Broken Silence (Silence, #2)(19)

Outside they had a quick argument, and I barely picked up one word.

“Watch her,” Jasper mumbled and walked back inside.

Huh? I looked around in utter confusion.

“Err, what was that about?” I asked.

Oakley glared in the direction Jasper disappeared in. “Jasper gets ridiculously overprotective if someone even looks in my direction.”

That guy was looking at her? I wanted to go punch him.

“Anyway, forget about him. Wanna do another shot?” She raised her eyebrows and smiled, but she wasn’t fooling me.

“You don’t want to do another shot, Oakley.”

“Yes I do. The next couple of months are gonna be really hard. I want to get drunk.” So that’s what this was about. She was drinking away her problems. Not happening.

I shook my head.

“It’s going to be okay.”

Reaching out, I touched her arm, and she started crying. Shit! I stepped into her, wrapping my arms around her beautiful body and held her tight. It made me feel sick seeing her upset. I just wished there was something I could do to make it better. Some way of turning back time and protecting her from those sick bastards.

She buried her head right into my neck and clung onto me. This was going to happen at some point though. She was trying to be strong and pretend everything was fine but it wasn’t. Even if they got the maximum sentence, it wouldn’t be fine. This was never going away.

“I’m scared, Cole,” she admitted and sobbed on my shoulder. I held her tighter and kissed the side of her head. I’m scared too.





Chapter Seven


Oakley




Cole held me tight, and I felt safe. It was a huge relief to get it all out rather than holding it in. I couldn’t do it in front of Mum and Jasper. Well I could. They would always listen, but I didn’t want to make any of it harder for them.

I took a deep breath and pulled away from him. It was time to be strong again. If I was with anyone else I would have pulled it together much sooner, but Cole always could drag my true emotions out of me.

“Sorry,” I mumbled and swept my tears from under my eyes. Thankfully, I had waterproof mascara on, but I had cried a lot – no doubt I looked like a panda.

Cole kept one of his arms around me. I liked that too much.

“Don’t be sorry. You’re not the one that has to be sorry. Not ever.”

I managed a smile.

“You okay now?”

“Yes.” I smoothed down my hair, hoping that would be enough to make me look human again. “We should get back inside.”

Cole shook his head. “No, we shouldn’t. You want to talk.” He was right to be confident. I did want to talk about it. A few years ago talking was the last thing I wanted but with time, I realised ignoring the problem didn’t make it disappear.

“There’s a crappy little cafe down the road, we can go there.”

“Crappy cafe? That’s not very gentlemanly. If that’s what you say to the ladies then no wonder you haven’t had any since—”

“Yeah, alright. Very funny,” he replied.

I grinned. My happiness was almost overwhelming. I loved being near him again, talking, joking around, and knowing that there hadn’t been anyone since me.

“Let’s go. I could really do with a coffee.”

“How crappy is this café then? I’m not going to get food poisoning am I?” I asked as we walked along the street.

“That depends.”

I raised my eyebrows. “On?”

“Whether you’re eating anything or not.”

“Okay that will be a not.”

“Good choice.”

Cole held the dull red door open, and I walked inside. He wasn’t joking; it was crappy. The patchy magnolia paint had started peeling off the walls, and the white blinds were turning a light yellow. Four rows of dated metal tables and chairs stretched from one side of the room to the other. I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to sit down.

“Want a hot chocolate?” Cole asked, leading me to a table in the corner. Most tables were empty. Only a few people were dotted around, sipping tea and coffee from chipped mugs.

“Is that a good idea?” I asked him. I had no problem with going somewhere cheap and cheerful, but I at least wanted to drink from a clean cup.

“I’ve been here before, and it’s not done me any harm.”

I arched my eyebrow sceptically. Cole shook his head and pointed to the chair.

“Sit and behave.”

I did as he said and watched him walk to the counter to order. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was that we were friends again. Being back was hard but Cole made it so much easier.

He returned to the table and sat opposite me. His face turned serious, and I knew the messing around and teasing had stopped for now.

“So… how are you really feeling about it all?”

I shrugged. “I’m honestly not sure. Everything’s a little hazy. One minute I really want to do it in person and the next I just want to run away. I’ve gone back and forth so much I feel dizzy.”

“You don’t have to, you know? I’m sure they’ll let you do it by video or whatever here.”

“They probably would.” I nodded. “But then I wouldn’t have faced them.”