You Can't Choose (BoyxBoy)

Chapter Thirty Three

-Just under four years later-

When Cole woke up, Henry was standing at the end of his bed- the end of their bed now- fidgeting nervously, a small black box clutched tightly in one of his hands. Collier in his exhausted state looked at it for a moment before his golden eyes dragged up to Henry's face. "Have Jordan and Carter come by yet?" He asked, pushing himself up in bed and raising his arms high over his head to stretch.

Since Jordan had just finished college- and Carter only had a week left- he moved back to Florida, and the two boys were planning on moving into their empty house that afternoon. As soon as all of Carter's things were gone from the apartment, Cole and Henry were going to begin unpacking Collier's things.

"They just left," Henry said, looking down at him with dazed eyes. Cole was sure that he looked terrible, as he always did when he woke up. His golden hair must be knotted and eyes tired. There were probably red marks upon his cheek from his sleeping with his fist pressed between his face and his pillow, but Henry was looking at him as if he was perfect.

"Alright," Cole said slowly, raising his hands and attempting the rub the sleep out of his eyes. "Should we start unpacking?" Even though they both had a year left of school, and Collier's university was a little over an hour's drive away- which was no longer an issue for him, thankfully- he was still moving into Henry's apartment. It wouldn't make sense not to since he already spent so much of his time there, despite the issues of distance.

"In a minute," Henry said, sounding nervous. He seemed to purposely be avoiding Cole's eyes, and Collier dropped his hands to his lap and fixated his boyfriend with a pointed look.

"What's wrong, Henry?" He asked, fearful that the boy had a change of heart as Cole was sleeping and no longer wanted him to move in.

Instead of saying this, Henry breathed out a soft, but honest, "I love you".

Collier's eyebrows raised, his worry growing. Henry was rarely uneasy, and it was troublesome to see him that way. "I love you too, but what's going on?"

Henry must have caught on to the fear in Collier's voice because his eyes widened a bit and he smiled reassuringly at the boy in bed. "Don't look so scared, Collie". Henry threw the small black box at him then, and Collier attempted to catch it. He would later blame it on his exhausted state and not his clumsiness, but whatever the cause, the box slipped through his fingers and landed on his lap. His expression while looking down at it must have been puzzled because Henry cleared his throat and encouraged him to open it.

With careful fingers, Cole picked up the box and did as he was told, lifting the lid to look inside.

His breath caught.

It was a ring.

It was small and golden, the band very delicate and Cole just looked at it with very large eyes.

"Oh my god, Henry".

"I was going to wait until everything was unpacked," Henry began softly, the nervousness back in his voice. "I wanted to wait until we were like, on the couch or something watching a horror movie because that seemed so us but then I came in here and you were sleeping and you're beautiful and-"

"Henry," Cole cut in, his voice breathless. He had to tear his eyes away from the wonderful piece of jewelry to meet his boyfriend's eyes. "Are you asking me to marry you?"

Henry's lower lip was sucked between his teeth and he chewed it thoughtfully. "Yeah".

Cole looked at him for a moment, and then his eyes widened. "Wait wait wait". He moved quickly, setting the ring down on the night stand as then struggling to get out of bed, not wanting to keep the other boy waiting without an answer for too long.

The blankets tangled around his ankles and he tumbled out of bed onto the floor. Henry took a step forward to help him, but Cole just waved him off and kicked the blankets away before climbing to his feet. "I'm fine, I'm fine," he assured before Henry could ask and immediately moved over to the many boxes in the bedroom.

They were still in the formation of the fort they had made earlier, but Collier ignored this- though he couldn't help but smile at the memory of what they had done in the fort upon its completion.

He began to pull open the boxes one at a time in his state of frantic, and Henry just cleared his throat loudly. "An answer would be nice".

"Shut up," Cole urged, still pulling open boxes.

The one he was looking for was luckily on the top of the fort and he began to tear through it, throwing the clothes in it onto the floor.

At this point, Cole was sure he looked insane, but he wasn't going to stop until he found what he was looking for.

He had hid it in here so Henry wouldn't find it, but he never meant to hide it from himself as well.

When he found the box, about in the center of the box, Collier made a loud noise of triumph and turned to Henry with it, holding it out toward him with a small smile.

Henry was just looking down at the box with a blank expression on his face. "Collie".

"Go ahead," Cole taunted, stepping closer and pressing the box into Henry's chest. "Open it".

Henry took it and slowly pushed the box open. It was a plain ring, smooth and silver, but it was the one that Cole knew Henry would love, and judging by the look on his face, he did.

"I was going to do it tomorrow morning," Cole said, still smiling at Henry. "I was going to hide it in with my socks, and then wake up early and make you breakfast and give it to you".

Henry's lips twitches up into a smile and his blue eyes flicked up to Cole's. "Is that a yes then?"

"I guess so," Collier said with a shrug and Henry laughed out loud, stepping forward and wrapping his arms around Collier's waist. They kissed, and Cole pulled back to say, "it means fuck yes".

"Good".

Henry handed Collier the black box back and swiftly went over to the bedside table, picking up the ring for Cole and returning to stand in front of him. "I get to put yours on you first, since I asked first," Henry said and Cole scoffed as if upset, but in reality he wanted nothing more than to be wearing the ring already.

Cole held his hand out, watching with careful eyes as Henry opened the box and withdrew the ring before sliding it onto Collier's finger.

He took a moment to admire exactly how right the ring looked on his hand, and then he quickly opened the other box, revealing the silver ring once more.

"Give me your hand," Cole demanded, and Henry did without a word, watching with very wide eyes as Cole pushed the ring onto his finger.

Then, he pressed his hand into Henry's and looked down at both of their ring fingers with a smile on his face.

Cole didn't get to chose who he fell in love with.

But if he had, he still would have chosen Henry.

A/n Alright! So, if you're looking to read more about these two... I'm not writing another book. They are guest stars some times! Henry is a pretty consistent character in Of Lies and Lips, but that takes place before this (Collie actual is in one part tho). Also, they bare both in Making Remy Laugh at some point with very small roles.

I'm not about to beg or anything, but if you like the story, or even if you like some of the chapters, please vote and comment. I've been getting messages about people enjoying this book, and being surprised that it isn't very popular, but in order for it to become popular, it needs more votes and comments, because the more votes and comments it gets, the more it will be advertised. Thanks!