𝐂𝐀𝐍'𝐓 𝐁𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐗𝐄𝐃 - ᴄᴏʟᴇ ᴡᴀʟᴛᴇʀ

x.

▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒

THE SLOW RECOVERING.

▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒

JACKIE DIDN'T JUDGE NOVE FOR ANYTHING. She even tried to convince Halley that neither her nor Cole had done anything terrible. They followed their feelings, and, for the Howard girl, it was the definition of happiness, doing whatever you desire to do. She seemed satisfied with the part that was the most embarrassing one for Nova. For Jackie, their kiss was special and important, even though she had no idea there had been something going on between Cole and Nova.

But Halley kept convincing her friend otherwise. They had no right to break those rules. Being apart of a family of more than a dozen people makes you respect the rules, it's the only reason why an uncountable number of children don't fight each other to death.

And Nova herself on that night became a cause of one of those fights. She made Isaac punch Cole, and, surely, Halley wasn't going to get anyone to struggle that way ever again.

"Do you like Cole?" Jackie asked before Nova left the room to go to her car. She needed to give a ride to her hockey friends, they had decided that it was her turn to act all sober during the night.

Halley froze and, not even having a glance at Jackie, responded. "Doesn't matter."

It was something Nova truly believed in. There hadn't been a single day of her life with the Walter boys when her needs confronted the pact. The rules went first, then, went Nova's wishes.

And, in her eyes, Jackie still didn't spend enough time in the family to understand how huge the influence of the rules on the Walters and Halleys actually was.

"You don't need to forget about yourself while still thinking about them, y'know?"

Nonsense, it was.

Walters had done so much for her; she had no right to trigger the boys even more. Her job was to keep them together, no matter what. If their strong bond had directly depended on Nova's presence in their life, she would've left them in a matter of second. She wouldn't have cried, despite the pain, because they would've been the Walters she used to love and know.

Nova owned them. Big time. And, if paying them back meant she had to put her feelings aside, she was doing it without thinking.

"Maple! Where're you going?"

Halley slowly turned to face a questioning look of Cole. He didn't seem to be bothered by their discussion a day prior. Walter was acting as if nothing happened, as if he hadn't confessed his feelings to her.

"To a bonfire, duh."

So, she dived right into it. He didn't want anything to be any awkward between them; he regretted everything he told her; she wasn't against acting cool.

They were cool, weren't they?

"I can take you," the Walter's voice echoed as Nova got too far away from him.

The girl waved him off. "Nah, I'm meeting you guys there."

Obviously, Cole wanted to keep the talk going. He always wanted to talk to Nova endlessly, throughout the day, night and life, in general. She was his comfort person; both Nova and Danny were. Nobody could possibly be compared to them.