Chapter 14

Entering the house Ruby left Violet - who headed to the kitchen - to go straight to her room. She didn't feel like worrying or getting a lecture off her mother. And her father would just try to analyze her behaviour or whatever when he really had no right.

Chucking her bag at the bottom of her bed she watched with resignation as it rolled off the other side of the bed and onto the floor with a low thud. Moodily sitting down on the floor in front of her door she placed her head into her open palm.

She needed the fights, and arguments, with Leah to stop. She couldn't keep worrying about her sister every single time she went to school. She knew she could have just left Violet to deal with it but there was no way she could actually go through with that.

Something seemed to occur to her - out of the blue - and she wanted to test it out. She felt silly doing it because there was no way it could be linked but she did it anyways. She realised Tate always seemed to show up pretty much everytime she wanted him to.

Sometimes she said it out loud and other times in was in her head - but he turned up none the less. With what seemed like madness she spoke: "I wish Tate was here." Closing her eyes she shook her head in despair.

Frowning as about ten seconds later there was a knock on her door. Quickly jumping up from her spot she opened the door, only for her heart to speed up - it was Tate. It was just a coincidence, she told herself as she asked Tate what he was doing here.

"Just finished with your dad." He explained, shutting the door behind him. Still trying to get the unnerving thoughts out of her head she frowned at the way he was looking at her. "What happened?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Your nose!" He snapped, stepping towards her so he could grab her face for a closer look. Despite being angry Ruby was pleasantly surprised at how gentle he handled her. "Who did this to you?" He would kill whoever had touched her.

"It's really nothing-" she was saying but stopped mid sentence at the look Tate was giving her. With a sigh she told the truth. "She didn't mean to hit me though, I jumped in the way."

"That's not the point." Just then her door swung wide open causing the couple to jump, only to relax to see it was Violet. Violet on the other hand was completely shocked. She hadn't expected to see someone in her sisters room. She came to realise this was probably Tate, the infamous stranger she had heard so much about.

After her sisters urging Violet shut the door. Everyone seemed to be standing there awkwardly, not knowing what to say. It was Violet who broke the overwhelming silence. "I'm guessing this is Tate?"

"Um, yeah." Ruby coughed.

"Nice to finally meet you." Tate gave her a curt nod, clearly still annoyed about Leah. After some time the awkwardness left the room and Violet started ranting about Leah and her mom. Apparently she had suggested that Violet should switch schools if things weren't working out. "Who does she think I am? A coward!"

"Nobody thinks you're a coward Vi." Ruby soothed her, rubbing her back. Violet got up so fast it made Ruby jump, which in turn made Tate chuckle. Chucking a pillow at him she glared but he only smirked at her in return. Violet was now pacing up and down her sisters room, muttering under her breath.

Getting up and walking to Tate she plopped herself down on his lap. Automatically wrapping his arms around her waist he pulled her into his chest. Both were watching the pacing girl in amusement.

"I hate her! I just want to kill her!" Violet suddenly yelled.

"Then do it. One less high school bitch making the lives of the less fortune more tolerable is, in my opinion, a public service." Tate said nonchalantly, as though talking about the weather. Ruby gasped whilst slapping his chest. "What was that for?"

"Don't say that." Rolling his eyes he opened his mouth to say something when he saw her face. It was a mix between panic and fear. Pushing some of her hair away from her face he leaned forward so their foreheads were pressed together.

"I didn't mean to upset you but what I say is right. She hurt you and I don't accept that. No one is allowed to hurt you in any shape or form, do you understand?" Slowly she nodded her head feeling overwhelmed.

"Killing her is going a bit too far though right?" Ruby laughed nervously, looking to her sister for support.

"Scare her then." Tate told her simply. "Look, you want her to leave you alone? Stop making your life a living hell? Short of killing her there is only one solution - scare her. Make her afraid of you. It's the only thing bullies react to."

Laying her head on Tate's shoulder she looked at her sister who seemed to actually be considering his advice. Closing her eyes she cuddled up into his chest, feeling his arms tighten around her.

"How?" She heard her sister ask curiously.

"It's simple. You simply walk up to her and say 'Here's the deal. I need you to stop harassing me, I got what you want: Drugs. Come to my house tomorrow for your free sample. I'm a dealer and a good one. I got the best shit in town."

"She's a cokehead. I don't have coke." That was a bit hypocritical wasn't it? Leah starting her shit over smoking cigarettes when she was snorting cocaine. What a load of bullshit!

"You won't need any, it's just an excuse to get her here. After all, she'll leave empty handed and terrified. And I promise, you'll never be bothered by her again. Either of you."

"How am I going to terrify her?"

"Helter-skelter! That's where I come in."

Listening to them talk didn't make Ruby feel any better. She appreciated Tate wanted to deal with the situation to help her and her sister but she didn't know if scaring the girl was the way to go. Her sister was for the plan but this isn't how she wanted her sister and boyfriend to bond for the first time.

Violet left not long ago seeming to be feeling a lot better leaving the two of them alone. They hadn't spoken a word since they were left alone - just kept sitting in the chair cuddled up together.

Smiling as she felt Tate start playing with her hair she resisted a yawn. Wiping her slightly teary eyes she raised her head to look at her strange boyfriend. Moving so he was looking at her too he gave her a cute innocent smile before leaning down and giving her a chaste kiss.

"You're not really going to go through with that plan are you?" She had to ask.

"Of course I am." Tate replied, rolling his eyes. She didn't get it and he didn't know when she was going to get it. She was his and he didn't like people hurting what was his. You do - you die. Sadly he couldn't kill this one. Well, just not right now.

"What's the point?" Raising herself slight so she could look at him better she placed her hand on his chest to keep her balance.

"She needs to be taught a lesson." Tate decided to play his trump card to get her acceptance. "I thought you wanted Leah to stopped bullying your sister?"

"I do!"

"Well this is the only way. It's being going on for a while now and it hasn't stopped so... Maybe this will work." Sighing Ruby dropped her head for a second as she let out a groan.

"Fine." She said before raising her head. "Fine. But it better work." Smiling in triumph Tate kissed her head. Sitting there for a little while longer Tate realised she was shivering. Picking her up bridal style he carried her over to the bed so she could warm herself up.

He never knew he could learn to enjoy the silence after living so long in it. But being here now with his arms around this girl he knew there was no where else he would rather be. Closing his eyes he allowed himself to fully relax, submurging himself in it even.

Yes, there was no way he was going to allow this girl out of his life - ever.

Looking at her little sister from the corner of her eyes Ruby huffed. Violet looked at complete ease as she walked to school, ready to put her plan into action. Ruby, not so much. Yes she had agreed to it eventually but that didn't mean she liked it. She was going to leave it to her sister to deal with since it was her that was getting harassed really. Ruby had just been in the way.

So when school ended and she found Leah and her sister talking by the gates her body filled with dread. Not even bothering to wait - or go over there - she walked straight passed as she headed home. She heard her sister shout for her at one point but she refused to turn around.

Shouting towards the kitchen she let her mother know she wasn't hungry, mainly due to her nerves. She shut herself in her room and was planning on staying there that entire night. She didn't want to see anyone.

Not long after she heard the front door go again, signalling her sister and Leah had arrived. The plan was for them to go to the basement where Tate had suggested they go.

Dumping her bag on her bed Ruby pulled out the hair tie from her head allowing her hair to pool around her shoulders. With nothing else to do she worked some more on hers and Justin's project. They had assigned each other proper tasks so they didn't always need to meet up. It was due next week.

She had been studying for about 25 minutes before she could hear feet pounding on the stairs. What was going on? Suddenly her door swung open and there stood Violet looking like a ghost. Running into the room she slammed the door shut placing her back to it. With her chest heaving and the adrenaline leaving her system her legs became weak - almost like jelly.

Sliding down the door until she hit the floor Violet let out a strange choking noise. Getting up from her spot on the bed she quickly made her way over to her sister. Looking into her fear stricken eyes Ruby frowned. What had happened to her sister to provoke a reaction like this out of her?

"Violet?" She called softly to the spooked girl. Three more times she called her sister's name before she was rewarded with a reply.

"Ruby?" Her voice was quiet, shaky and laced with terror. Ruby thought she was about to start crying. "You need to stop!" Shaking her head frantically she started to yank on her hair.

"What are you talking about?" Ruby asked, thoroughly confused. "Stop what?"

"Seeing him!" She snapped. "He's crazy, deranged, psychotic..." Watching her sister ramble on a sudden fear for her sister washed over her.

"Who are you talking about?"

"Tate! Your so called boyfriend." Violet sneered.

"Tell me what happened!" She demanded. Listening to her sister go on about how Tate changed was frustrating her to no end. How could someone change into some kind of creature? How could he disappear? She didn't want to listen to it. Her sister was calling her boyfriend crazy claiming he went mental and attacked Leah.

"You have to believe me!" Violet begged. She could see it in her sisters eyes - she didn't believe. She could understand why because it was something difficult to come to terms with but she needed her sister to. She needed to get Tate away from her sister - he was dangerous.

"Calm down okay?" Brushing the hair away from her sisters eyes she sighed. She didn't know what to do because her sister was spouting nonsense but... Her sister never lied to her. So the only logical solution was that she wasn't lying she just got things wrong. She was saying what she honestly thought had happened but it didn't because it couldn't have.

It took some time but she managed to get Violet calm and back into her own room where she promptly fell down on her bed, asleep. With a dejected sigh she exited the room to make her way back to her own. However her legs seemed to have a mind of their own and before she knew it she was stood in front of the door that lead to the basement.

Remembering all the time Tate told her to stay away floated to he forefront of her mind but Violet had been down today with Tate so surely whatever the reason he didn't want her to go down for was gone.

With that she opened the door, peering down into the darkness. Where was the light switch? Feeling around the wall she came to the conclusion it must be at the bottom of the stairs. A dangerous place to be really if you think about it.

Taking a deep breath she willed herself to make her way down the wooden steps whilst keeping a hand to the wall for safety. It didn't take long for her to reach the bottom and click on the light. It wasn't much difference but it did help her see better.

She got a funny feeling being down her but chalked it up to the fact it was the basement. She had always been weary of them - blame horror movies.

Not really going far she looked at her surroundings. It looked musty. Wrinkling her nose she was about to leave when a sudden creak caught her attention - and her fear. Taking a calming breath she turned around. It was coming from further back where she could see a back room.

Berating herself in her head as she headed towards the room, she clenched her fist. This was how people died in the horror movies because at one sound they went prancing towards it with a huge sign that said kill me on it. And they did it with a huge fucking smile on their faces.

Those bastard's deserved to die and apparently now she did too. Reaching the doorway she blindly stuck her hand into the darkness to try and feel for a light switch. After a couple of seconds her fingers found their goal and light erupted into the dank room as Ruby let out a shriek.

Sitting in what looked to be an old wooden chair was Tate.

"What are you doing down here?" She demanded. Tate looked at her sullenly.

"I was helping your sister remember?"

"Yes but I didn't think you would still be down here." Tate simply shrugged, continuing to sit in the chair which Ruby thought would collapse at any moment. "Are you alright?"

"Hmm, oh yes." Frowning she slowly entered the room so she could make her way to Tate.

"Is this thing stable enough for two?" Smiling amused at her question Tate simply nodded his head, spreading his arms wide for her. Shifting until she was comfortable she placed one arm around his shoulders while the other pushed some hair from his eyes. "What happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"Violet came to me. She seemed really freaked out and said some really weird stuff to me." Ruby said with a nervous laugh. Tate simply looked at her for a while.

"What did she say exactly?" He asked, Ruby missing the suspicious tone that had entered his voice. Or maybe she had and just decided to ignore it. Repeating everything to him seemed to make her cringe. It sounded stupid.

"Obviously she just got freaked by something," Ruby laughed. "She probably just saw things because of that but that does ask the question. What did happen?"

"Nothing much." He was avoiding the question. She narrowed her eyes.

"Tate don't lie to me." Tate's eyes snapped to hers. He didn't want to lie to her but he had to - she would leave him otherwise. She would run away just like her sister did. "I saw blood on the floor when I came over."

"I was messing about to freak her out, just like in the plan we made, but it got to her a little too much. I guess I was standing too close cause she kicked me in the balls. I obviously yelled because of that, it fucking hurts, and I guess it freaked her out more because she ran into a wall and cut herself."

"Oh." See, it sounded simple when he explained everything to her. But... "What about the disappearing thing?"

"It was dark. You saw how dark this room was before you turned the light on. Of course it's going to be easy for me to 'disappear'." See, again so plausible.

"Well," she sighed, running a hand through her hair. Tate had fully relaxed. He could clearly see she believed him. "I do believe you. Violets story was just too... Out there."

"Yeah, I'm sorry for scaring your sister." Grabbing his face she pulled it down towards her so she could press a soft kiss onto his lips.

"It's fine. I know you didn't mean to. You were only trying to help."

"Thanks." Now it was Tate's turn to grab her to bring them into a kiss. His kiss held a lot more desperation within it. He needed to feel her - he could have been so close to losing her. Pulling back she caressed his cheek with an amused smile.

"Who knew my boyfriend was so scary." She said in a joking voice, making her voice deeper. She smiled as Tate let out a true laugh, letting her know what ever was bothering him before truly had left him.

"You have no idea." He growled before bringing her forcefully into a bruising kiss.