It had been a month since Stevie had left Lindsey's, she hadn't seen or heard from him since, and she'd be lying if she said her heart wasn't broken

Things with Jimmy were a little strained, she found herself being in the house by herself more and more

She could feel Jimmy growing increasingly distant as she began to need him more and more.

"Jimmy?" Stevie sat up in bed as they were settling down for the night

"Yes?"

"Do you love us?"

"If I didn't that ring wouldn't be on your finger!" Stevie looked at the ring he had proposed to her with

"But you've been so distant" she asked

"Oh my God, I work Stevie, someone's got to pay for this" he said getting angry

"Sorry," she said quietly, settling back down under the blanket with her back to him.

"Look, I'm sorry. I'm just stressed, okay?" Jimmy sighed

"It's fine."

"No its not, I'm becoming no better than that asshole Lindsey like that"

"Don't ever talk about him like that!" Stevie shouted loudly

Jimmy was taken back by her tone, "Look here you bitch, you will never talk to me like that," he grabbed a handful and twisted, "do you understand me?"

"Ouch! Your hurting me!" She squealed

"I said, do you understand me?" Jimmy said through clenched teeth

"Yes!" Stevie said crying

"Good," he let go of her hair and snuggled back under the blanket like nothing had happened.

Stevie curled into a ball on her side and silently cried. What had just happened?

On the other side of town Lindsey was once again staring at the ceiling, sleep just wouldn't come to him, he had a feeling in the pit of his stomach but he just couldn't place it.

The blonde next to him stirred and kissed his chest. "You're so tense," she straddled his hips. "I can help with that." She leaned over to kiss his neck

"Em, not now" He grumbled but she continued her seduction, he'd already said no twice this week so he had no choice but to let it happen tonight

"Come on, Linds. I know it will make you feel better," she gave him an open mouth kiss and disappeared underneath the blanket

Lindsey felt the sensation around himself and closed his eyes, if he tried hard enough he could imagine it was Stevie

He just had to remember to call out Emma, and not Stephanie

In the morning Stevie awoke to Jimmy leaving for work. "Jimmy? Can I make you breakfast?" Stevie called out, trying to forget last nights events

"No thank you, I wanted something decent!" He said and closed the front door

Stevie sat in bed thinking about the night before, he had never become physical with her, if he grabbed her hair the way he did was he capable of hitting her?

What about their daughter? She couldn't let him hurt her. She was in a hell of a situation. Where was she supposed to go?

She decided she needed...no wanted to hear Lindsey's voice, so she picked up the phone at the side of the bed and dialed his number

Waiting for the answer she found her insides being torn out when she heard a female answer

"Hello?"

Stevie could say nothing, instant tears came to her eyes, putting the phone back on the receiver, she realised she no longer had that second option

She looked at herself in the mirror, an absolute mess. She was trembling, tear stained, and terrified.

"Maybe if I stay on his good side and play the perfect wife he will be alright," Stevie thought to herself

Later that night when Jimmy finally got home, she could smell the alcohol before he even entered the room, it was obvious he had had more than a few

"Come on, let's get you to bed," Stevie wrapped her arm around his waist and began to help him to bed

"God seriously what are you, my mother?" He shrugged her off

"No but I'm going to be your wife!"

"You wouldn't be if you weren't pregnant," Jimmy spat, causing Stevie to push him away from her

"No! I'd be Mrs Buckingham you asshole!" She replied and went to storm away from him

Jimmy grabbed her and flung her into the wall, causing her to fall, "I am tired of your mouth!" He yanked her up and slapped her. "You will respect me!"

"No! Get off me! You'll hurt her!" She tried to push him away and protect her daughter. "Learn to control your mouth!" He shook her as he spoke. "If you want to go back to him and have no child I can quite easily make that happen" he slurred just millimeters from her face

"Don't you dare touch her!" Stevie screamed in his face. She was in full blown mama bear mode. She would probably kill him if he touched her daughter.

"She's my kid too, I'll do what I want!"

"God you were such an easy lay! The slightest bit of attention and your legs were wide open" he added and received a hard slap around the face

Stevie immediately knew that she had screwed up. Jimmy saw red and didn't give a second thought to giving her a bloody nose in return. "Just for that," wiping the blood from his lip,"we are going to the clinic tomorrow."

Jimmy stormed into the bedroom and locked the door, Stevie slid down the wall and cradled her nose, trying to stop the blood running, she touched her belly and preyed that he would forget in the morning, because she knew full well he would drag her to that clinic

"Baby, we have to get out of here," Stevie spoke to her bump, wincing as her nose throbbed. For the first time ever, Stevie felt her daughter move, as if telling her mother that it was the right choice to leave.

"Let's go," Stevie whispered as she picked her self up and quietly left. Not bringing a single possession with her.

Walking the streets for a couple of hours Stevie didn't know where to go, she wanted more than anything to run to Lindsey, he was the only thing that made her feel safe

It was obvious that he had moved on, and she was ashamed to go to him for help. She left him for Jimmy, she couldn't just go crawling back!

She found herself in the alley where most of the homeless people slept if they couldn't make it to the shelter. There were fires in barrels and people lined along the streets. Stevie sat against the cold wall, dabbing her nose with the hem of her tshirt, it wouldn't stop bleeding and was most likely broken.

"Do you need help?" An older lady asked her, seeing that Stevie was quite clearly injured and pregnant.

"I think I've broken my nose, I can't get it to stop bleeding" she continued to dab at her nose

"Here take this, I use it for my arthritis" the lady handed Stevie a cool pack and told her to place it on the base of her nose

"Say, why are you out here?"

"I have no where else to go..." Stevie said sadly

"A beautiful girl like you?" The woman replied, shocked that Stevie wasn't cared for, "Where are your parents?"

"Phoenix."

"And the father?" She gestured towards her belly

"He is responsible for this," Stevie pointed to her nose

"Oh honey! Is there no one else you can go to?"

"There's one other person but he's moved on now, I'm to ashamed to go to him..." Stevie could feel she was about to cry

"Maybe you should try"

"I doubt he'd take me in. I was horrible to him," Stevie began to cry, the older lady trying her best to comfort her

"Honey, you have to try. They'll take your baby if they know you live on the streets. That girl over there," nodding toward a lethargic woman laying against the wall, "just had her two children taken from her, she's probably never going to see them again. Don't let that be you."

"I know...I won't survive if they take her! But he has a new girlfriend now, he won't want me"

"Love, no offense but you look terrible, he'd have to be a monster to not take you in...go to him! Try!" The old lady had obviously had experience with girls like her, Stevie gave a nod

"Thank you so much!" Stevie slowly stood, handing the woman back her ice pack. "Is there anything I can do for you?" Stevie asked.

"Just keep you and that baby safe! That's all I ask!" Stevie agreed and made her way through town, slowly making her way to Lindsey's place. She was dragging her bare feet along the pavement, feeling drained from all the blood she had lost. She didn't know if she was actually going to make it to Lindsey's building. "God, please help me," she cried.

She made it finally to where she had the building insight, she didn't know now if she should go in, what if his girlfriend was there? She was about to walk away when she saw Lindsey getting out of his car. "Lindsey," she said weakly, stumbling along and hanging onto the building for support.

Lindsey stopped for a moment, sure he heard his name, nothing, continuing on again, he heard it once more

"Lindsey" Looking around him he locked eyes onto the owner of the voice

"Stevie!" He jogged up to her.

Stevie passed out in his arms as soon as he reached her. Lindsey jumped into action, carrying her bridal style all the way up to his apartment and onto the couch. "Stephanie," he patted her face gently

"Steph, baby come on, look at me..." he panicked

Stevie fluttered her eyes open very slightly, but not much

"Linds..."

"Hey there," he sighed in relief, smoothing her hair back. "Take it easy."

Lindsey looked over her, she was in terrible shape. Her feet, nose, and shirt were bloody. "God, Stevie, what happened to you," he whispered more to himself

"J...Jimmy...we...got into...a fight"

"Did he do this?" Pointing to her nose

Stevie nodded and finally let her tears fall, clutching onto Lindsey for grim death

"Let me to get a wet cloth, I'll get you cleaned up," Lindsey kissed her hand after the made her ungrip his shirt. "I'll be right back, don't move."

He hurried to the bedroom, grabbed a face cloth and soaked it then ran back to Stevie

"Thank you, Lindsey," she went to take the cloth from him. "I can do it," Stevie told him

"No, your not doing anything apart from telling me what happened" Lindsey said as he started to clean the blood away

Stevie winced as he dabbed the blood away on her feet, "Last night he spoke badly of you and I got angry... he pulled my hair and told me not to speak to him that way. This morning he was very mean and came home drunk we got into an argument and he threw me into a wall...then he slapped me. He told me that I was an easy lay so I slapped him and he punched me in the nose and told me that he was taking me to get an abortion the next day...I couldn't do that so I had to leave while he slept."

"I'm going to fucking kill him! I'm going find him, cut his manhood off with a rusty spoon, and shove them down his neck" Lindsey fumed

"Is she okay?" He asked worried and rested hand on the bump

"I don't know-I think so.I can't go to the doctor, I have no insurance and then they'll know I'm homeless and abused and they'll take her away!" Stevie began to sob uncontrollably

"This is all my fault, I should never have made you leave again" he moved her to cradle in his arms as she cried

"It my fault! I left you! I knew better!" Stevie clung to him

"I pushed you away! Steph if something has happened to her I will never forgive myself!" He was crying now too

"What's going on in here?" A voice said behind them. Stevie turned to see a completely naked woman in the bedroom door way.

Stevie looked at Emma and cried harder

"Em get back in the bedroom I'll talk to you in a minute" she did as she was told

"I need to go, I shouldn't be here, this was a mistake" Stevie tried to get up

"No-no, Stevie you aren't going anywhere. Your feet are a mess and not to be rude but you look like death. Stay here and I'll be right back," he stood and walked into the bedroom

Not long afterwards she saw a now dressed woman come storming out and fling herself out of the front door

"Now that's sorted, I'm all yours" he came and sat with her once more, bringing her into his embrace...tomorrow was for talking, tonight she finally felt safe again