In This Life (Sequel to 'In Another Life')

40

The grin that spread across his gorgeous, slightly sunburned face, was worth all the pain, all the aggravation, everything. "I love you Terra Brooks. I'm the lucky one." He pressed his lips to mine, for one long, burning moment, then leaned back, his face still holding that beautiful smile. "Aww the love birds made up. I knew she couldn't stay mad for too long." I looked around to find Denise sitting with Elias on the edge of the pool, their legs in the water. "I wasn't mad," I huffed out. "Sure you weren't," she replied. "You forget ma'am. I've known you for a long time. I know when you're mad. And you were mad." "Shut up Neece. Mind your own business...and your own guy." I shot her a knowing look. Yeah, she was making moves on Elias and I had honestly seen it coming. The girl was in love with his music, and I knew she had a giant crush on him. She blushed a little, then turned her head back to him, letting the subject drop. I heard Colby chuckle so I met his gaze again. His blue eyes stunned me for a moment, stealing my breath. I was never going to get used to him, no matter how long we were together. I wouldn't want too. I wanted him to always steal my breath. "How about we just have fun and enjoy the day? I'll try to be less annoying," he said quietly, reaching up and wrapping a lock of my wet hair around his fingers. I nodded, and bit my lip, smiling. "Sounds good." "Can I just ask one thing?" he asked. "You just did," I laughed out. He rolled his eyes at me. "Okay, can you just stay away from these idiots playing around? I'm worried that you are going to get hurt and I can't help that. I already think it was a bad idea for you to agree to everyone having alcohol." I sighed again, moving my hands back to the concrete so that I could lean back. "Colby, I'm fine with that. We can't ask our friends to not do something that they enjoy just because I can't do it. Trust me, I'm not thinking about taking a drink. I don't need it to be happy. I just need you." He smiled a little, but I could see the worry in his eyes. "And I'll make sure to watch out for the children playing." I pressed a quick kiss against his lips. "Promise." He sighed then, and leaned into me, laying his head on my lap since he was still in the water. "Okay. Then I promise to try and loosen up. It's not easy to do, ya know?" I giggled at how desperate he sounded. "I know and I appreciate you trying for me. I promise that I'm okay though." He leaned back up and met my gaze. "Okay. Let's have fun then. No more worrying." Before I could speak, he placed his hands on my waist and lifted me, bringing me back down into the pool swiftly. I yelped a little, and automatically wrapped my arms around his neck, letting my body latch onto his. The rest of the day was perfect honestly. Until I started hurting. I tried to ignore it but it was too bad. I saw Denise and Colby keeping an eye on me, so I tried to fake it, but I couldn't. I didn't want to mess up the night, so I excused myself. "I'll be right back. Gotta go to the bathroom," I told the group. We were all standing around the fire pit, just listening to music, dancing, and joking around. "You okay?" Colby asked quietly, before pressing his lips against my cheek. I nodded. "Yeah, I'm a little sore, but I need to pee. Badly," I laughed out. He nodded. "Okay. Do you need someone to go with you, just in case? Denise or one of the other girls?" I shook my head. "No Colby, I'm fine. Ease up, remember?" I asked, raising my eyebrows at him. He smirked at me. "I know. I can't help it. Go. I'll be here when you get back." I nodded, kissed him quickly, then walked towards the house. The lights were on, but the big house was quiet with everyone outside. I could hear the muffled bass from our music playing outside. I made my way to the bathroom, and leaned against the sink again. Was I in control of this? I was hurting. That's the only reason that I wanted to take something. I didn't want to get high; just wanted this pain to go away so that I could enjoy myself. I didn't even want a full pill, just half. I stared at my reflection, wondering if I could handle it, not wanting to get sucked back into that whirlwind of addiction, knowing how easy that would be. This situation was so fucked up and I didn't know what to do. I did know that I was having more fun that I had had in a very long time. "You can do this. It's fine. It's just to take the pain away. You got this," I told myself. I nodded, and opened the medicine cabinet to find the pills. I popped the other half in my mouth, took a drink of water from my hand, then put them back up. This was fine. I could handle this. I felt like I had learned from my past experiences and that I would be able to do this. It was simply for a better quality of life while I was in pain. I kept repeating these things to myself, as I walked back out outside. "Hey, we're gonna go in and make some margaritas. That cool?" Amber asked, giggling as Tavan grabbed her waist. I raised my eyebrows at her, and she just blushed. "Aye, you know how I do," Tavan said, grinning at me. I laughed, and held the door open for them to go inside. I shook my head and smiled to myself as I made my way back over to Colby, who was now sitting under the canopy by the grill, talking with Brennen, Sam, and Elias. I noticed that he had an unopened White Claw in his hand. I knew that he had been not drinking around me, because of my situation and I loved him for it, but I didn't want to stop him from doing those things when he enjoyed it.