Author's Note: Glad to see you guys are enjoying this story as much as I am writing it. Thanks (and keep them coming) for the ever amzing reviews from all you awesome readers, especially heartsmash. Your words were touching! Oh...and lesson/smile of the day, if you're sitting at your local Pizza Hut eating lunch and you think you see Gavin DeGraw come in, then "he" sits right beside you, be absolutely SURE it's him before you make an ass of yourself and ask, lol. Right, Beth? (who laughed until she cried) Oh well, happy reading, guys...

Jake felt his heart drop when he heard the desperation in his wife's voice. His imagination ran wild with thoughts of every bad thing that could possibly have happened.

"Peyton! Talk to me, babe. Calm down. What's wrong? Where are you?"

His own voice rose several octaves, attracting the attention of Nathan as well as Jenny who had just woken up.

"I'm okay", Peyton tried to breathe. "Haley's okay, too. We're fine. We've been at the hospital basically all night and right now we're at the County Social Services building."

"Okay…"

"There's a huge problem, Jake…"

"What kind of problem?"

"It's Amanda. Apparently her foster parents got into some huge fight earlier. I guess the dad beat up the mom. Turns out, this so called golden couple who had three kids of their own as well as four foster children, were pretty much neglecting them and just using it all as an excuse to get a paycheck from the state of Florida. It's ridiculous."

"Is Amanda okay? Were the other kids hurt?"

Peyton sighed.

"There are cops everywhere and I don't have the full details but apparently there was a fire…"

"Oh no", Jake mouthed. "A fire? Was it set on purpose?"

"We don't know yet."

"Did everyone make it out alright?"

"There was a little boy, one of the younger kids about five or so who was trapped. The firefighters did get to him in time but he had a few burns and some damage from smoke inhalation."

"Will he…"

"He'll live."

"Thank God", Jake muttered.

"But I do need a favor, Jake."

"Anything."

"This is super important so you have to hear me out, okay? Promise me that you will listen and take everything into consideration before you give me an answer. Please, Jake."

"Okay."

"It's Amanda. I didn't tell you everything about her. She's 14 years old and she's an orphan basically. She has been in foster care practically her whole life. 23 homes in less than ten years. The poor kid has been through hell…she's been neglected, beaten, she was exposed to drugs…Jake, one of her foster brothers raped her at her last home. It happened to her last year over a period of around six months or so."

"What?"

"She ran away from there and who could blame her? It is absolute chaos tonight. You wouldn't believe it. Amanda is freaking out and the social workers are trying to place the other children. Jake, they are going to put her back in the system. They will send her to another group home and then the first available foster family. They'll make her a ward of the court again…"

He could sense what his wife was getting at already.

"Pey…"

"You promised you would hear me out. She is a good kid, Jake. You've met her. You know that. She's bright and funny and talented and beautiful. She could be so much but she's never had a chance. I am so afraid for her. Can she come stay with us?"

"Peyton!"

"Honey, please."

"I know what you're saying and my heart goes out to her but what can we do? Really. How much can we actually help here? What, are you trying to adopt this girl?"

"No. No. It's temporary. I promise. Just for a little while until things settle down and she gets a permanent case worker and they can find her a decent home where she'll be safe."

Jake ran his fingers through his hair. He felt bad but his wife was asking for a whole lot.

"Peyton…okay. Jesus, baby. Do you know what you're saying right now? I know your heart is in the right place and believe me, I want to help out too but this is a whole lot of responsibility. Probably more than we know and more than we're ready for."

"I know that. Jake, I know."

"Babe, just look at everything she has gone through. Amanda needs help, she needs special attention. She needs professionals and probably people who can be around her at all times. We can't do that, Pey. It just isn't possible. You're a full time teacher and I'm on the road more than I'm home. And we have Jenny. What makes you think we can tackle this too?"

"Jake, listen to me. All Amanda needs, all she has ever needed is to know that someone cares about her. She needs friends, people she can trust. Someone to make her feel safe. She just needs a place to be."

"I…I don't know…"

"Babe, please. Please."

Peyton was practically pleading.

"Alright, Pey. If we do this and that's a very big if, it has to be temporary."

"It will be. I promise."

Jake took a deep breath.

"Temporary?"

"Temporary", Peyton repeated.

Jake sighed again and conceded. How could he say no?

"Okay. Okay, Peyton. I'll trust you on this one."

Peyton sighed with pure relief.

"Thank you. Jake, thank you, thank you, thank you. We're doing the right thing here. You won't regret this."

"Okay."

"Things are just finishing up here. Why don't you take Jenny and go home? Haley will drop Amanda and me off at the house. Let Nathan know she'll be there soon."

"Alright. I'll see you then", he said, hanging up and still in a state of shock over what he had just agreed to do.

"What was that all about, man?" Nathan asked. "Are they okay?"

Jake nodded.

"Haley will be home soon. She's dropping Peyton and Amanda off at our place."

"Amanda? Is she okay?"

"No. Apparently there was some drama with her foster family and they turned out to be real shady. There was a bad fight, then a fire. Hales and Pey have been in the hospital with them because one of the little kids got hurt. He's going to be okay, thank God but they were going to put Amanda back in one of those group home things and Peyton thinks it's best if she comes home with us for a little while."

"Amanda is moving in?" Jenny asked in a quiet voice.

"Just for a while until we can find something better for her", Jake tried to explain.

"Unbelievable", Nathan sighed. "Man, um, did Peyton say anything about Haley bringing any kids home?"

"No."

"Good. I'm surprised and I feel bad but I can just see Haley trying to resuce every abandoned orphan out there and well, that's a whole lot to take on. I mean, you can only do so much. I don't know if we're up to handling all that yet."

"Me either", Jake chewed his nails. "Nate, what have I gotten myself into?"

"I won't lie to you. Amanda might be a sweet girl but you think it's going to be easy accepting a traumatized teenager into your home? Has she been abused?"

"In more ways than one", Jake skirted, trying to shield Jenny from all the horrible facts.

"Dude…"

"What can I do? If we say no, what happens to this girl? And hasn't she been through enough already?"

"Yeah but…"

"I told Peyton yes. I gave my word to my wife and that's that."

Nathan nodded, trying to understand.

"So what now?"

Jake had no idea.

"I guess we wing it. Wing it and pray for the best", he sighed, bumping fists with Nathan. "Look, I appreciate everything tonight but I need to get Jenny home and go face whatever is waiting for me."

Nathan nodded and let them out. Jenny climbed in the Tahoe next to her father, silent for most of the ride home.

"All that bad stuff you said that happened to Amanda…was it really true?" she finally asked.

"Unfortunately yeah. Sometimes bad things happen Jen and we just can't help it."

"I know."

"I hope you're okay with Amanda staying with us for a while. Peyton and I didn't really ask you how you felt about it."

Secretly Jenny didn't mind. She knew what it was like to be scared and have nowhere to go. As much as she gave attitude, her father and Peyton did provide a safe home for her. She could relate to Amanda.

"I don't care", Jenny said, putting on her rough and tough mask as they pulled into the driveway. "As long as she doesn't touch my stuff."

Jake parked the car and they went inside, Jenny immediately going upstairs to dress for bed. A million thoughts raced through his mind and he prayed he, they, had made the right decision. What if Amanda had some sort of emotional post stress outburst? And Peyton had mentioned something about drugs. What if Amanda was still using? The last thing Jake wanted in his home was drugs. Peyton definitely didn't need to be around any drugs. His thoughts were interrupted when he saw Haley pull up to the curb and drop the girls off. Jenny was watching too from a nearby window. She walked out of her room and kneeled at the banister of the staircase waiting as anxiously as her father was.

The door opened and they could hear Peyton's voice. It looked as if she was having a conversation almost with herself. Whoever she was talking to was not responding back and they were walking, lagging almost, a few feet behind.

"Jake, Jenny!" Peyton called out. "You guys still awake?"

Her husband and stepdaughter made their way out of hiding and into the living room. Neither knew what to expect. How would one look after experiencing and surviving the horrifying ordeals of the evening?

As they approached them, they saw a normal looking Amanda, her long, blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail over a tee shirt and tattered jeans. She looked scared out of her mind as nervous green eyes gazed intently at the floor beneath them.

"Hey, Amanda. I'm Jake", he said. "You remember my daughter, Jenny?"

"Hey", Jenny said.

"Hi", Amanda replied in a soft tone.

"Um, I see you brought your stuff with you. I could take your bags up to your new room. Are you hungry or anything?"

Amanda didn't answer. Instead she nervously played with her hands and kept looking at the floor.

"It's okay", Peyton soothed as she pat the girl gently on the back. "You're okay here, Amanda."

Amanda looked up for the first time and slowly nodded her head at the three onlookers who had just become her instant but nevertheless temporary family. She let out a pent up exhausted breath as she took a seat next to Jenny. Nice people, a roof over her head, an actual bed, food to eat. Relief wasn't the word. Amanda knew she had lucked even if it was lonely for a little while. Fighting back tears, she watched as Peyton, her very own guardian angel in disguise, flashed her a warm smile before sorting through the cupboards looking for something to snack on.