#cole:t

“Were you even going to ask who it was before you opened the door or did you know it was me?” Cole asks curtly as he waltzes in once Eva Astor opens the door, hoping for her sake of being spared a lecture that it’s the latter. Waltz is an overstatement; he has to limp slowly through the threshold, always a little bit annoyed at uneven doorsteps now as his cane finds purchase on the floors of Eva’s new home. “It was hard to find you, but not that hard,” he comments, taking a seat at her table without being invited. “The next person who wants to find you won’t have the break in schooling I’ve had, but you can hope at least that they’re still not as good as me. What kind of locks are those?” Cole asks, pointing with the butt of his cane to the hardware on her door, sitting at her dining room table like the annoyance she has probably always known him to be. But instead of looking past Eva entirely the way Cole used to for years, the full focus of his blue eyes are on her now, concerned with her and only her. “Do you have tea?” And tea.

There’s a lingering dread that feels attached to his fingers like cobwebs from all the skeletons in his closet, and he wrings his hands in an effort to keep the anxiety at bay. But it’s hard not to be thinking of the worst case scenario when it comes to her. Cole can close his eyes and so easily picture the way Mary’s face had twisted in hurt from the other side of the cell wall down in the sublevels. Or that confused look of betrayal when they’d first dragged him through the dormitory halls, or the blank gaze of feigned indifference the entirety of the past month. He’s not sure which cuts him deepest, but he fears the possibility that the way she looks at him today might win above the rest. She’s only agreed to speak with him now again after Val had talked to her first, after she’d explained the way they’d begun to reconcile. He won’t let himself carry high expectations as he sits alone at a stone table in one of Roseville’s parks, waiting to see her again. She’ll be well within her rights to tell him that she’s only seeing him out of a favor to Val, and that it would be the last blessing of its kind, but Cole wonders how he’ll recover if he loses her for good.

He’s never been to Italy, but with the drier climate, and warm-toned landscapes, and welcoming atmosphere, Cole thinks maybe he ought to make a habit of visiting other European countries more often. Having been the kind of student he was, with several languages under his belt, it’s easy for a brain like his to quickly pick up on some basics in a new language of a new country, which makes it that much easier to order a simple coffee at a quaint little cafe, adding just enough of an accent to not get too much of a skeptical stare. Finding the right cafe, too, is also a skill he can thank his previous schooling for, because as much as he’d like to put a lot of that in his past, it’s what makes it so easy for someone like him to ‘happen’ upon the cozy yet elegant cafe that one Cecilia Casiraghi frequents. “Is this seat taken?” he asks in Italian as he sets down his cup across from her, not bothering to hide the pleasant smile on his face as he settles into the seat, leaning his cane against his chair. “Afternoon, Miss Casiraghi.”

“That looks good, doesn’t it?” Cole asks as he takes a step back, leaning on his cane as he tries to admire the bookshelf he’s finished filling to the best of his ability, but all he can really see is all its faults— still pretty barren, maybe a little unevenly organized. “Well, it... It could use work... Maybe it’ll be better with time, or maybe we ought to head to the bookstore again tomorrow?” he sighs as he asks. He wants it to resemble the memories he has of this home in his childhood, filled to the brim with life and literature. But when he’d gotten the house back over the summer, it was empty, and he’d had to start over with making it a home again. It was a loss much like the others he’s suffered, but it’s a beginning as well, and if he’s determined in starting a brand new life this year, Cole knows he’s just going to have to take it all in stride and do the best he can. At least he won’t be doing it all alone, he thinks, head tilting slightly in consideration of the work before them as his spare hand reaches for Val’s. “What do you think?” After all, it’s their home now.