𝐚𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜 • 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐛𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤

forty-one

"God damn it, Sam," I huffed as I was spread across the couch, my legs resting on Colby's lap.

"What?" he chuckled from the armchair, taking his attention off the tv and focusing it on me. "What did I do?"

I let out a laugh, moving my head so I could look at him. "You did nothing. I just want a treehouse like this, too."

"For real, this is great," Colby nodded, looking around. "Very convenient if you have runaway friends."

Sam shrugged, looking back at the tv. "Yeah, I suppose it's cool. I don't have an indoor swimming pool, though."

"You told him?" I chuckled at Colby.

"I  might have mentioned it," he replied, a smile on his face.

"By the way," Sam added. "I'm totally pooljacking some time."

I laughed. "Always welcome, dude."

We were all silent for a moment, before Sam cleared his throat. "So, uh, guys, what are you doing for Christmas?"

Colby snorted. "Nothing."

I shrugged. "I was invited to Tyler's with Hero but I'm not particularly feeling it anymore. Why, though?"

"Would you guys maybe wanna join me and Katrina? We both don't have any plans as well so maybe we can all celebrate together," he asked, shifting in his chair to find a more comfortable position.

Colby looked at me, and then at Sam. "We would love to. Where?"

Sam shook his head. "We have yet to figure that out."

"My house is empty," I replied. "We can hold the party there, if you want."

Sam nodded. "Yeah, sounds good, if you're okay with that."

"Absolutely," I replied. "I'll make sure we have something to eat."

Colby shifted his vision back over to me. "Christmas is the day after tomorrow. I'll help you with everything."

I smiled. "Great."

"Please just make sure it's edible," Sam chuckled. "I trust you with this, Ara."

"I will not disappoint you," I stood up from the couch. "In fact, I will commence preparations right now."

Sam stood up as well. "I have to go as well. What are you gonna do, Colby?"

"Help out Arabella as I promised two mere seconds ago, obviously," he let out a laugh, following our example and standing up himself.

"Great," I said as I turned off the tv. "Let's go! You're driving."

Colby rolled his eyes playfully. "Of course I am, you don't have your license."

"One day," I responded, a small chuckle behind my words.

I followed Sam as he made his way down from the treehouse, careful not to misstep. Colby and I split paths with Sam, and continued towards the street where his car stood parked. "Everytime I walk outside I still get surprised by how fucking cold it gets in December," I remarked, right before stepping into the car.

"Well, yeah, that's what December's for," he shrugged, a smile on his face. "You could always move to 'Straya and deal with the cold in July."

I shook my head, watching him as he got next to me into the car. "But then I'd still have to deal with the cold, just in a different time period. Also, can you imagine celebrating Christmas during the summer?"

"I mean, it's a reality for all the people living down-under," he replied as he started the car and drove off.

"I'll tell you what," I chuckled, catching his attention. "I'll move to Australia if you move to Australia."

"Tempting," he chuckled back, wiggling his eyebrows. "And what are we gonna do there?"

I pursed my lips in thought, then pulled them into a smile. "We could ride horses on the beach during sunset, or better yet- kangaroos, and have a dozen koalas as pets in our sanctuary. We'd live in an old farm, of course, but we would renovate it beautifully. We're also getting a dog."

"A dog, huh?" he laughed.

"That's all you got from that?!" I asked through my laughs as well. "What about the kangaroos?"

He shook his head. "You'd have to find a very good way of convincing me because kangaroos are fucking scary."

"Seriously?" I snickered. "You'll come at three guys you know you don't stand a chance against because you're outnumbered but you worry about a kangaroo?"

"Difference between your brother's clique and the kangaroo is I respect the kangaroo," he chuckled.

I sighed. "Okay, fair. We could stick with the horses."

"You can have your koala sanctuary though," he spoke. "No, wait. I take that back. I want the koalas."

I rolled my eyes, amused at the way he played into my story. "Then what do I get?"

"You get your 'The Notebook'-ass house renovation!" he exclaimed.

I stayed silent for a couple seconds, trying not to let out my snicker. "The Notebook, huh? Not such a bad boy anymore, are you, babe?"

He groaned, sinking into his seat in embarrassment. "I was bored and alone."

"Oh. My. God. Here I was thinking you watched it with Gabriela but you really watched it on your own," I now let my snicker out, not able to contain it any longer.

He pouted. "Fuck. I should've said that. Stop laughing at me."

"I'm laughing because I think it's adorable!" I rested my hand on his thigh. "Really, I don't think you should take any shame in it. I just like riling you up from time to time, because usually it's the other way around. Continue watching your chick flicks."

"I'll watch Australia with you," he smirked. "Let's see if you're still gonna be laughing."

"Oh God, you really don't wanna watch sob movies with me, I will sob enough amounts of water into your shirt to fill up the Atlantic Ocean twice."

His smirk didn't fade - instead it only grew wider. "I'll hold you to it then."

"Just remember you did this to yourself," I chuckled as we pulled onto the parking lot of the Target we were planning on shopping at. "Let's go."

• • •

[ Author's note ]

hey everyone! i'm sorry i haven't uploaded last week, i wasn't feeling very motivated. i'll try to get back on schedule. thanks for reading and voting and commenting, ily. ♡