Disclaimer : Nope , I still don't own HSM , Roswell, or anything else in New Mexico .

The car ride to Hubs was set in silence , tension absolutely radiated off of Martha from her posture to the slight quiver in her lips , rendering Jason baffled as his girlfriend had been fine earlier . It was unlike her not to be super hyper and this bothered him .

Jason pushed absently at his too long bangs that needed a trim then slid a concerned look in the direction of Martha . He wondered if this was like a female thing or if she had a fight with one of the girls again or if maybe cheerleading practice had gone wrong .

' Martha , you've been quiet since we left the school, ' brought up a tentative Jason ,' what's the matter ? Are you and Kelsi arguing again ? '

Martha unclenched her fists letting them drop to her lap and turned to look at her always unassuming boyfriend . God, she was still trying to wrap her mind about everything Kelsi had confessed to her and Ryan earlier about her former relationship with Maxwell .

God , one part of it stung that she'd not confided in her until now - dammit , I'm her best friend ! But Kelsi had been so adamant , so strong in her beliefs of why she hid it all .

' I just found out , uh, something g shocking from Kelsi ,' admitted Martha as Jason pulled the car into a spot outside of the groups local hang out ,' You know how Ryan and Kelsi just got back together after months of torturing themselves by being apart ? I guess Maxwell saw them kissing and went after Ryan …'

A frown appeared on Jason's face .' How do you mean he went after Ryan ? '

' Tried to hit him ,' continued Martha as she unbuckled her seat belt so she could be more comfortable talking to her boyfriend ,' Kelsi decided then it was time to come clean about why she chose to stay with Maxwell for so long rather than be with Ryan . ' She swallowed the giant nerve that was lodged in her throat ,' That asshole threatened her , tossed her around like she was nothing , an d threatened to hurt Ryan and her friends if she didn't do as he said . '

She ground her teeth , together .' Kelsi felt like since she'd dated him for all of the wrong reasons that it was her fault and that she was responsible for the consequences . That bastard put his hands on her , my God , He could have attacked her and Kelsi didn't let on a word to me or Ryan or any of else ! I'm her best friend and I never suspected a thing !'

She hung her head , guilt creeping inside of her .' I should have figured …she'd regressed a little back in to her shell when she was with that jerk hole even when I could tell she wanted to be with Ryan . I should have known and done something, Jason ! '

' I am an awful friend ! '

' No , you are not '

Jason considered everything carefully , his mind taking him back to the moment months and months ago when he had wandered into the theatre where he had witnessed Maxwell knocking Kelsi against the floor or the end of it because it was dark and he couldn't really see them clearly .Later at the bowling alley when he had mentioned it to Kelsi ,she had insisted it had been a misunderstanding . She was a klutz and he had believed her .

' Maxwell was physically abusing Kelsi ..as in ..you know , did he rape her ? '

Martha shook her head, angrily .' Kelsi swore he never touched her that way , that he mainly liked throwing her around and verbally abusing her though that isn't any better . I hope to God that Ryan convinces her to turn that asshole into the police '

Jason laid his hand over Martha's to comfort her .' I 'm sorry ….I ..I should have done something …'

Martha jerked her hand away as she stared at him .' What do you mean, Jason ? What are you sorry about ? '

Jason's face contorted as he tried to explain what he meant and hoped it went better .He wasn't good at handling situations usually muddling through them and roping Zeke or the guys into helping him in the end . He couldn't do this now and Martha looked to be waiting .

' Uh, a couple months or so ago I went to the theatre looking for you but you weren't there ,' stumbled Jason , reaching for the bottle of water to take a drink ,' I came in just as Kelsi and Maxwell were fighting . Only it was kind of dark in there and Kelsi , well, it looked like she was on the floor …..later when I asked her about it , she blamed it on her being clumsy , which she can be sometimes so I never did anything '

He felt the shame and the regret hit him in the gut now .' Kelsi is an honest girl so I guess I just wanted to believe her when I should have gotten Ms. Darbus '

' Jason Cross you saw that son of a bitch hurt her and did nothing ? Didn't even try to help our friend or bother telling me , your girlfriend ? ' Martha was working up a good mad beneath her hurt and disappointment ,' I know your not exactly the poster boy for violence but how could you not tell me about this until now ? '

' Kelsi was with that son of a bitch for over a month ! We could have talked to her , maybe even gotten her away from him , and gotten Maxwell thrown into jail '

' I didn't know what was going on and I didn't want you worked up since Kelsi swore to me she was fine ,' Jason scrubbed at his face with both hands ,' I guess I didn't think ! I'm sorry about that …I should have listened to my gut in the first place '

' Yes, you should have ,' Martha could only gape at him , her anger simmering ,' normally I love that you don't just jump in to get all macho beating people up but this time you should have tried , Jason . We're supposed to be together and Kelsi is my best friend but you didn't bother to share this with me ? '

God, her heart hurt with it all .

' I know , I'm an idiot . I am sorry, Martha , I just didn't think it through but know that its out maybe there is something we can do together to help …'

Martha reached in the backseat gathering her books and her bag placing them on her lap .

' It stings that my best friend didn't confide in me in the first place but I can try to understand her because Kelsi was hurting herself . I just don't know why you didn't confide in me , Jason ? I thought we were close to being perfect but I guess our relationship isn't what I thought it was either ….I'm going to walk home '

Panic crossed a freaked out Jason's face as her words tumbled out and he tried to catch up with her . He got that he screwed this up badly but what was Martha saying to him ?

' I told you I didn't want to make you worry if I misunderstood it . You know I have a bad habit of that and you'd already been into it with Gabriella , Martha , and okay, I am a big jerk for not taking what I saw like I saw it . We can fix this …..please tell me your not breaking up with me over this ? '

Martha gave him an even look though her legs were shaky .' I don't think I can handle anymore break ups right now . I just need time to think …'

' But what does that mean ….how much time ? I love you , Martha '

Martha bit her bottom lip as her eyes swelled with unshed tears .' I don't know ….a few days maybe to think it all through . ' She climbed out of the car knowing his eyes were on hers ,' I love you too, Jason '

Clutching her books to her chest , Martha began the three block walk home, leaving a torn Jason alone in the crowd .

*************************************HSM***********************************

Ryan had driven Kelsi home after reassuring her that their relationship was good as he continued trying to process the fact that the woman he was madly in love was had been abused for months . He wanted to use his fists , he wanted to beat the crap out of that bastard that had humiliated and hurt Kelsi , but he was not a fighter .

He really needed to take up boxing or learn to fight .

Maybe Chad or Zeke could help him there - he would feel like a wuss if he went to Troy for help on that plus he wouldn't want it getting back to Kelsi . She and Troy talked like sister /brother so it would just be too weird .

How could I have been so blind ?

Ryan hit his hand against the steering wheel wincing when it hurt .' I knew ..I knew something wasn't right , I should have fought harder '

She had been with Donovan for almost two months , two fucking months , and dammit, imagining him putting his hands on her , demeaning his sweet Kelsi made him physically ill . God , Kelsi had been incredibly brave !

How it must have cost her when she had finally broken away from Max to be with him - had he even questioned the little tremor in her arms back then ? Ryan had just been so overwhelmed with happiness just to be with her , it hadn't occurred to him .

Then Josie had been making waves and he'd ignored everyone's warnings on top of Kelsi's own insecurities , God , what kind of man am I ?

Ryan pulled into the parking lot of the gas station cutting the engine and heaved a heavy hearted sigh as he called himself out for being too self absorbed , too weak , and wanted to kick himself that he didn't notice the old clunker parked on the other side of him .

' Evans why are you talking to yourself ? '

Ryan blinked gazing up at a grinning Zeke with a barely there smile .' Hey '

Zeke took a swig of his Gatorade . ' You look like hell, man . You just got back with Kelsi and you should be like on cloud 9, Ryan , so what happened ? '

' A lot but you have to swear on your chef hat that you wont breathe a word of this to anyone , Zeke ,' swore a desperate Ryan , needing to talk to another guy ,' I mean it , not Troy or Chad or Jason or anyone . Not even my sister .'

' Uh Ryan, you know Shar and I are working on the honesty thing ,' said Zeke , uneasily ,' we're making strides so how's it got to be if I keep a secret from her that came from her own brother ? It's risky for our relationship ….'

Ryan considered as he yanked off his hat, playing with the cap .' If I thought Sharpay would understand and if I didn't promise Kelsi then I might consider telling her because Lord knows I need to vent this anger out . I shouldn't be talking to you about it since I promised Kelsi but I figure if it helps me handle it then it's a harmless white lie '

Zeke recognized that anger vibrating from the tone in Ryan's voice and figured it might be worse if he didn't do anything . Ryan and Sharpay didn't handle things in the better way if left too long to their own devices though he felt both were improving so he opted to be the sounding board here .

' Lock up the car , get in my truck ' ordered Zeke ,' I'll drive , you spill it '

Ryan hopped out of the car, locked it then pocketed the keys then climbed into the passenger seat of Zeke's old piece of junk that he called a vehicle . It wasn't as hideous as Troy's old heap but it might be a close second in the running .

Zeke handed him the bottle of Gatorade and a bag of beef jerky before he started the vehicle up before turning out onto the highway . They passed a residential section of town with rows of houses in the traditional Aztec architecture then they were out towards the desert . He didn't have any destination in mind but thought the stillness would help his friend whose mouth was set in a grim line and looked sort of broody .

' Okay, Evans, you going to spill your guts now or what ? '

Slowly Ryan explained the gravity of the situation that had been Kelsi and Maxwell , the abuse, the threats, Kelsi's beliefs in her part of it, stopping between the story to curse himself , Max, and his own frustration in general . He wasn't much of a drinker but a shot of his fathers whiskey sure would help about now .

' Fuck '

Yeah '

' I never would have known , man . I mean, we all knew Donovan was a first class asshole but I wouldn't have pegged him for putting his hands on Kelsi …..you pissed that she never told you until now ? '

' Oh yeah but I'm more pissed at myself for not noticing ,' growled an angry Ryan , yanking open the bag of jerky violently ,' Even when we kissed for the first time and I asked her to end it with him so we could be together , Kelsi said she couldn't . It was complicated …I just figured she didn't want to be with me as much as I wanted us …'

He gnawed a bite of the jerk , making a face despite Zeke's attempt to not laugh at him .

' There were other signs with Kelsi but I was hurt , pissed , and probably pouting because she didn't dump him right off to be with me . I should have seen that that bastard was threatening her ,' went on Ryan on a roll now ,' How could I not see it ? "

' Not your fault , Ryan , ' replied Zeke , growing quiet as he thought , considered ,' Kelsi didn't want us to know . We didn't , none of us, and since about half of our little group made it a point to meddle in the relationship you two weren't having back then , one of us should have gotten a clue about her skittish behavior with Maxwell .'

It didn't make him feel better either - friends were suppose to stick together , help one another out , and they had all dropped the ball here . It didn't sit well either .

Ryan kicked at the floorboards of the truck then stopped himself .' Kelsi believed that she was protecting me ….I should have fucking - God, I hate that vile word , but it works . I mean , I should have been protecting her ! '

Zeke broke out a laugh to break to thickness in the air .' The words justified , Evans '

' You and Kelsi get into a fight over this ? '

Ryan yanked off his hat again .' I don't know , sort of ,but not really because she was begging me not to hate her ? God, Zeke , we've been fighting over misunderstandings and stupid things for weeks , I just wanted to fight with her because she didn't feel like she could tell me …I couldn't do it . I didn't want to risk another break up when Kelsi just needed me to understand the whole thing …'

' So listening to her , being the understanding boyfriend was probably for the best ' deduced Zeke, carefully ,' Maxwell finally lost his cool watching you and Kelsi together , eh ? '

' Oh yeah ,' said Ryan , bitterly ,' I will say one thing , Maxwell is a hell of an actor . I knew we had a mutual dislike of one another but I admit , I kind of bought into his whole change from arrogant musician to a laid back guy '

' Slick SOB ' agreed Zeke, gripping the steering wheel tighter ,' how do you want to handle this , Ryan ? You want me to turn back around and take you to the police station to give a statement or something ? '

Ryan wanted Maxwell Donovan to rot in prison or be shot by a firing squad but that was his feelings talking more than anything . Kelsi hadn't wanted to take that step and he hadn't wanted to push her when she seemed so fragile .

' Not without Kelsi and she isn't ready yet …..' admitted Ryan , tossing the bag of jerky at his friend ,' I considered asking my father to look into the situation maybe take care of it himself . He could probably make the Donovan's go away or back to New York .'

Zeke lifted a brow .' How could your Dad do that ? I mean, he's a businessman , not FBI or anything , Ryan ….does he have that kind of power ? '

Ryan gave him an annoyed look .' My father has contacts , Zeke , and I am not implying anything illegal here , I just meant maybe he could persuade Donovan's parents that leaving New Mexico would be better for them '

He gave a careless shrug of his shoulders .' I happen to know that his mother has been trying to get into some of Mom's clubs and her whole scene with the ladies not to mention his father has been trying to get a meeting with Dad since they moved here . '

It had been a topic around the dinner table sometime ago because Vance and Derby had been hoping that he and Sharpay could shed some light on their background since they went to school with Maxwell. Neither had been impressed with the Donovan's upon their initial meeting and were leery about doing business with them .

' Dad's been blowing off Mr. Donovan 's golf invitation for two weeks '

' Hmm so maybe going the route of the folks isn't the wisest idea , dude ' suggested Zeke , swinging into a mini mart on the side of the road ,' what do you want to do ? '

Ryan tucked his tongue inside his cheek .' Wasn't Max supposed to be like some big star to watch at his old high school in New York ? '

' That's what he bragged about to the girls the first week he was here ,' recalled Zeke thinking how arrogant the musician had came across on that first impression ,' you thinking we ought to see if we can find anything on him ? '

' Well I'm no private eye but yea, I want to see if there is anything to find about Max ' decided Ryan , the tightness lessening slightly ,' maybe I should have done it when he first started coming onto Kelsi but I cant go back .'

' Then what ? '

' Then I'll see if I find anything at all and talk it out with Kelsi ,' stated Ryan , his voice firm ,' I think this is really the only thing that I can do right now , Zeke '

******************************HSM*************************************

Meanwhile at the Donovan home , Maxwell paced restlessly in his bedroom, sleeves rolled up on his crisp button down Ralph Lauren shirt , his khakis wrinkled from where he had rubbed his palms down the front of them , as the Mozart he'd put on earlier to soothe the beast within him played on , a bead of nervous sweat dotted his forehead as he tried to get his control and focus back. Seeing Kelsi kissing Evans again had enraged him as never before and he'd reacted without considering the consequences .

He'd lost his cool, he'd forgotten his plan, he'd went after Ryan Evans wanting to wipe that smugness off of his handsome face . Kelsi was just a whore , a slut as all the women were and she would pay for betraying him .

He pushed his dark hair off his forehead , let his hands fall to the sides , fists clenched tight , his nails biting into the skin of his palms to draw blood but he didn't feel a thing .

This was just a challenge for him as undoubtedly Kelsi would have spoken of their relationship with Ryan Evans by now . She'd gotten her backbone up now it seemed .

It didn't mean that all was lost now , it just meant that he needed to keep calm , lay low for awhile until he came up with a better plan . Maxwell picked up the framed snapshot of Kelsi at the piano , her smile beguiling , and touched a finger tracing her face , lightly .

He would send her apology flowers and perhaps let his mother help him out here seeing as how she had been nagging him about letting her be involved in his life . He could use her to help him keep Evans and his jock friends occupied - perhaps this had caused him to regress into his heartbroken depression again . His mother could sell that .

Max felt better now as he poured himself a drink , swallowed the brandy , and reformulated his plan . He would have to watch, wait , and listen .

This wouldn't be like before , no, he understood that Kelsi was meant for him .

This was a test of his fortitude , he had to be much smarter than before , and here he had the wide expanse of the desert as his very own haven . He moved to a dresser pulling out a small box , lifting the lid to stare at the stunning two carat diamond ring that glittered like stars in his hand . He had given it to the wrong girl before but Max knew deep down in the soul , that Kelsi belonged to him .

She would be his Desdemona , his muse , his bride , and she would learn to obey him .

Calmer now as he focused on the new plan shaping up in his mind , Maxwell contemplated the most convenient way to get rid of those in the way of his taking dear Kelsi , a darkness floating over his figures as he hummed the symphony , content .