Shaded In

Hold On, I Still Need You

A/N: Hey guys, so this is it. The final chapter of Shaded In. I'm sorry it's been so long but I've been dealing with a crisis in my life.

I also want to apologize in advance for this chapter. It ended up differently then what I originally wanted. But someone severely broke my trust and hurt me and I could no longer bear to write my original plan. So I apologize. But I hope you guys like it anyway.

Warning: Based on a real-life experience.

I can hear the phone ring from my bedroom. I'm hoping it's Jackson because he hasn't come home yet and he's usually back by now. I can hear mom on the phone as I walk out into the living room.

"Hello. Yes, this is the Knight residence..."

I don't know who she's talking to, but it's sure not my brother if there asking for our last name. I watch as she continues to converse with the person on the phone. I can't hear what they're saying, but I'm scared when mom starts crying. I feel the younger version of my self take over as the grip on my stuffed animal plushie tightens. "M-mommy, w-whos on the phone?"

Her attention turns to me and I can see her try and wipe some tears from her eyes as she hangs up the phone, but I can see that they still continue to fall. She walks up to me and kneels down to my height. "Violet, honey...we-we need to talk."

. . .

"No! No, that's not true! Don't say that about him!"

"Violet, please..."

"No! Don't-don't talk about him!"

"Violet, wait!"

I don't listen and run into my bedroom. I slam the door shut behind me with my back against the wood. I slowly sink down to the floor as tears start to spill from my eyes. I bury my face in my arms as I cry. I don't want to accept that this is real, it can't be real. I just talked to him over the phone earlier.

But the next time I look up I'm no longer in my room.

------

Violet's eyes open and she's faced to the darkened room as she stares up at the barren ceiling. For a minute her mind reels and has to catch up to the fact that she's no longer in her room at home, but in a stranger's house in the middle of nowhere with people she's only just met a few weeks prior. It was a dream, but there was more to it than that. What had played in her head had once been a real-life experience and one that she didn't like to remember. Yet it was something that would never leave her for as long as she lived.

Loss was something they all dealt with now of days. The thought of life and death seemed so surreal now, yet it was the loss of someone from years ago that still haunted her in the waking presence of the apocalypse. But there was one person who seemed to make it worth bearing through, someone who understood and shared her pain. Someone, she found worth fighting for. And she was right here with her...

Violet suddenly felt how cold the bed was next to her and when she pushed herself up into a sitting position she realized that Clem was not with her. In fact, the brunette who had claimed her affection was nowhere in sight. Violet immediately went into worry mode. It wasn't like Clem to sleep peacefully through the night, but she usually woke Violet when she was going through something instead of walking off alone. It wasn't like her to ignore the comfort that came with having a girlfriend. Something the girl seemed to desperately rely on. What was surprising more was that Violet had not been woken upon the brunette's departure. She was a very light sleeper, which meant that Clem had deliberately snuck off while trying not to wake her.