A crease sets along Ellie's forehead as she sees Cooper sat in his usual seat with two cups in his hands. His eyes meet hers and a smile takes over his face as she continues in his direction.
"What's this?" She asks, nodding at the cup he's holding out to her.
He only pushes it further in her direction. "Go on. Take it."
She eyes it warily, grabbing it out of his hand before popping the lid off to inspect its contents. It looks like a regular coffee; it smells like a regular coffee. She looks to him for an explanation.
"I felt bad for wasting the coffee you bought me so I bought you one." He takes a sip from his own cup. "And I bought myself a hot chocolate since I've recently rediscovered that coffee is not my thing."
"Thanks," she mumbles, taking a seat next to him and bringing the cup up to her lips.
"You know," he says, staring intently at her, "The only thing I see you wearing more than a frown is a sweatshirt. Why do you always wear a sweatshirt?"
She shrugs, preparing herself for the you-should-dress-up-more spiel. "I don't know. They're comfortable."
"Seems like a waste." His lips twitch upwards into his usual smile. "You know? A pretty girl like you drowning herself in a sweatshirt every day."
Her eyes rolling back into her head doesn't go unnoticed by Cooper as a boisterous laugh leaves his lips. "Spare me the pretty girl speech. I've heard it plenty of times. If I wanted to hear about my potential, I'd go talk to my mother."
"Mommy issues?"
She nods. "Mommy issues."
He leans back in his seat, tossing an arm behind his head and taking another sip of his hot chocolate. "Please. Do elaborate."
"I used to be a pageant girl." She glances at him, waiting for his obnoxiously loud laugh. It never comes. Instead his eyes burn into hers and his usual smile is absent as he waits for her to continue.
"Really?"
"Yeah. I was really good, actually. Won a lot of awards and what not. Then I just decided I didn't want to do them anymore. I didn't like standing on a stage for people to judge me. My mom didn't like that very much."
"Ah," he says knowingly, "a mother who lives vicariously through her daughter."
"Exactly. My mom grew up in the south. Pageants are huge down there and she wanted me to follow in her footsteps. They're just not for me and my mom doesn't really get it. My dad's cool though."
"You're close with him then?"
She gulps, briefly making eye contact with Cooper before dropping her gaze. "Um, sort of. Not really anymore."
When she looks back up he's staring at her expectantly. She knows he wants her to elaborate, he always seems to want her to elaborate. But she doesn't know if she should. Maybe it's the accepting look in his eyes, or maybe it's just her lack of safekeeping coming into play, but either way, she opens her mouth to speak up once more.
"He's in jail."
Cooper's eyes widen and she knows his curious mind wants to know more, so she continues. "Vehicular manslaughter. He was texting when a kid ran out in front of his car."
"Man," he says, shaking his head slowly. "Shit."
"Yeah. So that's obviously put a bit of a strain on our relationship."
The clanking of heels and angry shouting can be heard as a woman walks through the sliding-glass doors of the hospital. Her face is contorted in anger as she shouts at a man on her Bluetooth headset. All in all, she may be the most intimidating woman Ellie's ever seen. As if reading her thoughts, the angry lady's eyes snap over in their direction.
"Cooper!" she shouts, nodding her head as if she expects him to be in front of her immediately.
"Speaking of moms..." Cooper trails off.
"That's your mom?"
"Yeah." He laughs dryly. "Not exactly the pie-baking, fun-loving woman you'd expected? Me neither. I better go before she yells at me. My cancer card doesn't work on her. She'll still chew my ass off if I'm not next to her in thirty seconds."
He pushes himself up from his seat, stumbling slightly and reaching for the arm of the chair to steady himself.
"Are you okay?" Ellie asks worriedly, watching as the color drains from his face.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He nods. "Just a little nauseous. Chemo sure is a bitch."
"I can get you some water."
"Nah, I'm good. The tears I'm sure to cry when my mother yells at me on the drive home should help hydrate me." He laughs.
He starts walking towards the impatient woman on the other side of the room before quickly turning back to Ellie. "Hey, um, what are you doing Friday night?"
Her eyes widen briefly before returning to a normal size. "Um, I don't know. I don't think I'm doing anything."
"You should come hang out with my friends and me."
"Really?"
"Yeah." He smiles. "I think they'd like you."
"Cooper! Now!" his mother shouts, earning a few confused glances from the other patients.
He rolls his eyes, his smile fading. "I promise my mom won't be there. Here, give me your phone. I'll put my number in."
Fumbling around in her purse, Ellie finally extracts her phone and hands it to him. He quickly types in his number before handing it back to her and running off to meet his mom. His hands find the front pockets of his jeans as he slumps out after her, turning around to quickly send a wink in Ellie's direction before he's out of sight.