hold it together

drew cole || thirty "the world is sharp against tissue paper skin so I'll be steel; just you w a t c h."

[drcwcole]

♤♤♤♤ (lily and drew plsss)

+ on a few occasions, lily has caught drew mindlessly singing to himself and she likes to tease him because he gets to bashful when he realizes that she has noticed. “you’re really good, drewbee,” she’ll tell him. 

+ lily forces drew to watch the bachelor/bachelorette with her every monday. though he would quite literally never admit it, he looks forward to it every week. sometimes lily will shoot him knowing looks when he accidentally lets slip that he knows the contestants’ names, but she politely lets him believe that she isn’t onto his obsession.  

+ though he tries not to bother her too often, drew does ask lily to babysit his siblings from time to time because she is, hands down, their favorite sitter. 

+ whenever lily visits drew at his bodega and fans come up to her asking for a photo, drew likes to pretend to be her bodyguard. though he knows she can handle herself, he gets protective, concerned that she’ll get overwhelmed or a fan will get too aggressive. 

+ drew almost always plays lily’s album at the bodega. not only because the customers love it, but also because he’s grown to love her music deeply as well. her band reminds him of the best days and always helps to brighten his mood. 

[drcwcole]

♤♤♤♤

+ when drew’s father died, alessia helped him organize the funeral events. he barely had to think about a thing, as his best friend flitted around to complete everything so he didn’t have to. it was after the memorial service that drew told her she was born to be an event planner. 

+ after drew first went over to alessia’s house years and years ago, he became insecure and didn’t want her to see his. however, one day, when he ran out of excuses, he let alessia stop by and she alleviated his stress immediately. “cool posters,” she told him when she saw his bedroom. though they were supposed to be studying together, they spent the rest of night talking about their interests and their families until they fell asleep side by side. 

+ alessia has planned every cole child’s sweet sixteen. their parties are legendary, thanks to her and she doesn’t charge drew a thing –– obviously. <3

+ when alessia was in her coma, drew visited her at the hospital every day when he got off work. he brought flowers from florence’s shop and replaced the bouquets whenever they started to wilt. 

[drcwcole]

♤ FLO

+ after florence left for europe, drew pooled some of his saving and went too. he only stayed with her for about two days, but he just had to make sure she was safe; he needed to see it for himself. then, he headed back to new york to give her the space she’d left to have. 

+ drew gave adrian a pep talk to encourage him to go speak the florence the first time. he worked as adrian’s wingman for the beginning of their relationship, coaching him on what to say over the phone, helping him to think of cute dates ideas, etc. 

+ at adrian’s funeral, drew began his eulogy, but found himself unable to keep speaking about halfway through. florence got up from her seat and held his hand until he finished speaking the rest of what he had written. 

+ florence is drew’s go-to person when he’s going out with someone. she helps him get ready and always creates the perfect bouquet for him to hand to his date when picking them up. 

[drcwcole]

text ☾☽ phoebe

drew: pheebs, hey...

drew: you busy tonight? i'm around if you wanna meet up.

[reedmoranos]

Michael B. Jordan For Men’s Health (April, 2018)

[drcwcole]

☾☽ flcrencealvarez‌:

« ♤ starter for @drcwcole​​ »

       Florence looked like heartbreak. Her warm brown hues lacked the sparkle that they used to have, her demeanour a little less welcoming, a frown line or two settled effortlessly into her features; and above all else, her heart felt more wounded than ever before. She simply wasn’t the same. There she stood on a beach, toes digging into the sand beneath her feet. Her ocean-soaked skin danced with a tingle resulted by the Hamptons sun, waves crashing before her a means of peace, and yet it felt like anything but. Arms folded across her chest, Flo was anything but inviting towards the company of others, having lost herself in thoughts of her late husband. Nothing, nothing hurt more than the thought of him.. and yet, she couldn’t live without thinking about him, either. 

Losing a love and losing a friend were hardly comparable, and Drew never claimed to experience the degradation Florence had been subjected to. He hadn’t known Adrian in the same light; he hadn’t felt all that she had. Nevertheless, their hearts were torn in the same way, mended back together with the same tape. Florence was the only person who understood the way Drew had been forever altered after Adrian’s death. There was no one else who remembered his life so vibrantly, so Drew too buried his grief, its only shovel when he and Florence shared their desolation. From several feet back, Drew watched her for a moment before walking in Florence’s direction. The sand was warm against the soles of his feet, his shoes tightly gripped in his hand. When he reached her, brushed his hand against Florence’s shoulder so as not to startle her before he wrapped an arm around her. She didn’t need to explain for Drew to hear her thoughts, for their harmonized so wearily with his own. “Hey,” he offered her, gently squeezing her shoulder, his voice hardly audible over the waves. 

[drcwcole]

☾☽ jcnecole‌:

The fact that their sister was still getting ready had to be some kind of record, even for the notoriously late one of the bunch. Over a week late to her own birth, that one had been making them wait since day one. Turning to the rest of her half-awake siblings, Jane whispered, “I’m about to start waking her up an hour before the rest of you. You can tell her I said it.” As they commented amongst themselves, all with the collective opinion that still wouldn’t work, she stood up from her crouched position by the table and made her way to Drew. Taking a sip from one of the glasses, she made a face. “Oh, you mean, I get to see my fanclub? I bet they miss me.” Words dripping in sarcasm, a small laugh left her lips. Were she someone else, the ever-changing petty comments of the PTA might get under her skin. Fortunately for her, the only thing they did was provide her some amusement during the stretch of faculty speeches. With a mental note, she told herself to throw on some heels for dear ole Abby. “Four works though, I don’t really have to be…anywhere. Kai.” Shooting the younger boy a look, Jane instructs him to fix the girl’s laces before lowering her voice once again for Drew. “I swear, she’s going to get him one day and he won’t even see it coming.”

Drew’s smile so effortlessly resembled Jane’s when he chuckled at her declaration and their siblings’ responses, knowing full well her innocuous rumor would spread through their house ablaze. “You know they’ve been so bored every since The Janestorm graduated. They’ll be thrilled to see you again,” Drew offered, his own words ruminated in sarcasm, particularly her juvenile nickname (that no one ever really utilized but him). In truth, Drew had always sort of envied his little sister’s thunderous personality in high school. She was unstoppable, even all those years later –– but he wasn’t about to tell her that. Jane and Drew did not do sap. Not when their house moved so quickly that they barely held on as it peddled on. “And who do you think she learned that from?” Drew posed, his voice just as low when Jane predicted their youngest sister’s vengeance. Two more waffles sprang from the toaster in time for Tati to make her grand entrance. She grabbed one, and as she passed, Drew smoothed her hair, running a thumb over her cheek. “Nice of you to join us,” he teased her. “Eat at the table, please.” Still against the kitchen counter, Drew settled enough to focus on Jane’s confession. “You don’t really have to be anywhere?” he pried, taking a sip of his own orange juice. “That’s a bad thing?” 

[drcwcole]

☾☽ delivery for jane

“Tati!” Drew shouted again, letting his voice billow throughout the rooms of the Cole house. His volume earned a few eye rolls from some recently slumbered siblings as they gnawed sleepily at the Eggos he’d toasted. “The bus’ll be here any minute. Everyone else is down here. Let’s go!” The morning was a typical hurricane of signed permission slips and lunchboxes before the sun rose above Jane and Drew’s urbanite, childhood home. “Hey J,” Drew started softly, looking over at his equal as he poured glasses of orange juice. “Will has that parent teacher meeting today at four. Wanna play mom? I think I can get off work, if you’re busy.” Jane was the roots of their life, the only thing keeping Drew from toppling over when the wind blew too hard. He looked over at his sister, sighing in knowing alignment, before he noticed one of their brothers tying together one of their sisters’ shoelaces. “Kai, knock it off, Jesus Christ.” 

[drcwcole]

— outgoing: drewbee.

Lily: wow and i thought grown ups were supposed to have their life together

Lily: what are you trying to forget?

Lily: it would be easier if i tried to tell you what's not going on at this point. are you free? i don't want to monopolize your time if you're busy drew. i'm sure i'm just being dramatic and this will all blow over.

Drew: who told you that? they lied. also, since when am I an adult? that's so boring.

Drew: oh, you know, just lots of things. that's life

Drew: noo i'm not busy, let's do something. wanna meet at snip's in like an hour?

[drcwcole]

☾☽ louisabertil‌:

          “Well, thank you,” Louisa chuckled softly, giving another swirl before she looked over at him. It was still a new sensation to her to get to meet someone simply because she wanted to, who she knew nothing about. But she liked it. “Louisa,” she answered his question, as always sticking to her first name, too afraid someone might catch up to her last name and recognize who she was. She didn’t need starstruck people. “What’s yours?”

“Louisa,” Drew echoed, guiding her spin before he took her hands in his again. There was an air of familiarity to her that he couldn’t quite place. If the pieces had fallen together, he would have realized that he was dancing with the sister of the man whose wife he was sleeping with. But they didn’t, so he wasn’t. “I’m Drew. Nice to meet you.” His contemplated his next question, his empty stomach after a long shift urging him to finally ask, “I know we just started dancing, but are you hungry, Louisa?” Drew continued to sway. “There is this great dumpling place right next door, if you want to take a break.” 

[drcwcole]

☾☽ alexnielscn‌:

The last few days Alex had purposely been ignoring most of his friends, including Drew. It wasn’t that he was trying to be rude but he was in no mood to see anyone as of late. Anytime he did it usually ended in him being even more pissed off than he was, like Regina when she had come by, revealing to Alex that Selene had been dating Xavier for longer than he had thought. He couldn’t face any more revelations and to avoid them, he had locked himself up in his apartment with expensive booze to keep him company. The knock on the door pulled him from a drunken slumber and Alex grumped as he waded himself through take-out and empty bottles to answer. A quick look in the peephole and he saw Drew’s big smile and Alex sighed, how could he ignore that? He tugged open the door looking disheveled and unlike himself. “What’s up, bro?”

The door swung open to reveal a hollowed version of the man Drew had learned to call his friend. It had been Alex’s self-possession, his charm, that had won over Drew in the first place, and, as evidently as his room needed to be cleaned, Alex seemed to have lost those qualities as well. Drew had never known Alex to have a hair out of place, a smile from his lips. “Uh, hey Nielson.” Drew patted a hand on Alex’s shoulder, brushing past the door frame to let himself into the apartment. “Love what you’ve done with the place,” Drew deadpanned, dark hues surveying the room. He edged an empty bottle to the side of the couch before sitting down, looking at Alex again. “Hadn’t gotten any misogynistic texts from you for a few days. Thought you might’ve died,” Drew played, bunching up the sleeves of his sweatshirt. “What’s going on?” 

[678i0u]

Michael B. Jordan photographed by Peggy Sirota (2015)

[drcwcole]

— outgoing: drewbee.

Lily: how do you undo the last couple months of your life? asking for a friend.

Drew: am I that friend? cause I could use that advice too lol

Drew: what's going on lil? need me to come over?

[drcwcole]

☾☽ louisabertil‌:

          Louisa knew she couldn’t always expect people to pick up on her offers. But she was simply desperately trying to find people in this city to hang out with when she hardly knew anyone. She knew her parents would drop dead right on the spot if they knew she invited strangers in clubs to dance with her – but what other option did she have if she didn’t want to dance on her own? “Even better,” she grinned as he declined the offer of a drink, immediately spinning underneath his arm when he took her hand. “I think I’ve had more than enough anyway,” she admitted with a laugh. “One more and this would look a lot less elegant.”

For as long as he could remember, Drew was always drawn to strangers. There was something so irresistible about people who knew nothing about him, those who did not possess expectation, who hadn’t trailed his path and watched him taper off the edges. A blank piece of paper, Drew swayed against the music, letting his next words title his page. “Doubtful,” he complimented lightly. “What’s your name?” 

[drcwcole]

☾☽ xavierlcheart‌:

                                         Death had bloomed in his chest, grief threading himself into bones - ghosting through parts of his life that he had sworn had disappeared or forgotten. “Ah, don’t worry about it. Gustav needed to go, or at least that was the priest told us at the wake. All that drinking, all those enemies, it seemed that a car accident was almost too human. You would half expected him to be taken out by the FBI.” A chuckle rumbles from his chest, “It’s different, a lot of meetings, a lot of people. At least the coffee is decent, and I have my own office when I want to scream.”

“That’s dark, bro,” Drew informs after a moment. The ghost of a smile graces his lips, and it’s a slight chuckle that tiptoes after. He wonders what’s worse: the shattering of a revering heart or the venomed indifference of a disappointed one. And his expression dissolves again into one of steeliness and illusion. “They put the boss in some soundproof digs, huh? Not bad,” he banters lightly, folding his arms tightly across his chest. “I know you said they already give you some when you’re at work, but I’m going to get some coffee.” Drew doesn’t say anything for a moment, before, “Do you wanna come?” 

[drcwcole]

☾☽ louisabertil‌:

            It was hot inside the club. Bodies moving together in synch to the music, a coat of sweat covering most of her skin despite the thin layers of clothes only covering the minimum of her skin. High heels hitting the floor to the beat of the music, she glanced around with hooded eyes. She might have had a drink or two too many – but that was what she had come to New York for, right? To have fun and let loose. Eyes landing on a person nearby, a wide grin took over her features and she pointed her hand at them. “You. Come dance with me. I’ll even buy you a drink for that.”

The breath he released seemed to cleanse his blood, relief like saline when it coursed through his body. The last of the product he had to unload was sold, and Drew’s empty hands settled into the pockets of his slacks. Freedom. The door all but beckoned his name when he surveyed the club, eyes making the acquaintance of a stranger’s long enough for her to acknowledge him instead. His expression revealed his confusion with instancy; he nearly looked behind him to make sure she wasn’t speaking to another guest. But it was him she had spoken to. Uncharacteristically, Drew considered her offer. His dress shoes made for her direction, rather than the door. “I don’t need a drink,” Drew decided when he finally reached her. He slid his fingers between hers and rose his arm to spin her under the neon light. 

[drcwcole]

Do you miss Xavier?

“We had some good times over a decade ago. Dude, I dunno if that constitutes missing someone. He seems to be doing just fine, so doesn’t matter much now, does it?”