A/N: So just quickly before we get into the chapter, to Guest, I so want for Lou to be strong and happy by the end of this story. That is exactly my intent. And honestly, the way you put it made perfect sense! I really want this story to have a happy ending as well, but this chapter is the complete opposite of that. Writing it, I was on the verge of breaking, it was so hard to finish :( I am now wondering how you guys will like this chapter *insert thinky emoji*

It was a little over three weeks since Lou had been attacked, and while her wounds were far from healed, she was stronger, and able to move around the house without any support. Her and Peter had spent a lot of time together with the girls, and it almost felt like old times to Lou. They felt like a true family unit again, and Lou didn't know what it all meant, but it was fresh and exciting and they were all happy.

Lou felt as though she were beginning to feel like herself again. She was happier, and she was working on forgetting and healing the nightmare she'd been through over the past few months.

It was a Sunday afternoon, and Georgie was upstairs in her room. In a week, Christmas holidays would begin and Georgie was working away on an assignment that was due just before school ended, and she was almost done with it too, with only a few minor things to touch up on.

Downstairs, Lou was in the kitchen catching up on work. She was seated at the roundtable, working on her laptop. She typed away, sending emails, writing up cost reports for Maggie's, and the dude ranch.

The door front door opened, and at first she figured it was Peter returning from dropping off Katie at Lisa's, so she didn't think anything of it. She was sitting with her back to the front door, and as soon as she heard him step into the house, without looking behind her, she knew it wasn't Peter.

Warren was back.

Lou's stomach muscles tightened, her breath becoming hitched in her throat. She was shaking as she stood and turned to the door. And it was him, alright.

"Warren—" her voice came out jagged.

"Hey, Lou. Long time no see," he said coolly, stepping into the kitchen.

Lou backed up a couple steps.

"I've missed you. It's been a long few weeks without you."

Lou was shaking and she needed to hold onto the roundtable to steady herself. She didn't even notice there was a plate resting over the edge of the table, and she put her hand down looking for the table, but it landed on the plate and the plate flipped and landed onto the floor in front of her, breaking into pieces, both big and small. She gasped, stepping back and away from the shards.

"Look what you did…you stupid woman," Warren said, eyeing her.

Lou backed up, feeling her way behind her until she bumped violently into the counter.

He strode ahead, stepping over the broken plate, and moving toward Lou. "You stupid woman…" Once he was near her, he brought his hand up to the side of her face, and eventually brought it through her hair, holding it near the roots, tight and aggressive.

Lou swallowed hard. "Warren, what are you—what are you doing here?"

"Why do you think I'm here?" He said, leaning in closer.

Lou leaned back, putting a hand to his chest, putting pressure on him to move back.

He backed away a couple inches.

Lou tried to free herself from him, to make her way out from the side, but he had his hands now on both sides of her, resting them on the counter around her.

"Look, Lou," he began, grabbing onto her right arm, and jolting it a little to get her to look at him. "It's simple. I'm here…because I want you back. See, the thing is…you hurt me when you called things off, and I just love you so much, and I went crazy when I thought I was going to lose you."

Lou's breath hitched in her throat thinking back to that night. "You—you almost killed me…"

He sighed, bringing a hand to the side of her face.

Lou immediately wanted to retreat from his touch, but she just couldn't. He had her cornered, and she had no space to move.

"Look, I wasn't in my right mind…you need to understand that, and I knew that if I let you go, you would start a life with someone new…someone that wasn't me. I couldn't let that happen. Losing you wasn't an option."

And trying to kill me was? Lou wanted to smack him in the mouth. Her anger was boiling, but so was her fear of this man. She was afraid nobody would come to her defense in time, just like that night…where was Peter? He should've been back by now.

"But let's just forget about all that, okay? We can move on from that…we can go live the rest of our lives, and be happy, together."

"But I'm perfectly happy with my life here, with—"

"What? With those children of yours? They are going to give you nothing but heartache. They'll leave you and they'll abandon you and go off in a few years when they're through with you. You're nothing to them," he said, spitting out those last words.

"I'm their mother…I'm everything to them, and more importantly, they're everything to me. If you don't understand that, then—"

"Then what!?" He let out angrily, slamming a fist to the counter space beside her, leaning in closer. "If I don't understand that, then what!?"

She jolted, her heart racing and accelerating more and more, it seemed, with each passing second. She was sure he would grab her by her throat again, just like the last time he was here. She was sure she'd have to begin screaming for help, but—no, she couldn't do that. Her daughter was the only one home, and if she got a hint of what—

Suddenly there was the sound of glass breaking against something. Before Lou had time to react, Warren shouted, screaming out in pain. He backed away, a hand going to the back of his head. He moved toward the sink, clearing Lou's view, and that's when Lou saw Georgie drop the glass vase to the floor. Georgie had hit him with it.

Oh my god…

"Honey—honey, go inside…" Lou said, moving over to Georgie. "Sweetheart, go!" Lou put her hands around Georgie's shoulders, guiding her away from the kitchen. "Just go inside, please—!"

Georgie was listening to every single word Lou was saying, but she was frozen in fear. In fear that she'd made Bennett angry, and that he'd take out his anger on Lou once she left. And now too, when she had spent all these weeks getting better.

"Georgie—go! Please!" Lou said, glancing back and forth from Warren to Georgie. "Please, I'm begging you."

Lou had her hold on Georgie so that she wouldn't try to get in front of her. It was frustrating, because part of Georgie wanted to do just that and she could, physically at least, because she was stronger than Lou right now. But another part of her was scared and frightened to her core, frozen in place, so she complied with Lou.

Warren angrily walked over to them, stepping onto the broken china. It crunched under his feet. "You little brat!" He screamed.

Lou engulfed Georgie in her arms, trying to shield every inch of her body with her own, trying to keep him away from her child. "Stop—just stop it! Leave her alone!" Lou's voice tore out from her throat.

Warren grabbed onto Lou's shoulder and pulled her away, slamming her into the fridge, her head hitting its edge.

Lou screamed, her vision suddenly blurry and her head spinning. In her dizzy state, she moved to grab onto Georgie, but Warren was faster and stronger and he swiftly yanked Georgie away and shoved her toward the desk.

Georgie crashed into the wooden table, reaching up her hand to the window to steady herself, and putting her other hand to the chair. She could feel her heart racing against her ribcage, her breathing coming out shallow and jagged. She turned around, and looked him in the eye. She swallowed hard. He had this crazed look in his eye, like he was about to do something to her.

Warren reached behind him, and brought out a gun. He pointed it to Georgie, walking closer. When he was close enough, he touched the tip of it to her forehead aggressively and Georgie's head tilted back.

"WARREN!" Lou screamed desperately. She made her way over to them in a daze, barely able to keep her eyes open. Georgie's words rung in her ears.

I'd take a bullet for you.

"Warren—!" Lou let out. "Look at me. I'm begging you, don't shoot. Take me, do to me whatever the hell you want, just leave my daughter out of this. Please. Let her go…" she said, pained.

"No one has to get hurt, Lou. Just listen to me, and don't interrupt."

Lou looked at Georgie. She looked calm, but her eyes were a different story. Lou could tell she was afraid, so afraid. Looking at him, she said, "Okay, you have my word."

"Okay, good," he said, cocking his head to the side. "Look, I want us to be together. The reason I came out here is to tell you that we will be together, very soon. I'll call you when I'm ready for you. Do you understand?"

Lou looked at him. Was he really serious? Afraid of what he would do to her baby girl, she nodded nervously. "Yeah, yeah…"

"Good," he said, removing the gun from Georgie's forehead, and just like that, he pushed Georgie forward, shoving her hard and fast.

Georgie she stumbled into Lou's arms.

Lou gasped as she felt the impact of Georgie's body colliding against hers. On impact, she herself stumbled back a few steps, but relief washed over her. "It's okay, you're okay. I've got you," Lou reassured both herself and Georgie as she brought both her arms around her daughter, shielding her from the monster that stood in front of them. "I've got you."

Against Lou's chest, Georgie could feel her mother's heart racing faster and faster. She could feel Lou shaking against her, and Georgie tried her best to hold her as tight as she could, even in her own disheveled state.

Walking forward ever so eerily, he said, "And no police this time." Cocking his head back, he eyed Lou.

Lou's throat went dry. She went cold all over. "Warren, what are you—"

Warren's hand suddenly shot forward, and he backhanded Lou across her cheekbone.

Lou cried out, but instead of moving a hand to where he struck her, Lou simply clung onto Georgie tighter. The stone on his ring had pierced her cheekbone, and it stung and burned.

Hearing the sound of impact of Warren's hand to her mother's face, Georgie flinched, involuntarily letting out a pained and jagged breath, and clinging on tighter to Lou, if that was possible. She felt Lou's grasp on her tighten as well, as if to make sure Georgie wouldn't let go.

"That was for Jasper…" He craned his neck backward, and said, "You didn't think I'd find out? Now let me be clear—no police. Understood?"

Bringing a hand protectively around Georgie's head, Lou said defiantly, "I got it."

It seemed as if he were about to move forward again, or say something else, but he didn't get the chance because Peter came rushing into the house.

As soon as he saw Warren, and Lou standing with Georgie in her arms, Peter knew that something had happened. He immediately reacted. "Hey!"

Within a second, Peter had Warren by his collar. He swung him around and pushed him back toward where he was just standing. Warren's head hit the doorframe to the mudroom. He screamed in pain.

Holding onto his collar with one hand, Peter took his right fist and punched the bastard on his jaw. Peter grabbed Warren's hair and pulled his head back. "How dare you walk in here—how dare you show your face here after everything you put my family through!?"

"Look, I don't know you—"

"I'm Lou's husband!"

"Ex…you're her ex," he said, mocking Peter, a wry laugh coming out of his mouth.

"You don't know me, you don't know her. I'm the father of her children, do you understand? You can't label us. You're nothing but a scumbag who never has, and never will have a place in her heart."

"Oh, and you're any better yourself?"

Rage fueled inside Peter. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You never loved her. I know…because if you did, you never would've let her go. Just like I never let her go, never will…Lou is mine."

Peter brought his hand back to Warren's collar, jolting him, his head slamming into the frame again. "You keep her name off your dirty tongue. She's not yours, she never will be."

"So what are you saying…is she yours?"

"I'm not saying that!" Peter's voice rose. "She isn't some piece of property that's meant to be owned by someone! She's a mother, a sister, she's someone's daughter…she's her own person, do you understand? Don't you dare make her feel any less."

"I don't need to listen to this crap," Warren said, headed toward the door.

Peter grabbed his collar again, bringing him back to where he was a moment ago. "You ass, you're not getting away with this. I hope you rot in your prison cell. The hell you put her through, that makes you eligible to go to hell yourself. You tried to kill her, and then left her for dead. She was alone, suffering, and near the point of death and that's on you. You will pay for what you did. For every single damn thing."

"I will pay for nothing. You try calling the police…" he said, trailing off. "...I will make sure I destroy your family. Starting with the little one, then that little brat over there…and I can do all that from inside my prison cell," he spat out.

He's bluffing, thought Peter to himself. But nonetheless, it unnerved him, the way he was talking about his daughters like that. Peter suddenly felt helpless, his heartbeat racing, his breathing jagged. His hold on the man's collars loosened.

"Now get your hands off me before I really do hurt someone," he said. "I can ruin your life in mere seconds," he said, shoving Peter away. Peter stumbled back, defenseless.

Warren backed away and started for the door, but he stopped and called out, "Lou, you wait for my call, okay?"

Peter glared at him, his gaze unflinching as he watched Warren leave the house. When he got in his truck and drove away, Peter still remained at the door. He watched as Warren left the property, making his way onto the road.

Peter stood there, his face in his hand. He was breathing hard, his hands and legs shaking. He turned around, looking to Lou, who looked so small and defeated. And then Georgie, who was standing near her mother, hiding behind her.

He walked over to Lou, seeing the cut on her cheekbone. "Lou…" he said gently, his voice soft.

"Peter, he—"

"What…? What is it?" Peter moved a hand to Lou's cheek, and brushed off the streak of blood coming out of the wound with his thumb. "He cut you," he said, his voice now weak and piercing.

Lou shook her head, bringing Peter's hand down. Looking into his blue eyes, she saw they were troubled and pained. "Peter, he had a gun."

"What!?"

"He pointed it—" Lou broke off, a sob escaping her lips.

"Where? To who?"

"To Georgie—" Lou gasped out, putting a hand to her mouth, trying to muffle her cries.

A chill ran through Peter's spine. He looked over at his daughter, who had her gaze sealed to the floor. "What—?" He said, his voice tearing out from his throat. "And I let him go!?" Peter said, angrily, tearing himself away from Lou. "And you let him!? You let him point a gun to our daughter!?"

Lou moved toward him, putting a hand to Peter's face. "No, no…Peter, listen to me. He took her from me, he tore her away from me. I didn't—I would never let him."

Peter closed his eyes shut, sighing. "That bastard, that low-life—that's it. I'm going after him. Never should've let him go in the first place!" Peter started for the door.

"No! Dad—" Georgie screamed, finally breaking her silence. She rushed over to Peter, hugging him tight. "Dad, please, you heard mom…he has a gun. And he won't hesitate in using it. He'll hurt you…" her voice was ghastly.

"Sweetheart, I need to get to him before he gets too far," Peter said, trying to free himself.

Georgie held on tighter. "No, you can't do this. Just let it go."

Let it go? How could he let this go? Anything could've happened to his kid. "Honey—"

Georgie moved back, putting her hand to his wrist. "Dad, please. I'm begging you here."

Peter sighed, putting a hand to her head. She was right. It wasn't safe to go after him.

Georgie removed her hand from Peter's wrist, and Lou immediately noticed the trace of blood that appeared on his blue shirt. "Is that blood—?"

Peter looked to where Lou was pointing, and immediately realizing, he looked to Georgie's hand. He held onto her hand, bringing it wrist side up. "What happened?"

Lou walked over in a daze. She was shaking as she made her way over. "What is this? How did it happen?" She asked, even though she had a pretty good idea.

"The glass shard from the vase dug into my palm when I—when he was…there…when he had you cornered…" Georgie let out, gesturing to the counter.

Lou looked down, embarrassed, torn and angry. She was ashamed at herself. Georgie had gotten hurt because of her. "It must be hurting…" Lou said, pained. She reached out to Georgie. "Why don't you let me fix it up…?"

Georgie backed away from Lou's touch. "No, I'll—I'll do it myself…"

Lou's hand retreated. She was now even more upset. Her eyes were tearing up, and her throat went tight. She brought her hand to the back of her head, agitated.

Peter could feel the tension between them. "Honey, I'll help you. Let me go grab the first aid kit, okay?"

Georgie nodded, and Peter headed toward the mud room. He brought the kit back, and the father and daughter sat at the table together.

Lou stood there, conflicted. She wanted to rush over and take over what Peter was doing, say sorry to Georgie, comfort her, and be there for her, but…Georgie didn't want her anywhere near her. Once again on the verge of tears, Lou blew out her breath, blinking hard and fast.

Lou walked over to the table where Peter and Georgie sat, and she went to pick up her computer, her hands shaking uncontrollably as she closed the lid. Picking up the laptop, she walked over and put it on the desk.

Walking back, she began to clean up the broken plate and the broken vase. Minutes later, when she was done, she stopped in front of Georgie and Peter. Lou saw Peter was done bandaging Georgie's hand.

The mother looked to her daughter. Georgie was staring down at the table, her gaze unfocused. "Sweetheart?" Lou said, her voice breaking.

Without looking up, Georgie let out, "Hmm?"

Lou felt drained and exhausted. She was dizzy, the back of her head throbbing intensely. She walked over to Georgie, and put a hand to her head, caressing her hair. Putting an arm around her shoulder, Lou leaned down and planted a kiss on the top of her head. Bringing her other arm around her, she said, "Baby, I'm sorry…I'm so sorry."

Georgie turned to Lou, burying her face in her mother's shoulder. A sob escaped her lips. The dry racking sobs shook her body. Georgie felt hot tears racing down her cheeks. "Mom…" she let out, through her tears.

Lou wrapped her arms around Georgie tighter, planting another kiss on the top of her head. "I'm sorry, honey…I'm so, so sorry…"

Peter watched them hold onto each other. He watched his baby girl cry and let out her grief and sorrow. His own sorrow and fear fueled inside him as anger at the fact that he could've lost her today, and he was completely helpless, completely unreachable. And his wife…no, his ex-wife, he was reminded by Bennett's taunts…tried her best to shelter their daughter, and let her know she was safe and loved, and that she was out of harm's way.

Peter felt the despair of this situation hard and painful to bear. It was one of those times where he felt nothing would ever be better, that they would never find happiness and that his family would never be out of danger. The guilt tore at his heart, knowing well enough that all of this was happening because of his selfishness and carelessness toward his beautiful family. Peter put his head down, hiding his tears, hiding his pain.

The three of them stayed that way, frozen in their little bubble for the next little while. The sounds of Georgie's sobbing echoed through the house, a painful reminder to her parents of what had happened, what could have happened, and what still remained to happen if they didn't tread carefully in these dangerous waters.