When It All Fell Apart

"Cole, are you taking this with you?" I asked, holding up one of his old sweaters. Colton glanced up at me for a moment before waving his hand dismissively. My shoulders slumped and I sighed.

"This isn't going to work if you continue being so unresponsive!" I said, annoyance evident in my tone.

Silence.

"Colton, you're supposed to be packing! You don't even have a suitcase out!" I scolded, my voice raising a few octaves. Colton shrugged and crossed his arms over his stomach. He leaned back on his bed so that he was completely sprawled out across the mattress. I huffed defeatedly and shuffled over to his bed. I almost collapsed onto the warm duvet once I got close enough to it. That's what I get for staying up all night and packing.

"What's up?" I asked, referring to the fact that he looked as if he was in another world entirely.

"Just thinking." He replied quietly.

"About moving?" I guessed.

"Yea, and also about what you said to Mom. I... um, I never thanked you. If you hadn't stood up to her I would've ended up living with Aunt Jamie for who knows how long." Colton told me, looking kind of sheepish as he spoke.

A toothy smile grew on my face, and I couldn't help but feel a little rush of pride. "I didn't want you to leave me." I blurted out. Colton stared at me blankly, and I instantly regretted ever letting the words escape past my lips. I laughed nervously, hoping that my little 'slip up' would be forgotten about soon.

The tension was becoming so thick that it was nearly suffocating. Our eyes were locked in such an intense gaze that I hardly registered when we both began to lean towards each other. Colton's face was so close now, so excruciatingly close. I felt his hot breath waft gently over my face, making me want to squeal. And just as our lips were about to touch, he swiftly pulled away, looking as if he had been slapped in the face. I chewed on my bottom lip while Colton adverted his eyes to the microscopic patterns on his fingertips.

"I-I'm... going to get something to eat." He whispered.

"I'll finish packing for you then." I offered as he rose quickly from his position on the bed. With hardly a nod in my direction, he bolted from the room. I ran my fingers through my tangled strands of black hair and stood up. I made my way over to a large pile of random crap in the left corner of Colton's room.

With a rather exaggerated sigh, I started piling stuff into the first suitable bag that my eyes laid upon. I heard something crinkle slightly as I shoved an iHome into the bag. I reached my hand further inside, curious as to what I had just squished. My fingers brushed over something and I pulled out multiple sheets of crumpled, folded paper. My eyebrows furrowed as I attempted to open them and smooth them out.

Words were written on each loose leaf sheet in an elegant script. Colton's handwriting. By now, I knew this was none of my business, but... I couldn't help it. I took a shaky breath before allowing my eyes to scan over the first page that lay in my hands.