Chapter 7: Within
A week had gone by and Violet and Bryce had gotten closer to each other. Violet had told Bryce about the valley where she lived with her family and the scenery around it. Bryce showed her more about videogames and more about music. Soon, Bryce began to find something...
"That's a new one, isn't it?" Violet asked, her tail swaying back and forth to the slow yet graceful song.
"Yeah." He replied. Mysteriously, he rose up from his chair and held out his hand for Violet to take it.
"What are you up to?" she asked, taking his hand.
Without warning, he pulled her close to him, and started to dance with her. Violet was surprised, to say the least, not just from his sudden initiative, but the fact that he was a good dancer. As the song progressed, she slowly picked up the steps. At the end, Bryce dipped her slowly, and as the song ended, raised her back up.
"Wow…you are amazing." Violet said. "Where did you learn to do that?"
He grinned. "I've seen enough of America's Got Talent to know how to dance."
"Well, it paid off." She said.
"I think I'm going to swim, if you want to join…" he mused.
Her pupils shrunk and she froze. Bryce waved a hand in front of her. She snapped back to normal.
"Sorry, I'm just terrified of water. I don't know how to swim. There was never a stream or pond or anything near where I live."
"Do you want me to teach you? Our pool is deep enough to swim in, but shallow enough to touch the bottom if you need to." He asked.
She thought a moment before slowly nodding.
He looked into Violet's eyes. "Don't worry; I'll be right there to keep you safe."
Bryce left to change, leaving Violet with her thoughts.
*He really does care, even if nobody else thinks so. It seems like he'd do anything to see me happy.* She had a warm feeling, but she couldn't quite tell what it was.
At this point, Bryce was back. He was wearing swim trunks and holding a small raft that floated in the water. He noticed Violet was blushing.
"What?" He asked, and then remembered she hadn't ever seen him without a shirt on. He chuckled and blushed as well, though kept it under control much better than she did.
One hour later…
Violet could swim without the raft, but Bryce kept his arms under her just to be safe. After a while, he withdrew his hands without telling her. It was only when she turned around that she noticed he was sitting on the ledge of the pool, watching her. She swam up to the ledge and Bryce helped her up. Her face showed a blank expression.
"Bryce?" she asked.
"Yeah?" he responded.
She kissed him on the cheek and hugged him tightly.
"Thank you."
"It's no problem," Bryce said. "You've given me so much, and I know helping you with this isn't enough."
"Oh, please." She replied. "You gave me a home, shown me spectacular things, and given me courage to face my fears."
He smiled softly. "…But you gave me something better. A friend. The only one I could talk to before that seemed to care was my cat. You gave me life."
Violet smiled. Bryce smiled back.
Author's Notes: Didn't expect Bryce to be able to dance, did ya? Not really important; the main focus was Violet conquering her fear.