Lost in the Game {Brollins}

| Chapter 38 |

"Thank you." She stared at Colby before looking at Joseph and Jonathan, "All of you."

She walked towards the two a gave them a hug. Before making her way around towards Colby. She looked at him for a split second, before making her way towards him and giving him a hug. He quickly reciprocated, nuzzling his nose into her hair, taking in some of her calming vanilla scent. 

The hug was short, but Rebecca gave Colby a small squeeze before letting go, and after breaking away from each other, the two turned towards Joseph and Jonathan and began creating small talk. Rebecca then realized that Colby kept his hand on her lower back, leaving it in place from their hug, but she just continued talking and never made a move to shrug it away.

They all spoke about the situation, and Joseph came to the conclusion that Rebecca should probably go to the hospital to make sure that, other than the obvious, there weren't any other problems, and to get the situation on record.

Rebecca then went to go get ready to leave, while the boys waited for her. Colby decided he'd take her since he witnessed the most, while the other two went to school to try and fill in the girls.

However, before the two guys left for school, Colby stopped them. "Hey, Joe, uh, what was that about."

Joseph looked at him confused before Colby continued, "She just kinda shut down and almost like rebooted."

"Oh that," Joseph nodded with a look of realization. "She's had a rough go, man. Anyone who even hears the smallest amount of it means something to her, even if she doesn't admit it."

With that, they left and Colby thought Joseph's words over before walking to the room Rebecca was staying in. He knocked on the door softly, hearing a slight hum from Rebecca indicating that it was okay to enter.

He opened the door and just leaned on the doorframe, watching her walk around the room before getting her shoes on. Once she finished, Colby handed her the keys to the truck, before disappearing.

She exited the house and hopped into his truck, waiting for him while scrolling through her phone. None of the girls had texted her so she didn't have much to catch up on. After a few minutes, she heard the truck door open and saw Colby get in before throwing a hoodie at her face.

"What's this for?" She lifted it up, evidently confused.

Colby laughed and started up the truck, "I thought you'd like something clean to wear."

Rebecca nodded as Colby began driving, "Thanks."

She slipped her seat belt under her arm before removing her t-shirt and straightening out her tank top that laid underneath. Colby tried to keep his eyes on the road, making sure he stayed focused, however, he kept finding his eyes deviating towards Rebecca.

When she caught his eyes, she laughed as she slipped his hoodie on quickly, before she playfully punched his arm, "Keep your eyes on the road before you kill us both, you idiot."

"At least I'd die happy with that as my last memory," Colby smirked, leaning back in his seat.

Rebecca shook her head before making herself comfortable. "Can you sleep well now, knowing you got to pretend to be my night in shining armour times two?"

He laughed at the reference and shook his head, before coming up to a stop sign and looking at her with a saddened stare, "I'm sorry I wasn't fast enough."

"Fast enough? Lopez, you did more than enough." She sent him a genuine smile.

He shook his head, removing one hand from his steering wheel before slightly grazing the bruise on her cheek with his thumb, "I could've done more."

"Hey," she placed her hand over the top of his, which was gently pressed against her cheek, "I'm okay, trust me. I can handle a punch. I'm fine."

The two remained quiet for a moment, their hands unmoving, their eyes connected before Rebecca realized what she was doing and gently went back to sitting properly, while Colby went back to driving again.

Not wanting the conversation to stop, Colby continued asking a few questions, leading their conversation to pick back up again.

"What was all of that about your parents?" Colby couldn't help himself as his question slipped out, and he fully expected Rebecca to shut him down.

She just stared quietly at the window in front of her, and Colby thought he had sent them back to square one.

"I'm sorry, it's not my business." He shook his head at himself, before freezing when he heard Rebecca chuckle.

"It's fine." She nodded, "I have to laugh about it honestly, or else I think I'll implode."

He looked at her for a second before looking back at the road, waiting for her to continue. "Uh, basically, I don't have a family. My mom hates me and my dad used to love me."

"He's a raging alcoholic, and well, I don't know what the hell her issue with me is." She nodded to herself with a sad laugh. "He named me Rebecca, and most times, I hate hearing it. It just reminds me of all the pain associated with it."

Colby kept his eyes on the road, but listened intently, suddenly realizing that he rarely heard anyone other than adults call her by her first name.

"But I was forced to get used to it, so I did." She looked over at him, "Sometimes I just let it get to me, and well, I guess you've already seen what happens."

Rebecca noticed the truck slowly come to a stop as she looked down at her lap, "Sorry about that, by the way."

She then felt him grab her hand before she looked into his eyes as he spoke, "It's okay, you're human. We all have our moments."