Dawning (Dysmorphia Series #3)

Real

Florence pulled away realising that for the first time in a long time she felt something, every nerve ending inside her was alive, screaming for more and telling her that this was real, it was so startlingly real that she had to take a mental step back from her situation and assess the facts, the facts being that a minute ago she had been almost certain that she was in love with Cole and now she had never been more sure of anything in her life.

It was a scary process she remembered if she could recall how it had felt last time, with Andrew it had been seamless almost like waking up one day with everything figured out, this was new and scary and she suddenly felt like she'd been stripped of all her outer layers, like she'd been robbed of her clothing and left out on an icy landscape, she wanted to be normal and lovable but she'd never exactly been one to treasure what she had.

"You okay?"

Cole was still here, he hadn't managed to somehow fade into the background and disappear on her, Florence reached out a hand to touch him, to make sure that he was definitely real.

"I'm fine"

He shook his head and she knew that she had once again given a 'Florence' answer.

"Actually I'm not fine, but then again whenever anyone usually answers me if I'm okay I feel like screaming in their face, I don't feel like that with you so I guess you should take that as a compliment"

He smiled back at her and her heart actually fluttered.

"Every cloud has a silver lining, take this situation now, we're probably the two most unlikely people ever and yet somehow we're here, I've most definitely missed my flight and I really don't care because Spain was going to be a massive mistake and here you are crying because you just threw yourself on me"

He grimaced.

"Why did all my other girlfriends fail to mention to me that I'm terrible at this relationship melarkey"

"Your not terrible, and this is hardly the most normal way to start a relationship, an airport ambush, a crazy outfit and now a crying fit in the middle of a terminal, speaking of which do you want to leave or would you rather we cause another scene, I'm sure Hollywood Fix would love getting some juicy pictures"

"I see your point, wouldn't want to let on to anyone that I'm using you purely for the fact that you've written a lot of bestselling books and have a pretty hefty amount of money in your bank account"

Cole winked and took her hand lacing her fingers in his and began to lead her out of the airport, she felt like she was floating on the very ground beneath her feet, this was all so very surreal.

"My car or yours?"

She felt the sudden urge to laugh.

"That sounded very suggestive Mr Roberts, I mean we've literally just started whatever this is and your already trying to get me in a car alone with you, and they said chivalry wasn't dead"

"It's not dead, which is why we will take your car, I'll drive you back to your parents house because knowing you and your ditzy plans you probably took off in the middle of the night without telling them, I will then get a taxi back to the airport for my car"

"Wait... your car?"

That didn't add up, he'd been going to Spain, who on Earth brought their car to an airport when they were planning on working in another country?

"Cooper" he answered simply.

"Wait... what?"

"Cooper told me if she knew you like she thought you did, you wouldn't let me leave and I'd need a way to get home, because that's where I would be going"

"So you took a chance like that based on something Cooper could have been completely wrong about?"

He nodded and she couldn't help herself, the faith he had in her was more than the faith she'd had in herself on the way here, she owed Cooper a massive hug for this, for believing in her when all signs pointed to the opposite, that she was a runner, she ran away from everyone and everything when it got too hard, Florence burst into tears.

"Your so fond of waterworks"

Cole was already hugging her and she hugged him back breathing in his lemony scent, she was exhausted and she needed a long, long sleep but other than that she was so in love, so in love with the beautiful world she lived in and the beautiful people who occupied it, with love and with faith and the determination others could have to glue all the broken pieces of a person back together again.

"I'm taking you home"

Gently, Cole took her by the arm, took her keys from her bag and helped her into the front seat, the road blurred ahead of her, she was so very tired and her eyes began to dip, she tried her best to stay alert and awake because moments like this should be treasured, moments when you realised that you were so utterly and totally in love with the life you were leading, where you didn't feel so alone anymore.

Florence dreamed of a small girl, around fifteen years old who was walking down a road on what would be the start of the worst day of her life, she dreamed of a boy with brown curly hair who cycled down the road to doom on his bike and knocked her off balance, how off balance she would only come to find out years later, in her dream the girl smiled as she realised that sometimes you didn't have to be alone, sometimes strangers could enter your life as just strangers and end up becoming your rock, someone you could orbit and who stabilised you.

She smiled in her dream and she smiled in reality as she was tucked under the covers in her room and she felt a soft head settle down next to her, she was safe and protected in this little bubble of love, everything happened for a reason, from the smallest drop in an ocean to a a roaring inferno, her life had never been smooth sailing, she had loved and she had lost but that wasn't the point.

The point was that instead of backing out and shying away from everyone she was going to be the best version of herself, the dream Florence admonished her, she had been wasting away so much potential, giving herself pep talk after pep talk without any real resolve, when she awoke she would be new and whole, her heart cleansed and her past perfectly merged with her future.

Because if there was one thing Florence Clarke would never do it would be giving up, not when she had so many things worth fighting for, not when she finally had something real without an ounce of pretence.

Next to her, Cole Roberts counted exactly how much times she breathed every minute, like he was making sure that she was really there... because sometimes the very realest of things can be destroyed.

They both knew that all too well...