redamancy (a sequel) // c.b

pizza and a party

harlow groaned as her phone rang for the fourth time within five minutes. she had been trying to avoid the call from her friends, but it wasn't working as well as she thought. they were, after all, very persistent people.

giving in, harlow grabbed her phone from carter's pillow and answered the facetime call. "can't a girl just take a nap in peace around here?" harlow half-joked once the call connected.

"harls it's like three in the afternoon," devyn replied with a laugh.

harlow raised an eyebrow as if to challenge her friend. "yeah, and? i had a long night."

tara muffled her laugh behind her hand while kat just smirked at her. "yeah, sam mentioned you had a long night," kat trailed off, obviously wanting to share whatever it was that he had told her.

"babysitter harlow to the rescue!" tara added in, this time with no laugh but lots of fake enthusiasm, "sounded like fun."

harlow paused, thinking back to the night before. she and colby had won five games of beer pong in a row, and even though they rarely had to drink because their opponents kept missing the shot, colby did anyway. it was like a role reversal from the after-party at devyn's. this time, colby was the drunk one with the word vomit. and the actual vomit.

they were halfway through their sixth game of the night when colby turned to harlow with a single finger held in the air, then turned and ran towards the house. they were playing two of ginger's bridesmaids at the time, and neither of them knew colby well enough to check on him. and while she was sure sam, jake, or even corey would eventually go and check on their friend, she wanted to be the one beside him. not because of some lovey-dovey shit, but more as a thank-you to colby for doing the same things for her.

after excusing herself from the game, she made her way up to the house and towards the bathroom. the door was shut but she could hear a faint, "shits gross," from inside.

"colbs? it's me. can i come in?"

his answer was neither a yes nor a no. instead, she received a long, low, "eughhhhhh" sound, which was enough of a yes for her, as she immediately opened the door to assess the situation.

colby was sitting across from the toilet with his knees crunched up to his chest, arms around them in an attempt to hold them there. his face was flushed, and his fringe was plastered to his forehead with sweat. he looked awful, which was rare for colby.

"hi bubs," harlow greeted him quietly, "can i help clean you up?"

colby lifted his head at lightning speed at that. "don't call me that. i know you call that dickhead that. i'm not him." his words were slurred together, but the hurt in his voice was still evident. with an exaggerated pout, he whispered, "you called me baby."

the emotion in his words was so strong, so palpable. his anger hung around her in dark clouds, his pain as clear as day on his face. in all truth, she wanted to leave the bathroom that moment and go back to the party outside. but colby had once helped harlow in a time like this, and harlow knew she had to do the same.

so she swallowed her words and grabbed a facecloth from the basket on the vanity instead. while running the cloth under cold water, she glanced back at colby through the mirror. he was still in his knees-to-chest position but was no longer looking at her with the hurt look in his eyes.

"you know, you can still call me that. i won't tell anyone."

the comment made harlow laugh loudly. "i know you wouldn't."

she wrung the water out of the cloth and then folded it in half. in a few short steps, she was crouching in front of colby and holding the washcloth to his face. "looks like you don't know your limit, brock," harlow teased as she blotted the boy's face with the cool cloth.