Saving Elliot One-Shot | For the First Time

        *Runner-Up in northbynorth's one-shot competition*

        Saving Elliot One-Shot

        For The First Time

        Arthur wiped his sweaty palms on the thigh of his overpriced jeans. The hallway light was on but all the doors were closed. The paint was peeling at the corners of some of the walls and there were water stains littered over the entire ceiling. He didn't expect anything less, the apartment complex wasn't the nicest. Nervously, he stared up at the plaque that read 42B and unconsciously wiped his hands again. Why was he nervous? He wasn't supposed to be but somehow butterflies (or "manflies" as Mac called them. Apparently 'butterflies' was a term too feminine and over used) erupted in his stomach every time he thought of this moment. What had his little sister done to his head? Filling his mind with fantasies of love and commitment and - Arthur ran a hand through his already messy blond hair. 

        Fingering the violet in his hands, he looked at the eggshell white door. It seemed so plain, so unlike her, but if he knew the raven haired girl, and he did, Arthur was sure that the interior of the house was much more colorful and vibrant than the outside. Arthur tapped his foot, impatient with himself and - for some odd reason - Violet. If she just happened to walk outside this would be a whole lot easier. He had his script all planned out and despite this, he was still terrified of what she would say. She would open the door with a shocked look on her face and Arthur, being the flirt that he is, would take her hand, kiss it and say something like: a Violet for Violet in that voice that made all the girls swoon. No, that wouldn't work, she would just get angrier with him. Arthur sighed, today was his last day in Miami and he had yet to repair things with her. After the accident last May, things started going downhill, so when Fintry told Elliot that he was going back to America, it was pretty obvious that Violet would be leaving with him too. 

        Elliot was elated all summer - though she wouldn't admit that to anyone of course - up until a month before St. George's was about to resume and she received a letter. Apparently Fintry had met a beautiful girl named Veronica who he was deeply in love with. Even Mac could tell that it wouldn't last. El, however, was heart broken and spent a week in her room with frequent visits from Tamara. After that she declared that she no longer had feelings for Elliot - everyone knew that it was a lie, but no one said anything - and she and Tamara spent the next two weeks out of the house. 

        Originally, Arthur had planned to meet up with Fintry and yell at him (and punch him a  few times, it didn't matter that they used to be mates) for playing tricks with his little sister. Though as the time flew by so did the chances of him flying out to California. As for the "fixing" between Violet and Arthur, that too had yet to happen. He hadn't meant to say it, honestly, but one night before she and Fintry left, an I love you had slipped out while they were kissing on the patio of his house. Vi had pulled away instantly, her raven hair a mess from Arthur running his hands through it, eyes wide. 

        "What?" She had muttered, blinking quite rapidly. To Arthur it seemed like she was trying to bring herself back to reality. 

        "No, I didn't mean - "

        Violet cut him off mid-sentence, "you didn't mean it? Arthur, you don't go throwing things like love around like that!" She was waving her hands in the air and - despite the new circumstances - Arthur really wanted to keep kissing her. "It's not something to play with!" 

        He was suddenly angry. Arthur was usually a calm person, but just like his younger sister and a few of his older brothers, he had inherited his mother's short fuse. "You mean you've never told someone that before? Not family, Vi, a real fucking I love you!"