The Story of You and Me

Chapter 6

"Are you okay?" An all too familiar voice asks, stepping out of the dark shadow. I turn away from him slightly, reaching up to wipe away the tears from my eyes more fervently than before.

"Come on Dylan I know you better than that. What's wrong?" My heart clenches, "It's none of your business Cole, you lost the right to know when you waltzed out of my life."

"Don't do that Dylan, don't act like you're so freaking entitled all of the time, I'm trying to help here." I stare at him for a moment and then something inside of me snaps and I find myself pouring all of my hurt and anger out on him.

"No, you don't get to say that to me because you know good and well what my life is like Cole Hartford. You know good and well that I am far from entitled. You know everything about me, and maybe that's why you chose to throw that in my face but you really shouldn't have because you know how hard I've worked to get where I am right now."

"You know Cole, and maybe you don't care but you should, because I have worked my ass off to get where I am and where do you think that gets me around here... well I'll tell you. It gets me nowhere. I'm Still. Not. Good. Enough."

"I will never be good enough... I will never be as brilliant as my mother. I will never be as good and kind and quick thinking as my father and can kiss any hope of ever having a medical career goodbye. Oh and don't forget about softball, because I can't even hope to compare to the great and almighty baseball god Kyle Mathews. Oh no, next to him I might as well be playing tee ball. No matter what I do I will never be good enough."

"The fact that you would throw that in my face, 'you're so freaking entitled' really hurts Cole. You were the first person to know me and not compare me to anyone else, you saw me for me and then what did you do with that? You threw it away and cast me off to the side. So I'm sorry if you think I'm entitled but you should know that I am far from that, you of all people should know that Cole."

The tears are falling thick and fast now and I'm out of breath but strangely enough, I haven't felt this good in a very long time. Cole stands there for a long moment in stunned silence. After a very long pause he takes a step towards me, but I shake my head, not really believing that I just poured out my heart to Cole Hartford of all people.

I turn and move towards the door, I grab the knob and twist it but it's locked. I groan silently, the porch is screened in and the only exit is this door meaning that we're stuck out here. I turn back around and sink down against the door. I lean my head back against the door and stare at Cole who hasn't moved from the middle of the room.

He opens his mouth but then closes it. After another beat he opens it again and then hesitates before saying my name, "Dylan," So softly I almost don't catch it. I look away, "Don't." I whisper but he does anyway.

"Dylan." He says again, pausing before continuing, "Dylan, I am so sorry, I never should have said that. Hell, I never should have cut you out of my life, I've regretted it everyday since I did. I miss having you in my life so much. I miss talking to you. I miss hanging out with you. I miss sharing moments and memories with you. I just... I miss you Dylan." I refuse to look at him and after another long pause of silence he moves over and sits down next to me against the door. Close but not too close.

Neither of us says anything for a very long time, I can feel his eyes on me so I close mine. "I still have it." He says suddenly. "What?" I ask, I can't help it, what he said doesn't make any sense. "The other half of that necklace you're wearing, I still have it."

"Oh," I say, reaching up and touching the key that rests against the base of my throat, I had momentarily forgotten that he gave it to me. I hear rustling beside me and I look over to see that he's pulled out his keys. He holds them out so that I can see the tiny lock that came with the key on my necklace. The symbol that, to us, meant an eternity of best friendship. We see how well that turned out.

I sigh and drop my hand from the necklace, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said all of that. It's not your fault that I've had a crappy week." I say quietly. He shakes his head, "Don't apologize," He says, "I deserved all of that and more for the way I've ignored you for 2 years, for all the things I said to you that day."

I look up and meet his gaze, "I really am sorry." He says sincerely, I know that he really means it, his eyes say it all. "It's okay." I whisper. He shakes his head again, "No it's not."

"Really, it's okay." I scoot a little bit closer to him and then hesitate for a moment before laying my head on his shoulder. After a moment, I feel him relax and then he reaches out and takes my hand, "Do you think we can just be Dylan and Cole again?" He asks quietly.

I smile in the dark, "Yeah, I think that maybe we can." And, in that moment, I know that everything between us will be forgiven... that we're going to be okay.