Descent (Dysmorphia Series #2)

Blueberry Pancakes

Florence had liked baking and cooking a lot before anorexia had plagued her life and she had instead counted calories rather than relishing how a few simple ingredients could turn into something amazing. She had resisted the urge to check the many emails, voicemails, Twitter notifications, Facebook notifications, and website comments, she was there to make pancakes not to have a mini-panic attack about her new-found stardom, and it was so early in the morning she couldn't attend to business, just to the growl in her stomach that meant she was hungry.

She was happy that 'Dysmorphia' was getting such a great reception and treasured reading the wonderful reviews people were writing about her book, but with all the good came the bad and she couldn't take negative thoughts about a book that was basically with about her life story, so she avoided the internet at least for now.

To her surprise Cole had stayed with her in the kitchen instead of running in the other direction, he was watching her attentively as she weighed out the flour, mixed the eggs and poured in the milk.

She almost laughed, after his previous comment about being in an apron and making homemade cookies she hadn't imagined that he'd actually be interested in her cooking.

"Pass me the blueberries from the fridge," she asked and he immediately got up off the counter stool and brought them to her, there was something strange about the way he was moving, his actions seemed robotic and there didn't seem to be much light behind his eyes anymore.

He was so... unpredictable, one second he would be laughing and cracking admittedly funny jokes and the next it was like a shadow had passed across his face, he was fixated on the bowl as she whisked everything together.

"Um... Cole, are you okay?" she asked pausing mid-whisk.

He seemed to snap out of something, he shook his head.

"I'm fine"

Five minutes later it transpired that Cole was an excellent pancake flipper, Florence hadn't flipped pancakes since her Grandma had still been alive, and watching them caused all sorts of nostalgic thoughts to stir up inside her.

Once a sizeable stack had been made they both sat down, the awkwardness had returned, like two strangers they sat as Cole methodically cut his pancakes into smaller and smaller pieces.

"So what was the deal with you and my brother?" he asked, "You clearly adored him, was it a reciprocated feeling?"

She was caught unaware and dropped her fork in shock, for so long she had cooped up everything she had felt for Chase, first to not get him in trouble and then to save herself the pain of mentioning his name, but Cole clearly wanted to know, and why should she deprive him any information about his own brother?

"Yeah, as you so eloquently put it I did adore Chase, he was amazing and he saved me, and every single day I wish he was still here"

Plop.

A single tear dropped onto the blueberry discarded on the side of her plate.

"Makes sense" Cole said not looking at her, "Chase was always one for fixing things that were broken"

She felt immense hurt at his words, he was acting like Chase had only helped her, only loved her because he was somehow bound to because she was hurting, that hadn't been the case, it hadn't!