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As always-Disclaimer: I'm not the owner of One Tree Hill.
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Lilly was laying on her bed, staring at the ceiling when Karen walked in. She turned her head away from her for a moment, wiped her face and turned back around. She was relieved when she didn't notice. Karen sat down on the edge of her bed, waiting.
"We need to talk." Karen said. "It's a long time coming, so don't think you can get out of it."
"I wasn't planning on it." Lilly replied. "I get it. You were trying to protect me. Whatever, I'm over it."
"You're over it?" Karen asked incredulously. "You cannot be over it."
She shrugged. "I just…I've had time to think. I understand."
Karen gave her a look. "Lilly, please."
"I just don't want to talk about it." That was the truth. Lilly didn't care. Ever since Carter…she just didn't have the energy to care about Keith's death anymore. She did kind of understand where Karen was coming from. She still felt a bit betrayed, but truth was, she just didn't care.
"Lilly, you need to understand why I made that decision." Karen said, "When Keith died, I was so angry. With Dan, for not being a better brother, with Lucas, for going back in the school, but mostly I was just angry with the world for being so full of hate and malice. When I found out I was pregnant, everything changed. I still had a piece of Keith left, and that's what kept me going. Dan became nicer to me then, treating me like he had when we were in high school. I could never figure out why, and for a while there I didn't care. I didn't realize it until the truth was revealed, but Dan was just trying to make up for what he had done. I was so hurt by it, I didn't know what to do. But I did know that I didn't want my second child to grow up knowing what a terrible world was out there. You were right when you said I was just trying to protect you."
"I know," Lilly said. "I just wish you would've told me." She pushed her hair out of her face, putting her bruise out there to see. She wondered what Karen would say.
Karen looked at her, but didn't say anything. She stood up. "I'm gonna make some lunch. Do you want anything special?"
Lilly shook her head and watched her mom leave.
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She was sitting on the bleachers at the river court, thinking. She couldn't go to her usual thinking spot at the docks. She just couldn't be there after she found out the truth. She found it weird being here at the river court, though. It was the first time she did anything that Lucas had already done. This was why she went out with Carter in the first place-he was everything Lucas wasn't. He was the total opposite of her family. Now, she felt in over her head. She was so far in, she didn't know how to get out. She was scared to say no to him, to leave him. She was scared that he would do something worse. For the first time, fear was ruling her life.
"Hey, Lil." Jamie called as he walked up to her, basketball in hand. "Never thought I would see you here."
She looked up, shrugging. "Yeah, well…"
"Hey, what happened to your cheek?" He asked, sitting next to her.
She took a deep breath, looking away. "I fell down the stairs. No big deal." She gave him a weak smile, but he just looked at her. "Anyways, I have a question for you."
"Okay…"
"Did you know?"
And there it was. The question he had been dreading. "Yeah, I did. Lilly, I'm sorry, I should've told you."
"It's okay. I just wanted to know." She smiled at him to let him know she was okay. "Anyways, what are you doing out here?"
He stood up, and started dribbling the basketball he was holding. "Just practicing. We have a big game against the Falcons on Tuesday, so I need to practice."
"You sure you can get all the practice you need in just one day?"
Jamie made a face at her. "Ha-ha. Very funny."
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There were good days, and then there were bad days. After awhile, Lilly was able to tell how bad of a day it was just by the way he was standing. It became tradition that she went to his gigs, and when he didn't have a gig, they would just hang out. Mostly, they hung out at the beach, at night when very little people were there. The hits got worse, but there was an unspoken rule that he didn't hit her above the neck. She wore long sleeves, and pants twenty-four-seven. She started spending a lot of time in her room, asking off work from the studio so she wouldn't have to be in public. Seeing Jamie at the river court was the fifth time in the last two weeks that she had seen him, which was unusual for them. Normally, they saw each other every day. But Lilly was so exhausted, not being able to sleep with bruises all over her body. Not to mention, she was scared he would find out. Jamie always knew how to read her. She guessed it was just a benefit of being family.
When the hits got really bad, and Lilly felt like she couldn't take anymore, she would think about telling someone, but, she didn't know who to tell. Karen didn't even say anything about the first bruise on her cheek, what would make her care? And if her own mother didn't notice or care enough to notice, who would? She didn't know who to talk to. Scratch that, she knew. She just didn't know how to deal with the aftermath. She was afraid of what Carter would do to her if he found out she had told. She just didn't know what to do.
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One night, Lilly got a call from Carter telling her to meet her at the beach. She knew it was bad by the sound of his voice. She thought of not showing up, but she also knew that he would just come and find her and then it would be way worse. She thought of what she had done this time as she was driving over. She thought of nothing.
Before she stepped out of her car, she sent a text to Jamie telling him she was going to the beach with Carter. She didn't know why she sent it, she knew he and his family were having dinner with Aunt Brooke and Uncle Julian, but still, she sent it.
When she saw him sitting down, staring at the ocean, she knew something bad, really bad, had happened. She hesitantly turned around, yearning for the safety of her car. However much she yearned, her feet kept walking forward. She stood next to him, and took a deep breath.
"Hey, Carter. What's up?"
He stood when she spoke, turning to face her. "Peyton won't let me record an album. She says my songs aren't what she's looking for."
"Oh," Lilly said, not sure what to say. "I'm sorry."
"You have to talk to her."
Her head spun. "What?"
"You have to talk to her. You have to convince her I'm good enough."
"No, Carter I can't. I'm just the receptionist. And besides, Peyton won't listen to me. She never changes her mind."
"Lilly." His voice was dark.
She put her hand to her forehead when the headache started. "No, Carter, I can't. That's not my place. I'm sorry you didn't get it. It doesn't mean it's over, you just have to work at it."
"Agh!" He screamed. "You have to talk to her! You are my girlfriend, you have to talk to her!"
"I can't-"
The hitting started. Over and over, he hit her, not stopping for a second. He didn't bother with the no-face-rule. Lilly was on the ground, laying in the fetal position, praying for the pain to end. She closed her eyes as tears fell freely down her face, and everything went black.
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The next chapter will be a happier one, I promise. Thank you so much for your reviews and your support. It all means a lot to me. Let me know what you think!