A/N: Hey guys! So.. I made it to 1000 reads on this story! GAHH so happy and I have to thank all of you for reading this. I am so glad you all like it! You are all amazing. I hope this chapter doesn't make you hate me :( You will see why if you read on! :)

Riley continued on her way as quickly as she could. She was about halfway there and it was 9 or 10 o'clock and very dark by this point. It wasn't the darkness and scariness that made her pace quicken very much, she was used to going here in the dark. But it was the fact that she would get to talk to Dakota the faster this was over with. She began thinking how much she felt like she needed Dakota, and the more she thought about it, the more it scared her. She had never wanted to spend every moment with anyone in her life, most times she wanted to just be alone with her music.

Wow, it's almost like I'm obsessed with him. She fretted. He would go away and she would be alone again. She tried to tell herself that it would just be the same as what her life was before, and being away from home would make it better. But she knew in her heart that it would be worse, after knowing what feeling this way was, being alone would kill her.

All of this time she had been walking on autopilot, barely paying attention. She hadn't noticed when she got to the small alley short cut that signaled that she was almost to the meeting spot. She snapped out of her reverie only when a chilling voice spoke from the end of the alley when she was almost there, blocking her way out.

"Well," he spoke suddenly, making Riley jump and squeak a little bit. "We meet again."

Riley began to shake automatically. His large, dark frame was the only thing she could see because the light behind him blocked out his features, but that voice was one that she would never forget, one that haunts her dreams every night. She cursed herself for being so wrapped up in her own mind, if she had seen him earlier, she could have gotten away. And now the only way out was behind her. With only a micro-second of thought, she turned and ran for it. She heard him simply laugh from behind her as she ran for her life. She heard his footfalls getting louder behind her and she pushed her legs faster and faster until they ached, but she kept trying. Her lungs felt like they were being squeezed and burned inside her chest. Now she was really wishing she had actually tried in gym.

Just when she was about halfway through the alley, She felt strong arms close around her. She tried to shake herself free and continue to run, but all she accomplished was to tangle her feet around themselves and his causing her to fall onto her back and him to fall on top of her. Her head smacked the pavement, and spots of darker darkness played in front of her eyes. Both of them were breaking hard, but along with his breathing, he was laughing.

"Well that was fun, wasn't it?" He said huskily. Riley's vision cleared a bit, and she could see that his nose was misshapen, and there was the yellowish trace of a bruise beneath his brown eye. She was too terrified to feel any type of pleasure from her accomplishment. Instead, she started crying and screaming for help. Any other time, she would have felt ashamed and ridiculously weak for doing this, but now, it didn't matter. Too quickly, he covered her mouth firmly with his hand, muffling her screams to pitiful whimpers.

"Oh well I appreciate how you're screaming for me already, but the fun hasn't even begun yet." He leaned down to her ear, his unshaved cheek scratching her, as his other hand moved in sickening circles on her hip. "And I plan on having a lot of fun." He whispered.

With this, Riley started to really thrash as hard as she could. But with her bout of running, her legs felt like rubber and she did very little damage. Soon, she just stopped and cried; tears flowing down the sides of her face, soaking the hair at her temples. She tried to plead to him with her eyes. She was his daughter, he couldn't do something like this to his daughter; someone he is supposed to love and protect.

But he could. Riley, broken, just turned her head to the side as she died inside. Her mind went away from her body as she stared at her cracked phone lying a few feet from her. The last thing she can really recall seeing was the light of her phone coming on, signifying either a call or a text.

…

It could be any time of night now. Riley stayed in the alley for who knows how long before she finally thought that the sun might be coming up soon. People might see her, people might want to help her. She picked herself up from the cold, numbing concrete of the alley, grabbed her phone, and numbly walked to her house. It wasn't long- or it may have been long, she really wasn't sure, and really didn't care- that she was near her street. She saw the place that Dakota had brought her, the beautiful lake, the tree where they sat and talked last night. It was only last night. She continued on and reached her doorstep when the sky began to turn a lighter shade of violet.

Walking into her house, she saw her mother sprawled out on the kitchen table, again. She won't care. She probably won't even notice. Riley thought for a moment. She almost wanted to reach out and touch her mother, something , some form of affection. Her hand hung in the air, but Riley couldn't bring herself to touch her. There was no love in her anymore, and even when there was, there was none really for her mother- probably because her mother had none for her. She let her hand drop to her side, and walked up the stairs, her mother never stirring once.

She reached the top of the wooden stairs, and went to her room. She looked inside to her un-slept-in bed, the array of album artwork on her walls of her favorite bands. She walked in and made her bed, which she never did, and organized her desk. It only took about ten minutes, not very long at all. She couldn't put it off any longer, she went back to her door, gave her room one more look, and closed the door.

She turned and walked into the bathroom and closed the door. Turning on the light, she gave herself a look over in the body length mirror against the door. She took her black hair out of it's now incredibly messy bun and allowed it to fall in curls down her back. Her hazel eyes looked more dead than ever before. Around her mouth was either dirty or bruised, she couldn't tell. Her red flannel shirt was ripped, parts of her stomach and shoulder were visible. She shook as she undid its buttons and let it fall to the floor, only in her black cami that was bunched up around her waist. She pulled it down calmly, let out a deep breath, and turned away from the mirror.

She went to the medicine cabinet behind the mirror over her sink and took out a new blade from its box, a box she hadn't touched in so long. Without closing it, she backed up into the walk and allowed herself to slide to the floor. She took the blade to both of her wrists a bit clumsily. She wasn't used to using so much pressure on it. But she was no longer afraid, she no longer cared. She set the blade down on the tile floor next to her and reached in her pocket for her cracked phone. Turning it on, she saw the warning that was flashing, her phone was dying. She continued with what she was doing, she only needed a little battery life, she only wanted to make one phone call.

Her thumb didn't seem to work very well, it was difficult to press the number she needed. I guess I got a tendon or something. She thought numbly as the phone began to ring. Her fingers wrapped very loosely around the phone pressed to her ear, blood dripping freely down to her elbow and dropping onto her jeans. He picked up on the first ring.

"Riley! Riley is that you! Are you okay? You didn't call me." He sounded frantic and tired. Riley felt the first pang of anything that wasn't numbness since the past few hours. She wished he hadn't worried.

"Yes, it's me." She replied calmly.

"Oh thank God. Why didn't you tell me when you got home, I've been worried sick?!" Dakota said.

"Because I didn't come home last night, though I am sorry that I made you worry." Riley stated matter of factly, but honestly.

"Why? What happened? Are you okay? I'm coming over." She heard rustling in the background like he was already getting ready.

"No!" She said quickly.

"Wh-" Dakota started. But Riley interrupted as lightly as she could.

"I just wanted to say thank you. You've made me feel so happy Dakota. You actually cared for me, and that was more than I thought would ever be possible for my life. You have meant the most to me, you're the only one I want to say goodbye to." She finished lightly, she was getting tired. Her phone beeped, she had only 5% left on her phone, she was running out of time.

"What? Riley what are you saying? You're scaring me." And he did sound scared. Her heart gave a sad little thump.

"I'm sorry. I'm fine, really. I am fine now. I just wanted to say that. Do well at Davis, I know you will" She smiled, and wished he could see it in a way.

"Riley? NO! Riley, just wait. Please just wait until I get there. We can work this out." He sounded like he was running. But she could feel that he would be too late. Her vision was beginning to tunnel. She closed her eyes and welcomed the blackness as she leaned her head back against the wall.

"I can't Dakota. It's too late. I'm sorry" She said weakly. Her phone gave a little bleep, and was dead. Disappointedly, she let her arm drop, allowing her phone to clatter to the ground. In a way, she wanted to listen to Dakota talking until the end, but that would not have been fair for him anyway, no one wants to hear someone die.

She felt her breath slowing, she was extremely tired now, she couldn't bring herself to eve keep her head up anymore, even with the support of the wall. She allowed her head to loll to the side. She thought she heard some sort of thud, but ignored it as she allowed her body to relax more and more. Everything slowed down, her breathing, her heart, time. She was in limbo when she heard the bathroom door slam open. She opened her eyes to see a shock of dark, messy hair, and those signature blue eyes. She was happy that her brain allowed her the memory of him at the end.

"Dakota." She breathed as the darkness finally covered her.

Okay, just have to say this chapter almost made me cry :(. But it is not the end! There is either 1 or 2 chapters left, I'm not sure yet. But come back and see what's next!