10-year-old KC was lying in bed at night, just staring at the ceiling. She's been there for the entire day. Her thoughts were taking over.
"I wish I would just die right now," she said out loud. "But they'd miss me. They love me." She looked over at her shadow on the wall. "Is it worth it? They don't deserve me as a burden. If I die, they won't be burdened anymore."
"You're not a burden," she heard a voice say. She looked over at her 11-year old boyfriend standing at her slightly open window.
"What are you doing here?" She asked. "Aren't your parents gonna get worried?"
"I was worried about you. I saw the bruise on your ankle yesterday," he told her. "And not if you come back with me before they get up."
"You know he'll hit me if I do that," she said. "You guys are the only ones that care about me."
"So do Celeste, Jesse, and Uriel," she said.
"It doesn't feel like it," she said. "I don't think I can trust them."
"Why not?"
"I don't know."
"Do you trust me?" He questioned her, hopefully.
"Of course," she said. "You're my boyfriend."
"Please, come back with me," the young boy begged.
They heard the front door slam shut.
"Little girl, where are you?!" They heard her father yell, with an obvious drunken slur. She didn't answer; she just stared at her closed door with fear. "You little cockroach!"
"Please, KC," Jaxon begged her.
She hurried to her window and opened it all the way. Jaxon punched in the screen.
Her door flew open. A drunken Anthony walked into the room. KC attempted to get on the windowsill, but Anthony pulled her away from it. He threw her to the ground.
"You thought you were going to get away, you little whore?" He questioned her. "Run off with your little boyfriend?" He kicked her.
Jaxon tried to get into the window, to no vice. Anthony grabbed KC's hair and pulled her head up. He punched her. She looked at Jaxon through the window.
"I love you," she told him.
He watched as Anthony punched her in the stomach. She fell to the ground.
"You're just like you're mother," Anthony told her, crouching down to look at her. "Weak, worthless. She 'loved' you. I hated you, I still do. I always will. You should have died when beat your mother to get rid of you." She looked up at him with shock. He smiled at her, evilly. "Yeah, she begged me to stop. I shouldn't have."
He raised his fist to hit her again, but Jaxon crashed into him, causing him to stumble. Anthony shoved him to the ground. He got back up and grabbed KC's vase that Rachel had gotten her that wasn't plugged in. He smashed it into his head. Anthony dropped to the ground, but he didn't fall unconscious.
KC stared at Jaxon. She had never seen him go that far with violence. The way she looked at him wasn't with fear, but relief.
"Come on," he told her. Jaxon helped her up to the windowsill.
"Don't you dare," Anthony told her.
They both left the house. Jaxon looked over at his girlfriend as they walked away.
"By the way," KC looked at him. "I love you, too."
She smiled at him.
Back in the house, Anthony got to his feet, and grabbed his cell phone.
KC and Jaxon heard sirens. Jaxon's eyes went wide.
"He called the cops," he told her with shock.
They started running. They ran in the direction of his house. When they got close, they saw a cop car. They watched the sheriff and deputy walk out of his family's guest house. They hid behind the tree that the treehouse sat on. They etched their way to the guest house. When they got inside, they went into one of the bedrooms.
KC immediately broke down in his arms.
"I don't want to go back," she told him.
Jaxon held her as she cried.
After a few minutes they heard a voice.
"KC," they heard the new sheriff say, "come out. Jaxon too."
They two preteens looked at each other. They walked out together. The sheriff saw KC's black eye.
"Come with us," he told them, with his deputy standing next to him.
They complied.
They sat them down on the couch of the main house.
"Jaxon," he said, "Mr. Johnson said that you hit him in the head with a vase. Is that true?"
"Yes," he admitted. "He was hurting KC."
"He claims that you're the one that hit her."
"He wouldn't do that," KC said. She started hyperventilating. She was having a panic attack. Jaxon immediately wrapped her in a hug.
"I believe you," the sheriff said, "but there's two contradicting stories here, and, unfortunately, we have to investigate both sides. The problem is, there is more evidence present against you."
"There's a reason she ran away, Jacob," Rachel said.
"I know, but Anthony has asked us to take her back," the sheriff said. "I've been ordered to do so. There's nothing I can do, I'm sorry. If you can get more evidence against him, that would help." He looked at Jaxon. "I will do one thing. I'll let you off with a warning for now, but that's all I can do. Come on, KC."
She stood up and Rachel whispered in her ear "We'll gonna get you out of there someday, we promise."
She walked out with him, tears still staining her eyes.
They ended up making a deal with Jaxon, and KC was kept in Anthony's custody.
Fourteen- and sixteen-year old KC and Jaxon sat together in their house. KC was staring into space.
You okay?" Jaxon asked her.
"I'm just wondering something," she said.
"What's that?"
"Why haven't you left me?"
"Because I love you," he said.
"I'm crazy," she said. "I've hurt so many people."
"You're not crazy," he assured his wife. "You're just sick, unwell."
"I didn't used to be like this," she reminded him. "The worse it got, the worse I did."
"That's not your fault; it's his," he told her, "and I will keep reminding you of that for the rest of my life."
"You know something?"
"What?"
"It's going to be Maya's 13th birthday in a little over a couple of months," she said. "I'm going to be 15 tomorrow. She doesn't even know me. I haven't seen her for 9 years."
"Then why don't we go after Lucas Aaron is born in February," he questioned. "I really want to meet them. Lucas told us he likes all of his friends, including Maya."
"Really?"
"Yeah," he told her. "Though, he said that Maya really annoys him, kind of like you."
"Of course," she said. "Why doesn't Isaiah go?"
"He got kicked out of school remember?" He responded. "He can't go until next year."
"I don't know if I should go?" She said. "My mom may not even remember me, either."
"I'll be right with you," he told her. He put his hand on her bump. "So will he. And there's no way she could forget you."
"I love you, Jaxon," she told him.
"I love you too."
October 17th, 2021
KC stood in Topanga's performing music with Farkle.
"So, it is my late-husband's 22nd birthday," she told the people in the bakery/café. "His name was Jaxon. He was always there for me. He knew I wasn't in the best mentality, even before I was diagnosed with PTSD. He knew me like the back of his hand. He never treated me like I was crazy. He would always assure me that there was always something worth waking up to the next day, so I needed to sleep. Farkle is exactly the same way." She smiled at Farkle. "He loves me through everything. Even though I'm unwell, he never leaves my side. I've encountered people who are the exact opposite. I got looks when I'd try to assure myself that I would be okay, that my son and I would be okay-sometimes out loud, especially on the subway when I first came back here. I'd also get looked at and talked about being a young mother." She looked around the room. "So, here's 'Unwell' by Matchbox 20, but in the arrangement of Taylor Acorn cover of the song."
She started playing piano.
All day staring at the ceiling/ Making friends with shadows on my wall/ All night hearing voices telling me/ That I should get some sleep/ Because tomorrow might be good for something/
Hold on/ Feeling like I'm headed for a breakdown/ And I don't know why
Farkle joined in on guitar.
But I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell/ I know right now you can't tell/ But stay awhile and maybe then you'll see/ A different side of me/ I'm not crazy, I'm just a little impaired/ I know right now you don't care/ But soon enough you're gonna think of me/ And how I used to be... me
I'm talking to myself in public/ Dodging glances on the train/ And I know, I know they've all been talking about me/ I can hear them whisper/ And it makes me think there must be something wrong with me/
Out of all the hours thinking/ Somehow, yeah, I've lost my mind
But I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell/ I know right now you can't tell/ But stay awhile and maybe then you'll see/ A different side of me/ I'm not crazy,I'm just a little impaired/ I know right now you don't care/ But soon enough you're gonna think of me/ And how I used to be
I've been talking in my sleep/ Pretty soon they'll come to getme/ Yeah, they're taking me away
But I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell/ I know right now you can't tell/ But stay awhile and maybe then you'll see/ A different side of me/ I'm not crazy, I'm just a little impaired/ I know right now you don't care/ But soon enough you're gonna think of me/ And how I used to be
Yeah, how I used to be/ How I used to be
Well, I'm just a little unwell/ How I used to be/ How I used to be/ I'm just a little unwell
They finished and she smiled at Farkle. He smiled back at her.
"The next song is 'Remember This' by the Jonas Brothers," Farkle announced.
