In Another Life

79

He rushed to the door and opened it, forgetting that I was standing there in nothing but a pair of underwear and his hoodie. I yelped and snatched my pants off the floor where I had dropped them, and dove inside the bathroom. By the time I got them on, brushed my teeth, and snatched a brush through my hair, Colby had both shoes on and was standing next to Sam, telling him that his alarm hadn't went off. Sam sighed and shook his head. "I've known you for what? 8 or 9 years now Colby. You can't lie to me. Just come get your stuff packed up. We still have to sort everything out at the front desk, and get an Uber before we can leave." Colby looked almost bashful. He nodded at Sam. "I'm coming. Is it cool with you if Terra comes to hang out while I do that?" Sam glanced back at me standing by the bathroom door. His face softened. "Yeah, of course. We'd love to have her hanging out with us before we go." I gave him a small smile, and looked at Colby. He was staring at me while he bit his lip, looking like he was lost in thought. "Colby," Sam said, and Colby's head jerked away from my gaze, towards Sam. "Huh?" "Get it together man. We HAVE to hurry." Colby rolled his eyes and waved Sam away. "I'm coming, I'm coming. Be there in a minute." Sam sided and shook his head. "You better be." He turned to go, catching my eye again. "Good morning Terra," he said, cracking a grin. "Good morning Sam," I said, giggling a little. What a way to start the day. After Sam closed the door behind him, Colby turned to me again. "What time are you guys pulling out today?" I shrugged. "I guess the sooner, the better. I should wake the girls up." He nodded, and I started to walk past him to the adjoining door, but he grabbed me around the waist and pulled me against him, his arms going around me in a tight hug. The kind of hug that I had literally thought about getting from him so many times. His arms were around waist, his cheek resting on top of my head. I wound my own arms around his neck and held on tight, feeling the tears start to prick my eyes again. "I'm gonna miss you Princess," he said softly. As one tear broke through and rolled down my cheek, I buried my face in his neck, inhaling deeply, so that I could imprint his scent in my brain. I didn't want to ever forget one single detail about him. He pulled back from me, then lowered his lips to mine. This kiss was different. This kiss was goodbye. There was nothing sexual about it. It was more longing, unmade promises that would never be kept, and the feeling that our time was about to be over. It was bittersweet. I felt all of that but he was still able to turn my phones to jelly, as we both melted into each other. It was like this kiss was our air, our last breath of survival. When we were forced to break the kiss for actual oxygen, Colby reached up and swiped his thumb across my cheek. It came away wet. I brought my own hand up to wipe my cheeks, surprised that they were both soaked. I had tears streaming down my face, and hadn't even realized it. He sighed, and turned back to the little bedside table, where there was a small box of Kleenex. He passed it to me, then ran his hand through his hair, attempting to fix it. "I'm going to go ahead and go to my room before Sam comes back in here. That wouldn't be pretty." I nodded as I pulled a tissue out and dried my eyes and face. "Okay," I whimpered. "I'll go wake up the girls then head down there." He nodded, a sad look in his eyes, before leaning over and pressing his lips gently to my cheek. Without another word, he walked out the door. I stood there for a moment, staring at it, letting that feeling of emptiness overtake me. He would be walking out of my life completely soon, and the realization was hitting me hard. With the high of having great morning sex fading, there was nothing to buffer the truth. Our time was over. I sighed heavily, then went to wake up the girls. Once I walked through the adjoining door, I found Sarah in her bed, and Kenzie and Denise sharing Kenzie's. "Good Morning Ladies!!!" I yelled, clapping my hands. "Noooo," Denise groaned, pulling her pillow over her head. "Shut the fuck up T. Not all of us had great sex last night. Some of us were kept up all fucking night by all the fucking," Sarah snapped, rolling over ot glare at me with her sleep deprived eyes. I giggled, and put my hand over my mouth. "Ooops," I said, shrugging my shoulders. "It was pretty fucking great though." Necee sat up, tossing the pillow to the side, and shoving Kenzie who was still asleep. She then looked at me with wide eyes. "I still can't believe you went through with it. I'm super proud of you, but honestly...I didn't think you would." "How could I not? It's Now or Never, right? I had too. I would've regretted it forever if I hadn't." I picked up the pillow that she had tossed aside, and slammed it on top of Kenzie's head. "Come on! It's time to wake up. We have to check out soon, and Sam, Colby, and Kat are leaving in about an hour to head to the airport...so if you wanna say bye..." I let the sentence hang there, as I walked back into my room, and out the door so that I could go see Colby. How did I already miss him after 5 minutes? He was going to be especially hard to get over...who was I kidding? I would never get over him and I knew it. I knocked on their door, and Katrina answered, her eyes still a little bleary, a cup of hot coffee in her hands. "Coffee?" She asked, raising the cup at me. I nodded, and grinned a little.