WHAT IF! cole walter

CHAPTER TWO, the treehouse

Later on, the night had gotten darker and the stars were out. Everyone was either inside or in bed, fast asleep. That's when Hollyn and Cole snuck out of their houses and over to the stables. Hollyn had rode Apollo to the treehouse, getting there first. She smiled at the familiar tree house, it had been a while since she had last seen it. She missed it. It had been her and Cole's place to go, they had spent a lot of time there together. It was their safe space and they loved being up there.

Once Hollyn got Apollo all settled, she hesitated as she got to the ladder. She didn't like heights at all, and climbing up the ladder to the tree house was hard sometimes. Apollo neighed, gaining her attention. It was as if he could sense her uneasiness and wanted to calm her. She took a deep breath, calming herself. "I got this, Apollo." She tells him. The horse didn't look convinced and he neighed again. "I'm fine." She mumbled and took a deep breath again before climbing up the ladder.

Her hands were shaky and she had to stop a few times to regain her bearings. After a few minutes, she finally got to the top and breathed out a sigh of relief. That had been a lot harder than she remembered. She hated having a fear of heights, it really sucked sometimes. She stood there for a few seconds, catching her breath. She was fine and she had done it, she had made it up the ladder. She knew she still shouldn't be so scared of going up a ladder, but she couldn't help it. She was slowly getting better about it though. She was proud of herself, she had done it and that's all that mattered.

She glanced around the place, smiling at seeing the tree house hadn't changed a bit. It was exactly the same. Polaroids of her and Cole were taped to the walls, pictures she painted of them and other things were hung up as well. Other decorations were hung up on the walls as well. They were just random things she and Cole had found and put up there. There was a hammock hanging in one of the corners, and two bean bag chairs in the other. A bookshelf was against the wall with a bunch of their favorite books on it, and the trunk where all of their stuff was kept. The trunk was under the hammock and the bean bag chairs were under it as well. The place was kind of a mess, but it was a good mess.

Hollyn's gaze landed on the trunk and she smiled at seeing it. That trunk held so many memories and was very special to her. She and Cole had decorated it together, and everything that was in it was from either her or him. The trunk was covered in either stickers or some design that she had painted on there. It was a bright blue color and was very colorful. It had a lock on it, a combination lock. You needed the combination in order to open it, but Hollyn and Cole knew the combination and always had it memorized. 

She walked over to the trunk and unlocked it, opening it up. She smiled at the stuff in the trunk, her memories coming back to her. She reached in and pulled out a black hoodie. She unfolded it, realizing that it was one of Cole's hoodies. He had given it to her and she loved wearing it. She never wore it when she wasn't at the tree house, only there. She always left it there in case she needed one, and she had taken a liking to wearing it when she was there. She put the hoodie back and continued to look through the trunk.

The trunk was filled with things such as board games, card games, art supplies, more polariods, and a polariod camera was in the trunk along with some other things. The polariod camera was something Hollyn and Cole had found and fixed up. It was pretty beat up and old, but they had fixed it up. They didn't use it much anymore, but every once and a while, they would take it out and take a few photos with it. It was fun. Hollyn looked through the trunk some more, pulling out a blanket. It was her favorite that she always loved to use when she was there. She smiled softly and unfolded the blanket. The blanket was a dark gray color with red roses on it. It was her favorite and she always used it whenever she was up there. She wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and moved to pull out the purple bean bag chair. The other was a blue one that Cole usually used.