unexpected - ruel van dijk

coco

coco and i sit in the car, the silence only being broken by the raindrops beginning to fall on the windshield. 

"so are you dating my brother?" she asks me, i laugh.

"absolutely not-" i say. "just friends."

"he literally hasn't shut up about you for the past week!" she exclaims.

"that's literally how long we've known each other for!" i say, in the same tone as her. she looks at me with a smile and shakes her head.

"do you like ice cream?" she asks me.

"who doesn't like ice cream?" i laugh.

"okay true," she says. "i'm taking you to get ice cream then-" she smiles at me. "i have some... questions for you". i lowkey begin to freak out. mainly because i feel as if i'm going to be interrogated and i don't want to make a bad impression. my friendship with ruel is riding on this, and at the moment he's the only person i actually want to talk to. coco pulls up to the ice cream shop across the road from bondi beach. we get out of the car, walk into the shop and order. 

after we've got our ice creams, we cross the road to the beach and begin to walk along the footpath.

"i think my brother likes you," coco says. i look at the floor.

"your brother is such a genuinely great guy" i say, "but i don't think i'm ready for another relationship- especially with a guy i barely know."

"what do you mean another relationship?" coco asks me. of course. now i'm going to have to explain my life story again. 

"my ex- fucked around with my emotions" i say. that's the easiest way to put it. "either he was the one with the problem, or i'm just overly sensitive" i sigh as i lick my two scoops of choc mint ice cream.

"we all have shitty exes brynne" coco tells me.

"yeah and mine still constantly bullies me everyday at school" i laugh ironically, because the memory of the what daniel and his friends say to me at school makes me want to cry- not laugh.

"what do you mean bully you?" coco asks, she looks concerned.

"the other day when ruel came and picked me up, daniel had thrown a note to me in class..." i look at the ground and i can feel the tears welling in my eyes. "telling me to kill myself" i choke. i feel so stupid getting choked up in front of coco. i don't understand why i'm so emotional, and why daniel gets under my skin so easily. coco stops walking.

"okay," she says; "when you said you had a bad ex, i thought you meant that you had a rough break up or something," she adds.

"yeah, like a year and a half ago" i say.

"and he's bullying you, still?" coco asks, the shock in her voice is beginning to break through.

"yeah..." i say and i look to the floor, for like the 500th time in this conversation.

"no wonder you don't want to commit to another relationship!" coco exclaims. "does ruel know about this?" she asks me.

"every last detail," i say. we keep walking for a few seconds before i say, "look, coco; i know you mean well, and ruel is such a lovely guy. but i really just want to be friends." i explain. "i haven't had someone like him in my life for what feels like forever, and i feel that if i date him i'll screw things up." coco looks at me with a degree of understanding painted in her eyes.

"brynne-" she says. "i get it... i didn't know you had something so special."

"i've only known him for a week, yet he knows more about me than my own friends at school do." i say. "i don't tell people stuff like this." coco turns and looks me dead in the eyes, her face is solemn.

"if ruel's ever not around," coco says, "you can always come to me." 

"thank you," i reply.

"do you have any sisters?" she asks me.

"no," i say.

"you do now," a small smile plays on her lips. i hug her.  i don't understand what ruel sees in me, nor do i understand what coco sees. they make me feel so loved, so wanted and so happy. i wish i didn't ever have to go to school. we finish off our ice creams, put the rubbish in the bin and walk towards the car.

"also," coco says, "i know ruel was going to spring this on you out of the blue tomorrow," she continues.

"what?" i ask.

"but i wanted to tell you, so you actually had time to get ready this time" she laughs. okay true, ruel really is good at springing spontaneous adventures on me out of the blue.

"what is it?" i ask.

"ruel's going on his last leg of the ready tour, in asia" she says. i look at the floor as i process what she's just said. that means i won't have him to talk to for... forever. coco sees that i'm saddened by the news. "but ruel's surprise is that  he's taking all his friends to their beach house for a weekend away before he leaves." she exclaims. i look at her, excitement fills my eyes.

"really?" i ask her.

"really." she replies. "i wanted to tell you now so you at least had time to pack tonight!"

"we're leaving tomorrow morning?" i ask, as we continue to walk back to the car.

"yeah," she tells me. "you'll probably get a snapchat from ruel at about 7am" she laughs. i laugh too. we open the car doors and get inside. coco turns on the ignition and drives me home and i give her directions. she puts on no control by one direction and we absolutely scream the lyrics.

"oh my god" i say, as the song finishes. "i fucking love one direction"

"it's definitely my guilty pleasure" coco laughs.

"mine too," i add. "my 13 year old soul goes absolutely nuts every time i listen to it!" we pull up to my house. "thank you so much for the ice cream," i say to her as i get out of the car.

"it's not a problem," she replies "thank you for taking care of my idiot brother" she laughs. i laugh  and shake my head.

"it was my pleasure" i say as i shut the car door and give her a wave as she drives away.

i get inside and begin to pack for the weekend away, i'm kind of scared because i don't want to have to say goodbye to ruel. but i trust my gut feeling which is filled with such a content and happy feeling, i take a deep breath and let my anxieties dissolve.

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what will happen on the weekend away?
will brynne get drunk and let her feelings out?
will ruel remember telling brynne he loves her?

wooo coco is finally in the book!!! i've wanted to put her in for so long, because i honestly think she is such a gorgeous human being.

i hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please remember to vote and comment if you want me to update!!

thank you for reading, i love you all so much.

xx