Promise Chapter Fourteen

New Year's came and went, Tristan and Cole headed home the second week of January. As before the holidays, Cooper went to work after school and Paige accompanied him, doing her homework, and looking for apartments. Cooper watched Paige as she stepped outside into the cold to make a phone call, silly girl she could have stay in here, they weren't that busy. He shrugged his shoulders and went back to work.
He was in the middle of taking an order from the oven when he heard Paige squeal, before he could set the piping hot pizza in its box she came bounding in like an overgrown rabbit and nearly burned herself on the pan. “Careful Paige!” he nearly yelled out, luckily she had moved just in time so she didn't touch the pan
“Sorry” she said sheepishly, a look of concern came over her face as she watched him box up the pizza and give it to a middle aged couple at the counter, when he returned the excited look came over her face once again, “guess what!” she said, she was so ecstatic she couldn't help but jump up and down, clutching her phone in both hands as she did so
“What?” he chuckled, his eyes followed her as she bounced, he sometimes forgot how young she could act, when she didn't answer he firmly set his hands on her shoulders to keep her feet on the ground so she would be still enough to answer him
“I made a call about an apartment that was listed online and the guy says we can come by tomorrow and look at it. It's cheap and from the pictures it looks amazing and its not that far from here. The guy says we were the first people to call about so he will give us first dibs if we want it” she squealed again, clearly she was happy about this development
“That's great” he let out a breathe of relief, now they were getting somewhere, he couldn't help but hug her tightly against him, he wanted to savor the moment until he heard the bell at the counter ding, a customer needing his attention.
Once he let her go Paige watched him as he dealt with the newest customer, Mr. Peterson or Ian, had promoted him to manager and he was able to hire two other people to work under him, so Ian could have a day off. Best of all Cooper was on a salary paycheck so even if he wasn't working he was getting paid for forty hours a week. And the promotion came with an awesome pay raise and bonus.
Paige spent the rest of the afternoon shopping for furniture for the future apartment, she had a really good feeling about this one. She couldn't help but smile and it never left her face the rest of the night.
They awoke early to meet the landlord over at the apartment, bundled up in jackets, scarves and gloves they trudged their way from the tiny parking lot out front to the front door. It wasn't a long walk so that was a plus when it came to grocery shopping.
An older man met them at the door, brown hair fought with the gray and the gray was winning, and his face was all smiles as he reached out his hand to shake first Cooper's then Paige's, “you must be Cooper and Paige, I'm Mr. Crest, we spoke on the phone yesterday”
“Yes, thank you for allowing us to see the apartment first” Paige answered, her smile wide and hopeful
“You are very welcome, now come on up the stairs, its the third floor landing,” as he stopped to unlock the door he turned to them, “it may be hard going up and down but the view is to die for” Paige giggled as she followed behind him into the apartment and Cooper followed behind her
They were given a chance to look around the apartment, the kitchen was large and updated, modern appliances with granite counter tops which Paige loved. The bathroom was also new with a beautiful claw tub with a shower attachment, old looking but amazing. There were three bedrooms, all fairly large, a tiny bit smaller than the rooms her and Cooper stayed in now. In the area that would most likely be the living room there was a gorgeous window seat, already set with a cushion and shelves underneath and beside it. In all of the bedrooms was each a different view of the city but each one in its own right was breathtaking.
When the inspection of the apartment was through Cooper and Paige met Mr. Crest in the kitchen and started to talk business. “How much is this place?” Cooper asked, his expression unreadable which worried Paige as well as Mr. Crest
“It is a thousand a month, and usually I wouldn't include utilities but since Paige told me you two are just starting out I am willing to include all the utilities for the thousand dollar rent. You get two parking spots downstairs as well as a part of the basement for storage. I take care of the plowing and lawn care, and of course any other problems you can always call me.” he looked sincere and the good feeling in Paige's stomach still hadn't gone away
“What would it take to move in?” Cooper asked, his expression the same as before, Paige was about ready to tickle the hell out of him if he didn't smile
“First and last, that would be $2000.00 to move in” Mr. Crest said, he stood tall and confident, Paige liked that
Cooper thought for a moment, made a quick glance around and reached into his coat pocket, he pulled out a check book. “I'll write you a check right now, for the whole thing. I want the key and we will move in next week. I'm not saying I don't trust you but I must be cautious about this. I hope you understand” Cooper said, he had pulled out a pen and his hand hovered over the check
Mr. Crest smiled and looked between Paige and Cooper, “I have all the paperwork in my car, you two stay here and I'll be right back”
When he left the apartment Paige laughed, “what are you laughing about?” Cooper asked, watching her hold her stomach with the force of her amusement
“Did you see his face? He almost shit himself” she had calmed down enough to answer him, she went over and wrapped her arms around his stomach and hugged him, they stood like that for a moment
“You told him we were just starting out?” Cooper asked, he had wrapped his arms around her, he couldn't help but feel overjoyed for more than one reason
“Well I was thinking, that, uh I mean, if you said it was okay, I was hoping to move in with you.” when his face displayed his shock she continued, “I mean what's a better babysitter than your “girlfriend” who lives with you” she had used air quotes around girlfriend, but both of them wished that the sentiment was true
“Alright you two” Mr. Crest appeared with barely a sound and set the papers down in front of Cooper, after reading the papers through and signing he got a copy and so did the landlord, he was given two sets of keys, one for him and one for Paige. They shook hands out front once again and bid Mr. Crest farewell
Cooper couldn't believe it, he had an apartment, right now the keys in his pocket felt foreign but wonderful. A huge weight had lifted from his shoulders, he had an apartment. He couldn't stop repeating himself over and over in his head
“You never gave me an answer” Paige said softly, Cooper was pulled from his mental chant and quickly looked over at her
“About what?” he asked, he knew what she was talking about but he kinda wanted to hear her ask it again, the first time he swore his heart had stopped
She smiled at him, like she knew that he only wanted to hear it again, “I asked you if it was okay to move in with you and Maisie”
Cooper smiled wide, “of course, we would love to have you there” she reached over and threaded her fingers with his and they stayed that way all the way home, neither wanted to severe the contact
Paige once again awoke early and went down to make breakfast, she had been too excited to sleep last night but her parents hadn't come home until late and Cooper had already gone to bed so she thought that they could tell them this morning. Just as she was flipping the pancakes Cooper wandered his way into the kitchen, he wore a simple pair of sweats with no shirt. She had never seen him without a shirt on, and now she wasn't sure if she could hold back her cry of horror.
He had scars across his stomach, back, chest and shoulders. Some were slashes while others looked raised and there were even some circle ones, small circle ones, almost like someone had burned him with a cigarette. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw her, “Paige” he breathed, he was usually the first one up, force of habit really, he hadn't bothered to throw a shirt on when he was just gonna get a cup of juice and go back to bed
“Cooper, oh my god. Is that what your dad used to do to you?” she asked, she was about to step closer but stopped herself, she didn't know if it would make it better or worse to touch him right then
Cooper looked down at his body, something he tried to avoid when he didn't have clothes on, knowing what was awaiting his gaze. “I'm okay, really” he went over to her, holding his hands up in a its-no-big-deal sort of way
“You didn't answer my question” her voice had hardened, which startled him, her eyes seemed to have changed from their light brown color to almost black, like a demon of rage had consumed her
“It happened a long time ago, and the burns aren't from my dad. Really, its fine” he insisted but he knew that what he said did nothing to damper her rage towards the people who hurt him
“Why do you do that?” her eyes slowly went back to their tannish color and her face softened slightly, she tilted her head to the side a little, regarding him with interest
“Do what?” he asked, his heart pounding in his ears
“Why do you act like everything horrible that's ever happened to you doesn't matter? Because it matters, especially to me.” Paige took a tiny step in his direction, Cooper reached by her hip and turned the stove off, so not to burn the food currently cooking
“Especially to you?” he breathed the question, stepping closer to her, he could feel her breathe skim across his bare chest
“Yes, especially to me” she looked back and forth between his eyes and his lips, he could read her thoughts, mainly because the same thoughts were going through his mind as well
“Paige, we can't” he said low, but neither stepped away or moved in anyway
“Why not?” she asked, raising her hand and placed in on his chest, over the cluster of burns and where his heart could be felt pounding against his ribcage
“Because, we're too different” he tried to believe what he said but every nerve ending in his body buzzed at where her hand was placed, he wanted to wrap his arms around her and give her all of him. But he couldn't do that, he wasn't the good guy. He was the villain in this story.
“No we aren't, you just want to push me away” her voice rose slowly, confidence laced with every word, she lifted her other hand and placed it on his hip, right above the band of his sweatpants, his skin was hot to the touch, but she knew he would be warm, she had slept beside him a few times already, and she had never felt more content than she did than when she was with him
He licked his lips, “and why would I do that?” he asked, forcing his eyes to stay open when all they wanted to do was close in pleasure at the sensation of her hands on him. They were soft and cool against his skin, she was lightly running her fingers back and forth over him, not quite tickling but not exactly rubbing either
“Because you're afraid of getting close to people, afraid they will leave you” she had hit the nail right on the head, though he hadn't known why he was pushing her away until she put it into words, he wanted to be with her, but she was a good girl, she deserved better than him
“That's not tr-” he started, and just like on Christmas day, her lips met his, she had to stand on tip toe to reach him, being almost a foot taller than her, he tried to resist his first instinct, only to have his resolve shatter and his arms wound their way around her waist and one cupped the back of her neck and tangled in her hair, messing up the already messy bun
Paige broke the kiss abruptly, her lips tingled and goosebumps rose on her skin, “someone is coming down the stairs” she said in a whisper to him, she ran to the laundry room and grabbed him a clean shirt of his own to throw on, thank goodness they were just washed last night
As soon as the shirt was on, Malcolm rounded the corner, still in his fuzzy slippers and stifled a yawn, “you two are up early” he said, pouring himself a cup of coffee and sitting at the table
Paige and Cooper shared a look, to both of them it meant that they weren't through talking. “I decided to make breakfast this morning” Paige said, turning the burner back on as Cooper got himself a cup of coffee and sat at the table with her father
“Oh, what is this honey?” her mother, Isabelle, came in and when she saw her daughter cooking, a smile came over her face, she went over and kissed her daughter's cheek then went about making herself a cup of tea and made one for Paige in the process
Once everything was cooked Paige finally sat, she wasn't tired. Quite the contrary actually, she was buzzing with energy. She couldn't wait to tell her parents the news. When everyone had filled their plates of bacon, eggs, pancakes, and toast and had glasses full of milk and orange juice and mugs of either coffee or tea she gestured to Cooper and when he gestured back to her with a mouth full of food she giggled then shifted her body to look at her parents
“Mom, Dad, Cooper and I have some wonderful news” she said, a huge smile on her face
Both of her parents paused their current tasks, Malcolm was putting jam on his toast and her mother had been busy buttering her pancakes, a sudden panicked look came over both their faces. “Relax, it's nothing bad. I promise” she said, and she had to hold back another giggle as relief flooded their features
“Okay honey, what's the good news?” Isabelle asked, pouring syrup over her now perfectly buttered pancakes
“Cooper and I went to look at an apartment yesterday, its not far from Mario's” she said, waiting for some acknowledgment that they heard her
“How was it?” Malcolm asked, pleased with his question she continued after shooting a glance at Cooper, who still sat stuffing his face
“It was gorgeous, three bedrooms and the landlord said that for $1000 it will include everything, even the rent. So Cooper wrote him a check and we move in next week” she said, her smile made her face hurt but she couldn't help herself
Both her parents stopped, looked at her then at Cooper, “I'm sorry, did you say we?” Malcolm asked, a coolness to his voice that was not there before
Paige wasn't going to stand down, she had made up her mind, for once in her life she wanted control of her own life, “Yes, I'm moving in with Cooper. It will make a better impression on the judge with me being his “girlfriend” and living with him to care for Maisie” again she used air quotes, no reason to get ahead of herself just yet
“No you are not young lady” Cooper had finished his food but stayed seated so not to draw attention to himself, he only looked between Paige and her parents, the air was becoming thick and hard to breathe
Paige squared her shoulders, stood from her seat, taking her empty plate and Cooper's and put them in the sink then turned, placing her hands on the island as she spoke, “Yes I am, and nothing you say is going to stop me” she said, her voice firm and unwavering, and this once she felt confident in her resolve
Malcolm was about to stand when Isabelle put a hand on his arm to still him, she turned in her seat to look at her daughter, “Paige, honey, you are not old enough to move out. And besides, you'll be going to college in a few years. You won't be able to care for Maisie when you're studying to become an attorney” her mother spoke quietly but it made Paige angry
“Don't you guys get it!” she screamed, her arms raising above her head, “I don't want to be a lawyer or a doctor! I never did, it's what you guys have always made me want. I took the classes and always got awesome grades for you! I want to be a writer, a wife, a mother, I don't want to go to college for another eight years. It's not what I want and you can't force me to be something I don't want to be” Paige motioned for Cooper then stormed out of the room, leaving her mess just as it was as she stalked to her room, Cooper following close behind
Once she got in her room she shut and lock the door, then she lifted her hands and ran them through her hair, ruining her bun completely. “I did it.” she said, breathing hard, Cooper sat on her bed, watching her as she paced back and forth, with a pleased smile on her face
“What just happened?” Cooper asked, he was so confused, one minute they were talking about her moving with him to the apartment the next they were arguing over college
Paige stopped and looked at him, “I just stood up to my parents, finally. Like I always wanted to.” she plopped herself next to him, one leg hanging off the side and the other bent, foot touching the inner thigh of her dangling leg
“I didn't realize how much they believed you were going to become a lawyer” he said, he had never quite believed what she said about their obsession over what she did
“At first it was Tristan then he did the same thing I did and told them what he was going to do and they finally let it go. Only, I'm not so sure that they will let me get out of it so easily” she said, running a hand through her hair again, she pulled her phone from her pocket and texted her brother, explaining in detail what happened.
“Oh, I got some boxes to pack our stuff in” Cooper finally said, dragging her out of her ferocious texting she was doing with her brother
She looked up at him and smiled, “great, I'll start today. You have work later right?” she sat looking at him, the look of pure joy on her face almost made him chuckle
“Yeah, I actually have to start getting ready, gotta be there in an hour” he got off the bed and with just a wave he was gone
“Paige?” another knock on her door, that would be six in only an hour span, they had waited until Cooper left for work to try and talk to her, so far they were having no success
Paige giggled quietly and kept packing her things neatly in boxes, making sure everything fragile was wrapped tightly in paper so it wouldn't break, she had chosen today to stay home while Cooper went to work. She had her own work to do, she was going to pack up as much of her room as she could then move onto his and pack whatever she figured he could live without for a week.
A half hour later she looked about her room and nodded, hands on her hips, inspecting her work, her room looked bare now, just the necessities were left. She hadn't heard another knock on her door in a while, she shrugged and called up her brother.
“Hey babygirl! How's it going?” he answered on the second ring, quite a bit of noise could be heard in the background
“Hey, where are you? It sounds really loud” she said, struggling to hear him a little bit, she put her finger into her other ear to try and hear him better with no success
“Hold on, let me get to a quieter place” as her brother spoke she could hear him walking away from the source of all the noise and finally she could hear him, “is that better?”
“Much. Where are you anyway?” she asked, she flopped herself on the bed, rolled to her back and looked up at the ceiling
“Oh we're home, we are having a get together with some friends and it can get kind of loud” he laughed, she could just picture him with one hand behind his head and a slight blush to his cheeks, “Anywhoozer, so you told me what happened with mom and dad, have you talked to them yet?” he asked, now she could totally see him sitting cross-legged on his bed and awaiting the gossip she was about to spill
“No, they've been trying for over an hour but I ignored them. I was packing up my room, that's right I never really told you anything” she lightly smacked her forehead, now she told him the whole story, of course leaving out the bit about Cooper's scars and the kissing
“Wow, you are a rebel woman now” Tristan said, making her laugh
“I didn't know I had it in me, but besides, I'll be eighteen in April, they can't really say that much about what I want to do. I just want to get it out there now that I'm not going to be what they want me to be” Paige grabbed a pillow and hugged it to her chest
“I understand that, but you should at least talk to them before you leave, I mean their one and only daughter is moving out, and before she graduates no less” Tristan said, even he sounded a bit impressed at the development
“Yeah, I know. I mean, nothing is going to change, Cooper and I are still going to school and he's going to work and we are gonna keep striving to get Maisie back. Nothing is going to be different except we won't we living here. That's the only thing that would change” she didn't understand why her parents would have a big problem with it, she knew they were upset about the college thing but moving out? Isn't that every parent's dream?
“Paige” again a knock on her door, this time she sighed and stood up
“I'll let you go back to your party, I'm gonna talk to mom and dad” she didn't want to keep him from his friends, “tell Cole I said hi”
“Will do darling, and believe, just listen to what they have to say then say your peace. Good luck, buttercup. Love ya” Tristan said, once receiving an I love you back he hung up
Paige took a deep breath and unlocked her door and stood facing both her parents, “honey, can we speak with you?” Isabelle said, a small smile coming over her face, obviously pleased that she had opened the door this time, her father's face was unreadable which did worry her
She gestured for them to come in and she went about taping the boxes up that she was through with, more to make a point rather than actually needing to do it