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

135

"Have you guys decided yet?" I shook my head. "No, probably not for a while." No one questioned it further and I was grateful for that. "Watch this," Katrina said quietly. "Saaaammm," Kat called out, walking over to him. "Yeah," he said absentmindedly, still talking to Colby, and the other guys. It was like we had separated, the girls around me and the guys around him. "When are you going to give me an engagement ring?" Sam choked on the drink that he had just took a swallow of. "Wha- huh?" he asked, his eyes wide, as he met hers. She busted out laughing. "Don't have an aneurysm, I'm kidding." "Oh," Sam laughed nervously. The entire group laughed, making Sam's face turn a little red. I looked around at all of the people that were to celebrate with me, for me. There was no alcohol tonight, but everyone was laughing and having a good time, dancing and acting stupid with one another. Elias, Denise, Sarah, Brennen, Sam, Kat, Jake, Tara, Kenzie, Kevin, Reggie, Cassie, Corey, Devyn, Xepher, Griffin, Aryia, Tavan, Chazz, Elton, and Ginger. They were all here. My heart swelled with so much love for the people in this house. I smiled to myself as Colby kissed my cheek, then joined Sam, Jake, and Corey to film a Tik Tok that had absolutely no meaning to it at all. I laughed watching them, then felt someone wrap their arms around me from behind and lay their chin on my shoulder. I leaned my head on her's and sighed. "Are you happy?" Denise asked softly. I nodded, and placed my hands on top of hers on my stomach. "I am. I'm so very happy." I turned, and she dropped her arms. "He bought me the house Neece." She looked confused. "What house? We have a house. Are you moving again? Damn T, if that's what you want to do, okay, but I'm going to miss you being right here with me." I smiled and shook my head. "I'm not moving yet and I don't mean a house in LA. It's more of a vacation home. In Georgia. THE house Neece." She raised her eyebrows and I could almost see the wheels spinning inside her head. "Wait, THE house? Like, the plantation house. The one you told me about?" I smiled again and nodded. "Wooooow," she said, letting her eyes drift over to Colby. He looked over to me, like he could feel us talking about him. He smiled, blew me a kiss, then went back to talking to his friends. "He really loves you," she mused, watching him. "I love him," I said softly. She turned to look at me. "You always have T. You always have." Her eyes got a far away look, then she furrowed her brow and bit her lip. "What's wrong?" I asked. "What are you thinking about?" Her eyes came back up to meet mine. "The fandom. You guys have kept your relationship a secret, but it's only been a few months. How are you going to break it to the fandom that HE'S already engaged, when they didn't even know you existed?" I started chewing on my own bottom lip, nervously. "I don't know. I'm not sure how to handle this, but I'm hoping he does. I know that I'm going to catch hate, but my accounts are set to private and I never check my old fan pages. I'm hoping enough time has passed so that they don't remember who I am." She scoffed, and rolled her eyes. "Do you remember how FBI the fandom was? They've had 3 years to hone their skills. They're probably worse now." I sighed. "I know. I don't want to think about it right now. Let's just have fun." So we did. We played beer pong with weird concoctions that the guys made up. Some were actually pretty good, but when they were bad, they were really bad. We played Never have I ever, while Sam filmed for his next personal video. We played Mafia, Murderer, Hide and Seek, and Nerf Wars. The entire night was exhausting and the most fun I've had in a while. By the time everyone left, it was almost 4am. I yawned and covered my mouth, as I watched Colby tell Sam and Katrina goodnight. "We'll see you guys later. Be careful going home," he said, clapping Sam on the back. They were the last to leave, and the house felt so empty with almost everyone gone. Denise and Elias were in her room, Sarah had left with Brennen, and Kenzie was in her room alone. Everyone was exhausted. Colby walked up to me, a soft smile on his face, as he wrapped his arms around my waist. I brought my arms up around his neck, and lay my head on his chest. I was quiet, just enjoying being close to him, letting his scent surround me. Then a thought occurred to me. "Colby," I said, leaning my head up. "Hmm?" he replied. "If Sam knew, and helped you pick out the ring, then he knew what the announcement was. Also, how did they get all of those decorations and the cake finished so quickly, if you texted him right when we got here to my house?" He chuckled, and leaned down to press his lips to mine. "I told Sam not to say anything about what kind of announcement it was, no matter what. He told me that they all thought you were pregnant. I honestly thought that would be funny so I told him to let them think that. And I called him the day you said yes. This has already been planned. I was just texting him to let him know that we were on the way over." I just stared at him for a moment. "You're amazing, you know that? I don't know how you do all of  these things without me noticing." He laughed, and brushed a lock of hair behind my ear. "You're incredibly unobservant T. It works in my favor." I rolled my eyes and smiled, knowing he was probably right. I went to sleep that night, wrapped in the arms of the man I loved.