Fallen Love

17 - IT'S COMING

Arael looked at her reflection and bit her lip nervously. Cole told her to be ready by seven over the phone but she hadn't seen him since he dropped her off at her art class the previous day.

She had tight black skinny jeans on and a white strapless top that hugged her chest and flared out at her waist with a gold zipper stopping half way down the back of the top along with white three inch heels on her feet. She smiled and nodded to herself as she heard the doorbell ring.

"Coming",she called as she checked her make up one last time before grabbing her phone and heading down the stairs. She had kept her make up natural with just eyeliner and mascara along with blush.

She opened the door and smiled up at Cole. He had dark jeans on with a black button up shirt and his leather jacket. The top two buttons of his untucked shirt were undone and his pants hung dangerously low.

"You look beautiful",he said as they got into his car. She blushed and smiled at him.

"You don't look to bad yourself, mister leather jacket",she replied and laughed as she got in. He chuckled and drove off.

They drove in a comfortable silence with just the radio playing softly. According to Cole the party was all of ten minutes from her house so she wasn't surprised that it only took them five minutes to get there. He turned to her after parking and ran a hand through his hair.

"If I catch you drinking something someone other than you and I got or doing drugs I will kill whoever gave it to you and then I'll be locking you up forever",he told her. She rolled her eyes and smiled.

"What am I? Rapunzel?",she teased. He leaned forward and shook his head.

"I'm being serious, Arael?",he told her softly. She nodded and he smiled. He opened his door and hurried around to open her door for her as she tried to get her seat belt off. Finally it unclipped and she smiled at him as she got out.

"Thanks",she said. They walked up to the door and he held her hand, squeezing it slightly to reassure her.

The door opened to reveal Heath. He was grinning like a mad man and he had a red cup filled with something. His grin faltered though when he saw who was with her and their hands intertwined.

"Come in",he said stiffly. Cole and Arael walked inside and looked around. There were people everywhere, dancing to the music, some drinking, a few smoking, a couple of people were dry humping. Arael wrinkled her nose at the sight and Cole chuckled.

"I'll go get us some drinks",Cole said and disappeared into the crowd. Heath stood beside her and sighed.

"When you said friend, Cole was not what I pictured",he told her. She smiled as they walked to some chairs.

After about an hour of talking Arael had long since given up on Cole coming back. He'd probably gone off with a bunch of girls or something. It didn't surprise her though because she sort of expected it. Someone like him couldn't just settle down with one girl.

"Would you like to dance?",Heath asked, pulling her out of her thoughts. She smiled slightly and nodded. In all honesty she didn't actually want to dance but she hoped it would help get her mind off Cole. She knew she liked him slightly more than she should even though he annoyed her slightly but she also knew she was wasting her time and would only get hurt. He didn't know how to be with only one girl and even though she knew that he had no intention of being with the girls he got, she couldn't help but feel slightly jealous. She didn't want him to be with them.

"What's wrong?",Heath asked. She shook her head and looked up at him as they danced.

"Nothing",she told him. They laughed as a man stumbled over his own feet outside and fell into the pool.

"Well I don't know if he's going to be drinking anymore tonight",Heath said as he wrapped his arm around her and rested his hand on the small of her back. She stiffened instinctively and tried to step away but he held her closer.

"Please, Arael, just give me another chance",he begged and held her tighter. His fingers dug into her skin and she winced.

"Heath, you're hurting me",she said as she tried to twist out of his reach. Someone tapped on his shoulder and ripped him away from her. Arael saw Cole as he punched Heath. Heath staggered back before regaining his balance and glaring at Cole who was making his way to Arael.

"No!",she cried as Heath lunged at Cole, managing to hit him in the jaw. She watched in horror as Cole knocked him to the floor and hit him repeatedly.

"Cole! Stop it! Cole please",she said and grabbed his arm before he could bring his fist down on Heath again. He looked up at her with murder in his eyes but she refused to let him carry on. They had drawn a crowd by then but she ignored everyone and focused on stopping Cole. She bent down and held his face in her hands to make sure she was all he could see.

"Don't be the monster you dad wants you to be. You're so much more than that and I can't let you do this while knowing you're better than this. Please come with me",she said softly. His gaze softened and he let her pull him up. He followed her up the stairs to a bathroom. He sat on the edge of the bath as she wet a cloth and kneeled in front of him to clean the cut.

"Cole you can't just hit someone like that. Just because he was doing that doesn't mean that you need to try to knock him out cold",she said as she gently wiped the blood off of his lip.

"I wasn't trying to knock him out. If I was he would've been out for a week",he mumbled miserably. He watched her as she frowned. She stood up to clean the cloth and his eyes followed her curiously. He found it amazing that she wasn't afraid of him and he knew what he would choose to do making that moment bittersweet. She was oblivious to him standing and making his way to her until she turned around.

"It doesn't matter what you were and weren't trying to do. It's wrong and you can't do it and I swear if you ever do it aga-",

Cole cut her off by pressing a soft kiss against her lips. He felt something within him change and realised what he'd just done. He pulled away from the kiss and instinctively pulled her closer to his chest as he looked out the window.

"Cole, what are you doing?",Arael asked nervously as she noticed the change in his behaviour.

"It's coming. Soon... I've just started it",he muttered, more to himself than to her though.

"What's coming? What have you started?",she asked and tried to get away to look out the window but she stopped and her head snapped in his direction when he said it. Just one word that made her whole body shake with fear right down to the bone.

"War"