ANYWAY DONT BE A STRANGER.
cw: roy is his own warning, verrrryyyy angsty
Roy found them before sunrise.
The house was quiet in that uneasy, in-between way—too early for noise, too late for real sleep—and it made everything look worse than it was. Violet curled into Gator’s side, her head tucked against his chest, one arm draped over him like she’d forgotten where she ended and he began. Gator’s hand rested lightly on her arm, like even in sleep he hadn’t wanted to move.
Roy didn’t speak right away.
He just stood there, taking it in, letting the silence stretch until it felt intentional.
He stepped closer, sharper now. “Gator.”
His hand came down hard against the back of the couch.
Gator jerked awake, breath catching as his body tensed on instinct. “—What—”
Violet stirred too, blinking slowly, confused, her voice soft and rough with sleep. “What’s—”
Roy didn’t let either of them settle.
“You wanna explain what I’m looking at?”
Gator shifted immediately, careful but quick, easing Violet off him as he sat up straighter. “She fell asleep. We were studying.”
Violet pushed her hair back, trying to orient herself. “Yeah, we—uh—finals.”
Roy’s eyes moved between them, slow and deliberate, like he was deciding what version of this he believed.
“Looks real academic,” he muttered.
Gator’s jaw tightened. “It was.”
Roy held his stare another second.
Then jerked his head toward the kitchen. “In here.”
Gator stood without arguing.
Violet watched him go, her chest tightening in a way she didn’t understand yet.
She didn’t mean to listen.
But the house carried sound too easily.
“You think I’m stupid?” Roy’s voice was low, controlled—the kind that made everything underneath it feel worse.
“I told you what happened,” Gator said. “She fell asleep.”
“And you just let her?” Roy shot back.
“What was I supposed to do, throw her off?”
“You were supposed to keep your head on straight,” Roy snapped. “That girl—”
“She’s not a problem,” Gator cut in.
“She is a problem,” Roy said, sharper now. “And you know it.”
“You got responsibilities,” Roy continued. “A job. A reputation. The Tillman name. You don’t get tangled up in something messy because you feel like playing house on a damn couch.”
Gator exhaled slowly. “It’s not like that.”
Roy stepped closer. “Then what is it?”
Because every answer he had sounded worse out loud.
Roy nodded once, like that silence told him everything he needed. “That’s what I thought.”
Then, quieter but colder—
“You fix this before it becomes something you can’t walk back from.”
The ride to school felt different.
Not tense, exactly—just careful. Like they were both aware of something and trying not to touch it.
Violet kept her eyes on the window, watching trees blur past.
Gator kept his hands steady on the wheel.
“…You okay, Ace?” he asked after a while.
“Yeah,” she said too quickly.
He nodded, but didn’t push.
They didn’t talk about Roy.
They didn’t talk about the couch.
They didn’t talk about anything that mattered.
By the time Violet got to lunch, the silence had turned into something else.
Lottie noticed immediately.
“You look like you didn’t sleep,” she said, sliding into the seat across from her.
“I wish I hadn’t.” Violet muttered.
“Oh?” Lottie leaned forward slightly. “What happened?”
“I accidentally fell asleep with Gator on the couch…Roy found us.”
Lottie blinked. “On the couch Vee? Kinky.”
“Not like that,” Violet said quickly. “We were just—studying. And I fell asleep.”
Lottie raised an eyebrow. “On him?”
“Wow,” Lottie said. “Okay.”
“It wasn’t—” Violet started, then stopped. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Seems like it matters to you,” Lottie said.
Violet picked at her food, not really eating. “It’s just… weird now.”
“He’s acting like nothing happened,” Violet said. “Like it didn’t mean anything.”
Lottie studied her for a second.
Lottie leaned back slightly. “So what, you just… wait around for him to figure it out?”
Violet let out a small, bitter laugh. “No.”
She shrugged, but there was something sharp underneath it. “Then I don’t make it a thing. Clearly it’s not one to him.”
“It does,” Violet cut in. “If he wanted it to be something, it would be.”
That settled it in her mind.
Or at least, that’s what she told herself.
Gator didn’t go straight home after dropping Violet off.
He sat in the truck for a minute, engine still running, hands still on the wheel.
Roy’s words kept replaying.
You don’t get tangled up in something messy.
He wasn’t wrong about the risk.
Being around her wasn’t simple.
And the more he let himself feel it, the harder it was getting to pretend he didn’t.
At the station, it came up without him even trying.
A woman from town stopping in—older than Violet, closer to him, steady in a way that didn’t ask anything complicated—started talking to him while he filled out paperwork.
“You look like you’ve got a lot on your mind,” she said casually.
He huffed a small laugh. “Something like that.”
“Well,” she said, leaning lightly against the desk, “you could use a distraction.”
No history. No tension. No almosts.
“…Yeah,” he said slowly. “Maybe I could.”
Because if he could make himself want something easier—
Maybe the rest would fade.
Violet wasn’t supposed to see.
That’s what made it worse.
He picked her up from school like usual, same time, same routine, like nothing had changed.
“I’ve gotta stop somewhere,” he said.
“Okay,” she replied, distracted, flipping through her notes.
He pulled up in front of the diner.
The girl was already outside, smiling when she spotted Gator, stepping closer before he even got out of the truck.
“…Oh,” she said under her breath.
Gator stepped out, walking over, his posture shifting—subtle, but there.
The girl touched his arm like it was normal.
Like she’d done it before.
Violet watched the whole thing through the windshield, her chest tightening in a way she couldn’t ignore.
Of course, she thought to herself. Of course he would.
Someone who didn’t come with baggage and arguments and late-night breakdowns on the floor.
Her fingers tightened around her phone.
He’d never pick me, she overthought, almost without realizing it. Why would he?
By the time Gator got back in the truck, she’d already shut it down.
“Yeah,” she said quickly. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
That night, she didn’t avoid it.
“So,” she said, leaning against the kitchen counter while he grabbed a drink. “You’ve got a date.”
Gator paused. “It’s not—”
“It’s fine,” she said quickly. “You don’t have to explain.”
“It makes sense,” she added, shrugging like it didn’t bother her. “You should.”
“Date someone like that,” she said. “Someone better.
His expression shifted slightly. “Better?”
“Yeah,” she said. “Not… complicated.”
Silence stretched between them.
“You think that’s what I want?” he asked.
She met his gaze for half a second.
Because he didn’t know how to.
Because the truth wasn’t simple.
Violet nodded once, like she’d expected it all along.
“Cool,” she said. “Good for you.”
She turned and walked off before he could stop her.
The next day, she made her own decision.
Not because she wanted to.
Because she needed something to prove to herself
“Hey,” Carter said, catching up to her in the hallway. Varsity football captain. Total douche.
“You going to prom with anyone?”
“No,” she said, plastering a fake smile onto her face. “But I could be.”
“Yeah,” she replied. “Pick me up at eight.” She added, patting his bicep as she slipped into English class.
But it also felt like control.
Like she wasn’t the only one waiting around for something that might never happen.
When Gator heard about it, it didn’t come from her.
It came from someone else, a juvenile in the station. Had some weed in his bag. Was babbling about school.
“Monroe’s going with Carter.” The kid murmured, “That’s one hot girl out of the question.”
“Prom,” he clarified. “Looking for a date.”
Something in Gator’s chest tightened.
He didn’t say anything else.
The idea of her with someone else didn’t feel so distant anymore.
That night, the tension was worse.
“Prom?” Gator said, leaning in the doorway of the kitchen.
Violet didn’t even look up. “Yeah, I’m on prom court. Kinda have too.”
“With someone,” she replied. “You’ve got your date, I’ve got mine.”
“Why not?” she shot back, finally looking at him. “Because I’m not allowed to move on too?”
“You’re not—” he stopped himself.
Because he didn’t have one that didn’t give him away.
Violet let out a small, humorless laugh. “Yeah. Whatever.”
She pushed past him, shoulder brushing his just slightly.
“Don’t worry,” she added condescendingly. “I’ll be careful.”
The attitude hit different than it usually did.
He knew exactly why she was acting like this.
And it messed with his head more than he wanted to admit.
an: guys I just wrote 4 chapters today. You guys are getting FEDDDDD
taglist: @stoneyggirl2 @lcversvoidi
