2 | ONE MORE | MINIMINTER

NINE

NINE

Dallas, after taking a moment to breathe, sets down her cutlery and pushes her chair back, her spine tingling from the noise. Shaking a hand through her hair and under her eyes quickly, she crosses the room to the door.

With her fingers curled around the handle, she tells herself to smile before she pulls the door open, and she no longer has to tell herself to smile because there stood a ghost of her past with a big, dumb grin on his face and a bunch of flowers in his hand.

"What're you doing here, James?" She asks, her lips hurting from smiling so widely. She hadn't seen or thought about him in years, but looking at him now she remembered why he had been so incredibly important to her, even if that didn't last like she hoped it would've.

"Violet mentioned you were back in town. I finally managed to get the address from her to come and see you," He explains. "Mind if I come inside?"

"Not at all," Dallas replies, pressing her lips together. "Come on in, we have a lot of catching up to do." She pushes herself off the door frame and walks back into her apartment, James following her.

"I brought you these." He glances down at the flowers, suddenly realising how inferior they were to the large bunch of roses already on the kitchen counter. "As a housewarming present, but looks like someone beat me to it." He gestures to the roses with his own flowers.

Dallas smiles all the same as she steps forwards, taking his flowers from him. "Yeah," She says, gently placing the flowers on the side to put in a vase later on. "But these mean a lot more than flowers ordered by my dad who's miles and miles away."

James scratched the back of his neck awkwardly as he looked around. "This place is nice."

"Thanks," Dallas muttered, glancing away from him. "Do you want a drink or something? My dinner's kind of getting cold."

-

"No way? She did that?" Dallas laughs, rocking back in her seat.

"Yeah, she totally landed on her ass in front of everyone. It was comedy gold," James says between laughs, his green eyes crinkling at the sides just like she always remembered they did.

"I wish I could've been there to see and, of course, to film it. God, I still hate that girl even now," Dallas says, shaking her head as she rocked back forward and leant her elbow on the table, pushing her cold mashed potato around on the plate.

"I wish you could've been there too," James says, looking right at her. "I missed having you around, you know? Even if our relationship was rocky and then over completely."

Dallas lets out a breathy laugh, setting down her knife and fork. "I wish you would've told me this a little sooner than now, James, because maybe then we could've done something about it. It's been years."

"Are you saying it's too late?" His expression appeared hurt and Dallas couldn't help but wonder whether that was what she'd looked like when she'd told Simon everything she'd kept bottled up all those years. She must've been staring because James says, "Dallas, can't we at least be friends?"

A small smile drifts onto her lips. "I would love to be friends with you again, just as long as Allison doesn't make any surprise appearances."

He chuckles. "I can promise that all my ties with her were cut long ago."

"Then, consider me your friend," Dallas says, extending a hand over the table.

James takes it with a goofy smile and, as he's shaking it, says, "Friends for now."

Dallas rolls her eyes, releasing his hand.

"We're just friends, James."

"Alright, Dallas."

-

lowkey shipping them