Darkness Before Dawn

court. Spencer appears beside us while I'm taking a bite of pizza and unexpectedly hands me his cell phone.
    "Mr. Murphy wants to speak to you," Spencer announces in a serious tone.
    My insides twist at the sound of his name, and my eyes shoot from Dean to Spencer before they land on the phone he's handing me.
    "Hello?" I answer, my voice barely audible.
    "Please tell me you're eating lunch with Russell," Cole says through clenched teeth.
    I shut my eyes closed tightly. "I'm not," I whisper, not hearing my own voice over the sound of my pounding heart.
    "You've got to be fucking kidding me, Blake!" he yells before huffing a breath. "I thought we went over this? I don't want you near him, ever. You need to cut ties with that part of your life. Enough is enough!"
    I rub my forehead and open my eyes to look at Dean who's sitting across from me, watching me intently. His twitching jaw and hands fisted on the table tell me that he hears every word Cole is saying to me. "Can we talk about this later?" I ask Cole in a low voice.
    He exhales into the line. "Are you going home now?"
    "I still need to get a dress."
    "We can go look for one tomorrow...together," he replies, his tone serious.
    "I'm already here, Cole," I mutter with an eye roll that makes Dean snicker.
    "I don't like him, Blake. I don't fucking like him," he says with a sigh.
    "I know, but it's not what you think," I respond, defeated.
    "I'll be home in an hour. If you're not there when I get there, I'm coming to the mall to get you," he says before hanging up, not giving me a chance to say anything.
    I narrow my eyes at Spencer as I hand the phone back to him and push my slice of pizza aside, no longer hungry. Dean and I look at each other for a couple of seconds or minutes in complete silence; the only noise is that of the chatter around the food court.
    "He really loves you, you know?" Dean says after a while.
    "I know," I agree with a sigh. "But he can be a bit overprotective sometimes."
    Dean's lip twitches. "I've noticed. That's not a bad thing, though. Sometimes you need that in your life...you definitely need that in yours!"
    I purse my lips and nod in agreement, my mind drifting to Cole and the many times he's unnecessarily been overprotective of me.
    "Whatever, he's pretty awesome even if he's a little annoying sometimes," I reply with a laugh and watch Dean's eyes sparkle in amusement.
    I stand up, taking the balled up paper of my Jimmy John's sub and cup of pop to throw out. When I come back to the table, Dean is still sitting there, leaning back on his chair with his arm over the seat beside him and his legs splayed open, not a care in the world. I laugh, rolling my eyes at him as I approach.
    "What did you have to buy?"
    "Socks," he replies, shrugging the arm he has placed on his lap.
    "Socks?" I ask, sputtering in laughter.
    "Yeah, you can never have too many socks. Don't your socks magically get lost when you wash them?"
    I purse my lips at his question. "I guess? Cole does the laundry." I shrug.
    A slow smile spreads over his face. "Huh. I woulda never thought that. Lucky girl," he replies in his amused tone.
    We say our goodbyes in the food court and I go home to wait for my petulant fiancé. I toss the bag in my room and kick off my shoes before heading to the kitchen to open up a bottle of wine and prepare our dinner. I head to the balcony to water my plants and as I'm walking back inside, I hear the front door swing open and close. I tread back to the kitchen quietly and bite down on my lip when I see Cole striding toward me, carrying his suit jacket over his forearm. My breath hitches at the sight of him in his charcoal gray suit and unbuttoned dress shirt with loosened tie. I can tell he's been running his hands through his rumpled dark hair, and I give him a sad smile when he stops walking just steps away from me. His exhausted green eyes meet mine. He stares at me for a long moment before closing his eyes and taking a breath. When he opens them again, he tosses his jacket over the couch and continues to walk to me, his eyes blazing into mine. My heart rate spikes up when he stands flush against me. So close that the tip of my nose is touching his blue and gray tie and all I can smell is Cole as my chest heaves against his white dress shirt.
    "What am I going to do with you?" he asks, cupping my chin and turning my face toward his. His deep voice makes my body hum and shiver slightly. "Do you know how worried I am every time I leave for