Happier

Chapter 15

On Saturday morning, they leave with mommy Goldberg's Range Rover filled with food, and everything else they need for a weekend away. Even before daddy Goldberg wakes up to work, they leave. Lacey made sure to leave a note though, so he wouldn't be too worried.
"Can we make a stop at the cinema first?" Cole asks as he buckles himself in the passenger seat. Lacey gives him a look and her heart drops. He's been living at the cinema since her dad kicked him out of their house?
"You live there now?" Stacey asks, not even shocked about it. Whatever he does, wherever he sleeps, Stacey will always love him. To her, he's like a best friend. A brother. Cole nods.
"Joe gave me a job when I asked him if I could sleep in the backroom," he explains without getting embarrassed about it.
"That's it, you're going to live with us again," Lacey says determined.
"But your dad..." Cole objects. Lacey drives off the driveway and onto the street.
"I don't care, Cole. I don't want you to live in a cinema when I can give you a proper room and proper food. If necessary, we'll do it sneaky," she decides. Cole opens his mouth to say something, but quickly changes his mind and presses his lips together again. If there's one thing he's learned from being with this girl, it's that you can't argue with her. She always gets what she wants. No sooner said than done, the three make a stop at the cinema to pick Cole's stuff up and then continue their road trip to the beach. With the music loud, the windows open and a pitstop every now and then for some snacks, they soon arrive at their destination. This time around, they've chosen a different beach. One that's a little further away from their house. That way, it would be more of an actual road trip.
The three make their way from the car to the beach. It's empty as it's still quite early and no one really wakes up before 9am on a Saturday. The girls walk on either side of Cole, Lacey's hand intertwined with his. She sticks her nose in the air and takes in the freshness of the sea-air. How she loves this place. Wherever in the world she is, as long as she's near the beach. As a child, she loved going to the beach. She even preferred it over Disneyland sometimes.
She keeps her eyes peeled for every single detail she sees in nature. From the seagulls to the wind messing up Stacey's hair. Moments like these are the ones she feels most alive. Most herself. It's the same when she's at home with Cole, or even out and about with him. She has nothing to worry about and she can just be her. She can just be Lacey.
"Last one at the ocean is a wiener!" She yells with a grin on her face and dashes off. Cole and Stacey follow behind her, all of them kicking their shoes off mid-run until their feet reach the cold sea. Their laughter fills the silent air and then Lacey stops. She looks out to the horizon and takes in the deepest breath she has ever taken. Cole and Stacey give each other a glance, a smile apparent on their faces. Then Cole looks at his girlfriend, the smile never disappearing. His eyes sparkle like never before. He's so in love with her. He can't hide it, neither can he say it. Hell, he wants to scream it from the rooftops, but he's scared. Scared she might not feel the same, explosive way. Love is a big word. But the fact that he smiles for no reason when he sees her or is with her, must mean something. He has to tell her. Now. A deep breath now fills up his lungs. Now.
"I love..." he starts, but then stops, chickening out "the ocean..." he curses at himself for not even daring to say those three silly words. The sisters look at him, both with different expressions. Stacey's more knowing while Lacey's more agreeing. Stacey has always been the girl that knows things before the people themselves know the thing. She's aware the boy is madly in love with her sister and that he's dying to tell her that he loves her. She can see it in his eyes. It's so obvious.
The three stay in the water for a couple more minutes, letting Lacey do her thing and enjoy the calmness the ocean gives her.
"This makes me want to pee," Stacey then says after a couple minutes.
"Same," Lacey says with a giggle.
"Can we get some coffee somewhere, maybe?" Stacey suggests, now pattering in the water. Both Cole and Lacey agree and the trio goes back up to the street to find someplace to drink and pee. They find a cute coffeeshop a couple of houses further. It's almost completely empty, except for an old couple near the window. It makes Lacey smile for some reason. One day, she'll be like that with her husband. Maybe with Cole. She turns her head to look at him as they sit down at an available table. Yes. One day she'd marry him. No doubt in her mind. She's never thought about that when she was with Archie, but now that she's with Cole, she's certain of her dream future. They would marry and have three children. Two girls and a boy: Zoe, Lili and Mason. She shakes her head for a second to get out of that dream, no matter how beautiful it was.
"A cappuccino for you, Lace?" her little sister asks her with a smile and her wallet in her hand. The eldest just gives her a nod before Stacey gets up and walks towards the counter. It gives Cole and Lacey a little more time alone.
"Are you enjoying it so far?" the girl asks, putting her elbow on the table and resting her head in her hand. The most beautiful smile appears on Cole's face as he nods.
"It's not that we've done much yet, but yeah, I'm really enjoying myself," he tells her while grabbing her other hand and pressing a soft kiss on top of it. "I just love... being with you," he mumbles and it makes Lacey blush a little.
"I love being with you too," she says back and leans forward a little to initiate a kiss. The boy immediately gets the hint and meets her in a sweet, chaste kiss. And another one. And another one. It even makes the old couple look at them with melting hearts. They find it endearing to see such a sweet love at their age. All they ever see right now are fighting couples that never stay together. You know when even strangers can tell how much you love one another, it's deep.
"All right, love birds," Stacey's voice breaks them apart, "A cappuccino for misses Steward and a black coffee for mister Steward," she places the paper cups of coffee in front of the right owner and keeps one for herself. The couple blush a little at the names she used for them.
"So, what are the plans for today?" Cole asks after sipping from his cup. The sisters look at each other and then back at the boy.
"I was just thinking we could take some pictures and just enjoy being here. Watch the sunset tonight," Lacey goes over her minimal plans for the day. Cole raises an eyebrow, looking at his girlfriend quizzically.
"Yeah, okay. I'm down for that," he states and sips from his coffee again.
"So, Cole, you're graduating this year," Stacey changes the subject, "What are your plans for next year?" she sips from her cup again, not even bothering to put it down.
"Err, unless I get a scholarship, I don't think I'm going to go to college," he tells her honestly. Both the sisters nod, understanding why it would be a problem for him to get into college. He's clever and would be the perfect student in a photography or creative writing college, but considering he doesn't even have a home nor parents that would be able to pay for the bills, it would be a lot harder on him.
"What are you going to do, Lacey?" he asks to avoid the subject for himself.
"Harvard Law School," she answers without hesitation. Stacey rolls her eyes back.
"That's not what you want," she mumbles against her cup before taking another sip, "that's what mother wanted." Cole's head goes from sister to sister, trying to keep up with the conversation like it's a tennis match.
"Yeah, but I don't know anything else I could possibly do," her voice is soft and sad. Talking about her mom always makes her this way. It's like the memory of her takes away her ability to speak properly. "It's just easier when your whole life is planned out by your mother, because mother knows best. She always has. And yeah, it might not be the thing I would love to do the most, but neither was cheerleading. Everything seemed so much easier when she was here," there's a quiver in her voice, signaling the very last brick of her Lego tower has been clicked on. One more and the tower breaks. She breaks.
"There's so much you could do, Lacey. There's so much you're good at," Cole starts and reaches for her hand across the table. "You're a great dancer, a great singer. Like, you could easily drop out of school and just become famous with a singing career. And not only that. Your photography is amazing, I bet you can do so many amazing things with your life that your mother didn't even know about." A smile breaks through Lacey's façade, steadying her Lego tower inside her.
"Yeah, what he said," Stacey adds, "There are a lot of things mom didn't know about, Lace. Maybe if you continue doing those things, you can make her very proud up there. Make her say to God and all the angels 'Yep, that's my girl right there. The one making it without me'. You can make something of your life without mom." Every word that comes out of her sister's mouth only makes her smile even brighter and wider. Her sister's pep-talks always get her through everything.

They spent hours on the beach, taking pictures of each other and of the view. They laughed and had serious conversations. All together, they had the most fun they've had in a long time. No drama, no tears, no reputation. Just them and the ocean.
The sun is starting to set and the three are sat on the sand, looking out to the horizon and watching the colors of the sky change. Lacey takes a couple of pictures, wanting to capture every single moment of it. She takes a picture of her boyfriend, watching the sunset with a smile. And one of her sister, completely in a daze. That's when Lacey thought her little sister looked the prettiest; sunk in thought, yet completely relaxed. Lacey then gets up and walks closer to the water to take some more pictures, leaving her sister and boyfriend behind.
"Go tell her," Stacey demands, not even looking at the boy.
"Tell her what?" he asks, completely oblivious of the big elephant in the room.
"That you love her," Stacey replies. Cole's eyes widen, unsure of what to tell her now.
"H-How do you know that?" he stutters, scratching the back of his head nervously.
"My name is Stacey Elizabeth Goldberg, I know everything," she tells him with a grin. The boy lets out a nervous laugh, but then gets up and walks towards Lacey near the water.
"You know what's fun to do?" Lacey questions when she feels his presence behind her after taking the photo. Cole stares at her, curious about what she's going to say next. "I used to do it constantly as a kid when we came down to the beach," she continues and stretches her arms beside her. Cole looks at her with an amused look on his face. Then the girl starts twirling around and giggling like a little school girl. He chuckles lightly and then joins in. The couple laughs and giggles until the bump into each other. He has to steady her a little so she doesn't fall back.
"You're right, that is fun," he tells her once they're done laughing. For a moment, they stop and stare, like they always do. Now would be the perfect moment to tell Lacey how he feels. With the sunset and the weird, yet adorable moment they just shared and the staring. It would be perfect. But nothing is perfect in life. So, he doesn't say it. He just stares until she closes the space between them and kisses him. Passionately. The best kiss they have ever shared. They kiss like they have never done before, as if the earth is going to stop turning tomorrow and everyone will die. The sort of kiss that'll sweep you off your feet, keep you in a daze moments after. That sort of kiss.
When they break apart, they don't say anything, but they smile. Like complete idiots. The two make their way back to Stacey and sit down to enjoy the last few moments on the beach. Until they get tired and get back into the car to sleep. The girls are used to sleeping there from their long road trips with their parents when they were younger. Cole can sleep anywhere. You can always make everything a bed if you try hard enough. And that concludes a perfect, long day. One that they would look back to in so many years and tell their children about. Even their grandchildren will know about that time at the beach. They will know how much Cole loved Lacey. Except for Lacey herself.