𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 • 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐛𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤

forty-eight

"I've been playing it cool the entire day, but I'm actually pretty nervous," Colby spoke up. We were in the parking lot of the apartment complex my parents were staying at, still sitting in the car.

I took his hand in mine and looked at him. "You have nothing to worry about," I told him. "Absolutely nothing."

He let out a sigh, followed by a small smile. "What if they don't like me?"

"They will," I chuckled. "They know how important you are to me and they will love you."

He bent over the console in the middle and pressed his lips to mine for a couple seconds. I cupped his cheek and pulled away. "Are you ready?"

He nodded, smiling. "Yeah, I think I am."

"Good," I smiled back and gave him a quick peck on the lips before getting out of the car.

We walked into the main hall and took the elevator up to the right floor, and continued to the right door. I knocked on the door, and soon enough the door opened. "Hey, Ellie," my mom smiled and hugged me.

"Hi mom," I chuckled.

She looked at Colby and smiled, then pulled him into a hug. "Hi, Colby," she greeted him.

Colby let out a small chuckle as she let go of him. "Hi, Mrs. Miller."

"Oh please," she chuckled. "It's Kate, dear. Come in."

My mom walked out of the way and I walked inside the apartment, Colby closely following behind me. I looked around, and then in front of me, at the massive window. "I cannot believe you guys have a view on the Pacific Ocean," I said in awe as I walked up to it.

My dad walked into the living room. "Ah, I thought I heard you. Nice to see you, daughter," he laughed as he hugged me.

I laughed as well. "Good to see you too, father."

He let go of me and averted his attention to the boy standing next to me. "Hello, Colby," he smiled and shook Colby's hand.

He smiled back at my dad. "Hello, Mr. Miller."

"You can just call me Matt," he told Colby.

Colby nodded and my mom walked up to me. "Elisha, what did you do? There's dirt on your shirt," she said as she patted my back.

I looked at Colby, which resulted in us both laughing. "We fell," I chuckled.

"You fell?" my mom asked.

"Colby was trying to flick me into the pool and I held onto the door frame and pulled. He lost balance and we both landed on the floor," I explained as we walked towards the couches.

Colby sat down next to me, and my parents on the couch on the other side of the coffee table. My mom laughed a little. "Can I get you guys something?"

After a while, both my parents were cooking in the kitchen and Colby and I were watching the television. I was leaning against him, his right arm around me. "Do you think they like me?" Colby asked softly, out of the blue.

I leaned my head back to look at him. "Of course they do, baby. There's nothing not to like about you."

He kissed my forehead, I briefly closed my eyes at the touch. "I think I'm flying back to Kansas with my parents, the day after you leave for VidCon. That way I won't have to be alone in your apartment until you get back and get some work done," I said.

He nodded. "I think that's a good plan. You could always come with me to Florida, of course."

"Tempting," I chuckled. "But I'll pass this one. Maybe next time."