Disclaimer: I don't own any of the original Lizzie McGuire characters in this story. Hey, wouldn't you know it! I own something. I own Tara, Jack, and Ben.

A/N: This Lizzie fanfic is a sequel to my story "Everything at Once."

Chapter 16

LIZZIE'S POV:

Tara seemed like a friend that I had known a long time. She was friendly, cheerful, and understanding. Although, I knew she couldn't quite understand what it was like to be kidnapped.

"So that's what happened?" asked Tara after taking a sip of hot chocolate.

"Yep, that's the story," I said glumly.

"We've gotta think of some way to get you away from him!" exclaimed Tara. "I didn't know that Jack was so abusive. Ben always talked about him as not being the friendliest person, but I never thought that he'd kidnap someone or be so abusive. I don't think Ben expected that from him either."

"We can trust Ben to keep Jack out for a long time?" I asked. I was very concerned that we would plan something just as Jack came in. Then he would probably kill us all.

"Well, I hate to say it," said Tara rolling her eyes, "but it will have to be done. Once Jack gets a beer or two, he isn't going anywhere for a while. And, my Ben will have to drink a couple with him. But he's somewhat more tolerant I think from what he told me. I would just hate to have Jack come back real soon though." She walked over to the stove and picked up the hot chocolate, pouring some for herself. "Would you like some more?" she asked.

"Why not?" I asked. She filled it up. "Thanks."

"Oh, it's my pleasure," said Tara.

"So, are you and Ben...engaged?" I asked.

Tara's face lit up. "Oh yes!" She showed up her ring. It wasn't the best in the world, but I was sure that that didn't matter to Tara.

"That's pretty," I said.

"Eh, he couldn't get much because of his lack of money, but to me it is the most beautiful ring in the world. I still can't help to think that it cost him a good deal though even for this small diamond. But, he knows that I love diamonds. Isn't that so nice? I just love him so much. He is the sweetest guy this world has to offer. He never does anything without my best interest in mind," said Tara.

"How old are you?" I asked.

"I'm seventeen, Ben's in his early twenties," said Tara.

Wow. That was pretty young to be engaged. "When are you planning on getting married?" I asked.

"Well, it's been six months now since we've been engaged. We're planning on getting married after I graduate from college," she said.

"Wow. That's a long time!" I exclaimed.

"It seems like forever. Probably about five, six more years. But I know that we will wait for each other. He loves me, so I can trust that he will be there for me when I'm ready. We thought about getting married after I graduated from high school, but then I thought that I wanted to continue on with my college education. That is, if we have enough money," said Tara. She looked down towards the ground with a look of sadness on her face. "It's just been really hard to continue when we're so hard pressed for money. When I first met Ben was when he was going to high school. He'll be graduating next fall. Then, it's several more years for me. But, when we first met, he was just a freshman, and I was way back in fifth grade, I think. I know it sounds weird and all, but we didn't start dating till his second year. Then, my parents didn't like the idea, and sort of disowned me...to put it lightly. He helped me through my problems, and had me stay with him in this run down place of his." She paused to laugh. "I didn't know what I was getting myself into at the time, but I'm really glad that I wasn't scared away. So now, we're suffering financially, and this is barely what we can afford. I can't get a very good job and neither can he...seeing that I'm a high schooler and he's not out of college yet. It makes it very hard to juggle things around."

"That sounds hard," I said sympathetically.

"Yeah. It is. But to tell you the truth, I wouldn't really trade the time I spend with him for the world. We may be just scraping by, and we may have it worse in future years, but the thing that matters most to us is each other. But, my advice to others is not to do the same thing we did so young...it's too hard," said Tara.

"You're lucky, Tara. I'm forced into something I don't want. He says he loves me, but he abuses me. Then, he kisses me all of the time against my will," I said.

Tara shook her head. "You seem too nice to have to go through things like this. No one should ever have to suffer a kidnapping."

"I just hope he doesn't do worse things to me," I said.

"Girl, you need to protect yourself from losing all that you have. I want to help you, but we have to think quickly. This is a small little town, and there's not much activity here. I could drive you to the nearest town with more services in it. You could find shelter, rescue, or a policeman there hopefully. What I'll do, is tell the policemen what his license plate number is and where he is located so they can arrest him before he does anymore harm. I think the nearest town is about forty minutes away from here, so we'd better get a move on," said Tara.

She ran to the cabinets and stuffed some items into a little pack: granola bars, cookies, and fruit in case I'd get hungry. Then we were on our way out the door and into Tara's run down little car.

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"Sorry we live so far away from everything," said Tara. "It becomes a hassle sometimes."

"That's fine," I said.

"It should be another twenty minutes or so. I'll try to hurry as best as I can. This road is very abandoned at night. It gets creepy," she said.

I looked out of the window, and saw mountainous terrain around. If I were Tara, I would've had a hard time keeping my wits about me driving at night around a place so high up. I all of a sudden heard a sound, and saw someone catching up slowly to us. The lights were off, but I swore that a car was coming. As the object came closer, it became more apparent that I was correct. The car weaved back and forth on the narrow lane, as if the driver was drunk.

"Tara? Someone's behind us," I said nervously.

"At this time of night? I can't see them," she said.

"They don't have their lights on. But they're weaving back and forth," I said.

-Ping-

All of a sudden a heard a gun blast off. "What was that, Tara?"

"I don't know," said Tara trying to look in her rear view mirror while staying on the road.

-Ping-

Just then another shot rang out, and a bullet hit the window in back. "What's going on?" I asked. My heart was pounding. The car kept getting closer by the second. Tara started mumbling cuss words as the car almost hit us. It came right up next to our car, and then we saw who was in the car. I started feeling dizzy and wanted to faint. I let out a yelp.

"It's Jack!" I yelled. "He's in the car with a pistol." Then I saw someone in the passenger's seat slumped over. My heart sunk: It was Ben. Right then, I saw Tara look over.

"Oh no, it's Ben!" she cried. She looked very confused as to what to do. She began to speed up. The road starting winding back and forth and it felt as if we were going to fly off the edge. Every time we picked up our speed, so did Jack. Tara seemed deep in thought. She looked at me and then looked at the road. "I don't know what I can do for him," she cried. I wasn't sure what to say to try to comfort her. "I have to get you to a safe place." She pushed up the speed once more, and we went winding down the road. "It should be somewhere close by," she said, "I think this is it right up here."

Several more gunshots were heard, and we got a few shot through the glass. Luckily, nothing hit us. We approached a little town, and immediately saw the police officer's station. Tara looked back nervously into the rear view mirror. Jack was still weaving back and forth. What Tara was worried about though, was a sudden tight turn. I turned back my head slowly, scared to look. When I did, I felt like crying.

Down the hill, tumbled a car that was unable to make the turn. My heart sunk because, not only was Jack in that car, but Tara's fiancé, Ben.

Tara immediately slammed on the brakes as if she sensed something. She jumped out of the car quickly, and saw the dust from where the car tumbled down. She covered her hands over her mouth, and tears flooded her eyes as she fell to her knees in shock.

A/N: cries This is the saddest chapter I have written yet! This is so sad! Poor Tara. Please, what should I do next? This has to get lighter at some point. Please, please remember that I don't keep anything sad forever! Please remember that! Review and tell me: should Ben live? I really like Ben, despite what my writing may appear to tell you.

Thanks goes to: winter blaze, Jersey Princess, crazyhanyoued, I-luv- roswell, Marie Dandy, essychi, Ambiecat88, nemo456, and artsigirl16. Thank you all for your awesome reviews!