Look After You | Colby Brock

Lonely Nights

I don't know much about Roselyn and her mother's relationship but the way she described her home life living alone with her dad, it must be pretty rocky. "Roselyn?" Rose's mother answers her and stumbles over her own two feet as she avoids a chair to get closer to Rose.

They are now standing directly behind me, I continue to eat to avoid making things anymore awkward for Rose.

"What the hell are you doing here? In LA?" Roselyn asks quietly, almost angrily. Her mom lifts an eyebrow and laughs quietly, "I live here now." She shrugs and points to the counter, "Starting working here just last week"

Rose huffs and shakes her head, "That's all you have to say? 12 years mom" Roselyn's voice cracks and my heart sinks, that's a pretty long time.

"I really don't want to speak about this here." She responds before adding, "I'm working till 6. Can we please speak then?" She seems like she really is trying. Roselyn agrees to swing past the cafe after, she also introduces the tall blonde women to me as "Katie" I respectfully smile and we finish up our breakfast.

—-

The walk back to campus is quiet, I can tell Roselyn's head is spiralling. The inner therapist within me wants to question her more about it but I also don't want to be too nosey. "I can't believe she's in LA" Roselyn answers my thoughts and brings it up herself.

"You haven't heard from her in 12 years?" I ask, keeping my eyes on the curb. "Yep. She walked out on me and my dad when I was 7. There was no real reasoning to it. She would send money here and there but would never add a destination or anything" She sighs, "So she's been here right under my nose and I didn't even think about her" She scoffs and I frown.

"I'm sorry Rose." I say and Rose shakes her head, "I'm in shock. Once I've spoken to her it'll give me a piece of mind and who knows, maybe she'll give me a real reason" I nod my head, "Hopefully."

Roselyn decides to hang out with Kendall before her awaiting meeting with her mother, I decline to come with and explain that I really should get some work done with Colby. When I return back to our dorm room I send my mom a text Hey mom x Everything is good today. Will and Frannie are coming by next weekend! Love you x

She responds quickly with I miss you. Stay safe! Love you.

I smile at my phone before scrolling through the contact list for Colby, when I find it I think about what I should say. After thinking of way too many scenarios in my head I finally hit send on a message. Hey Colby. It's Aliyah, hope you don't mind me texting but are you free for some more therapy? :) I reread the message a few times, expecting a quick response which I don't get. I throw my phone onto the bed and pull out some work, sitting at my desk and diving in.

The clock ticks past and I still haven't received a response within an hour, I sigh and pick my phone off the bed. Deciding that if I'm not going to get one via text maybe it'll be worth a shot swinging by the dorms. Even though he did previously warn me for snooping around asking people where he was. I pace the middle of the room before muttering "Fuck it" under my breath and grabbing my keys, leaving the dorm and heading down the hall to Sam and Colby's.

I knock quietly, standing back and fiddling with a strand of hair. The door opens and Sam smiles at me, "Hey Aliyah. Everything ok?" I return a smile, glancing behind him to see an empty room I fight a frown, "Hello. I'm looking for Colby?" He nods, "I haven't seen him since the party. You have his number?" He asks and I nod, he shrugs, "I've been here all day. Sorry" I smile "Thank you anyways. I'll just wait him out" I go to walk away and Sam clears his throat, stopping me in my tracks.

"He text me about 15 minutes ago about something funny he seen online. You should try resending the text" and with that he walks back in the dorm, was Colby purposely ignoring me? I frown and pull my phone out, sending a quick Colby? I slide it back into my pocket and head back to my dorm.

The evening comes by slowly as I finish off some work for classes tomorrow. It's my first full week here and I find myself reminiscing over the hectic first week. A lot has gone on, I make a mental note to start taking things slow and start focusing on the real reason I'm here. Rose swings by to change before her meeting with her mom, I wish her good luck and ask her to fill me in on all the details when she returns.

The showers are quiet which relaxes me as I stand under the hot water. It's just past 7pm and I still have no idea where Colby is. I can't avoid the fact that I am extremely disappointed that we couldn't meet today for the next session. Tomorrow I will just need to explain to everyone the situation and I hope they all understand. When I return back to the dorms I tie my hair up into a bun and climb into bed, placing my laptop on my lap and loading up Netflix, I scroll and scroll but opt to watch friends like always.

"Ok Kendall. I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight" Rose's voice wakes me up from my deep sleep that I must've wandered off into whilst being indulged into my show. Rose puts her phone she was just using on her desk and closes the dorm door behind her before looking at me. "Hey" I croak and she smiles, "Hey sleepy head, Sleeping at 9? Early huh" She smirks and I roll my eyes. "I didn't mean to fall asleep" I push myself up and she pulls off her shoes, throwing herself onto her bed

"So how did it go?" I ask and she sighs before speaking "She told me she never wanted to leave me, only my dad. Then repeatedly told me how much of a beautiful young women I turned out to be and how proud she is of me for studying to be a nurse" She scoffs, "I don't know Aliyah. I don't trust her, y'know?" I nod "It takes time that's all" She hums a yeah before telling me shes going to shower, I push my laptop to the bottom of my bed and switch off the lamp lighting up my side of the room before turning over and drifting back into my dreams, thinking about Colby ignoring me.