Hiding your feelings for Cole was becoming harder and harder. You were deeply in love with him and he couldn't be more clueless. You've tried to tell him countless times but you always ended up failing. You would get distracted by his smile or he would change the subject and you'd get lost in his eyes.
You were at the Walters relaxing in the loft, with your best friend Jackie. The two of you would hang out in the loft often to get away from the craziness going on inside the Walter's house. No noisiness, no pranks, no snakes roaming around, and not having to deal with 7 teenage boys, just some quality girl time. The two of you were listening to some music and talking about all kinds of things. You were about to tell Jackie something hilarious that had happened in class today when you got interrupted mid-sentence by the loft doors opening, it was Cole, walking towards you.
"Hey, can I join you?" he asked making his way over to the two of you.
"Yeah of cou-," you replied with a big smile until you got cut off by Jackie "No Cole, obviously not!" she said in a slightly annoyed tone.
It wasn't like Cole Walter would take no for an answer, "I'll make it quick," he said as he was getting comfortable, sitting down next to you in the pile of hay, you getting flustered by the proximity of the two of you. You could smell his scent mixed with his cologne.
"You smell good," you said as you tried to play it cool.
"Thanks," Cole laughed. He placed his hand on your thigh and squeezed it. This action didn't go unnoticed by you. It made you feel flustered and giddy. Your skin felt hot and you were soaking in his touch. "I wanted to run something by you," he continued.
"Yeah? What is it?"
"Dylan is throwing a party at his family's lake house tonight, would you come?" Cole smiled.
"Of course, I would."
"Great, I'm excited."
-
You thought convincing Jackie to go to the party with you would be the hardest part, but to your surprise, it wasn't. You knew parties weren't her thing, but Grace had told her Kiley would be attending with Alex, you knew she had a crush on him, it was so obvious, just as obvious how she wanted to go there in the first place and used this opportunity as an excuse to go. You, Jackie, Grace, and Skylar got ready at your place. Once everyone was finished getting ready, the four of you went over to the lake house.
The party was loud and huge, there were tons of people. The first thing you decided to do was get a drink, you made your way over to the drinking table, your gut telling you, you would find him there too, and you were right, there he was, at the keg pouring himself a drink. You walked right up to him and asked for a drink. Of course, he gave you one, he would do anything for you.
"I'm so happy you came!" Cole expressed giving you a side hug.
"Happy to be here."
"Drink up," Cole smiled.
You sipped your beer and stood around Cole wondering what to say to him, you started talking with Jackie, whose attention was fully focused on Alex and Kiley, sitting on the porch. Meanwhile, Cole had wandered off. You finally came up with a conversation starter, as you turned around to face the tall blonde, you realized he was gone. He was talking to Erin, who was all over him, you felt your heart sink. You tried to tell yourself it could be strictly platonic, that it doesn't mean anything, it could be completely harmless. Regardless you felt a pain in your chest and you hated seeing him with another girl.
You told your friends, you were gonna go, giving them the excuse you suddenly felt unwell. You stormed off, away from the party, got into your car, and drove straight home.
-
It's the next day, Cole was at your front door. Jackie had drunkenly mentioned to him some vague things about why you'd left the party last night, Cole felt like he did something wrong but he had no idea what he'd done, he felt like he had done something wrong that had made you mad at him, which was never his intention.
Cole knocked on your front door, waiting for you to come out. You were peacefully asleep in your bed when your dream got interrupted by continuous knocking, as usual, you were home alone, you got up and walked towards the front door, you opened it with your hair in a messy bun, in your oversized sleeping shirt, with half awake eyes, however Cole thought you looked breathtakingly beautiful.
"Hey, what brings you here?" you said flustered by the person on the other side of the door.
"Can we talk?" Cole scratched the back of his neck.
You stepped out and closed the door behind you. You sat in one of the chairs on your porch.
"What's up?" You said casually like Cole didn't just crush your heart last night.
"I feel like you're mad at me, and to be honest, I don't know why. All I know is you just disappeared all of a sudden," Cole spoke with a serious expression.
You let out a sigh. You didn't want to confront Cole. You felt embarrassed. You were embarrassed by the petty reason that had made you upset, the fact you couldn't bear seeing him with another girl, and even more embarrassed about the fact that you thought, the Cole Walter, could possibly like you back.
"I don't want to do this right now Cole," you reached a hand to touch your forehead.
"Please, talk to me," he said in a soft voice,
"I saw you with Erin at the party," you looked down sheepishly.
...
It went completely silent for a couple of seconds, why wasn't he saying anything?
Cole was waiting for you to continue, when he realized you had finished your sentence, "That's it? She just wanted me to hook her up with Danny," he let out a chuckle"Right after I went looking for you." You could feel him staring at you, hoping to make some eye contact.
"Oh-" You let out, feeling so stupid.
"This is awkward." you breathed.
"No, it's not, it's ok you didn't know."
"I feel so dumb."
"Y/n. It's ok." Cole said as he lifted your face up with his thumb, making you face him.
"I like you a lot Y/n," Cole confessed, "I've only ever had eyes for you." he continued.
"Really?" you asked, in disbelief of what was happening.
"Y/n, I can't not want you," he said as you two caught each other's gaze, holding strong eye contact, leaning closer to you until your lips were only a few inches away, followed by you breaking that distance.
