They were standing outside looking up at the house. Seven months after Freddie went missing, his dad and Karen put the house up for sale and moved within the same month. They gave up hope after seven months. It took Eleanor three years to even fully comprehend that he was gone. She was still holding on hope that he would come back. In some way she still is. She hopes maybe one day she'll wake up and this will all just have been some twisted dream.

Cook hadn't been back to this house in six years. Hell, he's stayed as far away as he could from this town for the past six years. Being back made memories wash over him with so much force, it felt like high tide in the ocean. Some of them were good, some bad, but he felt sure that he was drowning in them all.

They were both quiet for a minute, just standing in front of the house, not quite sure if they were ready to move.

The silence was broken when Cook spoke up.

"Ladies first."

He gestured for her to walk ahead and she did, feet feeling a bit heavier with every step.

As she got closer to the shed she suddenly started to feel sick and claustrophobic. She was beginning to think coming here was a mistake. She looks at Cook and his eyes are understanding and compassionate and it makes her want to vomit all over the pavement because she shouldn't be here, disturbing the past that felt like it was already at peace. It felt like tainting a memory.

She felt a warm hand steady her shaking one and intertwine her fingers. Cook leans into her and whispers that it's okay. And just like that she feels calm again.

They walk towards the shed together and slowly push open the door.

When they step inside they are a bit surprised to see almost everything was the same. It looks like they just left it all in place. All the happy memories came rushing back to Eleanor and she couldn't help herself when she let out a small laugh. Cook looked over at her and let out a quiet laugh of his own.

Eleanor walked over to the cd player and turned it on, music filling the small shed. The same music that they were dancing to the night Cook disappeared. One of their last good memories. Eleanor turned around and saw Cook dancing to the song the same way he did all those years ago. She didn't know if he did it because he wanted to, or because he wanted to keep her smiling, but something about the act made her heart ache. She smiled at him and for a while they just danced and laughed and made fun of each other's dancing.

When the cd ended, Cook went to sit on the couch, but spotted a bottle of vodka beneath one of the pillows. He took it out and held it up to Eleanor.

"Jackpot," she said snatching the bottle out of his hand.

Cook took a seat on the couch and Eleanor did the same.

After a couple minutes of drinking, Eleanor somehow ended up laying across the couch with her head in Cooks lap and the bottle of vodka still in her hand. They started talking about all their good memories and happier times and it should've felt bittersweet, but it mostly felt relieving. To have someone there that understood, someone that lost just as much.

They talked for hours and when they finally ran out of vodka Cook mentioned that it might be time to head back to the palace.

He could tell from the look she gave him that she wasn't thrilled of the suggestion. He knew she didn't want to see her mother, but they'd been gone for hours and it was time to go back to the world.

"You can't avoid her forever Eff," Cook looks at her, offering her his arm to help pull her self off the couch.

"I can try," she retorted, "Plus, you can't drive."

She shakes the empty vodka bottle in his face.

He looks her in the eyes, "Sorry to break it to you Princess, but I only had two swigs of that about four hours ago. The rest was courtesy of you."

She looks surprised at herself, not realizing she drank the rest of the bottle on her own. Given, it was half empty when they found it, she wasn't worried, but she hadn't registered how much she actually drank. She let out a sigh, meeting his gaze.

"Fine."

They left the shed exactly how they found it, the empty bottle on the table being the only evidence anyone was even there, took one last look, and walk out shutting the door behind them.

Cook took the keys out of his pocket and unlocked the car. He offered to help Eleanor into the car due to her wobbly stance, but she refused, insisting that she could do it herself. They got into the car and Cook looked at her with a serious look.

"You better not throw up on the way back."

And with that they drove away from the house, not looking back.

A/N

Hey guys, I am so sorry I'm the worst. I said I would update more frequently and then I couldn't think of how I wanted to write this chapter so it took 58 billion years but here it is. I hope you liked it.

P.S. There's going to be Jasper p.o.v in the next chapter that I'm excited about!

Thanks for reading :)