CLOSER (SAM FENDER)

EIGHTEEN

Sam

Ana was leaving in a day and I was trying to decide what I was going to do without having someone there to keep my numbness away. She'd become quite fond of Violet, and I understood why. They'd spent the last week having dinner together, chatting, watching movies and sharing laughs. It was the first time I heard Violet laugh in a long time.

I sat leaning against my headboard scrolling on my phone while Ana threw a few things in her bag.

"I worry about Violet, Sam." She spoke casually as she rifled through her shirts.

The sound of her name still affected me. It still sent shivers down my spine and pricked at my chest like a tiny blade. Even though I knew we were over, and there was no coming back from any of it, it still tore at me.

"What do you mean?"

Ana sighed and raked her hand through her hair. "Who's going to look after her when I'm gone? She's got no one."

I pressed my lips together firmly. "She's got Jake."

She made a cross look at the mention of his name. "He treats you guys better than he treats her."

I shrugged. "It's not really my business, Ana."

"You told me she was one of your best mates, Sam."

"Yeah...so?"

"So this is definitely your business. Can't you see how...broken she is?"

I sat my phone down and narrowed my eyes at her. "Define broken."

Ana climbed up onto the bed and sat next to my legs on a sigh. "Sam...if I can see it, you have to see it. You've been friends with her since you were seventeen."

"Look...I know she gets in a rut sometimes and she...bottles things up. Doesn't eat, doesn't talk, stays inside. Basically turns into a vampire. That's probably all that's going on. She'll be fine."

"Will she?"

"What's it matter? You're leaving tomorrow, you won't know how she is or not."

"That's a bold statement. And I plan on messaging her regularly. So I will know."

"You two going to be pen pals or something?" I could hear the sarcasm creeping along the edges of my words.

Ana smirked. "Maybe we are. Would that bother you?"

"Why would it bother me if my girlfriend and one of my oldest friends are pen pals?"

"Because your tone indicated it."

"Now you're analyzing my tone?"

"And you're avoiding the subject."

I sighed and closed my eyes. "Jesus, Ana...I'm not sure where this is coming from. I know Violet's going through it. I see it everyday. I see it on her face and in the way she carries herself. I see it in her responses to the things happening around her. I've watched her go through this before...only...only not to this level. Not like this." I paused for a moment as I considered just how empty Violet looked since I came home. The light in her eyes had faded into a grey watercolor, and her smile, that smile that not long ago had weakened me, I didn't see it at all anymore. I didn't see Violet anymore. It was like all of the parts of her I'd always known were gone. "She's just...she's not the same as she was before."

"Before what?" Ana asked softly.

"Before I left." I pondered over the thought.

"What happened when you left?"