Young God [GirlxGirl]

13. Past Lives And Green Eyes

Nobody told me that you'd be here // And I swear you moved overseas // That's what you said, when you left me // You still look like a movie // You still sound like a song // My God, this reminds me // Of when we were young // When We Were Young, Adele

"Shit."

Violet shook her head and slowly backed away, hardly trusting the truth her own eyes were telling. Even as Matt sat there at the bar, laughing and smiling and just plain existing, Violet didn't want to believe it. He was supposed to be halfway across the world. He was supposed to be as far away from her as humanly possible and Violet was beyond content with that. Yet, there he was, a matter of metres from her.

Blake and Ash followed Violet's gaze to find the object of her mortification. Neither recognised Matt, and so their confusion ceased to subside.

"Violet?" Blake took a step closer to her friend. "Who is that? What's going on?"

"We need to leave, like right now." Upon seeing her ex, a surge of memories rushed to the forefront of Violet's mind, memories she'd sooner let gather dust in some dark corner of her brain than resurface all at once like that. "Come on, let's go."

"Not so fast, cupcake." Ash glanced suspiciously at Matt. While she was admittedly supposed to be keeping her distance from Violet, that didn't mean she was going to stop looking out for her, and if Violet was afraid of some guy then Ash definitely intended to do something about it. "I'm not taking a single step until you tell us what's got you so spooked."

Violet released an impatient and frustrated groan. "That guy at the bar with the perfect hair and teeth and body, his name's Matt. He's the guy I used to date in New Jersey." That was probably the briefest possible way in which she could have summed up her relationship with him.

"The same guy that broke your heart?" Ash inquired.

In her eyes that was even more of a reason to do something about it. But Violet recognised the look on Ash's face; it was the look she got whenever she had an urge to defend her or protect her, and right now that was the last thing Violet wanted to happen. All she wanted was to get out of there before he saw her.

But it was too late. As it just so happened, Matt paused his conversation to take a sip of his beer, and as his eyes scanned the busy pub it wasn't long before they accidentally found Violet by the door. He almost choked on his drink when he realised who it was. Violet let out a string of curses under her breath, but as she turned around to make a hasty escape, she heard his voice call out to her.

"Violet?"

She froze with the tips of her fingers on the handle, considering whether or not to pretend like she hadn't heard or seen him and just run for the hills. But then he said her name again, and this time it was closer. There was no way she could pretend like she hadn't heard him now. She closed her eyes, took a breath, and then turned around.

Matt was picking his way through the crowd, with the friend he'd been chatting to at the bar close behind him. Both Blake and Ash, who had each heard at least something of Violet's relationship with Matt, stared him down with folded arms and expressions of less-than-subtle hostility as he approached. He stopped in front of  Violet, shaking his head as though he didn't believe it.

"It's really you." He breathed.

Violet didn't say anything to begin with. She couldn't. It had been a long time since she'd made peace with the fact that she was never going to see him again, and that he didn't love her as much as she loved him. Though at the time it had seemed impossible, Violet had moved on, and the last thing she needed was for him to suddenly fall out of the sky and reinsert himself into her life. It would unravel all the time and effort it took for her to move past his betrayal and convince herself that she was worth more than her relationship with him. Finally, she managed to find her words.