It was finally Friday! AJ called in sick so Violet and Seth decided to go out for lunch; Antonio decided to eat in the plant cafeteria so that he could meet some more people. They went to the little pizza place near the plant, it was close and it was fast and who can say no to pizza? They found a small table for two and dug in, but Violet kept looking up every time the door opened.
"Vi, relax," Seth said frowning, his heart broke for her, the poor thing was still jumpy even though there hadn't been a peep from Jake in almost a month.
"Sorry, I can't help it. I keep waiting for him to show up again. Its been a month, its about time, you know?"
Seth reached across the table and squeezed her hand, "I know Vi. I don't know how you feel but I know that as long as he still controls you like this, he is winning."
She nodded and sniffed back tears, Seth got up and dragged his chair next to hers and pulled her into him for a hug. They sat like that for a while, he knew Violet hated crying but at least he could try to calm her down a little before they had to head back to work.
Roman ran out to pick up lunch for him and Dean. Dean wanted pizza, even though Roman tried to talk him into getting something a little healthier. At least he could get a chicken wrap at that pizza place Dean sent him to. He walked in and placed his order, then looked up and saw Violet and Seth. They were sitting next to each other and she had her face buried in Seth's shirt, he had his arms wrapped around her and he kissed the top of her head. Roman felt his heart stop in his chest, he fought the urge to rip that freak's arms off and paid for lunch and stormed out.
He walked into Dean's office, slammed the door shut and tossed the pizza box on the desk in front of his friend. He threw his wrap down and kicked the tiny guest chair across the room.
"What the fuck crawled up your ass?" Dean asked, "Hey! Don't trash my office, man, I'm gonna have to pay for that!"
Roman growled, "Don't start with me Ambrose, now is not the time."
Dean scratched the back of his head, "Roman, seriously, come on, calm down, count to ten or something and tell me what the fuck has you all worked up like this."
Roman paced the room a few times trying to get himself under control. This was not him, this was not normal, the head doctor told him how to control these feelings. Deep breaths, start with deep breaths, count to ten, Ambrose is right.
When he finally calmed down he was exhausted, he collapsed into the guest chair and put his head in his hands. Dean gave him a few more minutes before speaking, "Bro. What happened?"
Roman groaned, he was embarrassed, this was why Dean and Leslie felt the need to take care of him, these random fits of anger, triggered by something so simple. He was getting so much better, it had been months. He sighed, "Violet and Seth. They were at the pizza place."
"So? That place is crawling with people from here, its the closest place that isn't infested with roaches."
"He was holding her, kissed her head." Roman squeezed his eyes shut and took another deep breath, just picturing it in his head was enough to get him all worked up again.
"Roman, they are just friends," Dean said, he looked at his friend, he didn't realize he felt that strongly about Violet. "They've known each other since their first day in college. They are like brother and sister."
Roman didn't say anything, he didn't even look up at his friend. He was wiped out, getting all worked up like that took a toll on him. It always did, shit, he didn't want to have to call that shrink again.
"Look, Roman, Leslie will kill me for saying this, but Violet is head over heels for you. Make a move man, ask her out for dinner or a movie, something, anything."
Roman finally looked up at his friend, "She deserves better than me."
"Dude, Vi is like a sister to me and you are like a brother to me, would I be pushing you two together if I didn't think you are made for each other?"
"If she saw me like I was when I walked in here, she would be scared shitless and you know it," Roman resisted the urge to punch the desk.
Dean shrugged, "Then don't lose your shit in front of her."
Roman just glared at him from across the desk.
"Hey, man, don't look at me like that," Dean said. "Think about it, as soon as you realized you were in a bad state, you managed to calm yourself down."
Roman stood up, took his lunch and walked out, "I'm gonna do my rounds and get the fuck out of here."
Dean watched his friend leave, he would be lying if he said he wasn't worried about him, but also knew that he had come a long way since he left the battlefield. Dean was lucky, he left with his mind in one piece and met Leslie, very few of his fellow vets could say that. He wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for Roman, he would be in his debt forever.
Roman was still agitated from his embarrassing outburst, he sat in his car and ate his lunch and tried to really think about what Dean had said. He was right, he was able to calm himself down pretty quickly, but he needed Dean to point it out to him. Plus, he had no reason to get so worked up over seeing Violet with anyone, all they shared was a dinner and a hug because he didn't have the balls to kiss her. He leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths. Violet was perfect, but if it didn't work out, he could lose his two best friends.
He made his afternoon rounds like he promised, but he didn't stop to talk to Violet like he normally did, he waved as he walked by her desk and felt like an asshole when he saw her smile vanish as he walked past her without stopping. He was standing outside sending a text to Dean to tell him that he was leaving early when Violet came running out and stopped right next to him.
"Hey." She said looking up at him and shielding her eyes from the sunlight.
"Hi Violet," he muttered.
"Uh, is everything OK?" She asked softly, "You know, if you need to talk, I'm here for you." He didn't answer her, just stared straight ahead, "I mean, I know you have Dean and you guys go way back and all, but I... well, I just wanted to tell you that I am here, if you need someone who isn't Dean to talk to."
He looked down at her, stop being a jerk Reigns, look at her face.
"Thanks Vi," he said and started to walk away. She reached out and grabbed his wrist forcing him to turn around and look down at her.
"I mean it, Roman." She gave him a little squeeze and let go turning around to go back inside.
Roman stood there and watched her walk away. He was being stupid, she was practically begging him to talk to her. "Vi! Wait!" he called out and jogged over to meet her by the door. "Look, I'm sorry, I am being a big jerk here, but…"
She smiled, "Its OK, I know, you are a big strong man and big strong men don't talk about their feelings."
That's when he had the perfect idea, "Exactly, we like to do manly things, like beat on punching bags." He grinned at her, "How about a sparring session at the gym after work?"
"Sure! I'll have to swing by my place to grab my gym bag though."
"Perfect. I'll meet you here at quitting time and follow you over to your place."
"Oh! And then afterwards you can come back to my place, Leslie and I made a giant pot of chili the other day," she said, "and I could use some help eating it."
"Now that's a deal, little lady!" He said, he gave her a quick hug and promised to meet her back there right after he clocked out. He couldn't wait to see Vi in action on that punching bag and the invite back to her place was just icing on the cake!
They were in Roman's car heading back to Violet's place after just over an hour on the bags and quick shower in the locker rooms. "Vi, you are a little powerhouse! Your form is perfect."
She giggled, "Thanks!"
He parked his car in the driveway behind hers and started to get out of the car, "Wait!" She yelled, "I didn't check to see if it was safe yet."
He paused and watched her scan the yard and get out with her keys and her pepper spray in position. He silently followed her to her front door, slipped in behind her and watched as she reset the alarm code.
"Uh, Vi?" He asked as he followed her to the kitchen, "What the hell was that all about?"
"What was what all about?"
Roman just looked at her, she tried to ignore his steely eyed stare but she cracked in under a minute.
"Fine, fine, I'm sure you know most of the story anyway." She turned her back to him to start heating up the chili, suddenly feeling embarrassed to tell him about Jake.
He came up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders, "Vi, you can trust me. But if you don't want to tell me, then that's fine too."
She leaned back against his chest and sighed, "Whatever Dean has told you about Jake is true. He was abusive when we were together and he is furious that I left him."
He wrapped his arms around her waist, "So he is stalking you. And even though you are with a sixth degree black belt trained by the US Marine Corp, you still felt the need to take out your pepper spray?"
She turned around to face him, "Well, I guess when you put it that way, it does seem kinda silly." She wrapped her arms around his waist, "But its my routine, and every time I get too comfortable, he surprises me with something."
She rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes relaxing in his arms. She had no idea how long they stayed that way, but suddenly they smelled the chill burning. Violet turned around and saw the pot overflowing onto the stove top and quickly killed the gas and moved the pot over. "I think it's hot enough," she said.
They settled down on the couch and polished off half of the chili and talked about pretty much everything. Roman stretched out his legs and put his arm across the back of the couch, "Now that was some good chili. You and Leslie can hook me up with an extra pot of that anytime."
Violet nodded, "It came out really good! We modified the recipe a little bit in order to trick Dean into eating more veggies."
Roman laughed so hard he had tears in his eyes, "I swear sometimes, that man is like a five year old!"
"Sometimes?" Violet squeaked, "Only sometimes?"
Violet finally caught her breath and realized that he had slid closer to her on the couch and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. She looked up at him and the look in his eyes made her heart skip a beat, he leaned down and placed a sweet kiss on her lips.
"Vi, I understand you are still hurting because of your ex and I don't want to rush you into anything."
She nodded and looked up at him, "But, I want you to know how amazing I think you are. When you are ready, I'll be here."
Violet swallowed the lump in her throat, "Roman, I don't have any feelings for Jake anymore, just fear. It might be hard for me to trust though."
They were quiet for a few minutes when Violet spoke up, "Roman, why were you so upset this afternoon?"
Roman sighed, well, he owed her that much, "I uh, well, I have some post traumatic stress issues and I have trouble sleeping." He paused and looked at her, she nodded and waited, she had a feeling there was more.
"I get agitated sometimes, something innocent will set something off and I'll flip my shit. Today was the first time it happened in three months."
Violet squeezed his hand, she didn't know what to say.
"You scared of me now?" He asked softly.
She shook her head, "You? No way."
She leaned her head on his shoulder and started tracing the tattoo on his forearm.
"I was the sniper for our unit," he said.
She looked up at him, "A sniper? That sounds pretty cool."
"Yeah, it is pretty cool." He paused and watched her fingers on his arm. "The bad part is being isolated from your team. You see things go down, but there is nothing you can do to help."
Violet was surprised to hear the sadness in his voice, she knew from talking with Leslie that Dean needed to get these images out of his head every so often, she looked up and waited to see if there was more. She put her hands on the sides of his face and kissed his lips softly, the same way he had kissed her and then hugged him as tightly as she could. When she felt him relax again she whispered "Snipers are sexy as hell."
He chuckled and ran his fingers through her hair, "So are chemists."