•flawed with benefits•

Violet sat back in the wooden chair, pulling her knees to her chest as she balanced a mug of tea on the arm. It was a brand new chair. Dallas had bought it, using her dad's money, when she'd finally moved into her own apartment. It was a very expensive one, but Violet wouldn't have expected anything less from Dallas.

Across from her sat Dallas. In both of her hands she held her own mug, comforted by her sleeves pulled over her hands. The warmth soaked through, warming her cold fingers that were nibbled at by the autumn chill.

"So," Dallas says, pursing her lips momentarily. "You're telling me that you told Cal that you didn't want a relationship, even though you think you might?" She shifts in her seat, moving to sit on her feet.

"Yeah- no- I don't know," Violet huffs, blowing on the contents of her mug. "It's difficult because you remember what happened last time I was in a relationship." Opening up to Dallas was never difficult. They'd both been through so much that not talking about it would drive them mad, so they came to one another: the only one who would understand.

"Cal wouldn't do that to you. From what I remember of him, he's a nice guy." She takes a gulp of tea and brushes her hair behind her ear, a habit Violet didn't remember her ever having.

"I know he's a good guy." She sighs. Her eyes flicker away from Dallas to a photograph on the coffee table. A photo of her with her dad from last summer. Silently, Dallas leans forward and turns the photograph over so that the image was no longer visible.

She doesn't make eye contact, but she continues advising. "You can't let the past rule your future. If you did that, you'd end up like me," She says with a false smile and a short forced laugh that sounded terribly tragic.

Violet rests her head back, knowing Dallas wouldn't want her to probe into it any further than what she herself had displayed. "It's hard."

"If it wasn't hard, there would be nothing to strive for," Dallas remarks, setting her mug down on the table.

"So what are you suggesting I should do, because obviously you know." Violet runs her finger around the rim of the mug, looking down into the swirling tea. Sometimes she wished she were as clear headed as Dallas when it came to what to do next. Violet often found herself in a tangle of promises, but Dallas never did. She always knew exactly what to promise and what not to promise. It was a gift that Violet simply could never have and for that she was condemned to the mess of disappointment.

"First of all, does he know why you don't want a relationship with him? If not, tell him because I can promise you that you'll feel much better afterwards."

"Then what?"

"Then, give it a go and, if it doesn't work, you can say you tried. That's all you can ever do: try."

-

"Thank you," Violet murmurs as she holds Dallas in a hug, her head resting on her shoulder. She even smelt of the sun.

"Promise me you'll try?" Dallas asks her, knowing her weakness when it came to promises.

Violet laughs into her hair. "I promise," She says. "But you have to try too, ok?"

"Ok," She replies, withdrawing herself from the hug and folding her arms across her chest. "Text me later about the details to that party, yeah?"

"Will do. Thanks again, Dal."

"See you soon."

As Violet turns to leave, Dallas grabs her wrist and pulls her back. "I need to ask you to do something for me. Wait here," She says, holding up a finger for a minute before disappearing into her bedroom. She comes back with a single white envelope and holds it out to her.

"What is this?"

"Don't open it!" Dallas exclaims in panic as Violet's finger moves to the tab. She looks down at the name that was carefully printed on the front in blue ink. "Next time you see him, could you give the letter to him?"

"Of course."

"Maybe then he'll understand why I had to leave with no goodbye." And with her words she looked like a glass doll: so fragile. And so Violet made a silent, voluntary promise to try her hardest to get the letter to the boy she'd left behind almost six years ago because she owed it to her, but the first task on her list was to see Cal and somehow she just knew it was going to be the hardest thing she'd ever done.

-

704 words
sneaky peaks for the sequel to one breath in here as well as violet finally making the decision that she wants to be with cal!