Thank you so much for the reviews :o) No idea what's come over me but I wrote another chapter the morning after I posted the first so here it is!

Title: Without Warning

Author: Me :o)

Rating: G/Universal

Pairing/Character: Cooper/Violet

Shock, complete and utter shock. There was no other way to describe the look on his best friend's pale features, as he headed back towards their table. Her eyes were cast downwards, absorbed in the velvety red of her wine. This couldn't be happening. This was surely just some stupid dream he'd wake up from, taking note to watch out for certain red-heads he'd bared his soul to in a few weak moments of their friendship.

Slipping into the seat opposite Violet, he stayed silent for a few seconds, waiting to see if she had had enough time to decide on a reaction to what she had just heard. Any sensible person would decide this was a perfect time to finally tell her his feelings, his very very deep so-not-platonic feelings, but he wasn't sure he had the courage, not until she at least could meet his gaze with those beautiful green eyes of hers.

"Vi?" He managed to choke out tentatively, desperately wanting to take her hand, but resisting due to her lack of reaction. It was beginning to convince him the best course of action was to talk his way out of what Ginger had said; put it down to some simple misunderstanding on her part. Something that would let Violet go back to her obliviousness. Something that would mean she wouldn't have to deal with something like her best friend having secret feelings for her.

Her eyes finally lifted, swirls of confusion and trepidation mixed with anxiousness and a touch of anger. "Is it true?"

Cooper sighed, it was moment of truth time, his decision was made. "That I have feelings for you? Yeah, Vi, it's true."

"Feelings?"

"Yeah."

"Friendly feelings?" She asked, her voice betraying her torrent of emotions as they bubbled clearly under the surface, her hands playing intently with the frosted crystal of her wine glass.

Out of nowhere, Cooper suddenly felt as though he was being given a distinctive chance to get out of this situation intact, and, perversely, felt trapped by it. Could he go on like he had been? Listening to Violet's disaster dates and pretending not to be over the moon that her latest date wasn't a possibility for her?

He took a deep breath, reached across the table with both hands to take hers. Studying the jade inflections in her eyes while ignoring the look of panic that had suddenly appeared on her face, he banished all remaining doubt lingering at the forefront of his mind. "Violet, I'm in love with you. Completely, hopelessly and pathetically in love with you."

She stared at him for the longest time, weighing his sincerity and thinking... just thinking, he could see it in her face. The woman never stopped analyzing.

"You-" She began, frowning. "You just want to get laid, Cooper. We tried the friends with benefits thing, remember?"

Cooper rolled his eyes. Of course she'd think that of him. "No, Vi, this is not about sex. Look, this is just about the worst possible way for this to come out, but I have actual, very real, very intense feelings for you." Irritation began to color his words. The scene he'd always imagined when he finally confessed his feelings for her was not anything like this, never had he considered she just wouldn't get it.

His heart lurched as she suddenly looked incredibly upset, her emerald eyes becoming watery as a silence descended between them.

He let a few moments pass before he squeezed her hands with his, for once not being able to read her expressions, waiting for her to say something.

"You've felt like this-" Violet's gaze shot upwards to meet his, just as she wrenched her arms away from him, her features contorting into a fury he'd rarely witnessed from her. "You've had these feelings, and never said a word? Let me make a fool of myself, telling you all about Allen, and my dates and my life? You made me think I wasn't good enough for even your standards by refusing to-"

"Vi-" Cooper tried to interject, taken aback by her anger.

"No! You know what Coop... just no," She grabbed her sweater and purse and was halfway to the restaurant's exit before he even had the chance to take in her words. A few nearby tables cast some curious glances his way, a few watching the slim, spiral-haired woman storm from the quiet restaurant.

He threw some cash down for their meal, though it had never made it to them before the night had taken its dramatic turn, and caught Ginger's apologetic look as he passed her by the bar on his way out. Cooper reached the door just in time to see Violet stepping into a cab, the sight of her figure disappearing into the vehicle solidifying the fact that this had just become the worst night of his life.