A/N: Okay- seriously people I need some sort of encouragement for this story- please review! I know you want to!

I was inspired by this song and decided the lyrics might just help aid this dying fic!

Title and Lyrics taken from the My Chemical Romance song "I'm not Okay (I Promise)".

I'm Not Okay (I Promise)

Well if you wanted honesty that's all you had to say.
I never want to let you down or have you go- it's better off this way.

Scott awoke with a shiver- something was wrong, something was missing. He surveyed the room in an attempt to figure it out, but was met with nothing. That's when it hit him- Rory was gone, she wasn't sleeping beside him, she hadn't even left a note. It wasn't the first time she'd just taken off and he was almost sure it wouldn't be the last.

He sighed deeply as he shed the covers from his body and wandered into his bathroom. He took a look in the mirror and was ashamed of what he saw- a guy hooked on a girl who didn't love him back. How could she love him back after the way he treated her? He'd sparred with her for no reason other than to make up with her later. He loved the passion she exhumed when she was angry- it was like the only time she cared enough to be with him- when she was upset and hurt. He couldn't keep doing this to her- it hurt him as much as it was hurting her.

She was in obvious pain- near to tears from a slight hello. It was like everyday they tried to get along, something small would set them off and they'd be mad for the rest of the day. He couldn't even remember what they had fought about last night; it was like an ugly reproduction of everything else they fought about. This game was getting old and he needed to do something about it not only for himself but for her.

I'm not okay.
I'm not, okay.
I'm not okay, you wear me out.

Her cell phone rang wildly in her ear as she tried desperately to pick it up. She'd fallen asleep in an awkward position on her couch and now found her cell phone dangerously close to her ear. She grabbed at it quickly and answered it squinting in the darkness of her room. "'ello,"

"Why'd you leave," a deep voice asked from the other end and Rory instantly froze.

"I…uhh…," she tried but she couldn't seem to formulate a single word.

"Rory, talk to me here…why do you keep leaving like this?" he asked desperate to hear the soothing lullaby of her voice.

"I can't talk to you Scott. I can't keep hurting this way- you just … you… gah!" she screamed as she fell off her couch and onto the hard floor.

"Are you alright? What happened?" he asked with complete concern for her well being.

"No I'm not Scott. I'm not alright anymore. I thought that when I met you, you were different- that you wouldn't hurt me. And at first you didn't. You made me feel special and I liked that- but then it turned ugly and we started fighting. You know I should have seen this coming- we use to get angry over the tiniest things…" her voice trailed off and he could hear her sobbing and the echo of her cries reverberate into his ear.

"Baby, please don't cry. I love you and I never wanted to hurt you… I didn't mean to let you down, I tried so hard. You're the only girl I've ever really cared about this way…" he paused as he waited for a response. Her crying subsided and he heard her sigh deeply into the receiver.

"Please don't Scott. I let myself down- I shouldn't have ever got involved with you. It's better off this way, us being apart. I can't deal with you right now, I just can't do this again and again. How many times are you going to break my heart?" she screamed into the phone and stared at it incredulously. How could he make her so angry without even being near her?

"I'm sorry…I know that it doesn't help, but I am. I want you Rory and I don't regret a single moment of us together- how can you regret some of the best days of our lives together?" he asked with disbelief at her faltering tone.

"You have to understand that I've been through this before and it hurt. And now it hurts a lot more with you! How can you expect me to live like this? Do you like seeing me in pain?" she began to sob again, the tears staining her cheeks of the inner sorrow she felt. Not only was she sorry to have to have been hurt like this, but of ending one of the better relationships in her life.

"Stop it Rory! You've just got to forgive me- I can't live without you!" he was almost in tears now- his heart broken in two.

"And I can't live with you!" she stared straight ahead as she heard his breathing slow down until he was barely breathing at all.

"So that's it then," he said after a long pause of waiting. Waiting for what exactly? Who knows- maybe a glimmer of hope to their relationship, some sort of sign to make it better?

"It's been over since day one," she replied after a sniffle.

"Way to make the pain stop," he said sarcastically as he clutched onto the phone desperate for some sort of contact with her, even if it was just her voice.

"Goodbye Scott," she clicked off the phone and fell back onto her couch in a heap of tears and need for comfort.

For all the dirty looks, for photographs your boyfriend took.
Remember when you broke your foot from jumping out the second floor?

They made it through a month without seeing each other. Scott focused mainly on his music while Rory drove herself into her studies. Both were miserable, but they knew it was for the best.

As Rory studied her little heart out, Kimiko approached her with a box in tow and a small smile on her face.

"I brought something for you, to ease the pain," Rory looked up as her friend spoke and a tear graced her cheek.

"Is it liquid courage?" Rory asked with a laugh smiling as she looked down into her tear stained text book.

"No, it's a box of photographs from when you and Scott were dating. You know the ones he took of you together?" she asked.

"How the hell are those going to help me?" she screamed at her friend.

"Trust me, just open the box, look at each one and then we'll burn 'em!" Kimiko said with an evil glint in her eye.

"My little pyro, how sweet of you," Rory deadpanned but opened the box anyway. The first picture was of the two of them on a dirt mound- it was actually a hill that never seemed to have any grass. Scott had fallen asleep on Rory and was pinning her to the ground. Brian had taken it after seeing Rory struggle under the weight of her boyfriend. She smiled weakly at the memory and continued through the box. There must have been about two hundred pictures of the two of them, all with some great memory attached.

There was even a picture of when he jumped of Brian's house! She laughed as she saw the picture of Scott running around in his boxers in the snow- she had taken that one and threatened to send it to his mother. He tried to break the camera- thus beginning a fight between the two of them over it. Needless to say, that ended happily.

Just then, Rory spotted one picture that really hurt- her and Scott kissing at one of his concerts. She missed that so much- the taste of his lips on her own, his hot breath whispering in her ear. This wasn't going to help- this was just making her feel worse! Tears welled up in her eyes and came pouring down her cheeks and into the pile of pictures. They wouldn't stop now matter how much she willed them too.

Kimiko noticed this too, "Hey stop crying- they won't burn if they're all wet!" she screamed making her friend smile weakly. "Look who stopped the tears, come on sweetie, it'll be okay…I promise,"

I'm not okay.
I'm not, okay.
I'm not okay, you wear me out.

Scott was restless- this whole separation thing wasn't working for him. He only wanted one girl and that was Rory. Not having her was simply not an option. Sure he tried dating other girls- blonde bimbos into him just for his music. And yes the old Scott would have loved that- but when he met Rory, he just wasn't interested in the dumb ones anymore. He liked how she challenged him, how she was always ready to fight back for what she believed in.

"Scott, phone," Brian yelled at his friend from down the hall. He hadn't even heard it ring. Reluctantly he picked it up, "Yeah?"

"Is this a bad time?" she asked, her voice sounding weak and hoarse.

"No Rory, not a bad time at all," he replied sitting up suddenly and putting all his attention to the call.

"Good, I was just calling to hear your voice, I miss you," she said smiling even though he couldn't see it.

"I miss you too…how've you been?" a slight glimmer of excitement shot through his body. She missed him!

What will it take to show you that it's not the life it seems? (I'm not okay)

"Tired, you?"

"Busy, lots and lots of gigs," he chuckled to himself- they had never been this polite in all the time they had dated.

"What's funny?" she asked slightly hurt.

"Oh, nothing… so is there something else you need?" he asked hoping she was looking for a reunion.

"Um no," she replied shortly and he could hear her sobs in the background.

"What's wrong, are you okay?"

"No, I'm not okay," she replied wiping her eyes desperate to stop the tears.

"Neither am I," he said knowing what she meant.

"I want you, you know that right?"

"Then why can't we be together?" he began to raise his voice surprising himself at the volume.

"Because,"

"Because why?"

"It's complicated…" she paused sighing deeply.

"What is so complicated? I want you, you want me- so shouldn't that make it easy?"

"You wear me out! I can't deal with you and I thought I could. It just wasn't a good idea to call you I guess…" she paused ready to hang up but held on for a second, to hear his breathing. His breathing had always set her heart beat when they danced; it was comforting to hear him.

"Baby, wait," he called into the phone.

"What is it?"

"I love you,"

I told you time and time again you sing the words (I'm not okay), but don't know what it means to be a joke and look another line without a hook.

"I love you too," she replied. It was hard to say, but she meant it.

"Then why can't we be together?"

"Because it hurts to love you! I can't deal with the pain anymore!" she screamed, instantly wishing she hadn't.

"Then why did you call?" he asked, obviously hurt by her words.

"Because I was wrong…"

"Wrong?"

"When I said I could live without you…I can't…" she paused again, this time it was because she had stopped walking. She had been walking the whole time around in circles but had stopped when she realized where she was. She had walked to Brian's, and was now on the front steps.

"Rory?" he asked hoping she was still on the line.

"Open your door," she commanded softly. Scott followed her instructions and opened the door to reveal Rory tear stained and phone held close to her ear.

They both turned off their phones and stared into each other's eyes desperately.

"Hi Scott," she said weakly. That was all she had to say- that was all she ever had to say.

He took one more look into her cloudy eyes and wrapped his arms around her fragile body. She shook in his arms as they collapsed in the door frame together. They had fought to stay apart, but just couldn't stay away…

And so the lovers have broken up and regrouped- what's to come of all this turmoil and pain? Will they ever be happy together? Find out… but please review!