As It Was (h.s)

ix

I'm here, right here
Wishing I could be there for ya
***
Cole's POV
***

"You guys are fucking annoying!" The sound came out of my phone as I sat on the couch watching the video on TMZ.

"What a prick." I said, mostly to myself.

"Who?" Kathy asks, from the other couch.

"That Harry dude. The one Aria apparently dated." I explained to her as the video came to an end.

"Oh he is," She said. "He was a terrible influence on that girl. I do believe he's the reason she hates me so much."

"Kathy, she doesn't hate you," I say. "Don't say that, you're her mother."

Kathy shakes her head, swirling the wine around in her glass, slightly. I've noticed she does that a lot. "He came over a couple weeks ago." I admit.

"He what?" She looks up at me, her brows furrowed together. Aria and Kathy are a spitting image of each other. They share so many features, sometimes when I'm talking to Kathy I feel that I'm talking to an older, more sophisticated version of Aria. "What do you mean?"

"I came home early and they were sitting together on the couch. I immediately thought the worst." I explain. "I tried to talk to her about it later but she acted like I was being ridiculous. She brushed off the conversation and got defensive when I asked how long she'd been reconnected with him."

She shakes her head. "Are you worried about it?"

I shrug. "I don't know. I keep trying to tell myself not to worry about it because I trust her, but at the same time. She's just out there, you know? I don't know where she is or if she's lying to me. I've tried to get her to come home but she just has no interest and I don't know if she's telling me the truth about why."

I shake my head, my eyes glued to the floor. "This just isn't my Aria."

"She's a wild one," Kathy says. "And that Harry guy brought the worst out of her. Do you know he took her to get that god awful tattoo? And now she's an addict. She looks like a toddler who took a sharpie to her skin."

Aria's tattoos are the only thing I've never really liked about her. When I met her it was a huge red flag for me. I didn't want anything to continue with her for a long time. She just wasn't the kind of person that I was usually interested in. I only gave her my number because I didn't know what else to do. I felt bad turning down her offer to sleep with me and then just leaving after talking to and dancing with her for the entire night, so I gave her my number intending to let her down slow.

It didn't go down that way.

I ended up falling for her with every text that was sent. She became everything I thought about and then we started dating. And after a year, I asked her to marry me.

I can't believe we're here now, almost a year into our marriage, worrying about cheating.

"I've never really liked her tattoos." I admit to Kathy. "I didn't know they were his fault."

I don't even want to say his name. The five letters feel sinful on my tongue.

"I only met him once. He was so disrespectful." She went on talking about Harry and when he was with Aria. It was insane how much this woman seemed to know when she claimed she only met him once.

"I'm going to bed." I say standing, after hearing her blabber on for far too long. "Good night, Kathy. I'll probably be gone when you wake up, so just remember to use the hide-a-key and lock the front door."

She says goodnight and I walk into my room. After the door is shut, I stand there and look around. Everything in here is shared with Aria. Fuck, even my clothes I share with her. I try to lay in bed but I can't think of anything else but the idea of her in bed with him.

Fuck it. I say to myself and I pull up the messages with Aria and click on her location.

When I see the address, I do a quick search of it and it comes up as a house. Not a hotel like she'd said she was staying at.

Fuck.

It's probably Kate's house or Sandy's house or maybe even Mitch and Sarah's. I need to just relax and stop being so obsessive and let her live. This is fine, she's fine. Everything is fucking fine.

I can't stop fucking thinking about it.

Before I'm able to talk myself out of it, I'm out of bed, slipping on a jacket and my shoes and grabbing my keys. I make sure Kathy is in her room before I fully leave my bedroom and walk out of the house.

I walk down the driveway and get into my car with nothing but what if's on my mind.

She can't be cheating on me, she loves me.

Why can't I just trust her? She's gonna be pissed at me when I show up there and she's just with Kate, Sandy, or Mitch and Sarah.

What if she's with Harry? What would I do?

I'm over-fucking-thinking this.

I look down and the clock on my car says its just passed midnight. The rain pounds on the roof of my car and It makes it hard to see while I'm driving.

When I arrive at the address, it's a really nice house. The kind somebody with money would own.

Like a famous singer.

I look around, trying not to panic. When I see her car is parked on the street, I know she is for sure here. There isn't a doubt about it. I lean my head against the back of the headrest trying to decide if it's worth it to go in.

If she isn't cheating, this is gonna be fucked up. She's gonna hate me forever and I'm never gonna live this down. Every time she leaves the house she say some smart ass comment about how she isn't cheating on me or whatever the fuck.

But if she is cheating on me, this is the only way I'll be able to know for sure. If I try and talk to her about it, she will probably lie to me and I'll probably believe her.

Fuck it, I'm gonna knock.

A/N:

I know this chapter is short but I promise I will have the next chapter out fairly soon. I'm already anticipating this book having less chapters than Carolina, just because this book the chapters are longer and this is moving a little bit faster than I originally anticipated but I promise there's going to be more of a plot to it it's not just gonna be shut down so fast. I promise I'll make a good plot for you guys.

Thank you for reading!!! Love you all <3

cherrie