Lost in the Game {Brollins}

| Chapter 58 |

Rebecca began shaking her head, "Colby-"

"I know I stopped them, I know." He took a deep breath, "But seeing you there, the same way I saw her, made me feel like I was a helpless kid again who could've stopped everything that led up to it if I was smarter."

She waited a few seconds to respond, "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be." He shook his head adamantly, "It wasn't your fault at all."

"Does your mom know?" Rebecca questioned gently.

Colby just shook his head, "I never told her, I'm sure she speculates, but it's never come up. I think it's something we both want to leave in the past. But when I saw you, everything that I had been trying to get over, came back full force."

"Does anyone else know?" Rebecca whispered, "About all of this?"

"Just you." He let out a lopsided smile, "Jonathan and Joseph both know about my mom being raped. But they don't know about anything else really. They know she's divorced, but other than that, they don't know I'm left to my own devices ninety-nine percent of the time. Otherwise, they might move in and empty my fridge every day I restock."

"Thank you for telling me." She gently slipped her hand on his, before giving it a soft squeeze. "But now that I know, I'll be the one ransacking your fridge."

Colby laughed, "It can get lonely, and I might not get a lot of the benefits, but as long as mom is happy."

"And as long as they keep supplying you money for unlimited food, that I now know about..." She smiled, hoping to relieve him from his sadness, "I consider it not too bad."

"Yeah, you're right." He interlocked their fingers, "It's not too bad."

"We play the hand we're given." Rebecca spoke gently, "That's all we can do."

Colby nodded as he took in her words, "Rebecca, I'm so sorry."

She furrowed her eyebrows, not following his thought before he continued. "I should've gotten to you faster."

"Stop, please." She shook her head, "You don't need to-"

"But I do. I messed up, and I can't get past that." He sighed, "I've thought about it ever since it happened. I can't sleep, I barely eat, it's been chewing away at me."

"Colby, you stopped them. They didn't make it. Sure they did some damage, but it's nothing we can't fix. They may have gotten to the halfway mark, but you prevented them from crossing the finish line. You Colby." She paused, "Not Jonathan, not Joseph, you. You feel like a failure, but to me, you saved me."

She shot him a small smile, which he returned as they simply sat in silence, hand in hand. As she stared off into the distance, she could feel his eyes burning into her as he watched at her.

"What?" She laughed, still looking out at the empty field, before turning around and seeing that her suspicions were correct.

"Nothing." He shook his head with a smile.

Rebecca just rolled her eyes, "You have to tell me now. I caught you."

"Fine. It's just- I've looked at you enough to know that that isn't normal." He stared at her, before inching closer and removing his hand from hers. He then gently ran his thumb across the scar on the bridge of her nose, "What happened?"

His voice was so soft and warm, that it made her want to tell him every little thing on her mind. It wasn't interrogative or brash, it was quiet and sincere, making Rebecca's mental battle even harder as she tried to tell herself that he was just some self-obsessed jock, who wanted to get laid. But her conscience was also quick to remind her that if he wanted an easy pick, he would've gotten annoyed and moved on already.

She just solemnly let out a small smile and looked down as she broke a strand of grass from the ground, and fidgeted around with it.

"It's okay." His hand moved from his lap to the top of hers, "You don't have to-"

"My dad." Rebecca looked straight at him, speaking abruptly, catching herself off guard. She choked back the sudden lump in her throat, and she saw his expression twist around as he tried to take in her response.

She knew her lack of vulnerability always got the best of her, and as hard as it was she needed to try and let someone break down her walls. "He, uh, he was in one of his drunken rages, because of her. He threw his bottle across the room and a piece of glass cut me."

Instead of filling the pause with words, Colby cupped both sides of her face, gently coaxing it towards him, before placing a gentle kiss right on the scar. "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have to deal with that."

"We play the hands we're given" She repeated, "These are just the cards I was dealt."

Rebecca quickly pushed the topic aside and created some small talk, until they decided to head back to school before it ended. Colby was just in the middle of explaining something to Rebecca when they walked through the side doors and found their principal, Mr. Polinsky, Alexis, and Pamela all standing in a row.

"Ah, Mrs. Quin, nice of you to finally join us." The principal's voice boomed, as his words echoed through the halls. "My office. Now."

He stood with his arms crossed, as Mr. Polinsky almost mimicked his position, while Alexis stood and shot glares towards her. Her eyebrows immediately furrowed as she made eye contact with Pamela who just shrugged in confusion.

Colby quickly leaned in next to her ear, before whispering, "I can come with you if you want."

"Don't worry." She smirked, "When have you known me to be unable to handle myself?"