•flawed with benefits•

Violet sat on the balcony, knees pulled to her chest with a cigarette hanging between her naked lips. After waking up next to Cal for the second time, she'd dragged herself to the bathroom and scrubbed last night's make up from her face.

Her fingers, with their red chipped nail polish, take the cigarette, releasing the smoke to the open air. It curled up and up, flowing with the breeze as it relished in its freedom. White doves with the power to kill. Innocence turned into a killer.

Her foot tapped against the wooden base of the chair, wondering just how she could follow the smoke.

Her head turned when Cal came out onto the balcony with a mug of coffee in his hand. "Oh, I thought you'd left," He said, sitting in the chair beside her. Without a worry in mind of her opinion, he watched her take a drag on her cigarette before stubbing it out.

"No, I woke up, washed my face and then felt the craving." She tilted her head to look at him. "I wanted to stay to apologise for last night."

"You're allowed to see other guys, Violet, there's no strings remember?" He joked, taking a sip of his coffee. Even as he sipped, he didn't take his eyes off her. He liked it when she wore no make-up. It left less to figure out, but her being beautiful was a bonus.

"Oh, don't worry I remember," She grinned, dropping her knees from her chest. Her bare feet slap onto the floor. "I was talking about you having to ditch your friends to drag me home." Now her knees weren't at her chest, Cal could clearly see that she was wearing one of his shirts. It was big on her; almost like a dress. There was something about seeing her in his clothes that made his chest tighten. She played with the hem, pulling it between her fingertips.

"That's okay," He replied. "I couldn't leave you stranded on the street when you were drunk. We were done eating anyway."

"Still," She said, her tongue darted across her bottom lip as she paused. "I feel like I need to make it up to you."

"Honestly, it's fine." He placed his mug on the table between them.

"Shut up and let me take you out for food, idiot," She shouted, her voice covering his protests. "There's a cute café I've been dying to go into for ages, but no one else would go with me. Just let me use you as an excuse to go, okay?" She chuckled and leant over to steal his coffee, taking a sip before he could stop her. "Don't worry, I'll buy you coffee."

"Alright, I'll come for food," He said. Then he glanced at the discarded cigarette, knowing that she only smoked when she was stressed, and wondered what was on her mind. But asking now would be wrong timing; she was in a good mood and that needed to be savored.

"Great," She said and placed the mug on the table. "I'll be back in thirty." She jumped to her feet and left him sat on the balcony just wondering what he'd gotten himself into with her, because it wasn't anything simple.

-

Violet knocked her knuckles on the door and sunk her hands into her pockets as she waited for Cal to appear on the other side. Moments later, the door swung open and Cal stepped out.

He took in her appearance like he hadn't seen her in months. The first thing he noticed was that she still wore his shirt. It was now tucked into her jeans and partially hidden beneath a layer of leather jacket, but he still felt a warmth in knowing it was there.

She glanced down, noticing he wore no shoes. With a sigh she said, "Get some shoes on, idiot, we've got a walk to get to the café."

"You want me to walk? Why can't we just drive?" He grumbled, walking back into his apartment for any shoes he could find.

Violet leant on the door frame. "Because a breath of fresh air is good for you."

"Says the girl who just smoked first thing in the morning."

"Shut your mouth and hurry up or I'm going without you, or even worse I'll go with Harry instead." She shifted on her feet, huffing heavily when Cal finally walks over to her. "Finally."

He rolled his eyes at her, pulling the door shut behind them. "What do you mean 'finally'? I literally took like two minutes. You're just impatient and hung over," He said, his infamous loud voice rising and echoing around the corridor as they walked towards the lift.

She elbowed him, not quite hitting his ribs due to the height difference. "Hey, you know I don't get hung over. Don't try and make it sound like I do!" She exclaimed and wrapped her arm around his back, her fingers dipping beneath his shirt to softly touch his skin. "I've never had a hang over in my life."

"That's a lie and you know it. Remember New Years?" He laughed, trying to ignore the feeling of her icy fingers on him as he, somewhat casually, draped his arm across her shoulders as they entered the lift.

"That doesn't count, you and Simon made me drink all those because you thought it was funny. Oh God, the videos of that night make me pray for the ground beneath me to open up and swallow me whole." She brushed her free hand through her hair. "Anyway, I don't remember most of it so I don't count it."

"Just because you don't remember it, doesn't mean it never happened," He laughed as the doors closed before them. "That's not how it works."

"You're just asking for me to ditch you for Harry now." Her fingers dig into his side. Not forcefully, but just letting him know that she wouldn't leave him. Not now they'd come so far.

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