“That’s not helping.” I sipped a glass of water slowly, trying to calm my nerves. “Yeah, I really need to change.”
Before I could take a step closer to the door, the bell rang. That would definitely be Cole. It had been almost an hour since we spoke.
“Too late,” Mum said and grinned, amused.
“No, it’s not. Get the door, I’ll be back in a minute,” I called over my shoulder as I ran out of the room. Her laughter rang through the house. I was being stupid, but today was extremely important and even the small details mattered. I grabbed a pair of light blue skinny jeans and a long T-shirt. Much more casual.
As I dressed, I heard muffled voices downstairs. I prayed they were catching up and Mum wasn’t telling him I was changing again. He was so close to me, and that made me feel dizzy with nerves and excitement.
Taking a deep breath, I slowly crept downstairs. His eyes landed on mine as soon as I stepped into the lounge, and my heart started beating wildly.
“Hi,” I said hoarsely, chewing on the inside of my cheek.
He smiled, his eyes lighting up. I loved seeing him like that.
“Hi.”
“Have a nice time,” Mum said and walked into the kitchen, giving us some privacy.
“You ready to go?” I nodded in response to his question. I could barely talk!
We drove in a comfortable silence. I watched as he pulled his lip between his teeth every so often. He was nervous too. It felt too good to be true. I was still waiting for him to get angry with me again. He wasn’t being honest about how he felt. This going for ice cream was incredible but it was masking the conversation we needed to have. It was as if we were papering over the cracks and that would get us nowhere in the long run.
“I’ll warn you now, it’s different,” he said as we parked in front of the diner.
“Different how?”
“You’ll see.” As he always did, Cole held the door open for me, and I walked in. I turned my nose up. It was completely different now. Not one thing was as it used to be.
“I take it from that look on your face, you don’t like it?”
“No. Why did they change it?” Frowning at the new decor, I walked towards the counter.
“To ‘move with the times’ apparently.”
I much preferred the old traditional style diner to this ultra-modern, minimalistic look. The walls were a warm caramel shade, with large mirrors hanging from them. The tables and chairs were white glass and boring.
“I don’t like it either. Ice cream’s still good though. Want your usual?”
I turned and grinned. Those three words made my whole day. ‘Want your usual?’ I hadn’t heard that in four years.
“Please.”
Cole ordered, and we sat where our old booth used to be. The seat was comfortable but not falling onto a cloud comfortable.
“I wanted to say I’m sorry for yesterday. I didn’t mean to upset you, but I needed to say that stuff.”
I shook my head.
“Please don’t apologise. I guess you’ve waited a while for the opportunity to say it. I’m the one who’s sorry. I should have given you the choice. I was too wrapped up in what was going on. I didn’t want your life to be messed up too.”
He raised his eyebrow, and I knew exactly what he was thinking. His life was messed up because of it.
“I would have come with you, Oakley.”
“I know,” I whispered, looking down at the table. “Can we get past this? I don’t want things to be weird between us.”
The waitress arrived, cutting into our conversation. She balanced the tray on the edge of the table and passed us our milkshakes and ice cream. My lungs started to burn, and I realised it was because I was holding my breath, waiting for him to answer. We both muttered a polite ‘thank you’ and I turned my attention back to Cole.
He smiled and before even opening his mouth, I knew we could.
“Yeah, but only if you give me some of that ice cream,” he said, reaching out and digging his spoon in before I answered. I slapped the back of his hand with my spoon, laughing. Finally, laughing properly again.
“So, when do you think you’ll move out of your parent’s house?” It was weird thinking of Cole living on his own. He didn’t seem old enough, but he was twenty-two now.
“I’m actually looking at a couple of places next week. As soon as I find somewhere that’s not a shit hole, I’ll be out.”
I shook my head. “How are you going to survive on your own? Do you even know how to work a washing machine yet?” I teased.
“No, but both houses are close to home, so I can just take washing to Mum,” he said, shrugging his shoulders and chuckling.
“I bet you would too.”
“Definitely! She likes to feel needed. I’m doing this for her.” I laughed. I’m sure Jenna would love receiving bags of her grown up son’s washing every week. “Do you have any plans to get your own place?”
“No. I don’t think I can live alone, not yet anyway.” I hated being on my own. I didn’t feel safe.