The Distance Between Us [Completed]

Chapter 8

"He's not a bad kisser," I just say, but Joelle is not satisfied.

"Me neither, but you wouldn't like it if I kissed you."

"Alright, fine. I liked it," I admit, making Joelle squeal in excitement, which doesn't help my headache.

"That's amazing!! I knew you two would end up together."

"We're not gonna end up together Jo, this was a one-time thing and it was a mistake."

"What? Why was it a mistake?"

"Just because. Besides, he has a girlfriend."

"He does?" Joelle asks surprised and I nod.

"Jemma, remember?" I say. Daniel has been dating Jemma for as long as I can remember. They met in high school and they clicked right away. It didn't take too long before Daniel asked Jemma on a date and ever since they've been dating.

"Are they still together?"

"I haven't heard that they broke up so I guess so," I shrug. I don't really have any contact with Jemma, but I do sometimes talk to friends of her. If she and Daniel would've broken up, I'm sure I would've heard as they've always told me when something big happened between the two of them.

"Then why would Daniel kiss you?"

"I don't know, ask him!"

"That's what you should do."

"I'm not talking to him."

"What? Why not?"

"Because I don't want to," I say, knowing I sound like a stubborn child.

"Vi, you know that's not a good enough reason. You two need to talk about things and not only about the kiss."

"I'm scared of his reaction."

"You're scared he didn't like the kiss as much as you did."

"Oh he liked the kiss," I say, thinking back to the way Daniel responded to the kiss. I'm pretty sure I'll have bruises on my sides, judging by the way he dug his fingers into them.

"Then what's the problem?"

"We haven't seen each other in years, except for the few days in Abu Dhabi, where he didn't know it was me. Then we see each other again and we kiss. There's only one way a conversation about that can end and, spoiler alert, it's the bad way."

"You don't know that."

"You're right, I don't know for sure. But I don't feel like finding out."

"What do you have to lose?"

"Daniel," I simply say, making Joelle look at me confused.

"You don't have him now either."

"No, but I do have the idea of him. The memory of us being friends, of us being on good terms. I don't want to lose that."

"Okay, I understand that."

"So, I'm not gonna talk to him about this. I might not have him as a real friend right now, but it's better than having him hate me," I say as I finish making our breakfast.

"Fair enough."

"So, tell me about your night," I ask as I finally start to actually eat the breakfast I made. Joelle grins and I know I'm in for a good story.

It's been a week since my kiss with Daniel and I haven't been able to forget about it for more than a few hours. Daniel has been trying to call me, twice, sometimes three times a day ever since our kiss. I haven't picked up once.

"Vi, it's pretty clear he wants to talk to you. Just answer the phone," Joelle calls out from the living room, where my phone is ringing again. I'm getting ready to go to the gym, something I try to do at least twice a week. Alright, once.

"I don't want to talk to him."

"You'll have to face him eventually. What happens when Dylan wants you to do an interview with him again? You and I both know you can't refuse."

"I'll cross that bridge when I get to it," I say as I take my phone from the table, which has stopped ringing.

"Vi..."

"Yeah, yeah I know, I'm being childish."

"Exactly!"

"I'll talk to him, eventually. Right now, I'm going to the gym," I say as I pick up my gym bag.

"Alright, good luck!"

"Thanks!" I say before I walk out of our apartment and close the door behind me. The gym isn't far, so I decide to walk to the gym. Once I get there, I put my stuff into a locker before heading to my first exercise machine of the day, the treadmill. I'm looking for a nice playlist for my work-out and as I don't watch where I'm going, I bump into someone.

"Sorry!" I immediately exclaim.

"That's okay," a familiar voice replies, making me look at who I actually bumped into.

Daniel.

"Violet," he says once he realizes I'm the one who bumped into him, a smile on his face. All my efforts to ignore him, straight out the window. Great.

I wrote this chapter twice, as I really wasn't happy with it the first time. The second one, this one, is way different and I'm way happier with it. So, I hope you liked it :) Do you understand that Violet doesn't want to talk to Daniel or do you think she should just talk to him? How do you think Daniel feels? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below and don't forget to vote for this chapter!

Love you all!

Evy
Instagram: readracewrite