𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 | 𝐜.𝐛

3

Colby

It's been almost two weeks. I've gone up to the roof every day at the same time and she hasn't been walking. Something twists in my stomach. 

"Colby, what do you even do up here?" Sam questions from behind me. My shoulders shrug. He walks over and sits next to me. He looks out over the edge. "It is a damn good view."

"Hell yeah, it is."

"Where is she?" he questions.

"Who?" I reply, looking at him.

"Noelle? Was that her name?" Nodding, I shrug.

"I don't know. She hasn't walked in a while." He leans back onto his hands.

"Maybe she's been busy."

"For two weeks?" He swings his legs back over and hops down on to the roof. I follow him and we go back inside.

"Was she walking today, Colby?" Elton asks with a smirk. I slip a hoodie on over my head.

"No. I'm going to go look for her at the barn."

"Be careful." Nodding, I walk out of the house and down the street. After about ten minutes, I reach the barn. Or what's left of it. All that stands is the frame of the barn. The rest is burnt to the ground. Black ash surrounds where the barn used to be. 

"It sucks," a voice from behind me comments. Turning, I see her with her hood up. Slowly, I walk back and stand next to her.

"Yeah, do you know did it?" Her jaw clenches slightly.

"I have an idea but they don't matter right now." 

"How often did you visit it?" 

"Pretty often." She flicks the hood off of her head and I can see her cheek looks puffier than it did earlier. She swallows hard.

"What happened?" my voice is gentle as I speak.

"Shit happens." She sits down on the dirt. Figuring she didn't want to talk about it, I let it go. It put a strange feeling in my stomach though.

"Oh! Before I forget, my friends wanted to know if you had an Instagram?"

"No, I don't use social media. What do you and your friends even do?" she questions, smiling softly. Chuckling, I smile back at her.

"Youtube."

"Maybe I'll look you all up."

"You should do more videos with us. The fans really liked you."

"Do they now? Maybe I will be. What's the next one you're doing?"

"We're filming today at three. We're going to go to an abandoned water park." Something in her eyes changes.

"I don't know. My... I don't think my guardian would be okay with that." That weird feeling returns again. She looks away from me and at the ashes of the building. She pulls her legs to her chest.

"You okay?" She takes a deep breath. She looks at me again.

"Yeah, I'll go with you all." My eyebrows furrow.

"Are your parents going to be okay with that?"

"There's only one and he's not my parent. He's far from it." 

"Oh... I'm sorry for assuming." She shrugs, stands, and offers her hand to me. Taking it, she helps me up. We dust ourselves off and begin walking. We just walk and talk until we reach the house. "Oh, I may need to warn you that the guys can be a little overwhelming at times."