"Cole," I murmured while walking down the stairs. I saw him in the kitchen, his head in his hands.
He turned his head the second he heard my voice. "Yes, Love?"
"I can't sleep."
He pulled a chair out for me. I went and sat next to him. I could feel my face was puffy and red.
"You should get some sleep, you look tired," he muttered.
I shook my head and laid my head against the cold counter. Slowly my eyes began to shut, Cole set his hand on my back and slowly rubbed my back.
I woke up in my bed alone. I hated being alone. I grabbed my blanket and stood up, Cole was lying down on the couch in my room. I walked over to him and slid under the blankets, snuggling up closer to him.
He sighed and wrapped his arms around me. "Goodnight Love."
"Goodnight," I murmured. I was in and out of sleep throughout the night and the next day.
- - -
Cole walked into the room with a tray of pancakes and tea. He scooted onto the couch next to me. "Will you eat now?"
I shrugged, feeling a little better. "Maybe," I whispered. I looked up and made eye contact with him, his eyes were a little puffy too. I leaned in and hugged him. "It'll be okay."
It was my turn to do the coddling and hugging. I shouldn't be his priority, he should be my priority.
He froze for a second then wrapped his arms around me. "It will be okay. Won't it?"
"Mhm."
"His funeral is today," Cole whispered.
Way to kill the vibe, Cole. He's lucky I love him.
"Mhm."
"Mhm," he mocked. "You don't have to go, you can stay here and I'll be back within ten minutes."
"No. I shoud...I want to go," I mumbled. I laid back down on the couch, my head resting on his lap. He picked up the fork and held a piece to my lips. "You don't have to feed me, I'm an adult."
He shrugged. "I can baby you, now eat, I can't have you starving."
I rolled my eyes and took a bite. I turned my head to stare up at him. "These are pretty good."
"See, I told you I'm a good cook," he chuckled. The timer on the oven started going off, I pinched my eyebrows and looked at Cole. He looked at me with a straight face. "I have thirty minutes before I leave, I have to get ready."
"I guess that means I should too."
I ate the last piece of the pancake and slowly stood up. "I don't know what to wear."
"Wear the dress you wore when we went to the carnival that one day, it looked nice," he whispered while also getting up.
I felt myself blush. It was so cute when boys remembered little things. "Okay. I'm going to shower first."
"I'll be showering in the other one."
I went into the bathroom and stood there, the water hitting my face. It felt really good to just cry and not have to worry about getting tears everywhere. There was a knock at the door, I wiped my tears.
"Come in," I murmured. I heard Cole walk in, I could tell from the way his spets hit the ground.
"I forgot my toothbrush in here," he said. "How are you doing?"
"Besides the fact that I'm going to have a very swollen face, I'm doing a little better," I sniffled. Cole had moved in the day after we got the news about Kade and it's made life easier, never being alone and all.
"I have a trick to help with that, once you're ready I'll show you."
I turned the shower off. "Okay."
He grabbed his toothbrush from the cabinet and walked out, shutting the door behind him. I stepped out and dried off. I put on the dress, it was a black v-neck that was flowy and ended right above my knees. This dress did look good on me.
My hair swirled in a twist on the top of my head. I stared into the mirror for a while and slid down the wall, my head in my hands, crying. There was a knock on the door again. I didn't respond, the door creaked open.
"It's okay Love," Cole whispered. He took a seat in front of me and lifted my head with his hands. He wiped under my eyes with his thumbs. I sniffled. "Close your eyes." I closed them and something cold and smooth pressed against my eyelids. The coolness felt calming.
"My mother taught me that cold spoons against the eyes helps with swelling and headaches." I nodded faintly and leaned into him. "I'll always be here Love, I promise I won't leave ever again. I plan on getting a job here soon. We can even travel the world if you want. Just one more day and we can put this all behind us."
He slowly took them off my eyes. "There are those cerulean eyes of yours."
I smiled slightly and sniffled. "I'm sorry I'm so much work."
He looked at me with a straight face. "You will never be too much work."
"I don't even feel like moving anymore," I murmured.
"If you don't want to, you don't have to."
He set the spoons aside and picked me up from the ground, sitting me on the bed. He grabbed a hairdryer and began to brush my hair and proceeded to dry it. "This adds to the things my mother taught me. She's a very wise woman, my mom. Never failed to teach me new things." He dried my hair and brushed it once more. "Ready?"
"No."
"I'll be there the whole time, we can leave whenever you want to." I nodded, he helped me off the bed and we made it to the door.
I stood, frozen, Cole hugged me from behind and began to whisper in my ear. "Just take deep breaths." I took a shaky breath and closed my eyes. Cole grabbed my coat from the wrack and helped me put it on.
"Okay."
"Okay."
We walked out of the house, a carriage was waiting for us. We stepped in and sat down, I leaned against Cole for the majority of it. We got there and Cole got out, holding my hand. I took another deep breath and repeated what he said.
Just one more day. Deep breaths.
There wasn't anyone there yet when we went inside the church. We walked down the aisle and to the casket.
"Do you want to leave?" Cole whispered. I hadn't realized but his voice was a little shaky too.
"I can't yet. I can't leave him alone. Imagine how scared he is. His wife and unborn child aren't even here. He's alone, Cole. Alone," I said shakily. My legs about gave out until Cole wrapped his arm around me.
"We're here with him. We can stay."
Soon tons of people flooded in and out, saying their goodbyes and giving their thanks. Cole and I stood right by Kade the whole time, people gave hugs and handshakes and sad smiles but no one seemed to understand. Yes. They knew him but not the way we knew him.
The two hours went by fast. It ended with Cole, the priest, and myself.
Then the priest walked up to us. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to close up soon. I know this is very hard for you right now."
"Can you give us two minutes?" Cole whispered. The priest nodded and walked away behind one of the hallways. I walked out of Cole's hold and draped my arms around the casket. I sobbed and just held him. Cole came up behind me and slowly rubbed my back.
"Why did this happen to him? Out of everyone in this entire world, he had to be in the wrong place at the wrong time," I sobbed. I turned to see Cole getting teary-eyed. I began to hug him so deeply that I forgot where I even was. "I don't think I can leave."
- - -
Cole eventually dragged me out and carried me down the road, I didn't want to see anyone, and neither did he. I let my head rest on his neck as he walked me back. It had gotten dark out. We stayed much longer than expected.
"It's over now My Love," he murmured. "It's done."
I drearily drifted off to sleep, I heard him speak three words that meant the world to me coming from his lips. He kissed my head and began to whisper in my ear as he set me on my bed.
"I love you, Daisy."
- Sorry it's been so long since I updated! I'll get to writing more!
Hope you enjoyed this chapter:)