In Another Life

7 (Colby's POV)

As I turned to shut the door behind me, I froze. There were at least fifty or sixty teenagers about a hundred feet away from me, looking at room numbers, and talking about balconies. Fuck. I tried to duck back inside the room quickly, but Jake was standing in the doorway. "What are you dong?" he asked, poking his head out. "Oh...well, you should be nice to the fans. Go talk to them. And hurry up with my Taco Bell, I'm hungry." Then he slammed the door in my face. The bang echoed off the walls, and I slowly turned my head towards the group of people, knowing that they had heard. "It's Colby! We found them!" One girl screamed loudly. Guess the hat and glasses didn't do much to hide who I was. I banged on the room door as hard as I could. "Bro, let me in! Stop playing! I'm actually going to die out here! Open the door! Damn it Jake!" I didn't have time to keep begging, so I turned towards the opposite end of the hallway, away from the group of screaming people that were now running towards me. Not gonna lie, I was a little bit scared. Situations like this can get out of hand, and people can get hurt, even when it's unintentional. I saw the girl from earlier standing out in the hallway, her friends behind her, poking their heads out of their own rooms. I darted towards her, yelling behind me towards the fans. "Hey guys! Kinda busy right now, I love you so much, but I'll see you tomorrow at the convention!!" I grabbed the girl's arm as I passed her and pulled her with me into their room, shoving past the other girls. "Close the damn door, QUICK!" I exclaimed. The girl snatched her arm from my grasp and turned back, slamming the door closed while her friends stood there in shock. "I can't believe him! I'm gonna fucking kill him! Now the fans are going to say that I was being rude or something, when I really wasn't. I just didn't want to get caught in all of that. Did you see all of them?? They would've trampled me!" I was pacing up and down the small stretch of room, from their balcony sliding glass door, to the bed closest to the room door. The girls were just standing in the little hallway part that was next to the door, watching me, listening to me rant. I sat down on the foot of the bed and buried my head in my hands. I knew that I was going to get backlash for this. I literally got it for everything, even when I tried to do what I thought would make them happy. I could hear the fans talking outside the door, waiting on me to come out. That wasn't gonna happen. "Sooo, hi?" I looked up to see who had spoken. It was the one that I pulled inside with me. The one that fell into me earlier. "Hi," I sighed. "I'm sorry about this. I didn't mean to just barge into your room. I couldn't get caught in that. I'll leave as soon as it's clear." She shook her head. "No, it's fine! You can stay as long as you like! I mean, who wouldn't want Colby Brock in their hotel room.." She slapped her hand over her mouth, eyes going wide, and I almost laughed. I'm surprised that I didn't, but somehow I kept a straight face. She lowered her hand slowly, her cheeks flaming up. That was cute. "I'm so sorry. That's not what I meant." "Yeah right," the girl closest to her, the one she seemed to be better friends with, muttered quietly...but I heard her. I smirked a little, unable to stop myself, but didn't say anything. The girl elbowed her friend slightly, then bit her lip, meeting my gaze again. I felt a familiar stir in my stomach, as I watched her teeth gently release her lip. Damn..."I just meant that it's fine. I hate that you have to deal with that. It's so rude that you can't have a little bit of peace. I mean, you are literally having a meet and greet, plus you guys always used to talk to the fans all the time, without all of that, but there are so many more of them now." Her cheeks were flushing again, but I think it was in anger this time. Was she angry for me? I swear I half expected her to stomp her foot. "I just wish everyone would think about how much this has changed for you guys too...how much harder it is. It's not fair really, that you're expected to-" I saw her friend poke her, and shake her head slightly. "Oh. I'm rambling. Sorry. I do that...when I'm nervous. You make me nervous. I mean, THE Colby Brock is sitting on my bed in my hotel room. Ha!" She let out a short laugh that was high pitched with nerves. "That's the beginning to a fan fic that I read once- Oh GOD." That did it. I cracked up from the look on her face, and her friends' faces. I actually couldn't stop, laughing so hard that I couldn't breathe. I fell back against the bed, wiping my eyes, letting my feet stay on the floor, while I quieted down and caught my breath. I sat back up, and looked at her, taking the glasses off of my face. She had her head down, her hair hiding her face as she shook her head. "Please tell me that I did not just say that. You didn't hear that. Why can't I just shut the fuck up sometimes? WHY DIDN'T YOU GUYS MAKE ME STOP TALKING??" She had turned to her friends by then, screaming at them. For some reason, it reminded me of my friend group because they all started laughing. "I did! I poked you! But you kept talking!" The one closest to her said, her words breaking through her laughter. "It's fine. Really. I needed the laugh and it's not a big deal. I'll pretend that I didn't hear it...just like last time." I couldn't help myself. I had to add that last part in there, to remind her that she had talked about taking her clothes off for me already. Her head turned slowly, and she met my gaze again.