Cole had taken a shower and was as ready as can be for the family dinner. He combed his hair and wore one of the new shirts his dad had bought him during the weekend. The Tee wasn't anything awesome seeing as it was just plain black, but he wanted to wear it because it was given to him by his dad. Something that hadn't happen in a long time.

Picking up his watch, he wore it as he left his room and came down the stairs just to hear someone knocking. Cole almost froze solid if Payne's voice hadn't been heard from behind the door. It would have been terrible if that had been the Clouds because even though he was already dressed, the rest of the family wasn't.

Cole got the door opened and smiled at Payne who just grinned back. "'Sup you?" Payne walked past him into the house and Cole closed the door before turning to him with a puzzled face.

"What are you doing here?"

"Your mum called me to help set up the table. She asked if you'll like to assist me."

"I guess. Yeah." He nodded and Payne led him to kitchen.

     Cole was surprised when Payne brought out the large bowl his mum normally used for Lasagna. Payne dropped it slowly on the counter with Cole's mum's mittens. The man exhaled then smiled at Cole after glancing at the food which was still wrapped in foil paper.

"Want to open it now?" He asked Cole who was still distracted by the fact that his mum made lasagna. He hadn't tasted that thing since he was a kid and it only brought back memories of when his family wasn't broken and trying to patch things up.

"Cole?" Payne called again and Cole managed to look up at him.

"Yeah?"

Payne cocked his head to the side and crossed his arms over his chest. "What was that? You just blanked out just now."

     Frowning, Cole shook his head to get the weird feeling out before smiling lightly at Payne. "It's nothing. Let's just set the table." He said as he went to the shelves and got out the dishes.

     Payne didn't respond to him and Cole was relieved by that and just watched him bring out the glass cups. They quietly set up the table and Cole began to feel weird when Payne didn't say anything. Didn't even utter small talks.

Ashley came down the stairs just when Cole's phone rang in his pocket. He would have answered it if his mum didn't look so dazzling in her short black gown. It looked like a dress she could wear on a date with someone she wanted to impress. Cole didn't know if all this was for him or someone else.

She came up to Cole and he grinned, giving her a once over. "You look amazing."

"My son is bringing his boyfriend over. I've got to look presentable at least." She gave a little shrug as if she didn't know she did too much.

Payne came over to join them and said, smirking widely at her, "Well, Mrs. Maroni, this passes my presentable scale."

"Everything I wear passes your presentable scale." She winked at him and Cole was glad to know that Payne was gay unless that would have been awkward.

Cole's phone rang again and he excused himself to the living room to answer it. "Hello." He said into the speaker without checking the ID.

"Cole? Hey Cole, it's me Cloud. I'm just calling to say my dad and I will be running late. My dad decided to drop Tom off at his nanny's place. He thought since your family didn't have a kid his age, he would have fun, you know."

"Cloud... Yeah, sure. Be quick though. Love you."

"Ditto that, babe."

Raising a brow, Cole said into the phone, "I thought that was my line."

"But you said the love you first."

"Yeah and since you are so deeply in love with me, you are supposed to say, I love you too."

Cloud didn't answer immediately but when he did he said in a small voice, "Would love to say it now but my dad just got in the car and lord knows I get embarrassed when I say it around him."

That had Cole smiling and he turned away when he saw his brother entering living room. He chuckled and said, "Say it Cloud."

"What? Now?" He sounded shocked then some shuffling came from the speakers before Cloud said again, "Really? Can't you just wait?"

"No. I want to hear it now," He whined, ignoring Tames when he did kissy faces at him. He rolled his eyes at his brother then moved away to stand by the window.

"Cole. Come on now."

"Cloud." He teased.

"Okay." He huffed in defeat then said quickly, "I love you too, Cole. Shit my dad just looked at me. Bye." He quickly hung up before Cole could even tease him for it.

Rolling his eyes, he shoved the phone into his pocket before turning Tames who was scrolling through his phone. He looked up at his brother and winked, making Cole feel heat rush to his cheeks before leaving the sitting room to the kitchen. His mum was setting the table with the plates and she kept the last one down before looking up at him.

"Hey, how many did you say they were?"

"Just two. Cloud called a minute ago. He told me this dad dropped Tom off at their nanny's."

"Really? I didn't know Cloud had a little brother. How old is he?"

"Four. Anyways, when is dad coming home? Is he coming for the dinner."

"Well duh. Who do you think I dressed for?" She winked at him.

....

"This tastes amazing." Mr. Cloud said after taking a fork from the Lasagna. "Last time Derick and I ate this, it was like four-five years ago. Right son?"

Cloud only smiled at him and gave him a short nod before turning to look at Cole's dad who said, "My wife makes it a lot. It's her favorite." He grinned at Ashley who just smiled coyly back at him.

"It's also Derick's favorite." Mr. Cloud continued. "Too bad I'm terrible at making it."

"Oh I can teach you. Wouldn't mind telling you my secret ingredient." Ashley winked at Cloud who chuckled and glanced at Cole.

"But mum, I've been asking." Tames whined, giving her his sad puppy eyes Cole had seen countless times since he got back into the family.

The dinner had started not too long ago. John had made it in just two minutes before the Clouds. They had come in with gifts and Cloud's dad had given Ashley a bouquet as he complimented her attire. Then they all gathered together in the dining for the luscious food Cole's mum and Payne had made.

Cole was sad to see Payne go, but he said he had to see the new apartment his boyfriend was living in. Cole had shrugged it off and the dinner began.

"Not now Tames." Cole's mum rolled her eyes then smiled at her guests.

The rest of them broke into another conversation about jobs as Cloud leaned closer to Cole and said, "Everything's going well, right?"

"Are you kidding? It's amazing." He smiled at him then added, "Let's just stay a little longer before I whisk you away to my room."

Cole was surprised to see his cheeks redden and he looked away quickly when Cole's dad called to him. "So, your dad said you play football."

"Yeah. He even got a scholarship." Tames interrupted him causing Cole to send a glare his way. Tames only rolled his eyes and continued, "He's really good, dad. I'm even joining the football team this year because of him."

"Really?" John's brows rose with interest.

"Yeah."

"Wait, you do know I am leaving this year right?" Cloud looked at him, furrowing his brows in confusion.

"I know that. I meant I'm going to be like you. Excellent footballer and an amazing captain. Huge fan."

"I didn't know you liked him." Cole finally spoke up. Cole knew Tames never liked Cloud. The dude bullied him just like the rest of them.

He didn't reply to that until he had finished the last of the food on his plate. Turning to his brother, he said with goofy smile on his face. "I only like him when it comes to sport, Cole. Outside that, I hate his guts."

That cleared that up. Cole was glad no one else heard that except him since the rest of them went back to talking about what college or university Cloud and Cole were going to.

"Wait, isn't George the university Cole got accept to the other day?" Ashley asked her husband who nodded then looked at Cole.

"Yeah. I've told Clo-Derick that I'd be going to the same university as he." He drained the last of his water and added as he stood, "Since we are on the topic of university, I might just take my leave with Cloud. We have somethings to finalize."

Cloud's eyes widened in shock but he still stood and said to Cole's mum, "Amazing dinner Mrs. Maroni."

She only smiled in response and they both took their plate and glass to the kitchen. Cole took his dish and glass from him to help him clean it up as he said, "Nice exit."

"Yeah. Tames' gonna kill me." He chuckled as he cleaned the plates and glasses dry.

Turning to his boyfriend, he played with the zipper on his jacket then said, "Come on. I don't want him entering the kitchen now and spoiling the fun."

Cloud said nothing to that and quickly followed behind him up the stairs to his room. Cole locked the door after him and said as he quickly moved to his laptop on his reading desk, "So, I was checking out the residence and I realized we might not be roommates when we get there."

Cole turned away from his laptop to find Cloud laid on his bed. He frowned when he still hadn't gotten a reply but refrained from saying anything when Cloud finally looked at him. "We can't be roommates."

Cole wasn't surprised when he said that because deep down he knew that. Residence was given to people according to their major. Cloud was majoring in Football studies or something like that and that kept him under the sport house. Cole was under business since his dad finally let him study banking.

"Fine." He shrugged when went back to filling up his residence information.

"Cole, when I said we can't be roommates, I meant we cannot be roommates at all. It means after first year, I'm not leaving the sport house."

"What?" Those words he uttered stopped Cole from typing anything else into his system and made him turn to Cloud abruptly. "What do you mean by that?"

Cloud quickly stood up from the bed and came to meet him, saying, "All I'm trying to say is, I'm going to be really busy. Football isn't easy and becoming a professional football player takes work and lots of practice. I'm going to need my friends from the sport house a lot."

"So an apartment close to school wouldn't work then?" Now, Cole was surprised. He had thought that after the first year, they could both start living together.

"I don't know, Cole." He said. "I would really love to live with you, but I really love taking things slow. Living with someone is a very big step in a relationship. It could harm it or it could bring us closer."

Cole shook his head. "I still don't get what is wrong with living with me. I highly doubt it's going to harm our relationship. I mean you love me right?"

Cloud's eyes softened and Cole could see it was breaking him to continue declining it. "I do, but there are still two things involved. I seriously want to take our relationship slow so I, at least, get to enjoy it as it grows into something...beautiful," he said as he wrapped his arms around Cole.

Cole couldn't believe his ears. He was still declining it. Rolling his eyes, he let Cloud calm him down with soothing word and kisses that seemed to be working quite well. He decided not to complain but still leave the offer open.

"In case you change your mind..." He trailed off, letting him know quietly what he meant.

Cloud smiled again and kissed Cole before quickly checking his watch. "I've got thirty minutes with you before my dad starts yelling for me."

     Winking at him, Cole smirked. "I know exactly what to do with thirty minutes." And with that, Cole leaned up to kiss him.

__________________
A/n

This book would be finished soon (Finally) and I really want to thank everyone for sticking with it. 5K? Wow. Kinda like one of the first I had written when I finally decided to write on wattpad. Again, thanks a lot❤️