look, I don't know what you want me to do, but I don't have the money right now. I can get you the money soon, or you can have whatever else you want, okay?" I tried to make a compromise.

My eyes flickered to the direction of the parking lot where Max was waiting. I knew I'd have to explain this all to him as soon as I got out of here. I'd managed to hide it from everybody for these last couple months, but now It was suddenly going to come out. I had always told myself to quit before I got myself into a situation like this, but Billy had never been harsh or demanding with me. I thought that he would have cut me some slack because I wasn't used to dealing with actual dealers.

"Your sister."

"What?" I asked, snapping back to attention.

"You don't have the money, so I want Lilly."

"Woah, No. No way." I flat out told him. I knew what he did to girls, and I loved my sister far too much. She was better than that, and I wouldn't let him hurt her.

"You don't have a choice, do you?" He countered.

"I don't care. You can't have Lilly. She's better than this."

"She's hot, and she'll bring in a thousand a lot faster than you will."

"Fuck you." And without another word, I turned away from him. I wasn't going to stand there and listen to him talk about my sister like that. She didn't deserve to be brought into this.

"Don't walk away from me Benny." I turned around, ready to smash his face in, but he had a gun in his hand now. My body froze, and I stared at it. Never in my life had I thought I would be staring into the barrel of a gun.

"Either you get me Lilly, or-" I didn't even bother letting him finish his sentence. I already knew what he was going to say, and I already knew that I would protect Lilly.

"No." I told him, my eyes never met his but I knew he could tell I was serious.

"Fine then." I gave up everything for her, and I never once regretted it. And then the darkness came.

A/N: I hope the chapter was still good even if it was mainly OC's. So far, for pairings, Loe is in the lead. I'll have decided by chapter four though. ps. Check out these drawings I did on my profile and tell me what you think. Don't forget to Review! :)

Also, just warning you. Updates will most likely not come this quickly for future chapters. Starting monday, my schedule becomes hectic again.