The Streets

42. Shopping Tears

I felt the warm rays of the sun on my face. I groaned quietly, regretting saying yes to go shopping with Dakota instead of sleeping all day. I opened my eyes seeing that I wasn't in the same position I fell asleep in last night. I had fallen asleep curled up on the opposite side of the couch from Cole. Now, I was sprawled out on the couch, head resting on Cole's legs. Slowly, I raised my head and moved away from him, not wanting to wake him. I didn't want to get caught lying on him.

I rested back in my original position, looking at Cole. His head was resting on the back of the couch, mouth open with small snores coming from him. His arms were limp at his sides and legs placed on the floor, in sitting position. He looked cute but not comfortable. 

"You know this is weird right?" Dakota's voice sounded behind me. I looked over my shoulder at her, raising an eyebrow.

"You watching him sleep?" She questioned as I smirked.

"He watched me sleep and looked after me while I was recovering. I didn't appreciate being watched over like a helpless child but it was sweet of him.

Dakota tsked at me. "You were injured, what else would he have done? We were going to take turns watching you as we did Jacob but Cole said he would do it himself."

"Morning." Cole said making me jump. Dakota and I both chorused the word back to him, before I went to get dressed for the day.

"You ready?" Dakota asked me thirty minutes later. I nodded my head, grabbing my wallet making our way downstairs.

We arrived at Beverly Center, finding a parking spot easily. "Where do you want to go first?" I asked as we made our way inside

Dakota hummed as she looked at one of the mall directories. "There's a few stores I want to check out and then we can eat, is that okay?" I nodded my head as we made our way to our first store. My eyes wandered over the clothes, nothing catching my eyes. Dakota had a pile of clothes quickly.

"I'm going to try these on and I need your opinion." She said as she walked to the back of the store. I followed at her, happy that she was enjoying herself. As she changed, I looked for a dress myself. There was lots in different colors, red, green, blue,bright yellow. I spotted an all black section, making me smile. They were short dresses with different designs. I couldn't pick between two of them so I took both.

"How do I look?" I turned around, smiling at Dakota. The upper part of the dress was white, cutting down between her breasts and there was a belt that led to a swirling pattern of flowers on the lower half.

"It looks good. I like it." She played felt the fabric between her hands before looking at me. "Find anything?" I nodded holding the two dresses out in my arms.

"I'll need your opinion." She smiled at me." Of course." She turned back to the change room going to try on another outfit. I took the change room next to her, locking it and putting on one of the dresses. I looked at myself in the mirror frowning. The dress didn't have sleeves and it reached mid thigh on me. But it was tight in the breast area. I sighed taking it off and putting the next one on. I smiled this time instead of frowning as I looked in the mirror. This was the one.

I opened the door, seeing that Dakota was already out. "I love it." I said right away. This dress was almost the same as the last but it  didn't go down low and it was lacy around the edges. She topped it off with her leather jacket  and small boots.

"Well I love that dress on you. I know Cole is going to love it even more." She said with a smirk.

"Shut up." I said, closing the door to the change room. I changed back to my original clothes and made my way to the register with my dress. I waited as Dakota paid before we moved on to another store. We went to a few more stores including La Senza and Sephora before eating lunch.

"You could've died." Dakota said over the noise of the food court. I blinked at her before knowing  what she was talking about.

"I could've but I haven't really thought of it." The only other time I had was when I was talking to Cole at lunch last week.

"Well I've thinking about it a whole lot more than you! What were we going to do, if you died?" She said as the tears  rolled down her cheeks. I grabbed a napkin I had leftover from my sub and handed it to her.

"Dakota I'm not dead. I'm right here." I said, grabbing her hand and squeezing it. She nodded her head as she wiped her eyes.

"I have nightmares. The noises and the screams echoing in my head loud at night." She mumbled but I was able to hear her.

"Slip into bed with me next time, okay?" I tried to do my best comforting her. 

"Thank you. I know you're not the best person to go to when needing comfort." I chuckled, nodding my head. " I tried my best." She smiled at me before standing.