Chapter 8 Halcyon

• ~ Violet ~
• “Do you wanna tell me what happened? Was it the movie that got you upset or was it me…?”
• “No, it’s definitely not you,” she said.
• “Phew, thank God,” he swiped a fake sweat away from his forehead. “Thought I smelled or something,”
• “No, it’s definitely not that,” she laughed. “You’ve been such a wonderful friend to me, Luke. I wouldn’t know how to make it in Austin without you,”
• “Well, you’re not so bad yourself, Miss Carvey,” Luke replied in his exaggerated, deep southern accent.
• Violet laughed again as that was always the case whenever he used this voice. She really was grateful to have him. After everything that happened to her, Violet became closed off and it was hard for her to trust new people. Luke was her best and only friend. He always knew just how to make her feel better. If she were ever going to trust other people again, it would have to be with Luke.
• “Hey, Luke,” she said.
• “Yeah?”
• “If I tell you this, do you promise not to tell anybody?”
• Luke narrowed his eyes and made a promise sign with his finger.
• “Cross my heart and hope to die,” he said.
• Violet took a deep breath and released a sigh.
• “So, that movie… it kinda reminded me of someone I once knew,”
• “Who?”
• “An ex,”
• “Oh,” Lucas tilted his head to the side and said, “That’s interesting,”
• “How come?”
• “In all the years that I’ve known you, you never once talked about your ex,”
• Lucas made a great point. They’d been friends for three years but she never spoke about anything related to her love life. Violet always avoided the topic or gave vague answers every time people asked her about it. She wasn’t comfortable with sharing the story, and it was still painful for her to remember him.
• “Yeah, well, it’s not a great story,” she sighed.
• “Why’d you guys break up?”
• Well, he’s a mafia lord, for one. We were having an argument and I got scared of him, and I shot him…
• “I wasn’t sure about him,” she said instead. “The nature of our relationship was… complicated,”
• “Complicated how?”
• “We started out as like… two people in a business arrangement. Love was never supposed to be involved. But then I don’t know how, I started falling for him, which I now realized was terribly stupid of me,” Violet stifled a dry laugh before continuing, “Anyway, we almost got married, but long story short, I found out that he’s been hiding a lot of secrets from me. I couldn’t trust him and I… ended things,”
• Lucas listened patiently as Violet tried her best to suppress her tears. She didn’t go into too many details, but it was still painful to admit these things.
• “Do you regret it?” he asked after a beat of silence.
• “Sometimes,”
• Most times.
• “Do you ever talk to him?”
• “Not since… we broke up,”
• “Do you want to talk to him?”
• Violet thought for a moment before answering, “No,”
• “Why not?” he asked.
• Because I know I’d fall for him all over again. He has that power over me. He still does.
• “Because… that chapter of my life is over, Luke,” she said. “I need to move on and be my own person…”
• Violet really didn’t want to cry, but she couldn’t stop the tears that were falling. Honestly, she thought about calling him or seeing him again. She replayed that fantasy in her head many times. What she would say to him or how they’d get back together. Those thoughts were very tempting, but they were also wrong.
• “…I know it’s gonna take some time, but it’s been three years already and I feel like I’m still in square one. Sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever get over him…”
• Lucas let out a sigh and pulled Violet into a hug. She then cried onto his shoulder and he stroked her hair gently. Violet couldn’t explain much, but Lucas understood. This ‘ex’ was a very important person in her life and she was having a hard time letting go of that.
• “Hey, listen, time heals everything,” he cooed her. “It took you three years to open up to me about him and hell, maybe it’ll take three more before you can talk about him without crying, but it doesn’t matter. It’s not a race. You can take your time about it,”
• Violet only cried harder after she heard Lucas’s words. They were such true words and it hit her in the feels.
• “Besides, I don’t care how long it takes, I’m always gonna be here for you,”
• Violet stopped crying instinctively and pulled away slightly. She looked up to see Lucas’s blue eyes boring into hers. His gaze was soft and gentle, and it made her feel understood.
• “Aw, Luke,” she said as she linked her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. “What did I do to deserve you?”
• “Oh, please,” Lucas stifled a laugh, acting all cool, but he let out a small smile, happy that she was hugging him back.
• Lucas and Violet hugged each other for a while as Violet steadied her breathing. She had stopped crying, but it still took her a moment to recover. Meanwhile, Lucas was getting comfortable. He delved his nose to the crook of her neck, smelling her rosy hair.
• “Hey!” Suddenly, Violet let out a gasp and it made Lucas pull away abruptly.
• “What?” he asked.
• “No, I… I could’ve sworn I’ve seen like a car or something,”
• Lucas turned his head from side to side, studying the dark area.
• “Where?”
• Violet pointed her finger to the empty forest.
• “Over there, just now… but it was gone,”
• “There’s no way!” Lucas stifled a laugh and waved his hand carelessly. “Nobody knows about this place,”
• “But I swear, I saw—”
• “Relax, it’s probably just in your head,” he cut her off and grabbed his beer. “Geez, maybe you’re a lot drunker than I thought, Miss Carvey,”
• Lucas was laughing away. He kicked his feet up on the dash, blasted the volume on the radio, and enjoyed his beer as he stared at the night sky. Violet tried to follow his lead and relax, but every so often, she found herself looking back to the dark forest, wondering if what she saw was real.
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• - - - - - To Be Continued - - - - -