Don't Judge Colby Brock by his Cover

Part Two

Colby's POV

It's always been Sam and Colby. Both men had made it this far in their lives and careers with the notion that there wasn't a Sam without Colby and there wasn't a Colby without Sam. They're were two peas in a pod. To sides of one coin. Cut from the same cloth. You get the point. They did everything together. They worked together and they had fun together. They went through a lot of the same struggles growing up and Colby knows it's what makes them as close as they are now. He always depended on Sam. Sam was his rock. The one person he could go to whenever he felt down because most likely Sam got it and had been there at one point or the other. And when Colby's grandmother died of cancer, it was no different. Sam got it because guess what, he'd been there. But Colby wasn't always the best at dealing with his emotions and he wasn't as mature with it like Sam was. He doesn't know why losing his grandmother hit him as hard as it did because he had expected at one point he'd outlive his grandparents. But it crushed him. It crushed him and he didn't know how to cope. Sam coped by going to therapy, talking it out and feeling what needed to be felt. Colby lashed out.

He lashed out at everyone including Sam. He drank a bit too much and he got himself into messy drunken nights. But the storm wasn't an everlasting thing. The clouds eventually parted and Colby saw the gleaming sunlight. He wasn't as angry and he wasn't as sad. He threw himself into his work with Sam and he put his all into making sure he had purpose in this world before his inevitable time to die.

He found out eventually his only purpose wasn't to create and entertain on the internet. It started with a volunteer project he and Sam did in honour of cancer patients. They went to a nearby hospital with a few of their creator friends and spent time with the kids. That was when Colby saw his calling.

There was a young girl about his age playing a guitar as she sat among some of the children who were receiving chemotherapy. She was playing and singing with them and Colby saw the way that their faces lit up. While Sam and his girlfriend Katrina joined another group of kids sitting in a play area, Colby asked a nearby nurse "Is there any way I can volunteer around here after today?"

She smiled softly at him, "Of course there are. We welcome anyone who wants sing, play an instrument or read for the kids. It's always good for them to have company." And that's how Colby got his 'second job', which technically wasn't a job because he didn't get paid for it. He just started volunteering, going to see the kids and reading for them. Despite his intimidating exterior the kids had taken to him so easily. They all grew attached and begged for him on days he didn't show up. When Sam and Colby had gotten a bit busier with their exploring adventures he decided he'd stop volunteering. The hospital saw what difference he made in the children's moods and so they had offered him a stypen for some of his time. Colby refused the money and decided that if he was really making a difference in these kids lives then he'd continue to go.

Colby quickly became attached to the children, he started going to the library to request the strangest books they wanted to hear. And that's how he met Lily. He was captivated by the shy redhead and although the kids' parents started bringing books, he still went to the library in hopes of seeing her. He never wanted to hit on her out of fear that he'd be like any of the other guys in LA since she never showed him much interest but he swears he saw her looks twice a couple times.

The first child who died had shook Colby straight to his core and he felt like he had been reliving his grandmother's death all over again. He had read books on grieving, been by to see a therapist but nothing seemed to help. Until he watched a movie. He couldn't even remember the name of it, he and Sam and Katrina were sat on Sam's  couch falling asleep when Katrina leaned on the remote and accidentally changed the channel. When Colby had looked over Sam was already out and Katrina was well on the way not even aware of what she did. Too lazy to get up , Colby sat and watched. The guy in the movie was dying. But he started living so freely, laughing more, enjoying life more, avoiding beating around the bush. He told the people he loved when he loved them and Colby realized when the guy was on his final breaths he said, "he lived a full life with no regrets."