haze / afi

part 58. advice

a few days pass. a few days more than violet had originally planned to stay away from ashton for. the more days that passed, the worse she started to feel about how long she'd kept ashton waiting. she hasn't texted, hasn't called. why does her mind have to complicate things?

getting woken up by the feeling of something wet on her cheek, she wipes her face. that same wet feeling returning moments later. she groans, squinting her eyes open to be met with the adorable face of calum's dog, duke.

"morning to you too." she laughs, petting his head softly.

"thought i'd send him in to wake you up," calum says from the doorway, looking into the guest room he let violet stay in for the past few nights. "you looked too peaceful, i'd feel bad if it had been me."

violet shuffles herself, sitting up in bed. one of calum's old shirts on her body, her sweatpants that she probably should've changed by now, let's not talk about that, and her newly cut and dyed hair. things still felt strange. the tired expression on her face telling a clear story that things are still bothering her.

"ashton called not long ago," calum tells her, she sighs, fiddling with the blankets in front of her. "he just said he misses you, and that he isn't himself without you."

"i'm not myself without him," she turns to duke, allowing him to climb into her lap. giving violet something to do while talking. "i know i'm not handling things in the best way, but it's almost been a week, i'm being stupid. i lo— care about him, a lot, and yet i'm acting like this."

her eyes widen, just about covering up what almost slipped out. she can't say that yet. calum walks inside, sitting down on the bed in front of her. again, trying his best to be a caring friend while violet needs it.

"i think you should do what luke talked about yesterday," he says. "get those flowers for ashton, talk to michael about things if you think he can help, and go home, take a shower, get a good nights sleep. then you can see ash tomorrow, talk things out with him."

"you think michael will be able to give me advice?" she asks.

"yea, definitely," calum nods. "he's been in a relationship the longest out of all of us so he's the best person to talk to."

"okay," she takes a breath. "can you call him for me? ask him to come over?"

"absolutely," calum agrees. "i'll go do that while you get yourself up."

he leaves the room, letting violet have some more time by herself before having to think about leaving...

*    *    *

"you don't think ashton will happen to come here while we're here, do you?" violet asks michael as she takes a small sip of her coffee.

"i texted him earlier," michael explains, violet seeming confused. "i checked before we came here. the closest he'll be is the beach."

she nods, feeling better after knowing that.

they're in their usual coffee shop. the one near where her apartment is and where her aunt's music store is. sitting at a table with coffee to talk about a few things to do with relationships.

violet isn't sure where to start, looking out of the window as she tries to sum up her thoughts and what questions she wants to ask.

"so, calum mentioned that you wanted some advice?" michael starts, noticing how unsure violet seems by what to say.

"um, yea," she mumbles. "just about relationships. things weren't good for me last time, and i really want this to work between ashton and i because i don't think i've ever been this happy with someone before."