Almost Unreal | Violentine One-Shots

Little Things That Mean A Lot | Fluff

Clementine rushes across the other side of the kitchen to move the hot pan away from the hob, swearing as the water inside boils over and steam fills the room. She lowers the heat, grabs a tea towel from the draw and wipes away the water before replacing the pot and throwing the tea towel over her shoulder. She returns to the chopping board and quickly dices onions and garlic, throwing them into another saucepan to sauté.

While she has a moment free Clementine sits at the kitchen table and opens the laptop that's been left there. She frowns when she sees that the job website Violet was looking at before she went to her interview is still open. Violet's had six interviews over the past two weeks and so far they've all be rejections.

It worries the couple immensely because it was only three months ago they bought their dream house; Clementine secures a good wage, but on her own, she can't afford to pay the mortgage on their home. At the moment they're barely scraping by on bills.

Companywide layoffs were what Violet fell victim too. It was sudden and unexpected. She walked into her office with a job and came out carrying her belongings in a cardboard box. Violet's tried her best to remain optimistic that she'll fall into a new job, but with each rejection, her self-esteem dips that little bit more.

Clementine closes the laptop lid and returns to the cooker where she adds the tomato paste and tomatoes to the saucepan. She sprinkles a dash of oregano, salt, pepper and basil to the saucepan before leaving it to simmer. She wants this dinner to be perfect, and Violet deserves one night where can just relax and forget about the stresses of being unemployed.

The brunette glances at her watch, Violet texted her saying she left the house at 4.45 pm for her 4.55 pm interview. It's now 5.32 pm. Clementine hopes that the fact Violet still isn't home is a good thing. Perhaps she's been given the job on the spot.

Clementine picks up the bag of shopping she collected on the way home wanders into the bathroom. She removes the candles she bought from the bag and sets them out along the edge of the bath and the windowsill. Clementine lights the existing incense burner and places a small portable speaker on the cabinet, somewhere where there's little chance that it will fall into the bath and break. She makes a mental note to draw a bath and light the candles once Violet gets home.

She closes the door to the bathroom and smiles as she hears the lock on the front door catching. Clementine skips back into the kitchen and leans against the counter, smiling as Violet opens the front door and closes it quickly behind her.

"Hey love," Violet calls into the house, smiling when she meets Clementine's eyes. Violet leaves her things in the hallway and walks towards the kitchen with a smile on her face.

"You look happy," says Clementine as she closes her eyes and returns Violet's kiss.

"Happy to see you," comments Violet as she pulls away and looks around the kitchen, "Are you cooking?" she asks as she breathes in the smells of homemade food simmering in pots on the hob. Violet tenses up and looks at Clementine in confusion, "it's not... our anniversary is it?" she asks checking the date on the calendar. She's sure it's not but with the amount of stress she's been under it's possible that a big date has slipped her mind.

Clementine smiles and shakes her head, "I wanted to do all of this for you because I know you've had a shitty few weeks. I thought it would be nice for you to have an evening of pampering."

Violet smiles and pulls the chair by the kitchen table out and takes a seat, "that's very thoughtful love, but you didn't have to go to all this effort. You must be tired after work."

The brunette turns and uncorks a bottle of wine. "Nah, today was slow," she answers as she grabs two wine glasses from the overhead cabinet and pours both herself and Violet a drink."You know I'd do anything to make you happy Vi," says the brunette as she hands Violet her wine.

"Thank you," says Violet as she clinks her glass against her wife's. Clementine turns her attention back to the food and carefully removes the pasta from the saucepan, draining the water and adding the fusilli to the sauce. She hums to herself as she mixes the ingredients together. Violet smirks and sips on her wine as she watches the way the brunette sways her hips, dancing to whatever song she's got playing inside her head.

"Oh," Clementine exclaims as she fetches the salad bowl and sets down a set of cutlery on the dining table, "how was the interview? Sorry, I completely forgot to ask."

Violet shifts in her seat and sips her wine, "it was okay, I think I gave them the answers they were looking for; we'll just have to wait and see. They said they'd get back to me tomorrow."

Clementine brings the two hot dishes over and sets them down on the placemats, one in front of Violet and one by her own empty seat. "Voila," she says as she admires her cooking. She takes a seat and smiles at her wife before digging into the meal she made. "I've got my fingers crossed for you, love," Clementine says as she drinks from her wine glass, I know no one who deserves this job more."

Violet lowers her fork with a smile "you have to stay stuff like that, you're my wife."

Clementine shrugs her shoulders as she takes another mouthful of her food, she swallows and holds her wine glass in one hand, gently swilling the liquid around in the glass. "I mean it, Vi, I'm always going to be your biggest supporter."

Violet smiles and returns her attention to her food, "thank you for this," she says as she gestures to her plate, "did you buy this sauce? It's delicious."

Clementine proudly shakes her head as she relishes in the flavour of the tangy sauce mixing with the pasta, "I made it from scratch," she says with a grin.

"Well I'm very impressed," says Violet as she enjoys her meal. There's a silence for a moment before Violet speaks again. "You're right, I am stressing out about a lot of stuff right now," Violet says as she stretches her hand across the table, Clementine slides her fingers along the soft skin of Violet's palm as the two hold hands over the dinner table.

"Don't worry Violet," Clementine assures, giving her girlfriend's hand a squeeze, "we'll figure something out. There will be no worrying about work tonight," she says with a smile as she lets go of Violet's arm and continues to eat her dinner.

"What will be happening tonight then?" Violet says as she replenishes her plate with salad and slowly sips her wine. Clementine smiles and finishes off her pasta, wiping her mouth on a napkin and placing the knife and fork on the porcelain.

"Whatever you want really, but no work and no stress. I do have another surprise for you though."

Violet raises one eyebrow as she smirks at the brunette, "hmm, colour me intrigued."

Clementine stands and places her plate in the sink, pausing before reaching out and collecting Violet's as well, "you all done?" she asks, coming to rest her hand on her wife's shoulder.

Violet looks up to her wife and nods with a smile, "yes, thank you that was lovely," she says resting her arms in contentment over her stomach. Clementine leans down to collect the empty plate and presses a quick kiss on Violet's mouth before standing and placing the dirty dishes in the sink. She tops up Violet's wine glass and leans against the counter.

"I'm just going to change out of these interview clothes," says Violet picking up her wine glass and walking towards the bedroom.

Clementine watches her go and smiles. After the bedroom door clicks shut she opens a drawer behind her and fishes around until she finds the lighter she's looking for. Clementine pads down the hallway into the bathroom and sits on the edge of the bath, slowly adjusting each tap until warm water begins to pour into the tub. She moves over to the bathroom cabinet and brings a bottle of shower lotion back to the bath, adding it to the flowing water and watching as bubbles begin to foam on the surface.

She hears Violet move around in the next room and begins to light each candle with the lighter, putting it back inside the cabinet she turns off the lights as she admires the candlelit setting. Clementine exits the room and heads to the next door over, opening it and smiling at Violet who's sitting on the edge of her bed reading through her emails. There's worry on her face, and she bites her lip, barely acknowledging Clementine entering the room.

"This looks like stress," says Clementine in a sing-song manner as she sits on the bed and slinks her arms around Violet's neck, pressing her body against Violet's back. Violet smiles and drops her phone on the bed as she turns her neck to press a kiss on Clementine's cheek.

"Sorry, just checking if I had any more interviews this week," Clementine tilts her head in questioning."I don't," Violet replies.

"Okay," says Clementine pushing herself off the bed and reaching her hand out to Violet, "I'll help you look for some more tomorrow if you'd like but right now I have another treat for you."

Violet grasps onto Clementine's hand and lifts herself from the bed to meet the brunette's embrace. They sway in each other's arms for a while before Violet brushes a coil of Clementine's hair away from her face and cups her cheek gently. "You're so perfect Clem, I don't think I tell you that enough," says Violet as she runs her thumb across her wife's cheek.

"It's only little gestures," says Clementine as she leads Violet out of the bedroom and towards the bathroom. Violet tugs on Clementine's sleeve and the brunette turns around, her hand still resting on the door.

"It means a lot though," says Violet. Clementine smiles and the two women share a kiss, their foreheads remained pressed together even after they break apart. Violet exhales softly.

Clementine opens the bathroom door and admires the glow from the candlelight that frames the bubble bath the brunette had drawn a few minutes ago. Steam gently rises from the bath and soft music plays from the mini speaker Clementine set up earlier.

"Clem," says Violet, as she dips her head into the bathroom, taking in the thought and detail her wife has gone into, "this is lovely, did you do all of this for me?"

"Of course silly," Clementine replies as she leans against the door. She's beaming knowing that she's made Violet's day so much better, "so, I'm going to grab your wine while you get in the bath."

Violet lifts her shirt over her head and moves to unbuckle her belt, "what will you do?" she asks. Clementine lets her gaze falls from Violet's eyes to her neck, her chest, her toned stomach.

"Well, I have some paperwork that I could do..." Clementine says, taking a step closer to the blonde. She bites her lip as she stares at Violet's figure, "or, I could join you?"

Violet smiles and nods, "Yeah, I think I'd like that."