One•Shots

colby + banks

c o l b y *

I'm getting ready to go to bed when I hear the knock on my apartment door.
I look at my phone.
11:03 PM.
Who's here this late??
I walk to the door and open it, finding myself face to face with my best friend who has tears streaming down his cheeks.
"B?" I say. "Come in,"
I grab his wrist and pull him into my first-floor apartment, closing the door behind us.
"What's wrong??" I ask him, leading him to the couch. He's crying so hard now that he's hyperventilating. I grab a cup from the cabinet and fill it up with water.
I take it to Banks.
"Here, drink," I tell him.
I tip the cup to his lips. He drinks, looking at me. It dribbles down his chin a little, and I run to get a paper towel, wiping his chin.
"What's wrong? What happened?" I ask him.
He shakes his head.
"Banks?" I ask him.
He leans forward and buries his head in my chest. I put the cup on the TV stand, grab the pawprint blanket on the arm of the couch.
"Come here," I say softly. "Come here, lay down,"
I pull him with me as I lean back on the couch, stretching my legs out. I pull Banks onto my and throw the blanket over us, but mostly over him.
I stroke his forehead.
"You wanna talk about it?" I ask him softly.
He shakes his head and sniffs.
"Okay," I say softly. "I'm here when you do,"

After a few minutes of silence, Banks hiccups.
"C-C-C-Colby?" he stutters.
"Yeah?" I say softly.
"I got jumped,"
"What?! Where?! When?! Who?! How?! Why?!"
Banks shrugs. "I-it-it hurts,"
"What hurts, B?" I ask him. "Come on,"
I lead him to the bathroom.
"What hurts, Banks? Can I make it better?" I ask him.
He nods.
"I can make it better? How?" I whisper.
He looks up at me. "Hold me," he sobs.
"Ssh, it's okay," I whisper as I drop to the floor and pull him onto my lap. "Ssh, I'm here, I'm here, I'm right here... what hurts, bud??"
He sits up and lifts his shirt over his head, revealing a freshly formed bruise spanning from the bottom of his shoulder blade to the top part of the middle of his back.
"Gosh," I whisper.
"Who did this?" I add.
"Tyler Daley," he whispers.
"Why? When? Where?"
"I don't know why," he says, his voice quivering. "It was about an hour or two ago now, and it was at the baseball field... I was over there with my sister and my niece and after they left he came out of nowhere and--"
"We can press charges, Banks," I tell him.
"No! No!" He says suddenly.
"Why?"
"B-because, Colby, I'm not ready,"
He turns to look at me.
"Ready for what, B?"
He shakes his head. So he does know 'why' but he doesn't want to say yet...interesting.
"Is there anything I can do? Will you let me wash it off with a warm washcloth?" I ask him.
He nods, and I get up to grab a washcloth from under the sink. I wet it with warm water and go back over to him. I press it to his back.
"Let me know if this hurts, okay?" I ask him.
He nods.
"Is that too hot?" I ask him.
He shakes his head. "No..." he mumbles. "Feels good,"
I gently wash his back with the washcloth.
When I'm done, I pull him to his feet and lead him to my bedroom, sitting him down on the bed.
I grab a new shirt and a pair of sweatpants from my drawer.
"Do you want to shower? Or take a bath?" I ask him.
He nods.
I grab a clean pair of underwear and hand it to him.
"Yell if you need me, okay?"
He nods.

✯

I hear him sniffling.
"Banks?" I call through the door. "Hey, can I come in?"
"Y-Y-Y-Yeah," he stutters.
"What's wrong?" I ask him as he sits in the bathtub.
"It just hurts," he says softly.
"I know, bud," I say. "I wish there was more I could do,"
He looks at me.
"I'll let you get dressed, and then we can eat ice cream, or something, sound good?" I ask.
He nods.

I grab two bowls and put ice cream in them, putting the ice cream tub back in the freezer and handing a bowl to Banks.
"Is there anything else I can do to make it better?" I ask him after we've finished our ice cream.
He looks at me, as if thinking, and nods slowly.
"What?" I ask him. "What is it?"
I take the bowls to the sink.
"Can I tell you something?" he asks softly.
"Of course, you're my best friend, you can tell me anything,"
"I-I do know why Tyler did it," he admits softly.
"Do you want to talk about it?" I ask him, sitting down beside him on the couch.
"Not really, but if I don't, he'll tell everyone and then you'll find out from him..."
"If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to, alright?"
He nods. "I know, but I don't want you to find out from him... you're my best friend, and I should've told you months ago..."
I look at him.
"I-I don't know he found out..." he begins. "I think it'll be easier to tell you this way..."
He looks at me.
"Colby," he says, taking a deep breath. "I love you, a lot, and I-uh-I...gosh, this is hard,"
I smile at him. "It's okay," I whisper. "Banks?"
He looks at me. "Yeah?"
"Can I kiss you?"
He looks at me slowly, parting his lips. "Y-yeah," he says softly, a smile creeping onto his lips.
I lean forward and our mouths meet for the first time.
I pull him forward and he climbs onto my lap.
"Let's go to my bedroom," I say, breaking the kiss gently. "I just want you to be comfortable and I know you're tired,"
I grab his waist and lift him up, carrying him to my bedroom. I lay him down gently on my bed. I lean over him, pulling the covers over him.
"Where are you going?" he asks me as I turn to leave the room.
"I'll be right back," I promise him.

I go back into my room after turning off the lights and making sure my front door was locked.
When I go back into my room and lay down, Banks turns to me and scoots against me.
"I love you, Banks," I whisper, leaning down and pressing my lips to his.
"I love you too, Colby," he whispers back, kissing me again.

4/10/2020
I 'took' the pictures at night since that's when he came over :)