Author's Note: So, this is another "Prequel Series" to my "Seasons" fics- focusing on KC and Jaxon's relationship. DISCRETION IS ADVISED: This fanfic has mentions of suicide and physical abuse.

Jaxon's POV

KC and I were swinging on the swing set, holding hands. My arm was still in its cast from when her dad broke it.

We're in 4th and 5th grade now. We've been together since her 8th birthday. It's been almost 2 years.

KC's teacher walked over to us. We ran our feet in the sand to stop ourselves.

"KC, you're wanted in the front office," she told her.

"Do I have to go?" KC questioned.

"Your dad is here to take you to your appointment," she said.

"I'll go with you," I offered to my girlfriend.

KC nodded. Her teacher told me to come back right after. I agreed.

KC and I got off of the swings and I took her hand in mine again. We started walking down the sidewalk.

"He doesn't take me to appointments," KC spoke up. "I don't wanna go with him."

"He'll hurt you worse if you don't, though, right?" I asked.

"Yeah," she confirmed.

I tightened my grip on her hand, so I wouldn't let go.

"I promise that I'll protect you if I can," I told her. "I'll take you away from him someday."

"Thanks, Jax," she told me.

"I love you," I said.

She stopped and looked at me. I hadn't told her that before, not in the way I meant it now. Suddenly, she wrapped her arms around my neck, hugging me. I hugged her back. She pulled away after a little bit and looked at me.

"I love you too," she told me. she pecked my lips. I smiled.

We walked to the front office. Her dad was standing there staring us down. I didn't let go of her hand. She tightened her grip.

"Let's go," he told her.

She looked at me and let go. She walked out of school with him. I watched through the window as she climbed into his truck. I knew she was scared. He drove away. I continued to look at the spot.

"Get to class, Mr. Friar," I barely heard the secretary say. "Mr. Friar." I still didn't look at her. "Jaxon." She put her hand on my shoulder, I looked at her. "Get to class."

"I'm gonna marry her someday," I said.

"You're too young to be thinking about that," she told me.

"No," I corrected her, then walked away.

After school, Lucas and I rode the bus home.

"I'm worried about her, Luke," I told my 8-year-old brother after we climbed up to the treehouse. I looked at the wall and saw a sticky note on it. I grabbed it.

Meet me at the tree. I need you.

KC

I knew what tree she meant. We had our real first kiss (as boyfriend and girlfriend) there. I went to the treehouse ladder.

"Where are you going?" Luke asked me.

"I'll be back before dinner time."

I climbed down and walked for a while until I got to the tree. KC was sitting under it. She had a busted lip and a black eye. I sat down next to her.

"I was right," she told me.

"You didn't have an appointment, did you?"

"He hates me," she said. "I don't know what I did."

"You didn't do anything," I assured her. I pulled her into a hug.

"I thought about it again," she said. "That's why I wanted to see you."

I looked at her hand, she was holding something. I opened her hand and saw it was a pocket knife, still closed. I slowly took it out of her hand. I stood up and threw it as far as I could. I sat back down.

"I'm sorry," she apologized.

She started crying. I pulled her into a hug again. I kissed her on the head.

Rachel's POV

"This isn't normal," I told my husband. "She's only 9, Brad. A little girl shouldn't ever have thoughts of dying young, let alone killing herself. Nobody should, but especially not someone so young, especially not… her. She's so broken."

"If that damn sheriff would have believed all of you, we wouldn't have this problem," he said.

"If I knew I wouldn't be treated like a kidnapper, I wouldn't let her go back," I admitted. I leaned up against the counter. "I have no idea what exactly she would have done with that knife. There are so many things she could have done with it."

"Maybe talk to her about it," Brad suggested.

"I'm scared to know," I confessed. "It terrifies me, sometimes, how her mind works. She still hasn't told us, herself, that he's abusing her. The boys have seen it, but she's too scared of him to tell us."

"Jaxon, can you come in here, please?" Brad called for our son.

Jaxon walked into the room.

"Yeah?" He questioned.

"Has KC opened up to you?" I asked him.

He sat on the couch.

"Not really," he said. "She won't tell me anything about what he does to her. I know he hits her, but she won't actually talk about it." He looked at me. "I know she trusts me, but I think it hurts too much to talk about it."

I looked at Brad.

Jaxon looked down.

"Jax?" I questioned.

He looked at me, tears starting to fall down his face.

"It scares me, mom," he said. "What if he kills her?"

"Don't think like that," his father told him.

"I love her," he admitted.

"You don't know what love is, yet, Jaxon," Brad told him. "Maybe when you get older, you will."

"Yes, I do," he said. "I'm not too young to know how I feel. I'm in love with her."

I smiled.

"Jaxon—"

"If I don't know that, then why do I care about her so much?" Jaxon questioned his father. "Why do I think about her all the time? Why do I protect her if I don't love her? Why am I better with her? I never cared about someone as much as I care about her. Why would she trust me so much and why would I never want to break it if we don't love each other?"

He reminded me of a story Eric told me about Cory defending his relationship with Topanga. Brad looked at me.

"I do know what love is," he told his dad.

"Jax," I said- he looked at me-, "let's go to the store." I looked at my husband. "Can you make sure to pick Lucas up from Zay's?"

He nodded "yes" to me.

Jaxon and I left the house and got in the truck. I started driving.

"Do you believe me?" Jaxon asked me.

"Yeah, I do," I answered, not taking my eyes off of the road. "I don't think you're ever too young to know you love someone."

"Were you ever in love before dad?"

"Yeah, I do think I was," I confirmed.

"Think?"

"You can't always know," I answered. "I knew I loved this boy, Jack, in college, but I honestly don't know if I was actually in love with him. Love can be complicated."

"You mean like you and dad?"

"I'm sorry that we fight a lot," I apologized. "We're trying to work on things."

"He's not nice to you," he observed. He's like his girlfriend, he notices more than we know he does. It went silent. We went to the store, then started driving home. He spoke up again. "I hate seeing KC like that, with contusions."

"Reading the dictionary again?"

"KC taught me that word," he told me. "It means cuts and bruises."

"How did that come up?"

"She wrote a song called that," he said. "It's in my room."

She reads the dictionary to improve her songwriting.

We got home, and after we put the groceries away, I followed him into his room. He handed me a paper. I started reading the lyrics on the page.

It looks like lightning outside/ Like she was always scared of/ But I know it's really headlights/ The kind that make me want to run/ And hide in the darkness/ And imagine the Aurora Borealis/ The northern lights/ Back in my room where they shined

Where I was safe from these contusions/ When I had everything I wanted/ But it's all gone now/ Gone now because of him

I stopped reading it. This 9-year-old girl, who I've known for four years, was one of the most extraordinary people I've ever met. I'll be damned if I don't fight my hardest to protect her.