Okay, so that didn't take as long as I thought it would.
A little flashback will be in this chapter, and you'll find out something from Sophia's past.

Thanks to amylee22 for the reviews.

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Sophia

"Can't you just let me help you?" I asked Dean, standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom trying to change the compress on the wound. The doctor had told him to do it every day, and Dean had been having trouble with it every day. But he was too stubborn to ask for my help.

So every day I had watched with amusement as he cursed his way to getting the compressor to stay in place.

"No, I can do this," he answered me and I shook my head and hopped down from the bench where I had been sitting next to the washbowl, taking the compressor from his hand.

"You're like a stubborn five-year-old who thinks he can do everything. Now, let me," I said, and looked at the wound. It looked like it was about to be infected, so I opened the medicine cabinet and searched through it. I lifted and moved some bottles until I found the one I wanted, and then found another one. One of them contained sodium chloride, to clean the wound and the other one contained germicidal salve.

First I poured the sodium chloride over it and let it dry before I put on the salve, making sure it was covering the whole wound. I hated the scar it was going to leave, but I knew it was inevitable.

"Can you stop looking at it like it's going to disappear? Because it's not," Dean told me softly, and I realized I was staring at the wound.

"I know," I told him simply, taking the compressor again and placing it over the wound, making sure no air would come in.

"All done," I said when I was done and took a step away from him so that he could pull on his t-shirt. I handed him my favorite shirt and watched him take it before I took his place in front of the mirror. I was almost done, having just the mascara to put on.

I quickly found it and put two layers on my eyelashes, before I put it back into the make-up bag and put it in the cabinet.

I was wearing my favorite pair of jeans – dark blue, almost black, and tight. They were hard to get on and off, but since I had been wearing them so much they were comfortable.

With that I was wearing a sleeveless purple tank top with a choker neckline that hugged the neck, and it was tied on the back of the neck. It was banded at the waist, and had a open back.

"You ready to go?" Dean asked and I turned around to face him. He was standing in the doorway to the bathroom, looking at me.

"No. C'mon," I said as I walked out from the bathroom and into the hall where I put on a pair of black high heeled ankle boots.

Just as I was about to grab my keys, Dean snaked his arms around me from behind, placing a kiss on my jaw since it was the only thing he reached.

"Did I tell you that you look amazing?" he murmured in my ear, and I felt myself smiling.

"Maybe," I commented, turning around in his embrace.

"You do," he told me, smiling down on me. He placed a soft kiss on my lips before he grabbed the keys, and took my hand and together we walked out the door.

---

"Seriously, how many people did she invite?" I heard Dean mutter to himself as he drove around the full parking lot. There was not a empty place, and he would have to find somewhere else to park.

So he drove to the entrance of the school, and told me to go ahead and that he would be inside in a second.

I climbed out of the car and closed the door behind me, seeing Dean driving away. I took a deep breath and turned toward the school. I hadn't been here in years, and I was starting to think about if I had really done the right decision by deciding to come here tonight.

It looked the same on the outside as it had when I went here, and when I walked inside I noticed not much had changed. They had colored the lockers with another color - that was the only difference.

As I walked toward the gym, where the "party" would be, I walked past my old locker and for a second I felt the urge to see if it still held the same combination. Of course I didn't look, and walked straight to the gym.

I remembered it being much smaller than it was, and I was amazed by how much they had managed to get in there. By the end of the wall furthest away from me was a stage, and a band would probably be playing. There was tables on the floor, people on the floor, and there was also a bar. With people and alcohol. How the hell had Caroline managed to the alcohol into the school? But at the same time it didn't surprise me. Caroline and alcohol used to be best friends. She were always bragging about some party she had been on, and people like me, hating her, managed to know in detail what she had been wearing, what guy she had made out with, and how good the sex had been. That was Caroline, and now I really started to regret coming here. What good would it do anyway?

I walked to the bar, recognizing everyone I met on the way there. That was both the upside and the downside of being an outsider in High School. You knew who everyone was, but they had no idea of who you were.

I ordered a beer for Dean, knowing he would probably want one. He hadn't been drinking one since we were at the roadhouse, and that was more than two weeks ago.

I took the beer, turned around and froze.

"First you don't drink at all, and now your ordering a beer?" Trent asked me, smiling. How dare he smile? How dare he even talk to me? After everything he'd done, I should be afraid, but I wasn't. Trent was a guy I dated, but had no chemistry with.

Like I knew it would, this night pulled out a lot of memories.

----

I was sitting alone in the kitchen. It was in the middle of the day, and I wasn't planning on going anywhere. Not looking like this. Mom was at work, and Rob was out with friends.

I heard the doorbell ring and walked into the hall, opening the door with the door chain on. Just to be safe.

I was. It was Sam. So I closed the door again and took the chain away before I let him in.

"Soph?" he asked after I had given him a hug and closed the door behind him.

"You don't wanna know," I said, walking out into the kitchen and making coffee.

"Dean will."

"I know. So, where is he?" I asked, taking out cups from the cabinet. I knew he would be here somewhere.

"I'm right here," I heard him say behind me, but I didn't turn around where I stood. He would kill Trent. Maybe not kill, but close to killing.

"What, no "Hi, Dean"? No happy smile?" he asked when I didn't say anything.

"Just... don't overreact, okay?" I asked, knowing he would. And had all the right to do so.

"Overreact? Why would I..." he started but fell into silence when I turned around. When he saw what I looked like. The bruise on the left side on my face, my swollen eye, the bruised arms and the sprained wrist. I had more bruises, but they were covered with my clothes.

"What the hell happened?" he asked, his voice flat. His face emotionless. He was angry.

"I fell," I said, but knew that he saw through my lie.

"Sophia..."

"I fell, okay?"

"So, a few days ago you "fell", and you didn't tell me when we talked yesterday?"

"It didn't come up."

"A swollen eye, a bruised face and bruised arms. A broken arm. It didn't come up?" his voice was getting angrier, seeking the truth.

"Sprained. And you didn't really say you were coming today, did you?" I asked, staring him in the eyes. I was well aware of the audience – Sam and John, both looking at us like we were crazy.

So was Dean. And he didn't want to argue with me anymore than I wanted to argue with him. But he wanted the truth.

"Can I talk to you?" he asked, stalking off from the kitchen, and up the stairs. I sighed but followed him, closing my bedroom door behind me.

"Tell me the truth, Soph," he said, staring at me. And I did.

"Five days ago I broke up with Trent. Four days ago I ran into him, or should I say he ran into me? Four days ago he beat me, he kicked me, and he..." I felt the tears coming, so I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. My family knew what I told Dean, but they had no idea of the next part I was going to tell him. I told the police when I reported it to them the same day, but they were the only one who knew. My family didn't have to go through the same pain as I had.

"He..." Dean started, his voice angrier than I had ever heard it before.

"I'm not done," I interrupted him and he fell in silence, sensing that I would tell him something important.

"He... He... Four days ago he... I was..." I couldn't say it, I couldn't say the words. There was no way I would do that. But Dean understood, and he dropped the anger. He knew I really didn't need the anger right now. So the anger flew away, and he wrapped his arms around me. I hadn't felt so safe in so long, and it felt good to feel that again.

"Did you go to the police?" he asked after a while of silence and I nodded against his chest.

"There was so many samples, so many tests and they gave me a pill, making sure I wasn't... " I couldn't finish that sentence either.

"Soph, I..." he started but I hushed him. I couldn't listen to all of that right now.

"Don't. Just promise me you won't say anything. I don't want anyone to know – it's enough with you and me and the police... Promise me."

"I promise," I heard him say over my head. "Is it completely wrong of me to say happy eighteenth birthday right now?"

----

So, yeah, I should be afraid. The guy standing in front of me had beat me, kicked me, raped me...

Just because I broke up with him.

But I wasn't afraid. I wasn't eighteen anymore and I wasn't defenseless anymore. I was strong, and thanks to Dean I knew how to use my strength.

I wanted to throw the beer at him, but I didn't want to make a scene. So I didn't.

"Why would you care?" I asked, walking away from him. I had a feeling I would be seeing more of him tonight, but I would just have to handle that then.

"Sophia, right?" I heard a familiar voice behind me say, and I turned around and saw Caroline. Well, at least she remembered my name. That was a plus. But she looked like she did in High School – that same blonde hair, too much make-up, slutty clothes and no ring on her finger. The last part made me happier than it should.

"Caroline," I said, trying to behave. Seeing Trent had already ruined this night for me, and I wouldn't let Caroline make it any worse.

"How are... Oh, god who is that?" she changed the subject, and I looked in the same direction that she was. I wasn't surprised when I saw Dean walking inside – she did have the same reaction nine years ago when she saw him. And I wasn't surprised that she didn't remember that I knew him.

"The guy walking inside?" I asked, knowing it was him.

"Yeah, him. I don't remember inviting him..."

"That's Dean. Born in Kansas, but moved away from there when he was young. He likes to hunt with his brother, and right now he is looking for his fiance," I said, seeing Caroline's face fall.

"Too bad, he's hot. Wait, how do you know so much about him?" she asked, looking at me.

"I'm his fiance," I told her simply, walking away from her and up to Dean.

"There you are," he said, placing a kiss on my cheek.

"I missed you," I told him, giving him the beer and taking his free hand.

"Five minutes and you already had the chance to miss me? Really, that bad?"

"You have no idea," I said, leaning into his side as I sighed.

The night passed without further problems, and I saw nothing of Trent. It was actually nice seeing old friends I hadn't met since High School, but other than that it wasn't fun. But it wasn't boring either.

"I'll just go to the bathroom, and then we can leave," I told Dean and he nodded.

"I'll go get the car."

"You've been drinking," I said, taking the keys he had in his hand.

"One beer."

"That's drinking," I said, smiling up at him. He rolled his eyes at me.

"Fine, I'll wait outside then," he said, walking away.

Dean

Why couldn't she just wait with going to the bathroom until we got home?

I had been standing here for ten minutes now, and we would have been home already if it wasn't for the line to the bathroom Soph was probably standing in right now.

The night hadn't been boring, but it hadn't been fun either. And the food was plain.

I could see it in people's faces when Soph told them she was the owner of a restaurant – they were impressed. And wasn't that what this night was about? Showing everyone how amazing Sophia really are.

"So, the guy you were with... Who is he?" I heard a man say, the voice coming closer.

"Why would you care?" That was Soph. And she was upset. I started to walk toward the voices, trying to figure out who the man was. I had never heard the voice before, but it was clear that Soph didn't want to talk to him.

"Because I care about you," the man said, the voice coming closer still. I heard Soph laugh humorless, and when I rounded the corner of the school I saw her and one more facing each other.

Even though all I could see was her back, I could see it clearly in the way she held her body. She really didn't want him there. She was rigid, her shoulders stiff...

"You care? How was jail, Trent?" she asked, and without having much choice I moved faster and felt the anger flood up inside me.

Trent. So that's how the son of a bitch looked like.

I had been dreaming – maybe not dreaming, but wishing – for the moment when I would see him. Because I wouldn't let him walk unharmed after what he did to Soph so many years ago.

When you broke up with someone you're not supposed to be abused, you weren't supposed to be...

It hurt me to think about it, and I couldn't even imagine what it must be like for Soph.

I felt myself lunging for him, and he wasn't ready so he easily fell to the ground. But he wouldn't stay there for long. But while he still was, I turned to Soph and cupped her face with my hands

"You okay?" I asked, both wanting and needing to know.

"Yeah," she answered me. I wasn't pleased with the answer, but in the corner of my eye I saw Trent standing up.

But Soph grabbed for my wrist when I turned around, and I looked at her again.

"He's not worth it," she said, and I really didn't want to listen to her. Because I knew she wouldn't really care if he "fell". But her eyes told me everything. They were on the verge of tears, and she penetrated my eyes with hers. She was pleading. Please, don't.

And that's what stopped me. Because maybe she was right, maybe he wasn't worth the trouble. But he deserved it.

But so many memories she didn't want to remember had already gone up to the surface for her, and I knew she needed the time to put them back where she had kept them for so long.

And she really didn't need this. The truth was that if she hadn't been here, I would have done something and she knew that. But she was here. So I put my arm around her, and just walked away. It was hard, and I really didn't want to – but I did it. For Soph.

We walked in silence to the car, where she climbed into the driver's seat. When I was inside, she started the car and drove in silence. I already knew she would be going there, so I wasn't surprised when she stopped at the cemetery. That was always where she did her best thinking, and she would be thinking a lot.

It was getting cold outside, so I grabbed my jacket from the backseat. Maybe she'd need it.

She sat down on the ground next to her parents graves, and I sat down behind her, wrapping my arms around her and placing the jacked next to me on the ground.

"Now, give me a real answer," I said, waiting for her to give me one. Her hands grabbed mine, twisting our fingers together and squeezing mine slightly.

"No, I'm not okay right now, but I will be. And no, it wasn't a mistake going there," she said quietly.

How could she not think it was a mistake? With Trent being there, with all the memories coming back.

I asked her, and she answered me just as quietly.

"It hurt like hell when I saw him, but that's the past. It's like a really bad scar, y'know? First, when you get it, it hurt's like hell and it's all you can think about. But then, as the time goes by, it doesn't hurt as much and you don't think about it as much anymore. And then, eventually, you can't even feel it. Sometimes, it get's scratched up, and it will hurt like hell, but it will heal again. The scar is always going to be there, shaping you and making you become who you are. In so many ways that night made me who I am today. It might have taken a long time, but here I am and I feel great. I doubt that I would have felt this great if you hadn't been there. You're still the only one who knows. I never told mom, or Tess or Rob about him... I just told them about the beating."

"How can you talk about this so casually? He..."

"I know what he did," she interrupted me. "I didn't see anyone for a year, and it took me two years before I really trusted a guy again. It took me forever before I took the step with Tyler, and I cried afterward because even though it was nothing like that night, it reminded me all too much about it." She'd never told me that. She cried? Talking about ex's wasn't really the best conversation, but right now I really didn't mind. Because this wasn't just a normal conversation, and this was Soph. I already knew the list. And I did not count Trent to be on it. And neither did she.

"He must have wondered what he did wrong," I tried to lighten up her mood a little bit.

"He didn't notice. Eric did, though." She cried with him too? It really must be like she said; sometimes it get's scratched up. And it was more than twice for Soph.

Before I had the chance to say anything, Soph talked again.

"With you, though, it was nothing like that. No memories, no Trent, no tears... just you and me. The way it's supposed to be," I wasn't really surprised. I wasn't blind, so I would have noticed if she'd cried. If she'd been remotely close to tears. What I didn't expect was feeling proud. I didn't know for what, just that I was proud of her for some reason.

"Okay, tell me the theory," I said. I heard it in her voice that she had one.

"What makes you think that I have one?" she chuckled, but I didn't answer her knowing she would tell me.

"Okay, the theory... You know about that night. I know you. I trust you. Sure, I trusted Tyler and Eric too, but not like with you. I'd known you for ten years, and you're my best friend. Taking that step with you wasn't something I had to think about. And I know that even if we had slept together the same night we told each other that we loved each other, I wouldn't have cried. I wouldn't have been close to tears. But I'm still kind of glad that we waited, because it only made it better."

"I'm glad we waited to, believe it or not," I told her, placing a kiss in the crook of her neck.

"I believe you. Speaking of waiting..." she said, turned her face up so that she could see me. "We shouldn't have sex before we get married." Was she serious? She looked serious. I mean, come on, August is three months away. No way I would agree to that.

"Are you serious?" I asked to make sure.

"Of course I am."

"No way in hell we're not sleeping together for three months," I told her seriously. I was about to say something else when I noticed that she pressed her lips together, trying not to smile.

Trying to look serious. It didn't work, and she started to laugh.

"You scared me, you know that?"

"You should have seen the look on your face," she managed to say, and I shoved her slightly.

She sure knew how to lighten the mood, and I found myself laughing with her.

"Let's see how you look when I tell you I won't have sex with you for three months."

"You couldn't do it," she answered simply and I scoffed, only making her laugh more.

Did she have that little faith in me? Okay, to be honest, so did I. Three months was a long time.

When she fell in silence, we didn't speak for a few minutes, enjoying the silence. I knew the Trent-box was shoved away, and wouldn't come out for a long time. Hopefully never.

"What a perfect conversation to be having in front of mom and dad," she said, and I heard the smile in her voice.

"Maybe we should go into details," I offered and she sighed.

"Let's not," she said, squeezing my hand again. "You haven't been here for awhile. I haven't been here for a while."

"You were here on your birthday, and so was I."

"Yeah, but you were in the car."

"Actually, I wasn't." She was going to find out sooner or later anyway.

"What?"

"Before I fixed everything at the restaurant, I came here." She turned around completely in my embrace, and looked at me.

"Why?" she whispered, even though she already probably had it figured out.

"Because I was thinking, and realized I would have gone to them if they were alive. Not asking for permission, because nothing would have stopped me from asking you to marry me. From marrying you in three months. So I came her to let them know what I was doing, and I didn't hear a protest."

"How would you know? Maybe they hate the fact that we're getting married," she said, a small smile on her lips.

"No way. Your mom would have found a way to protest," I said honestly, and Soph smiled more, knowing I was probably right.

She turned around again, leaning her back against my chest and her head against my shoulder.

"I love you," she whispered, wrapping my arms around her.

"I love you," I answered, wrapping them closer around her.