Thank you so much for the reviews on the last chapter, guys! I'm glad you're all liking this story. I'm enjoying writing it, and I really never liked Carmen after she shoved Spencer, then hit on Ashley. I hope you enjoy the next chapter, and don't forget to review. I love to hear your thoughts.

Chapter Two: A Cry For Help

I walked into the apartment and threw my keys onto the table by the front door. Kyla came out of her room, a toothbrush stuck in her mouth, toothpaste frothing at her mouth.

"Hey," she said, her voice muffled by the toothbrush.

I didn't answer. Instead, I walked over to the couch and plopped down. I heard Kyla gurgling in the bathroom, and seconds later she came out, wiping her mouth on her towel. She plopped down beside me and hit me gently on the knee.

"What's up?" she asked, but I was too stuck in my thoughts to answer her. She waved a hand in front of my face. "Hey, earth to Ashley."

I finally came to. "What?" I asked, annoyed. I turned my head to look at her, and she gave me a smile, trying to cheer me up.

"What's going on? Where have you been? I woke up at 5:00 and you weren't here." She got up and headed into the kitchen. I heard her digging around for some cups. That's when the smell of freshly brewed coffee hit my nostrils, and I welcomed it as Kyla poured us some.

She walked back over and handed me a cup, and I took it, nodding my thanks to her. She sat back down beside me and took a sip of hers.

"Are you going to answer me?" She asked.

I looked into my coffee cup, my thoughts running through my head a million miles a minute. I looked at my reflection in the coffee, and I realized how I must have looked. I ran a hand through my hair subconciously. I hadn't even had time to brush it before I hurried off to Spencer's.

Realizing I was ignoring Kyla, I turned to her, only to find her staring at me, a concerned expression on her face.

"I was at Spencer's," I finally said, taking a gulp of my coffee.

Kyla was taken by surprise, and she raised her eyebrows. "Are you guys seeing each other again?"

I shook my head and set my coffee down on the table. "She's just going through some stuff lately."

"It's good that you're there for her," Kyla replied, nodding her head in approval.

"I wish I could do more than be there for her," I admitted, shaking my head. I sat forward, putting my head in my hands. Kyla was silent beside me, obviously thinking. I finally turned to her after a few countless seconds. "How can you help someone who doesn't want to be helped?"

Kyla pursed her lips as she thought. "The best thing you can do is be there for her."

"What if that's not helping?"

Kyla grinned goofily. "Well, when Aiden kept trying to test the boundaries of his life, I hit him. That seemed to knock some sense into him."

I rolled my eyes. "That's all Spencer needs right now," I replied darkly.

Kyla finally looked at me, concern plain in her eyes. "Is everything okay, Ashley?"

"No." I sat back, letting out a sigh. "No, nothing is okay."

"Well, what's going on?"

"It's a long and complicated story," I replied, standing up. I grabbed my coffee and started into my room, Kyla hot on my heels.

"If you hadn't noticed, both our lives are long and complicated stories. Sharing a rock star dad, finding out about one another only a year ago." She watched as I sat down on my bed. "I'd say after everything we've been through, I can keep up with complicated."

"I just don't know how to help her. She's different now. She's not the Spencer I knew and love." I ran a hand over my face and let out an aggravated sigh. "Everything is just so wrong."

Kyla sat down beside me. "I care about Spencer, too. If something is going on, I want to know."

I looked over at her, and she put an arm over my shoulders, pulling me into a hug. I pulled away and picked up my coffee cup, handing it to her.

"Better get more coffee, then."

**********

The first time it happened, Spencer had called me. I had been laying on my couch, trying to catch some sleep after going to Ego with Kyla. I heard the phone blaring in my ear. Annoyed, I reached over and picked it up.

"Hello?" I asked groggily, wiping my eyes with my spare hand.

That's when the phone went dead. I swore to myself and sat up, smacking the phone against my knee. "Stupid cheap phone," I muttered, checking the caller log. I flipped through the log, ignoring my mother's constant attempts to contact me. That's when I reached her name. A smile spread across my face and I reached for Kyla's phone, dialing her number.

She answered on the first ring. "Hello?" She asked, and I noticed instantly that she had been crying. When Spencer cries, her voice gets weak and low, almost like she has a cold.

"It's Ashley," I said. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she answered. "I just called to tell you I can't make it to breakfast today."

I felt myself frown. "What? It was your idea to have breakfast everyday when we broke up."

"I know. Something's...going on. I just can't make it, okay?" She snapped at the last sentence, and I felt myself wince as I nodded my head.

"Alright, alright. I get it," I muttered. "I should probalby go before Kyla finds out I'm using up her minutes." I paused for a minute, her breathing heavy on the other line. "Are you sure everything is okay?"

She hesitated for a few seconds. "Everything is fine." Her voice was flat, and I knew instantly that she was lying.

I ran a hand through my hair and let out a sigh. "Alright. I guess I'm doing breakfast solo then."

"I'm sorry," she answered, then she hung up.

I disconnected and looked at the phone, my eyebrows furrowing. I heard footsteps behind me and turned to see Kyla coming out of her room, looking dishevelled. Her hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail, and her mouth opened wide as she attempted to stop herself from yawning. She continued onto the kitchen but stopped and turned around.

"Is that my phone?"

I nodded and set it down, still looking at it. "I had to call Spencer. Sorry."

"Whatever, but you're paying for the minutes," she replied, continuing into the kitchen.

**********

I made my way to Spencer's door, two brown paper bags weighing heavily in my hands. I managed to knock lightly on the door with my knee. Seconds later the door opened, and Spencer showed herself. I thought I saw a hint of a small smile cross her face, but it quickly faded.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, moving aside to let me in.

I held up the paper bags. "Since you couldn't come for breakfast, I brought breakfast to you." I started into the kitchen and set the bags on the table. I turned around and started digging through the cupboards, looking for plates, while Spencer got out the bagels and coffee.

"You didn't have to do this," she said, unwrapping a bagel and placing it on a plate I handed her.

I shrugged. "We've been having breakfast every morning since we..." I stopped and she looked up at me. "Broke up." I forced the last two words out of my mouth, then decided to occupy myself with grabbing the coffees out of the bag.

Spencer sat down at the table, absently picking at her food. I sat down opposite her and stuffed the bagel in my mouth, realizing then how hungry I really was. It was silent for a few minutes as I chewed and Spencer picked at her bagel, only reaching for her coffee ocassionally.

I swallowed my mouthful of food. "So how's Carmen?"

Spencer looked up at me, obviously surprised that I was asking. "You really want to know?" She asked.

I wanted to answer truthfully, and tell her I didn't care about Carmen. But if Carmen made her happy, then I wanted to talk about something to cheer her up.

I nodded and stuffed another piece of bagel into my mouth. "Yeah, I do." I washed down my lies with a sip of coffee, wincing as it burned my throat.

Spencer finally took a bite of her bagel. "She's fine," she said plainly.

I raised an eyebrow. "That's it? Nothing new?"

Spencer shook her head and stood up, heading to the sink. She threw her bagel in the garbage and started to rinse her plate off. I stood up as well and took my plate over to her, and she took it from me, wiping the crumbs into the garbge.

"Are you guys getting along okay?" I inquired, leaning on the sink.

Spencer put the plates in the dish rack and turned to me, drying her hands on a dish rag. "Everything is going great," she forced a smile. "We've just gotten into a few fights. Nothing big." She walked back over to the table and started wiping it with the dish rag.

That's when I saw it.

Her sweater had lifted up as she reached across the table. A large bruise was placed on her back. My eyes widened and I walked over to her."Spence?" I asked, my eyes still glued to her bruise.

Spencer turned around, her shirt falling back down. "Yeah?" She asked.

I didn't know how to ask her what I thought was going on. I hesitated, and I probably looked like an idiot standing there, my mouth open as I contemplated what to say.

"That bruise. What happened?" I asked, trying to sound as calm as possible.

A flash of regret flashed in Spencer's eyes, and she subconsciously wrapped her arms around her waist, holding her sweater down. "I was at Chelsea's paint studio and I fell into the wall."

"You fell into the wall?" I asked skeptically.

"Yeah, I tripped over one of her paint buckets." Spencer said, avoiding my gaze. She pushed herself off the table and walked to the sink again, placing the dish rag on it. "It's not a big deal."

"How hard did you hit it?" Even I knew, in all my clumsiness, that falling into a wall would not cause as bad a bruise as Spencer had on her back.

"It's not important. I'm clumsy, that's it. You've known me three years."

"Yeah, and I've never seen you with a bruise, except that one time that guy elbowed you in the face." She visibly winced at this, and my eyes widened. "Did someone hit you?" I asked suddenly.

"What?" She asked, shocked. "No. Who would do that?" She was hesitating.

"Almost anybody with a bad temper." I stepped forward, and she stumbled away from me, hitting the counter. "Spencer, tell me." I walked right up to her, pinning her against the sink. "Did someone do this to you." My voice was stern.

She lowered her eyes to the ground and shook her head. I could see tears start to well up in her eyes. "I just got into a fight, that's it."

"Who was it?" I demanded.

"It doesn't matter. They're not going to bother me again." She pushed against me, forcing me to step back.

I grabbed her and gently pushed her back to the sink, placing my arms on both sides of her so she wouldn't escape. "Tell me the name." I whispered, lowering my face to hers.

"Why? Why do you need to know?" She asked.

I grinned, but there was no smile in it. "Amuse me."

"Get off me," she hissed.

"Tell me first." I replied, knowing that sounded like a fifth graders response. When Spencer didn't answer, I lowered my face a little more, so that I was only inches away from hers. "You can trust me," I whispered, locking eyes with her. "Believe it or not, Spencer, I care about you. If someone has hurt you, I just want to know who it is."

"Glen," she finally answered. "We were fighting over the remote, and he pushed me off the couch. I landed on my stomach and he jumped on my back." She forced a laugh. "I got him back, though, don't worry."

Something didn't fit right with me. "Glen's your brother. And while he's a complete asshole, he would never hurt you like that." I shook my head and turned around. "You're lying, Spencer." I turned to face her, to see that she was trembling. "Obviously you don't trust me enough to tell me the truth."

"You're the one who brought this whole thing up."

"Have you seen the size of the bruise? That's not something you get from falling into a wall, or having your big brother jump on you. It looks more like someone kicked you."

"What do you want me to say, Ashley!? I told you the truth, but you won't accept it." Spencer flung her arms out.

It was silent in the room for a few minutes, the only sound was our heavy breathing. Finally, I raised my head. "Glen really jumped on you?" I asked, narrowing my eyes a little.

Spencer nodded vigorously. "Yes. I would never lie to you, Ashley. And Glen has been apologizing ever since. He's grounded for putting a boot size print on my back."

I walked back over to her and grabbed her hand, pulling her into a hug. "I'm sorry," I mumbled. "I didn't mean to overreact."

Spencer pulled away and laughed. "You always were a little too protective."

I smiled and wiped a piece of stray hair behind her ear. A tense moment passed. I felt like a statue, standing there, still as can be, my hand cupping her face. I wanted more than anything in that moment to just lean down and-

She cleared her throat, interrupting my thoughts. I stepped back, my hand falling off her face. I felt a blush coming on, realizing what a stupid move that was. "I should go," I said, nodding towards the front door. "When I left, Kyla had Aiden over. God only knows what those two would be doing." I stood there for another second. "Okay, so yeah. I'll see you later." I turned and hurried out of the kitchen, feeling her eyes burn a hole through my back the entire time.

By the time I had gotten out to my car, Glen and Spencer's parents had returned. I turned to them and waved. Paula didn't look to happy to see me. Of course, when is she ever happy to see me? Arthur waved back at me, trying to balance a brown bag in his other hand.

I walked over to Glen and grabbed one of the bags from him, relieving him of overloading himself.

"Thanks," he muttered, closing the trunk with his free hand.

"Nice move, by the way." I said, walking with him to the front door.

He set the bag down on the step and turned to look at me. "Move? What are you talking about?"

"Jumping on Spencer, giving her that huge bruise. I heard you're grounded."

Glen let out a laugh. "I never touched her, and I'm not grounded." He picked up the bag and took the one from me, cradling it in the crook of his arm. "Whatever she's telling you, it's a lie." He looked me over before heading into the house, closing the door behind him.

I don't know how long I stood there, my eyes glued to the door.

But at that point, I was absolutely sure of one thing.

Spencer was hiding something.

And I was going to find out what it was.

**********

I decided to do some investigating of my own, so I went down to Chelsea's paint studio. I opened the door, the smell of fresh paint hitting my nose. I smiled automatically. This place was like a second home to me. This had always been mine and Spencer's spot, when the whole world was against us. All the time we spent in here. All the -

"Ashley?" Another voice interrupted my thoughts. Again.

I turned and saw Chelsea coming towards me, a paintbrush in her hand. She wiped her hands on her smock. "What are you doing here?" She asked. Then, as if she thought she had offended me, she quickly replied, "Not that you're not ever welcome here."

I smiled as Chelsea rambled on. Finally I held up my hand, cutting her off. "Thanks, Chelsea, I get it." I watched her as she leaned over to dip her paintbrush in some paint. She stood up straight and started painting on a blank canvas.

"So, not that I'm not glad to see you, but what brings you here?" She asked, turning to look at me. A little drop of paint fell down onto her smock, and she absently wiped at it, making the spot spread. She looked down and swore to herself, then looked back up at me. "Spencer isn't here, as you can see." She smiled and went back to her painting.

"Actually, I came here to talk to you about Spencer."

This caught Chelsea's attention. She turned back to me and set her paintbrush down. "What about Spencer?" She asked.

I self consciously put my hands in my pockets and shifted my feet on the spot. "Have you noticed anything different about her lately?"

Chelsea thought for a few seconds, cocking her head to the side. "She has been quieter than usual lately. I just thought it was because her and Carmen got into a fight the other night."

This perked my interest. "Her and Carmen got into a fight?" I asked. "Over what?"

Chelsea shrugged. "You know Carmen. She has a hot temper." She dipped her paintbrush in a glass of water. "Between you and me, I don't like her. That girl gives me a bad feeling."

I took a seat on one of the boxes. That's when the corner of the room caught my eye. "What happened there?" I asked, indicating to the mess. A few paintings were pushed over, broken bottles of paint and paint remover spilled on the floor.

Chelsea looked over to where I was pointing. "Ask Carmen."

"Carmen did this?"

"I'm not sure what happened, to be honest."

I stood up and walked over to the mess, kneeling down. "What do you think happened?"

"I don't want to rush to conclusions, but when I got back from Ego, Spencer was sitting on the floor crying. I asked her what happened, and all she told me was that she and Carmen got into a fight. Before I could get anything else out of her, she left."

"Obviously in a hurry," I mumbled, noticing Spencer's I.D on the ground. I picked it up and examined it. I raised an eyebrow and looked at Chelsea. "Do their fights ever get physical?" I asked, standing up.

"Has something happened to Spencer?" Chelsea asked, suddenly alarmed.

I didn't want to worry her, so I shook my head. I placed the I.D in my pocket and smiled. "No. Carmen just...gives me a bad feeling, too." I nodded my thanks to Chelsea. "Just do me a favour, okay?"

"Anything," Chelsea replied.

"Keep an eye on Spencer. If anything unusual comes up, I want you to call me."

Chelsea furrowed her eyebrows. "Unusual how?"

I shrugged, trying to stay as inconspicuous as possible. "If they get into anymore fights. If Carmen does something."

"Something's happened, hasn't it?"

I knew she'd see through my fake smile. I slowly nodded. "I'm not sure what it is, but Carmen is bad news, Chelsea."

Chelsea took a seat and hunched forward. "God, this is all my fault. I'm the one who put them together. I thought they'd make such a perfect couple." She lowered her head into her hands.

I sat down beside her and put an arm around her shoulders. "It's not your fault. I don't even know if it's true. I just have this feeling in the pit of my stomach that Spencer isn't telling the truth."

Chelsea looked up at me, her eyes brimming with tears. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

I paused for a second. Then, I felt a small smile spread across my lips. "Do you have Carmen's home address?"

**********

I had sat in my car for what seemed like two hours before I finally got the nerve to go up and knock on the door. I heard a baby cry out, and a woman shouting, telling it to be quiet. I was about to turn around and jump back into my car when I heard the door open.

A young woman popped her head out, looking me up and down, her eyes scrutinizing every move I made. "What?" She asked, almost rudely.

"Is Carmen here?" I asked, trying not to stutter my words.

The woman took a deep breath and closed the door. I heard her shout Carmen's name. A few seconds later Carmen came to the door, looking well...let's just say she didn't look happy to see me.

"What are you doing here?" She asked. I guess rudeness runs in the family.

"I was just wondering if Spencer was here," I lied.

Carmen raised an eyebrow. "Does it look like this house has enough room for Spencer, too?"

"Hey, speaking of Spencer, how are you guys doing?"

Carmen crossed her arms over her chest. "That's really none of your business."

I held up my hands. "Okay, I'm just trying to be nice."

"Go home, Ashley." She said, shaking her head. She started to close the door, when I caught it with my foot. She gave me a puzzled look.

"You should apologize to Chelsea," I said.

Carmen scoffed. "For what?"

"Ruining two of her paintings, when you threw Spencer into the wall." Okay, so subtlety isn't one of my skills.

"She told you?" Carmen asked.

I have to admit, I was a little surprised she didn't deny it. I was not expecting that. Another thing I wasn't expecting was the look on Carmen's face. Like she hadn't done anything wrong. "If I knew you weren't going to deny it, I would have come to you first," I snapped.

"It was one time." Carmen shrugged it off. "I told her I was sorry, and frankly, it's none of your business."

I felt my temper starting to flare again, and I gritted my teeth. "It is my business when Spencer is involved."

"You two broke up! You no longer have a place in her life." She smiled smugly. "I'm her new love."

"You stay the hell away from her!"

"Make me."

I would've. I swear, I was gonna put Carmen in her place. But then I noticed a big monster come up behind her. My eyes widened as the big bear looked down at me, scratching at his goatee.

"Is there a problem here?" He asked, his voice rough.

Carmen, still looking at me, and obviously enjoying my surprise, shook her head. "She was just leaving. Weren't you, Ashley?"

I stepped off the steps backwards, tripping a little. I couldn't take my eyes off the burly man in the doorway, cracking his knuckles. I got into my car and peeled out of the driveway, not looking back once.

**********

"You ran away?" Kyla asked, slightly surprised.

I looked at her, offended. "I didn't run. I would've punched her right out, if her big burly friend hadn't come to the door. And something tells me he's not against hitting girls." I laid back on my bed and sighed. "What am I supposed to do? This is the second time Carmen's hit her."

Kyla pursed her lips. "Well, there might be one way to show Spencer that Carmen is bad news."

I sat up, intrigued. "Really?"

Kyla nodded. "Yeah. But I have a feeling you're not going to like the plan."

I struggled with this chapter, so I hope it came off as a good read. I hope you enjoyed it, and I can't wait to hear your thoughts!