How It Should Be

"Mark?" Violet dropped her pencil in shock. "What the hell?"

"Hey, Vio, what's up?" Violet felt her mouth drop open and she spluttered silently as she searched for words.

"Not much. I hate my brother-"

"Ryan? What else is new?" Mark chuckled.

"And yeah. What's up with you, Mark? Why are you calling me?"

"Oh, well saw you at Christmas and you popped into my head the other day and I just wanted to see what was up with you. You're lucky you got out of Punxatawney. I think I'm lucky too, to be out of that shit-hole. From what Greg tells me every one is shit crazy." Mark chuckled and Violet sighed.

"Fuck, they were shit crazy when we lived there. Jesus fucking Christ it was like hell and a hand basket sneaking out with all the police and the town curfew. What a crock load of shit." Violet barely realized that slipping into her old high-school self was the easiest thing she'd done in a while. Things were so comfortable with Mark. It was like talking to Matt, even. Mark knew things about her Matt didn't even know.

"Shit! Remember when we sneaked out and had to jump into the Morvay's bushes and then Mrs. Morvs came out and was like 'Zoe isn't home, now please get off my property before I tell officer Ronan.'"

"Oh fuck, one of the best nights we had. That was when you and I sneaked away from everybody and got on David Thompson's hammock and like made out for two hours until David Janoff found us. Shit, we were such miscreants."

"I prefer the term horny neardowells. Makes us sound trashier. We didn't have an once of class in those days." Mark joked. Violet felt a very large smile form on her face. It had been a long time since she'd thought about her time with Mark and it felt good to think back on all the fun times they had.

"No, no, no. I was classy, you were trashy. That's why people couldn't believe I was dating you."

"No, it was very believable that you were dating me. I was the best goalie in the freaking state and you loved that."

"True." Violet smiled. Mark had been number one in the state and when she introduced him to her family they all had been very impressed. She was sure Mark was the only boyfriend her family had ever been impressed with. And shit, she was dating Evgeni Malkin now.

"Anyway, Vio, I'm going to be in the Burgh next week for work, can I stay with you? Hell of a lot easier than a hotel." Not thinking about what kind of consequences it would bring Violet agreed happily and made plans with Mark for the next twenty minutes.

"Okay, miss you tons, bye!" Violet said into her phone as she hung up. Erin at that moment was walking in with papers for Violet and raised her eyebrows.

"Evgeni?" She asked and Violet pocketed her cell.

"No."

"Matt?"

"No." Violet said simply accepting the papers Erin held out to her. Erin furrowed her eyebrows now.

"Then who was it that you miss tons? We both know it's no one you're related to."

"It was Mark."

"Mark who?"

"Mark Ghwere."

"Who? Violet Marie Walsh tell me you are not cheating on Evgeni!"

"I'm not cheating on Evgeni! Mark is just a friend, we haven't slept together in years!" Violet said nonchalantly and began to shuffle through the new papers.

"Violet, stop! Explain!" Violet rolled her eyes at Erin.

"Mark and I dated in high school. It's been years since I've seen him let alone done anything sexual with him. Our feelings are long gone. Besides, that relationship was so bad for the two of us that we would never do it again. He's coming to visit next week and we were just talking about that. C'mon, in high school didn't you have a best friend? He was mine...he just happened to be my boyfriend as well."

Erin looked at Violet incredulously.

"Swear to me, on your life, that you have no feelings for this guy."

"Really Erin? Come on this is crazy, I would never cheat on Evgeni."

"Violet! Do it! Just so I feel better."

"Fine. I swear-"

"On your life!"

"I swear on my life I don 't have any feelings for Mark Ghwere." Violet rolled her eyes as Erin nodded satisfied.

"Good. If you ever cheat on Evgeni I will give you hell." Erin smiled at the end of this sentence and flounced away leaving Violet calling her names to her back.

******************************************************
Geno would be getting home from the road trip tomorrow and his parents would be arriving the day after that. Violet would have one day -one- for herself and Geno and was planning taking off of work, and life basically, to spend it with him.

As she went through her papers making sure that she could do this and there wasn't anything pressing she came across the paper she had scribbled all the details of Mark's stay on. Matthew entered the kitchen precisely then and Violet took that as an opportunity to tell him.

"Matty? Mark is going to come stay with us for a week soon, okay?" Violet didn't look up from the table but she heard Matt slam the fridge and could feel his eyes burning into the back of her head.

"Mark? Mark Ghwere?" Violet affirmed this and waited for Matt's lecture or Matt's yelling, or Matt's extreme anger, but it never came. Instead she heard the sounds of the fridge opening again and Matt rummaging around inside of it. "Okay, cool."

Taken aback by this, Violet sat stunned, but chose not to say anything else or question the matter. Instead, she moved on to tell him about her plan for the day with Evgeni. Before she even "left Geno's house" so-to-speak Matthew guessed it.

"You're taking him to the zoo and aquarium again, aren't you?"

"How did you know?!"

"Because you're you! Any excuse to sit and stare at sharks for god only knows how long you will take. And since you're sleeping with him he'll put up with it and pretend he thinks it's cute. Like Henry. Henry completely humored your obsession with sharks solely because you would have great sex afterwords."

Violet shrugged. "Hell, I don't care if he doesn't like the zoo. If he can sit and watch me watch the sharks he deserves a mind blowing blow job." Violet beamed at Matt as he gagged.

"And let me guess...after you will go out to dinner and then to a movie where you'll make out with him instead of watching and then go home and have the sex."

Violet stared at Matthew. "Stop knowing me so well."

"I know where you sleep."

"And sometime in there we'll throw in some vodka and chocolate covered strawberries, but yes, you mostly guessed my plan."

"Predictable, predictable. Gosh, Vi, so predictable."

"Maybe Julie should take you to the zoo. You don't look like you get enough head." Violet nodded at Matt's crotch. Matt slammed down his soda on the counter.

"That's it!" Violet squealed and leaped from the chair, sprinting into the living room where Matt proceeded to tickle her until she cried. Oh, roommates.