Silence (Silence #1)(12)

Eventually, we both pulled away, and he seemed as reluctant as I was to let go. My feelings for him grew every day, becoming crazily confusing. Cole looked happy. His eyes were alight and his features soft. Happiness bubbled inside me at seeing him smile properly again.

“We don’t fight again. Ever again, okay?” he said seriously, holding both my hands and playing with my fingers. I nodded in agreement. That was the easiest thing I had ever agreed to.

He smiled again, flashing his white teeth.

“Good. So two weeks in Italy, hey? We have to do some water sports and hire a boat.”

I raised my eyebrow, making him laugh and shake his head. Hire a boat? Neither of us could sail, and there was no way the first time we tried was going to be alone in a foreign country.

“I guess you’re gonna go all girly on me and want to sun bathe?” I nodded and smirked. I was pasty white and definitely wanted to get a tan. “Fine, I’ll make you a deal. I’ll suffer through that if you go diving with me?”

He had been trying to get me to go diving for years, but I hated the idea of it. I’m not a fan of fish and everything in the sea was all slimy, and the sea itself was full of sewage. I bit my lip, shaking my head and trying not to smile. The deal didn’t matter. He would sun bathe with me anyway. He always did.

Cole sighed heavily, pretending to be annoyed. “Fine but two days sun bathing max, and you have to buy the ice creams.” I pursed my lips and nodded. That part also didn’t matter because as soon as we were there he would insist on paying.

He laid down and pulled me with him. I almost landed on top of him but managed to move to the side just in time. We laid side-by-side, hand-in-hand, both staring up to the ceiling. I felt happy again.

“We need to get your parents to let you go out at night this time,” he said after a couple minutes of comfortable silence. That was another thing I loved about him – he thought similar things to me. However, that could just be because we spent so much time together.

I turned my head to face him, chewing my lip as I nodded. The last time we were away, I had to be back at the hotel at ten and hang out there for the rest of the evening. We needed to think of some way of convincing my parents that I was more responsible now that I was older.

Suddenly the air felt like it had been sucked from the room. Cole’s head inched closer to mine. Was he going to kiss me? I froze. Did I want that? Yes, you know you do!

“We’ll talk to them about it later.” His voice was so quiet that he was almost whispering. The way he was looking at me made gave me butterflies and for a second I stopped breathing.

“Cole? Oakley?” Mia shouted up the stairs.

Cole’s whipped his head around. “What?” he growled towards the door. I sat up, putting a little distance between us. My heart was pounding. That was the second time she had interrupted… Something in two days.

Mia walked in seconds later and smiled widely.

“We go in two weeks! Oakley, I’m holiday shopping Monday if you wanted to come?” I nodded and smiled gratefully. I definitely needed to get some new clothes.

“I’m coming too,” Cole mumbled, still frowning at his sister. I wanted to laugh at how funny he was when he was annoyed. Did he really want to kiss me as much as I wanted to kiss him? It seemed like he did. It probably wasn’t a good idea though. If we got together, I doubted it would work out. It couldn’t. In time, my silence would drive him away.

Mia’s mouth hung open in shock. “You want to come shopping?”

“I need to get some stuff too, but I’m not walking around every damn shop with you two. I’ll go off on my own.” I rolled my eyes and sat back against the wall. He was impossible when we were shopping.

“Alright, but we’re gonna be out all day.”

He shrugged, “Yeah, whatever.”

Mia clapped her hands together in excitement, “I need to go and make a list!” She squealed and ran out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

“How the hell are we related?” he mumbled to himself, shaking his head at the door in disbelief. He really was in a mood. “So you gonna buy a tiny bikini?” Cole asked, wiggling his eyebrows. I frowned. No, definitely not. “I was joking!” He laughed. I smiled at him, trying to make out that his comment hadn’t affected me.

He sat up against the wall next to me. His side pressed against mine as he reached over and grabbed the television remote. I smiled when he put on yesterday’s Hollyoaks. He had still recorded it for me, even after our argument. Cole gazed at me, but quickly looked away. Was he blushing?

Cole was, without a doubt the sweetest guy in the world, and I was so lucky to have him in my life. I laid my head on his shoulder and held onto his hand as we watched television.

“Well that sucked,” Cole mumbled under his breath as Hollyoaks finished. He quickly changed the channel to some bike racing rubbish. I smiled to myself. He always said something like that when it finished, although he had spent the whole time staring intently at the TV.

To stop the boredom kicking in from the bikes zooming around in a circle, I grabbed Cole’s iPhone and started playing with one of the games I had downloaded. My phone was old and crappy, so I used Cole’s. I had never sent a text message or made a call. The only reason I had a phone was because Mum bought it for me and insisted I used it for emergencies. Mum bought it when I was eleven. The phone had sat in my bag through two years of emergencies before it was over.