𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 | 𝐜.𝐛

28

Triggering topics ahead.

Noelle

"Shut the hell up," Colby retorts. Peter chuckles. Then, he brings the beer bottle down on Colby's head. Colby falls to the floor holding his head.

"Hey!" I shout, stepping in front of Colby. "You said you weren't going to hurt him."

"Get over it, Elle. I lied." He steps closer to me. When he inhales, his chest touches mine.

"Leave."

"Not without you," he mumbles.

"Not happening."

"Come on baby, I just want some alone time with you," he groans, biting his lip.

"You're not getting it."

"Then I'll fuck you right here, right now." Ignoring him, I squat down to check on Colby.

"This is why I didn't want that to happen," I tell him.

"I'm sorry," Colby apologizes. Sighing, I kiss his hand.

"There's nothing to be sorry about. You-" Peter pulls me up by my hair making me yell.

"I told you to listen to me you little bitch," he shouts.

"Let me go, Peter!" He grabs my jaw and makes me look at Colby, who's still holding his head.

"Look at your big, strong boyfriend."

"Please," I beg, "leave us alone. We've done nothing."

"You haven't, baby," he groans in my ear. I squirm against him. 'He has."

"Leave us alone, please," I beg. He chuckles, kisses my cheek, and shoves me onto the ground. In the blink of an eye, Peter grabs a knife and buries it deep into Colby's abdomen. Colby falls against him, lifeless. I scream.

My body jolts awake. The sudden motion wakes Colby up.

"Hey," he breathes, sensing my worry. He pulls me into him and kisses my head. "It's okay."

"You, you, you," I stutter, not able to form the words. He holds me closer.

"I'm right here," he assures. My hand squeezes his arm, making sure he's real, making sure he won't vanish as he did in my dreams. He puts his hand on my head, protecting me. My tears flow freely. "I'm right here, honey."

We sit like that until I fall back asleep. This time, I don't dream.

When I wake up, Colby is still asleep. Looking over at the clock, I see it's almost noon. Yawning, I nudge Colby awake. He groans before pulling me closer to him.

"I swear waking you up is like waking up a child," I mumble.

"Mmm, you know you love me," he mumbles. His breath tickles my back. "Plus, I have a bitch of a headache."

"I'll fix you something, you still have to get up though."

"Fine," he groans. We get up and get dressed before heading downstairs. When we get downstairs, there I take his hand and we go to the kitchen. Colby watches me as I fix him toast and get Advil out of the cabinet. "Here."

"Thank you." He takes two pills out of the bottle before sliding it back to me. After I put the bottle back in the cabinet, the toast pops up. After I get it out, we eat in silence, just enjoying the presence of each other. When we're done, I hoist myself up onto the counter as Colby washes our plates. Once he's done, he comes over and rests his head on my chest.

"You really are just a baby aren't you?" I tease. He groans making me laugh. We stay like that for a moment. Our arms around each other and his head on my chest. Before I know it, he's placing feather-like kisses on my skin. His hands slip under the shirt of his I'm wearing. His rings hold all the comfort I need.

"Are you okay?" He questions, leaving his hands on my hips.

"Yeah," I smile softly, "why wouldn't I be?"

"You had a nightmare last night," he concludes. "Can you tell me what it was about?"

"Um," I breathe. He kisses my forehead before resting his against mine.

"I love you," he assures. Suddenly, there's loud bangs and noises coming from the backyard. Colby tenses under my hands. He pulls away from me and walks towards the back door. He goes outside and I follow. Outside, I see a large diving platform sitting at the deep end of our pool. Elton stands on top of it with a camera in his hand. "Elton what is this?"

"It's our new diving platform!" He laughs. He climbs down the ladder and walks over to us with a camera in his hand. The platform stands about eight feet tall and looks down on the deep end of the pool. "You all want to jump off?"

"We're not dressed for that," Colby laughs, looking at the platform in awe. I can see the want in his eyes.

"We don't have anywhere to do today, do we?" I nudge Colby.

"I will if you will," he proposes. Nodding, I agree. He pulls his shirt over his head and walks to the platform. When he gets to the top, he looks down at the pool.

"Holy shit this is high," he laughs. It rings like one of my favorite songs. He walks back and looks at me. "What should I do?"

"Do a flip," I tease, knowing he'll want to show off. He runs to the edge before doing a simple flip off the platform. He lands with a splash, making the water ripple up to Elton and I's feet. He pops up laughing.

"That's high as hell," he chuckles, hoisting himself out of the pool. He walks over to me and opens his arms for a hug. Playfully, I walk away from him. He chases me and eventually wraps his arms around me. Unable to escape him, I laugh and embrace him back. "Your turn."

Colby

She walks up the platform and all I can think of is last night. She was scared. She walks to the end of the platform and looks over the edge.

"Holy shit," she laughs.

"I know!" Elton says, making sure the camera is on her. "She okay?"

"She woke up last night crying. I don't think she's going to tell me what happened," I sigh, crossing my arms over my chest. 

"She will. She loves and trusts you." Before I can respond, Elle flips off the platform. She pops back up smiling.

"That's a hell of a jump," she exclaims. She swims to the side and pulls herself out.

"I know," I laugh. We go back inside and change out of the soaked clothes. We go into the living room where Corey and Aaron are playing Rocket League. I fall onto the bean bag and Elle curls up next to me. She shivers slightly. "Cold?"

"A bit," she smiles. Smiling, I stand and go to the closet to find us a blanket. As I'm walking back, I hear her talking to Corey and Aaron.

"Hey, has Peter tried anything?" Corey asks.

"Not in person. He's been texting me."

"I thought you blocked him," Aaron assumes. I thought she blocked him too.

"I did. It's not him directly but I know he's told people my number and told them to just be rude to me. I can't escape him."

"Hey, we've got you're back. You're like a little sister to all of us. Even if Colby hurts you I'll still beat his ass." That makes me chuckle softly.

"He's told me how you all care. It's been a while since I've had so many people care." At that, I walk in with the blanket. She reaches out for me and I lay next to her. She lays her head on my chest and traces patterns onto my arm. Her finger traces the crown tattoo on my arm.

"I love you," I whisper, pulling her closer to me.

"I know you do, I love you too."