Heartless

64

He lit the candles and everyone pulled their phones out, getting ready to record for their social media accounts. As they sang me happy birthday I was overwhelmed with joy. This was the first time in my life that I felt so truly accepted and loved, and I was happy, almost too happy. When they finished I blew out the candles, all I wished for was for this happiness to stay for once. "Thank you guys...for everything." I said and looked around the room at everyone. They all looked so happy, "we loooooove you!!" Devyn said and ran up to me, tackling me into a hug. "I love you guys so much." I said as everyone came over to hug me.

"Let go watch a movie!" Kat said as she happily giggled and walked to the game room. Colby grabbed my hand and we followed her. He led me to the white beanbag that sat in the corner of the room, plopping down and pulling me into his lap. I snuggled into his chest as they picked a scary movie to watch. Sam and Kat sat on the other beanbag across the room, and everyone else piled onto the couch or settled on the floor.

They chose a movie called Hush, I didnt know what the movie was about nor did I really care. I laid my head on Colby's chest and snuggled into him as he played with my hair. I let myself melt into him more as my eyes closed. "Goodnight baby girl." He whispered and kissed my head.

I drifted off to sleep, only to be woken up a couple hours later to violent shaking. "What the fuck??" I said as everyone started to wake up around me, Colby held me tighter. "Earthquake...earthquake!" He said and held my head to his chest protectively. I heard wood cracking, and things falling from the wall as some people in the room screamed. "Colby." I said into his chest, my voice shaking with fear. "It's okay baby, I got you." He said and held me tighter. It felt like it was going on for forever. There was a loud crash in the foyer causing us to jump. "Why won't it stop!" I cried out, as Colby held my head to his chest tighter.

Eventually the room stopped shaking. "Is everyone okay?" Sam said as we all looked around the room, the walls were cracking in some places, in the kitchen there were whole cabinets on the ground. "we should get out here..." Corey said warily, as he looked at the cracks on the walls and ceiling. Everyone got up and walked around cautiously. "We should go before the aftershock hits." Sam said. "He's right. Come on guys." Colby said as he started to gesture for people to get out of the room. They filed out of the room slowly, making their way to the garage, avoiding debris. "Come on baby." He said and placed his hand on my lower back, leading me to the garage.

When we made it outside we all sat in the middle of the lawn, away from trees and other things that could potentially fall during the aftershock. "I think the earth is pissed off that I lived another year." I said as Colby pulled me into his lap. "Well I'm glad you lived another year." He said and kissed my cheek. It was still dark out, since it was almost 3am. "How long should we sit out here?" Kat said as Sam pulled his hoodie off, giving it to her. "At least until the aftershock hits..after that we can play it by ear." Colby said and rubbed my arms as I shivered against the cool breeze.

We sat and talked for a couple minutes before the aftershock finally hit. It seemed much more intense than the actual earthquake, causing me to coward in Colby's chest. He held me tightly as the earth shook around us. "Colby!" I said and gripped him tighter, "shh it's okay." He said and rubbed my hair with his hand, trying to soothe my fear. "I'm scared" I admitted and he kissed my head, "it's okay, I'm here." He spoke calmly and held me, holding the back of my neck securely. Once the shaking stopped he loosened his grip on me, but I clung to him still. "Is everyone okay?" Colby said and everyone replied with a yes. "That was the strongest earthquake I have ever felt." Mike said and held his head in his hands. "Same man." Ariya said and stood up, stretching his limbs.

We all stood and looked around. Branches littered the lawn and other people on the street were coming out of their houses. Sirens blared through the night meaning other people were definitely hurt. "Nobody is hurt?? We are all good?" Colby said and looked around at everyone. Everyone nodded, falling into shock. My hands still shook violently, my heart still racing.

"Should we go back inside?" Devyn asked shakily as she clung onto Corey. "I think we should wait a minute." Kevin said sitting back down on the grass. I bit my lip as I tried to settle down. "You okay?" Colby whispered in my ear, wrapping his arms around me. I nodded, placing my head on his chest.

We waited in the grass for a half hour, my eyes were almost swollen shut from how tired I was. "I think it's safe to go in.." Colby said and stood up, then helped me up. We walked through the garage and to the kitchen. A gasp fell from my lips as I looked at the damage.

Whole cabinets were on the ground, crushed wood and drywall littered the floor. In the foyer the chandelier had fallen, the glass scattered across the floor. "Everyone be careful." Colby said and pulled me closer. "We should go to bed, we can deal with all of this in the morning." Sam said and started to guide Kat through the shrapnel. "We are gonna go home, to see the damage of our house." Mike said and gestured to Ariya and Kevin. "Happy birthday again." Kevin said and gave me a quick hug. They left and everyone slowly made there way up to their rooms. I turned and looked at Colby as he looked around the broken room, a stressed look plastered his face. "Babe." I said quietly, grabbing his attention. He hummed and turned to me, "let's go to bed." I said quietly and grabbed his hand I began to walk towards the foyer but he pulled my hand back, making me slam into his body. I giggled as he wrapped his arms around me. "You aren't even wearing socks. You'll cut your feet." He mumbled against my head as he kissed the top of it. "I'll be careful." I said quietly and grabbed his hand again. He led the way, lifting me up in places were there was too much glass.

When we got up to his room everything was knocked on the floor, including the mirror that was usually propped up against the wall. Colby sighed and started to looked around, "hold on." He said and stopped me from walking. He slipped on a pair of shoes that were sitting by the door and scooped me up into his arms, "Colby it's not that much glass I can walk" he smiled, "I know, but you also are accident prone and I'm not taking my chances." I laughed as he set me on the bed. Colby tossed me a tshirt and some sweatpants into, I quickly pulled them on as he changed out of the costume he was still wearing. Once he was done changing he flopped onto the bed and pulled me down with him.