Hey guys. I'm taken a little break from my other OC story. Isn't it sad that I already have writers block and I'm only on the 4th chapter? Anyway I hope you find this story enjoyable. This really isn't set in either season...it's just kinda there:) ENJOY!

Dru

Chapter 1

Daddy's Little Princess

I sat in the corner trembling. Slightly from the cold draft that was fluttering in from the open window and slightly from the hate and anger I was feeling towards the man that had made my life a living hell. I slowly brought my hand back from my aching head only to discover that it was drenched in blood. He was asleep on the floor of the living room tired from his drunken fit.

My dad.

We were, at one time, the best of friends. I took everything he said to heart. But after my step mother died in a terrible automobile accident, he changed. For the worse. He steadily began to develop a drinking problem and slowly I went from Daddy's Little Princess to Daddy's Little Burden. Any time something went bad at the office it was my fault. Anytime he was in a bad mood, it was my fault. I cried inside for him. This wasn't my daddy. Because my daddy wouldn't hit me and torment me and deny me food until I got down and begged him.

A single tear fell from my eye and landed on the knee of my jeans. The one luxury he allowed me was clothes. I could have as many clothes as I wanted. That way it would cover up the life we lived and everybody would be led to believe that Summer Roberts was the same rich girl that was spoiled by her father. Daddy's Little Princess.

I slowly got to my feet, careful not to awake my dad who was still asleep on the floor of our living room. I held my breath and headed for the front door. I bit my lip as the hinges of the door groaned in protest and my dad stirred on the floor. Luckily that was all he did. Once outside the harsh wind greeted me and the cuts on my face seared in pain. I wondered what time it was. I had calculated it pretty good. He got home at 5 and the rage would start usually around 6 or 6:30. The time in between he spent in the liquor cabinet. The rage was usually centered on the way I looked.

"You're a little whore," he would snap. I would try to remind myself every time an insult flew my way that this wasn't my dad. It was the monster that had become of him. Even with my constant reminding I always ended up in a fit of hysteria. My whole body would tremble in emotional pain. He always knew when he had won. By 7:00 the insults flew right back.

"You're not my father!" I would scream. "I hate you, you drunken bastard!" By 7:10 I was usually dodging what he would pick up and fling at me from across the room. Usually by 8:00 I was in a corner nursing my wounds and crying weakly. He was asleep, slumped over a chair or on the floor. By 8 or 9 I was already running down the street.

It used to be that I would run to Marissa's. But then things changed for her. She moved in with her Dad and his fiancée Hailey. She wasn't too far from where she used to live but it was still too far for me to run on the lack of energy I had. That came from the lack of food I received. It was an evil cycle that my father had figured out all on his own. He knew I ran but the less food he gave me the less I could run. Then I turned to Cohen. I screamed at myself the first time the thoughts had even entered my head. Why Seth? It became obvious to me later that I was in love with Cohen. Desperately in love. The only thing that got me through my dad's drunken rages was the image of him set firmly in my mind. Anytime my dad ran at me with a knife or I would receive a blow to the ribs while crying on the floor, I thought of his gentle smile and little boy laugh. He was the one I turned to.

Marissa and Seth both knew about my dad and what he did to me. So did Ryan. But I had made them promise me that they wouldn't tell anyone. I knew someone would eventually find out. I just wasn't ready for that. At first Ryan and Seth flew through the roof. Ryan threatened to go over and set my dad straight. He threatened to kill him on more then one occasion. I saw it sweet that I wasn't even his girlfriend and yet Ryan was so protective of me. Seth was about a million times more protective then Ryan but he showed it in different ways. The pain and anger in his eyes when he would see the new bruises that decorated my body would say enough.

I knocked gently on the door of the pool house. It was sad how routine this had become. Seth and Ryan were waiting for me. Seth flung the door open and I collapsed into his arms. Seth sat on Ryan's bed while Ryan helped set me back into Seth's arms.

"Where'd he get you?" Seth murmured gently into my hair as Ryan eased my shoes off of my feet. Seth always asked. Some nights I got away with nothing. But nights like tonight my whole body throbbed.

"He kicked me," I said after a while wiping away my tears. Ryan ran his fingers gently over my rib cage and I yelped out in pain.

"Please," Seth pleaded. "Let us do something about this Summer."

"You can't!" I pleaded back, holding onto Seth tightly. "You can't ever say anything!"

"I love you so much," Seth tightened his grip on me slightly and kissed my forehead.

"Not as much as I love you," I whispered. My tears slowly disappeared.

"I beg to differ Sum," he kissed me on the head again and I giggled. Life was never easy before. But now it was ten times more difficult. I stared into Seth's soft brown eyes before falling asleep. Life with Seth made things seem not quite so bad.