//
A few days later, Violet still wouldn't talk to Peter to which Tate would often stay by his side to bring him comfort.
Later in the day, Peter sat on his bedroom floor, lying on his stomach as he doodled on some notebook paper and had the music on his iPod turned up to max volume.
A knock on his door made him look up. "Peter," Ben called. "I need to talk to you."
Peter turned off the music and sat up. "Dad, can we talk another time? I don't feel so good," he told him.
"Can I come in, please?" Ben asked.
Peter stood up with a sigh before approaching his door, unlocking it and pulling it open to which Ben entered as Peter sat back on his bed. "Is this about school?" Peter asked, fidgeting with his phone.
"Yes. It's about school," Ben answered.
"If you want to give me the parent drill, 'cause it's going to make you feel better than go at it," Peter replied.
Ben sat across from him. "Why would it make me feel better?"
"Because..." Peter began. "I know it's important to you to be a good father."
"Only if I've been a good father. And I've been a lousy father lately."
"Dad, come on-" Peter began.
"I owe you an apology," Ben told him.
Peter's mouth went slightly agape. "Is this some headshrinker trick to make me feel sorry for you?"
"I can't imagine what this year's been like for you," Ben continued. "Moving and starting a new school and all the craziness that happened to us here." Ben slightly smiled. "Hey, remember last year when you announced you were going to Yale and Violet was going to Harvard?"
Peter lightly chuckled, he did remember that. "You know we only said that to make you happy, right?"
"I knew that," Ben answered. "I also knew that you were smart and you guys can go anywhere you want for college."
But Peter couldn't. Not anymore...
Ben scooted closer to his son. "Come on, Peter. What are you doing? This isn't like you."
A tear fell from Peter's eyes to which he quickly wiped away. Before he would've agreed to go just to make Ben happy. He can't do anything now, he felt useless.
"I-we can't go back," Peter told Ben.
"Okay, okay, son, okay," Ben spoke in a soft tone. "We'll find you and Violet another school."
"No, they're all the same," Peter stated. "Violet always gets picked on and I-"
"Peter, you have to meet me halfway," Ben replied.
"I'm trying to."
"We'll find you guys a new school, but you have to start going tomorrow. Otherwise, we'll end up in juvenile court," Ben told him. "Deal?"
After a moment, Peter nodded. "Deal," he answered.
Ben smiled in response, ruffling Peter's hair before standing. "Everything's going to work out," Ben told him. "I promise, son."
Peter gave him a forced smile as Ben slightly closed the door behind him and left to which he fell back on his bed. "Fuck," he mumbled, hiding his face in his hands.
A moment later, his door creaked open to which he sat up and saw Violet. "You still defended me," she stated.
"I did," Peter admitted.
"Why?" Violet asked. "I've been an asshole to you. I mean, you were also the asshole too but-"
"You're my sister. No matter how many fights we get in, I got your back."
It was true. Peter would always look after Violet, in life, and in death.
"So," Violet began. "Are you doing anything right now?"
"Well," Peter spoke. "I was going to watch Back To The Future if you wanna join me..."
Violet didn't say anything, only walked to Peter's bedside before taking a seat next to him as her answer.
Peter grabbed his laptop from the edge of the bed, starting it up when she mumbled, "Fucking school."
"Excited to go back?" Peter asked with a teasing tone.
"For one day and hopefully finding a better school..." she trailed off. "I guess."
Peter glanced back at her. "Everything will be okay, Vi."
He hoped...
***
The next early morning, Peter had sat on the stairs with Tate who stayed by his side, explaining what's supposed to happen.
"Maybe this is fate," Tate stated. "Like maybe Violet is supposed to find out about-"
"Tate, we've been over this," Peter replied. "Violet can't know. She'll...explode. Cease to function."
"Okay, fine. Don't be mad. I love you," Tate told him, placing a hand on Peter's knee making the boy merely smile. "We'll figure something out."
"I hope so," Peter stated, leaning his head on Tate's shoulder. "Because the moment she steps out of the house..."
He didn't finish that sentence, already knowing what would happen.
"Hey," Tate spoke. "What if you just asked her not to go to school?"
"I doubt it because she heard my dad-"
"Tell her you want to make up for the way you've been this week," Tate continued. "Play board games with her or watch a movie. She'll stay if she knows you only want to make things better."
"How do you know that?" Peter asked him.
"Because she cares about you," Tate answered. "She wouldn't have stopped cutting herself if you didn't ask her to. You protect her and she loves you for it whether she admits it or not. So yeah, that's how I know she'll stay if you just ask her."
Peter gave him a grin. "God, what the hell would I do without you?" he asked, kissing Tate's cheek.
Tate only smirked before grabbing Peter's face and kissing him with urgency.
Peter completely fell apart into Tate, melting back against the stairs as the blond pressed him into it. He nipped at Peter's lower lip and he slowly moved his tongue into Tate's mouth. He let out a tiny moan, both his hands moving to hold Peter's face as the Harmon boy grasped his hips.
Everything around them became long forgotten as Tate unbuttoned the front of Peter's shirt, moving to kiss your throat.
The blood pumping in Peter's ears was enough to drown out the usual panic he felt. Tate's touch was all Peter could focus on, and it was everywhere.
"We..." Tate spoke in between kisses. "Have...a...few...more....minutes until..."
Tate didn't have to say any more for Peter to nod his head breathlessly in understanding.
Holding Tate's hands in his own, both boys stood up, ready to head back upstairs until Violet's door upstairs opened and she called, "Peter."
Peter looked at Tate. "So much for having a few more minutes," Peter stated, walking downstairs holding Tate's hand.
"I'll see you later," Tate told Peter, pecking his neck one last time before whispering, "You got this. I love you."
"I love you," Peter returned before Tate walked away.
Violet's footsteps were heard coming downstairs to which the boy spoke, "Hey, sis."
Violet looked at him. "Hey," she greeted. "You're up early."
"Yeah," Peter mumbled. "So I was thinking...what if we spend the day here?"
Violet gave him a questioning look.
"We can play Scrabble if you want," Peter added. "I'll even let you win."
"Seriously?" Violet questioned. "You promised Dad we'd go to school tomorrow and you want to bail now?"
"Not bail," Peter answered. "You're right. I've been an asshole to you, Dad and Mom. And I'm sorry, I feel like shit about it. Let me make it up to you today. We'll spend all day today doing whatever you want."
"Peter..."
"Come on, Vi, please," Peter pleaded. "Do I have to get on my knees and beg?"
Violet paused for a moment, crossing her arms before answering, "Yeah, actually."
Peter's expression fell as he sighed, "I wasn't being serious but..." He slowly kneeled down before leaning on both knees. "Okay, Vi..."
He began to place his hands in a pleading motion, opening his mouth to speak until Violet interrupted with a laugh, "Okay. You can get up. I just wanted to see if you would do it." She helped pull him up to stand. "Let's play Monopoly first so I can rob you of all your money."
"You asshole," Peter remarked while Violet laughed, both of them going upstairs.
***
For the next few hours, Peter and Violet were in the attic playing Monopoly and barely starting Scrabble when Tate joined them.
When Tate was playing chess with Violet, he left suddenly to which Peter took his place.
"Oh, piss up a rope," Peter cursed as Violet grinned in victory.
"You might be smarter than me but I'll always beat you at chess," she stated as Tate entered the attic in a hurry.
"Hey," Peter greeted. "Where've you been? She just took your rook."
"Checkmate in 13 moves," Violet added before noticing Tate's expression to which Peter noticed.
"Are you okay? What's wrong?" Peter asked his boyfriend.
"He wants to separate us," Tate stated. "He's gonna send you away. You and Violet."
"What are you talking about?" Violet asked
"I just heard him talking on the phone with a girls boarding school, asking about financial packages and other all-boys boarding school programs."
"Makes sense," Violet stated while Peter stayed silent. "He sent Mom away. I don't know why I thought I was safe."
"Tate," Peter called, standing up. "Can I talk to you alone?" Tate followed Peter into the furthest area in the room. "I'm running out of time. If my dad is picking out boarding schools for Violet and me, and he tries to send her away..." He whispered before sighing as his voice cracked. "We're so fucked."
"Pete," Tate spoke softly as his eyes watered upon watching the love his life tear up.
"I can't protect her forever, can I?" Peter asked. "I'm so fucking stupid for thinking I could."
Tate brought his hand up to cup Peter's face as his own tears fell. "There's nothing stupid about you," he stated. "And I won't let him try to send her away. Violet will be okay."
"How?" Peter asked, leaning his forehead against Tate's.
"I'll take care of it," Tate replied, pecking Peter's lips. "Everything's going to be okay."
With that, Tate pulled away from Peter, walking back downstairs while Peter wiped his eyes and sat across from Violet.
"So I guess we don't mean anything to Dad after all," Violet stated.
Peter met her gaze. "Let's not...talk about that," Peter told her. "Not right now, at least. Please."
Violet nodded, putting the chessboard away as Peter grabbed a deck of cards until Violet asked, "What did Tate say?"
"Just that he's going to talk to Dad," Peter answered. "Convince him to let us stay. Tate knows how much I love him and going to a boarding school means being away from you. I don't want that."
"Me neither," Violet agreed before watching Peter shuffle cards to play War.
After twenty minutes of being gone, Tate finally returned, climbing back in the attic.
"Did you talk to him?" Peter asked as he and Violet stood up. "What happened?"
"I just convinced him to leave us alone for an hour or so," Tate answered.
"Tate, what did you do to him?" Violet asked in a slightly panicked tone.
"I didn't do anything bad!" Tate exclaimed. "Just scared him a little. He'll be fine. But we're running out of time."
"Okay, now you're being weird. Time for what?" Peter asked.
"I figured out how to keep them from sending you guys away," Tate answered.
"Can we run away?" Violet asked.
"Kind of," Tate answered before glancing at Peter. "I love you, Peter. And Violet's my friend. And I want you guys to be happy and free." He held up a bottle of pills. "If we take these, we can stay here. We can play with Beauregard, we can play games, watch videos. We can be together and be friends forever."
"Tate..." Peter spoke in an uncertain tone. This isn't what he wanted the situation to be handled.
"You want us to commit suicide?" Violet asked.
"Yeah," Tate answered. "And I don't think there's enough in here to really, you know...So I think if we use these..." he held up another small bag of razors.
"Where did you get those pills?" Peter asked.
"Your dad has a lot of samples," Tate answered.
"Did you hurt my dad?" Violet asked.
"No, I told you, I just knocked him out so I could buy us some time!" Tate yelled.
"You knocked my dad out?" Peter asked in a shocked yet angered tone.
"Listen to me, Pete, we can't get all chicken shit about this," Tate continued. "We're running out of options." He gave Peter a sad look only he would understand. "We can't do anything else, please..."
Tate was doing this for him...to protect Violet from herself and how she really died. If she died the way she wanted, so much can be avoided.
"Yeah, I get it," Peter agreed, swallowing harshly as Tate grabbed his face, kissing him for a long moment while Violet had a look of disbelief in her eyes. "We'd be here forever," Peter said as he pulled back and looked at his sister. "We'd never be separated. Never away from this house, we like it so much..."
After a long moment, Violet nodded. "Yeah. Okay, I get it."
"I know how to do it so that it won't hurt," Tate told her.
"Can I do it in the bathtub?" Violet asked.
Almost immediately, Peter answered, "No." He hasn't been near that tub since...
"Why?" Tate asked her.
"'Cause it's warm and nice..." Violet answered.
"Okay," Tate answered while Peter stayed silent. "But we have to go now."
"I'll-I'll go run the bath," Violet told them, stepping down out of the attic while Peter's expression faded.
"Fuck," he cursed, his hands gripping onto his hair. "Tate, this was not the way I wanted it to end."
"Peter, she's going to find out," Tate told him, grabbing his shoulders. "Eventually whether you want her to or not. At least if it's this way, she'll go peacefully and you won't have to cry or be scared for her again."
Peter was biting down on his bottom lip. "She won't react well either way-"
Downstairs, Violet could be heard yelling, "Help! Dad, help me! They're trying to kill me! Help!"
"Violet, no!" Peter yelled, rushing down the attic ladder, falling off of it halfway but he just stood up, getting up with Tate's help.
"Dad! Dad!" Violet yelled, standing in the entryway of the house with a panicked look. As Tate and Peter rushed down the stairs, Violet pulled the front door open, running down the porch and to the house's gate where she struggled to get it open but yelled to the people walking by, "Help me! Help! Help me!"
"Violet, don't!" Peter yelled, running after her as Violet got the gates to the house open, running out into them to which Peter followed.
As they disappeared off the property, both were running into the back entrance of the kitchen, going back into the house.
Peter nearly collided into her as she stopped confused and Tate walked into the kitchen.
Violet turned back to look at Peter with a look of betrayal and fear. "What's happening? What did you do to me?" she asked.
"You have to stop," Peter told her as she backed away from both of them. "This was the last thing I wanted. I'm so sorry."
"Let's just do what we said we would," Tate added.
"Dad, where are you?!" Violet yelled, running out of the kitchen. "Help me!"
"Violet!" Peter yelled.
"Stop running!" Tate called out.
Violet ran out to the front door anyway, off of the property once more but ended up running back into the house from the back hallway exit. She stopped, confused for a moment before running out to the door again.
Once she came back in again, she sobbed, confused, and scared.
Peter was the first to face Violet as he came around a corner, his expression was full of sadness and pain as did Tate while Violet begged her brother, backing into a corner, "Please, Peter, please, I don't want to die."
"It's too late for that," Tate told her.
Violet cried, sinking down to the floor against the wall while Peter slowly approached her. "Vi, listen to me," he spoke softly.
"Why am I running around like a crazy person?" Violet asked, gripping her hair. "Did you drug me?"
Peter shook his head. "I'm not going to hurt you. I never would," he reassured her. "And Tate wouldn't either but..." His voice cracked. "You need to know something about you and I..."
"We have to show you something," Tate finished for Peter. "And then you're free to go wherever you want."
"I promise I won't stop you," Peter added. "Neither of us will but you have to trust me. I'll explain everything. Please," Peter begged, standing up straight and reaching a hand to her.
She slowly took it, standing up as Peter looked to Tate, sending him a nod.
With Violet still clutching onto Peter's hand, they both followed Tate down into the basement, turning the corner at the edge of the stairs that led into a small closet.
Tate pulled the light bulb above on as he opened a small door in the wall, leading into a dark area.
"I feel weird," Violet stated. "Like I'm losing it."
Grabbing a stool nearby, Tate placed it down before stepping on it, climbing up into the dark area and turning on a flashlight.
"Come on," he told Peter.
Following in pursuit, Peter got up there first, and shortly Violet did too.
The pair all crawled after Tate in the confined area and while Peter could barely see anything, he smelled something awful as he kept crawling. Already knowing what that smell was, he held back his disgust.
Violet suddenly screamed making Peter look back at her in concern. "Are you okay?" he asked.
A rat ran past her as if to answer his question. "It's so disgusting down here," Violet said.
Ahead, Tate stood up, jumping down off a smaller edge. "Okay, come on," he said, helping Peter stand and jump down beside him to which Peter helped Violet do the same. "Close your eyes," Tate told Violet. "And remember...everything's going to be okay."
"I got you," Peter told her, outstretching his hand out to her again.
Violet took his hand before shutting her eyes. Tate leads Peter and Violet ahead before stopping as more flies buzzed all around.
Peter looked to where Tate was shining his flashlight and winced, his eyes already shining with tears.
"Open your eyes," Tate spoke.
Violet did so, her eyes looking down at where the flashlight was shining to which she let out a wail of fear, sobbing and tearing up as she laid eyes on her stiff corpse.
Tears fell from Peter's eyes as he remembered that day. It was the day Peter had failed his little sister.
..."Come on, Vi," he pleaded, turning on the faucet which turned on the water, soaking them both and their clothes which made Violet flinch but she didn't wake up. "Vi!" he screamed in anguish.
"I died when I took all those pills..." she whispered.
Peter let out a shaky breath as he told her, "I tried to save you the moment I found you. I tried to make you throw them up. You threw up some. Not enough." He cried with Violet. "You took all of them." Violet kept sobbing. "You died crying in my arms. You were safe but I still..." More tears fell. "I still failed you. I wanted to protect you to so you didn't end up like me."
"I hardly feel anything," she uttered, still looking down until she looked at Peter, hearing his words. "'Like me'?" she asked. He gave her a sad look to which she gasped. "Oh, God. No, not you..."
Peter looked to Tate who took Peter's hand while Peter used his free hand to grab Violet's, following Tate further ahead.
With Tate's flashlight ahead, Peter could make out the back of the gray sweater he was wearing the day he died.
"You don't have to look," Peter told Violet as Tate stopped. "You already know...everything."
But Violet did anyway (even when Peter hid his face in Tate's arm) on where the flashlight was shining.
She gasped and sobbed as she saw her brother's corpse on the floor, his skin almost a gray color, his eyes were all white and lifeless.
"It happened hours before you..." Peter spoke, his voice still shaking. "It was Hayden. She drowned me in the tub. I tried screaming for you or Mom or Dad or Tate...But I couldn't breathe and I was too weak to fight back..." he trailed off as he couldn't finish.
"I found him," Tate spoke as Violet's sobs only got louder.
Tate kept sobbing through his actions as he begged, "Don't you die on me."
Peter's body kept jolting with every compression but he did nothing to signal he was still alive.
"Come on, Pete," Tate pleaded before pressing his mouth over Peter's, breathing air into him before resuming compressions.
But Tate didn't know how to do it properly.
"I tried to save him," Tate told Violet. "I did. He just stopped breathing and he was just...gone."
Peter approached Violet, placing a hand on her shoulders. "I didn't want you to find out this way, Vi. You or Mom and Dad."
"I had this idea that if you chose to die, with me, with Peter, you wouldn't be so sad," Tate added.
"I never wanted you to see this," Peter whispered to Violet. "That's why I've been trying to protect you this whole time." Violet's eyes met his. "I'm so sorry, Violet..."
She threw her arms around him in a tight hug to which Peter held her closely as she wept into his shoulder. "Peter, I'm sorry you died," she muffled.
"It's not your fault," Peter sobbed. "It's mine. It's all on me."
***
After leaving the basement, the trio went in Violet's room, sitting on the floor while Tate shuffled a deck of cards.
"So...all this time," Violet spoke to Peter who was lying across the floor in between Tate and Violet, his head resting on his arm. "I thought you were just being an asshole. But you were protecting me."
"That's all I ever wanted to do since we were born," Peter answered, grabbing a cigarette from Violet, lighting it before taking a long drag. "To protect you from yourself, this time though. I didn't want to see you that way."
"So why'd you keep it a secret?" Violet directed Tate.
At this, Tate nudged Peter's arm. "'Hi, I'm Tate. I'm dead. Wanna hook up?'" At this, Peter exhaled the cigarette smoking before throwing his head back, letting out a whole-hearted laugh to which Tate chuckled at. "I don't think so."
"I still don't remember dying," Violet answered. "Do you guys?"
Tate shook his head while Peter sat up, cigarette resting upon his lips as he answered, "Nope."
"What happens now?" Violet asked.
"You draw a card, and then discard," Tate answered.
Violet lightly chuckled. "No, I mean...like, how's it going to be?"
"Just like this. Like it's always been," Tate answered. "It's gonna be us. Together for always."
"My best friend since birth," Peter said, wrapping his left arm around Violet and his right arm around Tate. "And the best boyfriend I could ever ask for." Tate smiled at this. "I was worried for nothing. This is all I need."
Tate kissed Peter's shoulder at his previous statement as Violet groaned, "Get a room, homos."
Peter grabbed his cigarette before blowing his cloud of smoke in Violet's face, making her cough. "Asshole," he insulted, picking up his small stack of cards, grabbing Tate's free hand with his own, interlocking their fingers.
"Bitch," she remarked, picking up her own cards as well.
***
Hi!
If you want to see books like this one, I have another I just published a book based on season 2: Asylum. It's called Mad Hatter and it's right under this book on my profile.