Love Always (NG4)

5 - Friends

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Cole Butler sat on the front porch waiting for his girlfriend Anna to come over. His brand new car was parked in the driveway, thanks to his father. It was his college graduation gift, even though Cole could easily afford car payments. He smiled, his salary was more than his stepfather's.

There was a time when undermining Bryan would have brought him great pleasure. Cole would be the first to admit he had matured enormously from the Christmas Bryan and Sam came to visit. His only goal was to get the father and son to leave and for his broken family to return to normal. He cringed at the role he played in attempting to sabotage his mother's happiness. At thirteen, he may have liked girls, but he knew nothing about love.

Cole had been in love for six years. If a twerpy teenager tried to keep Anna away from him, he wouldn't be responsible for his actions, but Bryan had forgiven him.

When he heard a teenage girl was going to stay with his family, he wasn't happy, until he met her. She looked so innocent and beautiful. Without knowing her story, he felt angry for the guy who was responsible for her pregnancy. By the time Anna shared her story, he already loved her and still wanted to pummel the jerk who touched her.

Sam. Poor Sam, his brother was hurting. Cole couldn't understand why Rory didn't go to grad school in Boston. There were plenty of schools to choose from. Cole frowned, first she picked Virginia, and then she broke up with Sam. Cole liked Rory; he always had. She supported him through some really poor choices before he had grown up. Still, he wasn't happy with her choices. When he was a kid, his mother had scolded his behavior not him. If he did something stupid for attention like throw a toy at his sister. He wasn't bad, throwing the toy was. He told himself he wasn't angry at Rory, just at what she did to Sam and Anna. Cole's sweetheart had been sad since she heard about the other couple's break.

"Hey you." He looked up as his blond beauty walked across the lawn.

"How was dinner?"

She had eaten at home. Cole's house was empty, and he had some leftovers for dinner. His mom and sister had gone to the mall. His little sister was a total teenager. He couldn't think about how Anna had a baby at Keira's age.

"Dinner was dinner. Never a dull moment with Andrew."

Cole chuckled. "Did you get food on you?" Her baby half-brother was at the throwing food stage. He wasn't naughty, but throwing food was.

Anna leaned down and kissed him. He reached out and touched her soft cheek. Pulling away slightly, he said, "I missed you today."

She chuckled. "You had to work. I went to the beach with Gabby for a few hours." He pouted. She poked her chest. "But that's why you make the big bucks. Next summer we'll both be nine-to-fivers."

He would love an apartment in Portland to enjoy the city, but in the summer he wanted to be on The Point. He imagined himself like Ryan, signing off work for the day to go for a swim or to the beach.

Anna stood. "You wanna go to the beach."

Cole shook his head. "I haven't seen Sam in days. He disappears and hides. I'd rather hang out here and see if he'll talk to us."

Anna sat down next to him. "I feel so bad for him. Never do that to me."

"No way! I think Rory's wrong about her divorce bull-oney."

Anna squeezed his hand. "My parents don't count. They only got married because they had to."

"Yeah, mine too. Lana's guy cheated on her. Lots of couples get divorced, but a ton don't. My mom would never. Your dad and Mari."