Dead Jealous • AHS • Complete

Chapter Three • edited

"Her name is Taint," Violet explained as Vivian shared a look with Ben.

Violet headed upstairs, where she planned to see if Taint liked to play fetch.

Isn't that dogs? She thought to herself as Taint mewed softly in the crook of her arm.

"We can't stop Tate from leaving her alone, he does live in this house too." Vivian murmured as Ben pulled her in, burying his face in her hair.

"I know. He's really sorry about...everything, and you don't know how badly he wants her to forgive him, and I can tell she wants to. But there's only one thing we can do, if we want Violet to be truly happy," he pulled away from her, and she sighed.

"You're right." muttered Vivian, and Ben went off to the study to have some alone time.

Vivian took a few moments to compose herself, and then called out into the darkness.

"Tate?" Tate turned around the corner into the kitchen almost immediately, coming up to Vivian but staying a few metres away, she noted.

He gave her a small smile, and she leant back against the kitchen counter like they were just going to have a normal conversation, like normal human beings, in a normal house. It was all bullshit though, and they both knew that.

"I'm going to forgive you, for raping me." She said into the silence, managing to keep her calm and not let her voice crack. She simply put it out there straight away, not bothering to start making small talk. Inside his head Tate yelled, shouted and screamed with happiness. That is, until one horrible thought came to him:

Vivian may have forgiven me, but will Violet?

He knew he just had to hope, and he gave Vivian another small smile, who smiled back and pulled him into her arms. He might be from an older time than her, but he was still only seventeen.

"Thank you, Vivian. But what if Violet doesn't?" He bit his lip to stop a few tears from falling down his face. He couldn't cry in front of her, couldn't prove he was weak.

Vivian sadly smiled at him, "all you can do is hope," she said, but he'd already gone.

"Hey, that must've been hard," Ben was sympathetic, and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight.

"I'm glad I done it," she replied, unwrapping herself from him as their daughter came back into the kitchen.

"So, Taint doesn't like to play ball, but she does like string, according to my sweater," it was unraveled and hang in down to her knees. "Can you fix it?"

"Probably not, but I'll ask Moira," Vivian replied as Violet headed upstairs without the sweater. Heading into her room, she noticed one difference:

Tate was sat on her chair, by the chalkboard, Taint's name still written there.

"Can we talk?" He asked, Taint purring in his arms, perfectly content.