In Another Life

110

 I felt my own cheeks start to heat up as Corey's words registered in my brain. Nope, not even gonna ask what he was going to say. "What's wrong brother? You don't want me to tell her that you go for that spot directly under her ear bc you love the little gasping noise that she makes?" Apparently I didn't have to ask, because Corey wasn't letting up. He had the most innocent look on his face with the sweetest smile as he embarrassed the shit out of me. Colby just glared at him, then looked at me and blushed. "Eh, ehm," Denise caught my attention as she cleared her throat and nudged me with her elbow. "Oh, Corey, this is my best friend in the entire world, Denise. We call her Neece. She's your biggest fan," I said, pushing Denise towards him. She glared at me a second before plastering the most brilliant smile onto her face. "Denise...that's a pretty name. It's nice to meet you," Corey said, then held out his arms. "hug?" he asked. She blushed a little and nodded, before letting herself be drawn into his arms. I watched as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath in. I knew that feeling all too well. Corey was her Colby and she was finally getting the chance to meet him and hug him. She was in an alternate reality right now, where all of her dreams were coming true. Corey rubbed her back a little and then pulled back. "That was a nice hug. I give the best hugs," he said, dropping his hands from around her waist, and shrugging innocently. Denise kept her eyes locked on him as her cheeks started flushing through her tan. I almost started laughing but covered it with a cough. "Have you guys eaten? Are you hungry?" Sam asked, as we all sat down around the table. Corey motioned for Denise to take the chair next to him, causing Jake to move down one. Colby and I sat on the other side, with him next to Sam. I shook my head. "I'm not. We stopped and got something when we headed this way. I'll take a water though, if you don't mind." He nodded and looked and looked at Colby. "Water sounds good," Colby answered. "Yeah, I'll take one too please," Denise replied, finally tearing her eyes away from Corey. He seemed to be liking the attention and was making goofy faces at her, trying to get her to laugh. She had always really liked/loved Corey, even when he was with Devyn. This felt awkward to me, because even though they had been broken up for a while, I still just saw them as a couple. As much as Neece loved Devyn, she couldn't help being in love with Corey. Sam nodded and handed a card to Jake. "Can you grab us all some waters while I catch Colby up on what has happened?" Jake jumped up and bowed. "Your wish is my command," he said in a silly voice as he bowed. We all laughed as he walked towards the bar area. "So what did I miss?" Colby asked. I felt his hand lay on my thigh, and squeeze gently. "Okay, so I tried to keep my camera on last night so that I could catch it, if anything happened. I woke up around 3 am, to a screeching, scrubbing sound. When I glanced around the room, that small chair that is next to the table was slowly sliding across the floor." My eyes grew wide and I gasped. "Are you fucking serious? Did you catch it on film?" Sam nodded, but creased his brow. "Yea, I did, but it cut off midway and then my camera shut down. That's why I needed yours. I was scared shitless, and just jumped up and ran out of the room. Then I woke Corey and Jake and told them. They came back with me to our room, and we stayed up for a while talking, waiting to see if anything else would happen. I tried to call you but you didn't answer. We heard like a woman crying, like a wail or something, then the lamp started flickering. We freaked out and went back to their room." Sam dragged his hand through his perfectly mussed hair and sighed. "It was a crazy fucking night brother." I didn't know what to say, because I honestly got chills throughout my entire body listening to him explain what had happened last night. "Sounds like I missed a lot," Colby said, before glancing at me. "It was worth it though," he whispered so that only I could hear. I smiled, but not completely because I didn't want to be the reason that he was missing out on things for their channel, their career. It wasn't right. Jake came back with our waters, and they continued to talk about what had happened, with Denise even jumping in with comments. I sat quietly and listened, that foreboding sense coming back over me. As much as I wanted Colby and I to work, I just knew that it wouldn't. This wasn't fair but whoever said life was fair? It never was. It would beat you to a pulp, help you up, only to beat you down again. My heart was shattering again, tearing away from the tape that I had used to put it back together after leaving Florida. I sighed, then felt Colby squeeze my thigh. I glanced up and met his intense blue gaze. He had dyed his hair back to blue, and made it darker than before. I don't know why I hadn't really noticed before now. It seemed like I couldn't look at anything but his eyes sometimes. I had just been so overjoyed from seeing him, that I hadn't noticed. "You okay?" he whispered, keeping his voice quiet, and only for me. I nodded, and gave him a soft smile. I wouldn't ruin this trip. "Yeah, I'm okay. Maybe a little nervous because this sounds crazy. I've never experienced anything like this. Always wanted too though." He grinned and moved his hand from my thigh so that he could put his arm around the back of my chair. "Time for some ghost hunting babe."