Sunshiny Things (Original)

Ch. 24 What's Your Motive?

Freya

I walk into Cole and Cams apartment, and instantly gasp as the scene. Everywhere I looked there were broken dishes, plates, and vases. A book shelf in the living room was knocked over, and there was a bit of crumble in one of the brick walls.

    "Oh my gosh," I whisper almost barley audible. I feel tears poke at my eyes as I imagine what could have caused him to do this, or what it must have looked like. I don't even want to imagine what his dad would do if he saw this.

    "He's in his room," Cam says from behind me, and I give a slight nod. I look over to my right and spot Cole's door, shut, behind it holding a broken guy. I slowly walk over to it, scavenging my way through the room, trying not to step on any broken shards of glass. As I reach his door, I stop in front of it and hesitantly hover my hand above the door handle. I don't know what I'm about to walk into. And quite frankly, I'm scared to find out. But if I could possibly help the situation, then I'll try to do everything I can.

Without letting myself stall anymore, I gently turn the knob and open the door. I don't step in right away though. Instead, I just stand in the doorway and examine the situation. The paper wall that used to be filled with papers, has now reduced in size due to Cole surly ripping some off the wall and scattering them across the floor. A few of the books that used to reside on the wooden bookshelf are now resting on the concrete floor in misery. And then there's Cole, who is sitting on his bed with his head resting on the palm of one of his hands, while the other is holding a bottle of dark whiskey. Much like the one that he had when he came stumbling into my bathroom that one time. But that's when I notice, both sets of his knuckles are sliced open, blood almost fully covering them.

    Cole doesn't seem to notice that I've come in, so I walk in a few more steps, trying to avoid stepping on a book in the process.

    "Cole," I say almost too quietly. Cole doesn't react for a moment, but when he finally raises his head up, again, another gasp falls from my lips. His eyes are bloodshot red, his dark curls messed up lazily, and his bruise around his eye is starting to darken a little more from the last time I saw it. This is the worst state that I think I've ever seen him in. But it becomes even worse once a look over anger gets displayed across his face. I knew this was a bad idea.

    "What the fuck are you doing here, Annie?" Cole seethes. I feel my body tense and I try to gulp down my nerves the best I can. He clearly needs me, and if not me then at least someone. And I can't let my fear of confrontation scare me away.

    "What happened?" I ask as I slowly move into his room a little bit more. Cole puts his hand up though, stopping me from coming any closer, and I quickly oblige.

    "You need to go," he growls and I can tell that he's trying to sustain himself from bursting. It scares me, but I'm not going to let that make me shy away. He's clearly unstable, and he needs to calm down. So with that in mind, I shake my head slowly to refuse his demand.

    "No," I softly deny him.

    "Why do you care anyway? I'm just doing what I always do, drinking my emotions away to try and escape from my shitty reality." He puts his head back in his hand and I inhale a shaky breath. His words pierce my heart as he uses what I said to him earlier against me. But I push back the hurt, and instead tread forward a little more so I'm now standing in front of him as he sits on his bed. I owe this to him, and more importantly, I owe this to myself. He helped me before, and it's only right if I try to do the same for him.

I shake my head a little bit as I bend down and crouch in front of him on the bed.

    "Don't do that," I mummer in response to his words. He lifts his head up from his hand, and I feel my heart begin to race as his eyes lock with mine and the pungent smell of alcohol fills my nose. He looks so...broken. For the first time in my life, this is the only time I've seen Cole Sanders so vulnerable.