I'd like to start this update with an apology. Writer's Block really took a hold of me while writing that half of the chapter, and for that, I apologize. This isn't my best work, nor am I happy with how short it is -which is why I didn't make it a chapter of its own- but hopefully you'll enjoy it anyway!

The next chapter will be a lot longer, and updated a lot faster than this one!

***

My whole body aches. This realization starts to consume me as I'm coerced out of my unconsciousness.

Blue eyes are the first thing I see when my sight focuses. A dark circle outlines his left eye, and dried blood coats the other side of his face.

"Harry?" My voice is hoarse. "What happened to you?"

The serious expression he was wearing a second ago falters a little, his lips pulling up at the corners. A humorless laugh escapes him. "I could ask you the same thing." He doesn't look much happier, even though he's smiling. It's a sad smile, filled with ill knowledge. "Who did this to you?"

I winche as he helps me off the floor. I don't remember how I made it down to my room, but I do remember asking my father, over and over again, to beat the memories out of me. The pain still hasn't gone away, my mistakes are still crushing my soul to pieces.

Harry sets me down gently on the side of my bed. "Don't worry about me," he says, but it's hard not to. The bruises he had weren't much, but the cut just above his brow and his split lip were still bleeding. Blood was drying, but more was starting to flow from the wounds.

"How'd you get in here?" I hiss and clutch my side. Andrew must have kicked me a couple times while unconscious, or something.

"Your mom let me in." For a second Harry looks like he's thinking something over, then frowns. "She has quite a few bruises too."

My vision suddenly darkens. "I know." I growl the words that come out.

"It was your dad, wasn't it?" His sudden remark surprises me, so much that I can't even reply. The silence proved his theory to be true. "Austin . . . he's the one who did this to you?"

No words are able to form in my mouth, so I just nod.

Pure shock was all over Harry's face. Even though he figured it out himself, it was the confirmation that sparked the horror in his expression.

"Why are you here, Harry?" Noticing his hesitation to answer, I add, "We can talk about Andrew later, but right now I want to know why you're here, and what happened to your face." Another lack of response. "Now!"

Harry jumps out of his trance. "I'm here because of what happened at Whittney's."

Rage pushes me off my bed into standing position. "Whittney did this to you?!" I ignore the shooting pain in my side as every muscle in my body tightens.

"Austin, will you please calm down?" Harry pleads, "This is important."

The red in the corner of my eyes was still there, but I sit back down. "Okay."

"When I got to Whittney's I automatically started accusing him for lying to me about not starting that fight a couple weeks ago. I was obviously pissed at him, and he didn't like that very much. He started accusing me of always taking your side and that I was betraying him just like you did." Harry takes in a shaky breath. "He snapped when I told him that I'd always pick you over him."

"Hare, why would you-?"

"That's not all." His hands are shaking, so he intertwines them to steady them. "He told me that if I didn't choose him and help him with what he was doing, he'd tell people-." Harry stops himself right there.

"What would he tell people? Help him with what?"

"He-. Um, well-"

"Just fucking say it!"

"Whitt wanted me to give him Sabrina's number so he could send her the pictures." He rushes through the words. "He has pictures of you and Casey at the party."

"Pictures?" My voice is barely a whisper. "How did he..?"

"Berkley."

"Agh!" Rage forces my hands to ball into fists as I get up. My hand finds the closest object, which happens to be a lamp and I throw it against the wall. I have no idea how many times I've had to buy a new one, but this one -like all the others- was no longer usable. "Did you give him the number?"

He looked like he was attempting to answer, but no words left him.

"Did you give him the-"

"N-no, of course not!" Harry finally let the words out. "I would never do that to you."

Realization hits me. "He tried to beat it out of you." I automatically start heading for the door.

"Wait, where are you going?!"

"I'm going to beat the shit out of Whittney. That's where I'm going!" Before I reach the door, Harry is already grabbing my arm and pulling me back. "What?!"

"Austin, he has my phone." When he realized I wasn't getting it, he adds. "It has Sabrina's number on it."

My hands tap nervously on the steering wheel. The thoughts in my brain are running overtime, so fast that I can barely process them. With every moment that passes, a new idea on how the next hour is going to go down beats at my subconscious.

All my fears slowly eat away at me. The closer I get to Sabrina's house, the more sickly I feel, and the less my mind can process.

I try not to think about everything that can and will go wrong right now. Right now I just need to get to get to my destination without negativity dragging me down. That's hard to do, though, when the only thing you can think about is the possibility that the person you care for might not care for you anymore.

The rapid beating in my chest now only intensified at this revelation.

When I pull into the driveway, her newly bought car is parked just a couple feet beside me. I don't dare move. My whole body is frozen in my seat, even though I know I have to move as fast as I can to make my move before Whittney makes it for me.

Unless he already made it. The thought makes me want to vomit. Sabrina would hate me for sure.

I don't know for how much longer I sat there, but eventually I gather my pride and push the door open. My legs feel like jelly as I force myself forward. Every step was like a bolt of shame pulsing through me. Standing at her front door is deafening, nothing but white noise consumed me.

The chance that Sabrina never found out kept my hope alive for the next few seconds.

Of course, that hope is something I can't count on while I knock on the door. Time seems to be moving at a weird speed. My heart races while the world around me went so slow that it practically stands still.

Eventually the door opens, and I wish it hadn't.

Once sparkling eyes -now red and puffy with tears- find mine as our gazes meet. Her hair is in a side braid, but many strands are falling out of place. Tears are still running over her cheeks, even in her attempts of wiping them away. More just took their place. The looks she gives me is so distraught that my insides scream from the pain that pours from her to me.

Her gaze is not towards me, but beyond. Maybe she hoped that I'd leave if she didn't address my existence long enough.

That wouldn't be happening. I'm not going to leave her, especially not now.

When she gets the message that me leaving isn't an option, she steps away from the door, leaving it open for me as she goes further into the depths of her house.

I follow her to the kitchen, a trail of silence falling behind us. Sabrina takes a seat on the barstool next to the counter. The whole time she barely acknowledges that I'm there, leaving me to sit beside her in stillness.

Too much time passes, but she remains quiet. Her eyes focus on a spot on the countertop. I sigh and inch my chair closer to hers. At first I want to reach out my hand, but I stop myself. The last thing she'd want right now is for me to touch her. I know that much.

A sharp breath enters me, and I force myself to speak. "I'm so, so sorry, Rina." She stays silent, so I continue. "When you came over yesterday, I tried to tell you. I tried to tell you that Berkley put something in my drink when I wasn't looking. I tried to tell you how I was tricked into making the biggest decision of my life, but you-" I stop myself before making the mistake of telling her that me not telling her was her fault. None of this was her fault.

"Sabrina," my voice is weak, "please talk to me."

More silence follows.

"Say something," I beg, "Anything."

A few more tears fall over her cheeks, and I want nothing more than to wipe every single one of them away. I can barely look at her pain, because I know I'm the one who caused it.

"What do you want me to say?" She doesn't look at me while she speaks - a coldness I'd never heard before laces her tone. "Everyone always tried to tell me that you wouldn't change, that you'd always be a player. I feel like an idiot for thinking you'd change for me."

"Rina-"

"You said that you'd break my heart," she says, interrupting me. "Well, you kept to your word."

"I didn't mean for it to happen." My words barely make it out as a whisper.

"You mean you didn't mean to sleep with a girl who wasn't your girlfriend?!" Now she is standing, full of rage. My eyes are wide as she yells at me. "What was it, huh? Some kind of attempt to push me away?!"

"No! I would never try to push you away. I need you." I'm standing now too, looking down at her, my eyes pleading. "I wasn't myself. It wasn't my fault!"

Sabrina lets out a humorless laugh. "Oh, that's just like you to blame your actions on anything or anyone other than yourself!"

"Don't act like you know what happened!" I can feel my anger rising, but I try to control it. My fingernails dig into the palm of my hand after my palm twitches. "I was drugged, dammit!"

"You weren't drugged those other times!"

"What other times?"

"Whittney said that this wasn't the only time you-"

"And you believed him?!" I take a step toward her.

"I don't know what to believe anymore."

I reach for her, but she just backs away. "Don't." Her bottom lip quivers and her voice is shakey. "Don't touch me."

"Sabrina, just listen to me, okay?" Her gaze moves to mine, her eyes still glossed over from tears. "I am not the guy I used to be, or the guy Whittney claims I am. I'm not the guy you saw in those pictures. I'm the guy who thinks you are the most important thing in his life, and no one can ever replace you. Whittney lied. He caught my weakest, most regrettable moment on camera, and exploited it to get to the both of us."

This time, when I reach for her, she lets me grab her hands and hold them in my own. "Please Rina, give me another chance. Deep down, there's the guy in me that is the right one for you. Just let me prove to you that I'm someone worthy of being with you."

"I'm not sure if I'll be strong enough to try," she wimpers.

My hands lift to cup her face. Leaning my forehead against hers, I say, "Please try." My voice is nothing more but a whisper. "Please, don't leave me. I'll be better. So much better."

The silence becomes deafening.

"Sabrina, I-"

"I want you out," she interrupts.

A lump in my throat threatens to suffocate me. "Will I be able to come back?"

Tension reverberates around the room as my eyes watered.

Sabrina shakes her head. "I don't know, Austin. I don't know."