Run, Girl (If You Can)

Violet had her romantic gesture all planned out and ready to go. Noah would be coming over in less than an hour and she hoped he would be able to feel the depth of her love and appreciation for him.

Nobody had been more supportive of her as she went through the excruciating process of trying to heal her knee. Physical therapy could be both brutal and frustrating to the point of despair. Some days, she felt like she would never be able to dance again.

Noah was the one who held her and told her that everything would be alright each time that happened. Ever since they were young, he had been able to look at her problems rationally and help her calm down. His perspective was helpful but so was his presence.

He had always been such an easy-going person that even being around him was relaxing. He was the perfect match for his sometimes high-strung best friend.

Girlfriend. Violet was his girlfriend now. Her thinking needed to shift or this relationship was never going to get anywhere. And she wanted it to, she really did! She wanted to spend the rest of her life with Noah, whatever that might entail.

When the elevator door opened, she took a deep breath and steeled herself for the romantic evening ahead. Right up until she saw her little brother.

"Nate! What are you doing here?" she coughed, quickly blowing out all of the candles she had lit and turning on the lights.

He walked toward her and dramatically slumped over onto her neck. "Everybody in the world has abandoned me the one time I'm not working through dinner. You won't kick your favorite brother out, will you Vi?"

Nathan craned his neck to look up at her with his best puppy dog pout. It had gotten him out of many sticky situations over the years because it was too cute. She really couldn't kick him out when he was guilting her like this but in this moment, he was definitely her LEAST favorite brother.

"Fine," she sighed. So much for a romantic evening. "Get off already, you're crushing me."

He acquiesced immediately with a bright smile since he got what he wanted. Violet did he best to hold back a scowl. He had obviously borrowed the spare elevator key she left with her parents in case of emergencies. Oh, why couldn't he have called ahead?

Even worse than interrupting things with Noah, Nathan was a culinary student. No doubt he was going to mock her attempts at cooking a fancy meal due to his superior experience.

She got up in his face and threateningly wagged her finger at him. "I made dinner tonight and if you say a single word about how bad it is in front of Noah, you're never stepping foot in this apartment again. Got it?"

Nathan rolled his eyes. "I knew he would be coming over since the two of you are even more like Velcro than usual lately. I won't say anything but make no promises about not pulling weird faces at you behind his back."

Violet supposed that was the best offer she was going to get. She accepted before screaming inwardly in mortification. Even if he didn't nitpick about the food, he would realize he had interrupted what was meant to be romantic because of her menu choices.

After looking up 'best date night recipes' online, she ended up making balsamic flank steak with potatoes and a strawberry mousse cake that took most of the day to finish. Nathan had made one before for one of his dessert classes and had complained about the number of steps and wait times involved.

Noah might think it was merely a fluffy chocolate cake imbedded with berries but Nathan would know the hours of effort that had gone into it. If she didn't die of embarrassment by the end of the meal it would be a miracle.

The next time the elevator door opened, Violet rushed over and threw her arms around her boyfriend so she could tell him about the change of plans without Nathan overhearing.

"I'm so sorry, Noah! Nate showed up out of the blue and guilt tripped me into hanging out with us tonight," she whispered. "I promise I'll make it up to you."

He tightened his arms around her and laughed a little. "I feel like your brothers crash our dates way too often."

This was the first time it had happened! What was he thinking of? Oh. That day he asked her to go with him to Coney Island but Kaleb and Nathan decided to tag along. That was before she had even started going out with Jeremy though…had he been trying to woo her then?

Violet felt pretty stupid for not noticing it. Noah totally had been, even going so far as paying for her half of their usual dinners.

He had been trying to work up the courage to tell her how he felt even before the whole Jeremy mess happened. Her heart ached at the thought. Noah loved her so much and he had been willing to back away so she would be happy.

Looking back, she was confident that her relationship with Jeremy would have fallen apart eventually even if he hadn't asked her to make a choice between him and Noah. Their personalities and goals in life were too different.

If Noah hadn't confessed and had stuck to his original plan of backing away until he could accept her relationship with another man, things would have gone back to the way they used to be as soon as they broke up. Violet never would have been any the wiser.

Would he have ever gathered the courage to try and pursue a romantic relationship with her again? Or would they have spent the rest of their lives in an awkward cycle of hanging out as best friends until she got into an ill-fated relationship that would never work out until the day they died?

Violet hadn't realized it earlier but after a couple months of dating Noah it became clear that he had subconsciously set the bar for her relationsh.i.p.s. She had wanted romance, yes, but she had also wanted someone who supported her and who she felt comfortable with. Someone she could completely be herself around.

The only person who had ever fit all of those criteria was Noah and she had been too caught up in the notion of romance to notice.

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