𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 • 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐛𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤

fifty

I woke up in Devyn's bed, who was still sitting next to me, watching another movie. "Hey," she smiled at me once she saw I was awake. "You're up."

I blinked. "How long have I been sleeping for?"

"Not long," she said. "About two hours."

I nodded and sat up. The house was awfully quiet. As if Devyn could read my mind, she explained. "They just left for the airport, a couple minutes before you woke up."

"Oh," I said.

"Do you wanna go downstairs and eat a little something?" she asked.

I shrugged and nodded. "Yeah, maybe that'll help."

We walked downstairs, and I ventured off into the kitchen. Devyn was picking up some lone cups in the hallway when the front door opened. "What are you doing here?" I heard her ask.

"I forgot my passport," I heard another voice speak. My heart sank into the floor as I saw the document laying on the kitchen island.

"Oh, no, Colby, I don't think you should-" Devyn tried to stop him but she was too late.

He stopped in his tracks once he saw me, and we both just kind of stood there. He looked just as bad as I did, his face looked like he had been crying for hours as well. And even after what he did to me, it still broke my heart. And I wanted to grab his face and kiss away the pain, but I couldn't. I couldn't ever touch him again, knowing what he did to me, and with who. I averted my eyes to the floor and turned my back towards him. "Ellie," he whispered.

"I don't want to hear it," I replied and squeezed my eyes shut, trying not to let anymore tears leak from my eyes.

"Please, Ellie. If you'd just let me explain-"

I stopped him, not able to hold the tears back anymore. "You've done enough."

"Alright," he quietly spoke, defeated. "I'll just leave then." He grabbed his passport and quietly left the kitchen again, shortly after I heard the front door slam shut.

I swallowed the lump I held in my throat and wiped my eyes, Devyn walked up to me. "Are you okay?"

I nodded. "I'm fine."

It was a lie though. I wasn't fine at all. I sat down in the chair at the kitchen table and dragged my hands across my face, then tangled them in my hair.

"What do you want to eat?" Dev asked, looking in the cabinets.

I shook my head. "I'm not hungry anymore."

She nodded and sat down in the chair in front of me. She took my hand in hers on top of the table. "Do you want to talk about it?"

I shrugged and looked up at her. "There's not much to talk about. He cheated on me with Brennen's halfassed excuse of a girlfriend."

She let out a sigh and closed her eyes, muttering under her breath, not thinking I could hear it. "God damnit, Colby."

I looked down at the table and shook my head. "I just don't understand why. I mean- I don't understand why he would do that to me."

She squeezed my hand, and I laid my head down on the table. "Why did he do that?"

She replied softly. "I don't know."

"Guess I'm glad I walked in on them when they we're just making out because if I had ten minutes later..." I breathed out. I started crying again, not making anymore efforts to hold it in. "I can't do this, Dev," I sobbed.

"I think it's best you change environments for now," she replied and walked over to me. "Come on, we'll get you out of this house."

I nodded. "Could you take me to my parents please? I'm flying back to Kansas tomorrow with them anyways."

"Of course," she softly smiled at me. "I'll help you pack."

"Okay," I sighed and stood up, pulling myself together. My head was hurting from crying so damn much, and I was sick of it.

I walked upstairs with her, and I was dreading coming near his room. I knew it had to be done, I just didn't want to. I stopped in front of his bedroom, quietly whispering to myself. "You can do this."

Devyn smiled apologetically at me and followed me into the room. I let her take care of my belongings in the closet as I looked around and stuffed everything that was mine into my backpack.

It didn't take too long for us to finish, as everything was pretty much in the same spot, and we left for my parents' apartment.

"Thanks, Dev," I smiled at her. "Not just for today, but for everything. Tell Kat I said bye?"

"I will do that," she nodded. "Have a safe flight, Ellie. I'll see you next time."

I just smiled and closed the car door, not knowing if there was going to be a 'next time'. I took my bags out of the trunk and then she drove off with a quick wave. I breathed in deeply and walked the stairs up to the right floor.

"Ellie?" my mom said as she opened the door. "Hey darling, I thought you were coming tomorrow?"

"Change of plans," I smiled. "I'm here now."

She frowned at me. "Did anything happen?"

"Nope," I chuckled, not wanting to worry her. "Not at all."

The day passed by quickly, and we left the morning after. We got onto the plane, flew the few hours back to Kansas, and when we got to my parents' house I went straight to bed. It was only until the day after that, that I left my bed.

"Goodmorning, sunshine," my dad laughed. "I haven't seen you in a day."

I smiled. "Yeah, I know. What time is it?"

"Three in the afternoon," my mom chuckled. "You slept for a long time."

"California habits," I chuckled back and went to the kitchen to eat some cereal. I went through my instagram feed, I landed on a picture of Colby. No caption, it was just a selfie of him with blue streaks in his hair. He had dyed his hair blue.

I went to my messages, as I had recieved a couple notifs about them.

[Messages]
Samuel: Hey Ellie, I hope you had a good flight home. Everyone at VidCon is asking about you and I know you probably don't want to hear this, but every time I see Colby break a little more... I don't know how much longer he'll be able to uphold this facade he's hiding behind. He's my best friend, Ellie, please talk to him.
Kat: hey Ellie, hope you're doing great. i miss you!

I texted both of them back.

You to Samuel: you were right, sam. i didn't want to hear that. i'm sorry but i can't
You to Kat: i'm fine, how are you doing? i miss you too kat :(

I locked my phone and ate my cereal in peace, not bothering to look up when I got another notification.