Love You Too
Telling you right now, this is not the happiest or the best piece of writing I’ve done but I have a lot of personal stuff going on, especially in the relationship area - or lack of - and I needed an outlet that wasn’t moaning to my friends about it. And thus, this angst Willet fic was born. Sorry for any typos. I’ll go back and edit later.
“Hey. You sure you’re okay?”
No.
“Yep!” came the forced chirp from Violet’s mouth. Her lips stretched into what she could only assume was a barely passable smile based off the hesitance that still lingered on Wilbur’s face. Knowing that she needed to ease any suspicions, she placed a hand gently on his upper arm. “Seriously, I appreciate the concern but I’m fine. Just a little tired from, you know, family stuff but nothing I can’t along with a good night’s sleep can’t manage.”
The frown on his face as Wilbur’s eyes searched hers for something more, whatever she wasn’t telling him, told her that he knew she wasn’t being honest with her. She was praying her forced smile wasn’t turning into a grimace underneath his gaze when he finally sighed, looking away.
“Well...if you say so, Vi,” he murmured, gently placing his hand over hers that still rested on his arm and it took so much of her energy to either melt at his warmth or cry at the cruel reality of things.
“I do,” she said, forcing a bit more conviction into her voice. “I’m fine.” His hand lingered over hers for a second more before she removed hers from out his grip. She ignored the feeling the all too familiar and recently frequent dull feeling in her chest. “Now, what are you planning for your date with Penny?”
Penny. Not her. Not Violet. Penny. The girl that instantly caused a goofy grin to settle over Wilbur’s face at just the mention of her name. Penny. The girl that Violet so desperately wanted to hate but who honestly had no faults other than having caught the eye of Wilbur Robinson, Violet’s oldest friend and the person who unwittingly was breaking her heart with every lovestruck sigh or utterance in regards to Penny, Not Violet and the whimsical but still tasteful date he was preparing for Penny, Not Violet.
And all Violet could do was smile and nod like the dutiful friend that she was, sometimes giving suggestions for his date that he immediately incorporated and was positive that Penny, Not Violet would love.
“I was really worried about this,” Wilbur grinned as he began to pack up his stuff. “You know, the whole dating thing. It’s difficult with my dad being who my dad is. And I mean, not even just him. My entire family is respected in their individual fields. I didn’t think anyone would just see me for...well, me.”
I did.
“But Penny did,” she said, suffocating on her words.
Wilbur’s eyes softened as he nodded. “Yeah. She did. I-I think she’s the one, Vi. Do you think that’s silly?”
YES! IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE ME! VIOLET, NOT PENNY!!!
“No. I think you deserve every bit of happiness.”
As if her words were the confirmation he was looking for Wilbur grinned, getting up and pulling Violet into a tight hug. For a moment, she pretended that her heart wasn’t breaking; that this embrace was more than just friends; that she had been brave all those months ago and had just told him how she felt, how she still feels for him. But the time is up and that opportunity, like Wilbur pulling away from the hug, slips by her all too quickly. Her heart is beating against her chest, demanding to be free from the confines of Violet’s own self pity, daring to bask in the “what if” that flirted dangerously with her emotions. But she pushed it down, heart crushing under the weight of his happiness.
It would be enough. It had to be.
He gives her a friendly peck on the cheek, stating a platonic, familial “love you” over his shoulder before he rushed out of the cafe they met up in to meet his girlfriend, Penny, Not Violet unaware of the broken heart he casually left behind or the tears - definitely not the first, and undoubtedly not the last - that were silently falling.
“Love you too.”