player ♚ lrh

02 - found him

"I don't give a shit what Calum said, you're not coming."

Elise was bummed, to say the least, that Cole shut down Calum's request before the girl could even begin to make her case. She still didn't have a clue as to where he and Calum were going, but the thought of finally uncovering what all the fuss was about made her more excited than she cared to admit.

Cole, on the other hand, kind of wanted to smack his best friend for even bringing the idea to life. Elise wasn't his sister, and they had no obligation or relation to one another, but for reasons he couldn't explain, Cole kind of considered the girl to be family. It might've had something to do with the fact that the little girl's real family was hundreds of miles away, and he felt the odd need to protect the somewhat naive girl who always trusted a little too easily.

"You always do this, Cole." Elise's voice was soft as he spun around to face her, having closed the door to her small, but cozy, shared apartment. She couldn't pinpoint exactly why this was making her upset, but it had something to do with the way Cole made her feel inadequate to handle herself, even if she hadn't the slightest clue as to what she was about to get herself into.

"Do what?" He frowned.

"Act like you're my dad."

Cole couldn't help but wince, because that wasn't at all what he had intended. Truthfully, he felt like he was doing the right thing—by keeping the girl in the dark. He knew Elise very well, and he knew if he dared bring her once to the place he'd kept her from, she'd find a way to focus on all the good parts, rather than the overwhelming plethora of bad parts.

He also didn't like when she compared him to a fatherly figure, since her real dad-situation was a bit of a mess.

"Shut up, that's not true," Cole would've much rather her picture him as a brotherly figure instead. "I'm not grounding you, I'm just keeping you from making a mistake."

"You don't let me do anything." Elise wasn't whining, but Cole picked up on the bit of sadness behind her tone.

It made him feel like shit, if he was being honest.

"No, I don't let you do anything stupid." He sighed.

"If it's so stupid, then why do you and Calum go?" Elise was kind of proud of herself for pointing this out.

Cole, on the other hand, felt a little trapped as he scratched the back of his neck. "It's...complicated."

Elise furrowed her brows. "Un-complicate it, then."

"Lisi," Cole groaned. "You don't understand."

"Well yeah," the girl huffed. "Because you haven't told me anything!"

"For good reason."

Elise didn't get frustrated often, but Cole was making her want to rip her hair out. She thought it was all a bit hypocritical, the way he was acting.

"If it's so awful, why would Calum even want me there?" It was her last attempt, and Cole had to pause for a moment.

Truthfully, Cole didn't have an answer to that. He knew there was a lot riding on tonight, and the boy had made sure to get his closest friends to come along. But as for suggesting he bring Elise, too, Cole couldn't think of a single reason as to why the idea came to him.

"It doesn't matter," he shook his head. "He doesn't know you like I do, and I know that it's not—"

"—not the kind of place for me," Elise finishes for him, having heard the words to the point of memory. "Yeah, you've said that." She muttered.