Disclaimer: Not mine, I know, but story idea is mine... well sort of, I realize that a lot of people have done this type of story before, so a big shout out to them!

Author's Note: I just want to let Emma know I'm waiting for more THWLI! Oh, and it's taking me a while to update because I've never done a story like this, and I had to figure out their relationships. You'll see, it'll come faster soon.

"Hey Dais," Shelby said, as her friend turned the corner and joined her.

"Didn't go well, did it?" she asked, knowing that the only times Shelby waited for her on the curb was when she couldn't stand the inside of her house because Walt had visited her that night. Daisy was the only one who knew her secret.

"Yeah, that bastard makes me sick!" she said, spitting on the lawn of her run down house. "How about you? Did they sober up yet?" she asked sarcastically. Daisy shook her head sadly. "They never do."

"We waiting for Jess?" Daisy asked.

"Nope, mother's giving her a ride to her school. I don't remember ever getting a ride..." she trailed off. They both laughed and left in slightly better moods. "Ah, Jess is so lucky! I'm so happy she doesn't have to deal with this shit. If she had to go through this hell, I'd never forgive myself." She paused a minute. "While he was fucking me, I was thinking about running again." Shelby only spoke about it so crudely because it allowed her to cover her hurt with anger.

"How long this time?" Daisy asked, concerned. Shelby shrugged.

"I doubt I will, but the thought actually seemed appealing. Hey! I tried this time! I tried to push him away," she said, proud of finally trying to stand up to that moron.

"And? Did it work?"

"Nope. He took my hands and pinned them up," she said, getting emotional. Daisy was the only person in the world who saw her for who she was and accepted her. Shelby was only ever herself around Daisy. If she told anyone else, they'd reject her, tell someone else, betray her... they always did. Trying to switch the subject so that it no longer focussed on her, she said, "So? What happened with you?"

"What do you mean?" Daisy asked, trying to hide. She knew she couldn't, not from her best friend.

"Dais, I can tell. You know that! I've known you for three years now, and I know when you're hiding something. Come on, tell me," she said.

"He... he said it," Daisy spat out. It was obviously very hard for her, so Shelby just walked quietly. "He said that he hates me. I'm surprised it took so long," she said disgustedly. Shelby looked horrified.

"Dais, he was drunk! He didn't know what he was saying," she said comfortingly.

"No! I saw it in his eyes! He knew what he was saying. He may have been drunk, but I could see it. He was conscious of that," she said. Her voice was starting to crack from the emotion that those three words evoked. Shelby knew how hard it was to talk about these things. She just wrapped her arm around Daisy's shoulders and squeezed her reassurance. It was all the comfort Shelby could lend, but it was perfect, as Daisy couldn't handle much more.

"So, what about David?" Shelby asked, trying to lighten the mood. It worked.

"What about him?" Daisy asked. She was smiling though. The thought of David got that sort of reaction out of her.

"Well? What's happening?" Shelby asked in a coaxing tone.

"Oh, he still likes me. It's obvious. I like him a lot too, but I just don't think I can handle it. I wouldn't be able to be a good girlfriend for him. I mean, first of all, with all my problems, he'd get so scared of me. Second... well, Shel, it's me!" she said, laughing. Shelby laughed too. "What about you? Is," Daisy now put on a dreamy tone, "Scott Barringer, football captain, jock of the year..." and she switched back to sarcastic, "not to mention jerk of the year still trying to get you in bed?"

"Yep," she replied, laughing. "It's kind of pathetic actually. I mean, he's been with every girl in school," Daisy punched her, "except for you, and me of course. I mean, I'm just next on his list," she said with a shrug. "I'm not gonna give in!"

"Yeah, you're one to talk!"

"What? Ah, just cause I've... satisfied some guys?" Shelby asked, eyebrows raised in a skeptical manner. "Hey! I needed the money. I'm not proud of it, but screw it."

"That's not the right attitude, Shelby. You could've slept over with me!" Daisy suggested.

"With your parents there? No offense, Dais, but your dad scares the living shit out of me!"

"Me too, Shel. Me too."

"It's all a defense mechanism, you know," Shelby said thoughtfully, switching the subject again.

"What is?"

"The way he plays the girls. It's all to avert attention from something. And the way he gets high all the time. You don't get high like that just because you like it. It's taking the pain away from something."

"Oh look who's becoming the shrink around here. So, you think... what?" Daisy asked, trying not to jump to any conclusions, as these were very dark conclusions she was getting to.

"He does have a stepmother..." Shelby shrugged.

"You're such a stalker!" Daisy laughed.

"Hey, his friends told me this at some parties."

"Right, right," Daisy said disbelievingly, eyebrows raised with a lopsided smile on her face. "Don't look now, but we've got company."

"Who?" Shelby asked, and then, as a hand passed around her waist, she smiled as if she had a plan. "Oh, it's you," she said, sounding put out and emphasizing the last word. Scott turned around with a gleam in his eyes. Shelby could see why he'd succeeded so well with all the other girls around the school: he was gorgeous. But for some reason, she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of getting into her pants. Hey, if she was running, she would play the field, but she'd stopped that a while ago... running, that is.

"It's me," he said, smiling seductively. "And why is it you sound so disgruntled?" Shelby rolled her eyes. "Daisy," he acknowledged her friend with a nod.

"Scott," she nodded back, shaking her head disapprovingly. "Shel, come on, we have English next." Shelby extricated herself from Scott's grasp and started leaving.

"We still have fifteen minutes," he said.

"Nope, gotta get my stuff," she replied quickly. She yelled over her shoulder: "You're not winning that easy!" Damn, new plan, he thought. But she is incredibly sexy. Okay! Wait a minute! This is totally physical, right? Just another conquest... Do I actually like her? No way! Can't be.

He made his way to English, slightly late, but then again, Scott was always fashionably late. Shelby rolled her eyes at his cockiness. She ignored his stares the rest of the period, not to mention the dirty looks she was getting from loads of girls for having Scott Barringer want her.

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"Hey, Daisy," David said approaching her in the hall right after math.

"Hey," she said, looking around worriedly.

"Whatcha looking for?"

"Shelby," she said smiling when she finally gave up and looked at him. "So, how are you?"

"Yeah, I... uh, I saw what happened this morning," he said, a little unsure if he should be telling Daisy this.

"How much did you see?" she asked, afraid he'd overheard that she liked him... a lot.

"Enough. Daisy, I..." he trailed off, wondering how he was going to do this. "Will you go out with me?" he asked, finally just saying it.

"David, I really do like you, it's just... I can't," she said, upset that she had to do this. As it was lunch they were now walking around outside. Daisy finally sat under a tree. "Look, it's not you, it's just... oh, I can't!"

"Help me understand!" he said. He didn't want to lose her, not like this.

"Look, they're called emotional problems, I've got to many of 'em," she explained, rolling her eyes at how stupid that sounded.

"Ah, that's no problem with me! I've got more than I can shake a fist at," he said, surprised at how easily it was for him to say that.

"Look, are you sure?" Daisy asked, looking into his eyes. She found it so incredibly hard to say no to this question, but she felt she had to. "Cause I honestly can't deal with more problems."

"That was blunt, but I'm sure. Look, I won't dump you after a few days. I really like you," he said. "Wow, now that was corny."

"Nah, it's okay. Then, it's settled. David, you got yourself a girlfriend." They both laughed. "Okay, enough corniness, starting, now!" she said.

"Aw, but I like the corniness," he said playfully. She just slapped him up top the head playfully.

"I'm sure you do."

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Shelby slipped a note inside Daisy's locker, looked down the hall to make sure no one saw, and left. It was her free period, and Daisy's last. She often hung around to wait for Daisy, but today, she wanted to do some shopping. She'd had a horrible day. Scott was focussing all his charm and attention on her. She hated his attention. No one at the school knew what she had been, or what happened at home, except for Daisy. She wanted to remain innocent in their eyes; it was easier to deal with that than with the prejudice that would arise from their knowledge of her situation.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be in class?" Scott asked as he literally bumped into her in the stairway on her way out.

"Spare," she said simply. "Don't you have class?" When he didn't answer she just shrugged. "Whatever, I've gotta go." And with that she left, before he could reply. Okay, so maybe that joint at lunch wasn't such a good idea, he thought. Clouding the old charm up.

He strolled into the mall, a little later that day, planning to skip math. It just wasn't his subject... nothing was ever his subject since Elaine moved in. He was aimlessly walking around when he saw his target.

"What do you want?"

"I think you know what I want, baby," he said with a wink.

"Scott, that's filthy," Shelby said.

"Why, sorry, Miss Merrick," he replied mockingly. "I meant no harm." Shelby just rolled her eyes.

"Of course." Shelby asked, picking up a shirt she liked and going to the change rooms. She got herself a change room.

"Hey, you want any help with that?" he asked, grinning.

"Nope, I have mastered the whole 'dress yourself' thing, if you haven't noticed," she said, getting in and pulling off her top after having carefully locked the door. "So, what-may I ask-gives me the honour of being Scott Barringer's flavour of the week?" she asked sarcastically.

"Shelby! I'm insulted," he said, putting on a great act of mock indignancy. She came out of the change room to check the top she'd picked out in the mirror on the other side of the door. "By the way, I like that top on you!" he said, checking her out.

"Thanks, but I don't," Shelby had always been rather insecure about her body.

"Why not? It really brings out your..." he ripped his eyes off her chest, "eyes." Then he noticed something else. "Hunny, where did you get this?" He pointed to a bruise she had on her upper arm. Walt had punched her in the arm when she had tried to protest the inevitable. She shrunk back into the change room and closed the door.

"Uh, bumped into a wall." Nice save, Merrick, she thought cynically. "So, why did your attentions turn to me, all of a sudden?"

"Oh, uh, cause I just noticed how beautiful you are," he flirted.

"Thanks, but that garbage doesn't work on me," she replied flatly as she exited the change room. They left the store moments later. "Ah! Daisy! You made it!" she said, joining up with her best friend.

"Thanks to the note," Daisy replied, hugging her.

"Hey, David," Shelby greeted. She then looked at her friend questioningly.

"Yes, if you must know," Daisy said rolling her eyes, and immediately, Shelby grinned.

"I'm so happy for you!" she said.

"Did I miss something?" Scott asked, slipping his arm around Shelby's shoulder. She looked displeasingly at it, and took his hand in hers, lifted it up over her shoulder and dropped it. She was now free from his grasp.

"We hooked up," David cleared up. Daisy smiled.

"Well, that's certainly one way of putting it."

"Did you two, uh...?" David asked uncomfortably. He knew what Scott was like, but he wasn't sure Shelby knew.

"No," Shelby replied, almost immediately. Scott looked at her with puppy dog eyes. She turned to him, "no!" she told him.

"Well, you seem awful quick to refuse that," Scott pointed out.

"Yeah, take the hint. Anyway, come on, Daisy, we have a load of English homework from Miss Becker. Wow, that's gonna take a while," she said, heaving a heavy sigh. Daisy laughed, said goodbye to David and followed her out. Scott and David soon left and went their separate ways, back to the horrors waiting for them at home.