All The Little Lights // c.b

38

Colby's POV

It's been two weeks of absolute hell. My girlfriend is in a foreign country living by herself in an apartment she rented, and I am in California, wishing she were here with me. I have texted her three times, with no responses.

"Any response yet?" Kat asks me, poking her head into my room.

"No, has she been texting you though?" I ask, and she nods.

"She's okay, she has read your messages," she says, and I nod. Suddenly my phone vibrates and I look down, and see the name I never thought would appear.

Josie - i hope you know that what you did literally shattered my heart. Idk if i can forgive you anytime soon. Idk when I'll be back either, I'm running low on cash and i honestly dont know what to do. Every day i want to forgive you, but in a second i decide against it. I wish you hadn't done it, col. I also miss you like crazy, and i cry every night because of how much i miss you. And I'm sorry if none of this is making sense I'm kind of a mess but i do miss you, col. And happy anniversary.

Happy anniversary. Shit, our one year anniversary is today!

Me - ill wait as long as you need. I can wire you cash if you want to stay longer, too. And happy anniversary beautiful.

I sent it, and noticed she read it instantly. She turned on read receipts.

"Kat!" I yell, and she comes running in.

"Yeah?" She asks, and I hand her my phone.

"Does she usually do read receipts?" I ask.

"Only for certain people. I guess you did something right," she says, and hands my phone back. It wasn't much, but it was a step forward. I look down at my phone and notice the speech bubble pop up a few times, then disappear. I waited anxiously for something, anything, but eventually the typing bubble left. I sighed and shook my head, and as I was going to put my phone down it vibrated. I quickly opened it and scanned the message.

Josie - its fine, dont worry abt cash.

It wasn't long, but it was something. A response. I am doing something right.

Josie's POV

Fuck, I missed him. It wasn't even funny. I missed him more than I thought. God, I wanted to feel his arms around me again, to breathe in his smell, to kiss him again. Yeah, he fucked up, but he was still mine. Colby Brock is mine, and I, Josephine Sutton, am his. I had to go home.

I ran back to my apartment and repacked everything, calling Dev in the process.

"Hey, is Col near you?" I ask.

"No, you doing okay?" I hear her ask.

"I need him, Dev," I whimper, and sit down in the mess of clothes.

"Ill book your flight, you pack," Dev says, and I hear her nails typing at her computer.

"Yeah, he fucked up and I don't know if I necessarily forgive him completely, but I half forgive him," I say, laying back into the mess of clothes.

"Better than nothing, right?" She says, and then her door opens, "one sec, Corey," she says, and I knew instantly Colby had walked in.

"Hey, Josie responded!" I hear him say excitedly, and I smile to myself.

"Good!" Dev says, and she continues typing. I could tell she was trying not to be obvious about the fact I was on the line, and the dead silence on her phone probably hinted that it was not Corey.

"Corey is quiet," Col comments, and I suck in a breath.

"Uh, yeah, he's um," and then I hear her door open.

"Corey?" Colby asks confused, and I mute myself quickly, since I felt myself start to cry. It literally felt so good to hear his voice again, even thought it was through a phone.

"Um," Dev says, and I hear shuffling on her end.

"Josie," Col murmurs, and I keep myself muted. Col is quiet, and I can only imagine the look on his face.

"Give it back," Dev says, and she speaks to me, "Col knows," she says to me, and I unmetered myself.

"Oh," I say, since that was all I could muster. It is dead silent on the other end, and I felt tears coming.

"I gotta go," I say, my voice shaky, and I hang up. I wanted him, but at the same time it hurt. It really fucking hurt.

***

Dev scheduled my flight for the next week, to give me more time. She had called me after Colby left to explore with Sam, and I told her that maybe I wasn't as ready as I thought. Today was the day though that I flew home. I would arrive at 3, and Dev was going to pick me up. I got a taxi to the airport and sailed through security, finally getting on the plane.

***

When I arrived Dev was waiting at baggage claim. She gave me a huge hug then checked me over.

"Your face is so hollow," she comments, and I nod.

"I haven't had a ton of money for anything, really," I explain. Truth was, I couldn't bring myself to eat.

"Colby is going to be really happy, Jo," she says as we drive home.

"Probably lecture me," I comment, looking at how bony my face looked. I hadn't had a good look at myself, and lets just say I looked like shit.

"He really misses you, he has been a mess. Brennen also apologized to him, and he is pissed at him actually," she says as we get on the highway.

"Makes me feel better," I say, playing with my fingers. She just nods, and we drive in silence until we get to the house. My hair was knotted up and I was wearing an old, oversized grey hoodie with black leggings and black vans. We pulled in through the gate Dev parked. I get out and take a shaky breath. I go to the door with Dev and when I open it Colby is in the entryway. He looks over and his face pales when he sees me. He steps forward and i slip in the house behind Devyn. I kept my eyes low but walked toward him, playing with my fingers. I waited until we were five feet apart, then looked up into his eyes.

"Hi," he says, and it was enough for me to break. I sniffed and felt tears roll down my face, and I did the thing I wouldn't expect myself to do. I stepped forward and hugged him across the middle.