In the *** House

"You mind if I tape this?"

"No." Tate was lay down comfortably on Dr. Harmon's sofa, fidgeting with his fingers as his mind wandered to Victoria.

It had been around a week since he'd caught her taking the pills and he'd made a habit of sneaking up to her room after his sessions with Ben to keep an eye on her. Most of the time she was unaware that he was there, he would simply watch her from the shadows as she drew or listened to music. She needed him, he really believed that because if Tate didn't talk to her there was no one that she could. Victoria spent most of her time worrying about the rest of her family and not enough time worrying about herself. She was lonely, masking it behind her tough exterior and false sense of bravado, but Tate could see through it.

He smiled to himself, remembering the first time he'd truly introduced himself to Victoria.

"The name's Tate, by the way." She hadn't seen him enter, enthralled in one of her books, but Tate noticed her jump out of the corner of his eye as he pretended to focus on her bookshelf. He let his fingers trail over the classic horror novels, eyeing the worn creases down each spine.

"Do you often trespass, or is this a hobby you've just recently picked up?" He smiled, turning to look at her just as she'd closed her book in obviously fake annoyance. He liked that about her, how she never seemed frightened or threatened by his random appearances as most girls would have been.

"I'm not trespassing." Victoria's eyebrows raised in suspicion. "I'm seeing your dad. What are you reading?" He didn't care to linger on the subject, so he attempted to change it, stepping closer to better eye the novel that was still in Victoria's hands. He made out Anne Rice before she tucked it beneath her pillow.

"I should have known you were crazy after jumping out of a window." She sighed, smiling as she walked over towards her door. She was barefoot, wearing a pair of tattered, navy blue boxer shorts and a white tank top with a black bra strap peeping out from the sides. He wondered if she ever realized how effortlessly beautiful she was, or maybe it was her lack of concern for her looks that made her appear so.

Tate returned Victoria's smile, starting towards the door, "Awe, were you worried about me?"

She scoffed, rolling her eyes as though the very thought itself was ridiculous.

"Hardly." She responded, closing her bedroom door and leaving Tate with a smile and uncontrollable desire to know her.

"You taking your medications?" Ben asked, pulling Tate from his memory as he took a seat in his large, leather chair across from him.

"Yes."

"Any side effects?" Hell if Tate knew; he hadn't actually been taking them. He didn't want to take them, not now that he was finally starting to talk to Victoria, starting to get to know her. What if they affected his...performance? He wasn't sure if Victoria was the one, but she was undeniably special, that much he did know.


"This one I did after my dad left. I was ten, I think." Tate explained, squinting his eyes as he remembered and holding up his arm to show Victoria the scar along his wrist.

Holding back a smile at his face, Victoria lifted the right leg to her tattered jean shorts to reveal a small scar high along her upper thigh. Tate's pulse quickened as he fought the urge to run a finger along the the thin, pink line. It both disturbed and aroused him, seeing that much of her and yet knowing it was caused by a pain she had likely not shared with anyone but him. He wanted to hold her, wrap her up in his arms and tell her that nothing awful would ever happen to her again because he was there now, he would protect her.

"My mom caught my dad screwing one of his students." Victoria stated, pulling her shorts back down as she noticed the sudden look on Tate's face, how his eyes were locked to the scar. Her cheeks were growing hot as she looked away from him in embarrassment. She'd never shown anyone that scar, it was her only scar and yet the shame she felt from it was monumental.

There was something different about Tate. Victoria barely knew him and here she was sharing things with him she'd never shared with anyone. It was as if he had this pull to him, this force that was sucking her in and she was welcoming it because it was the most sincere thing she'd felt since her mother's miscarriage had destroyed her family.

"That's horrible." Victoria found herself looking back at Tate, lost in the sadness behind those dark eyes of his. It was as if he actually felt it, everything she had, and her pain was reflected in his own dark eyes. "If you love someone, you should never hurt them... never."

"Yeah..." Victoria was lost in Tate's gaze, as though he was holding her there by force.

"So, is that why you moved here?"

"Yeah, so they could 'start over'." She didn't want to complain, though she didn't want Tate to see just how upset she really was. Tearing her eyes from Tate's look, Victoria focused on the tattered hem of her sweater. She didn't trust her own eyes to conceal the truth.

"I'm sorry." Unable to stop himself, Tate reached into Victoria's lap, taking her hand in his own. His touch sent a sensation down her spine causing her to look back up at him and Tate watched as her pale cheeks began to darken.

Standing up quickly, Victoria clasped her hands to her face as she attempted to wane the color from her cheeks. She found herself in front of her desk before changing the subject. "Why are you seeing my dad?"

"Don't ask questions you already know the answers to. You're smarter than that." The change in his tone was so dramatic, Victoria couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped her lips as she reached for her iPod.

"Wanna listen to some music? I'm kind of a 90's alternative junky, my sister hates it." She sighed, changing the subject as she sat down on her bed, facing Tate as he had yet to move from his place on her floor.

"Got any Kurt Cobain?" Tate perked up.

"You mean Nirvana?" Victoria's eyebrows raised as she gave Tate's wardrobe an obvious look over before smiling broadly and adding, "fan-girl much?"

"What are you doing in here?" Both sets of eyes turned to the door where Ben Harmon's voice had interrupted their conversation.

"We're just talking, Dad." Victoria found herself sitting up straighter than normal. She knew she wasn't allowed to have boys in her room, let alone one that was a patient of her father.

"You need to leave, Tate. I'm sorry." Tate looked back at Victoria, though all she could do was sort of shrug in confusion. She'd never quite seen her dad freak out this badly, even when it came to boys. "He shouldn't be in here, and I think you know that- please."

Standing up, Tate gave a last look back at Victoria before heading towards the door. She didn't want him to go, however she knew there was little she could do when her dad was reacting in such a manner.

"What's that thing you think I'm afraid of? Fear of rejection?" Ben looked away from Tate as he'd spoken, in an almost shameful sort of way. Victoria didn't understand what he meant by it, but she could guess well enough that Tate was likely referring to something that had been discussed during one of his sessions.

As Tate disappeared down the hall, Ben turned back on his daughter. "Stay away from him."

"We didn't do anything..." Victoria quickly began to defend their little get together, only to be interrupted by her father,

"Victoria, please," the look on his face was serious, "stay away from him." It was never easy for Ben to yell at Victoria, likely because he saw so much of himself in her, yet Victoria knew when he really wanted to and this was one of those times. His face was tense, his body stiff and his voice stern. Victoria wanted to listen, but she couldn't this time, not with Tate. Whatever it was her father saw in him, he was wrong and Victoria wasn't sure how, but she could just feel it; Tate wasn't a bad person.