The journey home was once of subdued words, long pauses and melodramatic thoughts. Exaggerations of the day, and how else Violet could have reacted, taunted her and while she used to prefer her own thoughts when around her mother, Violet nearly felt relieved when the woman finally spoke.

The hour mark, painfully, came and went. As an idea to pass the time, Violet tried to fall asleep but after no success the girl decided to focus her attention elsewhere: the scenery. To be honest, there was not much else she could do. No one spoke. No one moved to turn the radio on. It was practically silent. Her mother's mellow monologue had stopped. Meaning, the only hint of sound that broke the uncomfortable air was either the flick of an indicator or a small sigh for the traffic.

Another hour wandered by.

In a flash, the museum the group had visited previously that week darted by. Violet closed her eyes, leaning her head against the seat as some sort of way to find comfort. Seeing that building again was yet another reminder of the competition that would miss an entry. Her brain reflected on her memories, particularly of the bizarre "gang" who her brother owed money to. They would never get repaid. Who knows what they will do to Cole?  Violet did not have the compassion to care.

The third hour took its time to arrive, the only interesting subject being the amount of pollution pouring out of the car in front of them. Much the same, the fourth and fifth hour were mundane and predictable. Mother and daughter had spent so long in the car that it was beginning to grow dark, the grey sky slowly darkening until all Violet could see was a pitch black abyss.

When the end of the journey finally came, Violet wasn't sure that it arrived too slowly or all too soon. The darkness of the night had shadowed her house, giving it a look that didn't quite appeal to her. In a jolt, her mum stopped the car and smiled. She could now relax.

"It's nice to be back. You should go to bed; school tomorrow." Although said in a nice enough way, her words were more an instruction than a suggestion to her daughter. Without waiting for a reply, the woman unclipped her seat belt and walked into the house, Violet slowly following. She could not help but grow slightly nostalgic as she entered her home. It was almost as if Violet's days with her brother had not even happened. As if they didn't even matter.

The low grumble of her own stomach let a small laugh escape Violet's mouth. Patting her belly, she briskly walked over to the kitchen and her hands reached inside the fridge. She took a large swig of milk, the cool plastic container nearly slipping from her clammy hands, and her eyes lazily scanned around the room. Pausing, she noticed a scrunched-up note on the table, the house phone planted beside it. At first Violet stepped curiously forward, but once she saw that it was signed off with Cole's signature she decided against reading it. In one swift motion she finished the milk, heading straight out of the room and as far away from the note as she could.

Now inside her own room, Violet slipped out of her friend's clothes and into her own. Yet again, she couldn't help but feel in denial over what had happened. The girl frowned, looking down at the clothes that only reaffirmed Mia's bizarre taste in fashion. Best to say they never happened.

Ducking her legs under the duvet, Violet tried to get comfortable. She closed her eyes, turning her body to face the wall, and attempted to relax. She was glad that her back was both facing the window where she first spotted Cole those days ago and her phone, which lay on her desk.

Violet could only guess how many messages she had from them wanting to meet up again or needed something they most likely left behind on purpose. All of them used to make her feel wanted. Now, they were just a shameful annoyance that lingered in the back of her mind. For ages all Violet did was lay there, her body still but her mind a hive of activity. She knew she couldn't go to sleep but, for the time being, there didn't seem any better option than to at least try.

Loud and heavy, the snoring of her mum thundered through the house. It caused Violet to grow agitated, twisting and turning in the overbearing heat of the bed. Who knew what time it was?

Turning back onto her side, Violet's eyes focused on the window. At first she looked at her house plants, noticing how each was perfectly in line with the other. That was when it happened. Just like before, the sound of a screeching car on pavement sliced through her house. The illuminating brightness of headlights basked into Violet's bedroom. Even the sound of the engine was the same, piercing and shrill.

He was back.

But more now than ever, he was unwanted.

Violet buried herself under her covers. No, he isn't here. She let out a shaky breath. He'll only lie. Cradling her knees to her chest she tucked her chin in... and waited. Waiting for what she wasn't exactly sure of.

Thirty seconds passed, Violet's heavy breathing her only company. Counting for another half a minute she clung to her body tighter. There were no voices outside. The girl wondered if she had imagined it. Not taking any chances, she stayed put, her fingernails digging sharply into her knees as she let out another unsteady breath:

There was a knock on the window sill.

She froze. Part of Violet wanted to confront the intruder, shouting at whoever it was to go away but the serious, slightly more practical side just tugged her knees closer and clenched her eyes shut. She was practically acting as a child, her mind wishing for this just to a dream. Transforming back into her childhood didn't seem like a bad option to Violet right now.

There was another soft knock.

Violet held her eyes shut with so much force it was becoming painful to carry on. Holding back the discomfort, she tried to control her breathing as a way to try and become calmer Just a couple more seconds. Maybe then it will go away. Maybe then it would all go away. Just. Have. To. Hold. On.

The third knock sounded. Violet was glad she always kept her window shut. More impatient than before, the fourth knock imitated the sound of bony knuckles tapping on the window. Violet could not even begin to think how Cole had even got up to the first floor of the house. Maybe it was better if she didn't know.

Knock number five sent Violet into doubt. Her mind started to come up with what she could do to just make him stop. One being that if she just talked to him reasonably, Cole would just understand and leave; preferably, in her mind, not coming back. Though, Violet did have to admit that in the present moment her version of 'talking' was probably more like yelling. To her, it still didn't seem like a bad option.

The sixth rap of knuckles on glass almost boomed through the house. Violet bit her lip, ready to talk to him if he did it one more time. If Cole knocked one more time on the glass, she could come out from under the blankets and face her brother. But only if he knocked again.

Violet waited.

Nothing happened.

A soft voice, not of Cole's but his friend, slipped through Violet's window. Opening her eyes, flashes of different colours clouded her vision from the amount of effort she was using to clench her eyes shut. She waited again, hoping she just imagined the noise.

"Violet." It sounded again. "Violet, are you there? Look, just come out. " There was a small pause, the speaker waiting for a reply before becoming more desperate, "Okay, can I come in? I'm stuck on this shitty ladder and I'm sort-of-not afraid I'm going to fall and die."

Slowly, Violet unfurled her legs. She couldn't quite believe what she was doing, what Aiden was making her do. As she got closer to the window, Violet could just make out his faint figure through the pane of glass. He couldn't see her. She knew she could still turn back. And yet she unlatched the window.

"Go away."

Aiden didn't say anything, but underneath the cover of the night he raised one bushy eyebrow in reply. Violet had opened the window just enough to hear his heavy puffs of breaths. If she opened the window all the way, the risk of knocking him off and into the raspberry bush below was too high. Violet would be lying if she said she wouldn't feel some satisfaction from that, but she also couldn't send Aiden off to a hospital. It wasn't really his fault.

Without Violet noticing, the boy had clutched onto the small gap under the space of open window. In one huge puff of breath, he pulled himself up and through the small wedge. The only thing Violet thought could comfortably fit through was a small cat at most. Not Aiden.

A heavy bang sounded outside. The ladder had fallen.

"What the hell are you doing?" She whispered harshly. If she had acted on her instincts, Violet would have pushed him out the window. Stopping herself, she shoved her hands into her pockets and took a cautious step back into her bedroom. "Didn't you hear what I said? Piss off!"

Maybe, Violet admitted to herself, her language was a bit extreme. But in her mind, the situation called for it.

Awkwardly shuffling through, Aiden's lanky body was now equally wedged in the area of her bedroom and the expanse outside. From her point of view, Violet could just make out that he had positioned himself so his hands were resting on her floor. From the view outside she could only image how his long legs were dangling over, the ladder collapsed on the ground beneath him.

Puffing out another breath, Aiden let out a loud sigh. "Turn the lights on, would you? Can't see a bloody thing." Hesitantly, Violet did as he asked. Her dazed mind took her to the light switch and made her hands flick the button. The intense light didn't agree with Aiden. His hair was a tangle of knots and his clothes were scrunched, stretched and askew from trying to fit his tall frame through the window. Squinting, he used his hands to pull the rest of his body through.

Violet stood, silently staring, as he crumbled onto the floor of her room. "Sorry," he almost wheezed out, "Didn't mean for the ladder to fall." Trying to catch his breath, Aiden finally managed to pull himself up into a standing position before awkwardly pulling his red top over his exposed torso. Catching his breath, he let out a relieved smile:

"I think it's time we head back."

Violet wanted to slap him. She really did. But Aiden held no cocky grin, raised eyebrow or air of sarcasm that she was expecting from his words. In fact, he almost said those words like he was offering her a casual piece of advice. Violet didn't know what to say.

I think it's time we head back. How was Violet supposed to react to that? Aiden knew, probably too well, the situation at hand. For it was her who had unravelled the whole case in front of him and the public earlier that day. And yet... he didn't seem to care. There was no hint of judgment on Aiden's face. Violet appreciated that.

"I'm not going to get into it; just come back. The concert's in..." pausing, he slipped his phone out of his pocket to check the time. Sighing, he put it back when he realised it was out of battery. After seeing this, Violet picked up her phone and showed him the time on her screen. She tried to hide her relief when Aiden ignored her array of messages and carried on. "It's in eight hours. We can do this."

You can do this. That was what Violet secretly wanted to hear. Noticing the reluctance in her eyes Aiden ran a large hand through his already messy hair, "Violet, look. For God's sake. What do you want me to say? That we need you? That we won't try without you? It's not all about you, okay? I just know Cole would be happy if you came." He gave no time for her to reply, instead shooting into more dialogue. "Scratch that, he'd probably make me his best man if you came and he found out it was my idea."

As he spoke to Violet, Aiden's eyes pleadingly searched her own. As she dropped her gaze down to her phone, they followed. The screen was still bright, the shamed messages clear as day. Aiden did not have the time for this. Grabbing Violet by the shoulders he got her to look him in the eyes.

"No one cares about that. Don't you see? We all know what you get up to, and that's okay. It's your decision. Mia doesn't care. Cole doesn't care. I certainly don't care. If some horny boys you spent one night with are stopping you from doing this, then I think you need to prioritise your life."

Desperation was quickly building up inside Aiden. Violet closed her eyes, leaning back into his hands as he carefully held her. She couldn't do this for Cole, she just couldn't. Too much history had happened. One day, Violet might be able to clear it up. But not now, not today.

However, when Aiden's hands closed on her own, guiding her through the bedroom door and through the house she didn't stop him. Maybe Violet couldn't do this for her brother. But for Mia? For Aiden? For the sake of her family?

That she could do it for.