Chapter Seven: Changes

Cole returns to school in December, faced with changes that his fight with Keagen caused. When Christmas comes around, Cole decides it's time to prove to Briar how much he really does love her, but was it worth it?

 

 

When I was allowed to go back to school, it was the first week in December. I was scared to face the people who witnessed what had happened. But I knew it had to be done. One way or another, I had to be strong and force myself out the door. The first day back, Steven brought me. Briar came with me.

“Be strong son, don’t let them get to you.”

So many things had changed. I couldn’t just stroll into school anymore. I couldn’t run in Phys Ed or do sit-ups or pushups until January, when my stomach tissue was completely healed. I couldn’t joke around with Keagen and Josh and Brady and Trevor because I didn’t know who liked me an who didn’t. I didn’t want to be around anyone in the hospital. I didn’t even want to see Josh.

When I walked through the doors December first, I turned a lot of heads. I felt nervous. “Don’t pay attention to them,” Briar mumbled, holding my hand.

“Hey Cole! We’re glad to have you back, hope you’re feeling better.” At least the principal was pleasant to me.

As I took my seat in the cafeteria, several students swarmed around me, asking me how I was.

“I’m doing fine,” I told them. People didn’t seem to dislike me.

Josh came up to me. He shoved my gently. “Hey dude.”

I turned around to face him, and smiled. He looked really hurt. “I uh, tried visiting you, but… they told me you didn’t want to see anyone.

I cleared my throat. Everything felt so awkward. “Uh… yeah. I looked and felt horrible… I didn’t want my friends to see me in the condition I was in…”

He nodded his head gently. “Sure, I understand. Well, I hope you’re feeling-“

I couldn’t “Where’s Keagen?”

Everyone was silent. Briar dropped her head. Josh looked away. “Jail.”

I felt my heart falter. “J-Jail?”

“Yeah… along with Greg…they uh… won’t be out for a while.”

I shut my eyes. What was I thinking? Why did I ever pick that fight?

“It’s okay though man, he deserved it okay? We have to face change in our life. It’s all part of growing up.”

I nodded slowly. “For what?”

Briar quickly said, “Aggravated assault and possession of an unregistered and deadly weapon.”

Josh gave her a quick glare. “Uh. Yes. That would be the reason.”

“Oh.” I looked at my feet. I wanted to be home. “Oh.”

The eight o’clock bell rang and I slowly walked to class with Josh and Briar. I didn’t really talk the rest of the day.

By three o’clock, I was more than happy to be going home. Briar came with me, and when we walked through the door she and got my medicine. I took it without feeling.

Jeanne gave me a kiss. “How was school?”

 “Fine,” I said gently.

“You’re dad’s bringing home your favorite thing to eat.”

“Yeah?”

“KFC.”

I actually managed a slight smile. “Cool.”

I dragged my body into my room. Lying down on my bed, all I could think about was life two months ago. When everything was still “perfect.” I don’t ever think of my life before the fight as perfect, but it was so much better than this. Now, nothing was the same. No one was the same. And I couldn’t stand it.

Briar kissed me, taking me off guard. I jumped. She pulled away.

“I’m sorry…”

I shook my head. I pulled her against me and kissed back, holding her against my body. I squeezed her gently.

 I ran my fingers up her back, and under her shirt, touching her bare skin. My lips grazed down her neck, and I burrowed my head into her shoulder, lips resting against her skin. “I love you,” I mumbled.

“I love you too.” She wrapped her fingers around my belt. The tips of her fingers hit my skin, just below my stomach.

I was hearing two different voices in my head. One voice was yelling at me to give in, that we were ready, I could do this. The other voice was asking me what the hell I was doing. And then my logical side said, “Don’t listen to them! Listen to me! You can make your own decision. What do you think you should do?”

My zipper was undone. Briar’s hands were getting awfully lively.

My heart started beating faster. My pulse quickened. My breathing was heavier. At the moment, I was so surprised, my fingers grasped her skin when I realized her hands were dancing down my stomach. I shut my eyes, my head dropping against the pillow. I let out a deep breath, relaxing against the bed. My mind escaped, and I let it.

 

                It was Christmas Eve. We had a long vacation this year, two weeks off. This in a way sucked because we wouldn’t be out of school until nearly July. But I can’t say I wasn’t looking forward to it. I definitely was.

                Briar was giggling. She had her fingers locked in my hair. It was such a mess. A dark, messy brown that was so long it was covering my eyes. I had to say, it kept my head much warmer in the winter though. “Come here, you,” she pulled me close.

I was propping myself up with my elbows. My fingers clutched her sides. “I am here.”

She giggled some more. “You know what I mean.”

“Oh, tickle you, yeah.” I grinned playfully, and my fingers slid up her waist.

She yelled out for help. “Cole! Please! I. Can’t. Breathe!” She was laughing, and she could hardly breathe because she was laughing so hard. Her body twisted under me. “Cole!’ she groaned, trying to sound angry.

I stopped, and kissed her cheek. “I’ll stop, okay?”

She let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you.” Her eyes locked up with mine. “Three months.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Since we’ve been together. Actually like… three months and…” She started counting with her fingers. “And eight days.”

I smiled. “Yeah…”

“It seems like it’s been so much longer. We’ve already just… been through so much, you know?”

“Mm-hmm, I know.” I kissed her. The voices in my head came back. I knew who I was going to listen to this time.

“Hey, you know what? Let’s go out to dinner tonight, just me and you, to celebrate.”

“Really? You mean it?”

“Yes,” I said, kissing her. “I mean it.”

Her arms pulled me down against the bed. “Okay, but first, you have to kiss me.

I chuckled. “Now why would I want to do that?”

 

“You be careful tonight, okay? No getting into trouble. Have a nice night; don’t be out too late…”

“Mom…” Briar took her mother’s shoulders into her hands. “We’ll be fine.”

Denise shook her head. “Okay… okay. I suppose I’m just worried about you, Cole, after what happened in October.”

My stomach flipped. “Oh, yeah, well, I won’t be that stupid again. She’s safe with me Mrs. Sanford. Don’t worry.”

“I know… we just want to make sure neither one of you are going to get hurt.”

“We’ll be fine, Mom, okay? We’ll be home later.”

Denise waved good-bye. I walked Briar down the steps and helped her in the car. She looked beautiful. We decided that L’ Apetitio’s would be a great place to eat, and since it’s such an elegant Italian restaurant, we also decided to dress up a bit.

When we arrived, the server brought us to a small table in the corner by a window. We ordered our appetizers and drinks, then dinner, and dined slowly, enjoying the soft music in the background.

“So… I was thinking.”

“What were you thinking about?” Briar took a sip of her water, and smiled.

“I’m going to ask my mom if I can have you over tonight.”

For a moment, she was quiet. “What?”

“You know… stay the night. I’d like to… spend Christmas with you, if that’d be okay.”

She was silent. “Wow… Cole… but… what about my parents?”

“Well, you don’t have to, obviously, but I mean, I’d really love it if you would.” I took a bite of the lasagna that was in front of me. I’d give her time to register my proposal.

“I’ve… never had a sleep over with a boy.” When she said that, her cheeks lit up, and she giggled.

“Would you like to?”

“I… I would love to!”

After we ate, we stopped by Coldstone to get ice creams. We sat at a table for two, and when we finished we went to my place, first. I asked Briar to wait in the car, I’d be right out.

I went to Steven first. He just told me, “Ask your mother.”

When I confronted Jeanne about it, she wasn’t sure how to react at first. “I don’t know Cole…”

“Please? Please? I really want to have Christmas with her…”

She sighed. “Hunny…”

I looked at her, my eyes soft. “Please?”

Jeanne sighed. “Well… how do her parents feel about it?”

“We haven’t asked yet… but we’re going there after we get an answer from you.”

She stared me down for several seconds. “Can I trust you?”

“Yes.” My cheeks felt hot. How embarrassing.

She looked around the room. “Did you ask your father?”

“Yeah, he said to ask you.” My heart was racing. I was so nervous.

“Okay…” She smiled at me. “Fine… but this isn’t going to be a reoccurring thing.”

I smiled. “Thank you, Mom!” I gave her a quick hug, and ran out the door to meet Briar.

“So…?” she asked.

“She said yes.”

“Yes!” Briar hugged me, and kissed my cheek.

I drove to her house as quickly as I could, anxious to get home. Her mother, after several minutes, agreed, and had Briar promise she’d be home in the morning.

We arrived home, at ease, and kicked off our shoes at the door. We raced each other to the bedroom, laughing, and decided that this was going to be a remarkably special holiday.

When we finally got comfortable and dressed into out pajamas, it was nine o’clock. We laid on my bed, and watched Christmas specials that were on TV. I was so happy, I couldn’t put it into words.

At about quarter of ten, I got a phone call from Josh. “What is it?” I asked

He was silent for a minute. “Keagen’s out of jail soon.”

My heart dropped into the pit of my stomach. “Oh…”

“Yeah, I was just warning you, he might call. I guess he has to apologize, I don’t really know. He called me and said something, he was actually wondering how you were.”

Briar tugged on my arm. “What?” she mouthed.

I held up a finger, silencing her. “I don’t care. I don’t really want to talk to him.”

“I figured.” Josh sighed. “Okay well, Merry Christmas, see ya later, man.”

“Bye.” I hung up. “That was Josh. Keagen called him, saying he’ll be out of jail soon.”

Briar bit her lip. “Oh.”

“Don’t let him ruin our night, okay? Just, forget that he called.” I kissed her forehead.

We watched Rudolph next, and by eleven, my energy level was falling low. My eyes started to droop a quarter of the way through Frosty. Briar nudged me. “Hey, you awake?”

I smiled against her touch. My grip tightened. “Yeah, I am, just tired.”

She yawned, shaking her head. “Yeah, I know, I am, too.” Her back was pressed against my chest. We were snuggled underneath the covers. My hands slid down her sides, resting on her thighs. She shifted, and turned to face me. My hands were now on the low of her back.

“What?” she asked gently as I brought myself closer to her. My heart was beating quicker with every breath I took.

“ I love you so much.” My left hand was locked in her mess a chocolate brown hair. My lips were just inches from hers.

“I love you, too,” she mumbled, wrapping her legs in mine.

My breathing was heavy. So was hers. Our lips finally collided with each other’s. My free hand took hold of her pants, fingers wrapping around the edge of them.

My mind was racing, going in so many different directions. I wasn’t going to stop myself this time. I needed her to know how much I wanted her.

 In minutes, I managed to somehow take her shirt off then my shirt was off. They lay in a puddle next to my bed. The moon was flooding into the room, dancing across Briar’s porcelain skin.

I was in my boxers, and she was barely dressed. My fingers slipped around the remaining items of clothing. I removed them, dropping them next to our shirts. Our lips hit each other’s, mine slowly making their way down her neck, over her throat. She dug her fingers into my back. She pulled me closer to her, leaning down and kissing me on the lips. I brought myself up over her, pushing my body closer.

My breathing was heavy, and she was let out several sighs as I continued to kiss her. Within seconds, my body was experiencing a new response, something it had never practiced before. I grabbed at her, and lifted her head so her cheek was resting against my shoulder. I let out a heavy breath, falling back against the bed with her.

It was twelve o-one.

 

I awoke a couple hours later. I glanced over to the clock to see it was only two. I laid there for several seconds, exhausted. I didn’t know what caused me to wake up. The sheets were tangled around me. I looked to the side to see Briar sleeping heavily against the side of the wall. She was facing me. I smiled, moving closer to her. I kissed her head, and rested my left hand on her cheek, pushing a few strands of hair from her eyes. She was so gorgeous.

The air was cold when I lifted the blankets from my body. Then I realized I was hardly dressed. I snatched my t-shirt from the floor, and put in on, walking into the bathroom. When I went to get back in bed, Briar was awake. She had the covers pulled close to her body.

“Hey,” I muttered, sliding in to bed and kissing her on the cheek.

“Hey,” she whispered, welcoming me.

“What are you doing awake?”

“I heard you get up.”

“Oh… I’m sorry I woke you.” I shut my eyes, holding her close against me.

“It’s fine.” She kissed me. “I’m going back to sleep.”

I smiled. “Night.” I adjusted myself next to her, and shut my eyes. I didn’t wake up again until morning.

                                 

Vacation came and went. Briar was allowed one more night on New Years. I was promised that if we were good, we’d be allowed another night. We were a little good, never perfect though. January flew by, and before I knew it, we had fallen into February.

Briar had been distant towards the end of January. When the second week of February rolled around, she rarely wanted to see me. She rarely wanted to be with anyone.

“I just have a lot on my mind,” she’d tell me

So for Valentine’s Day, I took her out to a special dinner, and gave her chocolate and a teddy bear holding a necklace. To my surprise, she wasn’t as excited as I’d anticipated.  

“Do you like it?” I asked, anxious.

“I love it,” she told me, and she kissed me gently on the lips. I helped her put on the necklace, then we left for my house.

As my final gift to her, I had my room lined with roses in vases and red candles. When we walked through my bedroom door, she gasped. “Cole… wow… this is beautiful.” But as much as she looked like she wanted to enjoy it, she still looked uneasy.

“Are you okay?”

“Hmm? Yeah, I’m fine. I’m… gunna use the bathroom.” She went in, shut the door, and locked ot. I was startled. Not quite what I was expecting. I sat on my bed, and waited for her to come out. When she came out, she enveloped herself in me. The rest of our night was beautiful.

When I woke up the nest morning, I smiled. I loved waking up next to Briar.

 But when I went to reach for her, she was already up. I heard noise coming from the bathroom. Jumping down from my bed, I walked quickly over to the bathroom. I knocked a couple times. “Briar?”

All I heard was muffled, choked up sounds. My heart raced. “Bri? Hey, you alright?”

She emerged from the bathroom. Tear had definitely been running down her cheeks. “Cole,” she cried, falling against my chest.

I swallowed, wrapping my arms tightly around her. “What? What’s wrong?”

She cried harder, squeezing my skin since I wasn’t wearing a shirt. I cringed. She had long nails. “Cole… please don’t be… angry.” She pulled away and walked me over to the bed, sitting me down. She wiped her eyes.

My heart was pounding I was so nervous. I didn’t want to know what was coming.

“Cole…”

“Yeah…”

She held up a stick. A white and blue stick. It looked like a thermometer. A pregnancy test. It took me several seconds to comprehend what she was saying. “Oh…” Was this really happening? “Oh.” I felt numb.”

“I’m pregnant.

Author's Note

Finally, the long awaited chapter seven. I had a really great time writing this chapter, it was an emotional one. A lot of different emotions and feeling went into this chapter, and we're left with such a cliffhanger because we're all left wanting to know Cole's concluding reaction. So let me know what you think, I hope you all enjoy. What do you think, was it worth it for Cole to prove his love for Briar in the way he chose? We finally discover and are able to see one of the many reasons the name of the book is so appropriately called Three Little Words. Next up, chapter eight!