Our Life - Beginnings And Always - Yandere Cove 3 Steps

Step One: Sleepover.

      It's evening, and the T.V. is playing cartoons. Me and Cove are sitting on the couch together, watching intently. Or at least, I'm watching. Cove keeps shuffling around. It's hard to ignore it. Cove is usually not allowed around after 5 PM, but tonight is special. Tonight, Cove was gonna sleepover. Mr. Holden was fine with the idea since the start, but it took a lot of convincing to get my moms to budge. Specifically, Mom. But eventually, after enough pouting and puppy-eyes, she agreed. Moms are cooking in the kitchen. The smell of pineapple chicken wafts through the house. I'm SO hungry. And excited. I can't wait for night-time.
     "Race you to the table!" Lizzie shouts randomly, bounding down the stairs. I flinch at first, then scramble off the couch. I run as fast as my feet can take me with the little momentum I have, but to no avail. Lizzie slaps her hand on the table proudly.
     "You're a ROTTEN egg!" She boasts, skipping around the table.
     "She is not!" Cove yells over, from the living room. Lizzie huffs.
     "Is too." She mutters, dropping it there. She sits down, and I follow. Cove comes over and sits next to me too.
      "Dinner is served!" Mommy announces, proudly. She sets down a couple of plates and Mom follows. There's 4 dishes in total. Pineapple chicken, salad, rice, and cake. I lick my lips. Cove looks skeptical, except for the cake. Lizzie immediately starts to spoon food on her plate. Mom, Mommy, and I follow. Soon, only Cove is left without a plate of food. Everyone looks at him.
     "Oh, shoot. I knew I should've checked with your dad to see what kind of food you like." Mommy mutters. Cove's cheeks flush.
     "It's not a big deal." He says, looking embarrassed.
     "Gimme your plate." I say.
     "Huh?" Cove turns around.
     "Gimme." I waggle my fingers at him to indicate. Cove wordlessly hands me the plate. I spoon on some chicken and rice, then 2 pieces of cake. Mom rolls her eyes.
      "Only because it's a special occasion, Zoey. Don't get cocky."
      "Okay, okay..." I giggle, giving the plate back to Cove. He takes his fork and takes a bite. His eyes light up, and his cheeks turn red.
      "...Thanks, Zoey." He says, around a mouthful of food. I giggle.
      "No problem, Cove." I reply, and give him a friendly nudge. He almost accidentally chokes at my touch. Oops.

     After dinner, moms send us upstairs for bed. After getting Cove all set with his sleeping bag and a fluffy pillow, they turn off the lights and leave the room. It feels special having Cove here, in my room at night. I smile. I hear him shuffling in the sleeping bag. I figure he's just getting comfortable, but I see his shadow get up.
     "..Cove?" I mutter, sleepily.
     "Ah, sorry. I just... I've never had a sleepover before. I don't know what I'm supposed to do." He awkwardly laughs. Weird. I had my first sleepover when I was five, with Lizzie.
     "Huh. Well, you kinda just... sleep? And talk, maybe. But it's bedtime now so we gotta sleep."
     "Mm." He grumbles. I guess he's not happy with that response. "Could we talk, anyway?" He asks. I consider. I guess there's nothing wrong with it, as long as we don't stay up too late.
     "Okay, sure. What do you wanna talk about?" I agree.
     "Umm. One second, let me find my glasses." He walks towards my nightstand, but the shadow of what I see in his hands is not glasses shape. It's book shape. I assume it's my fairy-tale book.
     "What're you doing with that?
     "Oh! It's, uh. It just looks interesting." He stutters.
     "It is! I like it because the pictures are really cool." I exclaim, probably a little too excitedly.
     "Can we read it?" He says in a begging tone.
     "Umm.. it's kinda late. What if my moms come in?" I stammer. We're supposed to be sleeping.
     "It's ok. We can hide under the blanket! Do you have a flashlight?" He asks.
     "Uh, yeah. Why?"
     "Where is it?"
     "It's in my nightstand." I reply. Typical Cove to answer a question with a question. I hear more rustling around. Suddenly, the mattress shifts underneath me, and I feel Cove's presence.
     "Hi..?"
     "Hi, Zoey." Cove turns on the flashlight. Unfortunately, right into my eyes.
     "Ow! Hey!" I whisper harshly.
     "Oops. Sorry." Cove covers my eyes with his small hand. It's warm. He removes his hand after a few seconds to reveal an impressive sight. The blanket is held up by the flashlight, making the light spill out under it. Cove is under my blanket, and so am I. The book is in the middle.
     "Woah." I gasp.
     "I've never tried something like this before. But, it's working well?" He half-questions.
     "Yes! Let's read!" I exclaim. I feel a sense of rebellion, excitement and adrenaline.
We take turns reading back and forth. Although the pictures are my favorite part, whenever it's Cove's turn to look at the pictures while I read, he looks at me. I think it might be because of my ability to read out loud. I'm very proud of it. I'm having so much fun, it's like reading with my moms but with a feeling of excitement. I always feel this way when I'm with Cove. He makes me like this. These thoughts distract me as Cove softly reads his part and goes quiet.
"Zoey?" He says.
"Mmph." I open my eyes after realizing they were shut. Cove smiles.
"It's ok if you fall asleep, but can I keep reading under the blanket?" He asks.
"Yeah, no problem." I mutter, as my eyes flutter back closed. I notice he isn't saying anything and open my eyes to see him silently reading the book. I smile and close them again. As I sleep I can't help but feel how close to him I feel. It's warm and safe under the blanket, and the warm light from the flashlight is comforting. It's like Cove has created a tiny little world for the both of us, away from everyone else. I feel myself slowly drift into unconciousness.

     I wake up in the morning to moms whispering and giggling. My eyes flutter open as I realize I'm abnormally warm. Ohhhhh! Cove is asleep next to me on my bed, snoring peacefully. I turn red and sit up abruptly and try to wiggle out of bed as my moms laugh at me.
   "They're too cute." Mommy says.
    "I don't know.. I'm still skeptical!" Mom says in a joking tone. I shuffle out of bed, red as a tomato as I watch Cove wake up as the situation dawns on him too. He turns even brighter red than me and falls ungracefully out of my bed with a loud 𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘱. My moms burst out laughing as he untangles himself from the floor with a frown on his face. I don't think we'll hear the end of this anytime soon...