Between Love and Hate

Best For Her

*Kane's POV*

As I lay here, listening to and feeling Violet's soft breathing against my chest, with my arms wrapped around her I feel...I don't even know how to describe it but I know I would like nothing more than to feel this way all the time.

I drift off again and then a little while later something lands on top of us as Stella says, "Hey, you two hungry?"

Violet groans and I pull the blanket down a little to uncover our heads and see that Stella has thrown a pillow at us. Violet scrunches her face up in the most adorable way possible before rolling over to face Stella and propping herself up on her elbow.

"I could eat. What were you thinking?"

"Literally anywhere with coffee," Stella replies.

Violet throws the pillow back at her and then says, "Sounds good to me," and goes to start getting up but I hold her down and place my hand on her bare hip, silently reminding her she's not wearing pants. She sinks back into me and I see her cheeks flush a little.

I feel her moving her feet around the foot of the bed, subtly attempting to locate her shorts. Stella sits up in bed and gives us a look.

"Y'all getting up or what?"

"Uh, yeah, in like 5 minutes. Just gonna, you know, wake up...a bit more," Violet says awkwardly.

Stella raises an eyebrow and says, "Alright weirdo. Whatever. I'm going to the bathroom." She gets up, slips on some shoes and then heads out.

As soon as the door closes, I fight a smirk and say, "Smooth."

Violet flops her head back and says, "Ugh, shut uuup," before sitting up and searching for her pants. She then slides them on and stands up out of the bed. She goes over to her closet and grabs some clothes and then gestures for me to turn around.

"Seriously Violet?" She nods her head and I just roll my eyes and then lie on my back staring at the ceiling until she says, "Okay, I'm done." I get up and pull my pants on as she makes the bed.

I sit down on the edge of the bed once she finishes and she says, "Hey, I just made that!" I grab her hand and drag her in between my legs and say, "How will I ever make it up to you?"

She places her hands on my shoulders, smirks and says, "Hm, I don't know."

"I think you'll come up with something," I tell her. Before she can reply, there's a knock at the door and Stella says, "Is everybody fully clothed?"

Violet rolls her eyes and says, "Yeah, Stella, you can come in," as she takes a couple steps away from me. Stella walks in and says, "So, where are we going?"

After eating breakfast, we return to the dorm room and Violet says, "As much as I do not want to, I really should go to my afternoon classes."

"Way to make me feel like a shitty student Vi," Stella says as she flops down on her bed.

"Sorry, I don't mean to, but I have to go," she says.

"I know, I'm kidding Vi," Stella says laughing as Violet grabs her backpack.

"I'll walk you," I tell her.

She gives me a strange look and then says, "Are you sure? You don't have-"

"I want to," I tell her. She meets my eyes and then just nods. She ties a plaid shirt around her waist and then walks towards the door as she says bye to Stella. I follow her and we walk slowly down the sidewalk.

"So, how much, exactly, does Stella know?"

"So, um, don't be mad, but she pretty much knows everything that we, you know, did together. I didn't mention anything about our conversation yesterday though, with the thing about your dad. Which, I'm still pretty confused about by the way."

"As long as she keeps her mouth shut, I'm not mad. And the only thing you need to know about my dad is that he needs to think we hate each other."

"But-"

"No buts. This is not open for discussion," The sentence comes out harsher than I had intended and I instantly feel bad about it. We walk for a few more minutes in awkward silence before reaching her class.

"So, this is my building," she says, turning to me and sticking her hand in her shorts pocket. I look at her and she looks at me. It's clear neither of us have any fucking clue what to do at this point.

Even ignoring the extremely complex set of circumstances around our...whatever one might call it, this would be a confusing situation for us. She was in one relationship her whole life and I've never had any kind of genuine connection to another person before. Violet is the only girl I've ever felt out of my element with.

"Yeah, uh, I have this - uh- I have a thing anyway. So I guess, I'll call you, or something?"

"I would like that. Bye Kane," she says and then heads into class. As I look around, I realize I have no clue where on campus we currently are as I was paying exactly zero attention to anything other than Violet during our walk here.

I have to use my phone to make it back to their dorm and when I get there, I find Stella out on the bench near my car. When she sees me walk up, she says, "Hey, you have a minute?"

"Sure," I reply and walk over to her.

"Look, I dunno what exactly is going on with your whole situation, but it's very obvious that she cares a lot more for you than she's willing to admit. And I haven't known her that long, but I do know that she is way too good to be hurt again."

"I know she is. I promise, I will always do what's best for her," I say, choosing my words carefully. I can't say that I won't ever hurt her because I know that at some point, she'll get hurt in one way or another, regardless of what decisions I make.

Stella just nods and says, "Good," and then walks away.

I get in my car and drive back to the frat house. When I walk in, I find Cole in the living room and he says, "I see you found somewhere else to sleep again."

"None of your business," I say and then head straight to my room. I swear these guys get more annoying by the day.