Jake Jagielski turned his key in the lock and walked into a quiet home. He sighed as he dropped his bags at the back door, walking in. Peyton's car was missing from the garage so he assumed his wife was out somewhere with the girls. The house itself was silent but the noise inside his head was somewhat deafening. He couldn't get the conversation with Lucas out of his head. Slowly climbing the steps, he was surprised to see the light on in Jenny's room. He approached the door and knocked softly.

"Enter at your own risk."

He smiled.

"Not exactly the warm welcome I was expecting but I guess I'll take what I can get."

"Next time I'll be sure to hire a singing telegram", she quipped, half smiling at her father to let him know she was in a good mood.

He leaned in and kissed her forehead, laughing as she pulled away and wiped the kiss away.

"How is school?" he asked.

"Fine."

"Getting along with your teachers?"

"They're all douche bags but whatever. I haven't been put in detention in like two months."

"That's a record", Jake joked.

"Yeah, I must be losing my touch. But that should be worth some kind of a reward."

Jake grinned.

"Okay. How about I take you to the mall and buy you the prettiest, frilliest, pinkest, ruffled dress I can find?"

Jenny pretended to gag.

"No thanks. Cold hard cash will do. And I'll even take a check…with two forms of proper state ID, of course."

"You're a real jokester, you know that?" he playfully ruffled her hair. "Now seriously, how have things been since I've been gone?"

"Okay."

"School…homework…Field Hockey…"

"Sucks, sucks and we won another game."

"What about you and Peyton?"

Jenny shrugged.

"I don't know."

"You guys getting along better?"

"We haven't killed each other yet."

"I'll take that as a yes. And speaking of, where is Pey?"

"Faculty meeting."

Jake nodded.

"What about Amanda?"

"I don't know where she is and I don't care. But my guess would be up Peyton or 'Miss Brooke's' ass."

He stifled a chuckle.

"I meant, how are you guys getting along?"

"I hate her."

"Why?"

"She gets on my nerves."

"Why?"

Jenny shrugged.

"I don't know."

Jake sighed as he took a seat next to his daughter.

"Okay, Jen, this is the deal. You're not exactly Miss Congeniality yourself, okay? By your own admission, you hate everything and everything sucks. So if Amanda just falls into that general category, then so be it. But if there's something else…you would tell me, right?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like if she said or did bad things to you?"

"I guess", Jenny brushed him off. "Whatever."

"I've told you this before. You're safe here, Jenny. You don't have to be afraid anymore of anybody or anything. I'm here for you and you can come to me. I want you to trust me."

"I know."

"Well, if there's something about Amanda that I need to know, then you should tell me."

Jenny kept scribbling on her notepad.

"Can I go with Amy's family to the lake this weekend?" she asked, changing the subject.

Jake sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Um, yeah. Yeah, I guess. I'll talk it over with Peyton but I don't see any reason why not."

"Thanks", she muttered, attention back to her drawing.

"Don't stay up too late", he said as he turned to leave.

Jenny took a breath and put her pencil down.

"Wait…" she called out in a small voice.

Jake immediately returned to her side.

"What's up?"

"Nothing, it's just that, Amanda is really mean sometimes, I guess. She only preteneds to be nice and innocent, in front of the adults, especially Peyton and Brooke."

"Has she ever hurt you?"

Jenny shook her head.

"She just runs her mouth a lot. And…and I told her about something that happened with me and a dog once…she knows I don't like dogs and I think she tried to get Teezer to bite me. Or at least scare me. I know she did it on purpose. But then in front of you and Peyton she starts crying and offers to get rid of the dog to make me feel better. Whatever. She just does stuff so she'll look good. But nobody really knows what she's like."

"Do you think it's a good idea that she stays with us?"

"Peyton does."

"I know but I asked you what you think."

Jenny marked furiously on the paper.

"I don't care."

Jake tried again.

"Would it be better or would you be happier if Amanda wasn't here?"

Jenny was quiet for a while.

"I guess", she finally said in a small voice.

Jake just nodded and stood, giving her another unwanted kiss before leaving the room again. He needed some time alone but at the same time, he was tired of thinking. His poor brain was on massive overload. What he really needed was a long, hot, soothing shower and a good night's rest.

Walking into the master bedroom, he smiled a tired smile as he inhaled the remnants of his wife's perfume. Peyton had had that same scent ever since the day he had first met her years and years ago and his nose would never tire of that delicious fragrance. Grabbing a towel from the closet, he stepped into the huge bay that led to their private bath. Stripping as he approached, Jake nearly jumped out of his skin as he saw Amanda standing in front of the vanity mirror.

"What…what the hell are you doing in here?" he asked.

"Jake!" the girl called out, startled.

She blushed and turned away causing Jake to suddenly realize that he was quite naked. He hastily wrapped the towel around his exposed lower section and cleared his throat.

"I asked what you were doing here. You have your own room and there are other bathrooms in the house. Why are you in here? And where is Peyton? Weren't you with her at her meeting?"

"No. No, I didn't go. I've been home all night. She should be back soon though. Peyton told me I could borrow her make up and perfume anytime I wanted so I was just in here trying stuff out."

Her voice was overly sweet and for the first time Jake could relate to Lucas having that eerie bone chilling feeling that washed over him because of it.

"Well, hurry it up. Or better yet, take that crap down to your room. I need to get in the bathroom."

"Okay. Um, I'm sorry. I had no idea you would be home tonight. Please don't be mad at me for coming here. Peyton lets me."

"Whatever. Just speed it up, will you?"

She nodded and hurried to gather the things to take back to her room. Jake couldn't help but stare. She was just a kid…right? How could the sweet, nervous, almost shy girl in front of him be the monster Jenny had described or the seductive Lolita Lucas had accused her of being?

He watched her leave finally then retreated to the safety of his bathroom. It was there he attempted to let the scalding hot water wash away the stress and the baggage weighing in heavily on him. Amanda still had his mind racing. It had creeped him out to find her lurking in the shadows of his bedroom going through his wife's things. And with everything that Lucas had told him and Jenny had added, it was all getting to be too much. She was everywhere…all over the house, and now she haunted his thoughts in waking and sleeping hours. Jake felt like he was going crazy. The bathroom door opened and he saw a flash of blonde hair.

"Goddammitt! I told you to get out of here!"

"Whoa", Peyton through her hands up. "What crawled up your ass and died? This is like the first time I've seen you in days and by the way, I do live here."

Jake struggled to catch his breath, turning off the water.

"Peyton…"

"Who the hell were you expecting?" she frowned.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he opened up the shower door.

"Sorry. I…um, I'm just tired. It was a long trip. I didn't mean to snap at you, babe."

She nodded and let him pull her into his dripping wet body for a hug.

"All is forgiven, I guess. You sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine. Uh, how were things when I was gone? Everything okay?"

She looked up and smiled, kissing his lips.

"Perfect."

Jake closed his eyes as he buried his face into her sweet smelling curls. Nothing was perfect. In fact, it was far from it.