Always the Opposites {Brollins}

[ Chapter 38 ]

It was no surprise to Colby that both he and Rebecca easily passed their exams, yet he still loved to watch Rebecca get giddy whenever she thought about their success.

"Let me guess..." Mercedes had sat across from the two, "She was freaking out until she got the answers... again."

Rebecca rolled her eyes when Colby laughed, "Yup."

"Seems about right." Mercedes nodded, "She's always been like that. I'm surprised she hasn't had a stroke."

"I'm right here." Rebecca glared at the both of them.

"We know." Mercedes pulled her hair out of its ponytail, "Sometimes you need to hear just how crazy you are."

"I can tell when I'm not welcome." Rebecca laughed, "I'll just see myself out."

She raised her hands in surrender before placing them on the table to help push herself up onto her feet. She took a step out of the booth, and Colby grabbed her hand. "Get your ass back over here."

"Bad word." The little girl that was drawing on a children's menu next to Mercedes quietly, raised her hand out.

"Of course." Colby rolled his eyes, reaching into his pocket, "You only hear me when it benefits you."

He handed Riley a dollar and rolled his eyes, putting his wallet away. His hand subtly slid behind Rebecca's back and pulled her closer to him.

The gesture was sweet but secretive, and it started to get more questions rolling around in Rebecca's brain. She knew nothing was official, and it was obvious that Colby would have a hard time committing to something because of his history with relationships. However, the sentiment still made her wonder what the endgame was.

It wasn't something that ran through her mind too many times, but every now and then, it would make her think. They didn't do anything obvious in front of their friends, but she was sure they still seemed closer than friends.

The dead giveaway would have been Riley, if that girl opened her mouth and spoke about how often Rebecca was around, everyone would know. Nobody other than Riley and Holly even knew about Colby staying over at Rebecca's house for the past month. She wasn't sure if the little girl had ever seen them kiss, but after she saw the photos of them sleeping together on the couch from her phone, she knew she had caught them there.

If Colby really was trying to keep this a secret, there were a lot of liabilities, and that was only if both his and her friends hadn't already put two and two together.

She looked over at her phone and noticed the time. "We better get going."

She looked over at Colby, and he nodded, "Yeah, I promised my mom she'd get some time with Riley before she has to go to bed."

"Great, scram." Mercedes stood up, "Good thing I'm the one shutting the diner down, letting you come waste my time at ungodly hours. Nobody else working here would've stood for this."

Rebecca laughed at an overly dramatic Mercedes, "It's seven o'clock, woman. The diner is normally open at this time."

"Whatever." Mercedes waved her off dismissively, "I'm gonna pretend it's nine and call it a night."

"I don't know if that's legal, but you do you." Colby chuckled, sliding on his jacket, still sitting. "C'mon, Riley, don't spend too much time with the crook."

"A cook?" Riley looked up at Mercedes, "You're a cook? Can I have a cupcake?"

Mercedes looked at the hopeful little girl, "Absolutely not."

"A crook Ri, a crook." Colby looked at his daughter, "It means a bad guy."

"A bad guy?" Riley whispered with panic in her voice as she ran over and clutched onto her father tightly.

"Not that bad." He laughed, "You know what, never mind. Mercedes is okay, she's not a danger to you."

"Well..." Rebecca tilted her head sideways, debating whether to go down that road.

"Quin, drop it." He held Riley's hand as he stood up slowly before he started walking out, and she rolled her eyes jokingly.

He had gotten the okay from his doctor to leave the crutches every now and then, to make sure he didn't become dependent on them. However, he was still warned to take things slowly, so they didn't send his progress back to square one. It was only his second time without them, and if Rebecca hadn't encouraged him to give it a try, he wouldn't have been so open to it this quickly.

"Okay, dad." She laughed, and he spun around to look at her with wide eyes. "Works both ways, Lopez. It works both ways."

She strode past him with a knowing smirk and headed over to Colby's car. After waiting for a bit, she saw him slowly hobbling over with his daughter tagging along gingerly.

The two had explained countless times what happened to Colby in the simplest of ways, but it all went in one ear and out the other. Although Riley was protective of him, she was just a little kid and didn't really understand that he wouldn't be able to play around the way he used to, for a while.

He sat his daughter in the back and closed the door, only to see Rebecca leaning against the side of his car. "What's wrong?"

Rebecca shook her head and crossed her arms, causing Colby's eyebrows to dip as he cradled her jaw. "Rebecca?"

"Nothing." She shook her head again with a forced smile, looking past him.

"You're lying to me." He saw the hesitation lacing her eyes, "What's going on?"

"Colby, I'm good, really." She grabbed his arms and squeezed them, before changing the subject. "I should be asking you if you're okay now that you're a father of two."

"Oh my God. I'm not your father." He rolled his eyes with a laugh as Rebecca began walking to the driver's side of the car. "Now, the father of your future kids is a different story..."