Stay (Cole Swindell Fanfic)

"You keep telling me, baby, there will come a time..."

Part 2 of 'Stay' is comin' atcha!! 😊

Disclaimer:  I have no idea how Cole's parents' divorce went down; I just kind of made something up to fit the story, lol. Not trying to imply anything bad about his dad, who I'm sure was a wonderful man!!
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You keep telling me, baby, there will come a time when you will leave her arms and forever be in mine.

"What's wrong, babe? you've been quiet tonight."

Cole's voice snaps me out of my rambling thoughts. Not moving my head from its place on his shoulder, I lift my eyes to meet his breathtaking blue ones that are gazing at me with concern.

"Just...thinking." I bite my lip, my heart heavy as I anticipate the conversation that I'm about to have with him.

"About...?" his voice brings me to reality once again.

"How much i love you." I look back up into his eyes before moving to place a tender kiss on his lips.

He smiles against my mouth, ruffling my hair before slowly breaking the kiss to give me that heart-stopping grin. "I love you, too, Hails."

Almost involuntarily, I smile back at him. It's kind of impossible not to smile at Cole when he's doing it at you. That smile could melt even the hardest of hearts.

Focus, I silently command myself. There's no time for drooling like an idiot right now. You have to stay strong.

"And I want to believe that," I tell him, biting my lip once again. "I really do. But...with the situation we're in right now, it's hard to do."

"I know it's tough." He strokes my hair, placing a kiss on the top of my head. "But I promise, it's going to get easier. Once I tell her about us, I'll be all yours."

But I don't think that's the truth. And I don't like being used. And I'm tired of waiting.

"When are you planning on telling her, though?" I question. "I mean, you've been saying you were going to for almost a year now. You keep saying that you love me and not her, and yet...you're still with her."

I pause for a moment, swallowing the lump that's steadily rising in my throat. As always, I vow to myself that no tears will fall until after Cole leaves.

"I feel like you don't even actually care about me," I confess. "Like all I am is just an outlet for all your grief and frustration and whatever else you're trying to escape from."

"Oh, Hailey..." he sighs, drawing me into his arms and holding me tightly. "Of course I care about you. And I want to be with you. I don't like this situation any more than you do."

He goes quiet, placing a kiss on the top of my head as his hand rubs my back in a circular motion.

"But it's not as simple as just coming in the door and saying, 'hey, guess what? I've been having an affair for the last year,'" he sighs. "I don't want to do it like that. ai want to think of a better way."

"What better way is there than just coming straight out and saying it?" I protest, pulling out of his embrace to look at him. "And if you don't love her anymore, why does it even matter to you how you tell her?"

"Hailey..." he sighs again, closing his eyes without saying anything for a moment. "You're right, I don't love her. Not the way I used to. But I do still care about her in some way. It's hard not to when we were such good friends before we got together and she's the mother of my first child. And after what she went through with the baby, I just...I want to try to do it as gently as possible. She's still not really in the most stable state of mind."