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

67

His arm came around me, and we just sat there, both of us on our phones, but still enjoying the comfort of each other. "I'm gonna miss you," I said, snuggling into him deeper. "When you leave next weekend. I know you'll only be a couple of hours away and we don't have to spend every second together. I'm just used to you being around now." His arm tightened around me for a moment. "I'm gonna miss you too. I'll call you when I can, but Sam and I are going to be trying to get used to having a filming crew around, instead of just us doing our thing. It's going to be weird," he said in disbelief. "You guys deserve this, ya know? It's been a long time coming. What, you've been doing social media for like nine years now, right? Most people get cancelled after a while but you guys just keep going. It's amazing." He rubbed his hand up and down my arm comfortingly. "I can't believe it's been that long," he murmured, a far off look in his eyes. "I know," I said, sitting up and grabbing the remote. "What?" he asked. "Let's watch old Sam and Colby Vine compilations. Let's go way back and see where you started from. Wanna reminisce?" I asked, wagging my eyebrows. He laughed and took the remote from me. "No, not really. I was such a dork. Those are embarrassing and they're going to haunt me forever, aren't they?" I nodded, and took the remote back. "Yep. I've already seen them, and you need to remember where you started Brock. Besides, I already know you were a dork. You're still a dork, but I wanna watch baby Colby be adorkable." He rolled his eyes, and motioned to the TV with a smile. "Fine, you win. Let the torture begin." "Yay!" I said, clapping my hand against the remote before I got YouTube started and pulled up a compilation of the guys. "This one has Jake and Corey in it too, so that could be fun," I said, starting it. I giggled when little Sam and Colby popped up on the screen, glasses and bad hair cuts galore. They rolled down hills, jumped off of tables, screamed at people, grabbed random girl's hands, destroyed public property, and pretty much anything else they could think of. By the time, we went through Jake's and then Corey's Vines, which were at the end of the compilation, we had both laughed so much, my ribs were aching more than usual. "Oh- oh my God," I gasped out, holding my hand to my rib cage. "I can't. I got- gotta stop- laughing! It hur-hurts." Every time we would look at one another when we calmed down some, the laughter would start back over again. I didn't want it to end, but I wasn't sure how much I could take. I was actually hurting pretty badly after the beach today and anyone will tell you that heavy laughter is a workout. "Okay, okay, we're calm," Colby said, swallowing his last chuckle. I took deep breaths, and kept my head turned so that I didn't start laughing again. "Best day ever," I said quietly, glancing at him to see if it was safe. He met my gaze and smiled. I wanted to laugh, so I cleared my throat, and just smiled back. I felt it. I was about to laugh again. Dear God, no, I can't handle it! The doorbell rang, grabbing our attention. "I'm going to see who that is, and grab you something to drink. Anything else you want?" he asked me, standing up. I shook my head, and watched him walk out. It was after midnight by now, but sometimes people stopped by at weird hours, especially if the lights were still on. Usually, they would call or text though. "Hey, what are you doing here? Are you okay?" I heard Colby's worried voice coming from down the hall. I stood up, moving slowly from the aches in my tired muscles, and started out of the room. When I rounded the corner, and got close enough to the door to see, Colby stepped aside and let a familiar person inside. The girl latched onto him, burying her face in his chest. "I'm so sorry. I- I didn't know where else to g-g-go," Amber stammered out, in between sobs. "Hey, what's wrong?" I asked, finally making it to them. Colby gave me a helpless look, his arms held out hands up away from his body, as Amber looked up and met my gaze. "Terraaa," she sobbed, letting go of Colby, and wrapping her arms around me. I stumbled against her force with my weak body, and Colby placed his hand at the small of my back, steadying me. "She's still recovering Amber. Be easy." Amber let me go quickly, and wiped her eyes, before meeting my gaze. "I'm sorry. I didn't have anywhere else to go. My roommate won't stop doing coke, and it's always right there in front of me. She had a party, and the apartment was packed with people doing drugs and drinking. She told me that she was sober when we first moved in, but that stopped a long time ago. I'm just not strong enough to stay in it without doing it." She took a shaky breath. "Can I stay here tonight? I'll look for a new place tomorrow. I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't have any money saved..." I sighed, and nodded, glancing at Colby who had a thoughtful look on his face. "Yes, of course you can. I'll help you look for a place. Don't worry. It'll be okay." I held my arms out to her, and she kind of smiled, before hugging me gently. "You're such a good friend T. Thank you so much." Colby caught my gaze, and I could tell he wasn't exactly happy about the situation. "Come on, let's go to the living room," I said, pulling back from her. She nodded, and wiped her tear stained face with the back of her hand. "Okay."