Page 64 of When We Fall: Part One

I hugged him back, making his tears come harder.

With my fingers in his soft blond hair, I raked them against his scalp tenderly, trying to comfort him.

“I don’t deserve you,” he choked out softly. “None of us do.”

“It’s OK,” I murmured. “We’re all making mistakes.”

“I made a huge one, baby. I said something I shouldn’t have said. Something I didn’t mean.” He wept softly. “I never want to hurt you, and I definitely don’t want to hurt the guys. You all are all I have for a family.” His hold on me tightened as he cried a little harder.

“Cole, maybe I’ve overreacted?—”

“Shh.” He looked at me through tear-soaked eyes and pressed a finger to my lips. “No. Don’t apologize for that. We deserved it. We’ve been making choices for you that we shouldn’t have. A-and I’ve said something which may have just finished tearing us apart.”

“What did you say?”

He sat up and wiped his eyes, then put his back to me. I watched as he stared down at his lap.

“We argued that day. I-I told Fox it’s his fault we lost our Blossom. His choices with Juliet led to everything that happened, and it’s why we lost the baby,” his voice cracked as my breath caught. “I blamed him for our Blossom’s death."

He turned to look at me. “Baby, I fucked up. I didn’t mean it. I was angry about Anson a-and everything?—”

“Cole,” I whispered, my heart breaking. I’d been locked in my room, ignoring them when they needed me to get through this mess.

“And now he’s gone. Fox. He left that day and hasn’t come back. He’s not returning our calls and texts. At least not mine and Enzo’s. He did message E and told him he’s OK. I don’t know what to do. I’m losing everyone I love. I-I can’t do it. I’m not strong enough for that. I thought maybe I was, but fuck, baby. Please.Help me. I need to fix this.”

I sat up and grabbed my phone before hittingCallon Fox’s name. Glancing at my bedside clock, I saw it read just after one in the morning. I hadn’t spoken to any of them to even know Fox had left, and he certainly hadn’t reached out to me, but he knew I wanted to be alone, so I supposed that made sense.

“Rosie,” Fox’s deep voice greeted me on the sixth ring. “Baby, is everything OK?”

“Where are you?” I asked thickly. “Cole said you’ve left.”

“I’m at a hotel near the campus.”

“Come home,” I whispered. “Please.”

He was quiet for a moment, the fear in my heart ramping up.

“Cole with you?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll pick you up tomorrow, OK? We’ll go out and spend some time together?—”

“Foxy, you’re scaring me. Aren’t you going to come home?”

Cole’s blue eyes widened before he got to his feet and paced the room, tugging at his hair and breathing hard.

“I-I… Rosie, baby, you know I love you so much. I think I need some time away right now. Things got a little heated, and I think it’s best if we cool off.”

“You can cool off here,” I said, my voice wavering.

“Come stay with me,” he murmured. “Just me and you for the week. We can talk. Can you do that? For-for us?”

I closed my eyes briefly before opening them. “OK. I will.”

“I love you. I’m sorry I didn’t reach out. I thought it best if we all just relaxed for a bit. E told me you were upset, so I let you be. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I shouldn’t be so childish?—”