𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 • 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐛𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤

fourteen

The next day, I took Colby out into the city for his birthday. Or really, he took me out into the city. I had to get him out of the house so the others could set up his party. We went to see all the Los Angeles hot spots, like the Hollywood sign and the Walk of Fame. He was basically being my tour guide.

"Impressive," I snickered as we arrived at Tender Greens. "You really do know a lot about this city."

"I've lived here for more than four years now, I've been the newcomer once too," he replied and we went to stand in line. "I've had this tour myself."

"But I bet it wasn't as fun as this one," I giggled and looked at everything, even though I generally knew what they had as we had been here once before.

"You're right about that," he smiled as he watched me staring at the food. "Having trouble choosing?"

"It all looks so good!" I exclaimed.

It took a little while until we had our food and were settled at a table. We were pretty silent while eating, mainly because we were both starving with hunger and the food was delicious. We both finished our meals and I looked at my phone. It was nearing 7 which meant we had to return to the house, so I decided on giving him his gift now.

"So," I smiled and looked up at him.

"What?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.

I pulled the wrapped gift out of my tote bag. "So, Colby," I started. "You have no idea how grateful I am for what you've done for me since we met, and how grateful I am for you in general. You brought me out here, eating dinner on Sunset Boulevard, and it still all very much seems like a dream for me. I don't know how I can ever repay you for everything. I have been here for just nine days, and some my favorite memories have already been made here, with you. This is just a small thing I wanted to give you in return."

He sighed contently, a smile on his face. "You're making me soft. If I have to cry and ruin my image, it's on you, Elisha."

I chuckled and handed him the package. "I will take that as a compliment."

He tore at the wrapping paper and opened the small box. "What is this?" he asked as he looked at the envelope.

"Open up," I urged him and smiled.

He opened the envelope and took out the two concert tickets. "No way!" he said as he looked at them.

"I've been informed by Jake that both Citizen and Knuckle Puck are two of your favorite bands, and they so happen to be my favorites too," I chuckled.

"I've been meaning to get tickets!" he replied excitedly. "Thank you so much! We're going to have so much fun at this. I can't wait!"

"I'm glad you like it," I smiled at him and joked. "It's also somewhat of a reassurance to myself that you can't ghost me now. You're tied to me until May 31st."

He snickered at my joke and looked up at me. "I could never ghost you."

"Good," I chuckled back. "We should get back to the house."

It didn't take long for us to get back. When we pulled into the driveway, every light in the house was out. I quickly texted Jake to tell him we had arrived and followed Colby out of the car.

"Why are the lights off?" he asked as he opened the front door.

"Happy birthday!" everyone yelled as they jumped from their hiding spots into the hallway, the mood lighting they had put around turning on.

I watched as Colby's mouth turned into a big smile. "You guys didn't!"

I walked behind him into the house and closed the front door behind us. I sneaked upstairs so I could change into something that was more appropriate for a party. I had arranged with Kat that she would prepare something for me so I walked over to Colby's bed where it was laid out on.