•flawed with benefits•

Violet was more than happy when her cousin showed up at her flat the following day. Katie hadn't been to visit in more than three months and Violet had missed her greatly. When they were together, it was hell for any in their path. They liked to play, make fun and to one up one another in a number of ways. So when Violet told Katie about her short lived friends with benefits with Cal, Katie was pissed.

"No way," Katie groaned, lying back on the hardwood floor. "That was my goal and you just beat me to it."

"Sorry, but things happen when you live next door to three hot guys," Violet shrugged in between blowing air on her wet nails. "Besides, we were going to have sex eventually. It was just a matter of time, honestly."

"Still." She dragged out the word, letting it roll of her tongue in exaggeration. "Wait, so you're not doing it anymore?"

"Nope, we called it off today."

"So you had it and then you just threw it away? For fucks sake, Vi! You're dumber than I thought."

"Why?" Violet frowned. "It was just sex, you can get that anywhere these days."

"Yeah, but it was literally like you just walked next door and you'd have your needs sorted out. Then, when you were done, you could just come back here. Plus, it's just like having a boyfriend but without the attachments." Katie explained, sitting up and sighing. "Forget about it because tonight is going to be too much fun."

"Calm down, Kate," Violet hummed in the tone that radiated annoyance. "You sound like you haven't ever been to a party before."

"This one's different," She mused. "I have a good feeling about tonight."

-

Violet looped her arm through Kate's as they approached the house, using her other hand to pull the tight, dark purple skirt of her dress down. Kate had laughed when she'd pulled it out of the wardrobe and joked that it left hardly anything to the imagination. With those words, Violet's mind was made up. She put it on straight away.

It wasn't the turning heads or the prying eyes that made her regret it, it was the cold feeling that crept up her legs and ran up her spine as the breeze hit her.

Kate looked over to her, a grin on her pink lips. "We're not even inside and you're already centre of attention, Vi, just how you like it, huh?"

"Yeah," She replied half heartedly as she pulled open the door. There was something in the air that made her just want to forget.

They were barely in the door when they split apart from one another: Kate rushed to reunite with everyone and Violet searched for a drink to ease the rising nerves. Upon finding one, she downed a quarter at once before heading off to seek out Kate again.

As she walked into the crowd towards where she could see Kate's striking red dress, she felt as if she were drowning. The dancing bodies like waves crashing all around her as she quickened her pace, pushing through with a heavy pressure on her chest. Violet took in a deep breath as she exited the ocean of crowd and plastered a smile onto her iconic lips as she approached the group, each of them smiling and greeting her back.

Then her eyes fell onto Cal. He stood at the edge of the group and was being as loud as usual, but that wasn't what caught her attention. A silent breath left her as she saw him with his arm wrapped around the waist of Elora. Her fingers involuntarily clenched around the beer bottle, but she said nothing.

Instead, she went over to talk to Harry. He smiled when he saw her and pulled her into a hug. "We thought you'd run off," He said, having to raise his voice over the music.

"I'd never run," She replied with a laugh as she pulled back from the hug. Violet took another gulp of her drink as she turned back to Kate. "Kate, fancy coming for a dance?"

"I thought you'd never ask," She called over the music and took the bottle from Violet's hand, shoving both of them onto a nearby table. Hand in hand, they weaved through the crowd to become one with the ocean of dance.

-

Cal, upon the end of the friends with benefits, decided to invite Elora to the party in hopes of a little attention. He was getting attention, as he'd hoped. Elora hung off him, laughed at every single one of his jokes and smiled with her eyes.

But even that couldn't force his eyes off Violet as she danced, her hips swinging as she moved against a guy she'd found herself wrapped up with. His hands were on her hips, her eyes were closed as she moved. The way she bit her lip before turning to lock lips with the stranger made Cal turn away back to Elora, who had been chattering away as if nothing was flawed at all.

In that moment, everything overcame him as he ducked down and pressed his lips to Elora's. It was a sweet kiss, not rough or passionate. Just a kiss. A quick one too. As he drew back, Elora looked at him as if he'd just given her the world. He would have seen it if he hadn't looked over to Violet straight away to find her looking right back at him, hand on the stranger's chest, with a sour expression on her face.

-