HELLO! This is was a quick chapter. Took a whole afternoon to write. Please enjoy! And Review! Tanks Guys!

Lucy woke up slowly in the middle of the night. The room was dark and so it was outside also. It had only been an hour since Ringo and her fell asleep.

The cool air of her bedroom hit Lucy in the face making her feel colder than she already was. She carefully shimmied her body deeper into the warm blankets and closer to Ringo. She wrapped her arms around her bare stomach while placing her head on Ringo's chest as a pillow. Why didn't I get dressed before fallin' asleep? Lucy thought.

A pleased moan escaped Ringo's mouth and a smile spread across his face. His hair was a tangled mess flat against his head. He reached his arms up from Lucy's hips to stretch but he immediately pulled his arms back, away from the cold.

"Are ya awake?" He mumbled to her. Lucy mmhmmed in response. "Great!" he smiled then rolled over on top of the younger girl. "Let's go at it again!" Ringo leaned down and started kissing Lucy's neck. She giggled at the touch of his teeth on her neck.

Lucy stopped the drummer, hearing a noise come out from the hallway. "Ringo" Lucy whispered as she gently pushed his shoulders, "Did you hear that?"

Ringo stopped and listened. A loud thump heard from the hallway. Someone was walking up the stairs; someone very slow and clumsy. Ringo immediately sprung up from the bed and flung his boxers on. He looked around the room and picked up all of his articles of clothing that had been thrown from the bed.

"Are ya leaving?" Ringo turned around to look at the speaker. Lucy was sitting up on her bed now with a blanket wrapped completely around her naked body. Her black hair had been swept to one side of her head though part of it still reached down her back.

Ringo stared at Lucy's beautiful pale skin. Her collar bones stuck out since she was hunched over. The blanket started there and covered the rest of her body. How could he just leave her there in the middle of the night?

"No" Ringo smiled, "I was just gonna hide in yer closet if that's fine with you" Lucy's eyes sparkled in happiness. She watched Ringo step into her shuttered closet. Once in, he turned toward her before closing the door. "I love you" he whispered.

"Lucy smiled, "I love you too, Ritchie" he closed the door and watched her from behind the shudders. She stepped out of the bed and found her underwear. She slipped each piece on then found a small night gown. She looked around the room once more then climbed into bed with an air of knowing what to do.

Has she done this sort of thing before? Is this a regular thing for Lucy? Ringo watched as Lucy curled into a ball to fall back to sleep. Or, pretend to at least. She did it so well; the way she turned over back and forth every few minutes. Ringo listened harder to his surroundings. He could hear each thump through the wall as though it was right behind him. He noticed that at each one, Lucy would flinch. Then, the thumps just stopped.

The shuffling of feet was just outside of the door. Lucy rolled over and the door of her bedroom opened. She slowed her breathing steadily to match someone's breathing when asleep. The shuffling feet continued into the bedroom. Ringo watched as Lucy's father came into view. He moved like a zombie finding food; one foot went slightly in front of the other and he moved with a slight limp.

Her father made his way to her bed and sat down where Ringo had been laying moments before. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a flip pocket watch. When he opened the flap, there was a picture of a woman. She looked exactly like Lucy except this woman had blue eyes not green. Could that be a picture of Lucy's mum?

Lucy's father shifted his body to put the pocket watch back in his pocket. He lifted his hand from his pocket and leaned into his daughter. He placed a kiss on her forehead and began to stroke her hair.

"Dad?" Lucy's eyes opened in mock surprise. She started to sit up but her father shushed her. "Whu-Whut are ya doin'?" He stroked her hair more fiercely and desperately as though reaching for something kind of feeling once gone. He pulled his daughter into a tight hug. He smelled of cigarettes and alcohol mixed together.

"I miss 'er so much, Lucille" tears poured down his cheeks, falling onto Lucy's bare shoulders "Ya look so much like 'er and it kills me everyday" he started rocking her back and forth while his sobs got louder and his pleas became more desperate.

"I know dad, its okay. It'll always be okay." She responded to his pleas but he started stroking and clutching her harder putting the girl in pain.

"I just wish she would come back tah me! What did I do wrong?" he suddenly turned to Lucy and grabbed her shoulders, "Why won't she come back?" he yelled and shook the small girl. Ringo watched motionless behind the closet doors. There was nothing he could do. Lucy was crying out in pain and there was doing he could do.

The bedroom door opened and in came running a boy about Ringo's age. He had black hair like Lucy's and was only in his boxers and a grey tee-shirt. He grabbed onto Lucy's father by his arms and dragged him away. "NO! BRING CAROL BACK TO ME!" he kept yelling the same thing over and over again as Lucy's brother dragged their father down the hallway.

Ringo waited a moment to see if Lucy's brother would come back and he did. He sat down on the bed next to Lucy as her father did before. This time though, he did not stroke her hair, nor hurt her with his hands.

"Are ya okay?" he asked his little sister. He placed his hand on Lucy's shoulder and checked her arms.

"Yeah, I think I'm alright. Is dad gonna be okay?" Lucy rubbed her arms were her father had shook her. There were nail marks on the opposite side and a red mark outlining where his hands had wrapped around her.

"Yeah. . . I've uhh been meanin' tah talk tah ya 'bout somethin'." He looked straight into her light green eyes.

"Yes, William?"

"Well, I was talkin' tah auntie. . . about dad and his recurring. . . episodes" William scratched the back of his head. His black hair was sticking up in the back from bed-head. He flattened the pieces sticking up but there was no use. There's no fixing a bed-head.

"Whu-whut did she say?" tears started to well up in Lucy's eyes. When Ringo noticed, all he wanted to do was burst out of the closet and comfort her tears. Unfortunately, he could not do so.

"She said. . . she said. . ."

"Whut? Whut did she say?" Lucy leaned forward in fear and anticipation.

"She told me we should get him institutionalized" William waited for the words to sink in before hugging his sister. Lucy's tears poured down her cheeks onto her brother's shoulders. She looked towards the closet, seemingly looking straight at Ringo. He saw longing in her eyes. Longing to belong; to have a family of her own that did not hurt her. Ringo had that feeling of giving that to her. After a couple of moments of holding her William said, "Lucy, it's a little late. I think you should get sum sleep"

"Yeah," Lucy wiped her tears from her eyes "you're right" William said goodnight to her and gave her a fatherly kiss on her forehead. He walked out of the room, leaving Lucy seemingly alone.

Ringo carefully opened the closet door slightly startling Lucy. She jumped slightly then looked down at her bare feet. Ringo sat down directly next to her on the bed with his arm around her. She wrapped her arms around his torso. He's the only person she wanted to be with at the moment. . . . He's the only person she would be happy to be with forever. She stayed motionless as silent tears streamed down her face. Ringo brushed her hair away from her face and leaned back. He lifted Lucy's feet up and placed them on his lap.

Lucy fell asleep on Ringo moments later, but he couldn't seem to shake certain thoughts. His father had done the same thing to him when he was very young but his mother didn't react the same way that Lucy's father did. What if he left Lucy one day? Would she go into a shock like her father? The apple never does fall far from the tree, Ringo thought. Just thinking about leaving her scared him. He couldn't bear to see her hurt like that again. She isn't emotionally strong like Sadie is. . .

Sadie. He had completely forgotten about her in all the madness. He wasn't drawn to her anymore now that he'd had sex with Lucy. It was a great feeling to Ringo. Learning to forget the girl he had once loved to find another who he really did love. It felt real; not fake like it was with Sadie. When he thought about his short time with Sadie, it did feel different. That moment had no love. It was like an experiment between them to find something nonexistent. A nonexistent love that created a human being. . . .

Ringo turned to his left and looked at his watch on the nightstand. It said four in the morning. He hadn't gotten any sleep but he couldn't be there if Lucy's brother came in to wake her up! He needed to get out somehow.

Ringo pulled his arm out from under Lucy's body and took his legs out from under hers. He kissed her forehead and left her a note on the side of her bed. He lifted the window open and slipped out; deciding to visit her tomorrow and check out her family during the day instead of at night. . . .

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