Dazed & Confused

[45]

[The Next Day]
{Sam's POV}

I hop off my bike and take off my helmet, walking towards the bunker, getting inside with my helmet still in hand. I hop down at the last step and walk over to the counter, setting my helmet and keys down and taking my leather jacket off as well, going into my room and hiding the jacket from Colby. Speaking of, where is Colby?
     "Colby! I'm back!" I yell softly through the bunker since its not that big. No reply. Maybe he's sleeping? I walk over to Colby's room and push the door open, seeing Colby not there. Where is he? Panic slowly starts growing in me. It looks like he hasn't been here in awhile. He better not have left. He's more wanted then me. I can lie my way out of getting jail time or worse, prison. Colby can't. I take a deep breath and walk back into the main room. I look at my reflection through my helmet and fix my helmet hair. I then reach into my helmet and grab my beanie from it. Why did Katrina give me this? Everyone else wears a black or gray beanie. Why is mine maroon? My old maroon beanie is at home in Kansas. As far as I know, none of them have been in Kansas for a while. And they wouldn't be able to get my beanie unless they snuck in my parent's house. But that doesn't explain why. I feel like theres a meaning behind this. I sigh to myself and put the beanie back on. I should probably wait a little bit before I look for Colby. He could be getting us more stuff or something. I walk to the fridge and grab myself a mango lemonade truly. I open it as I close the fridge, walking over to the couch and flopping down, pulling my phone out and playing on it to pass the time.

[2 Hours Later]

I tie my shoes and stand up from the couch, stuffing my phone in my back pocket. Colbys been gone for too long. Something definitely happened. As I head to the entrance to the bunker, I see Colby. I stop dead in my tracks.
"Where the f*ck have you been?" I ask with sternness in my voice. Colby looks at me for a split second before looking away and walking towards me without a word, pulling me into a hug.
"I f*cking thought I lost you." Colby says, holding me tightly. I let out a breath of relief, hugging Colby back.
"You didn't. I just left for a little and couldn't come home earlier since I was too exhausted to drive." I say, spitting lies through my teeth. I can't let him know that I'm hanging out with Aryia and Griffin. I don't want him to panic over me leaving him when I'm not. I don't need him jumping to conclusions and ruining what we have right now. Colby gives me a skeptical look before just sighing and pulling away. I stare at his eyes as I notice a slight difference in them. Wait, are his eyes.. gray? Isn't his eyes blue? Like a deep blue?
"Your eyes are gray," I comment, observing Colbys eyes a little more. I watch as Colby gulps quietly,
"It's probably just the lighting." Colby quickly says. He's lying. I hum in disbelief. I grab Colby's face and force his face to face me, observing his eyes more. They're definitely gray, right? And this is definitely the other Colby. I'm sure of that. I can tell by his body language and his clothes. And theres no other break in the universe. Griffin made sure of that. Colby adverts his eyes to the things behind me, clearly not wanting to look me in the eyes, making it hard to fully tell that his eyes are gray. I let a small groan of frustration,
"Your eyes are definitely gray." Colby looks around anxiously,
"Maybe your going color blind."
Colby comments. I feel annoyance settle in where the panic once was. I slap the back of Colby's head and pull Colby close to my face to observe his eyes more. I need to be sure. It'll kill me if I'm not sure. I know I'm right about this shit. And he's acting suspicious and being very anxious which just adds to my case.
Colby closes his eyes and quickly leans in for a kiss, but I'm faster. I place my hand over his mouth before he could kiss me. My hand barely pressing against my own mouth. He got so close. He would've distracted me if he actually kissed me, fuck. I hate the affect he has on me. I take the chance of surprise on his face to observe his eyes. Holy fuck, they're definitely gray. I was right. I was fucking right. Colby suddenly pushes me away from him, making me stumble a few feet away from him.
"Can you fucking stop?!" Colby basically yells. I stand there, blanking, staring at the man in front of me. Shock filling my face. How is his eyes gray? That shouldn't be possible. How is that possible? Why is his eyes gray? Why did he push me away like that? I hear Colby scoff and head to his room, walking right past me like I'm nothing on his way there.
I come to my senses and realize my body's shaking. I take a deep, surprisingly shaky breath as my heart races in my chest. I need some fresh air. I decided to ditch my jacket and helmet and just grab my keys that I left on the counter. I head outside again and get on my motorcycle, starting it. I reach behind me in a secret compartment under the seat behind the front one and pull out some leather fingerless gloves. I put them on before closing the compartment and kicking up the kick stand, driving anywhere I can get to.
I soon pull up to a hike up a large, steep hill. I look up at the sky as the sun's slowly setting. No ones here. I turn off my motorcycle and kick down the kick stand. I quickly hop off and starting running up the hill as fast as I can. I feel the air turning cold and brushing against my skin at a fast speed. I can't betray my two best friends. They've never been so happy in their lives. I can't be the one to ruin their love and happiness. But I can't lie to Jake. I've known him for so long and he's my friend. I can't let him get hurt. He will be heartbroken. He loves Griffin with everything in him and I don't want to be in the same room as Jake when he finds out. But I need to protect Griffin and Aryia. But that will put me and Jake's friendship on the line. I'm risking too much. Jake will flip when he finds out I knew all along but didn't tell him. I can't risk hurting them.
And why would Colby lie to me? Why would he push me away like that?! I thought there was something there but then he proves me wrong with shit like that. But he didn't seem like himself, at least not fully.
And Corey's still in the hospital. Why would Elton hurt Corey? He loves Corey so much. There's so much going on I can't handle it all. I feel like I'm going to explode from all the questions and stress being pushed on me.
I need a reliever. I need something to take my mind of these things, even for a second. Something that clouds my mind. The high but without the actual drug. Something thats close to a drug. Something I could get addicted to that I don't need to hide. I need something. Something to distract me. There's too much going on.
I finally reach the very top of the hill. I slowly stop running and feel my body slowly give in. I collapse on the dusty ground. My legs don't hurt but I can tell they're exhausted from running. I pant like a dog, my throat being insanely dry. I close my eyes and take deep breaths. My running is still good. I finally sit up after a good 10 minutes and look next to me at the view of Los Angeles as the sun sets, the tall buildings being shadowed by a orange and yellow light. I'm never gonna get tired of Los Angeles.

{Corey's POV}

I open my eyes and see nothing but white, and a bright light shining down on me. I groan and cover my eyes with my arm. Why is that there? I feel someones hand softly grab my arm, pulling it away from my eyes. I groan again, closing my eyes, then opening them, letting my eyes adjust to the light.
"Corey," I hear a soft, sweet voice say. I look next to me and see Devyn with the most worried look on her face. Wait.. I furrow my brows in confusion and look around. Why am i in a hospital? What happened?!
"Devyn, why am I here?" I ask, sitting up and instantly getting hit with the strongest headache ever. Devyn places her hand on my shoulder, lowing me back down. Devyn sighs,
"There's no easy way to say this Corey but um.... Elton almost killed you.." Devyn couldn't meet my eyes when she spoke because of the tears swelling up in her eyes. My heart drops,
"No... No! Elton wouldn't do that! Would he...?" Tears swell up in my eyes. I thought he loved me. We planned a life together. We joined this gang together. We were getting married in only a couple months. Why would he do this? Why? What did I do wrong? He promised to never hurt me..
"I'm so so sorry Corey... you were protecting Sam, and Elton snapped... Griffin heard it all and called Aryia... I'm so sorry.." Tears stream down my cheeks, I can't believe he did this.. he said he would protect us all. Even Sam... why... why elton WHY, WHY DIDN'T YOU PROTECT US?! WHY DIDN'T YOU PROTECT SAM!! HE WAS LIKE FAMILY TO YOU!! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO HURT ME?! I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME, I THOUGHT YOU FUCKING LOVED ME!! I THOUGHT WE WERE GONNA MAKE IT!!
I feel anger build up in me the more I think, the tears never stop, they actually get worse. Devyn leans over and kisses my forehead, wiping my tears away.
"I'm sorry Corey.." Devyn whispers against my head. Devyn pulls away and stand there, trying not to cry because of her makeup. I swallow down more tears, not letting myself cry anymore. I need to be strong for them. I need to be strong for Sam. I take a deep breath,
"I have a headache," I say in a very monotone tone. Devyn eyes flash worriness,
"Maybe you should take a nap. It might help." Devyn suggests, squeezing my arm. I nod and rest my head against the pillow, closing my eyes. I suddenly feel an undeniable sense of drowsiness. I take a deep breath and slip into sleep.

[Hours Later]

     I put on a blue tank top and some black skinny jeans. I turn to look in the mirror, fixing my hair the best I can. I no longer look like shit so thats a plus. I sigh to myself and put my shoes on before leaving the changing room and heading into the lobby of the hospital. I see Griffin and Aryia standing there along with Devyn. Aryia had his arm around Griffins shoulders while Griffin was talking to Devyn. Why are they here? I walk over to them and all of their eyes land on me, ending whatever conversation Devyn and Griffin were having.
     "Hey Corey, how are you feeling?" Griffin asks sympathetically. I give him a half hearted smile, knowing how much this idiot cares.
     "I feel okay. My head no longer hurts." I smile at Devyn who was looking at me cautiously.
     "Thats good." Aryia butts in. I notice Griffin snap his attention to Aryia as he spoke. Is something going on between them?
     "Yeah," I look down at my tattoos on my hands and see me and Elton's engagement ring. I mentally sigh before Devyn speaks up,
     "Hey so um, Corey," Devyn starts, I look up from my hands and look at Devyn, stuffing my hands in my jean pockets.
     "Griffin here suggested that you should live with Aryia. It would be safer and he can protect you. But the choice is yours." Devyn nods to me. I look at Griffin and Aryia and see hope on their faces. Their hiding something. And I want in on the secret.
     "Sure. If that means I can stay home and play Rocket League all day." I say, half joking. They all give a small chuckle,
     "Yeah, you can Corey. Especially with how you need to take it slow for a while." Aryia grins at me. I grin back with the same energy. He suspects that I know something.
     "Well then, let's go. Devyn will pack your stuff and bring it to the house." Griffin says, clapping his hands together and breaking the lighthearted tension between me and Aryia. Griffin and Devyn head for the doors,
     "After you, Mister Scherer." Aryia jokes with a smirk on his face as he puts his arm out towards the door. I smirk back and glare at Aryia as I walk past him towards the doors, him following swiftly behind me. I learned to mirror these kinds of actions and gestures from Jake. He says it adds to the fun. And I'd have to say, he sure is right. It's fun as fuck.

{A/N: 2300 words, holy shit. Probably one of my longest chapters. There's some foreshadowing in here just fyi. And for anyone who's curious, "The other side of paradise" by Glass Animals is for Corey's part while Sam's is "Lady in the Wall" by Danny Knutelsky :) I couldn't add both songs ofc so yk}