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

51

That night, I had the best sleep that I had ever had. At least the best sleep that I could remember having. It was peaceful, dreamless, just darkness and rest. When I woke, and started to stretch the kinks from my body, I realized Colby was lying beside me, with his arm around my waist, his head still buried in the crook of my neck. He groaned with my slight movements, and tightened his arm around my waist, pulling me closer against him. I turned in his arms, so that I could look at his face. His dark lashes shadowed his cheeks, his full lips were slightly parted in his sleep, and his face was just so relaxed, almost childlike. His hand moved on my back, his fingers climbing under my shirt to start massaging the small of my back lightly. I almost groaned from the feeling. After last night, I was hurting something fierce but I didn't want anyone to know. I was glad that the pills were gone, because I honestly didn't know if I would be able to stop myself from popping another one, with the way I was feeling. But they were gone and I was going to have to take some ibuprofen and deal with it. Not yet though. I snuggled my head under Colby's chin, and rested my hand on his hip, above the waistband of his joggers. A sound of my door opening, had me looking towards it. Denise popped her head in, and saw that I was awake. This was the reason that Colby didn't sleep in his underwear. Because the blanket had been thrown down off of both of us. It was pretty warm in So Cal right now, and we were trying to save on the insane electric bill of this huge house. Sometimes just a fan didn't always work, but we tried. "Hey, just checking to see if you guys were awake. I made breakfast, if you want some. It's just pancakes, and scrambled egg whites with toast. Nothing special." She was whispering but as soon as she said pancakes, Colby's head popped up. "Pancakes?" He said, his voice gravelly from sleep. It was enough to make chills go down my spine, stopping where his fingers were pressed into my back. Denise laughed, and nodded. "Yeah, there's plenty. Elias and everyone are already in the kitchen. We're just gonna take our food outside so that there's enough room for everyone. See you guys in a few." She ducked back out, and closed the door behind her. Colby snuggled his head into my neck, letting his lips caress the sensitive skin there. "Mmmm pancakes, or stay in bed with you. That's a tough choice." His stomach let out a growl then, signaling that the choice had actually already been made. I laughed, and brought my hand up to his head, letting my fingers run through his thick hair. "Sounds like you need to eat, before you just waste away Brock." He groaned again, and then I felt his teeth clamp down gently onto my neck, making me yelp a little. "I could just eat you," he replied, his voice deep and rough. I shivered again, and pushed back from him. Pain shot up my shoulders when I did. Yep, still not healed. Definitely not healed. I hissed in between my teeth, then tried to cover it with a cough. Didn't work. Colby's eyes shot to mine, worry apparent in his sweet, blue gaze. "You're hurting," he said, stating a fact, and not asking. I bit my lip and nodded just a little. "It's not bad. I just moved the wrong way. I'll be fine. Come on, let's go get something to eat, and I'll take some ibuprofen while I'm in there too." He didn't reply, so I started moving to sit up. The pain grabbed me, but I kept my face straight, soaking in the pain, hiding it, so that Colby wouldn't blame himself. I already knew that would happen. He would blame himself for us finally being together last night. I didn't want that. I didn't want him to turn that memory into something bad. I wanted last night to happen, more than anything and I didn't regret it. Did it maybe make my body more sore than it would have been otherwise? No, I didn't think so. Because I had been dancing a little, walking and standing way more than I normally did, and able to handle things that I normally wouldn't have been able too, because I was on pain pills. This was my fault, but I knew Colby would take it onto himself, and I couldn't have that. So I hid the pain, the best I could, especially when I felt his gaze scrutinizing me. I stood up slowly, holding the edge of my nightstand as I did, then turned to look at Colby. "See? I'm fine. Really. Let's go get some pancakes." He furrowed his brow watching me, as he pulled his shirt on. I guess I passed the test, because his face softened, and he smiled at me. "You might want to put some pants or something on first. I wouldn't want to have to kill my friends for staring at your ass." I looked down, and realized I was still only wearing the t-shirt that I slept in. "Oops," I said, blushing a little when I met his gaze. "Let me throw some shorts on first." I walked over to my dresser, taking care not to stumble or lose my balance in any way. Maybe if I just moved slowly and meticulously, I would be fine. My body was sore, yes, very sore, but it felt like it did after I worked out way too much. I could deal with it. I pulled a pair of yoga shorts out and went back to the bed so that I could sit to slide them on. I still felt Colby watching every move I made, so I was very careful. I stood to pull the shorts all the way up, then turned to meet his gaze. He grinned softly, and shook his head. I wasn't really sure why, but I took his hand when he walked around the bed to meet me. We walked together to the kitchen, which was filled with people.