Hope [anne with an e]

| WERE WE EVER MORE THAN MY MIND

chapter ten: were we ever more than my mind

"the saddest part of love is when
you know it won't work but
you just won't stop hoping."

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FOR A MINUTE, everything was quiet. For a minute, Caroline had no idea what was happening. For a minute, she hoped it hadn't been real.

Then Cole was screaming.

He had his wrist clutched tightly in his hand, crying out at the sudden and immense burst of pain. Caroline gripped onto her brother's arm without thinking, her mind barely even registering what was happening. Gilbert shook out of her hold and sprinted toward the scene, followed closely by Diana. However, Caroline didn't move at all. She watched as everyone gathered around her friend, each sharing a face of concern and fright. Ruby was calling out her name, but Caroline couldn't hear anything.

Her legs felt weak and she was grateful that she couldn't see Cole's injuries. She could feel her heart begin to race and her palms begin to sweat. It didn't take a genius to figure out how this had happened. Cole was an expert at art, there was no way he would have tripped on a ladder. However, the other option was almost too much for her to bear. It almost made her want to throw up.

"Caroline!", Gilbert's shout was finally enough to get her to move, running even faster to Cole's side than he had. 

She slid onto her knees, not even minding how the wooden floor scraped them. It was even worse up close. Caroline swore that she could see the bone. Gilbert moved Cole gently, allowing him to rest his head in his lap so he could see his wrist better. Following her brother's stone gaze upward, she made eye contact with the undoubted culprit of this attack. Billy Andrews shook his head, muttering how he was innocent. Suddenly, Caroline couldn't hear anymore.

Standing up, making barely a sound, she gripped Billy's ear between her thumb and forefinger. He gasped in pain, but she didn't release him. Caroline pulled him outside the building, ignoring the cries of Diana and Mrs.Lynd. Shoving him forward, she didn't miss the shocked look on his face. Billy held out his hands.

"Caroline? What are you doing?", he narrowed his eyes, "I-I didn't do this!"

"Shut up.", Caroline deadpanned.

He did. Nothing he could say was going to fix what he had done and in all his years knowing Caroline, she had never been this angry. She had screamed at him, called him names and punched him, but none of those compared to her silence. Billy closed his eyes and began to remember the first day he fell in love with Caroline Blythe.