Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my imagination.

Author's Note: Thanks again for the reviews. I really appreciate them!! I'm not doing so well at making the chapters longer =[ I'll keep trying though. Anyways, enjoy. =]

ps. I'm so so sorry about the constant deleting and reposting of this chapter. For some reason there was heaps of random text that kept appearing at the beginning of the chapter that would only rear it's ugly head once I'd posted it. Sorry.

His harsh fingers curled around the torn skin of her neck, pulling her closer to him. He snickered and she stumbled forward, tears lacing her tattered cheeks.

"You don't have to fight it, I know you want this too."

She flinched, trying desperately to pull herself from his unyielding grasp.

"The more you fight it, the worse it will be. Just let yourself enjoy this Peyton."

He reached forward, gently wiping the tears from her stinging cheeks. A smirk tugged at his cheeks as she recoiled from his touch.

"Don't fight it…don't fight it Peyton. You know you're mine."

--

An eerie silence echoed throughout the Scott residence as Lucas stood over his younger brother Nathan.

"Hey Luke, what's up?" Nathan questioned, catching sight of his older brothers blonde locks out of the corner of his eye. "Get out!" Nathan turned to query Lucas's outburst, only to fall victim to his fist. "What the hell man?" Nathan yelled, peeling himself from the ground and holding his now bleeding nose.

"I said get out!"

Nathan's gaze flickered towards his angered brother. His fists were clenched, eyes thick with hatred, breath trembling.

"Why?"

Lucas's eyes flung wide open at Nathans questioning. "Why? Why? You want to know WHY?" he took a step forward, crouching down in front of his brother. "Because if you don't get off the ground and leave this very instant I'll give you more than just a broken nose."

Cracking his neck, Nathan swallowed and began climbing to his feet. "And what makes you think I'm afraid of you?" Lucas's gaze intensified. "Because nobody hurts those I love and gets away with it."

Fists flew. Furniture crumpled. Glass smashed.

"I said get out."

--

Her fingers trailed the yellowing bruises on her frail forearm, deep in reminiscent thought. She could hear Brooke comforting Haley through the walls she considered her safeguard from the world. "What about Jamie?" Peyton fell to the mattress of the bed, sinking deep into the blankets and sheets. Her thoughts began to wander, twisting through the broken and devastated wounds that battered her soul. Her fingers danced across her stomach absent-mindedly as she laid down, blonde locks spreading across the blankets. She was going to be a mother. She was going to have a child. Lucas was going to be a father. A single tear began to make its way down her cheek.

He would have made a great father.

Her fingers stopped their gentle tracks along the scared skin of her stomach.

He'd always wanted children.

Her nails dug into the already torn skin, scratching and tearing away at her healing wounds.

But she lost HIS child.

Blood began to seep from the wounds, lacing her fingers with crimson pleas to stop.

He'd never forgive her.

She bit down hard on her bottom lip, as pain etched its way throughout her…but she continued anyways.

She'd never forgive herself.

--

The bitter wind clung tightly to his stinging wounds. The gentle roll of the water behind him combined with the rustle of the leaves as Nathan stared at the harsh bitumen of the river court. He glanced over the words of love that adorned the surface, noting a dark red stain covering the word always. He knew this to be the remnants of Peyton's attack. He shook his head, grieving for his friend and his brother. Get out! The brother who had already been through so much pain. Get out! The brother who'd longed for the love of Peyton Sawyer for years. Get out! The brother who'd stood by her side as she overcame the heartache of her birth mothers death, her brother's abandonment, her stalker attacks… GET OUT! The brother who had just assaulted him out of his own house. GET OFF!

The differing voice echoed through his mind, dropping him into a pool of confusion.

PLEASE! JUST STOP!

He shook his head and rubbed his eyes, puzzled as to where these memories where coming from.

GO AWAY!

Pushing through the screams that twisted through his subconscious, he returned to staring at the bitter bitumen of the River Court. His eyes fell once more the dark red blood stain.

NATHAN STOP!