A.N Hi all, well I'm here with a brand new story. It was actually inspired by a challenge set on the writers board that I belong to (Writers911) but well when I started writing it I realised it was going to be much bigger than what the challenge asked for. Now for anyone who likes fluffy stories I will warn you that this is anything but fluff. It has been rated M for a reason please remember that. This is going to be a long and bumpy ride but I hope that you will all stick with me for it. Now for those of you who read The More Things Change The More They Stay The Same I can promise that I'm not forgetting about it and it will be continued its just at the moment I'm just bursting with ideas for this one. Please leave me a review and tell me what you think. Good or Bad. Reviews definitely inspire me to write more. Ok everybody hang onto your seats the ride is about to begin.

A Time Best Forgotten

Part One

The Woman That No-One Knows

She watched as the somewhat familiar streets of Tree Hill, North Carolina whizzed past her window. But although her attention appeared fixed on what lay beyond that pane of glass the truth was that she was not seeing any of it. The only thing she saw was her own bruised and beaten face reflected back at her. This was not the face that had graced magazine covers and performed to sold out audiences in giant arenas. This was a face that she no longer recognised, not only because it had been beaten almost beyond recognition but also because she didn't even know who she was anymore. She could fully imagine how her own mother could pass her in the street at the moment and not pause as familiarity washed over her. How could anyone know who she was when she didn't even know herself?

She felt the car she was in slowing to a stop but made no move to turn away from the window. It didn't matter where she was, nothing mattered anymore. She could hear voices whispering in her mind but steadily they got louder even though she tried to block them out she could hear them again and again. "You're nothing but trash. Why did I ever marry you? I should have left you in the gutter where I found you and her own voice played in her head begging for forgiveness, promising that she would do better but it was always a waste of breath for it didn't matter what she said the beatings would always come. What had happened this last time though had gone beyond anything she had ever imagined possible. The way his fists had bit into her skin, crunching against her bones, spraying her blood around it was far worse than anything that had come before it.

But it wasn't the physical scars she was worried about it was what had come after it, what had happened then had almost broken her. Nothing in her wildest imagination had prepared her for what was to come and the worst part was that she knew that it was all her fault.

A faint tapping sound entered her consciousness and she flinched outwardly until she saw it was the driver tapping on the partition, for a moment she had thought that it was the same sound she had heard so many times before. The impatient drumming of his fingertips against the table as he waited for her to do whatever task he had set for her then. Those fingers that were capable of producing such beauty and yet could cause such harm. She tried to focus her attention onto the man sitting in the front of the car but she could see nothing but the flashes of images in her mind. The way he had smiled at her as he threw her up against the wall, the way she had felt as if his fist was going to go right through her, the way his boot had connected with first her legs and then when she had sagged to the ground unable to stand any longer it had slammed over and over again into her stomach and her ribs. Leaning over he had grabbed her by the hair pulling her up before slamming her face into the floor. "You're nothing but a trashy little whore. I should have left you there where I found you. But you know what you're my whore and that's what you're going to be forever. You're never going to get away from me. You and me we're going to be together forever and don't you ever forget it. Now get on your knees its time you made me a happy man. She tried to get up, she really did but she was physically unable. She pushed herself up off the floor trying desperately to raise herself up to a level where she would be able to fulfil his demands terrified of what he would do if she didn't. But no matter what she tried she could not do it eventually she slumped back down admitting defeat to herself. She knew there was no way that she would be getting up from this floor without help.

"I said get up," he screamed at her "if you don't get up right this second I swear I'll make you pay. You'll pay for this for the rest of your life." As he said this he pulled his belt free from his jeans and she cringed inwardly as she saw the outward evidence that he truly intended to go through with this. "Take off your clothes," he said barely even looking at her.

She stared up at him mutely knowing that if she cried or screamed that it would only make him angrier.

His face betrayed no emotion except for his eyes. His eyes gleamed manically for a moment then he pushed her back onto the ground and ripped off her clothes a sick smile gracing his lips as his eyes travelled up and down her body taking in the evidence of his past ministrations in the multitude of bruising dotting her skin. Her entire upper thigh on her right leg was a purple mass of varying shades. Haley saw a certain sense of pride in his eyes as they rested on her thigh and wondered once again what sort of man she had married.

Everything she had been through had been leading to this moment because no matter what happened this was going to end today. That look in his eyes was the last straw and she determined at that moment that even if she had to kill him that this would be the end. His hand stroked over her body and she mentally closed herself off no matter what he did now it didn't matter because she was no longer a part of this. This world didn't exist; it couldn't no matter what she had done in her life nobody deserved to be treated this way. How could there be such a disparity between the two sides of her life, everybody watching her up on stage idolising her believing that she had the perfect life. She pitied them if they only knew what her life off the stage really was she doubted they would watch her with such adoration, she doubted that they would chase her down the streets begging for autographs, if they knew the truth they would look at her with the same disgust she viewed herself with every single time that she looked in the mirror.

What did multiple Grammy awards mean when no one really knew her, none of them saw the person that she was, the person that allowed herself to be degraded in the way that she was in her everyday life, the way she was being degraded even at that moment as he climbed on top of her thrusting himself up into her again and again. She tried to close her mind off from what was happening but a persistent banging would not allow her to drift away the way she normally would at this stage of the beating. She closed her eyes as his hot rancid breath hit her face, she couldn't look at his twisted contorted face as he took what he wanted from her. She knew that she should be feeling pain right now but felt nothing. She didn't feel him ripping her apart as he thrust harder and harder, she didn't feel his fingers tangled in her hair strands of it coming out in his hands. She didn't feel it as he slapped her or as his teeth bit into her shoulder hard enough to break the skin. She could feel nothing, nothing but the sincere longing that she would die in that moment, that it would all end right now. Why couldn't she just die and get it over with, if she didn't die today then it would only be a matter of time because he would not stop until she was dead. She knew that, knew it the same way she knew her own name, sooner or later he was going to kill her that was a certainty. Going into the little box in her mind that allowed her to pretend that she was anywhere but where she was. Abruptly she was pulled out of it as she felt him moving away suddenly and the cry of surprise from him.

Opening her eyes she saw two policemen pushing him up against the wall, one clapping his wrists into handcuffs as the other looked over to where she was.

"Miss are you ok? Miss…." He asked but she didn't respond simply staring as the policeman began to read her husband his rights.

"What…" she started but could not find the words to continue. "Why," she tried again. "Why are you here?"

"One of your neighbours called with concerns and we came right over. By the looks of things here it's just as well we did. I think we should call you an ambulance though."

"No," she tried to protest "No I'm fine. Her words were for naught though as her eyes closed and she slipped into unconsciousness.

She was dragged out of her living nightmare of memories by the sound of the one name she despised above all others.

"Mrs Keller," the driver said. "Mrs Keller, we're here."

She wanted to cover her ears and block out that sound, that disgusting sound that was her name. She never wanted to hear it again, ever in her life but she knew that was an unrealistic hope. She was known all over the world. Haley Keller Recording Superstar. How could she ever hope to escape that moniker?

Picking up her purse she gingerly reached for the door handle, opening it and squinting as the bright sunlight hit her eyes no longer protected by the tinted window. She pushed her hand into her purse pulling out the extra large sunglasses and putting them on grateful for the way they hid half of her face. She allowed her hair to fall forward also covering the majority of what was still displayed of her face. She could hear the voice calling her name but she didn't look up. Instead she walked up the path of her childhood home and walked inside not stopping to acknowledge the woman that stood on the front step. Walking to the stairs she placed her hand on the banister ever so carefully taking a step up almost crying at the sight of the many stairs that still lay before her. But she would not cry she had been through so much and never shed a tear it was going to take something more than some stairs to bring her tears now.

She heard the woman calling out behind her. "Haley please," without turning in the direction of the voice she placed her foot onto the next stair.

"Not now Taylor, not now." Her sister's words dismissed from her mind almost as quickly as the words that left her mouth in response. When she got to the top of the stairs she walked slowly down the hall towards the door that she hoped would bring her to her salvation. For almost as long as she could remember she had been promising herself that if she could just make it there then everything that was wrong with her life would somehow be cured.

Finally she reached the door sucking in a deep breath as she opened it waiting for the inevitable soul cleansing that she was so sure this place would bring. But it didn't happen and she found herself standing in the doorway to a room that had always been a symbol of everything good but now as she looked at it she realised that it was just a room. She could feel a sob rising in her throat but she forced it back down, waiting for a feeling of calm to once again descend upon her, waiting for the numbness to again overtake her. She clenched her fists feeling her nails digging into her palms and once again felt calm. The moment had passed and she was back into her own little world, a world where she would remain forever given the choice.

The room although physically the same seemed somehow smaller than she remembered. She knew though that it was not the room that had changed it was in fact her. She was no longer the same little girl with big dreams she had been when she had been here before she was now a woman, a woman who many would think had achieved her dreams. The dreams that had at one time meant so much to her and now added up to next to nothing.

She walked to the bed carefully lowering herself onto it and grimaced with pain, her mind briefly going to the pain pills the doctor had given her before she had left the hospital. She dismissed them again almost instantly though, she didn't deserve to have her pain even temporarily assuaged. She needed to feel every ache, every stabbing pain and every morsel of hurt that was coming to her, how else could she ever make up for her mistakes. This was her penance.

She heard two sets of footsteps walking towards her room and she held her breath praying that they would continue past. She heard one of them pause outside of her room and felt as if her heart was about to explode out of her chest with the way it was pounding at that moment. Finally after what seemed an eternity but in reality was probably no more than thirty seconds she heard the footsteps moving away from her door and allowed her breath out in a whoosh of relief.

For the next ten minutes she heard her sister's voice rising and falling in what seemed a never-ending litany. At the end of it she heard the slightly high pitched tone of her four year old nephew bidding his mother goodnight and Taylor's response. The door to the child's bedroom closed and she listened to the sound of footsteps once again approaching her door. This time though she knew that they would not simply continue past, this time her sister was going to want to talk. Sure enough she heard them stop at the doorway followed by a soft tap at the door. She remained on her bed doing her best to ignore the persistent knocking at the door, wishing that her sister would simply take the hint and leave. She knew that she had locked the door so there was no way Taylor would be entering unless she actually let her in and there was no way that was going to happen. She stood up slowly from the bed removing her clothes no longer able to bear the feeling of the material against her bruised and grazed flesh. The knocking became louder but still she ignored it blocking it out the way she had become so accustomed to blocking so many things out in her past.

Finally she stood naked peering curiously at herself in the mirror as she traced her fingers over the bandages covering her ribs, fingering the different bruises and scrapes that appeared all over her body. Her skin looked almost like a patchwork quilt with all the different coloured marks and scars. As she stared at it she was completely detached from the reality that this was her body so badly beaten. She appraised it almost the way one would a piece of art that they were viewing for the first time, searching for the hidden meaning amongst all the different colours, certain that if she just looked hard enough there would be some clue staring back at her.

She was so lost in her intense study of her own form in the mirror that she was unaware of the key turning in the lock or the door slowly opening, unaware until she saw Taylor's horrified gaze staring back at her in the mirror and the sharp inhalation of breath as she saw the full extent of the exterior damage done to her sister's body.

"Haley I… Haley…." She stopped there were no words for that moment.

"What's the matter Tay? You seem surprised. What did you expect me to look like? The doctors called you didn't they, they told you what had happened so what the hell did you expect? Look at me Taylor do you see the bruises, do you see the way my lip has been split open? I have a broken arm for Christ's sake? What did you expect me to look like?"

Taylor opened her mouth to speak but closed it again as she realised there was nothing she could say. Haley continued to stare at her hardly, and the thing that struck Taylor the most at that moment was the fact that there were no tears. Her face was completely devoid of emotion as was her voice for while most would have expected words such as those to be delivered with passion and anger there had been no emotion at all. Not anger, sadness, fear or anything the only thing Taylor heard in her voice was recrimination, recrimination against herself.

"Haley I uh…. I just wanted to know if you wanted to talk or you know if you needed anything. Zach's in bed now so if you need anything I'm all yours. Why don't you come downstairs and we can have something to eat maybe watch some TV?"

"Taylor just go away," Haley said quietly. "I don't need food and I certainly don't need TV. Just leave me alone."

"Fine," Taylor replied "You've just got out of the hospital so I can let you get away with that for tonight but if you think this is going to go on after this you have another thing coming. Now get some sleep I'll expect you down at breakfast in the morning. By the looks of you, you can use all the sleep you can get."

Haley walked to the bed not even looking at Taylor as she left the room. She didn't bother to put clothes on simply climbing under the covers nude. Surprisingly sleep came relatively quickly and she slipped into a dreamless slumber not waking till the sun streamed through the still opened blinds the next morning. The sounds of Zach running around giggling downstairs as Taylor chased after him filtered up to her and she grimaced. She wanted nothing more than to remain in her bedroom but the need to go to the bathroom was overwhelming. Getting out of bed she padded as quietly as possible down the hall to the nearest bathroom letting herself in and quickly shutting the door. While in there she heard the doorbell ring and Zach's excited cry's of "Daddy, daddy," she stopped dead frozen in shock. Oh God why hadn't she considered the possibility that he would be coming here? How could she be so stupid?

She could hear the low murmur of his voice as he spoke to his son and the mother of his child. She pressed herself up against the wall as if afraid that he may have developed x-ray vision and could see right through the door and into the room where she was. Her heart was pounding and her breath was coming in short sharp pants and she wondered if this was what it was like to have a panic attack. Then just as she was certain that things could not get any worse she heard Taylor's voice calling up the stairs.

"Haley get down here and say hello. Your breakfast is on the table."

Was her sister insane? How could she yell out to her like that letting him know that she was here? She had been clinging to the slight hope that he would not learn that she was here because if he knew then he would tell…. No she couldn't think about that now. She couldn't allow herself to think his name.

She heard a pounding on the door and shrank back from it terrified.

"Haley open up," Taylor demanded.

Haley briefly wondered if she could go out the window as the pounding continued. She couldn't let him see her. What would he think? What would he say? She couldn't find out. There was no way that she could allow him to see her.

"Haley I swear if you don't open this door right this second, I'm going to get him to come up here and break it down."

Haley shuddered but focused on the one thing she said. He was downstairs that meant that there was still a possibility that she could get back to her room without him seeing her. But if she was going to do that she had to move now. She knew all too well that Taylor would not hesitate to follow through on her threat. Pushing herself away from the wall she rushed at the door unlocking it and wrenching it open. Taylor looked slightly shocked for a moment before regaining her equilibrium.

"Well it's about time," Taylor said her hands planted firmly on her hips as she glared at her. "Right so are you coming down for some breakfast?"

"Tay I promise that I'll come down later but I can't now. I can't let him see me like this. Please," she begged.

"Haley everyone is going to see you sooner or later," Taylor insisted.

"Yes and I will deal with that. I will but right now I just can't. Please Tay just give me a few days."

Taylor stood staring at her for a moment but then sighed impatiently flipping her long blonde hair back over her shoulder.

"Alright fine, but don't think that I don't know what this is about. I'm not going to let you hide from the future forever. Sooner or later Haley you are going to have to confront your past because you know as well as I do that that is the only way you are going to be able to move forward."

Haley scurried back to the bedroom relieved to be allowed to continue to hide away for at least a little longer.

Taylor sighed once again before turning to go back down the stairs. He stood at the bottom of the stairs waiting for her Zach perched high on his shoulders.

"Is she coming down?" he asked even though he already knew the answer.

She looked at him and shook her head slightly.

"Right well in that case I'm going up there to see her myself."

"Stop," she said desperately as he lifted Zach from his shoulders and began to move up the stairs. "You can't. You don't understand."

"Well then why don't you tell me? Why don't you explain to me why my best friend has suddenly come back and is hiding away up in her bedroom? Why she won't come down here and see me? What does she think she's too good for us now? Miss Grammy award singing superstar." His voice was getting progressively louder with each word.

Taylor leaned over placing a reassuring hand on his arm. "Lucas please you have to understand."

"What," he said his anger almost a visible force around him.

"Luke, he….She…" She paused not knowing how to tell him this. Finally she just blurted it out. "He hit her Luke."

"What?" he asked turning back to her his eyes reflecting his shock.

"He beat her and he raped her. She doesn't want to see anyone."

"God Damn it," Lucas said slamming a hand into his fist. "I knew it. I knew he was nothing but a fucking sadistic bastard. Damn it why did I ever let her go with Chris. I should have stopped her. I should have…" He stopped as he heard the strangled noise coming from Taylor. Opening his arms he pulled her into his chest in a consoling hug.

"It's bad Luke. It's really bad."

"Tay I have to go up and see her, even if she won't see me I have to at least try."

Taylor looked at him beseechingly for a moment and when realising that it was not going to have any effect she shrugged her shoulders in defeat. "Do what you have to do." She said. "But don't say I didn't warn you."

He started up the stairs unsure what would happen. Reaching the door to the room that he had been in so many times during their childhood, he knocked sharply. The knock was met with silence for a moment but as he listened intently he heard movement on the other side of the door.

"Tay is that you?" he heard her ask in a small voice.

"No Hales it's me, please let me in."

"Luke I'm actually really tired right now I'm planning to go back to bed, but come by some other time and we'll talk then ok?"

"Hales I'm not going anywhere so just open the door ok? Please I just need to see you and know that you're ok. I can wait out here all day if I have to."

There was an interminable pause then just when he thought that she was not going to accede to his request the door opened just a crack and she peered at him from the other side.

Reaching out he placed his palm against the door and pushed at it forcing it inwards. He saw the flash of fear in her eyes but she made no move to prevent him from opening it. Seeing her for the first time after eight years he gasped in shock, his eyes slowly moving over the evidence of her ravaged face. Her lip was showing evidence of being recently split open although was beginning to heal, there were bruises around her eyes and there was a cut above her eye that if he had to hazard a guess had been caused by a ring worn on a fist being slammed into her face. Although her petite body was swamped in a terry cloth robe the sleeves had been pushed up over her bony wrists showing more bruises and he had to fight to hold in the anger that welled inside of him. He reached a hand out to brush her hair back off her face but she flinched away moving across the room so that there was now a bed separating them.

"Luke you've seen me now please just go."

"Why did you stay with him Haley? No I take that back how could you stay with him, because I don't understand why you would stay with someone who did this to you?"

"He loved me," she said simply. Turning away she walked to the window completely ignoring his presence. He wanted to speak to her further but could see by the exhausted slump of her shoulders that he would get nothing further from her. Sighing with frustration he turned and walked out of the room but as he reached the door he turned and looked back at her once more.

"I'm here for you if you need me Hales."

He watched the back of her head for a moment waiting for some acknowledgement of his words but there was nothing. Shoving his hands deep into his pockets his shoulders slumped dejectedly and he left the room.