Dance with a Devil

Violet could not get her mind off the kiss.

No matter how hard she tried, it just would pop up into her mind and she would suddenly feel like she's kissing him again. She groaned to herself and hit herself on the forehead, exclaiming, "Stop it, Violet! That was a sinful kiss! Stop thinking about it!"

That didn't work.

She didn't go to his place for the next couple of days, even though she had been there every single day since Garrett had been gone. She hoped that John would just forget about it and after a few days, they could go back to normal, but John actually tried calling her.

It was unusual but he called quite often–once in the morning and once at night. Violet got so annoyed that she ended up turning her phone off altogether. She was really angry at him, but even more angry at herself.

She liked the kiss. She couldn't stop thinking about it and it was eating at her. She hated herself for that.

It was Monday morning and Garrett was coming home on Tuesday, so Violet was cleaning around the house. She wanted everything to look perfect to welcome him home. Oh, how she missed him. She was going to give him the biggest welcoming a girl could ever offer her boyfriend.

She also invited the guys (and Cecilia) over later for lunch because ever since her day with Cecilia, she's been missing her friends. They all called and texted but it wasn't the same as seeing them in person. They all always hung out every weekend–and since Violet's been on John duty for so long, she hasn't been able to join them.

The doorbell rang and Violet bounced to get it. When she opened the door, she was greeted with a chorus oh hellos by her friends.

"Hi, guys!" she exclaimed, excitedly. She hugged each and every on of them: Tim, Pat, Kennedy, Jared, Austin, Cecilia, Eric, and Matt.

"Wait," Eric said, before she went to hug him. "I don't recognize you..."

Violet rolled her eyes and playfully smacked him. He laughed and pulled the girl into a tight hug.

"How've you guys been?" Violet asked, closing the door. They were all already settled in the living room.

"Great," Kennedy replied by default.

"We could be better," Jared shrugged.

"Well, I'm perfect," Austin grinned, throwing an arm over his girlfriend.

"Me too," Eric said, winking.

Violet rolled her eyes and got out the snacks. Tim turned the TV on just for mindless background noise and they all started talking amongst them.

"Okay, the real question," Austin said, leaning forward, "is you, Miss Vi. You fell off the earth."

"Yes, I did," she nodded, sitting down on the coffee table in front of them, "but earth's gravitational pull brought me back."

Austin and Cecilia laughed, rolling their eyes.

"Seriously though, O'Callaghan's been keeping you busy?" Austin winked. Cecilia slapped him on the arm.

"Garrett is one of your best friends, Gibbs," Cecilia scolded.

"Hey, nothing like some meaningless–"

"Okay!" Violet exclaimed, standing, moving over to Tim, Pat, and Jared to change conversations, because Austin was making her extremely uncomfortable.

"What are you guys talking about?" she asked.

"Baseball," Tim replied.

"Boring!" Violet chuckled, standing up.

But that was the usual. Violet couldn't help but feel a little cheesy as she stared around at her friends. She couldn't believe how much times she spent with John and how little time she spent with the people who made living in Arizona really worth it.

She needed to sort out her priorities.

The doorbell rang again and Violet furrowed her eyebrows. Tim answered to her confused look, "Trey said he's coming with some of those delicious cupcakes from that one bakery that we just discovered...what was it called? Sully's Bakery?"

Eric went to go open the door and Violet went into the kitchen to get some more snacks. There was a silence in the living room, suddenly, and Violet came back, holding a giant bowl full of Chex Mix and she started, "What just happened? Did Darth Vader come in or–" she stopped herself.

"Hi," John said, stepping inside, giving a small wave to his friends. His eyes immediately found Violet's and he said, "I need to talk to you."

All eyes suddenly went to Violet and she stared at him, completely dumbfounded.

"Oh, okay..." she nodded, setting the bowl down.

John followed her into Violet and Garrett's room and she closed the door behind her. She stared up at him like she was afraid of him, for some reason. She didn't expect him to show up at her apartment.

"You're here," Violet said, still awestruck by this.

"I'm here to apologize," John said. "Violet, that kiss–I'm so sorry, okay?"

"John..." Violet sighed.

"It was uncalled for, I know," he said, a little angrily, "and I am sorry about that. It just–it came out..."

"Why?"

John sighed, plopping down on the bed. He closed his eyes for a second, but when he opened them again, he looked up at Violet.

"You're the only person who's ever gave a fuck, Vi. And it's not because you want to sleep with me or be with me–you actually care," John stood up again. "You're the only person..."

Violet shook her head. "I'm not the only person, John. There's a room full of people out there," she jerked her thumb behind her, "who care about you just as much as me."

"You're the only person who's doing this much about it," John retorted.

"Why are we turning this into an argument?" Violet rolled her eyes. John smirked and Violet chuckled.

"Okay," Violet said. "I was so mad at you that if I saw you again, I probably would have punched you in the face and broken your ridiculously perfect nose, but you're apologizing and that's the sweetest thing a person in your situation could ever do."

John rolled his eyes, but he turned serious for a moment.

"I really need you, Violet."

It was the way he spoke those words that really affected Violet. He sounded hurt and hopeful at the same time. Like he really couldn't do anything without her and that with her, he was becoming a better person.

Violet smiled at him and instinctively touched his arm.

"I'm always here for you, John."

They were staring into each other's eyes longer than Violet had realized. She thought they were going to kiss again but she broke their eye contact and John stepped back, clearing his throat.

"Let's just forget that it didn't happen, okay?" Violet suggested. "The kiss, I mean."

John nodded his head.

"Okay," Violet said. She smiled at him and turned around to open the door.

"Violet?" John stopped her. She turned around. "I was thinking a lot about what you said earlier, about Sophie's funeral..."

"Oh, yeah?" Violet asked, interested.

"I think I'm going to go..."

Violet furrowed her eyebrows. "I thought you weren't 'allowed'?"

"I'm not five," John repeated her words.

Violet smiled. "Well, good for you, John!"

"I, uh," John continued. "I was wondering if you would want to come with me? It's in a couple of weeks so you don't have to give me an answer yet, but I would appreciate it if you came with me..."

She stared. "You want me to go with you to crash your cousin's funeral?"

John nodded his head. "I think you'll be able to worm your way into my mother's heart and convince her to let us stay. You...have that charm."

Violet rolled her eyes. "Um...yeah," she nodded, smiling at him. "Sure, John. I'll go with you. But only if you pick me up at eight or whenever..."

John let out a chuckle at her sad attempt at making a joke. Violet only beamed.

"And now I'm leaving..." John went to open the door.

"You are? No! Don't go! You've come so far. Please stay!" Violet tried her best at the puppy eyes but John only rolled his eyes and opened the door.

"You can only do so much in one day, Violet," he said, softly.

Everyone in the living room shut up immediately and watched John swift past them and then out the door. Eric called out a goodbye but John didn't seem to hear. Violet trailed behind and closed the front door after him. When she turned around, she was met with their stares.

"Um," Tim spoke. "What was that?"

"That was John," Violet replied.

"Really?!" Tim exclaimed, sarcastically. "I mean, what were you talking about?"

"Um," Violet raced through her mind to pick out something to say, because if she told them about the kiss, both she and John would have been murdered. "His cousin passed away just over the summer and he wants me to go to the funeral."

"John's cousin passed away?" Pat said, awed. "I had no idea..."

"Me neither," Eric said.

Everyone else agreed.

Tim stood up and suddenly pulled Violet into a hug.

"Oh," she said, surprised. "Hi, Tim.'

Tim pulled away and said, "You got my boy out his house. You're my hero, Violet Casey."

"Oh, my God," Violet rolled her eyes, already knowing what was coming next. She started walking away into the kitchen just as everyone started to sing My Hero by the Foo Fighters. She threw towels at them to make them stop but they only laughed and continued anyway, making her blush red like a tomato.

Violet smiled, turning away from all her friends. John overcame his fear and drove all the way to her apartment just to apologize and then, he invited her to a funeral that he plans on crashing because he wasn't invited.

So many good things were happening in one day after a little mistake that could've been the end of something really good. John was really improving and Violet couldn't help but be so excited about it. John was becoming a better person and not a beast like his neighbor said.

But the one thing that Violet still couldn't get her mind off of? The kiss.

She touched her lips, as if she was feeling his lips on them again, and she closed her eyes. His image popping up again and feeling that weird sensation flow through her body as they kissed. She never felt that with Garrett, but she never felt anything the same for Garrett and John. They were both different.

"Vi?" Cecilia broke out her of her thoughts. Violet opened her eyes and looked at her best friend.

"We're done singing now," she laughed. "You can come back."

Violet let out a nervous chuckle, hoping that Cecilia couldn't figure out what she was thinking about, and she rolled her eyes.

"Thank God."