Title: Ashes of Dreams you Let Die Part Two

Character: Victoria Davis

She was only 18 years old, fresh out of high school with little life experience. Having grown up with absentee parents; she didn't know how to raise a child, she didn't even know how to look after herself properly; hell she was still a kid herself. And clearly, Ted was going to be an absentee father despite his promises. He should be here comforting her… but he wasn't. And he probably never would be. It simply wasn't who he was.

She didn't even love Ted. He was a nice enough guy and all but he wasn't James Richter. She'd secretly loved James for a long time now but couldn't do anything about it. Her parents pushed her towards Ted because he had money. Having grown up a high society girl; it was her plan in life. Her parents and Ted's parents belonged to the same country club and had basically already planned the marriage for them when they were fifteen years old. Ted was going to inherit his father's multi-billion dollar company and go on to do great things with his life. He was pretty much set. But she loved James; a boy who came from a middle working class family. If she settled for James her parents would automatically disown her and the life of money and power would be ripped away from her. As much as she loved the way James treated her, she wasn't sure she could handle not being rich; it was a part of her, coursing through her veins. It was who she was and who she was always destined to be. And the life growing inside of her was the only thing that would keep her bound to Ted forever.

The sound of the doorbell ringing shot through her ears as she jerked up from her spot in front of the TV. She muted her TV program before retreating to the door and throwing it open casually.

James Richter stood on her doorstep, looking just as adorable as ever, a huge smile etched across his handsome face. "Vicki…" he smiled breathlessly. "Hey…"

"James…" she nodded stoically, her eyes traveling towards the floor.

"I've got gas in the car and my bags packed. Now all you have to do is pack yours…."

"Excuse me?" she blinked, her eyes lifting forward and staring him hard in the face. "What are you…?"

"The promise I made to you…" he reminded her. "Remember we were going to run away, leave this life behind and just go wherever the car takes us…"

"James we can't…"

"Why not?" he asked, scratching the back of his neck cautiously. "I thought…"

"I know what you thought," she nodded, a tear falling from her eye. "I want to leave this life behind so bad b-but I- I can't…"

"Why not Vicki? I thought you loved me? You said we could finally be together…"

"I know," she sighed, a part of her breaking inside. This was the hardest thing she's ever had to do. "But I-I can't because…"

He looked at her hand and caught sight of the ring. "Because, you can't leave the money and power behind… I get it… You chose Ted… Well I hope you have a nice life Victoria… you deserve it."

"Wait," she whispered, grabbing his wrist and forcing him to turn back around. "I didn't want this James. You have to believe me when I tell you this. Ted proposed to me after I found out I was two months pregnant," she whispered, touching her belly. "He says he's going to be there for me and the baby."

James looked at her, blue eyes widened in shock and disbelief, as he struggled to find the right words. "Yeah and we all know how well Ted Davis keeps his promises," James mumbled, bitterness tainting his words. The guy was always making promises to Victoria and never keeping his end of the bargain. "Look Vicki… we can still do this," he whispered, grabbing her hand and intertwining her fingers with his. "I can help you raise this child and we can be a family. Please? We can do this…"

"No…" she shook her head, brunette locks falling into her face. "We can't… It's not fair to Ted, this is his child too… I can't just leave and not let him know his own freakin' child!"

"Please…"

"Just go James. It wasn't meant to be, okay? You deserve a woman who's going to give you everything and you'll find her someday but that girl isn't going to be me."

"But what about love? Isn't that enough?"

"Sometimes love isn't enough…" she recited, her voice cracking slightly. "I'm sorry James…"

"Yeah me too," he whispered dejectedly, giving her a sad smile, and turning to exit her life for good. "Have a nice life…" he whispered quietly as the door shut behind him.

As she heard the door shut, she collapsed to the floor, her back sliding down against the door until she was a pile on the floor, head in hands. Sobs overtook her body, shaking it uncontrollably. In a single moment, every one of her dreams had died. And she hated herself for it. She looked at her still slim stomach, disgust crossing her face. It was that very day that Victoria Davis had decided to solely blame the life that was developing inside of her for ruining every chance she'd had at achieving her dreams. As she watched her dreams burn into ashes, a vicious flame engulfing what was left of the passion, love, desire, and drive that had once burned so brightly inside of her, she felt her entire soul die and turn to ice. And looking back on it, the miserable woman she'd become had been a result of the love that she'd lost that day. It could have saved her but her selfishness had won the fight and darkened her heart.

AN: Lift-me-up, I love all of your ideas! I've already planned a Julian/Peyton one, which will come a little later and I also love your idea of a Julian one based on his childhood, I never would have thought to do that. I'm also thinking of doing one about Brooke growing up as well. I am definitely open to doing a Chase/Mia friendship one, in fact I think it's a great idea. Although I do ship Chase/Alex, I did like Chase/Mia as a couple at one time and I think they work great as friends. So that will be coming right up for you! This is part two for my Victoria fic, I thought your idea would fit really well as a part two to accompany my first one. I hope I did Victoria some justice in this one. And if you have any more requests or ideas they would be greatly appreciated.