Run, Girl (If You Can)

Chapter 417: Seeds of Resentment

Violet thought hard. She didn\'t think Noah resented her, period. At least not now.

He wasn\'t fazed by the fact that she was supposedly smarter than him (she didn\'t quantify smarts by grades; he was fully capable of intelligent conversation and that was what mattered). He didn\'t seem to resent that she was always around him either. In fact, he seemed to wish he could be around her more based on their earlier conversation.

But the seeds of resentment could be planted any time. She had learned that the hard way during her ongoing issues with Kaleb.

She tried to think of something that might cause Noah to resent her but was coming up blank. Then again, she hadn\'t ever thought her twin would either but here they were.

"What would cause you to resent me?" Violet asked seriously.

Noah looked at her like she was crazy. "I could never resent you."

She glanced down at her hands, avoiding his eyes. "I didn\'t think Kaleb could either."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "That\'s different, Vi. It\'s normal for siblings to have rough patches. We\'re not siblings."

"Yeah, which increases the likelihood of you eventually hating me! If my own brother could do it, someone unrelated to me could too! You know that nobody really likes me."

Violet sniffled, feeling the tears coming back. At least all the mascara was off now so it couldn\'t run again.

"…are you crying again?"

Violet didn\'t answer, feeling stupid for getting emotional again so soon. But she really couldn\'t bear to lose Noah. Not when he was the only person in her life who she could be completely herself around. Even if it was in some distant, far off future she couldn\'t bear it.

He gripped her upper arms, a hint of desperation coming through. "Do you honestly believe I could ever hate you?"

She looked up into his dark brown eyes. He was angry that she was doubting the strength of their bond. That much was obvious.

There was something else lurking there too. Hurt. Violet had hurt his feelings.

But why would his feelings be hurt by something like that? Noah knew she was already vulnerable and down on herself because the other most important person in her life resented her. Her worry was an understandable one.

"No," she admitted. "But if you ever did I wouldn\'t be able to take it. I wanted to know what might make you resent me so I could avoid it and be better."

Noah shook his head. "You don\'t need to be better. You\'re you and that is more than enough. I promise, I could never resent you. Vi, you\'re my most important person too. Never forget that."

His words untangled a knot in her heart. Their relationship was safe, as always. She had nothing to worry about. He wouldn\'t drift apart from her like Kaleb had.

A warm smile made its way onto her face despite her tears and Noah seized her in a tight hug before she could do anything else. He mumbled something into her shoulder that she couldn\'t quite catch because it was too muffled. She asked him what he said when he released her a minute later but he said it didn\'t matter.

They took the soup bowls back downstairs and Jennica ended up driving her home. Sensing her discomfort at being left alone and asked about the source of her tears, Noah volunteered to ride with them.

A surge of affection rose within her heart. He always knew exactly what she needed without even saying anything.

Back at home, Violet\'s eyes were still puffy so she went straight up to her room without speaking to anyone. Smoky was curled up on her bed and she stroked him over and over. The repetitive motion was calming.

Things would be okay, just like Noah said. She had to believe that.

===

When spring break finally rolled around, Keeley was about ready to drop dead and was more than ready for a week in the Caribbean. They would be staying at a resort with a private beach that had a whole bunch of other things to do as well.

Looking up at the giant buildings looming above them, she thought that all the chaos it took to get them packed and here on time would be worth it. Relaxation, here she comes!

The resort had everything one could possible imagine in a vacation destination. There was a spa, multiple pools, a lazy river, water slides, volleyball and tennis courts, and more. They even had a kids club for children under twelve so parents could go enjoy themselves alone for a while.

On the first day Keeley lay sprawled on a beach towel with a mystery novel in one hand and a strawberry daiquiri in the other as her children had fun. The younger boys were building an epic sand castle while Kaleb was off playing beach volleyball with some other teenagers.

Violet chose to read a romance novel next to her parents. She seemed happier than Keeley had seen her in a while.

After the day she helped Noah on his science fair project, Jennica told her what happened. Violet ended up flatly and tearlessly divulging her ongoing problems with Kaleb. Keeley had thought something was up but hadn\'t realized the full scope of the problem because those two were hardly in the same room due to their schedules.

It didn\'t seem like they had enjoyed a proper talk about their feelings yet. Ever since she found out the truth, she had been able to see the tension between the two of them more clearly.

If anything was going to change, they would need to talk. But how do you get a teenage boy to admit what he\'s feeling? Goodness knows Keeley had never figured that out. If she had, she and Aaron could have avoided a whole lot of problems in their first life.

She looked over at him as he napped in the sun with a pair of sunglasses on. If she left him like that he would get a horrible tan line. Part of her was tempted but it would be a bit too much of a prank.

"Aaron," Keeley called softly.

He didn\'t stir. The easiest thing to do was simply to slide the sunglasses off of his face. She thought he would have woken up from the sudden assault of the sun on his eyelids but he was still out like a light.

Poor thing. He had been nearly as tired as she had lately. It looked like all of them needed this vacation.