Clem's Pov:

"What the fuck! Louis says across from me as his eyes scan the sheet in front of him. "She really wrote this?"

I nod as he and Sophie read over the sheets that are strewn across the island. "That's not all."

Louis looks at me in disbelief. "There's more of these?"

"What? No, no! I...well, maybe. I don't know." I didn't really think about it before, but I guess there could be more pages like this in the black and white notebook considering these came from it. But I shake my head at the thought, I'm getting distracted.

"Anyway, this thing happened during lunch." I start out, revealing what I've picked up on. "I don't know if you guys noticed or not but while we were talking Violet tugged the sleeve of her shirt down over her arm like she didn't want anyone to see what was there."

Louis shrugged as he leaned over the counter. "Maybe because she just didn't want it riding up her arm."

I shake my head. "It wasn't done in a casual way. Violet almost looked scared like she'd been caught or something, but that's not the point. While she was asleep I pulled her sleeve back a bit and there was a fucking bandage covering almost the entire length of her forearm. But what was scarier was that I could see the underside was soaked in blood."

"Holy shit. You're serious?" Sophie asked.

I nod and I see Louis and Sophie give nervous glances at each other as this information sinks in. I'm no rocket scientist, but I can tell these two know something I don't. "What? What is it?"

Sophie doesn't look at me and instead stares at the shiny surface of the granite countertop. Louis bites his lip like he's debating on if he should tell me or not. Neither of these reactions fills me with much confidence.

"Clem...?" Louis asks me nervously. "H-How much do you know about Violet's life at home?"

I have to take a minute to think about this and the truth is, despite how long I've known her, I know very little about her life at home or anything about her family for that matter. Hell, I don't even know where she lives. "Uhh...not much." I rub my neck sheepishly.

Louis and Sophie look at each other again and it makes me feel like I've been neglecting my role as Violet's girlfriend. How can I not know what her life at home consists of? "That makes me sound bad, doesn't it?"

Sophie shakes her head. "No, it makes sense. Violet's not the most open person. And she uh...doesn't have the most supportive family."

I can see Sophie make a face at the word family and it only confuses me more. "What do you mean?"

Louis crosses his arms and leans with his back against the countertop. "It's not really our place to say, but...Violet went through some shit when she was younger. Her grandma ended up shooting herself in front of her."

My eyes widen in shock. "That's horrible!"

Sophie scoffs from next to him. "Oh, it gets worse. Her parents fucking blame her for it. She was frickin eleven when it happened. Eleven! Do you know what that would do to her, what it would do to anyone?"

Uh oh, I could tell Sophie was pissed. I'm just glad I'm not on the receiving end of it. But she had a right to be, who does that to their own child after they just went through something as traumatic as watching the death of a family member.

I felt my own fist clench at the thought. "God, I can't imagine what that must of been like for Violet."

"Her life at homes, not a good one Clem," Louis says as he stares at the ground defeated. "Her moms almost never home because she works like three different jobs trying to support all three of them and her dad..." I see anger flash across his face as the subject of Violet's dad comes up. "That son of a bitch does nothing but lay around all day getting piss drunk while he watches TV on the couch!"

Wow, I don't think I've ever seen Louis get so fired up about something.

Then I see Louis shoot his head up and stare at me. "Her arm, the mark on it! What did it look like?"

I'm taken back by the sudden outburst being thrown at me and it causes me to fumble over my words. "Uh...I-I don't know. I-I couldn't tell what had caused it. I don't know how bad the mark is." I look at Louis intrigued. "Why?"

Louis doesn't answer and instead turns towards Sophie who seems to read his thoughts. "Oh, no." I hear her whisper out.

No one says anything, but as I'm trying to figure out Lou and Sophie's concern over this mark the pieces start to fit together. The puzzle seems so simple now that I think about it. The downcast looks across their faces practically spell it out and my heart sinks as I realize what Louis is implying. "You think her dad did it to her, don't you."

Louis gives out an elongated sigh as he runs a hand over his face. The overhead light in the kitchen making his face look even more somber than before. "We don't know for sure."

"We've never had any way to prove it," Sophie explains. "Violet is very good at concealing things. She won't talk to any of us whenever we ask her about it."

Loius gestures to himself. "Believe me, I've tried. She pretty much falls silent whenever her dad shows up in a conversation like she's afraid to even talk about him."

"You think that's why she's gone mute?" I ask wondering how deep this really is. Everything is slowly falling into place. It all connects, one thing leading to another in some sort of chain reaction. Most things make sense, but there are still some clues that we can't prove just yet, and I'd rather not go accusing people left and right before they've been caught red-handed. That might end badly for me and Violet if we're not careful.

I see Louis think about this for a minute as his face contorts into a concentrating form. "Um...that's hard to say. Violet went through this spell of silence after what happened years ago, but she eventually started talking again. But now I just think, with everything her parents have done bearing down on her it's pushed her into that state again."

Sophie is quick to add on before the discouraging atmosphere gets to be worse than it already is. "But you've done something amazing for Vi already."

I send her a confused look because I haven't done anything out of the ordinary. Should I have? Actually, now that I think about it, I should do something special for her. Depending on how I handle telling her about how we've read her papers go, I'll probably have to find a way to make it up to her. That's not a conversation I'm looking forward to, not that I'm stoked to be participating in this one either. Seriously, why couldn't the papers have pictures of puppies and kittens on them and a story about Violet volunteering at the animal shelter?

"What could I have done for Violet that was so amazing?" I say to Sophie and when I look up and the first thing that crosses my mind is, "Oh, god, she's doing it again."

Sophie sends me a smile as she says this. "You, Clem. That's exactly it! Just having you there for her has done wonders!"

This gets Louis to chuckle. "She's right you know. I don't think I've ever seen Violet warm up to someone as quickly as she did to you. Ask any of our friends, they'll tell you."

I rub the back of my neck sheepishly as I feel heat rush to my cheeks. "I mean, I guess I've done...okay."

"Okay! Did you not hear what I blurted out that day I stole Violet's journal. The girl is simply in awe of you!" Louis tells me. "Honestly, I'd probably be six feet under by Monday if it'd only been left to me and Sophie to get Violet to eat something. That was all you Clem." He smiles at me.

I smile at their words. Maybe I really do mean more to the blonde than I thought I did. Hopefully, I still have that power when I have to explain what I found out about her. I just want Violet to understand that I'm here for her. She doesn't have to worry about driving me away because of some shit that happened to her years ago. I love her for who she is and I'll protect her from whatever dangers lurk in the dark.

That actually reminds me of something. "Hey, uh...did-did Violet ever have a...boyfriend?"

It goes dead silent for a minute as Sophie and Louis stare at me then at each other before the whole kitchen just erupts into laughter. "That's a good one, Clem. Violet's been a lesbian for as long as we've known her."

Okay, so check that off the list.

"Alright, then who's Jackson?"

I ask this and the laughter immediately stops. Oh, god what did I just start? They seem hesitant to answer again and I can only assume this is going to be another sob story. Okay, after this, that's it! No more depressing topics.

"Wh-where is this coming from Clem?" Louis asks, probably knowing I didn't hear it from Violet directly.

I pull out the last sheet of paper from my pocket and unfold it on the table for the two to see. The paper with the blue shield with the swords on the front. "This was with the other pages, but it had a different message on it."

My eyes drift to the short passage in the bottom corner. "Jackson, my protector. My knight who died in battle. You left a hole in my heart like no other. I miss you every day."

I look up from the page to gauge Louis and Sophie's reaction to the piece of artwork, but I feel a tightness in my chest when I actually see tears slide down Sophie's cheek. She shakes her head in disbelief. "Oh, Violet."

"What? What is it?" I feel like a little kid waiting for an answer from their parents wanting to know if they can go to the park. While whatever I hear will probably be sad I'm dying to know who Jackson is.

Louis sighs for what's probably the twentieth time in the last two hours before tearing his gaze away from the image to me. "Jackson is...Violet's brother."

Well, that's news.

I raise a brow, surprised at his words. "Her brother?"

"Well...more like-half brother." Louis clarifies. "It's not really our place to say, but you're her girlfriend, I think you should know. We won't say what happened to him because you should probably hear that from Violet, but um...yeah, Violet lost him years ago." Louis stares at the ground dishearted.

Then Sophie speaks up having dried her eyes. "Jackson meant everything to Violet. He was the sweetest guy and always looked out for others in need, not just his sister. So when he died Violet just kind of...shut down, ya know."

I nodded understanding the situation. I knew what it was like to lose someone close to you. "He sounds like he was a great guy. I'm guessing you guys knew him?"

Sophie let a slight smile work its way onto her face. "Yeah, we knew him. But uh...it wasn't too much longer before 'it' happened. We felt terrible for Violet, but there wasn't much we could do besides be there for her."

I nodded again. "Well, I appreciate you guys telling me. I know this sucks, but anything I could figure out is useful." I tap my phone and see the screen illuminate and I look at the time, ten twenty-eight. I've already texted Lee to tell him I'd be staying at Louis's place that way I could stay with Violet. I sigh knowing I've been away from the bedroom for quite a while playing CSI with Sophie and Louis. "I should probably get back to Violet in case she wakes up," I say pocketing my phone once more and standing up.

Sophie nods in understanding, but Louis stops me after I scrape all the papers together and turn to leave. "Clem, if you could try and get Violet to open up to you? She won't tell us anything, but she might for you."

I send him a small reassuring smile. "I can't guarantee anything, but I'll try." And with that, I walk out of the kitchen and make my way back to Violet's room.

I open the door and peek inside and I let out a sigh of relief when I see Violet is still sound asleep. I step into the room and I'm careful not to make any noise as I close the door behind me. I walk up to the side of the bed and place my phone on the nightstand next to it. But as I'm setting the papers down I glance at Vi's purple notebook that lays on the floor and an idea crosses my mind.

I pick up the journal and grab one of her pencils. I'm hesitant to turn on the lamp for fear of waking the blonde but I risk it knowing I won't be able to write in the dark. The light from the moon that seeps in through the window not being enough.

Luckily the lamps soft glow doesn't even cause her to stir. So I lay down next to her and open her journal to an empty page. I lightly tap the pencil on the brim of the cover as I think about what I want to say. I feel terrible that I've deliberately gone behind Violet's back and read something that was most definitely not meant for anyone else's eyes. I'm dreading that I'm going to have to tell her what I've seen and what I've also found out.

I'm praying that this doesn't ruin our relationship. Violet already hides so much from everyone, I don't want her to trust me less because of this. I hate that I had to find out this information from someone other than her. I feel really guilty about it, but I can't help her unless I know what the problem is.

Based on what Louis and Sophie have told me I guess Violet really struggles at home by herself. I want to be there for her as much as possible and I'm glad she has some time away from her house right now. But I know I can't always be there. I don't live with Violet and from what she told me earlier I guess it's hard for her to get any sleep when she can't relax at home or anywhere for that matter. Maybe there's something I can do about that, though I'll need some help with it. I'll have to talk with Lee about it tomorrow and possibly Louis.

I smile as I start to get excited about my plan, but first I have to think of a way to apologize to Violet for what happened. I want her to know that she can trust me and that I'll be here for her through anything that happens. I'll be her new knight if she allows me to take up that position, though I'm guessing it would be pretty hard to live up to Jackson's legacy.

I think Violet might like it if I write it to her in a message. Of course, I'll still talk to her, but I feel like this is a safe way to smooth things over to start with. Because if this doesn't work I'll either be out in the doghouse for a long time or out on the street.

I glance at the clock and see that the time consists of ten fifty-five in red numbers. I guess this is what it's like for Violet when she writes.

Sorry guys, my mind has been distracted today. So I'm sorry if this sucks. :P

I also had an alternate version of the beginning of this where Louis and Sophie actually started yelling at each other, but I didn't like where that as going so I changed it to this. ;)