Page 29 of Twisted Violet

And I don’t want to run from it anymore.

That evening,I wander into the kitchen when I smell something rich and buttery.

Rome glances up from the stove, but he doesn’t comment on me being there.

He doesn’t acknowledge the fact that I’ve been hiding for days.

He just nods toward the kitchen island.

“You want a plate?”

I nod.

And when he sets it in front of me, I thank him and take a seat.

Niko’s already sitting next to me. His legs are stretched out, and he’s flipping through a worn paperback with one hand, while nursing a mug of black coffee with his other. He doesn’t look up, but I feel him shift slightly, like he knows I’m here but doesn’t want to scare me off by acknowledging it.

Dallas appears ten minutes later. He drops a bag of candy on the counter and slides it silently toward me.

Watermelon sour strips.

My favorite.

I open the bag, rip off a piece, and slip it into my mouth.

Dallas fights a smile as he takes a seat beside me.

No one asks what changed.

No one asks why I finally came out.

They just let me sit.

Quiet. Awkward. Here.

And somehow… that’s enough.

TEN

ROME

Violet fallsasleep on the couch again.

She does that a lot now.

Stays up too late watching k-dramas on low volume, curled up under the same throw blanket with Ollie tucked at her side.

I was coming out of my room for water. Now I’m stuck, frozen halfway down the hall, staring like a creep at the woman passed out in our living room.

She’s wearing one of Dallas’s hoodies, oversized and faded, with the sleeves pulled over her hands. One leg's draped off the couch, and her face is half-buried in a pillow that she must’ve brought out from her room.

She looks peaceful. Like she’s finally letting herself breathe.

Ollie lifts his head from the floor when he notices me, ears twitching like he’s silently judging me for staring.

Don’t worry, Bud, I’m judging me, too.

Violet shifts in her sleep, and the blanket draped over her slips, slidingdown to expose the pair of light blue sleep shorts she’s wearing that do nothing to help the situation. I exhale through my nose, telling myself not to be weird about it. Just pull the blanket back up and walk away.