Pieces

Zack was silent as we entered the house. He kept his eyes away from me and I moved past him, ready to go upstairs to leave him alone. I was just past him when his arm gently grabbed my upper arm, "Hey," He whispered and I turned to face him, my eyes still red from tears, "I'm sorry," He whispered, "I should be most supportive, but you're honestly scaring the shit out of me, Vi," He confessed.

"You don't have to worry about anything, Zack," I muttered.

"I don't have to worry?" He questioned, "Violet, why were you looking up design jobs in New York?" He demanded, his voice suddenly harsh.

My eyes widened as I looked at his hurt expression, "Zack... I-"

"You know it's a little suspicious when your internet history is completely empty. It took me a hell of a long time to recover all of it. And what do you know?" He scoffed, "You emailed over ten design firms in New York."

"Zack, that was before anything happened between us," I reminded him and he shook his head.

"That doesn't explained to me why you were going to leave, Violet!" He exclaimed, "You were going to just up and leave me like that? Do you know how much you mean to me?" He asked.

"Yes, I do," I took a step towards him, "And you mean everything to me, Zack. I just didn't want you to have to deal with all of this," I confessed,.

"Violet," He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "How many times do I have to tell you that I'm trying to get Craig out of your life for good? I'm trying to do this for you and for us. I want us to be happy without some psycho running around chasing you!"

"I know!" I exclaimed, "And that's why I'm staying," I reached out and grabbed his hand, "I'm staying right here, Zack, I promise," I whispered, "I...I wouldn't have been able to do it anyways. I wouldn't be able to leave you," I confessed, tears pricking my eyes.

His demeanor softened and he looked at me sadly. He sighed and leaned in closer, "C'mere," He pulled me into his arms my head instantly rested on his chest as I wrapped my arms around his neck. He rubbed soothing circles on my back as we both calmed down. I sighed and I felt him relax around me, just taking in the moment. I actually believe we could get through it. I thought that Craig would stay away and Zack and I would be happy. We would be okay.

"Zack?" I asked as he held me.

"Hm?"

"I...I can't do this anymore... I have to tell you something," I stated and he pulled away to look down at me.

It was now or never. I needed to explain everything to Zack. Wether he pushed me away or not, I needed him to know. It was to protect him. And if I lost him in the process, then at least he would be away from me and away from Craig. That's all that really mattered to me.

"Is this about Craig?" He asked and I nodded.

"Zack, there's a lot you don't know about me and... And I need to tell you before any of this gets worse."

But before anything else, we heard hard and loud banging on the front door, causing both of us to jump. Zack's eyes narrowed on the door as he turned to me. He put a hand up to his fingertips to motion me to be quiet as we thought Craig was at the door. I watched as he approached the front door, "Who is it?" He asked.

"Zack, it's us. Open the fucking door, right now!" Matt's voice echoed and he sounded pissed. My heart dropped as I thought of Craig pestering Val again.

Zack quickly opened the door and I remained in the living room. Matt pushed past Zack, a glare on his face as Val and Brian followed him.

"Where the fuck is that tramp!?" Matt demanded and Zack glared.

"Who the hell are you referring to, Matt?" Zack asked, anger evident in his eyes.

"I'm referring to your whore girlfriend, Zack. She has some major explaining to do," Matt hissed.

Oh no.
No, no, no.
I didn't even get to explain anything to Zack, yet.

Zack jumped to throw a punch at Matt, only to be held back by Brian. With his grip tight, he dragged Zack into the living room where I was frozen, eyes wide. Val had tears in her eyes as she glared at me. Matt instantly walked over to me, roughly grabbing me and throwing me into the couch.

"What the fuck are you doing!?" Zack demanded, trying to get out of Brian's grip.

Matt ignored him and glared at me, "Who the fuck do you think you are?" He demanded from me and my hands began to shake, "How can you come in, call us family, and lie to our faces!?"

"Matt, what the hell is going on!?" Zack yelled.

Matt stood and pulled out papers from his pocket. My heart dropped. It was an online article and he was going to read it, "No, Matt, wait!" I protested, but he wasn't having it.

"Shut up, Bitch," Matt hissed and turned to Zack, "Are you aware of the Violet Kennedy Scandal?" Matt asked Zack who raised his eyebrows.

"No? What the hell is that? What's he talking about, Violet?" Zack asked as he stopped fidgeting, but Brian kept his grip on him and a glare on me.

"I'm talking about the real Violet Kennedy," Matt held up printed pictures of me. The pictures that haunted me at night.

Zack's eyes widened and he took in the sight, "Is... is that you?" He asked, "That can't be you..."

"Y-Yes. But, Zack, let me explain," I started, but Matt cut me off.

"She dated Craig Stevenson for his money," Matt stated, "She was his high-priced whore that he thought he loved. He bought her everything and she continued to stomp on his heart. When these pictures leaked she took off to San Francisco, leaving Craig and his family devastated. They almost lost everything because of her. She's just a gold-digging whore. Sound familiar?" He questioned.

Zack's face was blank as he processed the information and he turned and looked at me, "Amber..." He whispered.

"No, Zack," I went to rush to him but Matt pulled me back, causing me to yelp in pain, "I'm not like her! I swear, Zack this isn't want it seems."

"Then what is it!?" He demanded.

"I promise I'm a different person than back then. I swear, Zack. I came to work for you to change my life. I didn't expect to grow feelings for you!"

"Oh, so it's just coincidence that you happen to run my company? It just so happens that you chased Amber out so you can take her place? It's all a coincidence that you're just using me!?" Zack screamed, his face going red as tears formed in his eyes. I could tell he was desperately trying to hold them back, and that just made everything worse.

"No! I promise that's not what it is! Matt," I turned to him, "That's their side of the story! They pinned it all on me, I swear!" I begged and I turned to Val, who remained beside him, "Val, please, you know me!" But Matt cut between us.

"Shut up!" Matt hissed and pushed me away from Val, "You put my fucking family in danger. Craig came back because he's still pissed for what you did to him. You just made it seem like you were the victim so we could protect you!"

"No! That's not what it is. Please, Matt!" I begged.

"Fuck you!" He yelled, "You were family, Violet! We trusted you with everything! You put my wife at risk just to cover your ass, and no one else's."

I turned to Zack again, who was no longer being restrained by Brian. I was sobbing, trying to make them understand, "You were going to take everything from me and run off to New York? That was your fucking plan all along!?"

"No, Zack. I was going to run to New York to run from Craig. I never wanted to take any thing from you. I care about you," I stated.

"No you don't!" He yelled, "You were the one person I trusted, Violet! You picked me up when I was down. When I was broken into a million pieces, you picked me up and put me back together. But it was only for you to just break me again!"

"No!" I shook my head furiously, "I changed, Zack. I'm not the same person I was back then. I picked up your pieces because I cared about you. But we went to Vegas and Craig found me again. He came here to try to bring me back."

"Because you fucking destroyed him!" Zack yelled.

"FINE!" I screamed, throwing my hands in the air, "I'm a manipulative bitch who tried to inherit Craig Stevenson's fortune," I confessed and Zack took a step back, the color draining from his face, "I used him. I showed him love and affection and I promised to never leave his side, so long as he gave me everything I wanted. I made it my goal to get a big shiny ring on my finger," I scoffed, disgusted with myself, "And then everything changed, okay? I realized who I was and what kind of monster I was. I didn't want to be that. When I tried to leave, everything fell apart. Samantha leaked the pictures of me and my world began to crumble. I was stuck living a life that I didn't want anymore.

"So I left," I shrugged, "I left them to clean up the mess, because he fucking deserved it. He deserved it for every single mark he put on my body. I took what ever money he put in my bank account and I ran off to San Francisco to go to school. When I graduated I moved down here to look for a job.

"I wanted to change, Zack. My entire life goal has been to redeem myself for all my sins in Vegas. I got a job with you, and I felt different. I thought Craig was behind me. I didn't expect him to come into my life again like this."

"So you planned to keep this a secret all along? You were never going to tell me?" Zack asked.

"That's what I was about to tell you!" I protested, "Right now before Matt came in. I was going to explain everything to you so there would be no more secrets."

He scoffed, "And then what? Make me think you're a fucking victim so you can take everything away from me while my back is turned. Is Craig a distraction so you can finally get what you want?"

"No!" I protested, "God dammit, Zack, I never expected to fall in love with you!" I exclaimed and he adverted his eyes to the ground, "I never expected to feel this way about anyone. Do you understand how fucking scared I was the day you kissed me? I was more scared for you than I was for me."

"Oh really?" He rolled his eyes sarcastically and I almost slapped him.

I took a deep breath and looked at him as he brought his eyes up to mine once again, "I'd relive a life with Craig before I let him touch you," I confessed, "I'd trade my life to spare yours without a second thought, Zack."

Zack sucked in a deep breath, locking his eyes with my as I began to sob. His green eyes were now bloodshot, and within seconds they had become a dull grey. They were no longer the vibrant forest green I once knew. I saw the life leave his eyes as I realized what exactly I had just done, and it only made me sob harder. I just wanted to protect him. I just wanted to love him.

"I wish I had known how beautiful a monster would be," He stated as tears filled his eyes and a sob ripped through my own body, "Maybe then I would have never fallen in love with you."

Ouch. I could literally feel an aching pain in my chest I had never felt before. My own heart breaking in a split second was the worst feeling I had ever experienced in my life.

I backed away, taking in Zack's words, "I may have been a monster, but you were the one to change everything. For that, I will always love you more than anything else in this world."

I shamefully grabbed my keys from the table. I walked through the hallway and opened the front door, only to see two cars pull up.

I shut the door behind me as I saw Jimmy, Johnny, Dan, and the Berrys get out of the cars. They stopped, seeing my tear stained face as I walked past them, "Violet?" Dan questioned and I turned to him, "What's wrong?"

I kept walking past them, not saying a word. I went to cross the street when a hand wrapped around my arm, "Violet, talk to me," Dan demanded, "What happened?"

I turned to him, tears in my eyes as I saw how naive he was. How couldn't he had figured out everything while we were in Vegas? How could any of them believe that I was actually a good person?

"Maybe Craig was right," I stated, "Maybe people like me never change." And I slowly slipped out of his grip, crossing the street to my car as I left them speechless.

New York, here I come.