Making My Way to You

Chapter 9

Cole sipped his beer and watched Delilah sit down in the sand. Joel nudged him. "Have you talked to her?"

"No." Cole shook his head. "She's been through so much...I don't wanna open that can of worms right now."

"Cole, she loves you. You love her. She ran to you when she got scared. Time for you to man up and tell her you want her back."

He nodded and downed his beer. "You're right." He tossed his beer into the trash and walked down the steps.

Delilah was lost in her thoughts and didn't realize Cole had sat down next to her until he spoke. "How you holdin up?"

"I'm ok." She forced a smile.

"Liar." He said gently. "Did you forget I know you? I know when you're lyin, Lils. You can talk to me."

"Truth?"

"Always."

"I'm scared. I'm pissed off. I hate this. I hate that he forced me out of my house. That he forced me to drag all of you into this."

"You didn't drag us into this, Lila. We care about you. I care about you." He turned her chin so he could see her face. "There's no place else I'd rather be. Nothing will stop me from protecting you. Even if we aren't together."

She leaned her head against his shoulder and wound her arm under his to lace their fingers together. He kissed the top of her head. "I needed to hear that."

They sat in silence for a while before Cole pulled away. "Come on. It's getting dark and chilly. "Let's get back to the house."

She nodded and let him pull her to her feet. "K."

Joel and Lacey shared a look as Cole and Delilah entered the house. "Hey we're gonna go see a movie. Ya'll wanna come?"

Delilah shook her head. "I think I just wanna bath and food. But thanks."

"I'm with Lila. Ya'll go ahead. Have fun." Cole responded.

An hour later Cole was stretched out on the couch watching Sports Center when Delilah came into the room. "Watcha watchin?"

"Sports Center."

"Can I watch?"

"Of course." He sat up to let her sit down beside him. She stretched out and put her head in his lap. He smiled as his heart constricted. It reminded him of their past. She would put her head in his lap while he was watching a game or some movie and pretty soon she would be sleeping. They watched TV in silence and before he knew it she had a hold of his hand and was fast asleep. He knew she hadn't been sleeping. He could hear her moving around at night in her bedroom. He took another pull from his bottle and turned his attention back to the game.

Joel and Lacey came into the house to see Cole asleep propped up on the couch with Delilah asleep with her head in his lap. "Should we wake them?" Lacey asked softly.

"No. Let them sleep. They need it. Besides this is the most relaxed I've seen either of them in a long time."

Lacey nodded and draped a blanket over Delilah. "Let's go to bed."

The next morning Delilah woke up alone on the couch. She remembered falling asleep on Cole. But he was nowhere to be found. Her heart was hurting. All she wanted was for him to hold her and never let go. But he hadn't brought up them getting back together. She didn't know if he even wanted to be together. She blinked back the tears and sat up. It was raining outside and the house was quiet. She went into the kitchen to start coffee when she saw the note. "Went to get groceries. Cole is at the driving range. Love Lacey and Joel."