WHAT IF! cole walter

CHAPTER SIX, an interesting night with him

Later that night after dinner, Hollyn was at the tree house, waiting for Cole. Apollo was outside, his reins hooked on the tree and he was eating grass. Hollyn was working on a drawing, not realizing Cole had walked in until she felt his arms wrap around her shoulders. She had been sat on a bean bag chair, the sketch book laying on her lap. Cole had managed to sneak up behind her and scare her. He had wrapped his arms around her, his head on her shoulder. Hollyn let out a yelp and dropped the pencil, turning around to glare at him. His only response was a chuckle and a kiss on her cheek as he pulled away from her.

"Cole! You scared me. How many times do I have to tell you not to sneak up on me like that?" She scolded, shaking her head. He chuckled and sat down next to her, throwing his arm around her. He knew she wasn't really mad at him, she had a small smile on her face.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't resist." Cole's attention is brought to her sketchbook, his lips curling upwards as he noticed the drawing she was working on. "That's the drawing of me I saw you working on earlier, right?"

"No. Nope, totally not a drawing of you." She said quickly, her cheeks flushing as she picked up her sketchbook, holding it to her chest to hide it. She couldn't help but blush. She had been sketching him. The drawing had his head tilted back and he was laughing. She was proud of the drawing, but she wasn't going to let him see it. No way. He didn't need to know. Cole grinned at her reaction, knowing exactly what she was doing. "Okay, maybe it is." She sighed, putting her sketchbook down.

"Can I see it?" Cole asks, a mischievous smile on his face. When she hesitated, he continues. "Please?" He pleaded, giving her puppy dog eyes. Hollyn sighed and reluctantly picked her sketchbook up, handing it to him. She can't say no when he does the puppy dog eyes. As soon as he took the sketchbook from her, she covered her face with her hands. Cole smiled as he looked at the drawing, his lips curving up. It was the best drawing she had done yet, even though it wasn't finished.

"Be honest." She said, her voice muffled by her hands. She was nervous. She wasn't usually nervous about her art. But, she wanted to know what he thought. She wanted him to like it. His opinion was important to her because he was her best friend...Also because she had been realizing she was falling in love with him, but that's beside the point. She didn't know when her feelings had changed. But they had, and there was nothing she could do about it. So she's decided to just let it be, and not act on them. Besides, he was with Erin and every other girl he decided to sleep with. 

She was pretty sure he had slept with Olivia, she had seen her car leave the Walter's house one morning when she was out doing chores. She didn't like thinking about him with other girls. She didn't understand why she felt this way. She hated it. But she wasn't going to dwell on it, and she wasn't going to let her feelings interfere with their friendship. 

"It's horrible, right?" She says, peeking through her fingers to look at him. "I shouldn't even bother to finish it, right? Just tear it up. Rip it. It's awful. Here, I'll do it." She murmured, finally pulling her hands away to grab her sketchbook.

"Whoa, whoa, hold on a second." Cole said, sounding surprised by what she told him to do. He stops her and held the sketchbook away from her. He didn't know why, but he was happy that she was drawing him. He felt a warmth in his chest and a smile form on his face as he looked at the drawing. And she was saying it was bad. She thought it was horrible. 

He had never thought any of her work was horrible...He's pretty sure he never heard anyone tell her that her work is horrible. So the fact that she thought the drawing was horrible was shocking to him. She was wrong. So wrong. Her drawings were amazing. She was an amazing artist. "It's not horrible. Not at all." Cole says, turning his head to look at her with a soft smile. "It's amazing. I don't think you should rip it. You're not done with it yet, anyway. But Hollyn, you are so talented and it kills me that you don't think you are."