Him & Her

Ch.27

Ch27
At night, Elizabeth was awakened by a soft knocking on her door. At first,
she thought she was dreaming, but then she heard it again. She sat up groggily, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She looked up at the moon in the dark night sky. Who was it? Why were her parents waking her up this late in the night? It must've been already past midnight.

"What?" Elizabeth groaned, forcing her eyes to open.

Another knock sounded. It had to be her parents, so why didn't they just come in? "Come in." Elizabeth said, annoyed.

The door opened quietly and slowly and a figure covered in shadow slipped into the room, closing the door. Elizabeth reached over to her nightstand and switched her lamp on. She turned back to the figure and her eyes opened wider than she thought was possible.

"Cole?!" she asked, bewildered.

"Shh!" Cole put a finger to his lips and walked over to her bedside.

"What in the world are you doing here? How did you get into my house?" Elizabeth whispered harshly. Why wasn't she screaming at him to leave? Maybe she didn't really want him to go. She continued, "It's the middle of the night! You just broke into my house, into my room, you woke me up! How did you even-"

"Actually, it's two in the morning." he said.

"What?" Elizabeth caught her breath.

"It's not the middle of the night, it's very early in the morning." he shrugged, "I climbed over the fence from my backyard into yours and found that your backdoor was unlocked. So, I walked in, went up the stairs, knocked on your door, and here I am." he smiled.

Elizabeth stared open mouthed at him.

"Don't worry, I locked the backdoor again after I came in." Cole sat on the edge of her bed.

Suddenly Elizabeth kicked him hard in the side and he fell off her bed. She stood up on her bed and threw her pillow at him.

"What? What did I do?" Cole shielded himself as Elizabeth threw another pillow.

"What didn't you do? I hate you I hate you I hate-" she looked down at Cole's stunned face as he clutched a pillow to his chest and she just couldn't help it. She sank to her knees on her bed and laughed.

Cole smiled and climbed back onto her bed. Elizabeth playfully pushed him, still laughing. "You're crazy." she said.

Cole laughed, "I know."

Oh man, she missed his smile and the way it lit up his eyes. She missed the sound of his laugh and the way it made her feel warm inside. She was tired of being mad at him, she couldn't take it anymore. Besides, the fact that he had broken into her house to see her was a sign that he missed her too and really was sorry, right? Plus, Elizabeth felt like she used to when she was around him now. Wait, she was supposed to be mad.

"So, you accept my apology?" Cole asked.

Elizabeth shrugged.

"Oh come on. You've been killing me for two days now, just say you forgive me!" Cole sighed, "Please please please please please!"

Before Elizabeth could answer, she heard footsteps in the hallway outside. She heard her dad call her name.

"Uh oh." Elizabeth said, "I have to hide you."

"Why?"

"Unless you wanna die, then get under the bed."

"Don't you have a better place?" he asked.

"Oh ya, there's also out the window." Elizabeth smiled, "Your pick."

Cole rolled his eyes, but knelt down and slipped under the bed just as her dad opened the door to her room.

Her dad's head popped up from behind the door, "Hey sweets, are you ok? I heard voices."

Elizabeth thought fast, "Uh, just a bad dream."

"Oh." her dad stepped into her room, "Are you ok?"

Uh oh, she thought as her dad approached her bed. "Ya, I'm fine, it wasn't that scary. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" her father asked. Elizabeth nodded. He dad smiled, "I remember that when you were small, you never ever had me look under your bed or in your closet. You didn't believe that a monster could fit in any of those places."

Elizabeth laughed nervously, "Ya, neither could a teenage boy." she muttered under her breath.

"It would be nice to do that for once." he said, "And act like you're young again."

"Uh..." Elizabeth smiled, "I- need a hug first! Ya, a hug! Leaving the door wide open."

She pulled her dad into a tight hug and he hugged her back. She looked over her dad's shoulder and saw Cole crawl out from under the bed. He got to his feet and slowly walked towards the door.

"Are you sure you're ok?" her dad asked.

"Mmhmm." she replied.

Cole turned back around to her and waved. She glared at him and he smiled then tiptoed out of the room.

Her dad pulled away and frowned. "Wait here." he ordered her and stood up, heading towards the door.

"Wait dad!" Elizabeth ran after him, but it was too late.

Her dad was already in the hallway. Elizabeth ran after him and sighed inwardly. Cole was no where to be seen.

Her dad sighed, "I really must be tired." he kissed Elizabeth's forehead, "Good night." he walked back down the hallway and into his room.

Elizabeth was about to go back to her room when Cole ran back up the stairs and stood in front of her.

"Hi." he said.

"What are you doing? My dad almost caught you the first time! Now leave!" she said, pushing him away.

"But-"

"We'll talk tomorrow. Go!"

"Fine." Cole kissed her cheek lightly, "Bye." he smiled and ran back down the stairs.

Elizabeth tensed up, hating how she loved the feeling that flowed through her body when Cole kissed her. She went back to bed, stared at the ceiling, and tried to fall asleep.

•••
The next day Elizabeth walked out of her house to find Cole sitting down on the grass on her front lawn. She walked over to him and he looked up at her.

"Good morning." he said and stood up.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Waiting." he smiled.

"You just can't leave me alone, can you?" she sighed and made her way to school, Cole right behind her.

He grabbed her hand and swung it as he walked beside her. She tried to pull away, but he didn't let go. He was determined to show her he wanted to be with her.

Elizabeth looked away. Cole ran to her other side, in the way of her vision. She looked straight ahead, hands in her pockets. Cole stood in front of her, walking backwards. She looked down at her shoes as she walked. He stopped walking and she ran into him, now looking at his shoes. She looked up angrily at him and side stepped Cole and continued walking. He caught up to her and put an arm around her shoulders. Elizabeth hid a smile and ducked under his arm. Cole turned to her, but she ran across the street. Cole calmly followed her and smiled at her when he caught up.

Then she began to walk fast. Cole followed suit. Elizabeth picked up her speed; so did he. Then Elizabeth found herself running, a smile on her face as she heard Cole run after her. After a few seconds, Cole grabbed her arm and pulled her to a stop. A laugh escaped from between her lips and she put a hand to her mouth.

They stood staring at each other, heaving breaths. "You can't get rid of me." Cole said smiling. He reached out and pulled her hand away from her mouth. He held her hand in his and leaned forward until his forehead rested against hers'. His beautiful eyes gazed into her brown ones and she couldn't help it.

"I love you." she blurted. "I mean- I hate you." she added quickly.

Cole laughed, "Then I guess I hate you too."

And that's when their lips connected.