‘It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live,’

- Marcus Aurelius

Chapter Thirty-One

“Azelie!” a voice called over at Azelie as she walked down the corridor. She turned around, to see Cole sprinting towards her, a smile stretched on his lips. She instantly stopped in the corridor, making sure she wasn’t in the way of anybody else who walking in the corridor.

“Hey,” she smiled as Cole caught up with her. He returned the smile, his green eyes lighting up slightly as they began to walk down the corridor together.

“Hey! Are you heading to the canteen?” He questioned, looking down at her, his green eyes full of curiosity.

“No, I’m totally not going to the canteen like I do every other lunchtime,” she replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes slightly as she looked back up at him before looking back to the corridor to make sure she didn’t walk into anybody. He let out a fake laugh while shaking his head.

“Very funny Azelie!” He said, “Sarcasm - the lowest form of wit,”

“I prefer to think of it as defense against the stupid actually,” she smiled as they continued to walk down the corridors.

It had been a few weeks since the Ted incident, and everything was beginning to return to normal, well as normal as everything could be. Ted had returned to work, with Liam helping him out a lot around the gallery which really helped Ted out a lot. He had a few art exhibition coming up so Liam being there to help organize everything really helped him out and kept him away from too much stress. Azelie had been spending more and more time with Cole and his family. His father still continued with the no grandchildren jokes, but Azelie just laughed at them now, and Lily was as cute as ever. Azelie had always wondered what Haley had been like if she had survived the cancer that had kill her, and Lily was the answer to that. She was finding it hard not to love her as if she was her younger sister.

“So how much you betting that Alex and Kelly are already in the canteen making out?” Cole smirked, pulling Azelie back down to earth.

“I don’t know, they are finally starting to cut down on it,” She replied. Ever since Kelly and Alex had started dating, all they would do was make out. Azelie wasn’t even sure if they talked anymore or if they just had some psychic network built up so they could talk while kissing.

“I bet $10 that when we go in, they are making out,” He smiled, his confidence oozing out in his tone. Azelie just shook her head slightly. Kelly and Alex making out had become a sort of game for Azelie and Cole. This was their sixth bet on whether or not they were kissing.

“Alright, you’re on!” She agreed, sticking out her hand so they could shake hands and agree on the bet. He instantly grabbed her and quickly shook it before letting it go as they entered the canteen.

Azelie scanned her eyes around the large hall, trying to spot Kelly and Alex. She quickly managed to spot Kelly’s pink hair standing out from the crowd. She nudged Cole whom was also looking for them and pointed over at Kelly to show him where they were. They quickly made their way over to the table where, surprise surprise, Kelly and Alex were making out.

“Seriously guys, could you just let me win the damn bet just once?” Azelie questioned as she dumped her bag at the table, watching Kelly and Alex as they stopped kissing and looked up at their two friends.

“When will you ever learn Azelie! We aren’t ever going to stop,” Kelly said, a smirk forming on her lips. Azelie just rolled her eyes as she dug her purse out of her bag and handed Cole his winnings.

“Thaaaank you!” he smiled, taking the money from her, not breaking eye contact with her. She just stuck her tongue out at him in reply before going off to get food, her stomach rumbling slightly out of hunger.

Five minutes later she returned with a sandwich and sat down at the seat that she had dumped her bag under.

“So, we were thinking about maybe going to the cinema tonight if you want to come?” Kelly said as Azelie sat down.

“What? And sit next to you two making out for the majority of the film?” Azelie laughed, “No thanks I’m fine,” Kelly reached over and hit Azelie on the shoulder.

“We wouldn’t make out, stupid! I actually want to go see a film! Come on, it will be fun! Cole’s already agreed to go!” Kelly replied, knowing that Azelie would give in at that. Azelie just nodded in reply.

“Fine, but if you start to make out, I reserve the right to throw popcorn at you both!”

“Agreed,” Kelly smiled before returning to her lunch.

It was about six when there was a knock on Azelie’s front door, and she quickly raced down the stairs to get to the door before Ted could. She could hear him also running downstairs to get to the door before her so he could embarrass her in any possible way.

“DON’T YOU DARE TED!” She screamed as she began to run down the stairs, the door in sight. She could see him scrabbling in the hallway to get to the door before her. He just laughed in reply as he reached the door, twisting the door knob as he answered the door.

“Oh hello Cole!” Ted greeted, a huge smile stretched on to his lips. “Come in! Jesus Christ it’s getting cold outside!” Ted added as Azelie reached the bottom the stairs, muttering every curse she knew under her breath.

“Hey!” Azelie cried as she ran over to the door, “I’m here, we can go,” she babble, trying to ruin Ted’s evil scheme to embarrass his niece. Cole looked between Azelie and Ted, wondering why she was so desperate to leave.

“Come on now Azelie, I have to get to know your boyfriend sooner than later,” Ted said, an evil smirk forming on his lips.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” she quickly replied, a slight blush coming over her cheeks. She felt like killing Ted at that point, she probably would have if Liam hadn’t shown up.

“Ted? Are you being nice?” Liam said from the bottom of the hall, guessing what Ted was up to.

“Yes, I’m just meeting the new son-in-law!” He shouted. That’s all it took for Azelie to punch her uncle in the arm, hoping that it would shut him up. Cole just stood on the front step, trying not to laugh at Azelie and her uncle. He probably could had stood there all day and watched them. Liam rolled his eyes at Ted as he walked up the hall and practically dragged Ted away from the door, leaving Azelie and Cole alone. Azelie didn’t waste a spare second away from Ted and quickly ran out of the house, closing the door behind her before walking down the path that led from the road to her house.

“So? I’m your boyfriend now,” Cole laughed as he followed her down the path, ignoring the angry glare he gained from his comment.

“He was just messing around,” she replied as they reached Cole’s car which was parked at the end of the path.

“Sure he was,” Cole replied sarcastically, “I bet you write Mrs Azelie Grey all over your little diary or whatever in pink sparkly ink,”

“Yeah, Cole! I totally do that!” Azelie replied, “It’s just a shame that the fact that your gay ruins my wedding plans,” She added as she climbed into his car, leaving Cole in total shock, trying to figure out what she had just said.

“I’m not gay!” he cried as he climb in the driver’s side of the car, staring over at Azelie as she smirked.

“Sure, that’s what they all say,”

“You didn’t think I was gay when I kissed you,” He challenged, not thinking about what he was saying, if he should mention the kiss or not.

“I thought you were just in denial about your sexuality,” She replied, trying to stop a smile breaking out on her lips.

“I’m was pretty confident about my sexuality thank you very much!” He laughed, shaking his head at her, “Want me to prove it to you?:

“Nah, I’m alright, Cole! You can continue to live in the wardrobe for now! I’m sure you’ll find somebody to come out for,” Azelie joked as Cole put his seatbelt on, before looking over at her, waiting for her to do the same.

“What?” she questioned, looking at him strangely, wondering what he was looking at her for.

“Seatbelt?” He said, motioning to her side where her seatbelt was.

“Oh come on Cole! I thought we were over this! I’m not putting the silly thing on!” Azelie moaned, getting tired of Cole being annoying about the whole seatbelt thing. Ever since she had gotten on the bridge that first morning they met, he has been going on and on about her wearing her seatbelt every damn time she sat in his car.

“Azelie! I’m not driving without you wearing it!” Cole argued, determined not to even start the car without Azelie putting her seatbelt on.

“Come on Cole! We’re going to be late! Just drive! I’ll be fine!” Azelie cried, still refusing to even touch the seatbelt. “There’s no point in putting it on anyway! You’re like the most cautious drive in the world anyway!”

“Just put it on Azelie!” Cole replied, “Then we won’t be late!” Azelie let out a loud sigh before stretching over to her right and pulling the seatbelt over her body, Cole twisting the keys in the ignition when he finally heard the clicking noise of the seatbelt.

“There! That wasn’t that horrible now, was it!” He smiled as he pulled away from a parking position. He looked over at her for a seconds glance only to find that she had undone her seatbelt as soon as he began to drive.

“Yeah, wasn’t difficult in the slightest,” she smiled as he continued to drive, knowing that he couldn’t just pull over to get her to put her seat belt on again. Kelly would probably kick their asses if they were late.

In the end, it was Kelly and Alex who were late. Azelie and Cole ended up killing time by buying the tickets for the film they were going to see and bought their popcorn for the film. They were sitting waiting for them to arrive when Azelie started to think about Haley and how she hadn’t told Cole about her sister.

“Cole,” She said quietly, catching his attention as he looked down at her as she leaned on him slightly. “Remember at the hospital... when I told you about everything that had happened...” He nodded, his green eyes looking directly into her brown ones. “Well, I forgot to tell you about Haley,” And she told him, she told him everything there was to know about the little girl whom had been her sister. It was weird for Azelie, even now, she could still picture her as clear as day. Cole didn’t say anything, he just held her in his arms listening to Azelie, realising just how lucky he was to have Lily alive. He couldn’t imagine life without Lily, it was just to awful to think of. Her little smile that she always had on her face no matter what. You could be the most depressed person on earth, and Lily would always managed to make you happy again. Cole really didn’t know how he was going to leave her next year when he went to university.

Kelly and Alex arrived shortly after Azelie had finished telling Cole so they didn’t really have time to talk about what she had told him. The group managed to find their seats before the film began. Just as the lights went dim, and the film began to play, Azelie found a hand gently taking hold of hers. She looked to her left to find Cole’s fingers laces between hers. She didn’t dare to move her hand, not even an inch out of fear that he might get the wrong impression. She slowly began to rest her head on his shoulder, and he shuffled slightly towards her to allow her to lean on his a bit more, making him laugh a bit.

“What?” she whispered quietly, as he laughed.

“Getting comfy are we?” he replied quietly, the smirk evident on his lips.

“Shut it you!” Azelie smiled, “It’s your fault you’re so comfy!” He chucked slightly before opening his mouth to reply, however just as he did, Cole and Azelie found themselves being hit from a fire of popcorn, coming from the left.

They looked over to find Kelly with a smirk playing on her lips as she threw popcorn at them. “Don’t start making out now!” was all she had to say to. Azelie just rolled her eyes slightly before she stuck her middle finger up at Kelly before leaning her head back on to Cole’s shoulder, their hands still holding.

When the film ended, Cole let go of her hand again, but he didn’t need to explain why. If Kelly seen them holding hands, well, let’s just say there would be a lot of hysterical screaming and a wedding planned involved. The group said their goodbyes to each other, before going their separate ways. Cole and Azelie walked to his car in silence, not needing to speak to each other.

“Did you like the film?” Cole asked as they climbed into his car, Azelie quickly trying to figure out an answer for him. She hadn’t been paying attention to the film at all, and instead kept thinking about Cole and how he was holding her hand, and how amazing it all was. She couldn’t concentrate on the film, not even in the slightest.

“It was alright..”

“Just alright? What didn’t you like about it?” He questioned, looking over at her as he put his seatbelt on.

“Em... I just didn’t like the main actress,” She lied, hoping that he would drop the subject. He just laughed in reply, shaking his head slightly as he started up the engine. “What?” she questioned, narrowing her eyes slightly at him.

“Azelie, there wasn’t a ‘main actress’ in the film! It was based in a male prison! There was about one woman in that entire film and she was just on screen for a few seconds,” He laughed, looking over at her. Azelie cursed under her breath, wishing she had paid just a tad more attention to the film.

“Actor, I meant, actor,” She quickly said, hoping that he would forget about it.

“Sure you did,” he smirked in reply, while looking over at her, his bright green eyes looking playfully into her brown ones, before driving in the direction of Azelie’s house.

Ten minutes later and he pulled outside Azelie’s house, before killing the engine and looking over at her.

“So,” he said, looking over at her. She smiled over at him, trying to think of something she should say.

“I was surprised that Alex and Kelly didn’t make out during the film,” she quickly said, not thinking her words twice over in her head.

“You mean the film you didn’t watch?” He joked, Azelie stuck her tongue out in reply. He began to wonder what she had been thinking of that had been so important that she couldn’t even concentrate on the film.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you in Chemistry then,” She replied, reaching for the door handle to open the door.

“No you won’t,” he replied, Azelie instantly turning around with a questioning expression growing on her features. “Lily’s got a doctor’s appointment tomorrow and my dad wants me to go with him,”

“Why do you need to go,” She questioned, getting worried. “Is it important?”

“Don’t worry, it’s just a check up. My dad just wants me to come because he usually forgets half of the doctor talk and doesn’t really understand what he does remember so he usually drags me along with him,” He explained, Azelie’s worries calming down as he spoke.

“Oh okay,” She said. She was glad it wasn’t that important, but the idea of going to school without Cole there wasn’t one she looked forwarded to. It was strange, only two months ago she would have let out a hallelujah at the idea of having a day of school free from Cole.

“Well, see you Friday then, I guess,” she said quietly. She looked up at him, into his deep green eyes and began to wonder if kissing Cole would be just as great as the first time? Would he taste just as good as he did, would the kiss start off soft as the other had, then develop quickly into something more? Something so good it was practically maddening. For ten straight seconds she was ready to jump up, wrap her hands slowly around the back of his neck and press her lips to his. It wouldn’t be like he would fight her. Jesus, maybe he was thinking the same, maybe he was ready to kiss her back. At that point Azelie didn’t know left from right, up from down, and for once, she didn’t mind. She was supposed to be fearless; so could she forget all about the consequences and just kiss him?

For a moment, she almost did. But then, in a split second, she found herself reaching for the door handle, pulling it open before climbing out of the car. She slammed the door shut behind her and sprinted up the path to her house, and disappeared into the house, leaving Cole sitting in the car, wondering what the fuck had just gone through Azelie’s brain.

“See you then,” He replied just as quietly as she said it only moments before, wondering if she had been thinking the same as him.

Woo! Six chapter to write now since the last four are finished! I honestly can't wait to get this finished... aah! :) I can see the finishing line and it looks like tears and angry wattpaders ;)

Song on the side is Ellie Goulding's 'Only You' it's a rather weird track, but I like it... bit of drum and base is good :) The next upload should be friday or at the weekend! It's my last week of school before the october holidays so here's hoping I get fearless written during then and then I can do a super upload where I upload like every 2 days or so :) Probably going to be some kind of crazy rush to get everything uploaded! Also, the link to my facebook page is in the external link, so check that out if you want to :) xx

Well, until next tme folks!

Unicorn Out!