•flawed with benefits•

"Dallas?" Violet calls as she walks up the corridor looking for her best friend. She was tipsy, to say the least, but Dallas was in the front of her mind. She'd been missing for over an hour now and no one knew where she was. Hell, no one had even known she'd been here.

Some were already too drunk to even formulate an answer, so she left them and turned heel to seek out the elusive Dallas Edlen.

As she walked up the corridor, which led to the toilets, Cal was coming the other way. When he sees her, he smiles in greeting and slows to talk to her.

"I didn't know you were still here," He slurs, resting his hand against the wall to steady himself.

"I've been all over the place tonight, but I've lost Dallas. Do you have any idea where she might be?" Her fingers fiddle with the strap of her dress. She stops when she sees Cal watching her. "Cal?"

"Oh, sorry," He says in response, snapping back to reality. "I haven't seen her tonight." When she doesn't step away, he allows himself to look over her again. He'd missed her, undeniably. He'd missed being able to hold her like she was his and he wanted her to be his, but she never let things be so simple.

As if knowing exactly what he was thinking about, Violet tells him, "You know, I never wanted it to be like this."

"What?"

"It was supposed to be a simple fix for needs, but then... you caught feelings." She pulls her hand through her hair, her rings catching and pulling slightly.

"You're blaming this on me?" Cal frowns, his nose crinkling and his expression filling with hurt. Even through the alcohol, he couldn't be angry. It was just hurt that ached in his chest like a cage filled with just one too many birds, threatening to burst from their captivity out into the world, flying free.

Violet inhales sharply, not knowing if it was the drink in her system throwing her rationality out of the window or whether it was her subconscious wants driving her, and continues to explain herself like she should have done long ago. "I'm not blaming it on you because I did too. Turns out being friends with benefits isn't such a simple thing after all." She shrugs her shoulders slightly as she wears a sheepish smile across her oh-so familiar berry lips.

"Then why did you tell me to go on the date with Elora if it was going to make you upset?" He didn't understand. He didn't understand Violet, nor did he think he ever completely would. So maybe this chat was good for that: it was allowing them to say the things they never would have the chance to when stone-cold sober. It allowed him to peer through the window into her world for just one night, but it was a complex world not easily deciphered.

"Because I still want you to have a choice," Violet explains and then asks, "Did you bring her here tonight?"

"No," Cal admits.

Violet smiles softly. "Why not?"

"Because I knew you'd be here."

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