First Kiss, First Love, First Heartbreak

Chapter 11

I don't leave the hospital until Cole is released. He was here for two days, and he's happy to be leaving. I hold his hand as he stands up from the hospital bed. His legs are shaky, but he won't say so. He wraps one arm around me and the other around his dad. We get him to the car, and I ride with them because I don't have my car here. I sit in the back row with Cole holding his hand the whole way.

When we pull into the driveway of his house, we do the same thing we did at the hospital. His Dad and I help him walk while his mom carries the bags. We get him to his room and set him on his bed. His parents leave us alone. He just lies in his bed, where I'm sitting. He places his head on my lap, and I play with his hair. His dark blue walls are really calming, and the familiar smell of his cologne.

He breaks the comfortable silence. "You know you don't have to stay." He says calmly with his eyes shut. I keep playing with his hair. It's soft, I love the feeling.

"I know, but I want to." He grabs my hand from his hair and holds it. He brings it to his lips and gently kisses it.

I doze off and wake up with Cole gone. Did he manage to do the stairs by himself? I get up and go downstairs. There sits Cole and, I blink, Jeremiah? I go towards the two of them on the couch. They're laughing. They're getting along. I sit on the couch next to Cole. The couch is a dark brown leather. The surface is cold, but feels nice at the same time.

"Hey Livi!" Jeremiah says cheerfully. I smile and wave.

Cole starts laughing and smooths my hair down with his hands. "Looks like someone had a good nap." I nod. He rubs his thumbs under my eyes, and I see Jeremiah suck a breath in. He used to do the same thing, when I had mascara under my eye. Cole's thumbs are rough on my face but feel smooth once he runs them down my arm.

"Jeremiah, what are you doing here?" I try to say with a smile.

"Oh, just trying to tell Cole that I won't be making any moves. I don't like you anymore, and I wanted to make sure he knew that." I feel a pang of disappointment for a second but hide it with a smile and nod. "And then we started talking about dumb things you've done." Me? I mean yeah I've done a lot of dumb things but why would they talk about that?

Cole's Mom comes around the corner with a pizza. She got a large. I can smell it from where she is across the room. She sets it down in front of us and tells us to enjoy. I nod and mutter a thank you. I grab a slice and so do Cole and Jeremiah. We eat in silence, well no. I'm the only silent one, they start talking about football. I kind of listen but not really.

If Jeremiah helped Cole down the stairs, that meant he saw me. Sleeping with Cole, I mean not like it was bad, we were just sleeping, but he still saw us. Together. I never slept next to Jeremiah. I don't know why, but I guess, maybe we were just younger.

Once Jeremiah leaves, Cole takes me home. He drives up to the front of my driveway. I say thank you and get out. The cold air takes me by surprise. I thought that it would get warmer after the crazy storm the other day, but I guess I was wrong.

Christmas is coming in three weeks, I'm excited. This is Cole's and my first Christmas together. I'm not sure what I want to get him.

I open my laptop and start looking for gifts. I hear the front door shut, it means my mom left for work. She's mad because I missed two days of school while I stayed at the hospital with Cole, but she knows she would've done the same if Cole was her boyfriend. I continue looking for a gift and give up after two hours. I close the laptop and put it away. I end up showering.

When I get out, I lay in bed. My wet hair makes me cold, but I just add more blankets. I look up at the ceiling and try to turn my mind off. I turn and try to get comfortable. I lay there. Not falling asleep. I hear a knock on the door and get up. I walk over to the door. I open the door. Jeremiah in sweatpants and a sweatshirt.