Heartless

7

The guys insisted we stayed at their house after the events that occurred at the cave. Sam sat in the back seat with Kat on our drive home, she was really shaken up about what happened. "How you holding up?" Colby said interrupting my thoughts. "I'm okay" I said giving him a soft smile. Part of me was still terrified but the other part of me was exhilarated. My body was vibrating with energy. "And you?" I said with a smirk. "Pfft. That was nothing." He said with a chuckle as we pulled into the driveway.

Kat would stay in Sam's room of course and I was going to sleep on the couch downstairs. Kat gave me a hug before going upstairs "You gonna be okay alone down here? I'm sure Colby wouldn't mind if you-"
"I'm fine down here" I said giving her a reassuring smile. She nodded and went upstairs. Now that I was finally alone I felt my cheeks get hot as warm tears streamed down them. I silently cried as I pulled my knees to my chest. All the emotions I had for the day spilling out at once.

"Cora stop crying already!" My mother yelled at me, I was only 6. I had fallen off my bike as I was trying to learn. "I'm sorry mom." I said quietly as I tried to force the tears away. "You need to learn that nobody cares when you cry. Big kids don't cry" she said as she rolled her eyes out of frustration. She yanked me up and placed me on the bike again. I tried to ride it but almost immediately fell off causing me to start crying again. She slapped me. That was one of the only times my mother struck me but the memory lingers in my brain. "God you're useless." She spat and stomped into the house leaving me crying alone on the sidewalk.

"Are you okay?" A voice said interrupting my thoughts. I looked up to see Colby standing there dressed in a hoodie and joggers. I quickly wiped my face, "I'm fine. Goodnight" I said and tried to hide the fact I was crying. "Let's go for a walk." He said calmly and held a hand out. When I turned to him he gave me a small smile. I reluctantly grabbed his hand as he helped me off the couch. He grabbed his keys, "I thought we were going for a walk" I said raising my eyebrows. "We are. Just not here" he said and walked to his car.

I got in the passengers seat and we were off to the mystery location. The drive was silent but oddly comforting. Colby gave off such a calming energy, he didn't feel the need to fill the silence. And neither did I.

I had no idea where we were but Colby had parked the car, once I got out I could see the ocean to my left. "Come on" He said softly and began to walk towards it. "Why are we here?" I said as we got to the water. "I come here when I can't sleep" he admitted. "Why were you crying?" He said gently as we walked. "I wasn't." I lied, and he knew it too. "Right, so water just falls from your eyes normally" he joked. "I'm sorry we took you there and scared you." He said as we stopped so he could look at me fully. "I wanted to go there, and it didn't scare me that much" I said and shrugged. "You're so hard to read." He admitted, "what does that even mean?" I said and began to walk once again. "I don't know, I just feel like there's something you can't say..." he shrugged. We stayed silent for a moment. "Tell me something about you. Something deep." He said ignoring the question. "Well I moved here about a-" I started but was interrupted, "no. Something deep." He said again. I took a deep breath. "My mom left me and my dad when I was 10." I knew he wasn't going to let me get away with not telling him something deep.

"I'm so sorry." He said and stopped to look at me. I kept walking. "It's not a big deal. I have moved on." Another lie surfaced. He jogged up to me, "it's okay to not be okay Cora." He said gently. "I know that." I said and took a deep breath. "Okay, something deep about you." I prompted. His demeanor completely changed, he often times was calm and loose, but in this moment he was tense. "Mines not as big of a deal." He said and sat down in the sand. I sat next to him and pulled my knees to my chest. I shivered as I was only wearing a T-shirt. I left my hoodie back st the house. "Here." Colby said as he pulled his hoodie off, giving it to me. He wore a black shirt under his hoodie. "Thanks" I said as I slipped it on. "I dated this girl." He started and looked off into the horizon, "we dated for a couple months and then I did something stupid." He said and glanced over to see my reaction. My face stayed neutral. "We got in a huge argument over it, and she called me heartless." He said turning back to the ocean. "It's not that big of a deal but it really struck a chord in me. Maybe I am heartless." He admitted. "Not a day goes by where I don't think about that one word that was used to describe me." I could see tears forming in his eyes. "I never meant to hurt her- not physically. I didn't hit her." he said back tracking a little. "I never thought you would do that" I said reassuring him. "I never told anyone that story." He said softly. I felt bad because I didn't go more into depth with my deep fact. But maybe with time I would share those memories with Colby. Now wasn't the time.