Forgotten Boy

Out Of Sight

I made my way to the stables as soon as we had word of Rhys and Evangeline (a woman he had been traveling with). Dorian agreed to go with us as he had been paying close attention to my physical state, using magic to heal me as best he could, and to keep me comfortable. Varric wanted to come too, but he had other matters to attend to, so he clapped Cole on the back and told him to have fun. Cole looked a little shell shocked as we gathered what we needed for the journey and stood staring at us all through wide eyes. I asked him what was wrong and he wandered into the barn, leaving me to follow him into the shadows.
"Did you want something?" I asked when we were out of sight.

"I don't want to go... Rhys won't remember me... and if he does, he'll think I'm a monster... I can't see him like that... the way he looked at me, hurt and hate, I can't see that look again... I can't..."
he looked helplessly into my eyes, tears glistening in the crystal pools. He was terrified.

"I want you to be happy, what would you do if I wasn't here? I need to know that someone out there would look after you."

"I'm not a child."

"But you need someone there for you."
He lurched forward and held me tightly, and I hugged him back.

"I have Varric?" he suggested feebly.

"I know you do but he won't be around all the time," His grip tightened around me and I could tell that I was putting more pressure on him, "look, we can find Rhys and I can talk to him. You can hide somewhere until I've spoken to him, you don't have to come with me if you don't want to. I just want to talk to him about you. I want you to be friends again."

He let me go, "why? Why do you want that?"

"Because I care a lot about you, Cole, and I want to see you happy. It's clear how you feel about Rhys and I want to reunite you two if I can."

"You make me happy..." he looked down and shuffled his feet on the dusty floor.

I half smiled, "we've been through this."

He looked at me once more, his clear eyes curious, "do you still love Solas?"

He could probably tell how I was feeling better than I could right now, so I shrugged, "I don't know how to feel. I'd rather not talk about it."

He reached out for my arm, which was now almost completely black from the elbow down, and lightly ran a finger down the rough surface, "I will not forgive him."

"You can't think like that."

"Why not?" He suddenly snapped, raising his voice and making me jump, "he hurt you!"

"I know he did... I could forgive him for my arm, but..." I looked away and he waited patiently for me to continue, "I don't think I could forgive the lies."

He took my good hand in both of his, making me look at him again, "you don't have to ever forgive him. No one else does. They want him to rot for what he did."
I gazed at the blonde man, feeling a wave of sadness engulf me. I suddenly wanted to go back to bed and sleep it all off again. I hadn't spoken to anyone about Solas since meeting him almost a week earlier.
Cole stroked the top of my hand with his thumb and before I could think anymore he leaned towards me and pecked me on the lips. I blinked, a little surprised by the urgency of it, and he was gone before I got a chance to speak. I went back to the stables in a daze, hoping I could muster the courage to have a normal conversation with him when he finally showed himself again... well, whatever classed as a normal conversation to Cole...