A month later...

I shifted sleepily on my bed when I was woken up by the sound of my door opening and closing clumsily. I kept my eyes closed and buried my face deeper into my pillow, already feeling my body begin to shut off again.

Just when I felt sleep begin to take over, I felt a hand land on my shoulder and begin to jolt my body annoyingly. I groaned.

"Ollie!"

I let out a sleepy whine, too tired to even focus on anything the person was saying.

"Ollie! Ollie! Ollie!" He shook me harder and I groaned, slowly opening my eyes and almost jumping in my place when I saw Cole's creepy grinning face only inches away from me.

"What the hell?" My voice came out groggy. I looked back at him and twisted my face up when I saw his wide eyes. He looked like a psychopath.

"I'm gonna take over America." His eyes widened even more and I didn't know it was possible for his lips to tug even wider than before.

I yawned and rested my head back on my pillow, barely conscious. "Hmm?"

"Gonna take them dow..." He was speaking so fast and my hazy head wasn't really able to comprehend a thing. ".. BROWNIES. All over the White Hou..." I fell back asleep.

.................

"Livi?" I felt someone gently shake me awake and I whined again. Damn it I wanted to sleep.

"Sweetheart, wake up" I felt the bed shift beneath me.

"Myeah?" I mumbled, my eyes were closed but I still felt like I was blinded by the harsh morning light.

"I can't find Cole."

My eyes shot open and I got up. "What?!" I looked at Blake's blurry face and quickly rubbed my eyes.

"I can't find him." I was able to notice the scared expression on Blake's face now that I was a bit more conscious.

I rubbed my face again and got off the bed, "What do you mean you can't find him? Did you look in his bathroom? The bathtub? Maybe he fell asleep in it again." I said as I hurriedly walked out of my room with Blake following me.

My nose picked up on the strong smell of something burnt filling the house but I didn't really focus on that as I walked into Cole's room and frowned. He wasn't in his bathroom.

I turned around and looked at Blake, he still looked scared. "Come to the kitchen?" He asked, walking out and heading towards the kitchen.

I furrowed my brows and followed him, noticing that the burnt smell kept getting stronger the closer we got there. I paused when we reached the kitchen doorway, my eyes widening at the sight of it.

There were brownies all over the place. Literally. There were more than a dozen cake pans, pots, pyrex baking dishes, bowls, and plates filled with brownies. Burnt and underbaked. Everywhere.

My body suddenly stiffened when I faintly remembered something from last night.

Cole had woken me up.

I felt my blood run cold. "Blake!" I was quick to turn to him.

Blake shot his head towards me and I stepped closer to him, "He woke me up last night."

He tilted his head quizzically, "What?"

"He woke me up but I was too sleepy and barely conscious. He was blabbering about brownies and," I paused, wrinkling my forehead as I took a second to remember. I shot my eyebrows when the memory hit me, "Taking over America?" It came out more like a question.

Blake stiffened. "Shit. Shit!" I heard him whisper before he began rushing towards the apartment's main door with me quickly following him.

My face twisted up in consternation and I felt white-hot panic suddenly rush through my veins. Blake looked even more alarmed. "Is he," I stopped while Blake quickly put his mask on and grabbed his coat, "Blake is he having a manic episode?"

Blake halted for only a second and looked at me, his eyes were filled with dread. He nodded his head and started swiftly putting his coat on. I shook my head and made a move to grab my jacket too but Blake stopped me.

He grabbed my shoulder with one hand and placed the other one on my cheek, "Livi no. I need you to stay here baby, in case anything happens or he comes out. Okay? Keep your phone close to you and make sure the door is locked. I need to go look for him before he gets too far. Please stay. You hear me?" He was speaking so fast but I was able to comprehend everything, nodding my head vigorously.

Blake gave me a quick kiss on the forehead and he was out the door and running towards the elevator seconds later. I shut my eyes close tightly after spying the elevator doors close on him and placed my now shaky hand over the doorknob.

I closed the door and locked it flimsily, my head too fogged up with worry for me to manage to do anything properly. I rushed to my room where my phone was and clutched it hard. My heart was beating so fast as my mind went back to how Cole was behaving last night.

It's all my fault. Everything. If I had only paid attention instead of brushing him off and falling asleep on him while he was in that manic state. I would've woken Blake up and Cole wouldn't have left the apartment in the middle of a freaking lockdown to god knows where.

Thoughts of all the possible wild things Cole could have done or was doing right now kept rushing into my head along with all the possible ways he could end up harmed from them. I felt restless and I had literally just woken up.

I kept reminding myself to keep my breathing even as I walked around the apartment, searching for anything that could hint where the hell Cole had gone and what he was doing. I felt like a crazy person pacing back and forth and walking into the same few rooms a thousand times over and over.

Minutes felt like hours as they passed by. I sat down on Cole's bed, my eyes stinging from the number of times I've pushed my unshed tears back with a deep inhale and my nose felt ticklish.

Thirty minutes passed and I held up my phone, deciding I couldn't wait anymore as I searched for Blake's contact and quickly tapped on it. Holding up the phone to my ear with still trembling hands.

I waited for him to answer and listened to the phone's beeps but paused when I suddenly felt the phone begin to vibrate and heard the beeps stop, indicating that someone was calling me. I pulled back my phone and frowned when I saw Huda's caller ID.

I subconsciously swiped right to answer and brought the phone to my ear, "Hello?"My voice came out weak.

"Livs?" Huda's voice sounded a bit unusual but I could tell she was smiling.

I inhaled again before answering so my voice doesn't come out shaky this time and was about to reply when I heard a familiar voice babbling in the background from the other line. I quickly stood up, "Hello?"

"Hey Livi-poo-"

"OLLIE!"

My eyebrows quickly shot up and I felt my heart stop for a second. "Huda," I stopped, still a bit shaken, "please tell me that's Cole! Is Cole with you? Where are you right now? What the hell is going o-"

"Yes, Charcoal's here!" She interrupted with a squeaky voice and I let out a huge breath I'd been holding for so long. I heard shuffling and footsteps from the other side of the phone and I think Huda was walking away.

"Huda, what the actual hell is going on right now? Where are you?" I spoke quickly. "Cole?" I said, assuming that maybe the phone was on speakerphone.

"Hey," Huda answered in a different, more quiet tone before she began rambling, "Olivia I'm so so so sorry I didn't call earlier- I swear I wanted to and I've been trying but I couldn't and Cole just showed up here out of nowhere and he was talking so fast and at first I was happy then confused because why the hell was he in the streets during lockdown?!- but then he started talking about wanting to take down Donald Trump and he offered me a raw brownie which I think just caused me salmonella then mom showed up and got confused and we invited him inside and now he's in my room and we've been painting with Malik, he's on his fifth canvas right now and I do-"

"Huda!"

"-n't know who's been calling him repeatedly I thought it was you or Blake but he's not paying attention to it and I don't know what's in his other pocket but I think it's a living frog and it's scaring the shit out of me but he's so excited right now and OH MY GOD OLIVI-"

"HUDA!" I cut her off again and she stopped to take a deep breath. "Calm down Huds, I need you to listen to me-" I stopped when I felt my phone vibrate again. Blake was calling me. I exhaled and closed my eyes for only a second.

"Wait I'll call you back please give me a minute don't let go of your phone no matter what."

"But wai-" I swiped right and answered Blake's call.

"Olivia," Blake sounded out of breath and his voice was so shaky I was barely able to catch what he just said. "O-Olivia, I can't-"

"He's at Huda's!" I said it so quickly I don't think he was able to understand because he paused.

"W-What?"

"Blake, Huda just called me," I felt breathless, "He's at her house. He's okay. Come back. It's all okay."

"What do you mean he's at her house," I could hear him begin to run and I'm guessing he's heading back to the apartment. I felt relief wash over me. Everything will be okay. Everything is fine.

I called Huda back and listened to her reassure me that everything was fine and Cole was just acting extra energetic- obviously nothing Huda wasn't new of since she's almost like that if not worse every day- and she was planning on joining him on his "assassination plan".

I wanted to tell her the reason Cole was acting all weird and hyper right now but I had a huge feeling she already knew and was helping him in her own way instead of making him feel crazy and I'm a hundred percent sure she's having tons of fun doing so.

She sounded like she was freaking out a few minutes ago when she had called me the first time but I'm guessing now that she knows Blake and I are aware of everything she sounded calmer and maybe even happy for some reason.

I sighed after we ended the call so Huda could check up on Cole and quickly got dressed before walking to the front door, unlocking it, and sitting right in front of it as I waited for Blake to arrive.

Ten minutes later I heard hurried footsteps from the other side of the door and quickly stood up the same second the door flung open and Blake came rushing in. He paused when he saw me standing in front of him and my heart broke at the sight of his red-rimmed eyes.

I took quick steps to close the distance between us and Blake reached his arms out, quickly wrapping them around me and hugging me tightly to his chest.

I felt his lips on my forehead, temple, and hair as he squeezed me tighter than ever, pulling back seconds later by only an inch so he could kiss all over my face. He was still out of breath and I could feel only one small spot on his left cheek that was a bit damp from a single tear or two.

I cupped his smooth face in my hands and brought my lips to his, kissing him earnestly and smoothing out his tousled thick hair with the tips of my fingers, his locks were all over the place from the wind and all the miles he had run.

We pulled back and Blake laced his fingers with mine, pulling the key out with his other hand before we both walked out the door, locked it from the outside, and rushed towards the elevator hand in hand.

♛

Blake began tapping his left foot impatiently over the ground as we rang the Martins' doorbell again and I squeezed his hand in mine, looking around the street and hoping no one has already caught us.

The door opened and we were met with Harris's sleepy face. He smiled at me, quickly gave Blake a bro hug before pointing towards the stairs behind him. "Huda's room," His voice was groggy.

I held Blake's hand tighter as we both thanked him and rushed towards the stairs. I led him towards Huda's room and we stopped when we heard Cole's voice. The room door was a bit ajar. He was talking so quickly I wasn't able to understand a thing.

I knocked on the door, causing it to open more by accident and I spotted Cole pacing around the room with multiple files and pictures in his hand as he rambled. His hair was messy and his eyes had huge eyebags beneath them.

I've been so caught up with my online midterm exams, I've barely gotten out of my room these past few days. Blake had been busy with his own studies too and I'm guessing he too wasn't able to notice how Cole probably hasn't gotten an ounce of good sleep in the last two days or more.

"Ollie!"

Huda, who was standing right in front of Cole, quickly shot her head in our direction once she heard the door squeak and I noticed her let out a breath right before she rushed towards me and squeezed me into a hug.

I hugged her back and noticed Blake slowly approach Cole from the corner of my eye as Cole whisper yelled something to him quickly. Huda pulled back from the hug, "Sorry about the mess," She smiled, and only then did I notice the paint, canvases, legos, murder mystery games, and files all over her room.

How the hell was she able to keep him inside the room?

I noticed that almost every painting was a picture of either Donald Trump, the white house, or brownies.

Of course.

I weakly smiled back, "Thank you," I whispered and she shook her head.

"It's honestly no problem I was having loads of fun,"

I chuckled and we both looked back at Cole and Blake. Blake was listening to what Cole was rambling about as he held up the fake murder evidence in his hand and pointed at a picture of Donald Trump, which has absolutely nothing to do with the game. He probably printed it.

I noticed that both his palms were stained with paint and all the pictures he was holding were ruined with the same color too.

"I'm telling you, bro, I'm telling you. Look at him. He even looks like he gets naked in front of little kids and humps his pet dogs after eating their puppies and poisoning- You know! Funny thing about poison," He dropped the murder files to the floor, not interested in them anymore, "You know that snack bar I was telling you about wanting to open? Yeah? I have a new investment. If we only baked brownies, special brownies- not the special brownies but SPECIAL special brownies that would be so good that they reach The US Capitol and it kills all the senators right before reaching the orange motherfucker in the Whi..."

Cole continued rambling for the next hour as we all sat down, listened to him, and helped him draw and paint the entire plan on a huge cardboard Huda had pulled out for us. Cole's body was shaking from excitement and Blake had him walk around the room with him every few minutes to release some of the energy.

Eventually, Cole's energy for today began disintegrating and that was a cue for us all to stand up and attempt to "lure" Cole outside and into the car before it was too late. His body was visibly beginning to get too tired because of his lack of sleep in the past few days.

Blake let out a breath of relief after shutting the backseat door and he turned around to face Huda and me. He thanked Huda for everything before telling us he'll be in the car to give us a minute to say goodbye.

We hugged one more time and talked about Facetiming each other later before Cole lifted his head from behind the car window and waved Huda goodbye with a sloppy weird grin on his face. Her eyes crinkled as she quickly waved back.

I smiled and got into the passenger seat, "BYE HUDSON!" Cole yelled behind me. Huda poked her head inside the car from my open door.

"Sweat dreams Charcoal."

"Only if you're in them, Sugar Mama" He replied.

Huda reached out and patted his cheek, "You bet I'll be in them, Charcoal. You bet."

Only after Huda pulled back, said her final goodbye, and started walking back to her front door, did I notice the brown paint in the shape of handprints that was printed on either side of her waist.

♛

Cole's hyper and energetic behavior lasted for nine more days. Blake and I have been spending most of our time with him, trying to get him to attend as many online classes as possible and cooking him easy-to-eat meals since it's so freaking hard to make him sit down and eat. Blake learned to just offer him sandwiches, crackers, chopped fruits, and vegetables which he usually accepts.

It's been really hard to try and make Cole sleep at night for more than only a few hours so we stuck to forcing him to take short naps throughout each day and it's been helping a lot.

I shifted in my place in bed and looked up at Blake. My heart ached for him. He had dark semicircles taking over the space beneath his eyes and his eyes were droopy, looking more tired than ever.

It amazed me how patient this one human being could be, how well he can handle any situation when it comes to the people he cares about. He's been so serene and composed these past few days while everything has been so difficult around him.

I looked straight into his beautiful eyes once again and managed to forget whatever thoughts were just consuming my mind a few seconds ago. He was gorgeous. Everything about him.

My heart clenched.

"What's wrong?" His neat eyebrows drew together.

I love you.

I shook my head.

I love you.

He placed his hands gently on the sides of my face.

I

"Livi?"

love

"Yeah?" I placed my palm over one of his hands.

You.

He brushed his thumb over the apple of my cheek. "Is everything okay?"

I smiled and nodded my head, bringing his palm to my lips and landing a kiss in the center of it. "Yes,"

I gulped, the realization of how deep my feelings for him actually hit me all of a sudden, making me feel chills everywhere on my body.

He squinted his eyes at me for only a moment before he leaned forward and kissed my forehead, tucking my head into his chin. "I'm sorry I haven't been paying that much attention to you lately, Muffin." He whispered. "You know you can talk to me about anything. If something's bothering yo-"

I shook my head beneath his chin, "Blake, I'm perfectly okay. More than okay actually. You have to stop saying that. the only person we should be focusing on now is Cole."

"Livi, Cole being unwell doesn't automatically mean you're not allowed to not be okay."

I love him.

"But I am okay, I was just zoning out. Don't be silly." I added a smile so he could actually believe me. Because it was the truth.

"Promise?" He played with my hair.

I nodded my head and planted a kiss on his chest, "Promise."

He let out a small sigh over my head and I closed my eyes, "Do you think it started?" I whispered.

He took a moment to answer. "Yeah, I'll need to check up on him in a few."

I nodded my head once, my stomach already starting to pool with dread; Cole's mania stopped a few hours ago, meaning his depressive episode has started. Unless today's a different case where he'll only experience mood swings.

I felt Blake's other hand land on the small of my back and begin to rub small circles there to comfort me, sensing I was beginning to worry.

♛

"Get out," Cole's voice was barely louder than a whisper.

Blake ignored him and continued to walk into his room, walking to the bed where Cole was laying down and setting the plate of roast beef sandwiches on Cole's nightstand.

Cole turned his body away from the side Blake was standing on and I noticed Blake look at Cole's back for a second longer before he turned around and walked back to where I was standing in the doorway.