Call me Kansas
Disclaimer: I don't own any of this.
Cole felt like punching Matt in the face.
Half because he wanted him to pay for putting him in this awkward position and the other half to break the unbearable tension.
At the moment he was sitting on the couch with Lily on his right, Matt on his left and Suze on Lily's other side. The movie was playing and all their eyes were watching it. Cole decided to ignore the fact that Lily's leg was pressed against the side of his leg and hoped that something would break the tension.
Matt and Suze had broken up before him and Lily and Cole always thought that there was something else that had happened between them that neither Lily nor he had heard about.
Cole smiled slightly. The thought that Matt and Suze could have a more complicated relationship then him and Lily, seemed so out of character for their two friends.
Brennan walked into the room with the phone and Cole smiled, hoping his mother would break the tension.
"Matt," Brennan said, "Your mom called to say that some Harris girl called your house looking for you."
Cole and Lily looked at each other and then back at Brennan. "Shit!" They didn't want that kind of tension breaker.
Matt stammered, "Um, um, thanks Brennan." Brennan nodded, not noticing the crackling tension that had settled in the room, and she walked out of the room.
The four friends sat on the couch in silence until Suze said, "So…you're still talking to Katie Harris?"
Matt sighed and said, "No Suze, I'm not. The girl just won't leave me alone."
"She does that!" Cole put in, "She's latches into you and doesn't leave you alone!"
Suze bit the inside of her cheek and said, "Well you should have told her to leave you alone a long time ago!"
Matt leaned forward and looked at her across Cole and Lily. "And would you have stayed with me then? If I had told her to back off instead of just ignoring her!"
Suze sat up to look at him and exclaimed, "I don't know Matt! She was still spreading rumours about you and her!"
"They were lies Suze! I already told you that!"
Cole and Lily sat frozen between their two arguing friends.
Suddenly Cole said, "I need to go feed the dog!"
"I'll help!" Lily said, as the two of them jumped up off the couch.
"You don't have a dog!" Matt argued.
Lily and Cole looked at each other and then at their friends. "Fine then, we have to go feed Michael!" Cole said as he and Lily hurried out of the living room, nearly tripped over the paint tins and brushes that Booth needed for painting the living room the next day.
They hurried up the stairs and onto the landing. "What are we going to do?" Lily said.
"I don't know Kansas! I mean Katie Harris must be the other reason why the broke up. Remember the rumours about Matt and Katie a few months ago, right before Matt and Suze broke up?"
Lily nodded, "Yes, but I didn't take them seriously! They were all about Matt and Katie going out behind Suze's back."
Cole nodded, "Well what can we do?"
Lily and Cole were silent for a few moments listening to Matt and Suze argue with each other. Lily looked at Cole and said, "We could just stay here and let them argue with each other?"
Cole smiled slightly. "That sounds like a good idea," he said.
Lily sighed and glanced down the stairs, then sitting down on the floor with her back against the wall. Cole sat down beside her and stretched his legs in front of him. Lily did the same and they sat there for a moment, listening to the shouts coming from downstairs.
"It's so weird to hear them arguing," Lily said.
Cole nodded, "Defiantly. Matt and Suze hardly ever argued when they went out and when they did it everything fixed in a few minutes."
Lily smirked slightly, "Unlike us."
Cole snorted and replied, "No kidding Kansas! Remember the time we fought over the fact that I was spending too much time at hockey."
Lily nodded, "Yup. I said as much as I liked the sport myself, there's only so much of it I can take. I felt like you were paying more attention to the game then me or anyone else."
Cole said, "You threw a hockey stick at me."
"But it missed you! And I was mad!" Lily argued.
Cole nodded and said, "You wouldn't talk to me for three days and then the night of a Capital's game I told my Dad to take Michael to it instead."
Lily smiled slightly and Cole said, "Then I climbed up the tree to your balcony and opened the door-."
"Then I kicked you in the shins thinking you were a burglar breaking into my house," Lily said frowning slightly.
Cole smirked and said, "Yes, but then you made it up to me!"
Lily blushed and shoved him in the shoulder.
Cole smiled and said, "Sorry. I shouldn't say those things to my ex-girlfriend who has a new boyfriend."
"But the thing is our conversations when we went out and even before we went out were like that. I say something and you scowl and you say something and I punch you. I'd liked that," Lily said with a smile.
Cole looked at her and asked, "So you'd like to go back to that?"
Lily thought for a moment and then nodded. "We did say to stop the awkwardness."
Cole nodded and then Parker came running up the stairs. He stopped when he saw Cole and Lily sitting on the floor.
"Why are there two arguing teenagers in our living room?"
"Matt and Suze are working out their relationship problems," Lily said.
Parker blinked and said, "But why does it have to be in our living room?"
"Do you want to go down there and tell them to move?" Cole asked. Parker visibly shuddered and hurried down the hall to James's room.
"Hey! Ask James does he have any food in his room!" Cole called as Parker entered the room.
Lily frowned and said, "Why would he have food in his r-." She was interrupted by Parker appearing at the door and throwing a bag of sweets at Cole before disappearing into the room again.
Cole smiled and picked up the bag of sweets, opening them. Lily smirked and asked, "Do you guys normally have sweets in your room?"
Cole shrugged and offered her sweets. They sat for a while eating sweets and listening to the argument that was still going on downstairs.
Lily smiled slightly. "You know before I met you, I never thought I would be sitting on an upstairs landing, eating sweets and listening to two of my friends arguing downstairs."
Cole smiled and replied, "It's because I bring excitement into your life Kansas. Without me you'd be so bored."
Lily sighed and said, "The sad part about that sentence is that it's kind of true."
Cole laughed and put another sweet into his mouth. Lily slapped his arm and said, "Stop eating all the red ones! Share!"
Cole rolled his eyes and replied, "There are loads of yellow and green ones and don't say you don't like them because you always eat them when we got them at the cinema!"
Lily sighed and said, "Alright fine. Be a pig then."
"Thank you," Cole replied with a smile. The sound of something thumbing against a wall downstairs was heard and Cole and Lily looked at each other in shock.
James and Parker looked out from the room and James hurried towards the stairs.
"Don't do it James!" Cole said.
James stopped and looked at him. "But my laptop is down there! If they're throwing things then it could be next!"
"Let it go James! It's not worth it!" Parker added.
Lily said, "Guys if you think about it then you'll realize that Suze probably threw her bag at Matt. She wouldn't throw anything that wasn't her property. She respects your parents too much for that."
James eyes grew wide and he said, "Mom, Dad and Michael are downstairs in the other living room! What if they go to see what all the shouting is about?"
"It's ok! Michael can run fast and Mom and Dad can fight their way out if they need to!" Parker said.
Lily nearly laughed at the boys' dramatics and she said, "Guys I don't think Matt and Suze can cause that much damage!"
Cole looked at her and asked, "Have you ever seen Suze mad? And I mean really mad!"
Lily frowned and replied, "Not really. Why?"
"It's scary, ok?" James exclaimed.
"Once I scared away her date because I thought he was an ass. She predicted several different versions of my death on the Angelator and then made them play on a loop in my computer," Parker said, shuddering slightly.
Lily looked at him with wide eyes and asked, "But Suze would never do any of those things!"
Parker replied, "Oh I know. It was just creepy and she has a mean right hook as well."
James and Parker went back into James's room if only to escape the yelling coming from downstairs.
"James made a good point though," Lily said.
"About Suze throwing his laptop at Matt? Yes, that would be pretty funny!" Cole said with a smile.
Lily rolled her eyes and said, "No about your parents wondering about the yelling."
Cole shrugged, "I'm pretty sure that they've figured out what's going on and are staying out of Matt and Suze's way."
Lily nodded and sighed. She stared at the wall opposite her and said quietly, "What happened to them? They used to be so happy with each other."
Cole sighed and said, "I guess they just got used to each other. And then they stopped appreciating each other." Lily glanced at Cole who was staring ahead of him and then she looked back at the opposite wall. Wallpaper never looked so interesting.
"Then when they broke up because of Suze's friends from college and the rumours Katie's started, they realized what a mistake they had made. And now the two of want to be in each other's lives so badly, even if it's not romantically, that they are willing to hide whatever feelings they have to keep a friendship."
Lily smiled and said, "You're suddenly an expert?"
Cole chuckled slightly, and he said, "I only know that because that's what happened to us."
Lily frowned at him and Cole said quickly, "I mean the first part! We didn't break up because of the same reasons as Matt and Suze."
Lily nodded, "Ya, we broke up because everyone decide to poke their nose into our relationship and tell us we were too young for such a serious relationship!"
"We listened," Cole pointed out. Lily nodded and they were silent for a moment.
"Maybe they have a point."
Cole frowned at Lily's words and she said sadly, "You said that to me one day after school at this house. Do you remember?"
Cole nodded. How could he forget? That day had been filled with people telling them that they were stupid for staying with each other for so long. They should have been playing the field or something like that. Lily and he had walked into the living room and she was complaining about people sticking their nose into their business.
And then Cole said it. Those five words that he regretted as soon as they came out of his mouth.
Lily replied quietly, "You said those words to me and I wanted to know why you would even think that-."
"And then we got into a huge argument that ended with you leaving the house-," Cole interrupted.
"And then the days after were so weird and awkward that we decide to brake up thinking that some people had a point about have serious relationships so young," Lily said.
They didn't say anything for a moment and Lily was pretty sure that she was near tears so she tried to keep calm.
Then she heard Cole say, "If I could I would take those words back in second."
Lily looked at him and he caught her gaze with his green eyes. "Kansas I would take them back," he said again quietly.
Before Lily could say anything the sound of footsteps was heard and Suze appeared at the top of the stairs. She was a bit surprised to see Lily and Cole sitting on the landing but she said, "Um, Lily? Can you walk to my parents' place with me? It's only in the next street."
Lily nodded and stood up. Giving a glance to Cole, she walked down the stairs and out the front door with Suze shutting the door behind her. She stopped on the front porch and said, "Actually I can't! Cole and I aren't allowed leave the house without Booth or Brennan."
Suze frowned and said, "I know! I'm sorry! My head is all over the place."
"It's ok," Lily said sitting down on the porch step.
Suze sat down beside her and sighed. Lily bit her lip and asked, "So Angela and Hodgins are in the next street? It's nice that they moved closer to Booth and Brennan."
Suze nodded and not in the mood for small talk, asked, "Did you and Cole hear me and Matt fighting?"
Lily snorted and said, "I think the whole state heard you and Matt arguing!"
Suze looked at her and Lily said, "Sorry and yes kind of. We got a bit distracted."
Suze smirked and said, "You two made out on the carpet didn't you?"
Lily frowned and said, "We did not! Actually we talk about how our relationship broke up."
Suze sighed, "You want to know something Lily?"
Lily looked at her and Suze said, "I find that there is nothing more ignorant then a person who thinks they know everything."
Lily frowned slightly, not knowing where she was going with this and Suze said, "Most of the time, we don't know shit! Especially the teenagers in your school! They think that you can only find love when you're older but that's bullshit! There is no age limit to finding the person you love Lily!"
Lily bit her lip and Suze stared out ahead of her. There was a small smile on her face and she said, "I met the guy I love when I was five years old. It took me thirteen years to realize that I loved him and it took me seconds to lose him."
Suze looked at Lily, with tears filling her eyes. "When I argued with Matt just now about-about everything in our relationship and how we broke up…I was kind of glad. It meant that I was actually talking him again and even that felt so good because…because I miss him so much!"
Suze broke down into tears, the ones she had been holding in since halfway through her argument with Matt. Lily wrapped her arms around her friend and hugged her. She didn't know what to say so she just let Suze cry.
-Cole-
Cole walked down the stairs, his mind buzzing. Why did he say that? Ok it was true but did he have to tell her that?
He stopped when he walked into the living room and saw Matt sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. Cole sighed and sat down beside his friend. Matt seemed to be in his own world but after feeling someone sit down beside him he looked up. Cole watched as his friend whipped away a few stay tears with his sleeve and sniffed.
"Guess you heard all that yelling huh?" Matt asked in a think voice before clearing his throat.
Cole sighed and replied, "Yes. And stop that sniffing. This is me here! I was there when your grandma died and you cried. I was there in the hospital after you broke your leg in a hockey game and you cried. Don't act all tough and shit around me!"
Matt smiled slightly and he said, "Thanks. Plus you cried when you broke your hand in a hockey practise."
Cole sighed and replied, "Ok fine, I did cry. Happy now?"
Matt just smirked and sniffed again. Cole nodded and said, "If it makes you feel better, I think I told Lily that I want her back after three months of carefully hiding my feelings for her. I'm not sure but I think that's what I did."
Matt sighed and said, "We're both idiots."
"That we are," Cole said. They didn't need to say anything else. Those simple words said a lot to the two of them.
-The next day-
Cole sighed as he walked towards his house. He had two bags of groceries in his hands and Brennan was walking in front of him with her own bags.
"I swear your father better have painted the living room or else I'll make him stay up all night and paint it!" Brennan said, a smirk coming over Cole's face.
When they opened the door, loud music filled their ears. Cole and Brennan left the bags in the kitchen and then walked into the living room.
It wasn't the room that Matt and Suze had argued in the night before; it was actually the living room that Brennan, Booth and Michael had stayed in to keep away from the fighting teens. A big smile came to Cole's face when he stood in the doorway of the living room.
The furniture was pushed together and covered with sheets and other sheets and newspapers were also spread out on the floor. But there was a radio playing in the room resting on a covered table and music was blearing out of it. Lily and Michael were dancing around the room and belting out the lyrics with paintbrushes in their hands.
"Having fun?" Brennan called over the music. Lily and Michael looked at them and nodded. Lily walked over and turned off the radio.
"Booth, Parker and James are getting more paint from the shed outside," she said.
Cole smirked at her appearance. Her old jeans were splattered with the cream paint as well as her grey t-shirt. She had speckles of paint over her face and her hair was up in a messy bun.
Michael was also covered in paint with paint stains that looked strangely like hand prints on his t-shirt like he had whipped his hands on his shirt. He probably had. Plus his hair was covered in paint but Michael didn't seem to mind.
Brennan walked out of the open French doors to look for her husband and sons and Michael followed her.
Cole looked at Lily and said, "Look about what I said last night-."
"We said we weren't going to be awkward!" Lily said quickly.
Cole frowned slightly. What, were they just going to ignore moments like they had had last night? Cole guessed so.
"Alright then," he said shrugging and smiling slightly. He looked her up and down again and said, "You kind of look like a mess by the way."
A quick flick of the wrist later and Cole suddenly found his white t-shirt covered in cream paint. He looked at Lily who just shrugged and said, "Now you look like a mess too!"
Booth walked in at the moment and said, "You're here Cole, good. We've got a whole other wall to paint and the ceiling!"
Booth frowned at his paint splattered shirt and said, "How did-."
Cole pointed to Lily and Booth said, "Oh! Ok never mind."
Lily smiled slightly. "Well come on then Cole. Time to help!"
The music was turned on again and soon Lily and Michael were dancing around the room again. Parker and James came into the room and threw Cole at paint brush.
Booth smiled as Parker started to get into the music and was playing air guitar while James and Cole laughed and actually painted the wall. Brennan looked at him and gestured towards the kitchen. Booth followed her as she walked into the kitchen and asked, "You want us to work on the case don't you?"
Brennan shrugged, "The kids are busy painting and the files are upstairs in the office. I want this case solved and this person caught as soon as possible."
Booth sighed and replied, "Alright, let's go then." He put his hands on Brennan's shoulders and said, "But I want you to try and relax, ok."
Brennan nodded and wrapped her arms around Booth's neck, resting her head on Booth's shoulder. Booth rubbed a hand up and down his wife's back and said, "You ready to work on the case?"
Brennan nodded and they pulled apart, walking upstairs to the study.
-Later-
"Don't drop me!" Lily shouted at Parker and James.
"Calm down, Lily!" Parker said back.
At that moment Lily was sitting on Parker and James's shoulders with them holding onto her legs.
"I still don't see why we couldn't use the paint roller?" Lily asked feeling slightly unstable on the Booth boys' shoulders.
"We can't find the roller! Plus this is funnier!" Parker said as Lily started to paint the ceiling.
Parker stood back slightly but his foot caught on a sheet and he stumbled. This caused Lily to start falling and she screamed.
Cole moved forward and caught her. They both ended up on the ground, Lily landing on Cole. Cole winched and said, "Whoa Kansas! I think you broke my rib."
Lily slapped his arm and said, "Shut up!" She stood up and held out her hand to him. He took it and he pulled him himself up.
"I think we should find the roller," Lily said, "I don't want to do that again."
"I do!" Michael said, jumping up and down.
"Alright, James, Michael and I will go find the paint roller while Lily and Cole can go wash some of the paintbrushes," Parker said.
Lily and Cole picked up some paint brushes and walked into the kitchen. Lily smiled when she saw Cole's t-shirt and jeans covered in paint and flecks of it in his hair.
"How did you get so messy in an hour?" Lily asked him.
Cole turned to her and said, "Parker and James pretended to be ninjas while you were in the kitchen and they were holding paintbrushes at the time."
Lily nodded and replied, "Oh that explains it."
Lily glanced up at Cole who was washing a paintbrush in the sink and then at the paint brush on the kitchen sink. She picked up and the paint brush and said, "Hey Cole?"
Cole looked at her and she quickly brushed a streak of paint over his cheek. Cole jumped slightly and Lily laughed, "That was for saying I broke your rib!"
Cole reached out at her with another paint brush but Lily hurried out of the way and into the living room. Cole laughed and he put the paint brush back into the sink.
"So you're still not over her huh?" Cole turned to see Booth standing in the doorway of the French doors that lead out into the garden.
"You saw that?" Cole asked.
Booth nodded, "Yup, I went out into the back garden to tell Parker, James and Michael to stop dripping paint on the garden path and then I came back in here and saw you and Lily."
Cole sighed and replied, "Look, I won't say or do anything alright."
"I kind of wish you would," Booth mumbled.
"What?" Cole said, not hearing him.
"Nothing," Booth said, "Just try not to be so awkward around each other. It doesn't work for anyone."
"We won't," Cole said. Then he sighed and leaned against the kitchen counter. "Why is it that I fell for such a complicated girl who's hard to get over?" he said.
Booth sighed and walked forward. He said, "It's a thing all Booth men, Cole."
He sighed and said, "Ok don't- I repeat don't- tell your mother I generalised women like this but think of women like Bond girls."
"I can already tell that Mom would kick your ass for saying this!" Cole said.
"Anyway," Booth said, "A lot of guys like the damsel in distress type that they have to rescue from the clutches of the villain. But we Booth men?"
He clapped a hand on Cole's shoulder and said, "We like the type that tries to kill you first."
Cole nodded and said, "Yup, that sounds about right."
Booth nodded and walked upstairs and back to the study. Cole sighed and then looked up when he saw Lily walk into the kitchen.
"Parker found the roller and a few more paintbrushes. Come on," she said before walking back into the kitchen. Cole nodded and walked into the living room.