Mending Wounds

Chapter Eighteen

 There’s a lot of things that I don’t know how to explain; at this point, my feelings were one of them. After my fight with Derek, I went back downstairs to create some type of excuse to avoid playing with everyone. Luckily, when I asked if anyone was craving cookies, everyone answered with a yes. It was the perfect way to escape the party, yet still be participating by making everyone something to eat.

When I checked the pantry, they were out of Chocolate Chips. I sighed in relief before I grabbed my shoes and bags from Alex’s room.

“I just need to go grab some things from down the store down the door” I told asked as I walked out the door “Text me if you want me to get you anything”

“Sophia, you don’t have to …” she attempted to say, but I was already out of the door before she could finish her sentence.

Walking out of the house alone lifted a small amount of weight and pressure of my shoulders. If we weren’t in the middle of a birthday party and I wasn’t trying to stay on Alex’s good side, I would have left a while ago for a jog or drove around to clear my head from all those emotions that I was going through. Sadly, I only had around half an hour to do that at the moment.

“Sophia” I heard someone call from behind me.

I turned to find Andy jogging up to me. I mentally slapped myself for being an i***t and announcing where I was going rather than text Alex after leaving. Then I felt more of an i***t since I didn’t even bother to say hey or notice that Andy was here at all because I was caught up in my thoughts, feelings, and the drama that was happening.

“Andy, hey” I said politely “What are you doing here?”

He shrugged “I thought maybe you’d like some company. Plus, I need some fresh air since everyone is vaping in the house”

I nodded as we walked beside each other “I haven’t really noticed”

He chuckled “You were passed out most of the time, of course, you haven’t noticed” he said “I don’t blame you though, I slept for 13 hours straight the first time I got drunk”

“I wasn’t drunk by choice” I pointed out.

His shoulders dropped as he turned to me with a sad face “Yeah, that was pretty childish and stupid to do. Rowan can be a bit of a d**k sometimes”

“A bit?” I asked “I’ve known her for a while now, I don’t think that a bit of a d**k is a term that applies to her anymore”

He smiled “You might be right”

I then turned to look around that place before tucking his hands in his pocket “Soo… that was quite the show back there” he said awkwardly “I don’t understand how you’re fine after all that happened today”

I shrugged “I have much bigger things to deal with today” I simply said.

I had more things to think about other than the sequel of my breakup with Ben. I had to think about how to fix things with Alex and how to open up to her more about things that are happening in my life. I had to think about my fight with Derek and how the hell are we supposed to go back to our friendship that I cherish so much. I was thinking of how uncomfortable the couch I was going to sleep on tonight. Mostly, I was thinking of the talk I was going to have with Cole once everyone is gone and how to avoid it.

“He’s a d**k” he stated “Ben I mean. If you were my girlfriend, I wouldn’t have treated you the way he did”

I rubbed my arm awkwardly then tried to change the topic “We should be close to the supermarket. A minute or two more. Were you going to get something?”

He nodded “I’m craving some potato chips and maybe something to drink as well” he said “But mostly, I just wanted to accompany you and catch up. How long has it been since we saw each other last? A year?”

“I think, I’m not sure” I told him “This past year hasn’t really been good to me”

He playfully nudged my arm with his elbow “You’re taking it like a champ though. Always have” he smiled “I know your tougher than letting two breakups knock you down”

Looked at him partly confused.

“Cole then Ben” he explained “I heard the rumors about you and Cole breaking up last year”

“Rumors? Honestly, who the f**k am I for people to pay this much attention to my life and spread rumors about me in a school I don’t even go to?” I said annoyed.

“You were dating Cole” he simply stated “All the girls have their eyes on them, including a very jealous Rowan that told everyone how you were badly dumped by Cole”

“I know I’m going to regret this” I said letting out a sigh “But what did she say about the breakup exactly?”

“That things didn’t end well between you two and you kept stalking him, then she said that it was so bad that he had to move to another country to get away from you” he said then paused for a few moments “Okay, you can say that she is really a d**k not a bit of”

We talked about random things when walked into the supermarket, but mostly about school, memories growing up with Alex and we talked about future plans. We also joked around a little bit, making puns using names of products we passed on the shelves.

We ended up walking back to Alex’s place with three bags. I had one bag in my hand, which was full of ingredients aside for the chocolate chips to make a few recipes that I saw online.

had two in his hands, one full of different potato chips and another with chocolates to share with everyone else.

Since the weather was hot, we decided to get ice creams for the way back from a small stall inside of the supermarket. I ended up with the usual boring vanilla and he ended up the biggest size of cut they had with three different flavors and a load of chocolate syrup and topping on his ice cream.

“So, I decided to take up Spanish as a summer course” he said.

“Really?” I asked turning to him “Talk to me. ¿Qué has aprendido hasta ahora?”

“Umm… I might be struggling with classes though” he admitted “So I didn’t understand a word of what you just said”

I smiled “You will get the hang of it eventually”

“Let’s hope it eventually is in three weeks because I have an exam” he sighed then turned to me with a smile “Do you think you can private tauter me since you’re kind of a native speaker”

I gave him small smile “Sure” I told him.

“Great, how about we start next Monday afternoon? There’s a nice coffee shop to study around here” he said “If not, I could come over or you can come over to my place”

“The coffee place sounds lovely” I told him.

He smiled at me “Sounds good” he said before he handed me his phone.

I typed my number into his phone and saved it under ‘Sophia A’.

He took his phone back then offered his ice cream to me “Try it” he said “I know you don’t like new flavors but try it, it’s good”

I smiled as I reached out and took a spoon full of the purple ice cream before shoving it in my mouth. Surprisingly, it wasn’t bad at all.

“Pomegranate” he smiled “I knew you’d like it”

I chuckled as I tucked my hair behind my ear “Don’t get used to be right” I told him.

Cole was standing at the front of the house when we walked in the compound. He was seated on the edge of doorsteps with his hands clasping each other.

“Cole” Andy greeted as we reached the door.

Cole didn’t look up to him, he just kept his eyes glued to mine “Where’s your phone?” he asked “I’ve been calling you for an hour now”

I turned to Andy “You go ahead, I’ll catch up with you later” I told him.

“Alright, but just in case I leave before you’re done, I will see you on Monday for sure, right?” he asked.

I nodded with a smile “For sure”

Cole watched Andy as he walked into the door. Once the door was completely shut, he turned to me “What was that all about?” he asked.

“Nothing” I told him “We’re just meeting up on Monday”

“Well that pretty obvious. What I’m asking is why” he rolled his eyes.

“Not that you have the right to know every little thing in my life, but took up a Spanish summer course and asked me to private tutor him” I replied “I’m just helping him out”

He looked at me for a moment before he burst out to laughter in tears. It was something that I haven’t seen in a long time. I haven’t seen him laugh like this in a long time.

“What the hell are you laughing at?” I asked slightly annoyed.

His laughter died down as he wiped his tears away still looking amused “You are so oblivious. You can’t even tell if someone is straight up hitting and flirting with you and it’s pretty amusing. I mean you write and read all those romance and teen fiction novels, yet you always seem to fail to see when someone is directly asking you out on a date” he said.

I looked at him confused at his reaction “Not that it’s a date or he was flirting with me, but you’re saying that you find it amusing that someone else is flirting and asking me out?”

He shook his head “No, Sophia, I am amused because you fell for his big ass lie. Andy grew up in Madrid, then went back there every summer for three years to visit his grandpa who happens to be Spanish. He even spent a few years in Lisbon because his mum is Portuguese” he pointed out “Andy is flaunt in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. If anything, you should be the one who is taking lessons from him”

I looked at him embarrassed at my stupidity. I made my way into the kitchen with him on my tail. Once I placed the bag on the table and started to unpack it, he continued talking as he leaned against the island.

“He was asking you out by tricking you” he said “Not that I like it, but I know that once you found out, you’d be running back here and reject him”

“Or maybe it not a date and we’re just hanging out as friends” I told him “Not everyone is trying to get into my pants”

“You’re right, not everyone is trying to get into your pants, but Andy is defiantly trying too” he said as he scooted closer to me “Plus, I highly doubt he wants to be just friends with you”

“If you think so” I said as I tried to ignore him and end the conversation.

He pushed himself off the counter. Despite his action implying that he was leaving, I found myself being pulled against his chest as he stood behind me and wrapped his hands around my waist.

He pushed my hair away from my neck then leaned down to my ear “You know what I think?” he said, voice almost a whisper “I think he would probably change his mind about hanging out if he found out about how I make you feel and the things I did to you right here the other night”

I felt out of breath as he moved his hands around my lower body. I felt my breath get heavier and quicker as he moved his traced his fingers over my stomach, waist, hips, then down my thighs as he breath into my neck while he placed small pecks along my neck.

“Tell me, Sophia, did you tell him how your body gave into my touch right here the other night” he whispered in my ear before placing a kiss behind my ear “How I pinned you down into the counter and made your body give into my touch so quickly? How you moaned my name so loud it could’ve woken everyone up if they were home?”

I gasp fell out my mouth when I felt his finger that was tracing my stomach made its way into my jeans. I quickly grabbed onto his hand stopping him as I tried to slow my breath.

“What wrong? You sound like you just a marathon” he chuckled.

I moved away from him “Cole, do you want to get caught by someone else? You made your point” I told him.

When I moved to the fridge, Cole moved to where I was standing earlier and unpacked the bag.

“Did happened?” he asked.

I turned to him confused “What do you mean?”

“Did something happen while I was gone?” he asked again.

I shook my head “Nothing really”

“It’s not nothing, you clearly are upset” he stated as he held the coca powder in front of me.

I shook my head “I’m just craving Cookies” I told him “Have you thought that maybe I wanted to make cookies because I’m craving it and not just because I’m upset?”

He looked knowing that I was lying right through my teeth, but he decided to let it go by helping me prep for the cookies. He moved to the oven and turned it on to preheat before taking out the mixing bowl.

“You know, you can talk about me” he said “I’m still here for you”

“I know” I gave him a smile “I’m just tried, I’ve had a long day”

He gave me an understanding nod “I know, I’m sorry you had to go through all that” he said “I’m still kind of annoyed that you didn’t tell me what happened, and still haven’t”

I started on making the dry ingredients while he leaned against the counter next me.

“There’s nothing really to tell” I told him “We fought the day he came over for the party, we didn’t talk for a while after that. I texted and called him though, he wasn’t replying to messages nor calls. I kept asking Jeremy about him, but he didn’t know much because Ben wasn’t around, and they never ran into each other. So, one day, I decided to just man up and go apologies to him face to face with Jeremy’s help. Bottom line is that I caught him with his fiancé that I didn’t know existed till that moment then walked out when his finance found out who I was. I blocked him after that without a second thought and that’s that”

“You should’ve let me punch that asshole” Cole said, fist tight on the edge of the counter.

“And where would have that gotten us?” I asked calmly “Literally nowhere. The only think that would have come out of that would be two bloody faces and me nursing you like the million other times I did whenever you gave into your anger”

He smiled “Those time where the best you know. Those moment are what got us closer to each other”

“And eventually what broke us apart” I pointed out “Your consistent anger and hot temper”

He nodded “I admit that was my fault” he said “I guess that’s something that we can talk about later. You know, when we have the talk”

“Could we maybe not do it tonight?” I asked “I know I promised, it’s been a long day and I just want to curl into the couch and sleep everything off”

He looked at me confused “Couch?” he asked before realization hit him “I know something happened. You had a fight with Derek”

I shook my head “Nothing is wrong. Derek and I just had a misunderstanding” I told him “We’re not exactly talking right now”

“About?” he asked.

“Just things” I told him “I don’t really want to talk or think about it anymore”

“You can stay in my room then; you don’t have to sleep on the couch” he said “I don’t mind taking the floor in my room or even staying down here”

I shook my head “I actually do want to sleep on the couch today. The couch is where I think and get the most peace in this house aside from the backyard”

“I could sleep on the other one and keep you companied” he offered.

I shook my head again “I think I just need my space for today; I have talked and been around too many people for today” I told him.

“Then maybe we could go out tomorrow?” he asked “Just you and I before you have to go home at nighttime”

“Can we hang out around the house instead?” I asked “I just want to have a chill day”

“Okay, sure” he agreed “Anything would be fine as long as you’re with me”