Background Noise [HS]

NINETEEN

Hours after sharing their most intimate moment thus far, Violet and Harry sat together comfortably where they'd slept the night before. It was later in the afternoon, when the sun was at its highest in the sky. Inklings of purples and shades of blue dotted the horizon. As the space between ocean, earth and sky began to burst with newfound color, it became apparent that elements to Harry and Violet's relationship were shifting. The pair had gone from sleeping on opposite ends of the couch to coinciding in the center, thighs nearly brushing if not for the mere inches in distance between them.

Entertainment was made of the television, commercial ads playing between bits of a series they watched almost aimlessly. Violet spent the entirety of it replaying earlier events. It was almost unbelievable how well the act of opening up—if only a little—had gone for her. The day before, she felt a stranger in a house deemed a home for her. Cyrus was one not to take the time in understanding his daughter's feelings, for they were a reminder of the wrongdoings and mistakes he made. It was selfish of him to turn a blind eye to damage he wrought, though that was the way things were in the Maddox household.

The new and broken version, at least.

Violet loathed her second home. Being put down and taught to feel guilty for feelings does things to the human mind, the human heart. She was no exception. Constantly belittled and pitted against, Violet learned to keep her deepest troubles to herself, selflessly keeping them from her parents as means of saving grace and sanity. Her mother was trying so hard to feel better about herself after all the time passed. The last thing that Violet wanted to do was burden Scarlett with more guilt than she already felt toward her daughter.

And so, she doomed the rest of her teenage years to be spent hiding away in her room. Even crying herself to sleep, some nights. Such emotional breakdowns were becoming less common with age. Violet was stronger now than before, though even the sturdiest of structures bend and break when caught in the eye of a tragic storm. On the night before, a hurricane was formed when she stumbled, veins hot with blood-boiling fury, into the cool winter world that awaited her fleeting figure outside. It swarmed around her in the form of wind whipping her hair in circles as she walked, shivering, down the dimly-lit neighborhood sidewalks.

That night, Violet found shelter behind the headlights of a Range Rover. Dark and daunting as it approached, she knew who lied behind the wheel. A man that she helped a week before, a man that cared enough to return the favor. Although the reciprocation was no written deal, it meant a great one to Violet as she approached the awaiting vehicle. Both a sense of belonging and relief overwhelmed her.

Come morning, even more so.

Harry'd asked her to stay.

Still on the fence regarding his view toward her, Violet's sunken spirit was lifted tremendously as a result of the unexpected offer. One to assume the worst in any situation, worry over little things and jump to conclusions, Violet was overcome with joy upon immediately accepting. For her, the decision was a no-brainer; the possibility of any awkwardness coming from the temporary living situation was nothing compared to the thought of being alone in an empty house. Regardless, Harry seemed pleased with her answer. The crooked smile his mouth quirked into the moment she said yes was a sight Violet would not soon forget.

Shortly after, Violet was left alone while Harry ventured into the kitchen for the second time that morning. He returned carrying two plates of bacon, eggs and toast. The coffee table was drawn toward the couch where the pair sat, side by side so as to share the makeshift table evenly. Violet felt out of her element, being this close to him, so much so that she stalled touching her food for several moments. It was not until she watched Harry strip his plate of two slices of bacon that she reached for her own plate.