While in Verona

Chapter Seventeen: The End Game Part Two

 A few weeks later, Coen leaned over her and shook Sunshine awake. She groaned and muttered something unintelligible. "Come on, Sunshine. Today is our first day back, you don't wanna be late, do you?" Hearing her huffed, she murmured something at him. "What?"

"I said to get off me, you heavy lard," she said louder.

He chuckled and climbed off of her. She sat up slowly and swung herself over the bed so her feet barely skimmed the floor. He sucked in a breath as she struggled to stand, instinctively clutching her side with one hand and using the other for balance against the bed.

Once she was up, she lifted her shirt and looked to him. He grabbed the bandages and gauze before walking toward her. Reaching to undo her bandages, he tried not to think about what was only a few inches above his hands. Pausing to take a deep breath, he resumed. Seeing the dissolving stitches in her side, he clenched his jaw.

He hated the fact that she defended him. Relief of not being beaten to death had quickly turned to anger when he first saw her stitches. It felt like a sucker punch to the gut every time he changed her bandages. Making him even angrier a the dicks who started it.

Tying off the gauze to make sure it stayed, he stood and looked down at her. Her eyes were closed and her head back as she lightly dozed. Guiding his shirt back to her waist, he lightly placed his lips over hers. She moaned into his mouth and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Groaning at the alarm clock going off beside his bed, he pulled away from her lips. "We need to get going. We're already late to first period."

Sighing, she pulled away from him to grab her uniform and carefully walk to the bathroom. Shaking his head, he walked into the kitchen and pulled out a carton of eggs and a saute pan. As he was cooking the scrambled eggs, a pair of arms wrapped around his waist. With a smile, he lifted his arm to see her cheek pressed against his side as she looked at what he was cooking. "I thought we were late to first period?"

His smile turned into a grin. "Well, my thinking was that since' we're already late, what's another twenty minutes to eat a proper breakfast?"

She nodded and pulled away. "Makes sense to me."

Scraping the eggs onto two plates, he handed one to her as she stood at the counter. "Why don't you sit?"

She grabbed a fork from the drawer and glanced down at her breakfast. "Because I don't know if I can get back up."

He took in a deep breath before answering, "are you sure you want to do this today? We can postpone-"

"No," she stated. "I need to get back or my grades will drop."

He leaned against the counter as he ate his eggs. "Who are you trying to impress?"

Swallowing the mouth full of eggs, she said, "it's not a matter of impressing anyone, it's a goal for me to have good grades."

"And the college administrators," he stated.

She nodded. "Them too." She finished her food and put her dish in the sink. Finishing his as well, he reached around her and placed his dish on top of hers. Sliding her hair away from her neck, she bared her neck to him. Running his lips over her bare skin, he planted a kiss on her collarbone before pulling away. "If we don't go now, we will really be late."

She nodded, breathing heavily. "Okay," she said softly.

Almost reluctantly, they grabbed their things and made their way toward the train. After agreeing to meet up at Cafe Verona, he left her at her station and made his way to school.

Lunch, Coen decided. That's when everything will go down.

Waiting for lunch after deciding that was torture. All he could think about was his Sunshine. Only her. How he didn't go under the teacher's radar was beyond here.

The bell rang out through the classroom. An excited lurch in his chest let him know that his countdown of the hours was over. Walking out of the room, Coen scanned the hallways for his target while ignoring the sideways glances and whispers.

Walking into the lunchroom, his eyes skimmed past Shaye, who was sitting on their usual table with her phone pressed to her ear. He walked over to her for her to get up and walk away. Clenching his jaw, he trailed the room, looking for the jackass that started everything going downhill. Coen's eyes met with the guy cornering a nerd.

Before Coen knew what was happening, he was over there, between the girl and the jackass he knew. "We need to talk."

Davis looked up at him and a grin spread on his face to see who it was. "Coen! My man! Anything for you bud," Davis exclaimed. Bringing his mouth to Coen's ear, he said, "I heard you brought the twenty-four girl home with you a few weeks ago. Major score! You get laid?"

Ducking his head to Davis's ear, Coen said in a hard tone, "we're done. The bet's off."

All amusement faded from Davis's face as Coen back away. "What do ya mean the bet's off? We're only halfway through! You can do it, buddy!" He said, slapping Coen's chest.

All Coen could think about was how Sunshine was when she laughed, how she had saved his life. How he owed her the world and a half. He wouldn't let anyone else hurt her, including himself.

Smacking Davis's hands away, Coen backed away to prevent further conversation. "No, we're done. I'll pay up if you want the money." Though Davis didn't need it, with his parents being middle class.

A lost look found it's way onto Davis's face as he followed Coen through the lunchline. "I don't care about the money, man. But what about our deal?"

Leaving the lunch line, Coen came face to face with what looked like a pleading Davis. "It's over. Now, leave me alone."

Davis grabbed Coen's arm, spinning him to face Davis. "You know what happens when someone breaks a deal with me. Do you really want that?"

Shaking off Davis' hand, he stated, "nothing could be worse than what we almost did to her. Nothing."

Walking away, Coen walked out of the school and sat on the front steps. The courtyard was similar to Acadia's. Shaking off the flashback, he picked through his lunch until the bell rang. Lifting himself off the dirty steps, he walked through the halls and walked into his next class, dropping his lunch into the trash can.

The class seemed to go on forever as he waited for the bell to ring. At last, the dismissal bell rang and he was the first out of his seat. Running out of the school, he got on the train. It felt like an impossibility that a train could go so slow when it was built for such high speeds.

Finally getting to the station he was meant to, he maneuvered through the crowds of people to burst through the door of the cafe. Looking around, he began to worry something had happened. Then he saw her, and it felt as though he could breathe again.

She sat against the large window facing the street, passers-by being unaware that she was watching them. Catching his breath, he walked over to her and pulled out the chair across from her.

Sitting in front of him was a hot cup of coffee. "Two creams, right?" She asked, holding her filled mug to her lips.

He smiled at her, "yeah."

They sat there in the busy cafe, watching each other in silence. Studying each other as if it would be the last time they would be the way there were. Quiet, tranquil, and happy to be in each other's company.