Sprousehart Oneshots

the greater capacity

The amount of love he had for her was so colossal that it often perpetrated pain. She took up so much of his heart and he was so indulged by everything she did. Cole was so in love, it genuinely hurt. And not just him.

"You look beautiful, Lils." he said, wrapping her in his arms.

She'd never looked so perfect. Her lilac satin dress fit her perfectly and for the first time in months, she wore her hair down. She was simply exquisite, not just in her boyfriend's eyes, but everyone's.

"I love you," she whispered, pressing her forehead against his, "But I would much rather be staying in with you than going to this party."

Madelaine was hosting a party and hadn't just invited the cast, but hundreds of others. The two knew it would make Lili nervous, but went anyways. If only they'd realized that each other's presence would've been enough.

An hour later, Cole and Lili stood in the center of the large room where the party was being hosted. They were hand in hand, dancing to every song that came over the speakers.

"I'm going to go get a drink," Cole yelled over the song, "Do you want anything, baby?"

"Surprise me." she answered, trusting him to get the right thing.

As she watched him walk away, she felt a hand brush her backside and quickly turned around to find a tall man she'd never once seen.

"Hey there." he snarled, placing another hand on her butt. She could smell the stench of alcohol on his breath.

She tried her best to break free of his grasp, but he gripped her arm tightly and pulled her closer. She felt his hand slide slower down her dress as she continued to deny this was actually happening.

"Please, no." she whimpered, trying to understand what she did to deserve this or why no one was coming to her rescue.

"You know you like it." the man whispered, his hand reaching under her dress.

"No." she choked out, tears beginning to stream down her face.

"Hey!" she heard from behind her. It was Cole.

"What the hell?" he screamed, pulling her away from the man's arms.

She watched her boyfriend chase after her worse nightmare, but all she wanted was for him to be holding her. Lili stumbled outside, tears rolling down her cheeks. She couldn't comprehend that no one had seen his actions before Cole showed up. That someone would do that to a human being. That everything that could have possibly gone wrong tonight did. Her thoughts took over her mind and she fell to the ground sobbing.

"Lili, baby." Cole said softly, gathering her in his arms.

"Where were you?" she cried, her tears and mascara staining his perfectly white shirt. He didn't care.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, his voice breaking, "I'm so fucking sorry."

He laid his chin on top of Lili's head and squeezed his eyes shut, swearing to himself he'd never leave her side again. They didn't know how long they'd sat there, but eventually Cole lifted Lili from the ground and carried her to the car, and later to bed.

"I love you so much, Lili." Cole said quietly.

Their room was dark, but he could feel her sobs as he held her.

"I love you too." she whispered, trying her hardest to keep her composure.

The truth was, it wasn't his fault. There were terrible, twisted, fucked up people in the world and no matter how terrifying, it would always be that way. But something inside of him broke the moment he saw that man's hand up his girlfriend's dress. When he held her as she sobbed behind the party. As he lay here next to her, stroking her hair. And he knew that if he felt this way, she felt even worse. She felt even more shattered and broken than he did. But like I said, he was so in love, it hurt. Because the greater your capacity to love, the greater your capacity to feel pain.