A One Shot Book of Unfortunate Events

Violet Had Enough

*Narrator's POV*

Violet Baudelaire was a very rational girl; It took a lot to send her over the edge. When one of her inventions didn't work, she would calmly look over it to find the problem. When Count Olaf committed several heinous crimes to steal the fortune she would inherit in four years, she still managed to keep her cool... Mostly. But Prufrock Preparatory School managed to get under her skin. It was two things, specifically. Not the horrible bully or the bad curriculum. Not the fact that her baby sister was a secretary or that orphans were treated poorly. These did make her mad, but on this day, Violet had enough. She had enough of the dripping fungus in her shack and she had enough of only calling Duncan Quagmire a friend.

The dripping fungus had made its final attack. As Violet was finally ready, a large plop! of fungus landed on her head and on her jacket. Violet screeched in frustration as she gathered her things to go wash up in the communal showers in the dormitory. On her way, she ran into her friend and crush, Duncan. She was immediately attracted to the handsome journalist, not just for his looks, but also his smarts and personality. She smiled at the thought of the kind boy. Violet had realized off the bat that there was something special about him. "I'm terribly sorry, Violet," he apologized after she had bumped into him, "I see the fungus has claimed another victim." He added, smiling weakly. Damn his charming smile, she thought, I'm supposed to be mad right now, not going gaga over a boy I'm in love with!

"I'm afraid so. I was about to go wash my hair."
" I apologize for interrupting your errands, Vi... "
"It's nothing. I assure you." She replied, trying to hide the red on her cheeks.
"I could escort you there, if you don't mind."
"I don't at all. Shall we?" She asked, smiling.
"We shall." He replied, sharing her grin. She silently thanked herself for grabbing the tote bag to put her stuff in, instead of carrying it in the open.

Violet found a way to kill two birds with one stone.I

"Hey, Duncan, I think I found a way to remove the fungus. You in?"
"When?"
" Um... How about at four?"
"Sounds great. Isadora won't be in class today since she's sick, so she probably won't be there either. I was just grabbing her some cough drops." Sure enough, there was a small pile of cough drops in his hand.
Violet frowned, although she wanted to smile at her idea.

"That's alright. I'm sure Klaus would love to take care of her since he's hopelessly in love with her, and Miss Caliban adores Sunny, so she can watch her."
" So... It'll be just the two of us?"
"If you're fine with that."

Duncan thought for a moment. "I'll be there! Always happy to help!" He said with a smile. Violet returned the gesture and they went their separate ways, Violet towards the showers, and Duncan towards the broom closet to deliver his sister some cough drops.

~*~

"Get out of the shower, Cakesniffer," Violet heard the dreadful Carmelita Spats say, "I'm sure your boyfriend thinks you look fine."

Violet shut off the water. "Duncan Quagmire is not my boyfriend," she said, disappointment lacing her voice.
"Oh, but he certainly wishes," Carmelita rebuttled from the other side of the curtain.

Violet was hesitant to ask. "What do you mean, Carmelita?" She asked sourly.
Carmelita laughed nastily, "Have you not seen inside that little green notebook of his?"
"I don't believe it's particularly kind to peer into other people's private journals." She replied as she dressed.
"Well, if you weren't such a cakesniffing square, you would've seen  'D.Q.+V.B.' on at least three pages. He's fucking obsessed with you or something."

Violet knew that three pages wouldn't be obsession, so she ignored Carmelita's comment. D.Q.+V.B., she thought, he likes me back? Glory's day!

She needed to ensure her plan worked flawlessly.

~*~

Four came quickly, as it seemed to Violet. Klaus dropped Sunny off at the library with Olivia on his way to care for Isadora, also on a mission similar to Violet's. Duncan and her were standing outside of the Orphan Shack. "We need four things," she explained, "More salt shakers, a step-ladder, a garbage bag, and a large knife or two. We're going to cut them off at the roof after ensuring they're not dripping, and throw them in the bag." Duncan nodded as he recorded the items in his commonplace notebook.

"All we need to do is go to the kitchen and the supply closet! We can borrow some knives, a garbage bag, and some salt shakers and them the supply closet should have a step-ladder." He added , "Nobody is out after three, so we should be in the clear."

Violet nodded as they went to collect the needed materials. Once these were in their possession, they laid the items out in the shack. Violet began to tie up her long ebony hair as the two teens went to work. "First, of course, let's stack the haybales in a corner, then set up the step-ladder so we can reach the roof." She commanded. Duncan loved watching her invent and was even more thrilled to help with a sort-of-invention. Duncan didn't always like fairytales, but as soon as he laid eyes on Violet Baudelaire, he began to believe in love at first sight. She was pure perfection in his eyes. Nothing made him happier than seeing her smile.

Her idea worked perfectly and the knives worked well as saws. "This last one is particularly difficult to cut through," Violet groaned as the knife slowly shimmied through an especially thick piece of fungus.
"Just stay steady," Duncan warned, "Nobody wants to fall and split their head open."

" After the unpleasantness with Count Olaf, you can't be so sure about me... " She replied bitterly.
"Hey, hey." Duncan said comfortingly, "It'll be fine. Your siblings are here for you. Izzie, your best friend, is here for you... I'm here for you." Duncan was standing next to the ladder, holding one of Violet's hands. Both of their faces were bright red. "Thank you, Duncan. You have no idea how much that means to me," she said with a small smile. Duncan smiled his charming smile back at her. She began to think about how she would confess her feelings as she absent-mindedly sawed away at the remaining fungus strip. It soon came clean off, which sent Violet forward, as she had been using a lot of force on it. She expected to hit the ground with a thud, but was instead shocked to look up and see that Duncan had caught her.

"I told you I'd be here for you," Duncan joked as he set Violet down. She blushed awfully hard and thanked him. She stuck the last piece of fungus into the trash bag as Duncan smiled to himself, putting the haybales back in their original locations. "Is there anything else I can help you with?" He asked, sitting down on Klaus' haybale.

It's now or never, Violet, she thought, You invited him here for a reason!

"Yes, there is," She answered, her heart beating a mile a minute as she sat next to him, "Somebody said that there was a couple of initials written in your notebook a few times..."

Duncan took a gulp of air. "What were the initials?" He asked as his face turned bright red.
"A little D.Q.+V.B." She replied, blush tinting her cheeks.
"And where did you hear this?"
"Carmelita Spats."
"Well, she l-lies all of th-the time."
" I don't think she was this time. "

A surge of confidence suddenly overtook her, "And it would be too bad if she was lying..." She said with a smirk.
"Why?"
"Because if it was true, I would grab your face and kiss you senseless..."

Duncan was at a loss for words. He embarresedly flipped to one page of his notebook and showed it to Violet. It was a sketch of a beautiful girl with the initials 'D.Q.+V.B.'

"Is that... Me?" She asked in shock. Duncan nodded softly, his hand covering his face.
"It's beautiful..." She replied softly.

This seemed to draw him back a bit. "It's hard not to make it look good when the muse is perfect..." He couldn't help adding. Violet smiled at the drawing before shutting the notebook. She gently grabbed Duncan's chin and angled his face toward her's. "I stay true to my word, you know," she said softly, connecting her lips to his. "I love you," she whispered as she pulled away, "I'm in love with you, Duncan Quagmire."

" I'm in love with you too, Violet Baudelaire. " he said quietly, "And I'll always be here for you."

*****
1488 words