Never in my life had I been so thankful for my persistent little brother. The moment he headed back in my direction, lifting his head from his pillow case of candy, he slowed to a stop and glared angrily up at Marcus.

"We need to go now, Pai!" Petey said, turning his attention back to me with a frown. "Mommy said we had to be back by the time the street lamps went back on."

"Mommy?" Cody snickered, nudging Marcus. "You here that, man? This kid still calls his mother mommy and he's like thirteen."

I set Liam back in his stroller and whirled around on the boys laughing behind me. "He's eight, you ass. Leave my brother alone."

I started to move away, realizing that there was a slight chance I could get out of this situation without a scratch.

Of course I wasn't so lucky.

Marcus caught my elbow and grasped it roughly until I stopped.

"What do you want, Marcus? I have to get home."

His jaw clenched. "We need to talk."

"Talk." I laughed bitterly. "Do you even know how not to talk out of your ass?"

"Paige, that's a bad word." Peter warned beside me, digging through his bag of candy.

"Look, we'll get the kid home and-"

"Kid? You know his name, Marcus." I snapped.

He shook his head and sighed. "We'll take Peter back home and leave the baby with your mom then go back to my house and-"

"I'm not going back to your house, Marcus." I can't face Zane now. I can't face you.

"Paige, please." he stepped forward, only to have Peter duck under my arm and step between us.

"Get away from my sister." my eight year old brother straightened himself so he was stomach level with the older boy. I ran one of my hands through his hair and shook my head.

"Petey, it's okay."

My brother crossed his arms and huffed out a loud, frustrated sigh. "It's not okay. Mark made you cry and you still cry because of Mark. He needs to leave you alone."

Marcus knelt before my brother and rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Pete, bro, this is between your sister and me. It's a grown up thing." I could practically hear my brother roll his eyes.

"If it's a grown up thing, why do you make my sister cry? Why do you treat her like crap?" the eight year old questioned.

"It's hard to explain, kid. Sometimes big kids-"

"It's easy." Peter pointed his index finger accusingly at Marcus. "You make my sister upset, therefore you don't need to be around her. Bye bye."

I couldn't fight the smile that stretched across my face at my brother's response. I pulled him back and kissed the top of his head, tempted to walk away without hearing Marcus out. I knew, without any doubt, he was going to pretend to leave and follow me back to the house and wait outside until I joined him.

"Paige, can Liam have candy?" Petey asked as I tore my eyes from Marcus and looked down at my brother in front of the stroller.

"No, buddy. Babies can't have any solid foods." he frowned but continued on ahead, checking over his shoulder to make sure I wasn't too far behind. I shot Marcus a long, knowing look, then fell into step beside my brother, gripping the stroller so tight my hands had drained of color entirely.

*

My mom's mini-van was back in the driveway when we reached the neighborhood again. She was in the kitchen, on the phone with a relative, when Petey darted in and dumped his pillow case on to the kitchen table to scan for his favorite candy. I headed for the couch, picking Liam up from the stroller and cradling him against me in hopes he might take my mind off of everything.

I hadn't thought telling Zane about almost sleeping with Mark would affect me as much as it did. It felt as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, then shoved directly into my chest. I hate myself. I had understood what he had been getting at before he had drove off this morning at school.

I had spent years unknowingly putting him through the torture of being in love with Marcus. I hadn't been oblivious to Zane's feelings for me, I had just pushed them aside thinking he'd grow out of it. Never in my wildest dreams would I have expected to understand exactly what he was feeling.

I never would have expected to understand what it's like to be loved by a boy rather than pushed aside and down into the ground until I was nothing. I wouldn't have ever believed I could have feelings for Zane Dryer.

"Paige, sweetheart." Mom crept into the living room, smiling down at Liam as she held the land line out in front of her. I hesitantly took it, afraid of who may be on the other end.

"Hello?" I shifted Liam in my arms.

"Paige."

I couldn't deny the relief that washed over me at the sound of Zane's voice.

"Zane, hey."

He stayed quiet for a few minutes. "I think we need to talk."

"Me too."

"At my house." he continued. "Do you think you can meet me around back in twenty minutes?"

"Zane. I have Liam and-"

For the first time in years, I heard a little bit of the signature Dryer attitude seep into his voice.

"This is about Liam, Paige. It's important. I'll see you in a bit." he hung up before I could go any deeper into questioning. My mom took the phone with a curious look.

"Why did he call the home phone?" my mom asked curiously. I leaned back into the sofa, brushing my thumb along Liam's rosy cheek.

"I don't know." I breathed.

Shifting Liam in my arms as my mother stalked back into the kitchen, I let my mind wrap itself around what had just happened. Zane had my number, and if he had lost it, Marcus had it somewhere as well. He hadn't ever called the home phone, let alone to tell me to do exactly what Marcus had been asking of me all day.

"Ssh." I whispered when Liam started whimpering. I shook my previous thoughts from my head and refocused them to the baby in my arms. He hadn't grown much, but had enough to be noticeable. His blue eyes, shining in dim living room light, were staring up at me innocently. He had no idea what was happening, he wouldn't understand for years to come. And maybe, maybe that was for the best. This entire mess would be better left untold and if it meant protecting Liam from the pain and bitterness, the feeling of knowing he wasn't wanted by his real parents, then I wouldn't utter a single word about it.

*

I wasn't at all surprised to find Marcus sitting on the back door step when I forced myself to leave my own house, the safety and serene feeling of having Liam fall asleep in my arms.

"Where's Zane?" I whispered, hugging my jacket against me.

The light breeze tousled Mark's dark hair, his blue eyes expectant.

"He's not here." he shrugged. "I don't care where he is."

I shook my head. "He told me to meet him here."

"Sorry, Princess." he smiled bitterly. "I love how you agree the second he says jump but push me away every chance you get."

"He didn't tell the whole town I was a slut." I pointed out.

"I never said that, Paige. You know how people are. They can hear one thing and turn it into a whole different story." he mumbled, eyes on the stone step beneath his feet.

I smiled sadly. "I trusted you with my life, Mark. And you took it from me."

"The trust or your life?"

"Both. I didn't get to have a normal childhood. I didn't get to go through the awkward phases unoticed. Everyone wanted to get a piece of action from the little town whore. I even had men approach me, Marcus. Do you know what that's like? Not being able to escape a hell. Nobody believing you." I saw his expression crumble even further, but I was nowhere close to being done.

"It was Zane who was always there for me when I needed him the most, not you. Everything you did was to impress someone. Be it your family or your friends. I never meant anything to you, Mark. I was just a thing for you to use and abuse." my voice wavered.

He stood, anger lightening his blue eyes. "That's bullshit and you know it, Paige. You were everything to me. You were the one that understood how hard I tried to be someone else, you were the one that was there when nobody really wanted to stick around. Including my fucking parents. You were my life, the life I had been trying so desperately to run away from."

"So when you got the chance to make a run for it, you did." I laughed bitterly. "Even if it meant destroying my reputation, my life in the process."

"Paige, I loved you. I was stupid, I was a kid. I thought I could have the best of both worlds. I could be this person everyone wanted me to be and still have you. Then I understood it was more than just a friendly kind of love I had for you and I made a mistake, alright? In that closet in sixth grade, when I kissed you. It was the best day of my life."

"Yeah?" I muttered. "Because it was the day mine fell apart."

"I know and I'm sorry. I realize that'll never be enough, that I'll never be able to change what happened." he closed the distance between us. "I love you Paige Banner."

I opened my mouth to respond, shifted so I could pull away, but he took my face between his hands and stared into my eyes so intensely I felt as if he could see how upset I really was.

"That's why. . . why. . ." he trailed off, letting out a shaky breath.

I frowned, eyes roaming his face. "Why what, Mark?"

"That's why you need to know the truth." he squeezed his eyes shut. He knew very well his eyes had always the first thing I looked to when I felt he wasn't being entirely truthful.

"The truth about what? Marcus, I-" his eyes shot open, so dark they appeared more black than blue.

"You need to know the truth about him." he bowed his head. "The truth about the baby."

***AN***

Hope you guys enjoyed! More updates on the way! I'm so sorry for such a long wait! 

What do you guys think Marcus is talking about? And where do you think Zane is? 

Let me know what you guys think/thought! 

~ChasingMadness24