Friends Forever, huh?

Chapter 39 | "i brought coffee"

After spending a couple hours at Cupcake Corner, Cole drives me home. I pretend not to notice as he obviously takes the longest route possible so he can maximize our time together.

He pulls into my driveway and I hesitate before getting out of the car, not quite ready to leave. Tonight has been something out of a dream...and oh, I'm afraid of waking up. "Is this all real?" I say in a small voice, feeling foolish for asking the question, "It feels like a dream."

"If it was a dream, would I be able to do this?" Cole leans in, his lips nearly brushing mine. My eyes flutter shut as I lean in to close the gap between us. They fly open when he pinches my arm.

"Ow!" I exclaim, rubbing the sore spot on my arm, "Why did you do that?" I scowl at him.

"If I pinch you and you don't wake up, then you weren't dreaming," He says smugly, looking rather proud of himself. I cross my arm, trying to keep up an angry façade. It's irritatingly hard thanks to the cute puppy dog face he's giving me.

"Goodnight Cole," I say softly.

"Goodnight sunshine."

I walk up to the door, casting one last glance toward Cole's car. I'm about to knock when I hear a call of "wait!" from the car. I turn around expectantly to find he's bound up to the door in a few long steps. He wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me close. Smoothing back my hair with his hand, he presses his lips to the top of my head. For a moment, I'm disappointed that he didn't kiss me. However, his arms feel so much like affection--so much like home--that I practically melt into his embrace. Safety.

"I had to give you a proper goodnight," Cole says with a smile as he leans away. I lean in, pressing a quick kiss to his lips before leaning away.

"Goodnight Cole."

"Goodnight Sunshine." We share a smile at the deja vu from our earlier conversation. Then he walks away and the door creaks open to reveal my mother standing there with a knowing smile on her face.

"Shut up," I mumble, my voice betraying me. If I wanted to act annoyed with her interference, it's not going well. I'm still wearing the smile Cole gave me. So I decide to stop my façade and give my mother a huge hug, "thank you for taking me to meet him."

"You're welcome," She replies, but there's a lingering sadness in her smile. I can't help but wonder if she's still thinking of my father. I feel a sudden stab of animosity toward him, wondering how he could get my mother pregnant and then leave like it's no big deal. As a child, I wanted to meet him so badly...now I don't know if even care to.

I change into my pajamas and get ready for bed, falling asleep quickly for the first time in awhile. For the last week, my sleep has been plagued with sporadic hours awake. But when I wake up to my six am alarm, I feel surprisingly rested. Of course, six still comes entirely too early, but I actually feel somewhat prepared for Monday morning.

To my surprise, Cole's car is parked in the driveway. He knocks on the door, giving a mock bow when I open it. "Your carriage awaits, m'lady."

"Thank you, kind sir," I reply, a smile making its way onto my face--the kind of smile that only he can make appear.

"So.." Cole says as we settle into the car, "I want to tell you something."

I smile in anticipation, hoping he'll just say those three little words...

"I brought coffee."

Hallelujah, this one is a keeper.

When he hands me a large Carmel coffee, I actually sigh in contentment. "You know, I think I already mentioned this, but you're not so bad."

"Mhm," he grunts in agreement, "so I've been told. I was hoping you thought better of me than 'not bad' however..." Cole raises an eyebrow at me, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Nah," I give a noncommittal shrug, "You're alright."

"I don't get coffee for just anyone, sunshine."

"Oh, so I'm special now?"

"You've always been special," He glances away from the road and winks at me.

I don't bother hiding my smile. Despite our teasing, he still took the time to genuinely compliment me. Yes, having Cole as my boyfriend is going to take some getting used to.

We enter the school together; he grabs my hand and interlocks our fingers giving me a look of unadulterated affection. Suddenly I flash back to when we were children. He used to look at me like that and I felt like I could do anything. Be anything.

"I want to write a book," I tell him, a pencil tucked in my messy brunette hair, "but I'm terrible at it! Everything I try to write ends up plotless or just flat out terrible."

"You're not terrible, sunshine." He nudges my shoulder, "let me see." I hold my raggedy blue notebook out of his reach, shaking my head stubbornly, "No! It's too embarrassing!" What I don't mention is that I've never told anyone about my dream of writing--let alone showed them my notebook. That's the way I work: I don't share my writing or anything close to my heart because I'm afraid my dream will get shot down.

However, Cole is persistent. And taller than me. So he quickly pulls the notebook from my grasp and flips it open. Ignoring my grumbling protests, he starts to read. After a few minutes, he glances up with wide eyes. I'm afraid to ask him what he thought.

Half expecting him to be critical or crack a joke, I'm surprised when he lets out a low whistle, "Dang. I didn't know I was best friends with America's next bestselling author."

"Yeah, right." I scoff, trying my best to hide the pleased smile that he caused. He ruffles my hair, causing me to shoot him a mock glare, "I'm serious, Ash. You're amazing."

So as I walk down the hallway, with my hand tucked in his, I feel a little bit like I did that day: like the world was wide open for me. Like I could be anything I wanted--do anything I wanted--if only I  would put my mind to it. Being by his side feels like confidence and that's something I haven't had in far too long. It feels nice, I decide, as he glances at me with unmasked adoration. The old me is back. And I welcome her wholeheartedly, saying a momentary farewell to the insecure, disaster of a girl that I've been recently.

***

I'm sorry that this chapter is crappy :( Today hasn't been the best day in the world and I'm kind of bummed out. My heart isn't completely in this chapter but I still really wanted to update for y'all. My apologies again about the less than superb writing. Anyhow, hope you somewhat enjoyed it.

Important Question: I'm nearing the end of this book. Since the chapter plan has completely been changed, I'm not sure exactly how many chapters I have left but it's definitely close to the end. So, because of that...I need to know:

DO YOU WANT A SEQUEL OR NO? I'm considering perhaps a spin-off with Caroline as the main? Maybe Shelby? You know for something different?