A/N: Thank you for the reviews you guys...I truly do love you :D For the record, there will be some time skips in a few of the following chapters (and I am having to play with the RL timeline a bit to make everything fit properly. Artistic liscence!), otherwise this is gonna really drag and I know the main thing you are waiting for, so unless this becomes the longest, most boring fanfic ever written, I shall be skipping some big chunks of time! Anywho, enjoy :D

The side of her fist came down on the door three times. She leaned heavily against the wall, trying to catch her breath. There was no answer at the door, so she slid down, pulling her knees up. She rested her forehead on her knees, before gasping in pain and lifting it up again. She frowned at the bloodstain on her jeans, lifting a hand to press gingerly against the cut on her head. It was still bleeding profusely and it was hurting more and more as the minutes ticked past. She felt really dizzy.

She closed her eyes, but that just made it worse. She felt her stomach roll and turned her head, leaning over and vomiting. She groaned, wrapping her arms around her torso. She heaved again, but there was nothing to come up. She hadn't eaten anything that day. She was still gasping for breath and her lungs felt like they were on fire. She didn't remember making the decision to come here, she just knew that there was no-where else she could go. She didn't know anyone else in this town and she certainly wasn't going to go home.

She leant back against the house, tilting her head back and closing her eyes. She needed to straighten her mind out, she needed to figure out what she was going to do now. She knew her dad didn't mean to hurt her, he'd never intentionally cause her any harm, but she'd never seen him freak out like that. She opened her eyes and sighed slowly. She was such a screw up. She'd messed everything up. Again. She'd been doing so well, she'd been behaving. Her grades were up, she hadn't been in any fights and yet, the one time she did something that was against her dad's wishes, it all blew up again. She'd be lucky if he didn't send her away for real this time.

She grimaced and lifted a hand to her head, wincing as she felt the cut under her fingers. It was a good one, but she'd had worse. She lowered her hand, swearing softly. Well, she couldn't stay here. She'd have to go home. The thought was not a pleasant one, but she knew she didn't really have a choice.

She'd just about collected herself enough to start trying to stand up, when Matt's truck pulled into the drive. Her eyes met his and she saw the shock and worry on his face. He literally dived out of the truck and ran towards her. "Sevina, what happened?!" He made it from the truck to her in about two seconds, crouching in front of her. She flinched as his hand touched the area around the cut on her head. "Fuck, that's a good one. Can you stand?"

Sevina simply nodded in reply. She tried to push herself up, but slipped. Matt's hand closed gently on her upper arm and he helped her to her feet. He looked back to the truck. It was only now that Sevina noticed Gilbert was with him. She flushed in embarrassment. "I'm really sorry…I didn't know where else to go…I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. Come on, let's get you in the house." Matt helped her inside and sat her down in the kitchen. He quickly grabbed a dishcloth and ran it under the cold tap. He then pressed it lightly against her head. She hissed and tried to move back, but his other hand moved to the back of her head to hold her still. "Do you feel dizzy? Sleepy? Nauseous?" He looked into her eyes, checking that her pupils were dilating and reacting. Sevina scowled at him. "I did, but I'm fine now. I've had worse than this." Matt shook his head, taking the ice pack that Gilbert handed to him and replacing the dishcloth with it. Sevina screwed up her face in pain, then moved her hand to hold the pack there, brushing Matt's hand away.

"What happened, Kid?" Sevina looked at him, then bit her lip. She didn't want to explain, there was no way she could put it without making her dad sound like a bad guy. "I fell." Matt didn't look like he believed her. "You fell? So why didn't you go home, instead of coming here? What really happened, Sevina?" He gave her a hard look that made her want to squirm. She sighed and lowered her eyes, then slowly explained what had happened. She didn't look up until she had finished.

Matt wasn't looking at her. His hands were clenched into fists and there was a muscle ticking in his jaw. "Mother fucker." He whispered, through gritted teeth. Sevina shook her head, lowering the ice pack. "It wasn't on purpose! He'd never hurt me." Matt looked at her and his brown eyes were darker than usual. "He shouldn't have done what he did, Sevina."

"I know that, but he didn't mean to. I should never have come to see you today."

"This isn't your fault! You didn't do anything wrong!"

"I knew I wasn't meant to be there!"

"You shouldn't feel guilty for doing something that you love!"

"I shouldn't have been doing it!" At this point, Gilbert decided to step in. He gently lifted Sevina's hand back to her head, pressing the ice pack back to the cut. He then looked at Matt, frowning. "This isn't helping. I think we all just need to calm down. Matt, you'd better drive Sevina to the hospital."

"No! No hospitals." Sevina shook her head immediately, lowering the pack again. Matt frowned at her reaction, then nodded. "Alright. Just, sit there. Don't take that pack off your head." Sevina obeyed, she'd do pretty much anything not to have to go to the hospital. She hated doctors. Matt and Gilbert stepped outside briefly. Matt looked at his father, frowning. "Dad, what do we do? We can't send her home."

"Matthew, listen to me, that girl knows her mind. You gotta trust her to do what's right for her. Some things you just can't help with."

"But-"

"Matt, listen. Just listen. That's all she needs from you right now. Listen to her. Not just to what she's saying, but what she's not. Listen to her silences, listen to her tone. Trust her." Matt frowned at his dad, not sure how to take that, or even how to go about doing it, but if he trusted nothing else, he trusted his dad. He sighed, part of him wanted to drive to her house and beat some sense into her father. What was he thinking, putting his hands on her? Sevina seemed so adamant that it had been unintentional. But what was to stop it from happening again?

Not doing anything, not going over there and standing up for her, felt wrong. Really, really wrong, but he knew that if he did, he'd probably be doing more harm than good. At least whilst she was here, he could keep an eye on her and try and come up with some kind of plan. He took a deep breath, then walked back inside. Sevina looked over at him, lowering the ice from her head. The cut had swollen and the bruise was already starting to darken on her pale skin, but the bleeding had stopped.

Matt walked over to her, leaning against the side and folded his arms. "I'm sorry, for blowing up like that." Sevina shook her head, looking away from him. "It's okay."

"I better get you another shirt." Matt motioned to the bloodstains on the front and shoulder of her tank top. She grimaced and nodded slowly as he left the room again. She was beginning to think that coming over here hadn't been such a good idea. She was just dragging more people into her problems. Problems that she just seemed unable to avoid. She felt like a magnet sometimes, or a target, as if life had painted a bullseye right in the middle of her forehead and launched missile after missile at her. She just wanted it to stop for a while, just so she could breathe and take it all in.

She looked up as Matt returned and wordlessly handed her a black Silver Fox t-shirt. She walked to the bathroom to change, pausing to look at her face in the mirror. The cut looked a lot worse than it was. She sighed and quickly washed her face, getting as much of the blood off as she could, before pulling on the t-shirt. It was too big for her and smelled exactly the same as the last one. As she emerged, she lifted an eyebrow at Matt. "Isn't your brother going to get pissed if I keep stealing all his clothes?" Matt laughed and shook his head. "Jeff has more clothes than he could wear in a year. Don't worry about it. Trust me." Sevina shrugged and sat back down in the kitchen. Matt made her a cup of hot chocolate and they just talked for a long time. Not about anything important, just talking, letting the conversation flow. Sevina was surprised at how much she liked Matt, he was quite a lot older than her and not someone she would normally have pictured herself being friends with, but he was so passionate about his work and so easy to talk to, it was impossible not to like him.

Time went far too quickly and as it got dark, Sevina acknowledged that she really should go home before her dad called the police. As much as she didn't want to, she needed to face him and sort out what had happened today. Matt didn't seem happy about it, but he didn't argue. He drove her home in silence and parked up on the drive. He looked over at her frowning. "You sure you don't want me to come in and talk to him?" Sevina shook her head and tried to smile. "No. As much as I appreciate the sentiment, that would probably be the opposite of helpful." Matt frowned, but didn't protest. He quickly wrote down his cell number and gave it to her. "You call me if you need anything."

"Matt, you're going to St Louis tomorrow."

"Yeah, but I'll come back if I have to."

"Don't be stupid."

"Just…promise me you'll call." Sevina sighed and shook her head, but his expression hardened and she nodded. "Alright. I promise." She knew she wouldn't, but it seemed to make him feel better. She waved, then hopped out of the truck and headed towards the house. She hesitated outside, glancing back at Matt, who was still sitting, watching her. She then took a deep breath and walked inside. "In here, Sevina." Victor's voice was tight and strained as it echoed from the kitchen. Sevina bit her lip, trying to arrange her short hair to hide the worst of the damage on her head, then she walked into the kitchen. "Hi, Dad."