Missing Pieces

Cole

Note: It is HIGHLY recommended you read Haunted and/or Fanboy before reading this one shot. 

Why was he here?

That was a dumb question. Cole had been asking himself that for years. Why was he here? Why was this his life? Why him? Why, just why? He closed his eyes and took a drag from his cigarette, ignoring the way his hand shook as he stubbed it out in the lid of an empty Starbucks cup. Nothing was going to make him feel better or prepare him for what he was about to...endure. That was the right word.

But Maddox wanted him and that was all Cole ever needed to know. There was nothing he wouldn't do for Maddox, including let him eat Cole's heart in little strips he tore off one at a time. Walking into the club where Maddox was already cozied up to his flaw-free soulmate was the equivalent of tearing those strips for him. Then again that would have to mean Cole still had control of his heart and he sure as shit didn't. It lived between Maddox's teeth, where it had been since the first night he'd ever spent with Maddox.

Swearing to himself, Cole got out of the car as the club's valet opened his door. It was a bit late so the paparazzi were mostly done with their work. A few photographers raised their cameras when his door opened but as soon as they saw his face they lowered them again. They'd wanted someone else. If that wasn't just the story of his life he didn't know what was.

To Maddox's credit, his face didn't light up like it once had when he saw Cole that night. There'd been a time Cole lived for that moment. Fuck, who was he kidding? He still did. That was why he was here or part of it. But that night Maddox looked guilty and as soon as Brent looked up, his smile fading into a scowl, Cole knew why. He'd known when Maddox asked him to come that he didn't want Cole there for the usual reasons. Cole never stopped watching any of Maddox's snaps long enough to miss the fact that he wasn't at Cobalt alone that night. No, he knew Brent would be there with Maddox's engagement ring on his hand. It would be a stroke of luck if Cole managed to get home without earning himself an imprint of that ring in his cheek. From the looks of Brent, the real luck would be if a team of surgeons could remove it from Cole's face when Brent was done with him. And the odds were never in Cole's favor. Not that it was a secret that Brent despised him. Cole could practically smell the rage emanating from the guy's pores.

Shit, Cole had to lay off the vampire books if they were going to make him think he could smell people's feelings. Gross.

Brent glared even as Maddox stood up to hug Cole, a calm smile on his face. Maddox looked as fuckable as ever and felt like he was built to be in Cole's arms. He was careful not to hold Maddox too long or too tight, not for Brent's sake, but his own.

"Why do I get the feeling you're not planning an orgy?" Cole didn't really have to whisper because the music was so loud.

"Not tonight," Maddox smirked at him. "Have you met my fiance?"

"I don't think so," Cole grinned at Brent who was no doubt calculating how long it would take him to disconnect Cole's head from his shoulders. Cole held his hand out. "You should know I'm insanely jealous of you."

"Um, thanks," Brent shook Cole's hand with a shockingly normal amount of pressure. He even managed to smile.

Then again, that was probably a reflex. If the rumors were true, and Cole knew firsthand they probably were, Brent and the rest of the boy band he belonged to had been through whatever you called the boy band equivalent of SEAL training. Brent could probably sign autographs while flashing his blinding white teeth for a selfie in his sleep. He was too perfect to be real and Cole never forgot it.

The most painful part was that, given the chance, Cole would have picked someone exactly like Brent for Maddox. The guy was just good - all the things he did for fans, hours he spent volunteering - and it was all genuine. Brent always did the right thing, not just so he looked good, but because he wanted to. He never even missed church, watching a live stream of the service when he wasn't in town to go in person. To hear Maddox talk about him was like hearing a list of everything Cole wasn't and could never be. Brent didn't even have the decency to be ugly or a lousy fuck either. As far as Cole could tell, the only thing wrong with Brent was the fact he was in a boy band and even that was so wholesome it could hardly be counted against him.