She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not (gxg)

Part 17

I woke up the next morning on Dani's couch to two missed calls from Colby. I saw they were both from around 2:30 AM- when I was asleep.

Dani and I fell asleep on her couch, at opposite ends. I was so grateful that I came to her apartment. We stayed up talking and watching trash reality TV until we both fell asleep. It got my mind off of what happened that night. I kept getting texts from Charlotte asking where I was- I texted her back once, telling her I was sleeping out.

What was in the back of my mind though was that Colby hadn't gotten back to me. It wasn't like I thought she had gone off and been with another girl...I hope. It just hurt, that she didn't even bother to pick up her phone or think to ask me how my night was going. Unless her night was exponentially worse...which I couldn't imagine.

Colby did this sometimes back when we were a thing a couple of years ago. There would be nights that she just would not answer me. And it would instill anxiety in me, but she would just reassure me everything was fine, and she just didn't want to be on her phone that night. But this was different. I needed to talk to her last night. And she wasn't there.

"Are you okay?" I heard Dani's voice.

I turned to look at her. Her curls were in a messy bun, and she had her glasses on.

"I'm alright." I said, "How did you sleep?"

"Fine. But I can tell something is on your mind. What's up?" Dani asked me.

"Colby called me back at like 2:30 AM. But it just kind of hurts that she didn't bother to text me all night." I said, "And I hate that it's bothering me even more than what happened with my family."

Dani paused for a moment, like she was carefully picking out her words. "Listen. I love Colby. She's my best friend. But she has a bit of a...selfish way to her. Which I'm sure you know. She gets in these modes where she just kind of forgets about everyone around her, and it seems like she kind of doesn't care. I know it has to do with her anxiety. But it can come off as rude. And unreliable."
I nodded, "You hit the nail on the head. And I know it's probably not intentional. But it hurts."
"Are you going to call her back?" Dani asked me.
"Soon. Not yet. It's Christmas morning. I don't want to disturb her."
Dani yawned, "Oh fuck. That's right, it's Christmas." she then sat up, "I got you something!"
"What! You didn't have to get me anything." I said.
I felt bad. I didn't buy anything. The only people I actually bought gifts for were Charlotte, Nia, and her daughter, Isabella, who I would be seeing the day after Christmas. Colby told me she didn't want anything. So I respected that.
"I wanted to." Dani said, and then she walked off to her bedroom.

A moment later, she came back with a small red bag. I was relieved it seemed to be something not too substantial that she got me.
She sat next to me and handed me the bag. "It's from a small business that my friend from college owns. I hope you love it."
"I'm all about supporting a small business." I said, and pulled a picture frame out of the bag.
I looked at the photo.
"This is amazing!" I said.
It was a small painting of my cat, Calvin. I had sent Dani a picture of him after we met that I thought was cute. And she had it turned into a small painting.
"You like it?" Dani grinned.
"I absolutely love it!" I smiled at the photo, and then leaned over and gave her a long hug.

We were pulling away when a knock at the door startled us.
"Are you expecting someone?" I asked Dani.
"No, I'm not." Dani said.
"D, open up!"
It was Colby.
Even though Dani and I of course did nothing wrong, we looked at each other, panicked.
"Let me handle this." Dani said, and walked toward the door. She opened it up and stepped outside. She shut the door behind her.

I felt oddly nervous. Was Colby going to be mad? I mean, in all honesty, I should be the one that was mad. She didn't answer me for hours when I needed her. So I went to my friends apartment. That's what Dani and I were. Friends.

A couple of minutes later, Dani walked in and Colby followed.
Colby had on a Santa hat, which made me smile to myself. She had a wrapped gift box in her hands. I couldn't quite read the expression on her face as she looked at me, and walked over to the couch.
"Hey." I said, as she sat down next to me.
"Are you okay?" she asked me.
"Getting there." I said, "Why did you come here?"
"I wanted to surprise Dani with her gift before she left to go see her family. I...wasn't expecting to see you here on her couch." Colby looked down.
"Colby- I know it could look some type of way-"
"I know. And it kind of did. But I know Dani was just being a good friend to you. As she always is." Colby was still looking down.
At this point I realized that Dani was not in the room anymore. She had given us our privacy.
"Why didn't you answer?" I asked Colby.
Colby sighed, "I don't know. Honestly- I didn't even have my phone on me. I kept it charging in my room the whole night. I wanted a phone free night."
"But you knew there was a chance that I was possibly going to need to talk to you. Didn't you even want to see how my night was going?" I asked Colby, who was now looking at me. She looked guilty.
"I feel so fucking bad. When I saw your missed calls...I immediately felt like such a dickhead. You needed me- and I wasn't there." Colby said, "I'm so sorry."
"It makes me question things, you know? Like how I can rely on you in situations. What if I need you for something?" I said to Colby. I was being vulnerable. And I was nervous it would freak her out. But I needed to be honest.
"You can count on me." Colby said, "Jane, I...I care about you so much. Especially seeing you here at Dani's, and the slight panic that ran through my mind for a moment. I don't want you to be with anyone but me. I want to make sure I'm always there for you. I'm sorry I completely fucked up."
I could tell how sincere Colby was being. And while her actions last night reminded me of the old Colby...this was new. This amount of remorse.
"It's okay." I said, taking the apology in. "We can move past this."
"We can." Colby gave me a small smile, "I know we can. I'll do better. Will you spend some time with me today? You can tell me what happened."
"You're not spending Christmas with your family?" I asked.
"I am. But why don't we grab coffee?" Colby put her hand on my knee.

A moment later, Dani walked in the room. She was fully dressed, in a black blouse and jeans. She had her hair down and curly, and I noticed she had light makeup on. "Sorry, am I interrupting?" she asked us, "I wasn't sure when it was safe to come out."
"You're fine, D." Colby chuckled.
"Okay, good. You guys are okay?" Dani asked, cautious.
"We're fine." I said, and Colby put her hand on mine. I saw Dani's eyes drift to our hands. She then smiled at us.
"I want to ask you two- how would you like to go to a New Year's Eve party with me? My friend from college, Alessandra, is having a party. Should be really fun." Dani said.
"That sounds great to me." Colby said.
"Same." I said, "Can I ask my best friend Nia if she would want to come as well? She doesn't have her daughter that night."
"The more the merrier!" Dani said.
Colby turned to me, "Oh god. Should I be nervous to meet Nia?"
"No. She's extremely blunt and may ask you why you fucked me over a couple of years ago. But she's awesome."
"I'll just have to show her that's not happening again." Colby said, giving me a kiss on the cheek.
And once again- all felt right.