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A Long Overdue Apology

"Hey—um. Viola. Can I talk to you?"

It was smack-dab in the middle of soccer practice, Cornwall was miles away, and yet, Viola Hastings had a sinking feeling that she knew exactly who was looming over her. She looked up and into the face of her very much ex-boyfriend. Justin scuffed his feet, looking for all the world like the innocent, awkward boy he'd been when they'd first met.

Why not?

She shrugged, bouncing the soccer-ball from knee to knee to head, to elbow, and then back down to her knees. Justin watched her, arms stiff at his sides, twitching every time the ball smacked against her body. Viola waited until the silence grew too awkward, even for her.

"So—how are you and Monique doing?" she asked, catching the ball.

Justin laughed, a real laugh, without the snarky edge that had driven her off the edge during the last few months of their relationship. "What, that crazy woman? Found some college dude to leech off."

Viola raised an eyebrow. "What, hot and sexy not your type?"

Justin shrugged. "I dated you, didn't I?"

Her smile faded, and he coughed, the awkwardness returning. "Listen—"

"I have a boyfriend, Justin." Viola jerked her head at Duke, who was currently trying to teach Toby how to perform the special Illyria kick. "He's big, and not a misogynistic pig." And smokin' hot.

Justin raised his hands defensively. He hadn't forgotten. "Vi—I'm not here because of, you know, us. Even though I would totally take you back if you even had the slightest—" he drifted off as Viola glanced meaningfully, once again, at her boyfriend.

"Why are you here, Justin?" she asked, spinning the ball like a basketball.

"I—" he paused, looked at the ground, looked at her. "I just wanted to say that I was sorry."

What now?

Viola's mouth fell open, and not in the cute, slightly sexy way Olivia was always doing around Sebastian. "Uh…"

"I never thought you weren't as good as us," Justin hurried on, taking advantage of the silence, "I mean, I trained you. Or—we trained together." He swallowed, looking down. "I just wasn't man enough to admit it, and it cost me a really great girl."

Viola tried to formulate a response, any response, but the only thing her brain would come up with was another, "Uh-"

She studied Justin, the way he fidgeted, as if he couldn't wait to run away. He'd never been the best at uncomfortable situations, and admitting he was wrong? Even harder.

She took pity on him. After all, she hadn't dated him for three years just because he was the cutest boy at Cornwall. Justin could be charming, in a cave-man, foot-in-his-mouth way. "You know," she said, dropping the ball, "That may be the sweetest thing you've ever said to me."

Justin met her eyes squarely. What he saw—not forgiveness, exactly, but not the angry resentment he'd been afraid of—relaxed his shoulders and sent a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "I don't know, Vi. We dated for three years, I think I must have said something romantic at some point."

Viola laughed, bouncing the ball off him. "Don't get too confident, wise-guy. Throwing me over your shoulder at Prom does not count as romance."

Justin smiled back, enjoying the moment. Viola was covered in sweat, her hair sticking up slightly and her soccer uniform dirty, but she was glowing, and for just a moment, he couldn't take his eyes off her.

He caught Duke's eye over her shoulder—the taller boy had noticed him, and he didn't look happy. Viola turned to beam at her new boyfriend as the Illyrian captain jogged up.

"Hey, Viola," he said, slinging an arm around her waist, "The Doofus bothering you?"

Justin bit his tongue, tried not to look at the way the girl he—maybe, probably—still had feelings for leaned into the rival captain. "No," Viola said. "Actually, he was being nice."

Justin coughed as Duke turned to look at him. The other boy didn't look convinced. "Um, I'm going to get going," Justin said, glancing at Viola, "Good seeing you, Vi."

"Yeah, good seeing you." Viola gave him the friendliest smile he'd seen from her since they broke up, and ran towards the rest of the team. Duke lingered.

"You lost your chance, man," the taller boy said, "And if you think you can just waltz back in here and take her back—"

Justin shrugged. "I just came to make things right with Viola," he said, "I got nothing to say to you."

A thought occurred to him as he turned away, and he paused, smirking slightly. "And you might want to watch your back, Duke. Viola's brother has an interesting way of making sure her boyfriends behave."