Hey:) Glad you enjoyed! I'm back, this chapter will probably be a bit longer. A comment was posted regarding my use of swear words, if that bugs you, I'm sorry. That wasn't my intention. I did say this will be kind of a story for 'older' kids, and I'm not sure how old you are, and the rating is teen. I re-read the previous chapter and I will admit there was a number of swear words compared to my previous chapters, I will try to tone it down a bit. On to the story...

~Monsters are real, so are ghosts, they live inside us and sometimes, they win~

"What the hell!" I screamed at him. He looked like he was ready to kill. All of a sudden, I wasn't scared for my virginity, as I secretly was scared for on the way up. I was scared for my life. He took a step towards me bringing his hand up. It collided with my left cheek knocking me back to the ground. It didn't hurt as much as I thought it would. I think the amount of adrenaline in my veins helped with that though. I was going to hurt like a bitch tomorrow. He took another step and kicked me in the stomach.

"SHUT UP!" He screamed. I was speechless. I just lied there and tried to catch the breath he had just knocked out of me. He slammed his fist against his car numerous times before running his fingers though his hair. Alright, angry, drunk and having a meltdown. This was not going to end well for me. Still breathing heavily, I managed to pick myself up again. I had like zero balance, and all the strength in my arms had disappeared.

"Steve" I said quietly. I swear I saw a couple of tears escape his eyes. That's what made my heart brake. No, I really didn't want to sympathize this kid, but he was in a bad place at the moment.

"He hates me. I can't do anything right. Even when I do, he only notices the thing I did wrong! He hates me!"

"Steve" I repeated, no louder than the previous time I said it.

"YOU DON'T GET IT!" He screamed. I took a step back, his sudden outburst had caught me off guard. I ended up, taking a step back towards him when I realized how close to the edge I was. "Everyone thinks I live the perfect life; captain of the football team, girls, decent grades, possible scholar ship.. Everyone thinks I have it good. BUT THEY DON'T GET IT! No one does. I'm never going to be good enough for him! I'm never going to please him! I always do something wrong!" He rambled.

"It's not your fault Steve"

"Yes it is!"

"No it's not... Everyone has their baggage Steve. Everyone. Some hurts more then others but everyone has something" I said quoting my very sensible friend Kevin, he told me that the day of the party. "It could be a lot worse"

"NO IT COULDN'T" Oh crap hit a nerve. Why couldn't I of just stopped while I was ahead? People like Steve have a hard time seeing past their own life, comparing theirs to other peoples. Brings me back to my favorite saying "To every bad there's a worse, to every good there's a better" Meaning, yes your parents are divorced, but one of them could be dead, or they could be together. Just depends on who you are and how you'd like to look at it.

"Steve" I said quietly. He stood there with an angry, solid expression planted on his face. You could see the rage in his eyes, I swear he was pretty close to having smoke coming out of his ears.

"YOU STUPID BITCH!" He yelled. He moved his body, punching me again in the face. My body hit the ground with a thud, face first into the dirt. I rolled over on my back, paralyzed. Everything hurt. I lied my left hand down to boost myself up, but there was nothing there. I was so close to the edge, my left arm was floating in mid air. Panicking, I rolled onto my right side, trying to boost myself up from that position.

"Steve don't!" I cried. He took a step, kicking me in the stomach again. The force of his kick rolled me over, sending me off the edge of the outlook. The two story edge. I quickly reached my hand out to grab something, anything that would prevent me from falling. I snagged a tree root as my body swung down, colliding with the vertical slope. Everything just froze for a second as I examined my surroundings. The slope was exactly that, vertical. Nothing else. No indents or rocks, nowhere to put my feet and nothing grab onto with the exception of the tree root my right hand was clutching for dear life. It was just a wall off dirt. I directed my vision down, just perfect. At the bottom was a nice blanket of pointy rocks. Even if I did survive a fall, I'd bleed out before anyone found me. The very least life threatening injuries. I've never noticed the rocks before. Then again, I've never seen the outlook before from this... perspective. My mind was quickly switched into panic mode.

"Steve!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, franticly kicking my feet. I was a solid foot down from the edge, so the ground was out of reach of my left hand. "Steve please!" I pleated. I felt warm tears beginning to form in my eyes. But I held them back. Crying wasn't going to do me any good.

Steve never responded. Between my cries for help, I managed to make out the sound of a car door opening. Then closing. Then being put in drive. Then speeding out of the lot. That was it, I was alone.

I shut up and stopped moving everything. I just hung there, staring at my hand that was fighting oh so hard to hold on. I was in tremendous pain right now, it felt like my arm was being torn out of it's socket. I just couldn't let go. I watched my fingers struggle to hold their grip as I thought about my life.

Four fingers. I watched my life flash before my eyes. All my good memories, the bad memories weren't worth wasting my time remembering. I remembered the time when I was 6, Bud taught me how to ride a bike. 37 bandages, two broken helmets, one trip to the emergency room and twelve hours later, I'd finally done it. I remember being so strong willed, regardless of what Bud begged and bribed I wasn't giving up. I also remembered the time I drove Buds truck for the first time. I wanted to strangle his so bad, he was driving me nuts. Pointing out every possible thing there was a chance I could hit and screaming 'Stop' at the top of his lungs whenever he felt it was necessary. But, I held it together for one every long day, earning the right to drive his truck.

Three fingers. Next I thought of my life right now. I was decently happy. You know, except the fact I'm still dangling from a cliff. But other then that I had a good life. Decent grades, loving dad, house over my head. My life was made. So what I didn't grow up with a mom, or I moved a million times. It gave me a better relationship with Bud, and gave me the opportunity to find out who I wanted to be. Moving I was able to become whoever I felt like being at that school. Which lead me to who I am, Kim Crawford. I'm happy with myself. Bud did good. Three year old me would look up to me, I'm sure off it.

Two fingers. My mind was then directed to who I wanted to be, my future. I've always wanted to go to New York City and become something resembling design. From as long as I can remember I've had the school picked out and everything. It occurred to me now, that it didn't matter. The school, New York, none of it. All that mattered is being who I wanted to be, and being with the people I love. Love what you do, and do what you love.

One finger. That lead me to my next thought. The people I loved. Due to my constant moving, Bud was all I had up until I moved here. And that had always been alright with me. I love him to death. I'd hate to see his face when he got the news I had passed. I hate seeing the people I love in pain. Next people I thought of was Kevin and Taylor. They were the closest things to best friends I've ever had; I've ever wanted. They were the best of friends anyone could of asked for. They were nice to me, and they gave a crap. What else do you need? The last person I thought of was Jack. No I didn't love him, I didn't know him well enough. But I did like him a lot, yes we had kissed, but I wished I had just 'man'd' up or something and told him how I felt. I couldn't be that hard right? I guess it was too late now. I wanted him right now. I'd think I'd want Bud but I want him. To just hold me and tell me everything was going to be ok.

I could feel my one finger left slipping, how I was still holding on? Not sure. I shut my eyes, and waiting for my strength to give out and for me to fall down. I wasn't 'giving up' necessarily, I was simply accepting death. There was nothing more I could do. That's when I heard it...Another car pulled into the lot. I wasn't certain someone was there, it could just be my desperateness playing a trick on me. But when I heard a car door shut, I was certain of it.

"HELP ME!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. I don't recall ever yelling that loudly before. Desperate times call for desperate measures. The small sight of hope sent adrenaline pumping through my veins. I fixed my grip on the tree root and began franticly kicking my feet again. I continued to scream until the person spoke.

"Kim?" He asked silently. My eyes widened as my hope grew.

"JACK!" I screamed again. Correction, I think that was the loudest I've ever screamed. My mind once again switched into panic mode as hope became vivid.

"Kim!" He screamed back. I heard footsteps approaching the edge as I continued freaking out. The tears began spilling out of my eyes no matter what I did to hold them back as I saw Jack's face appear over the edge.

"Help me" I whispered. My whole body felt like it was just going to shut down at any moment. He dropped his body so he was lying on his stomach and reached his hand towards mine. He grabbed hold of my right wrist tightly. I removed the grip from the tree root that was going to snap any minute and transferred it to Jack's wrist. The only thing keeping me from falling now, was him. Let me tell you, it has never felt so good to hold someone's hand.

"I got you Kim" He said reassuringly. I caught a glimpse of his face, I could see him mentally thinking of a plan.

"Please don't let go" I sobbed. Screw being tough, I want off this freakin cliff.

"I'd never let go." He said sternly. No matter what I did I could feel tears continue to trickle down my face. "Can you get a footing?"

"No!" I exclaimed, kicking the slope in frustration. I watched as he shifted his position, not daring to loosen the grip on my wrist, so he was holding himself up on his other elbow. "There's nothing, its flat!"

"This might hurt" He warned. At first, it caught me off guard, but as I processed his words I realized what he was doing. He shifted again so he was on one knee supporting myself and his own body up. He began pulling. He was right, it did hurt. Honestly, it hurt a lot. I didn't weigh that much and I still felt as if my arm was being pulled out of its socket all over again. The original pulling didn't hurt near as much when I made it to the edge. I lifted my left hand to help pull myself up but due to my lack of strength I wasn't much help. He continued to pull on my wrist until I was able to place one of my knees on the ledge. He released the grip on my hand and within the same second he grabbed my waist pulling me up the rest of the way, onto my feet.

I prepared myself for the screaming. The yelling. The 'I told you so' and everything along the line of those. I deserved it, I should of listened to him, he was right about everything. I should of done something to stay in the gym or at least stall. Heck, I shouldn't of gone on the date in the first place, should of trusted Jack to take care of himself as well as Kevin. But none of that mattered now. I inhaled a deep breath and waited for the screaming to begin, but it never came.

The same second my feet were placed on the ground they were off of it again. Jack set me down long enough to shift his position and pull me into his arms. I didn't hesitate to hug him back, rapping my arms around his neck and cuddling my head into the crease of his neck. The tears had stopped. I let my body relax in Jack's comforting grip. I must hand it to him, he was really strong, he was holding absolutely all of my body weight. We stood there, in each others arms for who knows how long. Minutes passed before I realized I was shivering like crazy. It was like my body was a cell phone on vibrate. Jack noticed this too, he moved his arm from around my waist farther up my back and rubbed comforting circles on it.

"I got you" He whispered in my ear. It sent a new set of shivers down my spine. Jack slowly released me, setting me down carefully on the ground. I managed a nod then went to take a step forward. My body was jello. The second I moved my body collapsed sending me towards the ground. I would of fell, but Jack managed to slip his arm around my waist before I could.

"Thanks" I mumbled. He moved again, slipping his other hand behind my knees, picking me up bridal style. I let out a small shriek but I honestly didn't have the energy or the motivation to do anything at the moment. I accepted defeat, there was no point in struggling because he wasn't going to put me down, and I snuggled my head into his chest.

He carried me towards his car, setting me gently in the passengers seat before climbing into the front. This must be his parents car, or I just didn't know he owed a car. He put it in drive, and began down the road.

"You alright?" He asked softly.

"Yeah" I sighed.

"Want to talk about it?"

"Not really..."

"Where's your dad?"

"Working till five" I informed. I could feel the tears beginning to form again, no matter how much I didn't want them to. I was alright, and that's all that mattered. There is no point focusing on what could of been, the point is it didn't. So the best thing I could do is be thankful. Like I am for picking a dress with straps. If I was wearing a strapless, it wouldn't of ended well.

"You can stay with us?" He offered. My face lit up. I didn't want to go home, mostly because I didn't really want to be alone. "I was planning on taking you there anyways, to get things sorted..."

"I'd need to call my dad" I said. He nodded in understanding as I began looking for my phone. I shifted my body back and forth trying to find it, when a thought occurred to me "I have no idea where my phone is!" I exclaimed. From the moment I left the house I'd lost track of it completely. I have no idea where it had gone. I watched Jack reach into him pocket and pull something out. Of course it was my phone, figures.

"Found it in the parking lot, one of the reasons I came looking for you" He said the last part slowly; hesitantly. I grabbed it giving him a nod and dialed Bud's number.

"Hey Kimmy, how was the dance?" He asked from the other end.

"Oh uh, good Bud. I just wanted to ask you if I could, uh, stay at Kevin's tonight?" I said, stuttering and hesitating. He's not going to see right through that.

"Kevin? As in Jack's brother?" He asked. I rolled my eyes.

"Yes Jack's brother" I clarified. From the corner of my eyes I saw Jack let out a slight chuckle. We turned the corner entering his driveway.

"Where is he?"

"Who Jack? Beside me...?"

"Let me talk to him." He said stiffly. I let out a sigh, handing the phone to Jack, he gave me a puzzled look before taking the phone in his hands.

"Hello Mr. Crawford" He said, very maturely I might add.

"Yes Sir" He stayed silent for a while, assuming Bud is talking to him. I watched his let out a laugh.

"Yes Sir, Kevin's very territorial so If he wont give up his bed, she can sleep in mine and I'll take the couch" He told my dad. I grew a smile, that was cute. He was a really good guy. For some odd reason I had the odd feeling of wanting to just grab him and make out with him. That's not weird at all. My hormones are probably all in a twist because of my rough night. The thought of it brought back the sensation in the back of my throat urging me to cry. My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Jack's voice again.

"Alright Sir, I promise" Promise what? Oh boy, that was never a good sign. He said goodnight before handing me back the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey Kimmy, alright you can stay over, I expect a call in the morning"

"Ok, night Bud"

"Night Kimmy" I hung up the phone clutching it in my hand.

"What did he tell you?" I asked Jack. He immediately burst out into laughter. I rolled my eyes, at this point, I'm not so sure I wanted to know. Jack got himself out of the car. I went to open the passenger door, put the pain that shot through my body stopped me. I snapped my eyes shut trying to keep in the water. I quickly wiped the tears away.

"Kim?" Jack asked softly. I whipped my head around to look at him.

"I'm fine" I reassured. He held out his hand. Taking it, he picked my back up into his arms and shut the car door behind him. By the looks of things, his parents weren't home yet. He carried me into the house, up the stairs and into his bedroom. The second my body hit his bed, it completely shut down. The little voice in the back of my head was screaming at me to go to bed.

"You sure you're alright?"

"Yeah" I said. To be honest, I wasn't sure if I had even said it. He gave me a nod and a smile before turning to head out the door, before he could I grabbed his hand. "Stay with me"

"Of course." He smiled. He climbed into bed beside me, pulling the covers up over the both of us. He slipped his arm behind my waist and pulled me into his chest. "You know Kim, you don't always have to be tough, it's ok to cry sometimes" I looked up at him before snuggling my head back into his chest and letting the tears fall. He shifted pulling me closer. I eventually stopped as sleep began to take over. I felt him kiss my forehead before I finally passed out.

Alright, not exactly how I planned it, but I like it a lot. And I know I promised early, but I wanted to make sure this was perfect. And I honestly put so much effort into this chapter. So if you could review telling me what you think, that'd be fantastic. Hope you enjoyed, again worked incredibly hard. Review! :)