What could have been.

- Chapter 21-

My body and mind are officially disconnected from one another. My body is desperate for him, my mind can barely stand the sight of him as of this moment. The compromise I've made is that the end is near, the end is my bed. I just need to pull enough energy to get past him. If it means giving him the time of day for a few minutes then so be it.

I use the door furthest from the sidewalk to get out while Eden and Jocelyn use the one that will leave them standing directly outside of our apartment building, directly In front of him. I'm unsure if they have noticed him but I doubt it as they seemed to be consumed by whatever song they were singing to realise he's sat there like a lost puppy.

Their laughs stop and I know it's because they've spotted him. I allow the uber to pass between me instead of walking around it. I want to waste as much time as I can until I have to face him.

Eden and Jocelyn stand together, hand in hand, looking back at me then back at Cole. Cole pushes himself from the ground when he sees me walking over.

They don't know that Cole and I have spoken or that we have whatever it is we have. I've avoided talking to them about it mainly because I wouldn't know where to begin. Jocelyn doesn't take her eyes off of Cole when I join them on the sidewalk. Whereas, Eden gives me a look that I know means we will be talking about this.

"I'll be up in five." I say with a forced smile. They both nod and walk inside, continuously looking back until they're out of sight from Cole and me.

Cole steps forward and I step back. I cross my arms against my chest and do not attempt to look at him. I make sure to huff and roll my eyes even though he hasn't said anything but I want him to know I don't want to talk to him.

"Can we start over?"

I'm bored of this repeated conversation we seem to have.

"No." I walk past him to open the door.

I don't make it to the door instead I feel a sharp pain in my ankle and Coles hands around my arm. I slap his hand away from my arm to continue walking away and hopefully ignore the pain in my ankle long enough to get me in the comfort of my bed. As soon as I take one step on my ankle, it gives in causing me to fall forward. This time Cole wasn't there to try and catch me or more likely he made a point of not helping me after I brushed off his first attempt.

I can feel his eyes on me. I hate that I can't control how I react to him. How is it that someone else has more control of how your body reacts to them than you do? It's the ultimate betrayal.

"Go away." I shout, waving my left hand in the air and cradling my ankle with my right hand. The warmth from my hand is only causing me more discomfort against the heat of my now swollen ankle.

"Are you drunk?"

"Are you deaf?"

I'm in pain and I'm drunk so what does the lethal combination cause me to be-a total bitch.

He kneels in front of me and reaches forward for my ankle. I give him a light kick with my uninjured foot. Being completely dramatic about it, Cole falls back, landing on his ass.

"Drama queen." I laugh.

"You basically just karate kicked me." Cole says, rubbing the dirt off of his hands. He remains seated, crossing his long legs. Who would have thought his long dangly legs were capable of being interwind into a cross-legged position. Not me.

"Why are you here?" I have to admit, being mean to him is helping me to forget about my ankle and the pain. "Bothering me again." I continue.

"Bothering you?" He says, scrunching up his nose, holding back a smile.