A/N: Hey guys its me! Thanks for the reviews and everything, they make me smile! This chapter is in Violet's POV idk when I'm gonna do another chapter in Jace's POV…sooo here it goes!
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Disclaimer: I own nothing from the fabulous Stephenie Meyer!
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Chapter Four: The Ugly Truth Almost Revealed VPOV
My alarm clock blared me awake the next morning. I groaned and sat up; the picture of Jace I had drawn was crumpled to my chest. Uncrumpling it I noticed big bruises on my arms-great another thing for Jace to notice. Sighing I got up and slowly made my way to my door, creaking it open quietly to go and take a shower. My beating last night left my back feeling like it had been driven over by an 18 wheeler, but I was alive. Not hearing anything but Kevin's slow breathing and snoring I took it as an okay that I could take a shower without waking him up and releasing more torment upon me. Taking a shower helped relieve some of the tension coiled up into my aching muscles, which made me feel much better. The only thing that could make my day even more awesome was seeing Jace, which I was pretty sure I was going to get to do, thank goodness. When the shower water began to get cold I got out, breathing in the steamy air. Today I didn't feel like fixing my hair-so I left it in its normal way-that is curly and long. Drying off I noticed three huge bruises on my back, they were all the size of my hand outstretched. A tear escaped my cheek when I noticed how horrible I looked; Jace would probably not like me anymore if he knew my secret. So I had to keep it from him, no matter what cost.
I got ready and realizing how early it was, decided to ask Jace if he wanted to get breakfast with me. Surprisingly my phone vibrated within a few seconds after I sent it. Jace replied saying he'd be more than happy to. I smiled jubilantly and told him to meet me at Flo's Diner at the end of town. Rushing to get ready I accidentally knocked down my lamp from my night stand. I froze, cursing to myself at being so clumsy. Hopefully Kevin didn't hear… Much to my horror it must have woken him up because here he came, pounding up the stairs yelling. He threw my door open, his eyes red with rage, breath reeking of alcohol and began slapping me on my face. He knocked me down and I scrambled into a corner of my room, waiting for the rest of my torture. "Bitch, I was sleeping! Do you have no respect for me? Someone seriously needs to teach you a lesson, and by someone that's going to be me!" he yelled furiously, kicking me in my stomach, causing me to cry out in pain. "Ss-to-oop!" I managed to scream from underneath my sobbing and miraculously he did. "That should teach you to wake me up again, whore" he spat and then thundered back downstairs to the couch that awaited his solemn return. Clutching my sides I managed to sit up, gasping at the pain. I sobbed, realizing I needed to get out of the house as fast as I could before more pain was inflicted upon me. Grabbing my bag and phone I flew down the stairs, ignoring the agonizing pain my body was going through and ran to my car. Kevin apparently didn't want to get up from his cozy domain to punish me further and for that I was glad. I cranked up my car and hurled the car into reverse, all the while tears streaming down my cheeks. The diner appeared before my eyes faster than I would have thought possible and I was very happy about it.
Jace's very impressive Corvette was sitting in the parking lot already, so sighing I parked beside it and walked into the restaurant, trying to wipe my cheeks so any evidence would be gone. Spying his black head from across the room I quickly made my way over to him and sat down, desperately trying not to show any pain and smile. "Violet, what's wrong? Why are your eyes red and why is your cheek swollen?" he asked apparently worried, which made me feel like he cared. "I ran into the door this morning and it really hurt," I lied, trying to sound as convincing as possible. "Uh-huh," Jace said apparently not buying it; I could see it in his eyes that he didn't believe me. He then got up from his place across the table and sat beside me, slinging his arm across my shoulder and began stroking my cheek with his hand softly. "You know you could tell me if anything was wrong, right?" he whispered in my ear tightening his grip on my shoulder. I nodded, but could I really believe him? Could I really tell him what was wrong with me? I decided not to tell him, maybe I would come to trust him with my most valuably secret in the future, but definitely not right now.
The waitress came and took our orders, and while we ate we chatted about random things, not wanting to bring up the pain of what had just occurred. Soon we were done eating and he insisted on paying for our food, even though I told him persistently that I could pay for my food he was relentless. He walked me out to my car and gave me a hug before we parted ways and then met up again at school. The rest of school we hung out, him walking me to class and talking and passing notes during class. All too soon the end of the school day came and as he hugged me I shivered at what I knew awaited me at home. But frankly I would always have to face the pain, I couldn't tell anyone about it. Kevin promised me the consequences of such actions would result in fatality and man did I believe him. I slowly made my way home, the promise of Jace texting me later made me brighten up slightly but I knew what was coming. Kevin would probably make my punishment worse because of the incident this morning but the pain would pass-that I was sure of.
Sure enough when I got home Kevin was waiting for me, an evil smirk on his face. It was like his sole purpose on this planet was to torture me, and I couldn't understand why. "Hello hello hello my little darling," he smirked, not waiting for a response from me before he pushed me down into the wall, "What you did this morning was very naughty, Violet, and I think you should apologize. I know how you can make it better! Make me some dinner!" Grunting, I stood up trying to shake off the pain engulfing me. I made my way into the kitchen and began making salmon for him. Salmon was just about the only thing in this house we had to eat, because Kevin was a salmon-fisher. Kevin watched me make the salmon, I had learned long ago that disobeying him was not something I wanted to do. Soon the fish was done and I handed it to him. I watched him take a bite, chewing skeptically and then spitting it out on his plate. "That was possibly the most disgusting thing I've ever tasted!" he yelled, throwing the plate in the direction of my head. It struck me head on, the plate shattered on the floor and I grasped my bleeding head. "Now go upstairs and think about what you've done!" he spat at me, grabbing me and shoving me up the stairs. I collapsed onto my bed in a fit of sobs, why did I deserve this? Clutching my head in an attempt to stop the bleeding I felt the all too familiar urge to do something I knew I shouldn't do. Hesitantly I walked over the my dresser and opened the top drawer, there lay my knife; clean and sharp.
My conscious told me not to do it, but I ignored it. Lifting up the gleaming blade I grasped the handle and brought it across my wrist. My crimson blood coated the blade and poured out of the wound, making my only focus the pain coming from it. The outside pain erased for a little while my head began to clear and I felt better, loads better. But then it hit me-what would Jace think when he saw the fresh cuts on my wrists? Well, I thought, I wouldn't let him see them. I smiled from the satisfaction that the cut brought me, but all too soon the clearness from it began to slip away. So I cut myself again, right below the first cut and on my other wrist. The sensation was mind blowing and I sighed, sinking into the peacefulness it always brought.
Right when all of my problems were forgotten a noise became increasingly annoying. Popping out of my tranquil state, I realized the noise was my phone-vibrating, alerting me that I had a message from Jace. Sighing I picked up my phone, blood was pouring out of my wrists so I took out my gauze and wrapped them up. The message from Jace said that he was wondering what I was doing. Oh nothing, just cutting my wrists in order to escape the pain. Of course I didn't put that and instead said simply studying. I was a big fat liar! I hoped if he ever figured it out if he would forgive me… But I wouldn't let him, so there was no need to worry. The joy from the cutting began to wear off and I was sucked back into reality, thankfully texting Jace made me calm. But the ever-present fear of Kevin kept me on my toes, he couldn't catch me texting him-I'd be dead for sure.
For the next few hours I texted Jace, until it was time for me to go to sleep. I said my goodbyes to him and fell asleep. No nightmares awaited me, just empty nothingness. My alarm clock awakened me the next morning, sighing I rolled over. It took everything in me not to yell out from the massive headache I had, no doubt from where Kevin had hit me with the glass plate. My wrists were throbbing too, nothing a pain killer wouldn't fix thankfully. I took a shower, enjoying the feeling the hot water gave me. The headache I was experiencing was getting a lot worse so I cut my shower short, being careful drying off as to not cause the wounds on my head and wrists to start bleeding again. I took a pain killer and got ready, making sure to wear a long-sleeved shirt so Jace wouldn't be able to see my cuts. I didn't know why I had opened up to him so much, I guess he just brings out the best in people or something. I took extra time to do my make up-trying to cover up the wounds on my head the best I could. I tiptoes down the stairs, being as quiet as a mouse because I really didn't want a repeat of yesterday. Getting into my car I realized that I was running late and didn't have time to eat. Great. I made my way to school, worrying about if Jace would notice the cuts on my head, and if my shirt sleeves accidentally got pulled up what he would think about them. He would know I was lying to him then and that wouldn't be good. In the few days I had known him my life had come to revolve around him. If he went out of my life now I didn't know how I would be able to live.
Making my way to school I noticed Jace was right in front of me in his beauty of a car. I wondered how much it cost-probably enough to buy the whole town twice. So that meant he was probably rich too, just another reason for him to wake up and smell the roses and see that I was truly a freak. I worried the rest of the way to school, man I really was a pessimist. Jace parked his car and I parked beside him, taking my time to get out and see if he noticed the cuts. He walked around to my car and helped me out-ever the gentlemen of course. "Hey, Violet," he exclaimed jubilantly, wrapping me in a tight hug-causing me to gasp from the pressure he put onto my bruised back. "What's wrong? And, what happened to your head?" he asked apparently concerned, tracing lightly over the cuts on my head. Damn, he had noticed. Time to come up with a good lie…. "I ran into the corner of my door really hard and I guess it got cut from the impact," I lied, smiling to try and hope he wouldn't see through the lie. Please bye it, please! My mind pleaded, my eyes searching his in an attempt to see if he would. I guess he did because he nodded, not before whispering in my ear, "Violet, you know I'm here for you. You could tell me if something was wrong-if someone was hurting you." Oh shit shit shit shit shit! He knew! Oh God please tell me he didn't… "Uh, no! No one is hurting me! Only my clumsy self, no body else," I lied quickly, hoping I was doing a pretty convincing job. I was such a big liar, I was going to hell for sure… "Are you sure, because everyday you get more and more cuts and bruises on you," he asked, staring deep into my eyes, probably trying to see if he could read me. I looked into his beautiful eyes and I knew I couldn't lie to him any longer-I.
Just then the bell rang and I sighed in relief, I had been about to tell him! No way in the world would I not be cautious again. "We better get to class," I called, already walking towards first period. He followed me lethargically, I hated lying to him but I had to protect him from the ugly truth-he couldn't know. I was beginning to love the bell very much indeed. The first few periods passed quickly, I only saw Jace once in the hallway and in science class. We passed notes, and thankfully the teacher didn't catch us and he didn't bring up the cuts on me again. After science I went to math, it also passed quickly because I had to think of more lies just in case Jace questioned me any more about the cuts. The bell rang, signaling that it was time for lunch which I was very grateful for indeed because I didn't eat breakfast. I walked into the hallway and didn't see Jace, which made me frown because he said he'd be waiting for me.
As I rounded the corner to the lunch room, a big burly figure stepped in front of me, grinning. I backed up into the wall glancing furiously around to see where in the world Jace was. "Emo Girl," the big jock stated, putting his arms on either side of my head, "I was wondering if you wanted to come to a party this weekend with me. You know to be my date? Cause damn you are hot!" He leaned in closer to me, smiling. I was scared to death, I had no idea what to say. I was just about to say no when a familiar person stepped up behind him. Tapping him on the shoulder Jace said, "I don't think that's going to be necessary seeming as she already has a boyfriend." Boyfriend? What the hell was he talking about? The jock turned around, grimacing at Jace. "And who might that be?" he asked, taking a step toward Jace. Oh crap, Jace was about to be in a shit load of trouble. "That would be me," Jace said confidently, stepping around the jock and taking my hand in his. The jock began to laugh, and pulled his fist back-ready to throw a punch. It all happened so fast I didn't see it coming. Jace had the jock pinned up against the wall, and whispered menacingly into his ear, "Don't ever mess with her again, meat puppet, or you'll have me to answer to. Now we don't want that now do we?" The jock shook his head no and Jace released him quickly. We had created quite a scene, so before any teachers could show up Jace took my hand and led me into the cafeteria.
Jace and I got our food and once we were at our table I asked him, "How the hell did you do that?" He chuckled, chewing up a mouth full of food before answering, "I've been taking karate since I was four." I nodded, no wonder he was so confident. That kind of left me stunned, but not more than what came out of his mouth next, "I meant what I said about you being my girlfriend. You don't mind do you?" Mind? Hell no I didn't! "Um, no. That's perfectly fine by me. I'd be honored to be your girlfriend." Jace must have liked that because he smiled and the rest of lunch we chatted lightly. I was ecstatic over what had just occurred, I had a boyfriend. An actual boyfriend! I never thought that was possible considering everything about me, but I had one! In gym we had a substitute so we just got to do whatever, yay! Jace and I talked more about ourselves, I just couldn't even begin to understand how lucky I was to have him as a boyfriend. Sadly the day began to end and we said our goodbyes. Just as I turned to leave, he grabbed me lightly by my wrist and turned me around. I smiled at him, just as I was about to ask him what he wanted when he did something amazing! He kissed me lightly on the lips and I swear I saw stars! His lips were gentle against mine and I tried pulling him tighter but sadly he pulled back. Smiling he said he would call me, and I was too light headed over what had just occurred to say anything in return. Wow! My first boyfriend and kiss in the same day, I couldn't even begin to fathom just how lucky I was.
But sadly all good things come to an end. As I pulled into my driveway I could sense in my gut something bad was going to happen. I was probably just being silly, I reassured myself, shutting off my car and stepping into my house. It was eerily quite, which scared me a little. Kevin's car was here and he'd usually be making some kind of noise so I didn't know what to think. I made my way up to my room, and turning on the light I saw Kevin sitting on my bed, a mean look upon his face. He didn't even wait for me to put my bag down before he was standing right in front of me, panting heavily. In his hand was the picture of Jace I had drawn-shit. "Would you care to explain what this is?" he yelled, shoving me hard into the wall. I cried out in pain and before I could reply he screamed into my ear, "I told you no BOYFRIENDS! And here you go behind my back and have one! We certainly cannot have that!" And with that he pushed me down the stairs. I screamed, trying to catch myself, with no success. I lay at the bottom of the stairs, screaming out in pain. Kevin walked slowly down the stairs and raising a beer bottle in his hands, threw it at my back. It struck me hard, knocking the breath out of me. I was pretty sure the fall down the stairs had broken something and the pain was unbearable. But when he threw the bottle at my already hurt back it cause me to see stars and I blacked out from the pain.
I woke up in the middle of the night in agony. Kevin must have deemed me not worthy to torture while I was asleep and for that I was thankful. I slowly crawled up the stairs, suing my hands to pull me up-moaning when the pain became too much. The tears were streaming down my cheeks by the time I managed to pull myself into my dead where I collapsed, exhausted.
The next day I woke up to a blaring alarm clock. It was already three o'clock in the afternoon. Great, I had slept the whole day. Jace was probably worried like I don't know what and I still didn't know the full extent of the damage done to me. I got up, struggling to stand-my mouth dry and blood caked on me everywhere. I seriously needed a shower, so I managed to fumble across the hall and into the bathroom. One look in the mirror and I grimaced. My left cheek was swollen and I had a black eye. The cuts on my forehead had reopened and there were cuts all over my back, but luckily I didn't feel any glass in them. I carefully took off my clothes, screaming out in pain when they scraped across a wound. I dizzily started the shower and stepped in. Immediately I screamed in pain as the hot water poured down my back and into the cuts. I washed myself quickly, by the end of my shower tears poured from my eyes from the pain of it all. Staggering into my room I pulled on a pair of sweat pants and a cotton tank top. I knew Kevin wasn't home because if he was I was sure he would have came to my room and tortured me some more if he was. I grimaced as the door bell rang, quickly running a towel through my hair in an attempt to dry it more. Making my way downstairs I noticed much to my delight Kevin had cleaned up the broken beer bottle from last night, but there was still blood in the carpet-great.
The doorbell rang again an I stumbled my way to it as fast as I could. Opening the door I saw Jace standing there, a relieved expression on his face. "Violet!" he exclaimed hugging me tightly around the neck. When he let me go surprise was written all over my face. "What are you doing here Jace?" I asked, beckoning him in and closing the door. I didn't remember giving him my address but hell I was a little out of it at that point. "You weren't at school today and I came by to give you your homework and to see why you didn't come. It wasn't because of what I did yesterday was it?," he questioned, stepping towards me. Oh goodness, what if Kevin came home early and saw Jace-there'd be hell to pay. "No it wasn't I just-" he cut me off by asking, "What the hell happened to your face?" My eyes filled with tears when he asked me this, I didn't want to lie to him again… "I'm sorry, baby I didn't mean to be like that," he stated, walking forward and began to kiss me. The feeling of his warm lips against mine made me forget the pain of my wounds for a few seconds but that all faded the second he placed his hands on my back and pulled me closer to him. I cried out in pain and immediately pulled back from him. "What's wrong?" he asked, taking a step towards me. "My b-back!" I managed to cry out from beneath my tears. He had reopened the cuts and it hurt like nothing else I had ever experienced. He stepped around me and slowly lifted up the back of my shirt.
His breath caught, and his fingers softly traced around the bruises and cuts on my back. He quickly spun me around and looked into my tear filled eyes. "Violet, what happened to your back! And you're face! Was that the reason why you didn't come to school today?" he practically yelled, scaring me immensely. Whenever Kevin got this mad he always hurt me, bad. "I just tripped down the stairs and fell onto a vase, Jace. And I kind of blacked out from the pain. But I'm fine now! It doesn't even hurt that much," I lied. Well partially lied because the part about falling down the stairs was true but the rest wasn't, it still hurt like hell. "Are you sure no one did this to you, Violet?" he questioned, the rage gone from his voice, replaced by calmness that only made me feel worse by lying. I quickly shook my head yes. I couldn't lie to him again with words, I was sure I'd crack. Stepping forward he placed his hands gently on either side of my face and stared into my eyes, looking for something. "I promise, Jace," I said looking down at my bare feet. "Sorry for getting mad, Violet. But I just can't shake the feeling that someone did this to you," he whispered, tilting my head up and kissing me softly on the lips. I sighed and moved my lips with his, only able to think about one thing-him. And his hands that slowly traveled up my hips, careful to avoid my back.
I had to pull back to get air a long minute later and smiled at him. He slightly smiled back and placed his forehead against mine, careful not to hurt me. "Just promise me you'll be more careful, and that you'll come to school tomorrow," he pleaded, staring into my eyes, making me weak at the knees. "I promise," I replied, untangling my hands from his hair. "Okay, here's your homework, baby. I have to get home or I'll be in serious trouble," Jace said, handing me a bunch of papers I didn't even notice he had. "Thank you, Jace. You're the best boyfriend in the world," I replied, bringing my head up to his and kissing him on the lips again. He pulled back and smiled at me, and with another quick goodbye he was out the door and I was alone. Wow-this day had gone from horrendous to great. Let's just hope it stays that way, I thought to myself and headed up to my room to work on the homework Jace had given to me.
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A/N: Wow, that's the longest chapter I've written! Sry for being mean to Violet but its necessary I promise! What did you think? Please review and I might give you a giant cookie!!!