Disclaimer: I don't own Gossip Girl – I own Lydia and Sebastian who are from my previous story "The Unheard Sister of Chuck Bass" and the other characters have been submitted through my SYOC, PM me if you're interested in submitting a character

A/N: Little Harpischord is all growing up, but who is about to be targeted this time?

Chapter 19 – Violet Avery

"Henry, can I talk to you? In private? It's important..." I asked politely.

He sighed dramatically before following me out of the main hall and down a quiet corridor. "What is it, Violet?"

"I need to talk to you, about us. About our relationship."

My chest was about to erupt at the thought of telling Henry about my visit to the Hamptons with Sebastian. It was put on hold when our phones buzzed. We hesitantly went to look. I was quicker because I had to know what Jane Doe had said. Harper had just released my secret and Henry was about to find out too.

Hey UESiders, 2, 4, 6, 8 – who does Harpsichord appreciate? Not Pencil Boy anymore, but Mr Mallory! And I heard a rumour that she told Mr Mallory that he was her first kiss… Nobody likes to be someone's sloppy seconds. Jane Doe. Kisses. X X

I gawped at the message on my phone and realised that Harper hadn't done what I thought she had. She had given herself up to Jane Doe – for me... I owed her now. I just hoped that we would be able to move forwards. "Henry."

"Violet, I want to be honest with you. What we had was really special. There is a part of me that wants to give you another chance, but I can't do that. My mom is furious and desperate to know where the leak came from. Whilst you helped to save the show, you ruined it in the first place."

"I know," I interrupted, feeling my eyes beginning to water. "But you have to believe me. I felt like I had no choice. Henry, you know I would not have sent information to Jane Doe if I could have avoided it."

"What was it worth?" Henry asked, looking up and down the still empty corridor. "I need to know what my mother's business was up against."

I shook my head. "You wouldn't understand, Henry."

"Try me," he insisted, taking my hand. "Like I said, if I mean anything to you, you start being honest with me, wouldn't you?"

I paused, unsure what to say at this point – nothing seemed like the right thing to say. "It's about my parents... and their constant infidelities."

Henry's face dropped, unsure of how to process this new information. "But they're fine. What infidelities?"

"See? I knew you wouldn't understand. Especially when everything seems fine with your family." I placed my hands over my face. "Can't we get past this?"

He went to walk away, and at first, I took that as a no. Henry stopped at the end of the corridor. "If there's nothing else that you're hiding, then I guess we can get past this and try to be Little Pencil again..." He flashed me a charming smile.

Whilst it melted me inside, I couldn't help feeling as thought he was trying to coerce me into confessing about my little Hamptons trip with Sebastian. "Nothing else," I replied nervously.

-o-

After Henry and I seemed to journey back to familiar grounds, we decided to keep it a secret. Under the impression that this secrecy would allow us to remain off Jane Doe's radar, we went to the other's house in secret and picked up where we left off.

One autumnal evening, I was returning home from the Bass-Waldorf house and noticed a familiar face at the door to my house. Sebastian. He was sat on the steps looking down at his black and white trainers. I could see one of his feet vibrating against the stone like he was anticipating something. Seb seemed almost nervous – a mood of which I had never seen him in before.

"Seb? What are you doing here?" I asked cautiously, walking slowly towards him.

"I wanted to talk to you." Seb looked up at me with the famous Archibald blues that glistened in the moonlight.

"About what?"

"Sit down?" He patted the step beside him and I obliged in sitting on the cold step. "There's something I've been meaning to talk with you about. With everything that's been going on – the play, us going to the Hamptons, Jane Doe hits... I felt like we didn't really talk about what happened."

"But nothing happened." I shot back harshly, avoiding eye contact and keeping my gaze fixed on the other side of the street.

"I know nothing physically happened, Violet. I just want to know what else you felt."

My mind raced with thoughts about the direction of this conversation and it made me super nervous. "Seb, I really care about Henry. A big part of me isn't over him," I replied, going down the mature route of conversation.

Seb turned towards me, accidentally knocking his knee against mine. "That's obvious, yet you were the one standing outside my door in the Hamptons. You came to me."

The words stung, despite brimming with the truth. "I was alone and- and... well you turned me away and told me to go to my room."

"Because you were still Henry's girlfriend."

"When had that ever stopped you in the past?" I retaliated nastily.

Seb was caught off guard. "You're right, it hasn't. Things are different now though." His hand snaked its way up to my cheek and pulled me towards him.

The feeling of his lips on mine was electric and I felt a renewed energy coursing through my body. I pushed my hand against his chest, noticing his heart racing. "No, I can't do this..." I bolted up the stairs and into the building where I stomped into the elevator up to my parent's penthouse. "No, no, no..." I whispered, leaning back against the mirrored walls.

The worst thing was, there was no one I could confide in about this predicament. Vick and Meredith had their own history with Sebastian, and I was not top of Harper's friend list either. I couldn't even have told you what my heart from feeling about it. Whilst my head wanted me to stick with Henry, my heart lavished in the excitement of the possibility of being with Sebastian.

Stepping out the lift into the penthouse, I noticed Dad reading the newspaper under a small table lamp. He barely acknowledged me as I walked across the room. Once I was by my bedroom door, he called out to me.

"There's a dress on the door of your dressing room. Your mom and I want you to wear it tomorrow evening for the gala."

"Yes Dad," I shouted quickly, before locking myself away. "J.J?" I saw his name come up on my phone. "J.J?"

"Hey Vi – not sure if you are free to talk... It's just that, well, today you didn't seem yourself. I know I haven't seen you in a while. Well, since rehearsals started up, but I noticed something was off with you. I just wanted to check that you are all okay."

I froze, hoping that this was not another crush coming out of the woodwork, so I laughed it off. "Are you kidding me? Everything's find, J.J. Nothing to worry about."

"Vi, I know you and Henry are kind of in this go-between stage of together and not together, and Jane Doe intervening with the play's casting doesn't help either. As a completely unbiased source, you can trust me. Tell me how you really are."

"I don't want to talk on the phone. Meet me before school?" I gave him an address and told him to meet me there early the next morning.

-o-

The next morning, I was sat in a small coffeehouse around the corner from Constance. My phone was face down on the table whilst a small cappuccino sat steaming beside it. The place was relatively empty, with an elderly lady on the table beside me constantly stirring her coffee, ignoring the sloppy spillage on the saucer beneath. I had a sick feeling in my stomach because I had to tell Henry that I couldn't meet up before school.

"Come on J.J…" I mumbled, glancing at the rustic clock on the wall.

The bell hanging above the door jingled and J.J burst into the coffeehouse, slumping into the chair opposite me with an apologetic look on his face. At first we caught up on school and family stuff – J.J told me that the production team had finalised a start date for the pilot of the series he was in.

"Spill the beans Avery. How come you and Henry still haven't reconciled? Because from where I'm standing, he is still not over you." He smiled weakly.

"That's not-" I stopped myself from telling the truth, remembering that me and Henry had chosen not to let on that we were back together. "There's some stuff that has happened lately that has me a bit confused."

J.J nodded slowly. "I can see that." He leant back and then rocked forwards. "Look- I know it's not my place to say, but did something happen between you and Seb?"

I tried not to flinch, but he caught my eye. "No. Why would you say that?"

"I don't know, just curiosity I guess. Just seeing you guys during rehearsals and such. There's a distance between you and Henry which is down to the fact you're not together anymore, but I don't understand why there would be a distance between you and Seb unless something happened."

"It's nothing, really."

"How come I just don't believe you?" J.J laced an arm over the back of his chair and propped his right foot on his left knee. He looked the picture of calm. "You can trust me, Violet."

"With Jane Doe around, I don't know who I can trust. You betrayed Vick's trust at the end of the day." I stopped.

"What happened?" he asked repeatedly. "I promise you, I will not say a word."

I bit my lip hard, wiggling my nose slightly. "J.J…" I took a big gulp of my cappuccino. "Seb came onto me." My eyes widened when I saw Meredith gawping at me through the glass window. "I have to go," I added abruptly, swiping my handbag off the floor. "Bye."

Throwing open the door, the bell jingling, I inhaled the sweet smell of freshly baked pretzels from a nearby vendor.

"Merry- wait!" I called out quickly.

She whipped around, towering over me in her heeled shoes with a false smile on her face. "Oh Violet, hey!"

I knew Meredith was going to act like she didn't see anything as we started to walk towards Constance, disappearing into the small string of other schoolgirls. It was only when we were climbing the steps up to the building that I decided I would have to bite the bullet.

"You won't say anything, will you?"

Meredith glanced over her shoulder. "Why? Is there something going on between you and Boy Wonder?"

I shook my head rapidly. "No, nothing going on there."

"Then why were you worried about me saying something?"

"Not exactly – I just didn't want you to assume anything. That's all."

Meredith pursed her lips. "No. You just didn't want me to involve Jane Doe in things by stirring trouble and saying you were hooking up with J.J."

"Hooking up with?!" I exclaimed loudly before dropping my tone instantly. "I don't just hook up with people."

Meredith shrugged slightly before striding away, purposefully practicing that catwalk stomping that made her skirt swish and flick.

I rolled my eyes and went into the building to go on and endure a painfully slow day. By the time everyone was leaving, I was glad to see a notice postponing the rehearsal until tomorrow.

Vick and Harper caught me in the corridor, asking me to go with them to meet up with some of the St Jude's boys. I knew that would include Henry and Sebastian, but they wouldn't let me say no. They seemed to think J.J coming would encourage me to come. The best I could do was say I'd have to leave early because of the gala.

Harper squeezed my hands in hers. "Can we be friends again?" she asked softly.

I could feel her hands trembling. "I should be the one asking that. I'm sorry I accused you of only looking out for yourself."

"It's forgotten..."

"Yeah- but only because Logan called out Jane Doe's taunting." I giggled, linking arms with Harper and pulling her along. "Things still moving forwards with Logan then?"

Harper whispered, "He kind of ghosted me. I sent him a text last week and one yesterday, but I haven't heard from him since."

I narrowed my eyes. "Well something is going to change about that." I stride off, firing a DM off to J.J's official Twitter page to drag Logan along. No issues, no questions.

He politely accepted with an additional laughing face and emoji.

-o-

We met the St Jude boys all gathered around a park bench on the edge of Central Park. Everyone agreed it was the best middle ground because me and someone else lived on the West Side.

As soon as I saw Logan, I grabbed him by the bag strap and pulled him down the path, ignoring the whistling from some of the guys I didn't know.

"What are you playing at, Logan?" I snapped angrily.

He leaned forwards, over me as he was head and shoulders taller than me. "Violet, you're going to have to be more descriptive than that I'm afraid. So I know what you're accusing me of."

"Harper said you've ghosted her- what the heck are you playing at? I didn't have you down for a coward..."

Logan's face twitched. "What? No, no, no. She ghosted me Violet. I swear it. That girl's left me on read for the last three messages I've sent."

"Well that's not what I've been told."

"Then you've been told wrong." He pulled out his phone from his inside blazer pocket, showing me the screen. "Enough evidence for you, Detective?"

Logan was telling the truth. He had tried to get in touch with her; but she had ignored the messages.

"Family troubles, I guess."

"Why wouldn't she tell me?" Logan asked. "I don't get you girls sometimes."

My hand impulsively pushed him back, irritated by the comment. "And I could say the same thing. Look. Just go and talk to her. Open up to her and show that you're serious about getting to know her."

Before hearing a response, I marched back towards the group where J.J greeted me again.

"I've been confided in by your phantom kisser," he whispered in my ear.

I shook my head. "I don't need to hear it."

"Oh I think you will when you hear what I have to say."

Across the clustered group, my eyes caught Henry's but I couldn't even bring myself to return the subtle smile. The worried expression was slapped across my face.

"What?" I asked quietly.

J.J put an arm over my shoulder. "Someone else has been pulling the strings and messing with their head."

"Who?"

"My source refused to disclose the information. And before you go fire angry, it's not me- it's one of the Constance girls. That's all I know." He got out his phone and sighed. "I need to go. Possibly see you at the gala tonight? Your parents are hosting, aren't they?"

I nodded quickly and watched J.J break off from the group. I rubbed my temples with my thumb and forefinger. It was hard to get it out of my system that I was stuck between two guys. Not to mention, I was secretly going out with one of them, but that didn't stop the overthinking.

"Will you be at the gala tonight?" a voice asked beside me. Henry must have edged his way around the circle towards.

"Um, yeah. I noticed the Bass, Archibald and Humphrey names on the elite guest list my parents drew up weeks ago. Will you be joining them?"

"I think I might do..." Henry winked at me with a bright and contagious smile. "It'll just be Tiff who will be missing from the Waldorf-Bass family."

"Then perhaps I will see you there," I replied playfully.

-o-

I was stood in the hall of the hotel where the Avery duo were hosting their little gala where they could show off their wealth and allegedly solid married. The theme was fire and ice. Blue and red. Except for my family who were wearing silvery-white outfits. They were plastered to either side of me, forcing me to smile for photos and portray this perfect family image. My chest felt tight and the hustle and bustle of the hall made me feel claustrophobic.

"Mr Archibald, soon to be Mr Mayor, I hope!" Dad exclaimed, patting Nate Archibald on the back.

Standing beside Mr Archibald was his wife, Lydia. Seb's mother, and Henry's aunt. Lydia looked sophisticated and elegant in a cobalt blue floor length dress with beaded detail at the waist. Her light brown hair was loosely curled and pulled down one side, showing off her dangly jewelled earrings that swung with every step.

There was something about the expression on her face that showed it up as false. Hurt lay beneath the smile and that hit me because of what I knew and what I had seen. The arrival of Ava quickly behind them confirmed as much. All I could see was her dancing and laughing with Seb's dad. Not that I saw the appeal in Ava compared to Mrs Archibald.

As the Archibald family fed into the crowd, I caught Seb's gaze. He was glancing over his shoulder at me and I felt a sharp twinge in my stomach. Seb was only behaving this way because someone had told him that I had feelings for him. He wasn't the sort of person to put himself out there and face the risk of rejection. This guy would spend time pursuing girls who crushed on him, as he knew he wouldn't be rejected. There was no knowing what was really going through his mind.

Quickly behind the Archibald family, came Henry and his parents. Blair and Chuck were courteous to me. Blair even complimented my outfit and commented on how pretty I looked, giving Henry a nudge as she and Chuck passed him.

Henry smiled nervously. "Hi again, Violet."

Before my parents could intervene and ask for an introduction, I bundled Henry into the hall, squeaking an equally nervously apology to Henry.

He stood in a corner behind a stone pillar and pulled me nearer, out of sight of the crowd. Henry's hand was on my arm, brushing his finger backwards and forwards with a gentleness that made the butterflies in my stomach flutter.

"Henry…"

It was clear that Henry was nervous about something important that he wanted to ask. "Vi- I want to ask you something…"

This was it. He was going to ask me to be his girlfriend again. Officially. No sneaking around behind Jane Doe's back, because she was bound to find out eventually.

"Yes," I hastily replied.

"What?" Henry gasped, pulling his arm back. "Violet, I wanted to ask you if you had developed feelings for someone else…"

My eyes widened and I gripped Henry's hand to stop him from leaving. "No. Never. No." I paused. "I thought you were going to ask me to be your girlfriend again…"

"Oh."

"I'm sorry- can we start over?"

"Be my girlfriend," Henry replied in a demanding tone. "Forget Jane Doe. She can't drag us apart anymore. Not when I feel this way about you." He snaked his arms around me, enveloping me in a tight embrace before kissing my cheek. "We'll tell people gradually, right?"

"Of course…" I whispered, planting a kiss on his lips and closing my eyes. "I'm glad we could move forwards. Honestly, I'm just surprised your mom was so nice to me, given what I did."

"I spoke to her. She understands now, and I didn't tell her about your parents either."

-o-

The gala was a roaring success – everyone seemed to enjoy it. It was made even more enjoyable by sneaking Henry into my room. He slept on the floor by my bed like a protective guard dog and we fell asleep whilst holding onto the other's hand.

An Instagram alert woke me up quickly and I say the dreaded username on the screen. Jane Doe. It was time for me to give something up.

I had to cup my hand over my mouth to stop myself from gasping out loud. Jane Doe had been stalking me – or at least, she had her followers do the dirty work. She had sent me photos. Photos of me and Seb kissing on the step. Photos of me and J.J in the coffeehouse. Even photos of me and Logan in the park, with him looming over me like he too was going to kiss me.

If you don't want Pencil Boy to see this, you might want to give me a secret… You can't hide a secret from me.

I fired back a message that Harper ghosted Logan.

Oh you'll have to do better than that. I know you can do better than that.

I went through my friends, trying to work out the link or where the secret might originate and when I found a few options, I knew I would end up hurting people. But it was my turn to be selfish.

The last message turned my stomach, even more so when Henry awoke and asked me what I was doing.

That's my little birdy… I knew you were holding out on me, but I know you and Pencil Boy played me trying to keep your own little secret so he might just see these photos anyway. Know my name, keep the secrets. Kisses. X X

Thoughts from AspiringWriterGirl = I can think of a couple of secrets that Violet might choose to reveal and there's something in the air that tells me there is going to be a huge blowup at some point – who do you think is behind Jane Doe?