Forever (Epilouge)

64

"You look adorable." Colby said as I tried it on and spun around. "Even more adorable than when you wear my jacket." He said and admired me as I posed.

I took the jacket off then put Colby's on again, pulling it over my chest, "yours is warmer though." I said and scrunched my nose at him. "Whatever, dork." He said then took my hand so we could get our snacks and icecream.

As soon as we got to the snack aisle I started scanning the options. My eyes eventually landed on goldfish which made me smile, since those were Mia's favorites.

My mind started drifting off, wondering how Mia and Olivia were doing. I felt my chest tighten at the thought of them maybe coming in contact with Stephanie and Jason. I don't know why the thought crossed my mind at all.

Stephanie didn't live here.

I felt my vision start to blur as I heard Mia's screams running through my head.

No. No. It's not real.

"Cor?" Colby asked as my hands started to shake, my chest tightening completely.

I heard Mia and Olivia's screams in the distance as my face scrunched with pain. "I-I..." I started and looked at Colby with panic in my eyes.

"Hey, shhhh....you're okay baby...you're okay." Colby soothed as he collected me in his arms, dropping the jacket he was holding to the ground.

I collapsed into his arms as I cried, trying to catch my breath. "T-th-the g-g-g-" I tried to say but couldn't break through the sobs that were wrecking through my chest.

"Shhh, breathe with me sweetheart. Come back to me." He whispered and lowered me to the ground, gently stroking my hair. "Th-the g-gi-girls." I choked out as he kissed my head.

"The girls are fine baby, they're fine." He whispered and held me tighter.

We sat like this for a couple minutes as I struggled to get my barrings back. I eventually was able to breathe again as the room stopped spinning. "I-I'm sorry." I whispered as he pulled away slightly so he could wipe my tears.

"Are you okay?" He asked as I nodded, "I don't know what happened." I said with a sigh and brushed my hair behind my ears as I stood up.

"Can we make sure the girls are okay....I just had a bad feeling." I whispered as he nodded, "it's a little late, your dad might be asleep, but we can try to call him." Colby said and pulled his phone out. He dialed the the number then handed the phone to me.

"Colby? Everything okay?" Dad answered after a couple rings. "Yeah, sorry dad. It's Cora...ummm are the girls okay?" I asked timidly as a couple fans came up to talk to Colby.

"Are you okay? You sound sad." Dad said as I sniffled, "I just had a panic attack." I said quietly so the girls Colby was talking to wouldn't hear me.

"Oh squirt...yeah, the girls are fine. Olivia's having a hard time sleeping but other than that they're fine." Dad said as I nodded, "okay...sorry for waking you." I said and twisted my lip with two fingers.

"You didn't, your old man still has some late nights in him." He said causing me to smile, "you're not even old dad." I said as he chuckled, "old enough. Anyways I want you to stop worrying about the girls and just enjoy your trip, okay?" He asked as I grabbed the animal cracker cookies from the shelf.

"Okay, dad. I love you." I said and picked up the goldfish. "Love you too, squirt. Now have fun." He said as I nodded then hung up.

"I quickly grabbed a couple more snacks before going over to where Colby was. "Hi Cora, you're so pretty." The girl Colby was talking to said causing me to smile. "Thank you." I said even though I probably looked like an entire mess.

We stood there and talked to the girls for a minute before they said goodbye and walked away.

"Do you think they saw?" I asked and chewed on my lip as Colby took my hand. "I don't think so, did you get all your snacks?" He asked as I nodded, "we just need icecream." I said with a nod as he led the way.

We grabbed our icecream and checked out. When we got outside it was snowing even more making my heart warm up with happiness.

"Will you dance with me for a minute?" I asked as Colby grinned at me, "of course." He said then threw the bag in the car so he could wrap his arms around my waist, pulling me close so I could rest my head on his chest.

He sang to me as we dance in the parking lot for a couple minutes. We probably looked like crazy people, but I didn't care.

I loved dancing with him.

By the time we got back to the cabin I was ready to get into the hot tub again. We unpacked the groceries then eventually made our way back to the deck.

"Mmm yeah, this is so much better." I said and scooped the cookie dough icecream into my mouth. "Yeah, icecream somehow made this better, I didn't even think that was possible." Colby said as I leaned my head on his shoulder.

"You feeling okay?" Colby asked as I nodded, "yeah, that one just really sprung up on me." I said with a sigh as I took another bite of icecream.

"You handle them like a trooper though, I'm always so proud of you." He said and kissed my head as I smiled. "You handle them like a trooper, too. I'm really grateful for you." I said as he sighed, "I love you." He said as I set my icecream aside.

"I love you, too." I said and leaned into him as he wrapped his arms around me.

We stayed up almost all night, sitting in the hot tub and watching the stars. I didn't care that we were going to be exhausted tomorrow, it was the best night we have had in a while.

It was a great anniversary.