WARNINGS: Mentions of "hell" "demons" "suicide" "cutting" "parent infidelity" "miscarriage"
Daisy's POV:
After school, I started to help my mom with carefully working to take the wallpaper off the wall. The mural was becoming quite clear.
Vivien's POV:
The mural, is of a woman being dragged into hell by a demon that is grinning. A maiden, that is beautiful is splayed out on a bed with a monster sitting on her chest. I turned Daisy away from the inappropriate mural.
Daisy's POV:
After my mother turns me away, she calls out to my sister, "Violet! Can you take your sister?" I hear my sister respond, "Yeah?" My mother also asks, "Can you take Hallie out?"
-The Next Day-
Ben's POV:
I am in another session with Tate, but I notice my eldest daughter, Violet is spying through a partially cracked door. I ask him, "Are you taking the medication?" Tate answers with, "Yes."
I notice that Tate is aware of Violet, as he turns to look at her. Violet gasps silently, thinking that I don't notice or hear her. I am thinking that she must be developing feelings for him.
I continue to ask him, "Thoughts of suicide?" Tate, "Not lately. I met people." Once again, Tate and Violet lock eyes.
Violet's POV:
I know what people would think by looking at all of this, if Tate and I are a possibility. Maybe we are? Maybe we aren't? I don't really know, but I am curious to say the least.
After his therapy session with my dad, Tate and I began to play a music record. We sat on the floor as our shirt sleeves are both rolled up. Truth be told, I started cutting again a few days ago. I remember cutting myself as Tate shows me his cutting scars.
He points to one, "This one, I did when my dad first left. I was ten, I think." He points to another one, "This one a year later. New school. Got beat up." I show him my most recent cut, "Last week, first day at my new school, which sucks."
Tate asks me, "Westfield" I nod my head, "Yep" Tate rolls his eyes, "The worst. I got thrown out of there." I start to slump, "I hate it here. I hate everyone, except for Daisy. All of their bougie designer bullshit, the east coast was much cooler. At least, we had weather."
He laughs slightly, "You really love her, don't you?" I look at him strangely, until he clarifies, "Daisy, I mean." I realize what he means, "Yes. I really do. I was there when she was born, I saw her take her first steps, say her first words, I saw her when she crawled."
I continue, "You know, when she was first started to learn how to walk, she began to crawl to me as I clapped my hands for her. She finally stood up, and walked for the first time into my arms. And, I just held her in my arms for a while. It was truly the most magical feeling that I have ever felt in my life."
I finish, "That's when I knew, I had to protect that beautiful baby, with my entire life, to protect her from everything that I was not protected from." He just smiles at me, "Yeah. I only met her for five minutes a few days ago, but I feel the same way about her."
One thing we have in common: Loving and Protecting Daisy. He decides to change the subject, "I love it when the leaves change" I smile a little, "Me too."
He suddenly asks me, "Why did you move here?" I say it how it is, "My dad had an affair. My mom literally caught him in the act." His face turns to one of disgust, "That's horrible. If you love someone, you should never cheat on them, or leave them. Never."
My eyes widen, as I have finally met someone who understands that, "Right? I know. And the worst part, is that six months earlier, my mom, had this brutal miscarriage. The baby was seven months old, we had to have this macabre funeral."
Tate's face turns into one full of sympathy, "I'm sorry." He takes my hand, but I was thrown by being touched. I changed the subject, "Why are you seeing my dad?" He answers me with, "Don't ask questions you already know the answer to. You're smarter than that."
I nod, as what he is saying is true. I glance at my hand in his, and I suddenly feel self conscious. I remove my hand from his as the song ends on my iPod player, "You like Craven? It's a new band."
Tate, "I've never heard of them." I get up to start playing a song by the band, "They're really cool, they're from Oregon, the lead singer is dyslexic and a vegan..." We hear footsteps come up the stairs, and we see that it is Daisy. Her face is all decked out in colorful and cute stickers, "I'm all out of stickers!" Tate and I look at her with nothing but adorableness.
He says to her, "You are all out of face! What happened to you?" He picks her up, she wraps her arms around his shoulders. I pat, rub her back and say, "How about some Mac and cheese, huh?"
She looks to Tate, and she smiles, "Mac and cheese!" He puts her in my arms and shouts in a funny way, "Yeah!"