My first Parenthood fanfic! Please review, it really keeps me motivated :) I don't own any of the characters or the show.

Just for this story, Sidney doesn't exist, Julia and Joel have no kids, and Crosby doesn't know about Jabbar yet.

Why do I always do this? Why do I always fall for the wrong guy? Get in these situations? Screw up? Amber thought to herself as she walked across the grass of her grandparent's front yard. The finish line of the nearly seven miles she had to walk home from her so-called boyfriend's apartment.

It had happened again. She had convinced herself that this was a normal guy. A good guy. A guy that would treat her right. That actually liked her for who she was. Wrong. Again. As usual.

At first Grant- Amber's "boyfriend" had seemed cool. He didn't smoke like all the other guys Amber was involved with in the past, and he seemed to make good decisions. He genuinely cared for her- or at least that's what she thought, and she thought that this guy-Grant- would be a good influence on her. Help her in her continued goal to turn her life around. How wrong she was.

Amber had first noticed Grant's increasingly rude behavior a few weeks back. He became intensely clingy to her- always had to know where she was, who she was there with, and why. He wouldn't let her talk to any other guys-even those that were distinctly just friends, and would only allow her to socialize with certain people. Only the people he approved of- who were limited in comparison to himself.

Amber had confronted him about it and he had brushed it off as nothing- he just said it was because he cared for her so much. That he loved her. He had used the L word, and Amber had believed him. Deceived by her own intense want for a boy to like her for who she actually was. And even though deep down inside she probably knew that he didn't mean it- her heart tricked her yet again, and she forgave him.

But now it was different. Today Amber had talked to some guy- Owen- at school. Owen was a close friend of hers. That was it. Just friends. She had known Owen long before she met Grant and wasn't willing to give up their friendship for one of Grant's stupid rules. And it really cost her.

She had gotten a ride with Grant back to his apartment after school as planned and everything seemed fine in the car. It wasn't until they had gotten back to Grant's apartment- a confined space where nobody could see them- that things had turned bad.

Grant had confronted her about her chat with Owen. And Amber, seeing it as silly to have to not talk to one of her best friends just because Grant said so, openly told him off. She had smiled as she said, "Yea, Grant. I was talking to my friend Owen. My friend." She laughed sarcastically and shrugged at Grant.

It only took him a split second to wind up and hit her across the face hard with his fist. "Don't you disrespect me, bitch!" He yelled at her. His face fuming red and showing no sign of calming down any time soon.

The hit had sent Amber to the floor where she had smacked her head off the kitchen tiles hard enough to cause her to black out for a split second before getting up. But Amber was tough and she did get up. She also fought back with words. "What the hell is your problem, Grant!" She screamed back at him.

"Don't you dare talk back to me, slut!" Grant yelled getting right up close to her face before he shoved her back down to the ground. "I told you that you couldn't talk to other guys! I'm the only one! You bitch! You can't even follow some simple rules? You're so stupid Amber!" Grant shouted as he stood directly over her. He kicked her a few times before she started crying, and when that started, he only kicked her harder.

"You're such a baby, Amber!" He yelled at her forcefully. "You can't handle anything I ask you to do. But apparently you can be a slut and talk to all the other guys in the school!"

With one last kick Grant stepped away from Amber and turned his back. It seemed to Amber that he went to get some type of weapon. A baseball bat, a knife, any type of tool- it didn't matter. Amber knew she was fading fast and barely had any strength left. She grew scared and became extremely worried. He's going to kill me. He's going to kill me. Was all that was going through her mind. And she was probably right.

With Grant gone for the moment, Amber had started to crawl toward the door. She had no idea what she would do when she got there- she had no car, no ride, no money. But she had to get out of there. She knew she did.

She crawled as fast as she could with what she knew had to be at least several fractured ribs and with her nose and mouth dripping blood down her cheek. Her left eye throbbed and she could actually feel it beginning to bruise. She was about three quarters of the way to the door when Grant came out of nowhere. He had stepped directly in her path holding a metal baseball bat.

"Where do you think you're going?" Grant asked cynically. He swung the bat down hard toward Amber and she was able to doge the first blow. Bu then came the second. And the third. And the fourth.

After one blow to the stomach, one blow to the ankle, and one to her head, Amber managed to grab the closest thing to her. A lamp on the table beside the living room couch. It wasn't that big but it was metal and it was hard and it would do. She grabbed it up off the table and swung with all her might- thinking about all the restrictions he had put on her, the rude behavior, and the current beating he was giving her really added to her diminishing strength. And as he motioned forward to hit her with the bat once again, she hit him off the head with the lamp.

Grant was stunned for a second, fell to the ground, and lay there for a minute or two. But that was all she needed. It was a sufficient amount of time for her to be able to crawl to the door, and manage to get herself out of Grant's apartment.

That had been at least three hours ago. And during those three hours Amber had walked back to her grandparent's house where she was currently staying with her mom and her brother. She had walked the entire seven miles from Grant's apartment to her house with all her broken ribs, ankle injury, and bleeding face. Of course she had limped most of the way. Had to stop now and then to rest her throbbing ribs. But she had made it. She was tough and she had made it.

Now she crossed the grass of the front yard and up to the front door. Her mom was still at work and her brother was at baseball practice, and she was relieved. That would give her some time to hopefully clean up and put some make-up on to cover her injuries before they got home.

She hobbled her way up to the front door and tried the door. Locked. She instinctively went to reach for her key in her back pack when she realized that it was still at Grant's. Great. She said out loud to herself. That's just great.

She plopped down on the front step, all hope of washing off her bloody face, perhaps changing clothes, and putting some more make-up on vanished. Her mom and brother would have to see her as she was. She huffed out a breath of air and rested her head in her hands, concealing her face. And then she began to cry. For the first time since she left Grant's the pain really began to sink in. Sharp pains were shooting across her head every few seconds, her eye throbbed where Grant had punched her, the blood coming from her nose and mouth had dried, but both her nose and mouth still hurt as well. Her ankle, she was pretty sure, was fractured. And her ribs, well, she knew they were too.

She felt scared, terrified, paranoid that he'd come back. Drive up at any second and continue the beating. Now she didn't even care how her mother and brother saw her, all she wanted was someone she could hug and squeeze and feel safe in their arms. She needed family. Anyone, it didn't even matter. As long as it was her family. Someone she knew and trusted. Someone she loved and someone who loved her. Cared for her. Would protect her. Would make her feel safe. Comfort her. Tell her everything was going to be okay.

She starred at the street and waited anxiously for someone to come home. She simply just starred at the drive way for several minutes just waiting. And waiting and waiting and waiting.

Just then, a truck pulled into the driveway. Her heart stopped for a split second when she thought it was Grant- coming to continue her beating. But then it calmed again once she realized who it was. She was so happy that someone was there- a family member was there to comfort her. She would be able to feel safe. Be protected. It was all over. Grant couldn't get to her anymore. It was over. Done.

The man in the truck pulled into the driveway slowly, normally, and at first didn't see Amber sitting on the front steps crying and beaten up. The man put the truck in park, still unaware of Amber sitting on the steps, picked up a box off of the passenger seat, and climbed out of the truck. It was Joel.

Shutting the door to his truck, Joel started walking the rest of the way up to the driveway and to the front door with a box in his hand- something Julia had told him to drop off at her parents' house.

After about two steps away from the truck, Joel looked up and saw Amber sitting on the front steps. Alone. Bruised. Bleeding. Hurt. A searing pain tore through his heart and shock froze him in place for a split second. Comprehending the situation, Joel immediately dropped the box from his hands- let it hit the ground- and sprinted the rest of the way to Amber.

"Amber" He cried out almost in question form. The pain from his heart was clearly displayed across his facial expressions. He bent down quickly and placed a reassuring hand on Amber's shoulder for a quick second before enveloping her in a tight hug.

"Are you okay? What happened? Who did this to you?" Joel spit out all at once. He was talking incredibly fast and was growing concerned for his niece's well-being. He hugged her again, pressing her softly up against his chest. And for the first time in hours Amber felt safe. She felt protected, comforted by her Uncle Joel. And she laid her head on his chest and simply cried into his shirt for several minutes before talking. Joel comforted her by rubbing her back and holding her head close to him with his reassuring hand.

"It's alright Amber" He started to reassure her. "Whatever happened, it's all over now. Okay?" He asked her comfortingly. "I'm not going to let anything else happen to you. I promise." He reassured her.

Amber nodded into his chest slowly. "I know" She managed through a shaky voice. "Thank you Uncle Joel" Her voice broke and she started to cry even harder than before. She wrapped her arms even tighter around Joel and continued to cry into his shirt.

"It's okay, honey. It's okay now. It's alright." He told her as he stoked her hair with a comforting hand. He continued to give her a reassuring hug, and they remained embraced for quite a while longer.

After several minutes of silence and of Joel simply trying- and succeeding- to comfort Amber, she spoke again. She only spoke three words but they made him explode with anger on the inside.

"It was Grant"