Run, Girl (If You Can)

After Violet gave Noah a key to her apartment, they sat around playing games, talking, and watching movies like usual until it was time for him to go home. She lay in bed with Blaze on her stomach once he was gone, wondering why things weren't getting any better with their relationship.

Noah was her most cherished person so why was this so difficult? More than anything she wished she could speak to her grandpa or even the grandma she had never met.

They knew how to transition from lifelong best friends to lovers. They might have some good advice. Violet could really use some advice right now. Could she talk to her mother about this? Would Keeley Hale understand what she was feeling?

It wouldn't hurt to ask. Her mother was easier to get a hold of while she was doing literature review research than when she was locked away in her lab. There was a decent chance Violet would be able to stop by her office during lunchtime.

She stopped staring at the ceiling and attempted to close her eyes and sleep. Hopefully her mother would be able to help.

Things felt too similar to when they were best friends. Violet knew Noah wasn't changing their dynamic too much because he didn't want to freak her out, which she appreciated, but at the same time it was preventing romance from blossoming properly. They didn't even go out on Valentine's Day.

Did she need to act first by orchestrating some extravagant romantic gesture? Would that even do anything to help her situation? At the very least it would make Noah happy.

Her mom and dad had the most solid relationship of anyone she knew. Even if Keeley wouldn't understand her conflicted feelings, she should know a thing or two about romantic gestures men liked. With that comforting thought, Violet was finally able to drift off to sleep.

===

Keeley diligently continued her search through various online scientific journals. If only she were a faster reader! She had been at this for weeks and still didn't have enough information to write her proposal.

There was definitely enough research out there to at least attempt what she was interested in but wading through it was proving frustrating. At times like this she wished she could download information straight into her brain.

Scientists 50 or 60 years from now might be able to get away with that based on how much technology had advanced already. She had been born too soon. Research had to commence the old fashioned way.

At least everything was available online now. When she first went off to college, not everything had been digitized yet. A lot of the time during her undergrad she had to sift through physical research journals, hoping to find one tiny useful article. Using a search bar was much easier.

Her phone had been on airplane mode so when the secretary buzzed her office saying she had a visitor, Keeley was surprised. The only person who ever visited her at work was Aaron and that didn't happen terribly often because he was busy having business lunches most of the time.

"Send them back," she requested.

A moment later, her daughter appeared in the doorway. "Hi Mom."

Violet had never visited her lab before so she was just about the last person Keeley expected to see. Nevertheless, she held her arms out and greeted her with a warm hug. It had been strange not having her around the house lately, though she was glad that her twenty-five year old daughter had finally grown up enough to move out.

"Vi! What a pleasant surprise. What can I do for you?"

Her composure discreetly crumbled after the hug. Keeley knew that look. That was the 'I need my mom' look. She gestured for Violet to sit and the moment she did, words spewed forth in a rush. She must have been holding this in for a while.

"Mom, it's been months and I'm still not IN love with Noah. I don't know what to do because I love him so much and can't bear not to have him in my life but things are still awkward and I don't know why I'm so stuck!

"It isn't like he's ugly; he's actually really handsome but I still feel so awkward whenever we kiss. Noah says he can wait for me forever but that isn't fair to him and I don't want to hurt his feelings by being wishy-washy.

"Our relationship hardly feels like it has changed at all aside from some more cuddling and kissing and I don't know whether that's a good thing or not. I really wish I could talk to grandpa about how to transition from childhood friends to lovers but I can't and I'm so confused."

At the end of her little speech, Violet seemed to wilt against the back of her chair. How long had all of this been festering? Having it out exhausted her but there was also a tiny hint of relief on her face that someone knew how she had been struggling.

Keeley smiled sympathetically. Her parents had fallen in love with each other around the same time in high school so even if he was alive, Robert wouldn't be much help. Ironically, she understood what Violet was feeling better than he would have.

Back when she and Aaron were growing closer following Jennica and Cameron's wedding, she felt like she was using him too. He was so in love with her and she had only wanted to leave.

Even once she decided to stay after getting pregnant, their entire relationship felt like she was going through the motions. She used to feel really guilty about not being in love with Aaron when he was so obviously smitten with her.

You couldn't simply make yourself fall in love with someone you were in a relationship with. That happened naturally on its own as you spent time together. Or it didn't at all.

Keeley didn't think that would be a problem with Violet. Her feelings for Noah, as confused as they were, were already stronger than the ones she had for Aaron when they were friends back in 2013. Their best-friend relationship was unshakeable.

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