A/N: Before I start, I just want to say that I'm so sorry for not updating! I had major writers block on this chapter, and I just felt stuck. I've rewritten it many times and I decided that this version is the only one that makes sense. I have slightly edited chapters 4 and 3 to convenience this chapter, though I edited chapter 3 a while ago so you may have already noticed. If you're still reading this story, I just wanna say thank you! Thus chapter is named after 3 songs: Broken by Cassie Steele, Broken by Lifehouse, and Broken by Seether.

"Which three elements make up carbohydrates?" Liberty asked JT. They were studying for a chemistry test they had the next day.

"Uh... carbon, oxygen, and... hydrogen?" he answered.

"Correct!" she replied, then pecked him on the lips, which is what they did after one of them got a question right. His lips started to form a smile.

"You're a good kisser," he giggled. "Okay, um... What is a polymer made out of bonded amino acids?" he asked her.

"Proteins," Liberty answered confidently.

"Right," he replied. He then pecked her on the lips, too.

"You're a good kisser too," she said.

"You know what else I'm good at?" he asked.

"What?" she asked.

"This!" He then started tickling her and she started laughing. He leaned in close to her, still tickling her, and said, "I won't stop until you kiss me again."

"Never!" she giggled and tried to tickle him back. Their tickle fight was interrupted when Mrs. Van Zandt walked in the front door.

"Liberty I'm hom- What is going on?!" Mrs. Van Zandt demanded to know. JT then got off of Liberty and Liberty sat up straight.

"We were studying and we just started fooling around," Liberty tried to explain.

"Okay..." Mrs. Van Zandt said, still suspicious. JT looked down at his watch.

"I gotta go. My grandma likes me to be home early," said JT as he stood up.

"I'll walk you out," said Liberty, following him.

Once they were out the door JT asked, "Why can't you just tell your parents about us?"

"I've told you before! They won't approve of us, and they'll try to keep us apart!" she replied.

"Lib, no one can keep me away from you, no matter how hard they try," JT insisted, as he walked behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, then kissing her cheek.

"Okay. I'll tell them about us," Liberty agreed.

"Really? You will?!" JT asked. Liberty nodded.

"Okay, cool. I already told my grandma about us." JT then kissed his girlfriend. "See you tomorrow Libby," he said as he got into his car.

"Liberty, we need to talk about what just happened a few minutes ago between you and James," said Mrs. Van Zandt.

"Mom, about that..." Mrs. Van Zandt raised her eyebrows. "JT... is my... boyfriend..."

"He's your boyfriend?! How long have you two been together?" Mrs. Van Zandt asked, a little mad that her daughter didn't tell her about that.

"We got together while we were still working on the play..." Liberty replied quietly.

"Why wouldn't you tell me about this?! I'm your mother! You can tell me anything!"

"I-I thought you'd be mad."

"I am mad that you didn't tell me about this. And you can definitely do better. But if you really do like James, then I guess I can't stop you two from being together," said Mrs. Van Zandt.

"Really? You'll let us be together? Thank you mother!" Liberty exclaimed, happiness in her voice. She threw her arms around her mother in a hug, and her mother hugged her back.

"Your father won't feel the same way I do about this, though, so I won't tell him yet. But you will have to tell him eventually," Mrs. Van Zandt told her daughter.

"I understand. Thank you so much!"

The next day after the test, Liberty walked over to JT's desk. "How did you do on the test?" she asked him.

"I think I did great, thanks to you, my Darling! And how did you do? Great as always, Sunshine?" Liberty smiled at his cute nicknames.

"Yes, I did good," Liberty replied. JT finished getting all his books and they walked out of the classroom together. "So I got some good news," she said.

"What?" he asked.

"I told my mom that we were dating, and she's okay with it!" Liberty said happily.

"Seriously?!" JT asked as he opened his locker and put his books up. Liberty nodded. "That's awesome!" JT pulled his girlfriend into a hug.

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell my dad yet. He'd freak," Liberty explained.

"I don't care about that. I'm just glad we don't have to sneak around your mom anymore," said JT.

"I'm glad I don't have to lie to her about where I'm going when I'm out with you," Liberty said.

"Hey, how about tonight we go see a movie? You can come over to me house first and meet my grandma, and for the first time you won't have to lie to your mom about it!" JT voiced his idea as he got his books for his next class.

"That sounds great. What time do you want me to come over?" Liberty asked.

"How about 7?"

"Works for me," replied Liberty. "See you at lunch," Liberty said as she kissed JT's cheek.

"I'm leaving now!" Liberty told her mother as she grabbed her jacket.

"Okay, remember, be home by curfew!" Mrs. Van Zandt reminded her daughter.

"Okay," replied Liberty.

Liberty walked to JT's house and then knocked on his door. "Hey!" JT said when he answered the door and pulled Liberty into a hug.

"Hey! It felt so good to not lie to my mom this time," Liberty said as she hugged him back.

"Come in," said JT. Liberty stepped into his house.

"Hi Liberty! I'm Mrs. Cooney, JT's grandmother," said JT's grandmother as she held out a hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Cooney," Liberty replied and shook Mrs. Cooney's hand.

Liberty and Mrs. Cooney talked and got to know each other, until it was time to go to the movie.

"Have fun, you two!" Mrs. Cooney said to JT and Liberty.

"We will!" JT called back as they walked out the door.

"My grandma likes you,"said JT when they got into JT's car.

"Really?" said Liberty.

"Yeah! She can tell that you've been a good influence on me, since my grades have gotten better. She hasn't really approved of any of the other girls I've ever liked."

"I'll walk you to the door," JT said as they got out of his car after they got back to Liberty's house.

"Y'know what?" said Liberty.

"What?" asked JT. They now stood outside Liberty's door.

"I'm gonna just suck it up and tell my dad about us," Liberty said.

"What if he doesn't let us go out?" JT asked.

"My mom will take my side," Liberty explained.

JT smiled. "Good luck!" JT wrapped his arms around Liberty's waist and Liberty put her arms around his neck as they both leaned in and kissed passionately.

"Good night," Liberty said when she finally pulled away.

"Good night!" JT called back as he walked back to his car.

The next night, Liberty decided to tell her dad about JT. Her mother was visiting a friend for the night, so she would be able to talk to her father privately. "Father, can I talk to you about something?" Liberty asked.

"Of course Liberty! Is it something you're learning in school?" Mr. Van Zandt asked.

"Actually it's something else. You know my friend JT?"

"Of course. He's friends with Danny, and I caught him with you in the hot tub! I don't trust that boy!" said Mr. Van Zandt angrily.

"Well, you should trust him. You should trust him because he's my boyfriend," said Liberty.

"WHAT? You're dating that imbecile?!" Mr. Van Zandt shouted. Liberty just nodded. "I will not allow you to date someone like him!" Mr. Van Zandt stood up.

"But father-" Liberty started to say. Mr. Van Zandt started to clench his fist in fury.

"BUT NOTHING, LIBERTY! I DON'T LIKE THAT BOY, AND YOU WILL NOT DATE HIM!" Before he knew it, Mr. Van Zandt's anger had gotten the best of him. He raised his fist. Liberty felt his fist connect with her face. The force of her father's punch knocked her to the ground. She reached around for her glasses. Her cheek was burning and she could feel her lip start to swell. She quickly located her glasses and put them back on. Liberty quickly got back up and started to run to the door. "Liberty! I'm sorry! I-" Liberty didn't hear the rest of her father's sentence. She already slammed the front door shut and was running on the concrete.

Liberty pulled out her cell phone and called JT. JT answered quickly.

"Hey Lib. Did you tell your dad yet?" he asked.

"Yes..." replied Liberty.

"Come over and tell me about it! My grandma's at my uncle's house for the night so we can have some alone time," he said seductively.

"Okay. I'll be there in a few minutes," Liberty replied and then hung up.

Liberty held in the tears that were trying to fight their way out as she ran to JT's house.

Liberty' knocked on JT's door. JT opened the door and started to greet her when he saw her face. "Liberty! Oh my God! What happened?" JT asked as he saw the big red mark on her cheek and below her eye and her swollen lip. JT locked his arms around Liberty and held her close to him. "Did he do this to you?" JT whispered in Liberty's ear. He could feel Liberty nod her head. He snuggled her in his arms. After a few minutes JT finally let her go. "Go up to my room. I'll go get you a bag of ice," JT told Liberty.

"Okay," said said as she went to his room. JT came in shortly after with a bag of ice. He handed Liberty the bag and she held it up to her cheek. They both sat down on JT's bed and started to talk.

"Liberty, we need to tell the cops about this," JT said seriously.

"No!"

"Why?"

"He only hit me once! This was the only time he did this! I swear!" answered Liberty. JT looked at her and raised his eyebrows. "Honest," Liberty said again. "Please!" she begged.

"Fine," JT agreed. "But if he ever does this to you again, I'm going to the cops."

"Thank you," Liberty said and hugged JT again.

"So how did this happen?" JT asked.

"I told him that I was dating you. He said that he didn't trust you. I tried to protest, but he told me I couldn't date you. I guess he just got angry and he... he punched me," Liberty explained.

"Getting angry is no excuse to ever hit your kid," said JT. "I don't ever wanna see you go through this again. You don't deserve this," JT continued, taking her hand in his.

"I've never seen you be this serious before," Liberty commented.

"I just don't want to see you ever get hurt," said JT. "And I know how much this hurts."

"You do?" said Liberty.

JT sighed. "Yeah. Toby's the only one who knows about this. I guess it's time I tell someone else, too," said JT. "When I was younger, before my dad left, he used to get drunk a lot. Then he'd come home and hit my mother and I," explained.

"Wow, JT. I'm so sorry! You definitely didn't deserve that. I'm sorry that happened to you," replied Liberty. She put her arm around around his shoulders and he laid his head on her shoulder.

"Worse has happened," JT simply answered. Liberty looked at him, as if to ask him to explain. "My... my mother died a little over a year ago," said JT.

"Do you wanna talk about it? If you do, I'll listen," Liberty said.

"I do, actually. My mother struggled with depression for most of her adult life," JT explained. "I guess that one day it all became too much for her. She overdosed on a pain killer called oxycodone. She killed herself." JT found himself choking up and a tear rolled down his face. Liberty put down her bag of ice. She caressed JT's hair with one hand and held his neck with the other, his head still on her shoulder.

"I'm so sorry," Liberty said again. "Nobody deserves all of that to happen to them."

"That's just life, I guess," JT replied. After a while, JT sat up straight again. "Thanks for listening," said JT.

"You can tell me anything. I'll always listen," replied Liberty.

"I will too," said JT. JT laid down on his bed and Liberty did too. She laid her head on his hard chest and he put his arm around her waist. "Anything you wanna talk about? Anything else about your dad?" JT asked.

"Nothing important."

"C'mon, tell me something." JT intertwined his fingers with hers.

Liberty sighed. "I guess I hate how my dad pressures me to be perfect all the time. He expects me to grow up to be just like him."

"What do you wanna be like when you grow up?" JT asked.

"I don't even know yet," Liberty answered.

"Neither do I," said JT.

"What are we even now?" Liberty asked.

"Two broken people?" JT half asked half answered. They laid in silence for a few minutes.

"JT?" Liberty asked.

"Hm?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, Liberty." JT pulled her closer, admiring how beautiful she was, even with a bruised face. He leaned closer and kissed her full, perfect lips.

"Ow." Liberty pulled away.

"Sorry, I forgot about your lip," JT said, embarrassed.

"It's okay," Liberty replied. The laid in silence again, enjoying each other's warmth and company. After a few minutes, JT looked over at his girlfriend and noticed she was asleep. He kissed her forehead and closed his eyes.