My Artist

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Cole's POV
Hi I'm Cole Sprouse and I'm English. I live in London with my mum, dad, brother and cousin. We aren't the richest people. We live in a three bedroom house and my brother and I share a room when he's home. My aunt and uncle passed away in a car accident when my little cousin, Scott, was 4, he's now 9. I'm 18 and in university studying art and design. My mum is unable to work and my brother is in France studying in school so it's up to me and my dad to keep good money coming in, which was not easy. I have an amazing girlfriend, Lili Reinhart. She lives in America and we met when she come to London. She had stopped by the coffee shop I work in with her sisters and we got to know each other. It was really hard because she lived in Ohio and I lived in London. 3829 miles. And there's also the time difference. We try to FaceTime everyday but with my busy schedule and full house it's not so easy. She's the middle child. She has an older and younger sister. Chloe and Tess. There really nice, so are her parents. I met them the same week I met Lili. My parents don't think we'll work because of the distance but I hope we do. My mum has Huntington's disease. It has been passed down from her generations. Dylan was tested and he come back negative but I haven't been tested yet. There is a chance our future children could get it. This can make her really sick. Recently she hasn't been too well and has been staying in bed all day because she's so weak. I had just got back from school and went in to check on her. I smile going into her room.
C: "hey mumma." I say smiling. She slowly turns her head and looks at me smiling.
CM: "there my boy! Come sit beside me, tell me about your day." She says smiling. I nod.
C: "I only have 5 minutes mum, I have woke at 3 and I need to go to the shops to get some groceries in." I say sitting beside her on the bed. She nods.
CM: "okay, so quickly, how's your course going at uni? Is it going okay?" She asks me rubbing my arm. I nod.
C: "it's going okay, it's a bit stressful because I have an assignment due for next week and it has to be like amazing and it has to look 3D but then I'm working most of this week so I don't really know when I'll get it done. Then dads working late and the Scott needs extra help with school work and he needs caring for. And I have to keep on top of everything here and then also Lili. I was hoping to get to se her soon but I can't afford it. We can just about afford the house." I say sighing. I hear a snore and see my mum passed out beside me. I smile and kiss her head before walking out of my room and getting ready for my shift. I go to Tesco, our closest grocery shop and drop them off home before starting my shift at the coffee shop. My dads friend owns it and whilst I work his wife watches Scott. After a three hour shift I finally get home. Janet was sitting on out sofa ready the newspaper when I come through the door. She smile.
J: "hey darling." She says quietly. If your British you'll understand, no matter who you are you'll most likely be given a nickname. I smile.
C: "hey Jan, how are you?" I ask her setting my keys down.
J: "I'm good thanks, how are keeping?" She asks me. I nod.
C: "I'm okay, you want a cuppa?" I ask her. She nods smiling.
J: "just a quick tea before I go home." She says smiling. I nod and put the kettle on.
C: "was everything okay today with Scott? Anniversary is today, I'm not really sure if he remembers much. That's why dads doing night shift, to block the grief." I say sighing. She nods.
J: "he mentioned it once, he said today was the day his mummy and daddy went to heaven. Didn't say anything else though. Everything else is fine, he got his homework done and their Christmas carol service is soon and he's playing one of the wise men. He said he wants you and Dylan to go but he understands Dylan can't come home till after it." She says sighing. I nod and make our tea. I bring hers over and sit across from her in the arm chair. She smiles.
J: "how's your girlfriend?" She asks me smiling. I chuckle and look away.
C: "she's good, yah we're good." I say nodding. She slowly nods.
J: "just good, not great or amazing?" She asks me. I sigh.
C: "I've only seen her in person once, we've been together for nearly a year now. Like flights from here to Ohio, are so expensive and we don't have that much money to spare and I'm needed here. I was supposed to be going there just for a week before Christmas and then I'd be home in time for Scott's play but I can't afford it. It's like £500 to get there and back which we don't have. Well, we have it but we need it. You know there's bills and heating and Christmas presents and groceries and petrol for the cars and just thank the lord we get free health and dental care because mums medication is expensive. Sometimes I just think I'd be better just breaking it off before she realises it's just a road with a dead end" I say sighing. She nods.
J: "yah it is hard, it's really hard. When I was your age I dated an Australian boy." She say nodding. I smile.
C: "long distance didn't work?" I ask her. She shacks her head.
J: "no it ended when he told me dating me was just a front and he was gay." She says laughing. I laugh.
C: "seriously?!" I ask her laughing. She nods.
J: "yah, I still talk to him, he's met my husband. He's married and all, adopted a set of twins. It is hard, especially when you don't live close to each other. Nobody ever said a relationship was easy but a long-distance relationship is even harder." She says shrugging. I nod.
C: "like if we work in the long run, I'm needed here and she doesn't want to move away from Ohio so there's no way to win." I say sighing. She nods.
J: "your 18 so you could be moving away soon." She shacks nodding. I nod.
C: "I would move to her, with a life long supply of tea bags, but I'm needed here, In London. Dad can't carry everything on his shoulders and with Scott being young and Dylan not being here it's just so hard, I know mum is just going through a ruff patch but we all know she's gonna get worse and if dad needs to have a job and care for himself, mum and Scott it's just not fair." I say shrugging. She nods.
J: "you lot don't have it easy." She says sighing. I nod.
C: "we don't have it easy but some people have it worse. Visiting Lili and getting my own life sorted soon is a want, not a need." I say smiling. She nods.
J: "how is your mum?" She asks me softly. I just shrug.
C: "she's okay, she's weak and deteriorating but we all know she will and would. You know, we fake a smile everyday and say we're okay but we're not. We are absolutely petrified. We all know we are going to lose her. Dylan come back negative for it and the only reason I haven't been tested for it is because I don't want to know I have it. You know there's a 50% chance that each birth will have it and Dylan didn't so I most likely will. It scares me because I watched Grandpa and now mum go through it and I see the medicines and the doctor appointments. I just wish it wasn't us. I know mum feels guilty and she blames herself, even though it's not her fault. It's no ones fault it's just own family." I say shrugging. She nods slowly. We drink our tea and chat for a while before she leaves and goes home. At 11 I was finally at my desk, doing homework and chatting with Lili. She was evening time with her. She sighs.
L: 'why are you still awake at 11pm?' She asks me. I just sigh.
C: 'I've been busy so I'm just getting my homework done and it's due next week. So I'm doing it now.' I say shrugging. I glance up at her, she was smiling. I frown.
C: 'why are you smiling?' I ask her. She just shrugs.
L: 'your accent just makes me smile.' She says giggle. I smile.
C: 'your laugh makes me smile,' I say back, she blushes and looks away.
L: 'your cheesy.' She says grinning. I just shrug.
C: 'I'm not the one who is obsessed with the English accent.' I say smirking. She rolls her eyes.
L: 'it's not the English accent it's your voice. How posh your accent is, especially because you live in London.' She says smiling, I shack my head.
C: 'I'm not posh, the Queen is posh, I'm not as towny as some of the people are but then my dads half Scottish. So that makes me what like 1/3 Scottish. So I'm not fully from London, and to add my mums not originally for, London either she grew up in Cornwall so I'm actually not just all London.' I say shrugging. She nods.
L: 'you have to much history.' She says sighing. I nod.
C: 'I'm not just your typical London boy. Anyway, what do you think?' I ask her holding up my drawing. It was a girl, sitting in a 3D bubble with all her thoughts. She smiles.
L: 'babe, that's, it's, it's amazing!' She says shocked. I smile.
C: 'you think so? It's just a sketch.' I say shrugging. She shacks her head.
L: 'no, send it in! That's amazing! Don't add anymore to it. It's simple but enough!' She says seriously. I nod.
C: 'okay.' I say nodding. She nods and smiles. We chat for a while to my dad comes home. He walks into my room.
CD: "it's pi*sing cats and dogs out there!" He says shacking his head. I sigh.
C: "hello to you too dad." I say to him. I hear Lili laugh.
CD: "oh shoot, you talking with Lili. Sorry Lili!" He shouts over to her. She laughs.
L: 'no problem Mr Sprouse.' She says laughing. My dad smiles.
CD: "right quickly, how was school? how was work? how was Scott? How's was mum? And how are you?"  He asks me. I sigh.
C: "good, good, good, he only mentioned them going to heaven once today and other than that good, I think she's okay, I've hardly seen here and I'm fine." I say smiling. He nods and goes to leave but I stop him.
C: "Da! What do you think?" I ask him. He turns around and looks at the work. He smiles.
CD: "this is amazing! Amazing!" He says smiling. I nod.
C: "thank you." I say smiling. He nods.
CD: "I'll be in the kitchen if you need me." He says kissing my head before leaving the room. I smile and look back at Lili. She was just watching us. I chuckle.
C: 'anyway, less about me, how are you and all your American buddies.' I say smiling. She smiles.
L: 'there all good, my boy best friend, James, and I are going to the schools dance together because he can't get a date and well you live in England. Today at lunch we went and go food and them ice cream. It's great, he even paid.' She says giggling. I nod.
C: 'that explains why you wouldn't answer your phone when I called you. I knew you'd be at lunch and it was just me awake in the house so it was quite lonely but it doesn't matter. I thought we could have done the whole lunch/dinner date over FaceTime but it doesn't matter. You were busy, can't spend every second waiting for me to call.' I shack chuckling sadly. She sighs.
L: 'yah sorry, I didn't have volume on my phone. I would have picked up anyway. I would have just called with you and spent time with James.' She says shrugging. I raise me eyebrows.
C: 'well, I wouldn't want to third wheel.' I say sighing. She giggles.
L: 'right, I have to go. Me and the girls are meeting up to study and I still need to shower. I'll call you tomorrow.' She says smiling. I nod.
C: 'see you tomorrow.' I say sighing. She blows me a kiss before hanging up. I sigh and throw myself back into my bed. I lie there for a minute before going downstairs to me dad. He sighs.
CD: "god, you okay misery guts?" He asks me. I sigh,
C: "I think I have to break up with Lili." I say sighing. I sit down at the kitchen table. I lean my elbows on he table and run my hands through my hair. He sighs and sits across from me.
CD: "why?" He asks me. I sigh.
C: "the distance, the time zones, we couldn't be any more different, she spends more time with her boy best friend. She claims it's just friends but I don't think so." I say sighing. He looks at me.
CD: "son, what are you basing this on? You don't know that." He sums smiling.  I look him dead in the eye.
C: "his profile picture is Lili, his bio has Lili's name with a heart and the date they became friends and all his photos include Lili or are of Lili. There one, a photo I took of Lili and it says my princess with a heart under it." I say sighing. He nods.
CD: "yah, he's obsessed with her." He shacks sighing. I nod.
C: "he's had more dates with her in the past month than I have from we started dating." I say sighing. He nods.
C: "like in the long run we won't work. She doesn't want to leave America and I need to stay here. Like I haven't even left f*cking London! It just doesn't work and it's better to cut it off now than let her fall in love and hurt tens times more." I say sighing. He nods.
CD: "you love her don't you?" He asks me rubbing my back. I nod.
C: "hurts to let go but it hurts more to hold on." I say shrugging. He just nods and rubs my back before walking off. I lift my phone and ring Lili to break up with her. It just rings and goes to voicemail so I leave her one.
C: 'hey Lil's, I know I sounded okay on FaceTime earlier and I guess this might come as a shock to you but I believe it's best if we break up. I really do love you and I know it's weird the first time me telling you this during my explanation on why I'm breaking up with you but I do. You deserve a man who doesn't live across the world and someone who can afford a trip to see you. We can just about afford this house so dears knows the next time I would have seen you. You need a man who can hug you when your crying and bring you flowers randomly, not a man who has a sick mum and a chance of also being sick. In the long run we won't work. You don't want to live in England and I need to stay here. I'm not want you want or need. I'm not good enough for you. We are already on borrowed time so it's best for me to break it off now so I don't drag you into my mess of a life. You want marriage and kids and so do I but I can't marry you across the world and there's a chance, if I test positive for Huntington's I'm not having kids and there's a 50% I do have it.  I know this was out of the blue but you'll get over it and there's a good man in your life already. James is madly in love with you. All you gotta do is charm him with your beauty and you've got it in the bag. It's nothing to do with you, or anything about you, it's all me. I'm so sorry and I love you Lili Reinhart.' I say before hanging up. I wipe my tears before going up to my room and lying in my bed, facing the wall. I just start quietly sobbing. Lili was my girlfriend and my best friend, my only friend.  I love her and I probably always will.
Lili's POV
I was studying with my 3 friends and James when he speaks up.
Ja: "you have a voicemail from Cole." He says throwing me my phone. I smile and play it on speaker. We all listen to the voice mail. I sigh, wiping the fallen tears of my cheeks.
L: "I can't.... this can't be real. Im dreaming." I say pinching myself. My friend rubs my back. James sighs.
Ja: "now that's your single and you know I'm in love with you. How would you feel about a date?" He asks me. I just frown and slap him before grabbing my stuff and going home. I had to go to Cole. I got home and booked a flight to England. The next one wasn't until Friday but it had to do. I tired calling him and I left him multiple messages but he just wouldn't reply.
3rd persons POV
Over the next 4 days the two madly in love young adults cried, stressed and wondered how the other felt. Lili made a deal with her teachers and got all her work so she can spend a week with Cole. As for Cole, he got tested for Huntington's and sadly, as he predicted, he tested positive. He was given strong medication and it made him so sick he had to stay in bed. It was Saturday morning and for the first time he felt okay to get out of bed. He went downstairs to get himself some breakfast. Scott was staying Janet until Cole felt better, his dad was at work and his mum was asleep so it was just him. Everything was going okay till there was a knock on his front door.
Lili's POV
It was 8.30 in the morning and I was standing at Cole's front door. I knocked it two times until someone opened it. It was Cole. He looked pale, like he had been really sick. He frowns.
C: "Lili? What are you doing here?" He asks me confused. I sigh.
L: "I heard your voice mail, the day you sent it and you can't expect me to let the man I love go just like that can you?" I say to him. He sighs and opens the door more letting me in. We go into the kitchen. I smile looking around the house, it was so homey and clean.
C: "why did you come here? You could have just called me." He shacks sighing. I look at him and tilt my head to the side.
L: "from Tuesday I've called you over 300 times." I say sighing. He nods.
C: "I've been pretty sick these past few days." He says sighing. I frown.
L: "yah I can tell, your very pale. Are you okay now? Did you have the stomach bug? Do you have medicine?" I ask him worried. He nods.
C: "yes I have medication." He says sighing. I nod.
L: "right we'll, I know you explained your whole reason for breaking up with me but I'm not letting you do that. Just because you live here and I don't doesn't mean we won't work. I want it be with you and if that means I have to move over here I will. Obviously I'll finish school but after that I will. The place you live in doesn't compare to who you live with or love. It's just a place and honestly as cringy as it sounds, when I'm with your or when I hear your not so much Londoner accent I'm home. It's not a country or a building it's you and I f*cking love you. I don't care if James was and is obsessed with me and I'm sorry I didn't realise it before but I know now and I only love you. As for the sickness, biological children aren't the only option. Theres adoption and donors. If we do marry and if we don't that would be tragic but if we do and you don't feel comfortable with having our own biological children then we won't. You are enough, your more than enough. What else do I need. You kind, your honest, your sweet and your funny. Your loyal and to top it off your handsome and hot as hell! Also your amazing at drawing so when we get a dog I won't have to pay someone to draw it, you can." I say smiling. He chuckles and looks down, leaning against the counter top. He sighs.
C: "I don't have money, we don't have money. I can't promise a nice future financially." He says sadly. I nod.
L: "and maybe you don't but I'm not a gold digger and I do. I have extra money saved and we're still 18. You'll start making money from your drawings soon and when I get my degree I can start working. There's a way and just because you didn't grow up showering in money doesn't mean you won't be in the future." I says seriously. He nods and looks me in the eyes.
C: "I tested positive for Huntington's. Now say you still love me." He says seriously. I gasp.
L: "when did you get tested?" I ask him. He sighs.
C: "the morning after I broke up with you. I got the results that evening and started treatment the next day. I've been in bed sick from then till today because it just made me so weak. It's treatment to slow it down and hopefully slow it down enough that by the time I'm 60 I'll be at the strange mum is so that's one good thing. But, I will not be having my own biological children so they don't get my gene and fell the pain I will, my mum does and the rest of our family did." He says sighing. I walk over to him and put my hand on his cheek, rubbing my thumb just over his cheek bone. He sighs.
C: "I don't want you to feel the pain of watching someone die a little more everyday." He whispers, looking me dead in the eye. I nod.
L: "and I don't care. I love you, not someone who doesn't have an illness or someone who is showering in money four times a day. I don't care if I have to bath you at the age of 70 with a baby pink sponge and some soapy water because I love you, even with Huntington's." I says smiling. He chuckles and looks away from me. I look at him and tilt his chin down so he's looking at me.
L: "I love you." I say seriously, a small smile plastered on my lips. He nods.
L: "I love you, with the illness and the blisters from holding your pencil for too long." I say giggling. He rolls his eyes.
C: "I do need to buy some of them grip things don't I?" He shacks a grinning. I nod.
L: "you do! I've told you from day one! They aren't good! You have nice hands, don't ruin them with blisters!" I say laughing. He nods.
C: "yah, I'll get Dylan to get buy me some, they can be a thank you for letting him leave me here with our family." He says laughing. I was about to say something but I was interrupted by his mum.
CM: "Cole! Your dad had the gut to start talking to me about nursing homes! Like I'm an independent woman. I may have hunts and I may be in my late 40s, or we'll early 50s but I'm still a spring chicken!" She says busting through the kitchen door. She frowns,
CM: "Lili? I thought you two broke up? How much did I miss?!" She asks putting one their kettle. Cole stuffers.
C: "Mum! Are you okay?!" He asks her worried. She sighs.
CM: "hunny, I gave birth to twins, naturally. I'm fine." She says smiling. Cole sighs.
C: "seriously mum! You haven't been out of bed from like last week? You have to be carful." He says seriously. She nods.
CM: "yah I know but your a*whole of a brother decided he wants to come earlier and he wants a fully home cooked meal to be ready when he gets here. I told him to shove his 'fully home cooked meal' up his a*s." She says laughing. Cole gasps and I burst out into laughter. She sighs.
CM: "don't get me wrong Lili. I love Dylan I really do but who wants to be a PE teacher? He complained about it from he first stared PE and now he's training to do it as a job, in Italy of all places." She says rolling her eyes. Cole sighs.
C: "Mumma he's in France, I was supposed to go to school in Italy but then I decided to go to my current school." He says sighing. She nods.
CM: "see you, my love, have a brain. As for you brother well, it's as quick as he could get out of here." She says sighing. There was a scoff from behind us causing all of us to look around. There stood someone who looked a lot like Cole. I must have been Dylan. He sighs.
D: "we all clearly know who your favourite son is." He says sighing. His mum gasps and runs over to him wrapping him in a hug. Cole chuckles.
C: "my twin brother, Dylan." He whispers to me. I nod and smile. Cole hugs him and Dylan frowns.
D: "this is?" He asks referring to me. I sigh.
L: "Im Lili Reinhart, I'm Cole's..." I say not knowing what to say next. Cole speaks up.
C: "girlfriend." He says finishing my sentence. He nods and shacks my hand. I spend the day at there house. It was night time and Cole and I were in his bedroom. He sighs and sets a sketch book in my lap. I frown.
L: "what are these?" I ask him frowning. He sighs.
C: "look at it." He shacks smiling. I nod. Each page had a drawing of either us or me on it. There was one of me and my family. Each picture had a love heart on it with a reason why he loved me written in it. I smile, tears in my eyes.
L: "you drew all of these?" I ask him fighting back tears. He nods.
C: "I've been working on it for about a month. I finished it yesterday." He says smiling. I sigh and kiss him. He smiles and kisses me back.
L: "I love you." I yah smiling. Our faces only inches apart. He nods.
C: "I love you too." He says smiling. We lie back on his bed and look through each page. I smile.
L: "I've never seen these before." I say smiling. He nods.
C: "that's because there only in that book. Only one copy of them and it's in your hands." He says kissing my head. I nod.
L: "your going to have to start selling some of these." I say seriously. He nods.
C: "I'll be the next artist." He says smiling. I kiss his cheek. I could proudly say he was My Artist.

Sprousehart one shotsOnde as histórias ganham vida. Descobre agora