AN: Thank you to my reviews and even to the anonymous readers who leave nothing whatsoever, the number of hits is always refreshing. So you know, this is the final chapter. And then ---

I shall create a sequel, so don't freak about the loose ends I leave. I'll need something to work with, right? In the meantime, between the two I will write a Peyton/Rachel fic because I don't think there are enough of those either. Oh, and just to keep you thinking about it, I'll give you the first chapter title of the sequel. Famous Last Words by My Chemical Romance. So, just mull over that. Enjoy!

X x X x

Chapter Seven: Perpetual Motion, the Image Won't Focus

From "Ready to Fall" by Rise Against

X x X x

Each moment seemed longer than the last. She couldn't stop shaking. The cops had had to pull her away from her self-appointed charge as she had clung to her for dear life. Nathan had been rocking Haley gently, reducing the screams and sobbing. Skills had been trying to take care of Bevin, who had seemed to be in an odd state of shock. After Emma killed Jimmy and Joseph, she committed suicide with the obvious intention of leaving her mark. She accomplished that. Brain matter and bits of skull had littered the room. The ceiling and two walls had been spattered with small fragments of flesh and large quantities of blood.

Once they were all out of the building Peyton and Melissa had been rushed to the hospital. Neither had a great initial report on their status. Peyton had lost a lot of blood and needed an immediate transfusion the moment she was reached the emergency room. They had to do surgery to remove the bullet from her leg and then stitch her up. After a few tentative hours in which Brooke had paced restlessly in the waiting room, they announced that she would be fine.

Melissa had managed to lose just as much blood in the nerve-wracking fifteen minutes as Peyton had in almost two hours. She stared into the mirror, tremors still wreaking havoc on her body. Her hazel eyes gazed back at her with her mind rushing around in a jumble. She had stumbled into a small restroom in the hospital to clean herself up. So far she had managed to wash her hands six times, but she could still feel the blood on her palms. The skin had been rubbed raw and tender, but she didn't care. It wasn't fazing her at the moment.

She just needed a little while to think to herself. Actually, maybe that was a bad idea, but there was no one that she knew of that she could turn to for comfort. Her parents were being their usual absentee selves. They had settled in the Scottish Highlands for a couple of months. Then they would return home to repack and venture off into the world again, leaving her to fend for herself.

Finally she just sank to the floor, crying to herself with her head tucked into her knees, hugging herself tightly. She kept thinking that if she just had kept a tighter hold on Melissa, maybe she wouldn't have been able to get up and Emma wouldn't have had the chance to hurt her. That was all she had to do, and she managed to royally screw that up. Now Melissa was lying in a hospital bed with stitches all up her arm. She was still getting blood transfusions to make up for all she had lost. Both she and Peyton had Morphine drips and various other medications.

"Rachel?"

She choked on her voice and decided to just stay where she was. How could she have let this happen? Sure, she didn't blame herself for the school shooting because that would have just been delusional. But she blamed herself for Melissa's injury. That guilt was more than enough for her. There were soft footsteps approaching. Once they halted, she felt a supportive and comforting presence at her side. The guilt-stricken teenager found a pair of arms wrap around her, one slipping under her arm to help her up. She was so drained, physically, mentally and emotionally from the entire thing. The fair-skinned brunette next to her held a quiet, if not slightly weary strength about her. They were silent the whole way back to the waiting room.

Brooke had rushed to her car, immediately following the ambulances as they carried her best friend to the hospital. The other witnesses had been taken aside so the officers could speak to them about what had happened. Haley hadn't been able to manage more than a few words, Nathan still clutching her to his chest in a defensive manner. It was as if he was trying to protect her from everything around them. He had shed his own tears with his wife, though his were of the silent variety. They served so many purposes. Keith, Nathan and Lucas' uncle, was dead. Emma, in her insane rampage, had added a third to her casualty list and finished it off with herself.

That look on her face was burned into their memories. Rachel could see that look of cruel satisfaction after she had attacked Melissa. Even though the flesh on her hands was sore and bright pink, she could have sworn that she hadn't washed all of that blood off. It still seemed slick between her fingers. It had made it incredibly difficult to try and keep and tight hold of Melissa's body when the police tried to pull them apart. In fact, she vaguely remembered leaving a streak of blood down her arm and then dying her hand a dark maroon when they finally managed to separate them.

Skills was sitting with Kenzie and Bevin, staring blankly at the wall as his girlfriend leaned against his chest. She had fallen asleep. It was no wonder. Rachel was exhausted and suddenly realized the toll it was taking on her body. Brooke led her over to a pair of seats and they remained there, not saying a word. At some point their hands had connected and refused to lose contact for even a millisecond. Hours seemed to pass and a thick tension settled over the room. The doctors weren't allowing anyone but family into the rooms to visit. Unfortunately, no one knew if Melissa had any close kin to visit her and Peyton's father was still fighting to make it there from out of town.

And then Rachel inhaled sharply, her eyes fixed on something ahead of her. Those hazel eyes were wide and surprised. Brooke followed her gaze to a small child. She seemed nervous and frightened, even with some woman holding her hand. In fact, the little girl was in tears. Her big eyes shone with tears and her face was puffy with red splotches. The woman next to her looked as though she was interested in anything and anyone except the girl she held by the hand. When the kid jerked her hand away and scurried to a corner of the waiting room, the woman just rolled her eyes and tapped her foot impatiently as she listened to the nurse talking quietly. Why had this random visitor caught Rachel's attention?

Without warning, Rachel stood, bringing a curious Brooke with her. The head cheerleader suddenly found her teammate crouching to speak to the little girl. So, she took the opportunity to get a good look. Her eyes were just like Rachel's and her hair was silky and dark. The girl sat back closer to the wall, looking oddly suspicious and tense for such a young age.

"Halia?" The girl turned her attention immediately to Rachel, who forced a gentle smile onto her face. "Hey, pretty girl. My name's Rachel. I know Melissa."

The child, Halia, blinked but remained steadfast in her silence. Her eyes would occasionally flicker back to Brooke before returning to Rachel's face. Brooke was utterly clueless. She had no idea who the kid was or why Rachel was interested in her or Halia's connection to Melissa.

"Are you here to see her?" A nod. "How about that lady, is that your mommy?" A frown and vigorous shaking of her head. "Then who is she, Hal?" The eyes contemplated Rachel for a moment. She seemed to be more comfortable since Rachel had used a little nickname.

"Idylla." It was the first time she had spoken. Halia didn't seem happy about this at all, especially about Idylla. "Not my mommy. Mommy's hurt."

Brooke's lips parted slightly and even Rachel looked stunned. Neither had been expecting that answer. They traded a glance before turning their full attention to Halia. There was more little mystery to get out of the way. Who the hell was Idylla and what did she want with Melissa? An angry voice suddenly seemed to answer them from the direction of Melissa's room.

Halia's eyes widened and she scrambled to her feet at the sound of her mother's voice, vanishing into the room moments later. That caused another uproar. A nurse quickly entered, looking more than angry. Brooke and Rachel followed Halia's path and came upon an odd scene. Idylla's dark brown eyes were glaring with a look of mocking at Melissa. The injured was shouting something rapidly in a language not quite English. Actually, it wasn't English at all. Halia hurried to Melissa's side, using both tiny hands to grasp her mother's. The young woman calmed herself down, her tone lowering. She didn't even seem aware of Rachel and Brooke.

Idylla sneered and uttered a couple of unintelligible words, casting a nasty look at Halia, who turned white. With that, she stormed out of the room, pushing Rachel into the wall. For the first time, her mind seemed to register the existence of her two classmates. Her face turned paler and she murmured something to her daughter, smiling as best she could. The child grinned and happily skipped out past the pair. Unease filled the confines of the four walls before she finally spoke.

"What'd she say?" Her tone was weary and strained.

"Halia says that you're her mother." Rachel said slowly, confused and awaiting an explanation. "Why wouldn't you tell anyone about her?"

"Because she isn't my daughter." Melissa smiled sadly, looking at the ceiling. She seemed so tired. "But, she is my sister. She's in foster care at the moment, or at least she was until she had the nerve to go find her. I'm stunned that anyone knew how to contact her." She paused for a moment, glancing over to give Rachel and Brooke time to absorb the information.

"She wouldn't really know I was her sister since she was too young. I got emancipated from my parents when I was fifteen. Two years before that, they had Halia. Didn't treat her any better than they did me. Never made sense that they wanted her if they weren't going to care for her. I made a rather convincing case to social services and they took Halia away from my parents. I've been trying to keep track of her and running away from them ever since. Sometimes they find foster families that want me to be active in her life. I was there for her first few steps, the first time she ran. Everything. Most of the families thought I was a great sister. For some reason or other, Halia started calling me mama and that was that.

And then, a few months after that, she just showed up. At that point I was in Los Angeles. I had friends to be my surrogate family and I knew that Halia was doing well in a nice place. They were good to her. One day Idylla comes bursting into my apartment, screaming insults and demanding to know where her daughter was. First I stood my ground, and then I started getting scared by the things she was saying and called the police on my cell phone behind back. Thank god for speed dial. They came and took her away.

I packed up and moved again. Ended up in Pinedale, Wyoming. Settled for about three months, then my father starts invading my life. After the third place, Chicago, I ended up in Boston. I knew that Halia had ended up with a family that moved there, so it seemed logical. I lived there for about a year and just over six months. It was just before my birthday, I had a steady and happy relationship and then my parents manage to break into my house and scream at both of us about sinning and burning in hell. When I officially turned eighteen, I managed to grab custody of Halia. They were more than happy about turning her over, though sad to see her go. Now I'm here and so is Idylla." There was one thing in particular about something she mentioned that caught Brooke's attention for a brief moment.

"What about the relationship?" The brunette asked slowly.

"I broke it off. Then decided it'd be best if I turned Halia to the orphanage. They'd take better care of her than I ever would. Just told her that'd she'd live with some nice people until I could come get her. So, now I just visit her." Melissa's gaze turned to the door once more. She seemed to be keeping an eye on whatever Halia was doing.

"Now, are you going to tell me where Peyton is?" Rachel bit her lip, glancing sideways at Brooke. Melissa looked annoyed. "That hell bitch better not have shot her again, I swear if she did-"

"No, no." Brooke intervened hurriedly. "Peyton's…two doors down from here. Doctor doesn't want her on her leg immediately. They already hooked her up with a cast and crutches, though. She's knocked out on morphine right now. But…"

"Are you dating?" Rachel had more than her fair share of suspicions, but she somehow knew that she wasn't the only one. Brooke wasn't an idiot, nor was she blind to the way they acted together. And yet, she knew she wasn't asking this for Brooke's sake. No, it had a double purpose. Her dark haired companion took the chance to insert her own words, "I mean, it's cool if you are. Just please tell the truth, please?"

"Peyton wanted…"

"So you are." Rachel saw a flicker in Brooke's eyes, a myriad of rampaging emotions. Obviously it wasn't something that Brooke was particularly pleased about. In fact, from that one millisecond of her shield lowering had revealed a bit jealousy. She used that minute to back from the room, smiling slightly at the girl on the bed. Rachel could see Halia timidly listening to Skills and Bevin, both of whom seemed more than happy to keep her occupied. The pair had attracted the attention of the rest of the group. Haley had a small smile on her face, as did her husband. Kenzie laughed at something that was said.

Rachel remained behind, wanting to give comfort to the confused and more than a little anxious teenager. She knew that Brooke had headed off to sit by Peyton's bed once more. The young woman had been there for hours, just watching over her. When her attention shifted back to Melissa, her heart stopped for a few seconds. Melissa had been absently tearing at the bandages and stitches in her arm. As a result, part of the wound seemed to have opened up again, because her blood was dripping through the white cloth, sending slow droplets to the floor.

"Can we get a nurse in here?" Rachel called into the hallway, hurrying over her side. Melissa had an expression of mild surprise on her face as she lifted the arm into the air, not really having any other reaction to her bleeding. She did not look like a happy girl, in any case. Not that she should, after what had just happened. But, she did give Rachel a grateful smile.

X x X x

"You're sure you can manage?"

Her ever-doting girlfriend kept a hand on her shoulder blade. Peyton gave her a brilliant smile, amused at how worried she was. It had been almost nine days since they had both checked out of the hospital. Larry Sawyer, her father, had taken time to come home and make sure that his baby girl would be safe before he left again. It was about three days after they left the care of nurses and doctors that they had told him about their relationship. Peyton remembered her partner's increasingly pale face and the way she stood stiffly.

Her cruel, wonderful father had intimidated her for no other purpose other than to have a bit of fun. He had stood there for a full minute, looking Melissa up and down in a threatening manner the entire time. At that point, Mel had actually been shaking a little bit, trying to hold down her panic. It was at that point that he broke into a grin and held out his hand for her to shake. Peyton had given her father a stern look, but couldn't help but smile.

"Yes, Melissa. I'm doing fine, you don't have to be my bodyguard." Peyton's eyes sparkled. It was the afternoon; the sky was illuminated to an astounding shade of blue by the bright sun. Melissa pretty much refused to let Peyton out of her sight.

"Ah, you have superpowers, Bubbles. I wouldn't dream of being your guard." Her tone was innocent enough. They had ventured to a secluded little spot in a small park that people rarely came to because it was so far out of the way. But, it was quite beautiful with its flowers and tiny pond home to many a fish and frog. Melissa cast a quick look around before slipping her arms around Peyton's waist and settling her chin on her shoulder. She placed a light kiss on her neck, sighing contentedly.

"Now, Larry expects you back by seven. He told me that specifically under penalty of a very severe verbal beating on my part. Your dad can be scary." Melissa murmured in her ear, trailing a number of smaller, brief kisses up her neck, the side of her jaw and behind her ear. Peyton made a soft noise in her throat, her heart thudding inside her chest. "There are other ways to keep you occupied, if you aren't too tired."

"Melissa…" Peyton's voice was somewhere between a moan and a whimper. Her partner laughed, her breath against her ear. In her current condition, they really couldn't do much in the category of physical activity. Peyton had never been as loose with sex as Brooke was, she just couldn't do that.

She knew that Melissa absolutely adored her and why she never pressured her into it, but she couldn't figure out why she wasn't quite ready. They'd been dating for a good length of time and Peyton loved Melissa… didn't she? She certainly had extremely intense feelings where she was concerned, but there was always that voice in her head that reminded her of someone else whenever she started to get comfortable.

Brooke.

No matter how much she tried to leave that particular emotional attachment behind to get closer to Melissa, she just couldn't. Melissa was amazing. She deserved so much better than Peyton, though she had once said that there wasn't anyone fitting those qualifications. Out of the several billion people on the planet, she knew that she needed only one. More than that –

It wasn't Melissa.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" The voice was soft and concerned. Peyton blinked rapidly, trying to suppress the overwhelming flood of emotion. It was painful, but she knew that she needed to talk to Brooke. The blonde forced a smile onto her face, observing her girlfriend's face for a moment.

"Could you take me home? Please? I just need to get some sleep."

Melissa nodded, though looked unconvinced that her excuse was the sole reason for her sudden state of discontent. There was just so much that she needed to say and not enough words in the world to say it. Of course, being the wonderful person she was, Melissa stayed until Peyton was settled into her room.

"I'll see you tomorrow," She murmured, brushing her lips across her forehead. The brunette waited a moment longer before taking her leave. Peyton rolled over on her bed and listened for the front door to close. It did a few seconds later. Her heart flooded with guilt, her hand reaching to pull her cell phone over to her. A short phone call later and some couple of minutes, the door opened again.

Brooke Davis tentatively sat at the edge of her best friend's bed, neatly pressing the discarded crutches against the wall. Peyton smiled with slight hesitance before sitting up. This could either be the biggest mistake she could make or the best conversation she could have. Peyton had almost died, and she had been thinking more of her memories of Brooke than the moments shared with Melissa. In that classroom, she had regretted never telling Brooke how she felt. She had thought that she might never get the chance. Her own mortality had become painfully real.

"Brooke, we need to talk…" She began, trying to stay light and pleasant. Her closest friend smiled quizzically, head cocking to one side. God, the way the sunlight hit her face through those few free tendrils – ah, she had to keep her mind on the task at hand.

"What's up, P. Sawyer? You know you can tell me anything." She was worried. Brooke didn't like it when conversations started off that. Usually it didn't end well for her heart as it was left in shambles that she was forced to gather up and piece back together in a long, hard process.

"Do you like Melissa?"

What an odd way to start talking… "Yes, I like her. She's good to you and she, so far, hasn't tried to take over my life." Yeah, all she took from me was you. Nice Davis.

"Yeah, I like her too." Her tone was absent, as though it was an offhanded remark she had just made. "I love her, actually." Where was she going with this? The last thing Brooke wanted to hear was Peyton talking about her relationship with Melissa. The green-eyed monster had set up residence in her heart as of late. She couldn't stand watching the pair together.

"At least I thought I did, anyway." Wait, what? "Melissa is incredible, don't get me wrong. She's so amazing and she's sweet to me. She never pressures me to do anything. Hell, she even risked her life to save me. She almost died in the school… But do you know who I was thinking of Brooke?"

"No..." Her heart had sped up tenfold, her stomach clenching on the butterflies that had made their presence known inside. She couldn't possibly be going to say what she thought she was, could she? Brooke felt that little bit of hope swell up, her mind going completely blank.

"First, in the library, I kept thinking about my first dates with Melissa. I told her I wanted to keep it a secret and she never complained. Not even once. She's unbelievably patient with whatever I ask. But, I didn't think about her for long. My biggest fear was not seeing you again, Brooke. You're my best friend."

Her heart shrank again slightly. Was that all she was to Peyton? Her oldest and best friend from her trying childhood? Was that it? Maybe they were just destined to be friends and nothing more. Brooke couldn't live like that again. She pushed a small smile onto her lips, showing Peyton that she was hearing her.

"Brooke – I don't want to just be friends anymore." After all that preparation she had just done to get her heart ready to be hurt, those words caught her off-guard. "I'm tired of pretending. I love you Brooke. I've loved you forever. You were always there for me and we can talk about everything. So," She took a deep hopeful breath, her eyes frantically searching for an answer.

It was just that Brooke wasn't positive that a verbal response would suffice in the given situation. So, she opted for that of the non-verbal variety. She knew exactly what to do. Smiling and literally feeling herself glow with happiness, she leaned in and kissed her Goldilocks on the lips. At that moment, Brooke didn't give a damn that there was another heart, apart from hers and Peyton's, going to be affected. All she cared about was finally having her Peyton.

"Brooke," Her voice was breathy, though unmistakably relieved. It took her another minute to regain her composure. "Brooke, this is real, right? It's not just about…" She didn't finish the sentence, but Brooke didn't need her to. She wanted to know if she was going to be just another notch in the bedpost and if the whole thing was just about lust and jealousy than actual love.

"P. Sawyer, of course." She was puzzled, trying to figure out what was going on in her mind.

"Good, because I need to figure out –"

"How to break it off with Melissa." Brooke finished. For the first time she started to consider where Melissa stood in the matter. She and Peyton were currently dating on a very steady level. As far as Brooke knew, they had had no problems except for keeping their relationship a secret.

It was a difficult question. Peyton felt incredible when she was with her current girlfriend – but she just wasn't Brooke. At that moment, it wasn't like Peyton could possibly be aware of Melissa's little shopping trip with Rachel for a gift. Jewelry. At that very second, while Peyton and Brooke tried to figure out an end to the relationship, Melissa was only concerned with keeping it going forward and making her broody blonde happy.

And when Brooke would sneak out in the early morning hours of the following day, Melissa would be none the wiser as she entered the front door only ten minutes after her departure. Peyton would, once more, experience the déjà vu of being in a similar, if not exactly identical, situation about a year earlier with Brooke and Lucas. Of course, at that point in her life, she hadn't really known or accepted that she was bisexual leaning more towards women than men.

In the end, after being presented with a beautiful necklace consisting of a small clutch of miniature emeralds that hung just below the clavicle, she couldn't bring herself to break a heart that seemed to cherish her more than anything else. Their clandestine affair continued on whenever no one could see them. Most of the time it would be in the late hours of night and waking moments of sunrise. They made sure that no one else knew of their relationship.

One particular night, a few weeks following the shooting and the beginning of a long awaited connection, Peyton and Brooke sat in the living room with the curtains drawn so they could watch a movie. In fact, it was a slasher flick. Brooke wasn't very good with blood and gore. Not so much gore as there was blood.

"I've gotta say that October's pretty hot." Peyton grinned, nudging her still unofficial girlfriend in the ribs. Brooke squirmed at the sight of that familiar crimson liquid spreading across the scene. She found her squemish-ness more than a little adorable. In fact, everything she did seemed cute. Very few things about Brooke were unattractive.

"I bet you she dies though." The brunette cringed and snuggled closer to Peyton again closing one eye. "Who names their kid October Bantum, anyway?" She received a slight laugh and shrug in response.

"The same kind of people that name their son Felix." Brooke eyed the blonde suspiciously for a moment before returning to her cringing. Peyton couldn't have been happier and more guilt-ridden at the same time. Her actual girlfriend was in the dark about her supposedly faithful partner's dates with Brooke. No one knew. Peyton knew that it wasn't at all fair to treat a girl that loved her like dirt, but she couldn't make herself break up with her either. "Come on Brooke, she looks just like you. You know that Sophia Bush is sexy."

Brooke rolled her eyes, grinning to herself. Yes, okay, so Peyton was right. October was simply a black-haired Brooke with a punkass attitude and an aptitude for video games. The real Brooke had only ever played Mario on an old Gameboy back in the day and then got good at car racing games at the arcade those few times they went there. Peyton was about as talented, if not less, than Brooke at games like that. Sometimes they might go try and beat Nathan at some game, but they usually failed miserably. They even lost against Haley.

As Brooke had predicted, the lovely and feisty October Bantum died later in the movie. She was hung by the ankles upside down with the Blood Countess before her. Her throat was slit and out spilled forth her life. She hadn't gone down without her own verbal punches and she had never lost her spirit. There was something about her that Peyton found herself admiring.

Sincerity.

Every word from her mouth was sincere. Even within the sarcasm, the anger or the spite, each syllable was completely truthful. When she interacted and rolled her eyes with her younger brother, nothing she did was half-hearted. Not many people were like that. Usually things were said with just annoyed sarcasm or irritable words to brush people off or even the forced smile to convince everyone else that you were okay and nothing was wrong.

With 6,525,170,264 people in the world, it was very seldom that you found the one you need on the first try. Sometimes people got lucky. What about those that managed to find the one they would want for the rest of their lives? And what if they had been too afraid to go after them? What if they built a relationship with another – one who believed it was the real thing? It would truly be the funeral of hearts when the webs unraveled at their feet.

Now, how about the one that believed in you no matter what the obvious signs said to contradict it? That misled love and the heart that so firmly attached itself to another – would it always end badly? Peyton cringed away from her thoughts mentally, turning her attention back to Brooke. The brunette was curled comfortably against her, one hand lightly tracing down her collarbone. Peyton smiled and leaned down to kiss her.

How amazing it was to think of the simple actions that could destroy something as fragile as a heart. Peyton knew that Brooke now understood how she had felt when she had been involved with Lucas. She had said not to worry. She had said that they could explain themselves when the time came; that it wouldn't be too difficult. Of course, betrayal always seems easy until it's discovered.

And discovery is inevitable.