Previously Strangers (TFIL/Sam and Colby)

Chapter Nineteen

"I don't want to go!" I groaned, placing my head in my hands as my elbows rested on the cold granite of the kitchen counter.

"Well, that sucks because I can't leave you here by yourself and no one else is able to be here. So you gotta." Sam said blankly, sliding his laptop into his bag. "It'll only be a little while, and you get to see Colby and meet Brennen. It'll be fun."

I sighed, standing there for a moment, "I won't tell Elton if you let me stay here, how would he find out?" I asked, looking for any reason for him to let me stay here.

"No, Kate. You're coming, lets go." he growled, pulling on my arm. I reluctantly followed him out the front door and into his white car. My hands gently ran over the leather seat I was on.

"I haven't been in here since you took me to get my feeding tube out." I noted, turning to look at Sam who was clicking his seatbelt into its place.

He quietly chuckled, "Yeah." he said, becoming quiet, as if he was deep in thought. "You were so scared...it was cute." He smiled to himself, then cleared his throat in realization, his cheeks turning pink in embarrassment.

I chuckled a little bit, knowing he got embarrassed so easily and smiled. My head tilted down as my fingers fiddled with the end of a strand of my hair. Sam was being really quiet and seemed to be deep in thought, "you alright?" I asked, tapping on his shoulder.

He glanced over at me, "yeah!" He said breathily, but I could sense the hesitation in his voice. "Kate, you know I never meant to hurt you, right? I know what I did was terrible, but it wasn't anything against you. Were almost three years apart and you're not even out of highschool yet. I just want the best for you and let's just hold off on things for a while, okay?"

I nodded, "Sam, it's fine honestly. I'm over it. but as much as I'd like to say it didn't hurt, It did. And I can't forget that."

"I want to be with you Kate, I do. But please just give it time. We have the rest of our lives to be together, we can spare a few months apart." He assured me. "Just live your highschool career to the fullest for the time you have left."

I shrugged, "Yeah, okay." I said as we pulled up to a tall apartment building, Colby and a tall brown haired guy with him. They slid into the back seat, saying their hellos to us and continuing to chatter with Sam. I stared blankly at the dashboard, keeping quiet as I wondered if I'd ever get back together with him.

I pushed the thought out of my head because I couldn't stand the thought of dating the guy that broke my heart again. We pulled back into the driveway, the gate slamming shut behind us. Elton and Corey were home, both playing video games in the game room. The four of us traveled into the house and I parted from them at the base of the steps. I took the stairs two at a time, then headed to my room when I reached the top of the stairs. With a sigh, I flopped onto my bed, then pulled out my sketch book. I began to doodle, but before long Jacob's name popped up on my phone. I opened the text message, scrunching my face up as I read. My heart dropped as I processed the information, then I pushed myself off the bed and quickly opened the glass door to my balcony, seeing Jacob standing at the gate of the driveway.

"Hey!" he smiled, gripping the rungs of the gate.

Shaking my head, I ran as fast and quiet as I could, being sure to not let the boys hear me. I made it to the front door successfully, but Circa came up to me, threatening to bark as I opened the door. Her low growl made my heart race, and I quickly slipped outside after pressing a finger to my lips. I frustratedly jogged over to Jacob at the gate and threw my hands in the air "What are you doing? You can't be here!" I whispered.

"I wanted to come see how my girl is doing, you've been sick!" He defended.

I sighed, "Yeah, I know, but If Elton sees you-"

"What? He'll beat me up? Kate, I don't know why you don't want your brother to meet me, are we not serious enough for that? Do you not like me?" he asked, throwing his hands across his chest.

"No, no! I do! It's just...I don't know." I sighed.

"If you love me, you'll let me meet him right now." He growled.

I looked down, "Okay. Let me go talk to Elton first." I said.

"Okay, Come here first." He smiled, holding out his arms for a hug. I bit the inside of my cheek, then shuffled over the the door of the gate, lifted the latch then walked around the fence. Jacob wrapped me in his arms and gave me a squeeze. We then walked back into the gated area and I instructed him to wait at the front door. I hesitantly headed back inside then to the gaming room where the rest of the boys were, wringing my hands together awkwardly.

"Uhm, Elton?" I asked, watching him press on the controller violently, eyes glued to the tv screen.

"Yeah?" he responded as his eyes stayed glued to the screen.

"I have someone I want you to meet. A boy." I said, almost shrinking back into myself.

He clicked the pause button on the controller and all the eyes in the room were on me. "A boy?" he asked, sitting up.

I half smiled, wishing I could be doing anything else, "Yeah, we're, like, dating and he's uh, outside."

"Well, bring him in." he said blankly, crossing his arms.

I nodded, and as I walked back to the front door, I could hear all their footsteps heading into the kitchen. I opened the front door and let Jacob in. He gave me a small smile and a reassuring squeeze on the hand, then I led him into the kitchen. Elton raised his eyebrows at him, leaning up against the two person table at the end of the counter. "So, you two are dating?" he asked.

Jacob nodded, "Yeah, we have been for about a week now." he glanced at me, then continued, "I'm Jacob, by the way."

"Hi, Jacob." Elton said smugly, "I'm Elton. This is Sam, Colby, Corey, Aaron, and Brennen. Where'd you two meet?"

"Well we first met back in our hometown when we went to grade school together, but we reconnected at the hospital a while back and we go to school together now." He smiled.

"Hmm," Elton inquired, tapping a finger on his red shirt. "What kind of activities are you into?" He asked.

"Oh, I play Soccer, I'm head of the team, actually, And I do play a little basketball, but I'm not very good." He shrugged.

"Oh, nice, what position do you play?" Corey interrupted.

"Forward." Jacob nodded.

I scanned all their faces, The majority of them seemed to be pretty pleased with Jacob, except for Sam who stared at him with one of the nastiest looks I've ever seen. Elton shrugged, "Okay, well it was nice to meet you, you two go have fun. We'll be in the game room if you need us."

The six of them headed back to the game room as Jacob lead me to the living room with a hand on my lower back. "That went well." He stated.

"Yeah, I guess." I said as we sat down on the black leather couch. "How's your hand?" I asked, touching the scabby areas on his knuckles.

He shrugged, then leaned back onto the couch with a groan, "I missed you at school the past two days, don't ever leave me like that again, okay?"

I nodded, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, Just show up to school and you won't have to be sorry." He muttered.

I nodded, a pit forming in my stomach. He was right, I was letting him down the past two days. I should've pushed through the pain and been with him. I began to feel really bad about leaving him, so in attempt to make up for it, I nuzzled my face into his shoulder and kissed his chest. "I missed you."

"I missed you too" he smiled, kissing my head.

-

A/N: Hey guys! Thank you so much for reading! I really love hearing from all you guys and I'd love to know what more of you are thinking!! 

be well! :)

~Mabel X