Just for Now

Chapter Twelve

Day Five
Morning

Cole's eyes fluttered open as the sun pierced through his eyelids. He groaned as he shifted around to avoid it, his back screaming at him for his sleeping situation these past few nights. The cushions had shifted to dip off the couch, forcing him in the hard crevice on the couch frame. Not to mention, his spot on the couch was the exact place the sun leaked in through the window. Nothing about it was exactly ideal. He stared longingly at the bed in the middle of the room. Besides noting its soft blanket and pillows, he also noticed it was empty. Waking up a bit more, he realized he could faintly hear the shower running in the background.

He didn't know what his sister had planned for the day, but he could only hope it started and ended with relaxing on the beach. The past few days were nothing short of absolutely insane. If they wanted everyone to make it to the wedding in one piece, they should probably cool it with the excursions. Not to mention, it was a lot easier to pretend everything was fine when all they had to do was lay on a beach with each other. Cole wasn't sure he could take another one of their outings.

The door suddenly swung open, causing Cole to nearly jump out of his skin. His heart rate instantly spiked as he leapt off the couch. Panic overtook his body at the idea of someone just barging into their hotel room. But his worries were quickly disregarded when he saw his youngest brother casually walk through the door.

The boy just flashed him a smile. "Hey."

"How the hell did you get in?" Cole demanded in alarm, his heart still pounding in his chest.

"Swiped one of your extra keycards in case I wanted to say hey, so... hey," Sam explained casually, flicking his fingers up to show the card between his fingers. "How did you sleep?"

"Fine," he responded curtly, clearing his throat as he tried to cover the makeshift bed with his body. "You?"

Sam gave him a thumbs up, eyes traveling around the room as if looking for something. "You guys order a new ring?"

"Emailed the insurance company about it," Cole grumbled out, rubbing a hand over his face. The things he did to try to keep Alli happy. Maybe he would thrive in jail after being arrested for fraud. His mother was insistent on helping them phrase the email last night and get it out as soon as possible. He knew she was just trying to help, but it really didn't. Cole didn't even notice it went silent for a few moments. The air felt heavier, causing him to glance up at his younger brother, who was giving him a concerned look.

"Is everything okay?" Sam asked carefully, narrowing his eyes at his older brother.

"You mean besides someone barreling through my door unannounced?" Cole deflected with a forced laugh, hoping he would drop it but, of course, he didn't.

"You sure that's it?" Sam pressed, his heading dipping slightly as if analyzing his face for a visible tell.

He threw his arms out in defeat, asking, "What's making you ask?"

"It... it looked like you were sleeping on the couch," Sam pointed out in a gentle voice, his eyes darting around.

Cole didn't bother trying to hide his sigh, his eyes shutting for a moment. He was trying to think of a reason he could say, but it hardly even seemed worth it. He could tell by the look on Sam's face that he wouldn't buy into some lie. Honestly, people didn't give Sam enough credit. His brother was more perceptive than he let on. The twins always caught onto things that other people seemed to miss. Besides, it wasn't exactly subtle.

It reminded him of when they were younger. As the oldest, Cole often felt responsible for his siblings. He just wanted to help take the load off his parents. But sometimes, he couldn't help himself. Growing up, his parents were decently strict with no one in the bedroom after a certain hour who wasn't an Alvarez. Cole almost always abided by that rule, not wanting to cause anymore chaos in their house than there already was. But one time, he just didn't wanna stop seeing Alli that day. She was intoxicating and he couldn't get enough. They had spent nearly the entire day together doing homework and he just wanted to see her. They both decided that night she would sneak in through the window. They spent the time before she left making his belts into a makeshift rope for her to climb. He didn't want her to get hurt, but she assured him she would be fine. And shockingly, she did it. Alli had no problem climbing up the rope. It didn't hurt that their second floor wasn't too high up, but still, he was impressed.