Look After You | Colby Brock

Realisation

I wipe my face from any remaining tears as my mom enters the room with a worried look. "Are you alright?" She asks concerned, I nod "I guess I need the time to..to myself" I croak, she nods understandingly before pulling me in for a hug. "You're a beautiful, young and intelligent girl Aliyah. You'll meet a lot of boys in your life time, and I'm sure you'll have a few wrongs before your right." I sigh into her chest.

"Yeah.." I breath, breaking from her. "I know who did this to me." I say, gesturing to my head. She hands me her phone and I take a seat to inform the cops. I wish that I had acted sooner on the whole Brennen thing, But I guess I truthfully only know half of the stuff that goes on behind closed doors. I explain to the investigators that I was hit over the head by Brennen outside my library building because my..now ex-boyfriend owed him money. They take a few more details before I end the call.

"My flight is in a couple of hours Ali, If you're sure about coming with me then we best get yours booked" My mom tells me as she organises my desk and clears the papers from the floor. I hear what she's saying but it doesn't seem to be registering with my head. "We also need to get you a new phone" She adds, I sigh loudly from the stress of this whole thing "Sorry mom, I'm going to get some air" I head out the door.

Colby hasn't been in my life long but long enough for me to fall for him. I don't think I've completely registered that we're no longer together, and I don't think I will anytime soon. He looked genuinely heartbroken at what I said, and I'm worried. Sam did ask me not to go hard on him, but I was pained by the choices he made. Part of me regrets not considering his side of the story too. "Do you have the time?" I ask a girl heading into the dorms, she nods and tells me the time. I know Rose is due out of class so I head off in the direction of her building. I need my friends right now for the advise and plus, my mom is worried about me. If she can keep an eye on me in Arizona, she'll jump at the opportunity. 

The medic building is a lot bigger than Psychology so I decide to stay at the main doors instead of going inside. I do see people starting to depart so I'm relieved I won't wait long. "Oh she lives" I frown as Jayde and her friends leave the building, "Excuse me?" I say. She stops in her tracks and turns to me, "Sorry did that make you deaf?" She points to my head and I have to fight back all the anger inside me to smack the smirk off her face. "Aliyah" Rose stands in front of me, gesturing for Jayde to leave. "What was that about?" She looks at me confused and I shrug, It's been a while since I've ran into her but she still gets under my skin. "Me and Colby broke up" I say, my voice weak. She looks surprised but sympathetic. "Let's walk and talk" She says, pulling me in for a side hug before leading the way.

I explain to her what happened in our dorm, she listens but doesn't comment until I tell her I may have said the whole thing was temporary. "I don't believe that." She says. "Yeah, I don't know..I guess the anger just got the better of me? He genuinely was hurt before he left." I can feel my chest tighten at the idea of Colby being heartbroken. "Do you regret it already? Because Ali, I know I've tried to push you to sort things with Colby in the past, but he was asking me all the time how you were. He was scared and I believe that if Brennen didn't do this, He would've been beside your bed and would've fought hard to make sure it doesn't happen again." I nod, she's right. "Yeah well he did want to deal with Brennen on his own, but I told the cops" She smiles, "Well he may get brought to justice. Isn't that what you guys wanted?" She tilts her head. "Sure but not in this way" I sulk.

"Do you think going to Arizona now is good for you? I mean it's not long until the holidays but it means you're there a few weeks early and trust me, you'll probably miss a lot here." Her laugh fills the air. "True" I smirk.

I think back to my moms comment about my phone, I do really need one. I would love to speak to Jake and see how he is. But I'd also like to warn him about the cops. "Is your mom still in our dorms?" She asks, turning direction we walk towards them. "She should be." I bite my lip. The decision seems so easy to make but in my head I think of all the wrongs. Part of me wants to stay here and try and get into a routine again, to re-find my happiness even through this whole mess with Colby. "Do you think he meant it? That I made him worse?" I ask Rose, looking down at my feet. She sighs and takes a moment to answer, "No..I think he needs you Aliyah. He has this whole urge to look after you and be there when you're alone. When I got the phone call that you were rushed into the hospital, the first thing I did was tell Colby. He was at my dorm door within seconds, tears fell from his cheeks and he looked so distressed. He had no words to tell me how he was feeling as he repeatedly asked me to assure him that you'd be ok. Even when I had my shoes on and was at the door, he sat on your bed with your pillow in his hands and just cried. It was like you died and he lost all motivation."

I wipe the tears that have drastically started to fall from my eyes, Rose clears her throat as we enter the dorm building. I had no idea. "I think you should stay" she mumbles as we reach our dorm. I nod slowly. Her story of how Colby reacted has definitely opened my eyes to my selfishness. My mom has completely cleaned up my room as we enter, she's sat at my desk reading through the papers from my project on Colby. "Hey" She smiles at me. "This is really good you know.." She places the papers down and I shoot her a small smile. 

"I take it you have decided to stay?" She lifts a brow at my flushed cheeks from the crying but also me kicking off my shoes and sitting on my bed. "Yeah..I guess I'm not quite ready to give up on this semester just yet" I look down at my hands, I have been so indecisive. "Or you're not ready to give up on Colby" She comments, I laugh quietly. 

"Alright, I gave Oscar a call and he should be dropping off a new phone to you by the evening. I didn't want you rushing off to find a new one with your injury. You still need to rest and please, take your meds. Rose I'm sure will take care of you" She looks at Rose who gives her the most angelic smile. "Yeah, I know.." I stand to my feet to give her the biggest hug. "I really appreciate you coming here and caring for me mom, you're amazing. I love you" She kisses my cheek, "I love you too...Won't be long until the festivities and the twins are more than excited to see you. Please, be careful and I will be keeping up to date with this case. No funny business with this boy. Good luck with him" I wave her off down the hall as she leaves for the airport, I will miss having her around but the freedom to make my own decisions is definitely a lot better. 

"So, Shall I order something for dinner? Or are you going against everything your mother said and sneaking out after Oscar drops off your phone." I look at her with my lips parted, "When have I ever sneaked out? I'll speak to Colby tomorrow. I think we'll order some Chinese food and watch Halloween movies since I did miss Halloween" I pout, she smiles at me before grabbing her laptop and getting to work.