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

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I opened my eyes to the dark room around me, with Colby's arm pulling me tight against him. I lifted my head to look at him. I smiled, noticing that he still looked so innocent when he was asleep. Despite the beard and the mustache, he would never lose his boyish looks. I was certain that, even when he was old and wrinkled, he'd still have that mischievous twinkle in his blue eyes, and that sarcastic little smirk that he loved to use. I held my hand up and looked at the new ring that adorned my ring finger. God, it was so gorgeous. Exactly my style, and the fact that he got his birthstone as the gem was so endearing to me. This way, I would always carry a piece of him with me. I didn't know if I was ready to get married, but knowing that this ring symbolized me being with him forever made me think that maybe I was. I imagined us, old and gray, sitting side by side, playing one of the games that Sam loved to do. Like Mafia or something. I grinned leaned up to kiss his cheek gently. He mumbled something and rolled over towards me, putting his other arm around me and pulling me closer. I trailed my fingers over the tattoo that was on his bicep. This was one that was fairly knew. Symbolizing the love he had for his family and friends. It started out as the Tree of Life, a raven on four of the limbs, symbolizing him, his parents, and his brother. The deep roots spread out to another tree, with a few more ravens on the limbs, symbolizing his closest friends. One of the birds in the friends tree was bigger than the others, and I knew that one was Sam. "Mmmm," he groaned, while I traced the tattoo. "Good morning Sleepyhead," I whispered. "Morning beautiful," he murmured, opening his eyes, his gaze meeting mine. "How did you sleep?" I asked, smiling at him. "Amazingly," he said, then yawned. I giggled, and sat up, having to detangle myself from his arms. I yawned and stretched my languid muscles, enjoying the loose feeling of my limbs. "We should get up," I said, grabbing my phone and looking at the time. "I promised Mrs. Gail that I would come by her place before we left to go back home. Plus, we're supposed to be out of this room in an hour." "Ugh," he groaned, then raised up on his elbow to look at me. He grinned at me softly. "I like seeing you this way," he said quietly. "What way?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him. He reached his hand to my face and trailed his fingers down the side of it. "Happy," he said simply. I placed my hand over his that was on my cheek, and smiled at him. "I'm very happy. I know that's weird, because we came here to bury my friend, but I don't know. I feel lighter. Free, in a way." I leaned over and pressed my lips to his for a short, hot kiss. "I also woke up to you, half naked, right next to me. That would make anyone happy." He rolled his eyes, and his cheeks reddened a little. I still didn't understand how he didn't see what millions of other people saw, including myself, but he didn't. He never did. I vowed to spend the rest of my life trying to get him to see what I saw in him. "Come on, let's get our stuff together," I said, patting his chest. I stood up and smiled, hearing his groan. "Fiiine," he said, sitting up, and running his hand through his messy hair. We spent the next hour making sure that we had everything packed up, and that we weren't forgetting anything. "I swear I always feel like I'm forgetting something," I mumbled, glancing around the room again. There was nothing of mine that I could see. I had packed everything. "Um, T?" Colby said. "Hmm," I mused, as I walked to the dresser to make sure that I didn't leave anything in it. "You did forget something," I heard him say. I turned back to look at him. He cocked his eyebrow at me, and let his eyes travel down my body. I looked down at myself, following the trail that his eyes made. "Fuck," I exclaimed. I hadn't put any pants on. Or socks and shoes. I was still in the shirt that I had slept in, same bed head, everything. I hadn't even tried to get ready. He laughed at me, and threw a pair of joggers out of my bag to me. I slipped then, then dug through my clothes to find a shirt. When I finished getting ready, literally just dragging a brush through my hair, it was time for us to go. We packed our few bags into the rental car, and set out on our way to see Mrs. Gail. She greeted us on the porch, a wide smile on her face. She had her almost completely gray hair pinned up in a bun, and a green apron covering her clothes. There were flour patches on her cheeks, and the apron was splattered with it as well. "Did we catch you at a bad time?" I asked, walking up onto the porch, with Colby right behind me. She shook her head, still smiling, and looked down at herself. "No, it's never a bad time to see you two. I'm in the middle of making homemade biscuits and tomato gravy for lunch though. Got some company comin' over. Well, come in before we all melt out here," She said, and waved us inside. We followed her to the kitchen, and sat down at the table, while she resumed her work at the kitchen counter. "Do you have enough time to stay for lunch? I have plenty," she asked, her back to us. I made a gagging motion to Colby, and shook my head. I hated tomato gravy. It was just gross and unnatural. Tomatoes shouldn't be made into a gravy. "No ma'am, but thank you."