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

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"Terra," I opened my eyes to see Colby holding his hand out to me. "It's time to go outside for the lowering of the casket." I nodded, and took his hand. Mrs. Gail was being led outside by one of the deacons, so I didn't worry about her. The few who stayed, besides us, were the deacons, JJ, Levi, Amber's mother Stacey, and my own parents. I didn't understand why they were still hanging around but I didn't really care either. We all gathered around the casket once the deacons had it in place, and listened to the pastor read another passage from the Bible. The one that says ashes to ashes, dust to dust. I zoned out while he was reading it, and thought about all of the life events that Amber would be missing out on. She would never fall in love again, or find the one that was meant for her. She gave all of her future happiness up, for a moment's despair. I looked over to Colby and caught his eyes. We stared at each other while the pastor finished up, and my mind just took in every detail about him. I never wanted to forget that my future happiness could be the most amazing thing in my life. Mrs. Gail moved, catching our attention, and I watched her take a white rose and drop it on top of the casket as it was lowered. We all did the same, going in a line. JJ was behind Colby, and I heard him whisper as he dropped his own rose. "You're free now love. No more pain," he said quietly. He was right. She was free, but I was still here. We were all still here, fighting to be happy, to find what our soul craved. "I promise that I won't let this be in vain. I'll live for the both of us Amber. I'll keep fighting until I get the life we talked about," I said, inside my head. The bright, beautiful day had darkened, storm clouds coming out of nowhere while we had been inside the church. It was going to rain again, and I guess it was fitting for the situation. There were holes in the floor of Heaven after all. We walked back towards the limo, since it was our only way back to Mrs. Gail's house. Colby had his arm around my shoulders, as we walked side by side. I didn't notice my parents when we walked by, until my Mother called out to me again. I turned to face her slowly, feeling empty. "Terra," she started, then closed her mouth, like she wasn't sure she wanted to say whatever it was. "What Mother? I'm emotionally drained. I can't pretend to care what you think of me today," I responded, appreciating the way Colby pulled me tighter against him. My Mother shook her head, then glanced at my Father. He met my tired gaze and sighed. "Terra honey, what your Mother is trying to say is that..." he trailed off, looking back at my Mother. "We love you," she blurted out, catching me off guard. I didn't know what to say. How weird is it, that when my parents told me they loved me, I didn't know what to say, but with my friends, I could throw out love every other minute. I swallowed hard, feeling my emotions start back up again. "I love you both. I can't do this right now. I'm sorry," I said, then let Colby steer me towards the limo. They didn't say anything, didn't call me back, and for that at least, I was grateful. I really couldn't deal with them today. The driver took us back to Mrs. Gail's home, where we said our goodbyes to her. "Oh honey, will you two come see me before you leave to go back to LA? I know you don't leave until the day after tomorrow." I smiled at her. "Yes Ma, of course we will." I leaned in, hugging her, then watched Colby hug her, and blush when she kissed his cheek. "You take care of this one, okay young man? She's special." Colby looked at me and grinned. "She sure is. I promise I will." "We'll see you later Mrs. Gail. Bye," I said, waving at her as we walked out the door and to our car. "So, what do you want to do?" Colby asked me. I shrugged. "I don't really feel like doing anything. I don't know if I'm tired, emotionally drained, or both. I feel like I could sleep for days." "Then let's do that," he said, putting the car into drive and taking us back to our room. We did just that. Colby pulled out his laptop and we watched an array of videos ranging from funny, spooky, and even inspirational. I ended up falling asleep with my head on his chest. When I woke, I forgot where I was, and looked around the dark room. Colby was lying next to me, his laptop sitting on the bedside table, still open. He was breathing gently, his thick lashes casting a small shadow on his face from the streetlight outside shining into our room. I lightly traced the tattoo on his chest, and smiled, remembering the days when I used to dream about being able to do this. The smallest actions with him always meant so much to me. These were the moments that I wanted to remember. I wasn't tired any longer but I stay in bed, waiting for him to wake up. Finally, with the sun shining into our room, he stretched, and lazily cracked his eyes. When he caught my eye, he grinned. "Well, good morning beautiful," he replied, his voice thick with sleep. "Hey SleepyHead," I responded. "How long have you been up?" I shrugged. "I don't know, a few hours." "Why didn't you wake me?" he asked, sitting up and stretching again. I watched his muscles ripple in his arms, and again thanked God for creating him. "Didn't need too. We have a completely free day to do whatever we want," I answered, smiling at him. "Anything huh?" he asked, grabbing me by my waist, and pulling me over him. I smiled down at him and smacked his chest lightly. "Perv," I said laughing.