Violet's POV

"Violet, are you almost ready?" Gerard called from outside the door. "People should be arriving any minute." I put one last bracelet on. "I'm ready!" I hopped out the door. Gerard was waiting in the hallway. "You look amazing, sunshine." He said.

I spent forever choosing my outfit. What I finally decided on was a red white and blue Green Day American Idiot shirt, black skinny jeans, bracelets, and these awesome patriotic converses Frank got me. I brushed my hair for almost an hour, making sure I got every last knot or tangle out and it really paid off. My hair actually looked good.

Gerard had organized a HUGE Fourth Of July Barbeque thing. Basically everyone from every band I liked was coming. He had spent months planning this thing and making sure everyone could come. Gerard even bought (possibly illegal) fireworks we could set off once it got dark.

I felt a knot in the bottom of my stomach.  He had said that there were a lot of people coming to this.  Naturally, my first response was to hide in my room and avoid all human contact.  But the thing is, they're all band members.  All of my idols were going to be in the same yard.  I definitely didn't want to skip out on meeting them.

"Thanks Gerard," I said and we went downstairs. "So, who's coming?" I asked him.

"The people I got a definite yes from were Frank, Mikey, Ray, Kellin, Vic, Mike, Dallon, Ryan, Andy, Ronnie, Brendon, Alex, Rian and Cassadee, Hayley, Lindsey's bandmates, and Jack. Well, kind of Jack. He said he'd be here, but he's Jack, so I guess we'll play that by ear," Gerard said, "Oh, and Pete and Meagan. They're bringing Bronx so Bandit can have someone to play with."

"Are you sure we can fit that many people in our backyard?"

"It'll work," Gerard assured me, "Trust me, it'll work."

I heard little feet running down the stairs. "Daddy! Violet! Look at my pretty skirt!" Bandit exclaimed and twirled around. Bandit's outfit was absolutely adorable in every possible way. It was a navy blue tank top with sequined silver stars and a red velvet skirt. Lindsey also put a red white and blue bow in her hair which only increased the cuteness factor by about a thousand.

"Honey, you look very beautiful," Gerard picked Bandit up and spun her around. "Daddy! Put me down!" Bandit squealed, "Put me down!" Gerard finally relented, "Fine," He pouted, "But it breaks my heart that my own daughter doesn't love me."

"Of course I love you Daddy!" She said and hugged Gerard. "I just have to go and get my toys ready so me and Bronx can play." And with that, Bandit ran off to her room.

"Your turn Violet." Gerard said and opened his arms. I didn't hesitate to go into them. With Gerard I felt safe, like nothing was ever going to hurt me. I liked that feeling. Is this what family feels like?

"I'm glad we adopted you," Gerard whispered in my ear, "We're so much happier now. You're our sunshine."

I heard a car come up the driveway. "Looks like people are here." Gerard said. It was Pete.

Bronx burst into the house first. "Where's Bandit?" He asked Gerard. "She's in her room getting some toys out." Gerard told him. And without another word Bronx bolted up the stairs.

"Aww," I said, "Bandit has a boyfriend."

"Don't say that to her," Gerard warned me, "She'll flip shit."

Pete and Meagan came in next. Pete smiled at me, "You must be the Violet Mikey won't shut up about. Nice to meet you, I'm Pete." He introduced himself. "I know who you are," I said, "I love Fall Out Boy."

"Awesome," Pete said, "Gerard got a good one. Any favorites?" He asked me. "Probably, The Phoenix, Save Rock & Roll, The Kids Aren't Alright, and Thanks For The Memories." (A/N I know it's Thnks Fr Th Mmrs, but you pronounce it thanks for the memories. Ok bai)

"JACKY AND LEXY ARE HERE WE BROUGHT FOOD!" I heard a very Barakat-like shout from the backyard. "Violet, do want to go get that?" Gerard asked me, "Sure." I said and made my way over. As soon as I stepped outside the house I was engulfed in a huge hug.

"Jack, let her go. Don't scare her." I heard Alex say. "No, it's fine," I said, "Jack's my sweetheart. Aren't you, Jacky?"

"Fuck yeah," Jack said and let me go, "I am your goddamn sweetheart. What's your name again?"

"I'm Violet," I said. "Isn't that a color?" Jack asked me. "Yeah, but it's also a name." I told him. Jack fingered the ends of my hair. "And your hair is purple, violet on Violet. I like it." He said.

"Jack! Stop hogging her!" Alex protested, "I want a hug!" I gave Alex a hug, "Here's your hug," I said, "Your music is awesome by the way.  You guys have helped me through a lot." 

"Thank you!  That means a lot to me." Alex said, "And you give damn good hugs." He handed me a box of bakery cookies. The seal was already broken. "Here are some cookies. I bought them like 45 minutes ago, the only reason they were opened it because someone couldn't control himself in the car." He shot a dirty look at Jack.

"I was hungry!" Jack whined, "I needed some cookies in my tummy."

"I'll ask Gerard what I should do with them." I showed the cookies to Gerard. "Where should I put these?"

He studied to cookies carefully, "Why is the seal broken?"

"Jack ate a couple on the way here." I explained.

"Are you sure that's the only thing he did?"

"Positive."

"Just put them in the middle of the table outside so Bandit can't reach them. I don't want her eating anything that came from their house." Gerard said. He gave me a quick kiss on forehead, "Go have fun sunshine. It's your life, live it."

I kind of kept that in mind for the rest few hours. I made it my job to meet everyone that walked in, and I did, I was pretty proud of myself for that. When I first came here I don't think I ever could have done that. Being in this family has given me so much confidence. And I love that.

But after a while I started to get anxious.  The thing with anxiety is that you can only be around people for so long before everything starts to get overwhelming. So I climbed up into the treehouse and took out my notebook to write for a little bit. I heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" I called.

"It's the blue haired bastard."

So it was Alex. "Come in."

Alex opened the door. "Nice place you got up here," He said, "Is it all yours?"

"Pretty much," I said, "Bandit doesn't really use it so it's sort of my hideout."

"Awesome," Alex said and sat next to me on the floor, "So what do you do up here?" I shrugged, "Basically anything. Read, write, daydream. Think up new ways to kill my enemies. Normal kid stuff."

Alex laughed, "Alright, normal kid stuff. So, why are you up here anyway?"

"Why are you up here?"

"Touché. If you must know, I was feeling a bit anxious." He said.

I smiled, "Me too."

Alex looked surprised, "You get anxiety?" He asked me. "Yeah," I said, "It sucks."

"I understand," Alex said, "If you want me to leave you alone for a while, I will  I don't want to make things worse or anything like that.  I'm assuming you came up here to get away from the people."

"No it's fine," I assured him, "You can stay.  I just didn't like being in the huge crowd."

"Is that a guitar?" Alex must have seen the acoustic guitar in the corner.

"That's my guitar," I said, "Gerard's been teaching me how to play. He gave me one of his old guitars. I named it Taurus."

"Do you mind if I try it out for a little bit?" Alex asked me. "Of course not," I said, "Go ahead." Alex picked it up and started playing. "This is a nice guitar," He said and started playing a familiar chord.

"My ship went down in a sea of sound, when I woke up alone I had everything. A handful of moments I wish I could change, and a tongue like a nightmare that cut like a blade. In a city of fools I was careful and cool but they tore me apart like a hurricane. A handful of moments I wish I could change, but I was carried away."

I couldn't resist singing the chorus with Alex, "Give me a therapy, I'm a walking travesty. But I'm smiling at everything. Therapy, you were never a friend to me. And you can keep all your misery."

"Hey, just a question, can I see your wrist?" Alex asked me.

"Uh, why?"

"I want to see your bracelets."  Butterflies rose in my stomach.  He's going to see the scars.

"Um okay," I said and held my arm out. Alex moved some of the bracelets. "These scars aren't new, are they?" He asked me. Oh shit. That's why he wanted to see my wrist. Mentally I counted the bracelets I put on. Sleeping With Sirens, My Chemical Romance, Falling In Reverse, Panic! At The Disco. That's only 4. Fuck.

"They aren't new," I told Alex, "I'm about 1 month clean. When did you notice them?"

"When you hugged Jack." Alex said, "Does Gerard know about this?" I nodded, "Yes, Gerard knows. We've talked about it."

"And you've given him and Lindsey all your blades?"

"Yes." No.

"Can you promise me to never cut ever again?" Alex held his pinkie up, "Pinkie promise?"

We locked pinkies. "I promise." I said.

We heard another knock on the door. "Hey sunshine, it's Gerard, food is ready." He said and opened the door.

"Are you okay up here?" Gerard asked me. "Yeah," I said, "Me and Alex were just singing and talking."

"Okay," he said, "Violet, you should come down and eat something. Also Rian and Cass are here. They'll probably want to meet you."

Gerard led the way back to the food table. Kellin was serving burgers and hot dogs. "I didn't know you could grill." I said to Kellin. "I didn't know either," Kellin said, "But after burning only like 10 hotdogs apparently I can!"

I laughed, "Yay for Kellybear!"

"Watch your mouth Violet," Vic said playfully, "I'm the only one that can call him Kellybear."

"KELLYBEAR KELLYBEAR KELLYBEAR!"

"THAT'S IT!" Vic grabbed a cup full of water, "VIOLET I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!"

And that's how I ended up being chased around my own yard by Vic Fuentes. He had me cornered against the drink cooler.

"There's no escape now," Vic said, "You will pay for your sins."

I looked around the yard. There's gotta be some sort of escape. I saw the garden hose. I have an idea...

Vic was walking slowly towards me. "Violet, this is what happens when you mess with my Kellybear." He said. I grabbed the hose and turned it on full fucking blast. Vic didn't have a chance.

"VIOLET WHAT THE FUCK!" He screamed and lunged for the hose. Vic grabbed it out of my hands and completely soaked me.

"HOW DOES IT FEEL NOW??"

"YOU ASSHOLE!" I yelled and tackled him.

"SHIT WHY ARE YOU SO STRONG??!!" Vic yelled and then the unthinkable happened: He started tickling me.

"NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!" I screamed.

"YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!"

"DAMNIT! MERCY! MERCY!" I pleaded.

"Apologize." Vic said calmly.

"NEVER!"

"Then I guess the torture will continue." He said.

"UGH! FINE. I APOLOGIZE FOR SAYING KELLYBEAR." He stopped and we lay down on the grass for a minute trying to catch our breath.

"Violet," Vic said, "You are fucking crazy."

"Thank you."

"But I like it." He said, "Crazy is good. Especially on a girl. Crazy bitches like you rule the world." Vic held his fist out to me.

"Fistbump?"

"Of course."

We fistbumped (Is that even a word?). Vic helped me to my feet. "You okay?" He asked me. I nodded, "Yep. I'm soaked, but yeah I'm fine."

"I like your Collide With The Sky bracelet." Vic said, "So, you like the band?"

"They're one of my favorites. You're one of my heroes." I said shyly.

"Aww, thank you. And I acted so hero-like by spraying you with water and tickling you." Vic gave me a hug, "I'm glad I could be your hero. Now go inside the house and get changed and I'll get you some food, okay sweetheart?"

I nodded, "Okay Vic."

"Great," He said and ruffled my hair, "Now you better hurry up. I see your father coming, and I think he wants to kill me."

I ran up to my room and quickly threw on a Pierce The Veil shirt and some new jeans. I also put on another bracelet, even though it was getting dark and no one would see my wrist anyway. But whatever. Just in case.

I came back out to the backyard. It was around 8:00 and the sun was just going down. Gerard bought fireworks to set off when it got dark enough.

Vic handed me my plate of food, "Nice shirt." He said. "By the way, next time we're in New Jersey if you have any friends that like the band just tell Gerard to give me a call and we can get you guys in. Also, I didn't know what you liked, so I just got you a hotdog and some dessert."

I laughed, "Yeah, a lot of dessert." The plate was like 95% cookies. Vic shrugged, "Hey, it's food. Take it or leave it. Gerard wants you to eat, so you should probably take it."

I bit into a cookie, "Thanks Vic."

"No problem. And we're about to set off the fireworks. I think Alex saved a spot for you somewhere by him."

I found Alex near the back. He smiled, "Hey princess. Did you have fun destroying Vic?"

"Hell yeah," I said, "I had tons of fun."

Jack came bouncing up to us, "Hi Violet! Where did you go? I missed you. I want a hug." I put my plate down and gave Jack his hug.

"Do you feel better now?" I asked him. "Yes, very much," Jack said, "You should come visit us in Maryland when we have a break. We can go to the beach and shit."

"I don't like beaches." I told Jack. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Aren't all kids supposed to like beaches?" He said, "Isn't that, like, a law?"

It was then Gerard announced he was going to set off the fireworks. We sat down and shut up. I've always liked fireworks. The explosions of color fascinated me in the best possible way. This time was no different. The bright colors lit up the night sky and looked amazing.

But after the fireworks came the worst part, the leaving. I said goodbye to everyone and then helped Gerard and Lindsey clean up.

"Sunshine, you should get to bed." Gerard said, "It's been a busy day for you. You sang with Alex, talked to every person here, and wrestled Vic Fuentes. You must be at least a little bit tired."

"Nope," I said and struggled to contain a yawn, "I am not at all tired. Don't you guys need help cleaning up here?"

"We don't need any help." Gerard said, "You need to go upstairs and sleep, okay?"

"Okay, but my phone is in the treehouse-"

"Get your phone and then go to your room. Got it?"

"Yes Gerard," I gave him a hug, "Goodnight." He kissed my forehead, "Goodnight sunshine. I love you."

I hugged Lindsey, "Goodnight Lynz."

"Night Violet," She said, "Sweet dreams."

I went up to the treehouse. There was a note written on the board.

Hey princess, today was fun. If you ever need to talk I'm here

- Blue haired bastard (Alex)

Under his name Alex left his phone number. I smiled and typed it into my phone. This was going to be an interesting ride...