Years have passed.
When Cole stopped to think about it, he realized how much time has passed since he last celebrated anything with other people besides Kai. Though that didn't bother him - Kai was everything to him anyway. Spending any time with him was something Cole looked forward to.
Their friend group from their childhood grew apart - not much to their surprise.
Growing up made both Cole and Kai (and Zane, though he didn't voice his opinion most of the time) realize how they wouldn't last anyway. So they accepted it as it is.
Zane was the first to leave after he had to take up a second job and couldn't even spend time with them anymore.
Jay didn't want to let it go (he thought he was the backbone of it) but even he let it go after tenth grade had begun and no one talked to him. Since then he's kept mostly quiet and to himself (surprisingly).
They stayed as acquaintances, of course, though they didn't know as much about each other's lives as they used to. Cole didn't mind, he told himself often, he just felt a little lonely sometimes.
Kai was still very much into studying so he often got busy whenever tests were coming up - those times Cole decided to stay home instead and not bother him. And besides Kai, he didn't know many people well.
His teammates (none of which he was close to) often invited him to their parties but he promised himself, based on some choices made in the past, that he didn't want to drink anymore. He thought that if he decided to do it, he wouldn't be able to stop himself. He wasn't popular in particular, nor was he known - most people only knew that he was playing on the football team and nothing else. He didn't mind.
Kai was supportive ( very supportive of this decision in particular) and tried to help Cole as much as he could with his alcoholism. He knew how easily addiction could get to Kai's head and he tried to be the voice of reason between the two of them.
The promise didn't exactly keep Cole away, though - and he hated himself for it sometimes. But Kai was always there to help him get through it. He was always there to be the solid ground Cole needed. Cole always thought he would never be able to thank him enough for how much he's done for him. But maybe, one day, he always reassured himself whenever he thought of this.
I.
Cole didn't plan on being here to be fair. He didn't plan on being invited out - and then accepting it . But it was New Year's Eve. Kai was busy with his family (surprisingly, since they've spent every NYC together at one of their houses) so Cole decided why not?
That was the first bad decision he made that night.
The second was actually going.
The third was accepting drinks from people he didn't even know.
The fourth was... well he hadn't gotten there yet.
Or maybe he has and he just miscalculated everything else that has gone bad so far. He spent most of the night sitting at the same spot - just with different people. The other guests seemed to enjoy themselves, he thought.
He was a little confused about why his brain decided to think about his past friends. He couldn't even guess what the reasoning might be behind it but here he was. Already breaking the promise (for the millionth time probably) he insisted on keeping. He didn't know if he was lying to himself or everyone else around him when he did that.
He didn't want to end up like his father. He'd cried about that many times (he wouldn't admit that to anyone besides Kai though).
So tonight, looking like some wet and depressed kitten, he sat on that couch with some drink in his hand at all times. Laughed at some jokes people said around him or added some comments he thought would fit in (he never started a conversation himself on the other hand).
