COLD WATER

eleven.            distraction

▬ CORI HUMMED TO HERSELF as she sat between Bella and Jacob in the former's truck, she was poking at the buttons on the radio trying to find a decent radio station to fill the otherwise silent cab. She smiled when Carrie Underwood's Before He Cheats softly hummed from the speakers but before she could reach for the volume knob Bella smacked her hand, getting an irritated look from the younger girl.

"Why do you hate music?" Cori asked, her eyebrows pinched, her eyes narrowed and her lips slightly pouted.

"I don't hate music." Bella shrugged, reaching over to turn the radio off completely.

"Liar." She huffed as she sunk into the middle of the bench seat. Jacob chuckled at the two, they had been arguing most of the day and he was surprised when Cori asked to join them. Mostly because she usually had plans with her other friends or she was at work, but she told him that she wanted to spend some time with her sister now that she was out of her funk.

"You guys are entertaining." He mused, shifting a little closer to the door so he wasn't squashing Cori. "I'm glad you could come, Little Bit, haven't seen much of you recently."

"What do you mean? I'm at your house all the time. Your sister is one of my best friends and we have sleepovers very frequently."

"Yeah, but you're always in her room, I assume, talking about boys."

"We are not. She usually helps me with my homework, then we eat junk food and watch movies. There is barely any boy-talk."

"Right." He hummed, completely unconvinced.

"Is that Sam Uley?" Bella asked, cutting the two off as she pointed out the windshield towards the group of shirtless boys that stood on the cliff and Cori smiled a little when she saw them.

"Yeah." Jacob nodded, his tone unimpressed and maybe even a little bitter. "Him and his cult."

"They aren't a cult." Cori huffed, her eyes narrowed at the boy before she looked over at them again.

"Is that Paul?" Bella asked, her eyes wide as she looked from them to Cori for just a moment and she turned back just in time to see Paul and Jared push a smaller boy over the edge. "Oh my God." She quickly pulled over and jumped out. "Did you see that?" She asked, shocked and a little panicked as she ran across the road.

Cori moved across the seat, leaning out the driver side window as Jacob climbed out and rounded the trunk. "They're not really fighting, Bella. They're cliff diving."

"Yeah, it's terrifying but kind of fun. In a my heart plummets into my stomach kind of way." Cori added, but her eyes were on the guys as Jared jumped.

"I think she means to say, it's a total rush." Jacob gave Cori a teasing look and she rolled her eyes.

"A rush?" She asked, watching the guys again as Paul stepped up to the edge, the boy even raised his arm in a wave, which Cori returned as a wide smile spread across her face.

"He's a goofball." She mumbled to herself as she watched him jump, cheering the whole way down.

"Most of us jump from lower down. We leave the showing off to Sam and his disciples." He continued almost bitterly. He almost always sounded bitter when Paul or Jared was brought up, or any of the guys really.

"You have some kind of beef with them or something?" Bella asked as she crossed the road again, nearing the boy as he leaned against her truck.

"I don't know." He shrugged.

"He means yes." Cori mumbled as she shifted so she was sitting behind the wheel then she pulled her phone out. A smile pulled at her lips when she saw that Carter had texted and she quickly opened it.

CARTER
I'm bored

CORI
What am I supposed to do about it?

CARTER
Make me not bored

You could come over and we could watch movies

And by watch movies I mean make out

Or we really can watch movies I just don't want to be alone with my parents

CORI
I can ask Bella to drop me off at the
beach we can meet there

CARTER
I'll be there in fifteen

She giggled at her phone before sending him a smiley face and sidling her phone into her pocket just as the doors opened and she grinned as she looked up at her sister.

"What?"

"Can you drop me off at the beach?"

"Uh, sure." Bella nodded as she climbed into the truck.

"You're ditching us?" Jacob asked, a slight pout on his lips.

"I'm sorry, something important came up." She patted his shoulder and he sighed, nodding his head a little. "We can hang out later, though. Maybe go to the movies? Or something? I'm not picky."

He rolled his eyes playfully, but a smile pulled at his lips. "Yeah." He nodded his head and she hummed happily as she leaned over, resting her head on his shoulder, getting a quiet chuckle from Bella.

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▬ CARTER SIGHED A LITTLE when he saw Cori sitting on the beach, her hair blowing in the chilly breeze as she adjusted her coat around herself. He took a small breath and started down the beach towards her, his sunglasses resting on his face even though it wasn't all that sunny. His hands shook a little as he neared her, he wasn't nervous or anything, he just hadn't wrapped his head around what had happened with his parents earlier that day.

And he knew she would ask. She always noticed when he was even a little bit off and she asked, wanting to make sure that he was okay. And this time, he wasn't okay.

She turned a little, a smile on her lips as she looked up at him. "Hey."

"Hey, Peanut." He smiled but hers faltered at his tone.

"What's wrong?" She asked as he sank to the sand next to her and he let out a sigh, his head hanging forward, his hair flopping onto his forehead. "Carter?" She nudged him and the worry in her voice had tears building behind his eyes.

"I'm fine." He mumbled as he leaned over, his head on her shoulder. "I'm fine." It was more like he was trying to convince himself.

"Hey, talk to me, please." She moved her shoulder a little. "You're scaring me."

"My parents called a family meeting."

"Yeah, I know, you told me." She wrapped her arm around him and rubbed his back. "What happened?"

"They're getting a divorce." He muttered, his voice quiet as he blinked behind his sunglasses, trying to stop the forming tears. "I'm eighteen. I should not be-"

"Don't do that." She kissed his head. "It doesn't matter how old you are, finding out that your parents are getting a divorce sucks." She turned, wrapping both arms around him as best as she could then she squeezed him a little tighter when he sniffled.

"I should've seen it coming." He mumbled, reaching up to grip her forearm. "They've been fighting for months, full on screaming matches." He pulled the sunglasses from his face before leaning into her, tucking his nose into her neck. "I thought they were just going through something and they'd get over it."

"I'm sorry, Carter." She mumbled, not sure how to help him. "I wish there was something I could do."

"Trust me, you're doing everything." He kissed her jaw. "I've had you to run to when things got bad. You gave me something else to think about. And I know that sounds shitty, like I've been using you as a distraction but I promise that's not what I mean."

"I know." She giggled a little, lightly scratching at his scalp. "I just wish I knew how to make you feel better now. This sucks. And I don't even... I was so young when my parents split that I don't remember it."

"I don't need you to say or do anything." He kissed her cheek. "I just need-"

"A distraction?" She asked, a soft smile on her lips and he nodded his head before he leaned forward and rested his forehead against hers. "All right. So, let's go do something. Anything. It's on me. Dinner. A movie. Oh, we could go to that new arcade in Port Angeles. And we could invite everyone else, unless you just want it to be us, which I am totally okay with."

He laughed, shaking his head a little before he leaned down and pressed his lips against hers. "You're amazing."

"Yeah." She hummed. "I know." She leaned up and pecked his lips again before she pulled away from him and pushed herself up. "So, let's go." She held her hand out and he smiled as he took it, she tugged as he pushed himself up. Once he was on his feet he pulled her into his chest, squeezing her a little as she wrapped her arms around his torso.

"Just us." He mumbled into her hair. "Please."

"Okay." She nodded against his chest and he pressed a kiss to the top of her head before they pulled apart and started towards his Camaro.

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▬ "YES!" Cori shouted, her arms in the air as she jumped a little and Carter laughed as he watched her. "We're getting the big bear." She told him as she collected the tickets the ski-ball machine spit out.

"You're adorable, you know that?" He asked, making his way over towards her. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her towards him, she put her hands on his chest.

"Carter..." She glanced around the dimly lit room.

"No one here knows us." He pointed out. "But if this makes you uncomfortable, we don't-" He started to pull back but she reached up, her hand on the back of his neck as she stood on her toes and she pressed her lips against his.

"Nothing you do will ever make me uncomfortable." She told him before pressing her lips against his again.

"I love you, Peanut."

"I love you, too." She hummed. "Now, we have a bear to win."

"Yea, ma'am." He nodded as they pulled apart. Their next stop was the racing games, which Carter won. Then they played guitar hero, Cori won. They made out on the air hockey table, only after five games. And after playing almost every game, they happily walked up to the counter with a bag full of tickets and dropped it on the counter, making the guy behind the counter sigh. They both just smiled at the guy who looked like he'd rather be anywhere else, he shook his head and took the bag telling them he had to use the ticket counter.

And while they waited, they inspected all of the prizes, their hands interlocked, but Carter knew that even if she did get slightly distracted by the glow-in-the-dark stars and the funky lava lamp, he was getting her that bear.

"Alright." Mark neared them, the bag of tickets in his hand. "You have 7,198 tickets. Which means you can-"

"We'll take the big bear." Carter cut him off, a smile on his lips and Cori grinned as she looked up at the boy beside her.

"Good choice." Mark smiled a little as he used the step ladder to get the big brown bear that sat on the shelf, he walked back over and Cori giddily grabbed the bear and wrapped her arms around it - it was almost as big as she was. "You still have 198 tickets, can I get you anything else?"

Carter looked down at Cori but she shook her head. "No, um, but can we give them to the little girl playing the claw machine?" She asked, pointing over at the girl who had spent most of the night determined to get as many tickets as possible.

"You wanna give them away?"

She nodded. "We got what we wanted."

"Okay." Mark nodded, an actual smile pulling at his lips. "You two have a good night."

"You too." Carter told him, holding his hand out and Cori adjusted the bear in her left arm as she reached for his hand as they left, neither missing the excited cheers from the girl as Mark gave her their leftover tickets.