Chapter Twenty-Eight

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~ Cole ~

Cole made his way across the quad in a straight trajectory to the cafe. The time on his phone read 10:04, an hour before his first class of the day even started.

"Fucking Piper." Cole muttered, shoving his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket.

A throng of students infested the sidewalk leading to the cafe's entrance, likely wanting to escape the cold outside. Cole pushed through them and found Piper waiting inside at a table in the corner. She waved when she saw him.

Cole trudged over and pulled a chair out, collapsing into it with a dramatic groan. "There better be a good reason you dragged me here a whole hour before my class starts, Enzo."

Piper looked unfazed by his animosity. "Which in Cole language translates to you would've been asleep still and James would have to drag your ass out of bed and into class."

"Speaking of James," the dark-haired boy glanced each way, "where is that Downton Abbey reject?"

As if on cue, Cole's best friend appeared beside the table. He expertly juggled three mugs, setting them down on the table in front of their respective owners. He pulled out his chair and took a seat between the pair. "Black coffee for the My Chemical Romance knockoff, and green tea, as requested by milady."

Rolling his eyes, Cole wrapped his hands around the mug and pulled it toward him, soaking its heat into his chilled skin.

Piper raised an eyebrow at James. "Did you remember two sweeteners?"

James pulled two packets from his pocket and set them on the table.

"And that it was decaf?"

He turned the tag hanging over the side of mug around to display the decaf written at the bottom.

"Oh, did you get the-"

James placed a small stack of napkins on the table, a wooden spoon sitting on top.

Piper ripped open a packet of sweetener and dumped it in her mug, mumbling, "Thankyou. I guess you do know me."

"You're welcome, love." James leaned over to kiss her cheek. "It's my pleasure."

"Hi," Cole waved in James' face, voice laced with more sarcasm than vodka in a punch bowl at prom. "Best friend of two decades sitting right here. Would you like to acknowledge my presence please and thankyou."

James' signature smile crept onto his face, always soft with a hint of amusement. "Hi, Cole. It's nice to see you. How are you?"

"Other than suffocating beneath the toxic cloud of your love-sickness right in front of my coffee, I'm fine."

"Fine?" Piper rested her chin in one palm, elbow on the table. "Just fine? That's it?"

"What else is there?"

"Hmm, I don't know." Piper pretended to think. "School, life, the fact that you're kissing my best friend and I've yet to receive a single text from you?"

"What would I text you about?"

Piper stared at him.

Cole stared back.

Piper blinked. "You can't be serious."

Cole slowly lifted the mug to his lips and took a sip of coffee, never taking his eyes off Piper.

"Ugh!" Piper slapped the surface of the table, their mugs rattling. "You are so annoying!"

Cole snickered as James sighed. "Just answer her, Cole. She's been holding this in all morning. Any longer and she'll explode."

"But that's the fun part."

James sent him a look.

Cole sighed and looked back to Piper. "Fine. Two questions. And I give one-word answers."

Piper glared. "Five questions, and I get to make them two-parters if need be."

"One question, and I consider answering honestly."

"Three questions, and I don't put sherbert powder in your gas tank."

"No questions, and I don't switch your tea to caffeinated when you're not looking. Though I think I'd be doing you a favour. What sane person drinks decaf?"

Piper blinked, eyebrows furrowing. "I really hate you sometimes."

"I'm getting up from this table in five...four....three-"

"Okay!" Piper sat forward on her chair, elbows on the table. "Fine. Whatever. Just tell me if it's true."

"What?"

Piper narrowed her eyes. James scooted his chair closer to Cole's.

"Cole, I swear to Go-"

"It's true."

Piper's eyes widened. "What?"

Cole casually took another sip of coffee. "That's what you wanted to know, right?"

"Yes, but-"

"Well, now you have your answer. If you two will excuse m-"

"You and Adam kissed?" Piper exclaimed. "Like, for real?"

Cole rolled his eyes. "Yes, Piper. For real."

Before he could react, Piper squealed and jumped up from the table. She punched Cole in the arm, cheering, "You jerk! Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Dude, the fuck?" Cole rubbed his bicep. "You're lucky I wasn't holding coffee."

"Eh." She waved him off. "Details. Now."

"There's nothing to tell. We went for a drive, talked for a while and kissed."

Piper stood over him, staring down with a blank expression. "That's it?"

"What else is there?"

"Well, considering you blew Adam off the first time and then ghosted him for days, I expected something a little more romantic."

Cole looked to James. His best friend only smiled softly and took a sip of his Earl Gray, leaving Cole to fend for himself against his obsessive girlfriend.

"I apologised for last time." Cole turned back to Piper. "That was the point. I wanted to tell him in person."

"Pretty big jump from 'I'm not speaking to you' to 'let's kiss on our romantic night drive'."

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Cole asked. "Aren't you two besties or some shit?"

Piper went back to her chair on the other side of the table. "I did ask Adam about it. He doesn't tell me anything."

"Seems like a hint."

"In any case," James gestured between himself and Piper, one leg crossed over the other as he smiled at Cole. "We're happy for you, man. Congratulations."

"One down, one to go." Piper said.

James glanced at her. "What?"

"Leo."

James and Cole shared a confused look before the former turned back to Piper. "What about Leo?"

Piper grinned and sipped her tea.

***

Forty minutes later, Cole was making his way to class. He'd texted Adam earlier but was yet to receive a reply, the other boy likely being in class. Cole didn't normally like a Goody Two-Shoes but Adam made it endearing.

As Cole walked, he thought back to the previous night. It had been well past three a.m. when Cole had gotten home. Having spent over four hours with Adam, they'd finally made their way back to Spring Creek after exhausting the view over the cliffside. Not that it mattered, Cole had his sights set on something new anyway.

Cole had dropped Adam off at the university. He'd wanted to drive the other boy home but Adam had ridden his bike to class and needed it for the next day. Cole was reluctant to leave him alone on campus in the middle of the night but Adam had insisted he would be fine and would text when he was home.

True to his word, Cole had received a message from Adam a little past four in the morning. He'd showered and dressed a little while later, gaze lingering on his lips in the bathroom mirror as he shaved. He swore he could still taste Adam on them.

Kissing Adam was a reflex his body had known long before his mind caught on. It felt like freezing to death near an open flame, hopeless until someone lets you move closer to the light.

Cole had kissed people before, most before he was even eighteen. But this felt different. Not the bullshit fireworks and orchestral swell in the background that every heterosexual white couple called their happy ending in movies. No, this was something else. Natural. Organic. Free-falling because you knew this person was so woven into your molecular structure that the feeling would be strong enough to break your fall before you hit the ground.

Cole wondered how long he'd been falling for his body to have rearranged itself on a cellular level.

He was halfway through class when Cole's phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out, subconsciously aware that Adam's class would've finished by now. Having been unaware he was something close to smiling, he noticed the moment it dropped from his face as he read those same three words over and over again.

***

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