A/N: Hey y'all, thanks for all your kind words. I'm really glad you guys liked the previous chapter, makes me feel accomplished :D Your reviews are what keep me going, honestly. Enjoy this chapter! xoxo

Georgie sat alone on the front steps. Her hands were numb from the cold, and she was shivering. She had needed a break from inside, where all of that with Warren and her parents had just happened. Plus, her parents were inside right now with Amy and Ty and Tim and Jack, informing them of what had happened…and she did not want everyone's eyes on her while they learned of that afternoon's events.

Georgie sat sullenly, engulfed in the still silence of the afternoon. She was shaken and trembling, but more than that, she thought, maybe she was angry and fearful. But the truth was, she was feeling so many things at once, it almost felt like an overload…and she couldn't figure out what she was really feeling.

A couple minutes later, she heard the front door open and close, and by the way the person was walking—lightly and gently—she could tell it was her mother.

Lou came ahead and brought a jacket around Georgie's shoulders. "Here, put this on. I don't want you getting sick."

Georgie looked back. Lou had put her purple winter jacket around her shoulders. Georgie slipped it on, bringing it tight around herself.

When Lou saw Georgie was done putting on the jacket, she came ahead and held out her left hand for Georgie to grab onto. When Georgie reached out, Lou put her other hand lightly to Georgie's shoulder to help herself sit on the steps beside her daughter.

Once seated, Lou looked over at Georgie. Her gaze was sealed to the ground, and she looked agitated. "Honey…are you alright?"

Georgie straightened a little, shrugging her shoulders.

Lou sighed. "I'm really sorry…I'm sorry for putting you in danger, for putting you through all this…"

"What? None of this is your fault."

"Yes, it is—"

"No, stop that…you need to believe it when I tell you that it isn't. You need to accept that. The only reason I'm so quiet—is—well, I don't know…to be honest. But I'm not mad at you or anything like that. I promise."

Lou was taken aback. She had expected Georgie to be nothing but that. "You're not…?"

"No, I'm not mad…not at you, at least."

Lou listened silently. She had a feeling Georgie was about to add on.

"I'm mad at myself…for angering him like that, and because of me, he slammed you into the—the fridge, and then he cut you…" Georgie trailed off, looking down in remorse, her throat tightening.

"Georgie, forget him slamming me into the fridge or—or cutting me. What about what he did to you?"

"I don't care what he did to me," Georgie said, exhaling heavily.

"But your hand—"

"That was my fault," said Georgie, cutting Lou off. "I wasn't careful. I was nervous and shaking; I was bound to cut myself."

"Fine, that was an accident. But what about when he—"

"Nothing happened. It's no big deal," said Georgie, looking out into the distance, stealing away from Lou's gaze.

Lou quieted, unnerved by the mere thought of the gun to Georgie's head. She exhaled heavily, silently giving her thanks that nothing happened.

After a moment of silence from them both, Lou said, "Look, honey…I don't know what's going to happen in the future…if he'll be back or not, if he still poses a threat or not…but I need you to promise me that you won't do what you did today."

"I know…after I hit him, the entire situation was out of our control. He kept hurting you, and I couldn't do anything to stop him. I'm sorry…I just wasn't thinking."

"No, just…don't get in the way to protect me, ever again…because he will hurt you to get to me. He knows that I'll do whatever he says if you're threatened…He wants to control me, and he knows that the only way to do that is to hurt my family, those I love the most."

Her mother's words stuck with her. It was right then when Georgie realized she could do more than try and protect Lou; she could completely and entirely direct his attention away from her mother and onto herself. She had a lot of power in her hands, being Lou's child. If Georgie chose to use and harness her position properly, she could keep her mother out of harm's way.

"Did you hear what I said?" Lou asked, when she noticed Georgie had gotten lost in thought.

Georgie nodded. Looking to Lou, she said, "Yeah." Georgie grabbed Lou's arm and rested her head gently on her mom's shoulder. "I heard you."

Peter sat at the edge of the bed in Amy's old room. He was shaken and angry. He felt so violated at the fact that this man had come into his home and hurt his family in his absence. This was in fact the first time he'd seen it firsthand, so what of all the other times that he hadn't even been in the city? What sorts of things had he done then that Peter hadn't been able to stop him from doing?

The fact that Georgie could've been shot, just the mere thought of this unnerving possibility, shook Peter to his core. If Bennett had decided to pull the trigger, it would've all been over, in mere seconds.

I can ruin your life in mere seconds.

Peter shuddered. He blew out his breath, not being able to shake off the feeling of anxiety that Bennett's words brought him.

There was a knock at the door. He turned, and it was Tim.

Peter cleared his throat. "Tim."

"You mind if I come in?"

"No, of course not," said Peter, standing up. "What's up?"

Tim walked in. "Well…I wanted to thank you for the way you stood up for Lou today. The way you protected her and Georgie. And I know that thanking you is a bit strange, since this is your family as well, but…you know, I try."

Peter chuckled, smiling. "Thanks Tim," he said, breathing out. "I really appreciate it."

"Look, I know how hard this is for you. I get it. I'm going through it too…and maybe now isn't the best time, but—" Tim broke off, unsure of how to go on.

"What is it?"

"Well, I've been watching you and Lou these past few weeks…the way you two have built a united front and how you're spending time with the kids. How you're spending time with each other…and I'm beginning to think that—that maybe there's still hope."

Peter's lips parted. He was shocked, taken aback. "You mean for—"

"For you and Lou to patch things up."

Peter exhaled. "You have no idea how good it feels to hear you say that. I—I guess I feel that way as well…and I've been wanting to say something to her for so long. But it just never seemed like the right time. And I don't know how Lou feels about this either, and I don't want to say anything and ruin what we have."

"I can talk to her for you, if that would make it a little easier."

"I appreciate it, Tim…but I really think that this is something that I should do on my own. But…do you think that I should even do it? That I'm not making a mistake in thinking it'll work?"

"Well, I know that along the way, you two fell apart…but you always treated her right. You never wronged her. You tried to take care of her, you tried to do what any good man would do for his family. I know you love her, and she loves you. It isn't a mistake to think that it could work."

Bennett's words rung in Peter's ears.

You never loved her. Because if you did, you never would've let her go.

"And the kids…just think of how happy they'll be to hear their parents are back together."

Peter broke out of his reverie, his face breaking into a smile. "Yeah, you have a point. So I take it I have your blessing to talk to Lou about this?"

Tim smiled. "Yeah, you do," he said, putting a hand to Peter's shoulder.

The next morning, Lou headed upstairs to Georgie's room to check up on her before school. She knocked, but there was no answer. Surely Georgie was awake by now, right? "Georgie? Sweetheart?" Lou said, cautiously opening the door to her daughter's room.

When Lou swung the door open, she was surprised, as well as concerned. Georgie was still under the covers, and this was completely out of character for her. It was late, almost time to get ready for school. Walking over to her, Lou said, "Honey, what's wrong...?"

"Nothing, I'll be up in a bit."

Georgie's voice was faint, and there was a wavering flutter in it. Being a mother, Lou picked up on it instantly. "No, something's wrong." She reached for Georgie's forehead and placed her fingers on it, checking for a temperature. "Sweetheart..." Lou breathed out. "Oh my god, you're burning up."

"No, I've just been under these covers all night."

"No, you have a fever. This is because you went out yesterday without your coat on." Lou scolded her gently. "You're not going to school today. I'm going to go get you something. You stay in bed," she said, starting for the door.

"Mom, wait," said Georgie, sitting up.

Lou stopped, her voice tense. "Yeah?"

"Can you come here for a minute?"

Lou walked over and sat beside Georgie. "What is it?"

Georgie moved ahead, holding herself against Lou.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Lou was unsure of how to comfort her daughter, unsure of how to approach this situation. "Honey, you're kind of scaring me. What is it?"

"It's nothing. I just want to know you're here with me." Georgie hugged Lou tighter. "I'm just afraid…"

"I know, honey…but you're out of danger. You're fine, I promise."

"No, I don't care about myself. I'm just scared of—of losing you."

"Honey…"

"And I can't..." Georgie's voice was quiet. Georgie moved back and out of the hug. "Mom, look at me…" she said, bringing her bandaged hand over to Lou's cheek and turned her to face her. "Are you alright…? I mean, I know he slammed you pretty hard…"

"Yeah, I am. I was a little dizzy yesterday, but it's all good now."

Georgie nodded. "Okay…" she trailed off, her gaze floating over to Lou's cut. Not being able to look at it, Georgie stole her gaze down.

"Hey…look at me. I'm fine, alright? You don't need to worry about me because I can take this."

"That doesn't mean you should! I hate seeing you like this!" Georgie's voice was angry, but she was upset moreso. "It drives me crazy."

"Honey, it's okay. It's just a cut—"

"Yeah, and what about the last time? You were bleeding out on his floor where he left you to die, like you were nothing, like your life meant nothing. How dare he?" Georgie said, bringing her hands up to Lou's face. "How dare he?" Planting a kiss on Lou's forehead, she said, "I'm never letting him hurt you again. Ever."

Lou hugged Georgie, grabbing onto her like her life depended on it. Lou felt like the worst mother in the world. Her daughter was in a terrible mindspace...she was scared, worried, and worn out.

She was talking in a way Lou had never seen before, and there was this look of anger in her eye, like she was about to…well, Lou didn't know. She had no idea what Georgie was thinking, what was going on inside her young mind. But Lou knew that when Georgie was angry or upset, she didn't think. Lou just hoped that Georgie wouldn't end up doing anything that would put her in harm's way.

Ty entered the house. He had heard Georgie wasn't feeling too well, and he wanted to go see if she was alright. He saw her seated on the sofa in the living room, wrapped in a blanket. He walked over. "Hey, Georgie...where are Lou and Peter?"

"Lou's helping Katie get ready, and Peter's still asleep."

"Oh, okay. Hey, are you feeling okay?" He said, coming to sit in the sofa chair in front of her.

Georgie shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, I feel fine. Lou's just worrying—again."

Ty laughed a little. "Yeah…look, I was headed into work, but I wanted to check up on you first. I know that you're probably really unhinged by what happened yesterday…"

Georgie nodded. "Yeah, I am…as much as I hate to admit it."

"Yeah, I get it…but as angry and upset as you're feeling, you need to just shrug it off."

Georgie looked up at that. "Shrug it off? You want me to shrug it off?"

Ty nodded. "Yeah..."

Georgie laughed, with no hint of amusement in her voice. "You can't be serious. Have you seen Lou? Her head's been killing her since yesterday, and there's that cut on her face, and—and did you not see her at the hospital all those weeks ago? How weak she was? How injured?"

Ty nodded. "Yeah, I know. And I also know how crazy it can make you seeing a parent hurt like that. I know how you feel."

"Ty..."

"Look. You can't put it on yourself to protect your mom. You're only sixteen, and it isn't your job or responsibility. If you were to get yourself involved, anything could happen to you."

"Who told you I give a damn what happens to me?"

Ty was shocked. "Georgie!" He scolded. "That's exactly what you need to do. You need to give a damn about yourself. Do you have any idea what'll happen to Lou if you're taken away? If something happens to you?"

Georgie sighed. "If something happens to me, then you and Amy and Tim and Jack will be there for her. She'll be fine."

"Without you?"

"Without me."

Ty sighed. "You're being crazy right now. You have that same look in your eye I know I had when I was your age. You—you can't be angry, you can't put it on yourself to protect your mother...you're a child. You're Lou's child. And she wouldn't want you to put your life in danger for her."

Georgie looked at him. "Nothing's going to happen to me. You can chill out."

Ty sighed heavily. "And if it does? If something were to happen to you, Lou would never forgive herself. Her life would fall apart…do you want that kind of life for your mother?"

Georgie silenced. She looked down and away, stubbornly folding her arms across her chest.

"Do you have any idea what you put her through when you ran away to Vancouver?"

"I know...I really scared her."

"She was beyond scared. She was in a trance, barely able to think about anything else, unable to do anything besides trying to figure out where you were. She refused to eat, she refused to sleep…she was up all night, out in the city…"

"What? Where was she?"

"She was driving through the streets, trying to track you down."

"Oh. I didn't know that…" Georgie let out, feeling guilty.

"So do you get what I'm saying? If something were to happen to you, Lou wouldn't make it either."

Georgie exhaled heavily. "Well, I'm not her blood. I was never a part of her the way Katie was, okay? Katie is all she really needs, and I'm not even that important—"

"Georgie, it doesn't matter how you came into her life, alright? She loves you the same as she loves your sister. I know. I saw her pain, her desperation when she found out you were missing. And that's only the way a mother—who loves her child with everything she has—would react."

"Okay, fine. I just—"

"Doubting a parent's love is the worst thing you can do. I know because I did it, so many times..." Ty trailed off, a pained look in his eye. "My mom loved me so much, and when she wasn't able to protect me...it made me angry. Angry at her…I figured she just didn't love me enough, that she just didn't care about me. That's one of my biggest regrets, Georgie. And that's saying a lot, seeing as I've made plenty of mistakes."

"Look, I get what you're saying. I do…but I love her so much…and I can't stand by and watch her fall. I can't lose her, okay? That's the one thing I can't do."

"Okay, yeah. I agree with you. And if there's some sort of danger...you tell me. You call me, or your dad, or Tim or Jack…You call us for help, and we will get her out of it. Not you. Do you understand?"

Georgie swallowed. Nodding, she said, "Yeah."

"Promise me you won't do anything stupid."

"I promise."

A/N: Lol it's me again. So...just wanted to address a few things. I'm glad you noticed the little details! Warren is definitely a little crazy; I'm glad you picked up on that. And I can't believe how much I wrote either! Honestly, once I started, I couldn't stop typing away. On another note, this chapter is meant to show us what sort of mindset Georgie is in, it's meant to explain her motivations. And this story better have a happy ending...I'm going to be so ticked at myself if it doesn't.