Heartless

58

The rest of the game Colby and I did horrible, Corey won, Sam in second, Kat in third, Devyn in fourth, Colby in fifth, and me in last place. "Told you we were losers." I said to Colby as we all started to put our shoes on. "But we are the cutest losers out there." I laughed as Kat clapped loudly once. "Okay! Since most of the group is here we have something very important to discuss." She folded her hands in her lap as everyone looked at her. "We will discuss it over icecream at Dairy Queen. We will see you there!" She said and yanked Sam away. I knew what she wanted to talk about but I didn't want to deal with it. "What's was that about?" Colby said as we walked out, hand in hand. "I don't know" I shrugged, since if it wasn't what I was thinking then I didn't want to bring it up.

We were the last ones to get there, so we ordered our icecream quickly and sat at the table. "SO!" Kat said and clapped again. "Halloween is coming up, which means so is Cora's birthday. We need to plan something." I blushed and looked down, "I don't like parties Kat.." I mumbled. "I know, it will be small but we should still do something. It's a big thing turning 21." I sighed, "she's right Cora, it's the last milestone before 30, we gotta celebrate it" Colby said and put his hand on my leg.

"I know...I'm just still a little fragile from the last party." I said quietly and scooped icecream in my mouth. "It will be just close friends. Just us, Tara, Jake, Kevin, and Mike. They may bring Ariya, you haven't met him yet but he's great." Sam said and gave me a reassuring smile. "But don't push yourself if you're not ready. It's alright if you don't want to do anything." Devyn said and nodded gently to me. Colby caressed my leg with his thumb, "we don't want to pressure you." He looked up at Kat, she nodded, "yeah. But I know you Cora, I know you would hate yourself if you let something of the past ruin your present."

She was right. I sighed, "it just can't get out of control." Kat grabbed my hand, "it won't." I nodded and they began to plan everything. Colby was so invested in the planning, it was absolutely adorable. We decided we would go to a haunted house in the afternoon, we would go to a bar for a little bit after,then have a small party and scary movie night. It sounded like a lot of fun, except for the bar part but everyone insisted I had to go to a bar on my 21st birthday. They were right, but Kat couldn't come to that part and it stressed me out. She reassured me that she would be setting up for the party. Kat told me she would take care of everything so I wouldn't have to worry, but I don't know if that made it less stressful or more stressful.

We eventually went our separate ways, each getting in our own cars. "Are you sure that you're okay with your birthday plans?" Colby said as he started the car. "Yeah..I think it will be fun. The bar part stresses me out but I'll be fine." He grabbed my hand, "I won't leave your side even for a second." I smiled, "we have to think of a couples costume." I said as he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, "hmm what do you have in mind?" I bit my lip, "I don't know, maybe Beetlejuice and Lydia?" He nodded, "that could work. We can brainstorm more later." I nodded and he pulled into my apartment complex. I huffed, "will you stay with me?" I pouted causing his eyes to crinkle and dimples to pop out. "Of course I'll stay." I smiled and got out of the car. I skipped over to Colby and hopped on his back. He laughed, "what are you doing?" He held my legs so I wouldn't move, "I don't know." I said and kissed his cheek from behind.

He walked to my door and I got off his back and unlocked the door. "I'll be back." I said and walked to the bedroom slipping on some comfortable clothes. I sucked my bottom lip in as I looked for clothes Colby could wear. Luckily I wore his clothes home a lot so I grabbed a pair of his joggers and a hoodie and went back to the living room. He was sitting on the couch, with my laptop open in his lap, "what are you looking at?" I said sitting next to him, placing the clothes on his lap. "Halloween costumes." I smiled and snuggled into his shoulder, "hmmm." I laughed and pointed at the prison costumes, "can we be prisoners?" He laughed and turned his head to me, "honestly...that would be hilarious." I kissed his cheek, "let's do it."

Colby got up to get changed as I snuggled into the couch. When he came back he ruffled his hair and sat next to me, pulling me closer to him. "Baby?" I said quietly into his chest. His body vibrated as he hummed. "Do you think your fans will warm up to me?" He kissed the top of my head and rubbed my arms slowly, "I really do. Once they see how happy you make me, they will get over it. I think eventually they will love you as much as they love Kat, Devyn, and Tara. I wish they weren't so hard on us. But I have been single for so long they got too used to it and now they think they own me." I looked up to meet his eyes. "We can get through anything. They aren't too bad, I just want them to like me. And I want them to see that I'm not in this for the clout...or anything like that. I love you for you. And I never want to lose you." I hugged his waist tightly as I snuggled into his chest more.

He vibrated with laughter and kissed my head, "I love you for you. More than you'll ever know. I know you're not in it for the clout, I know you couldn't care less about my following, and I know that you care about me more than any girl I have ever met. I love you, Cora." I blushed and smiled, pulling his face to kiss me.