Dance with a Devil

"Alright, O'Callaghan," Violet said, standing in front of him with her hands on her hips as he got a beer out of the fridge. "It's time you to learn how to be like Gordon Ramsay. Are you ready?"

John raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"I'm gonna teach you how to cook!" She exclaimed.

"Why...?" John grimaced. Violet scoffed at him and said, "It's not that bad! Plus, if it makes you feel any better, women love men who cook."

He still didn't look convinced.

"Hey, I'm not leaving this place for good until I finish that wall," Violet pointed her finger in the direction of the foyer. "And teach you how to cook. And neither of those are done, so I'm not leaving."

John didn't say anything. Violet rolled her eyes and opened the fridge up. She felt his eyes bore into her back.

"Are you still mad at Garrett?"

She stopped. Then she continued to pick food out of the fridge and she shook her head but she didn't say anymore. John didn't pursue the subject either, however, he couldn't keep his eyes off the girl, to see if any sort of movement could tell him anymore.

"Okay," She set the food out on the counter. "We're going to make ravioli!"

John groaned and it earned him a glare from the girl. He rolled his eyes and listened as Violet explained what to do.

Violet felt more excited. Maybe it was because the last time she was there, she made John laugh for the first time in a very long time? Or maybe it was because she and Garrett had made up. It wasn't a make up sex type of make up, but Garrett apologized so much that she had no choice but to accept in order to shut him up.

But he had learned from the best, so she couldn't complain.

"Chop up the mushrooms," Violet commanded, hopping up on the counter. She pushed her glasses up farther and opened up Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and started reading. She heard the occasional sound from the knife hitting the board as John slowly cut up the mushrooms.

"Okay..." He said when he finished. Violet looked up and smiled. He did a pretty decent job.

"Now shred the cheese," Violet said with a smile on her face. John took the cheese and pressed it against the cheese grater that she handed to him, and she couldn't help but watch him. He did it so slowly, she felt herself age, but it was a work in progress and she didn't rush him.

"How often have you read that book?" John asked, nodding his head towards the book in her lap.

"I think I lost count after thirteen," Violet replied, seriously. John gave her an incredulous look and she just shrugged her shoulders. She was never ashamed of her love for Harry Potter, and nor would she ever be.

Violet explained the rest of the steps to John and he grumbled but did as he was told. He did them at a glacial pace but Violet just read her book. She felt John's eyes on her a couple times but she ignored them.

"Okay, I'm reading the same sentence over and over again," Violet shut the book. She hopped down from the countertop and walked around the kitchen. Nothing was in that remotely gave away that he has a family.

Not a single picture of them.

Violet was about to ask about that but then she shut her mouth because he would probably get angry and kick her out and never laugh in her face ever again. She didn't want to risk it, even though it was maybe a small risk?

It was just over the summer. Violet remembered because just before he left, he came over to their place to talk to Garrett about things with The Maine. Then he proceeded to knock over a vase, spilling the contents on the carpet, causing Violet to almost have a heart attack at the mess and clean it up. That was when John was happy and an annoying jerk--when he was himself.

John's trip was supposed to be two months long. His family was having a reunion in Oregon and even though he was a jerk sometimes, John loved his family.

But on a day at the end of June, he came back. Kennedy was his roommate and was shocked to see that John didn't even speak to him when he walked through the door. He went straight to his room and he didn't leave for six days, even if someone tried to talk to him.

A week later he finally came out of his cave and he was back to normal.

Well, almost.

It was gradual. It seemed that every day, John was changing--soon into the man that was standing before Violet. His best friends were noticing it, and they could only relate it back to one thing--what happened on the trip.

Tim and Pat tried to reach out to his parents. Mr. and Mrs. O'Callaghan were huge supporters of the band. They weren't at first, like at the time when they all dropped out of school, but they grew on them and the boys called them their parents, too.

Violet didn't really think much about it since she didn't know Mr. and Mrs. O'Callaghan very well, and knowing that John was pretty much a douchebag. But, the only words that Mr. O'Callaghan said when Pat and Tim contacted them was,

"God save us."

The only thing that Violet could understand by those words was that it was a lost cause. Nobody could figure out what was wrong and what even happened. None of his brothers said anything, or even his cousins.

They were all silent.

Violet glanced at John. At that point, he looked like he wanted to throw the knife against the wall and just sit around and watch TV all day. He didn't look like he wanted to be there at all--but maybe it was the fact that Violet said she wasn't leaving until he finished got him to do it.

She scowled at him behind his back--was she that dreadful?

"I'm going to use the restroom," Violet said, even though she didn't get anything from John (as if she expected anything).

She made her way through the house and to the bathroom that was right next to the guest bedroom (that was previously Kenny's). Just as she was about to enter the bathroom, Violet did a double take at room at the end of the hall: the forbidden room.

She found herself drawn towards it and next thing she knew, her hand was curled around the handle. She glanced behind her to see if John was there but he was still in the kitchen, so she pressed down on it.

It was locked.

Violet's eyebrows knitted together and she rattled the handle--as if it would change the fact that it was locked. She sighed and let go.

What was in that damn room?

"Violet?" John called.

She went back into the kitchen, letting the mystery of the forbidden room take a backseat in her brain, and John looked at her and said, "Now what?"

John ended up making some pretty good ravioli, even though he burned a couple of them and made Violet make the rest because he couldn't not burn the other ones.

They sat in front of the TV and John turned on How I Met Your Mother--a routine they've developed every single day she had come. They silently watched and ate their food even though random thoughts kept showing up in Violet's mind.

"Hey John?" Violet's voice cut through.

"What?"

"You and I will always have our differences, but thank you for letting me in and helping you around here," she said, honestly, looking at him.

John looked up.

Violet shrugged her shoulder and chuckled, "I don't know why I just said that but I feel good knowing that I'm helping someone out--even if it is by doing basic things like cleaning a house or teaching cooking. But, um, if you need someone to talk to about anything, you'll always have me..."

He didn't say anything. Violet took that as her cue to shut up so she did, stuffing her mouth with ravioli and letting How I Met Your Mother fill the silence between them.

It was going to happen. John couldn't physically keep his anger and his problems bottled up inside of him, or else he would explode. And at that point, Violet was going to keep her promise--she was going to be there.