❝ I'm scared, scared I'll go back to being broken now that he isn't here to fix me anymore❞
Before, Florence Clarke was hospitalised for having anorexia, she was put on The List at Phillipson High and named the Fat Girl, at first Oakwood Clinic seem...
She fixed Florence with her piercing stare, behind her spectacles were eyes that looked like they came from the center of a storm.
"How was Cole?" she asked.
Florence sighed and flopped down onto the top step, pulling Natalie down with her.
"He's not like I imagined..." she began and then couldn't find the words
"In what way?" prompted Natalie
Florence took a deep breath "He's Chase's twin Nat, he's Chase's identical twin"
Natalie clapped a hand over her mouth her eyes going wide
"Oh Flo, you poor thing"
Florence nodded grimly, that just about summed it up.
And then she let the dam break and the tears began flooding out.
"Nat, I don't know what to do, he looks exactly like Chase, he sounds like him, he smells like him and his touch even feels like him I'm going crazy with missing Chase and then there's this doppelgänger right in front of me tricking my brain into thinking that it's him. It's messed up everything I thought about grief, when someone passes away your meant to never see them again but have your memories to hold onto, but this is completely the opposite of that Cole is a constant reminder but at the same time he isn't, he's rude, narcissistic and extremely unstable and God I miss Chase so much"
Natalie patted her shoulder
"Sweetie, I don't know what I can say to make any of this better, I probably can't find the words, you're the writer here" she nudged Florence playfully.
She couldn't work up a smile, she was just too tired, too heartbroken and too grief-stricken it was that damned face, why must they share the same face and torture her in this way?
"All I can say is that you have a great heart Florence, Chase asked you to do something and I know you'll try your best to do it. Just remember you have me here always and your Mother and Father and though I don't really get how you've forgiven her I suppose you have Cooper."
Florence rested her head on her shoulder, Natalie was shorter than her and the gap between her head and neck meant she could rest her head there perfectly.
"I wish Chase could have met you, Nat, he'd have liked you"
"I wish I could have met him to sweets, I already love him for how he helped you come out of your darkness, I wouldn't have my top client right now if it wasn't for him."
Chase would never meet anyone new in her life, ever.
She could never tell him about her day, he would never have another day.
They would never have any new memories together.
She had always dreamed of growing up, finding her perfect prince, marrying him and living happily ever after, she and Cooper would glue gems onto plain tiaras and play at being princesses, but how could she ever love anyone except Chase? He consumed her life, her very being, she could never marry, she couldn't even imagine raising a family with anyone but him.
And the tears were starting again.
She knew where she needed to go, she felt something tugging her towards the flat in the very direction she'd just drove away from, she needed to be where he once was and she couldn't exactly waltz back into Oakwood, they might think she wasn't ready to be out again, and she was.
"Nat, please tell Mum I won't be home for dinner, I just realised something I need to do" Florence quickly rose to her feet.
"Hey! I was meant to be staying, your Mum made lasagna especially, Florence."
"Sorry, another time!" Florence called back over her shoulder "I need to be somewhere"
The drive to the flat was much faster than the drive back had been, perhaps because she was so intent on getting to her destination that she might have passed a few red lights and disregarded some traffic rules, she needed to be there, she felt like if she just drove faster, if she just counted to a hundred three times in her head then Chase would open the door and smile at her.
Cole opened the door, and he definitely wasn't smiling.
His eyes were red-rimmed and she could smell the beer before she saw the three cans on the floor. Her nose wrinkled with the stench of it, she'd never been a fan of alchol, of how it changed her friends from reasonable people to giggling messes.
How had he managed through those so fast, she'd barely been gone for thirty minutes, she walked into the flat without invitation, technically it was hers.
"What happened?" she asked gesturing to the cans and to his blank expression "You were fine when I left"
"You saw what you wanted to see Florence, what did you think that our little heart to heart meant when you came back I would have an apron on and be baking homemade cookies?"
She was taken aback, he had some serious mood swings.
"Listen" she tried to sound stern "Chase didn't want you here and I don't want you here so you can make a tip of this place and get drunk off your head"
"I'm not drunk," he said curtly
"I'm staying here" she said firmly "I won't let you carry this on and make a mess of things, your here to get back on your feet, not on an extended stay, now get your act together, I'm definitely staying this week if the moment I leave you'll be at the alcohol again, we'll see if you're still behaving like an immature toddler after a week"
He stuck his bottom lip out.
"Don't cross your fingers that I won't" he said and then walked into his bedroom slamming the door behind him.
What had she just said, a week?
She'd be leaping out of the window by the end of it...
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