The next couple of days felt a lot more stressful. Now that I knew that I was going to have to see my father I was on edge.
I could tell Colby was just as stressed out as I was, if not more.
I would hardly see him, since he was always working and needed to concentrate. I also had a strange feeling that he was actually avoiding me.
There was no real reason to do that but usually he would make time for me.
"Hey, Jules?" Colby asked as he walked into the library.
"Yes?" I asked and looked up at him. When I did this I noticed he had a duffle bag in his hand.
"What's that?" I asked and pointed to it. "Come on." He said as I pursed my lips. "I don't like this." I said causing him to laugh.
"Just come on, sweetheart." He said and held his hand out to me.
I sighed and took his hand, letting him lead me outside and to the car.
"I don't like surprises." I mumbled as we got in the car. "I know." Colby said with a shrug.
"And you just don't care." I said as he nodded. "You trust me, don't you?" Colby asked and put his hand on my thigh.
"Yeah. Unfortunately a little too much." I mumbled. "Come on, Jules. I think you should know by now I wouldn't intentionally put you in harms way." He said as I nodded.
"Doesn't mean I like surprises." I said and looked out the window.
I had to admit that I was a little excited to get out of the house. I had no idea where we were going but it was a change in scenery which was going to be good.
"Are you hungry?" Colby asked as I shrugged. "I could eat but I'm not starving." I said and laid my hand on his, tracing the rings on his fingers.
"Let's drive for a little while then we can stop." He said and focused on the drive.
We drove for what felt like forever before we were pulling into the parking lot of a McDonald's.
"What do you want?" Colby asked as I shrugged. "You choose." I said as he nodded and parked the car.
"I'll be back." He said then got out of the car. I nodded and looked down at my hands.
I always loved to see the ring that Colby got me on my finger.
It reminded me of him and since I was madly in love with him, it made me happy.
I decided to get out of the car for a second so I could stretch my legs.
After a couple minutes Colby came back with a couple bags of food.
"I got you chicken nuggets and fries." He said and handed me the bags. "Oh, yum." I said with a smile and opened the bag.
"When do I get to know where we are going?" I asked and took a fry and put it in my mouth.
"When we get there." He said as I handed him his food. "That's annoying." I said as he chuckled.
"Just trust me, sweetheart." He said and focused on the road.
We drove for hours before Colby pulled into the driveway of a random house.
It was a beautiful cabin with trees around it. On the ground was a sprinkling of white snow since it was mid January.
"Can you tell me now?" I asked as he nodded. "Yeah." He said then started to get out of the car.
"Tell me!" I pouted and got out of the car. "Jesus, Jules. I will." Colby said with a laugh as he grabbed the bag from before along with another bag.
"It's cold so I assume we went north." I said as he took my hand and led me towards the cabin.
"Yep." Colby said then unlocked the door. "We're in Portland." He said as I scrunched my brow.
"Why?" I asked with confusion. "I wanted to take you on a trip before the banquet." Colby said as I frowned.
"Because you think my dad is gonna take me." I said quietly. "No. Because you deserve a trip before seeing him." He said then kissed my forehead.
"Are you sure?" I asked as he nodded. "Yes, darling. I won't let him take you." He said as I nodded.
"Okay." I said then looked around the cabin we were in. "Why Portland?" I asked as he shrugged.
"It's not too far from Seattle. It'll give us a couple days here before we leave to meet the others."Colby explained.
"Plus, things have been so tense lately. We haven't had real alone time." He said and wrapped his arms around my waist.
"Yeah, your little druggie has her life figured out a little more." I said with a laugh.
"You're not my little druggie. Although, I think you need to take this." He said and rummaged through his bag.
He pulled out a pill bottle and poured one pill into his palm.
"Colby...I just..I don't feel comfortable." I said as he sighed. "I know it's a slippery slope, but I'm not going to let you spiral. Plus these don't make you feel anything." He said and placed the pill in my hand.
"They keep you from having seizures. They don't take away any pain or have any addictive qualities. If you want me to crush it up and slip it into your food I will." He said causing me laugh.
"You'd drug me?" I asked as he nodded. "I just don't want you to have any more seizures." He said quietly.
"Tell me about it. I'm so sick of it. Also if I have one near my father I think he might actually take me away." I said then popped the pill in my mouth, taking the bottle of water Colby was offering me.
"Hey, no more talking like that. We're gonna enjoy our weekend." He said as I smiled.
"Yeah. Show me the house." I said and took his hand. "It's nothing super special. I thought youd enjoy something more simple." He said as I looked around.
It was a simple cabin with a little fireplace. Off to the side was a small kitchen which was absolutely adorable.
"This place is cute." I said as Colby led us towards the bedroom.
It was a little bedroom with a queen sized bed, a dresser, a closet, and a little bathroom connected to it.
"You like it?" He asked as I nodded. "Yeah, I love it." I said then kissed him.
I didn't mind so much when we would go on extravagant vacations but this was so nice.
Life didn't have to be so extravagant all the time.
"I'm gonna get ready for bed." I said then grabbed my bag and went into the bathroom.
When I got in there I brushed my teeth and got dressed in some more comfortable clothes.
I was almost done getting ready when I felt the hairs on my neck standing on end.
Was someone watching?
I suddenly felt very unsafe being in here and I didn't like it.
I opened the door and started to walk into the bedroom.
"You okay?" Colby asked as I shook my head. "What's going on?" He asked and stood up, walking over to me.
"Is it safe to be here?" I asked as he put his hands on my upper arms.
"It's safe. You're safe." He said and looked into my eyes.
"What if someone followed us?" I asked, my voice cracking. "Someone did follow us, but it's people who I trust to keep watch. Don't worry about that, sweetheart." He ensured.
"Okay." I whispered as he brushed my hair behind my ears.
"Let's go to bed." He said as I nodded. "You must be tired from that drive." I said as he chuckled.
"It wasn't too bad." He said and took his shirt off, then his pants so that he was only in his boxers.
When we got into bed, Colby pulled me into his chest, holding me close.
"Thank you for this." I said and looked up at him. "You're welcome. Start thinking of things you might want to do. I have some options if you can't think of anything." He said as I nodded.
"I just want to be with you." I said as he chuckled. "Well that's good news." He said then kissed my head.
I was so grateful to have this moment with Colby because if I was being honest I was terrified that this banquet was going to rip us apart.
I wanted to believe that we would go, I would be fake nice to my dad, then we would go back home and be able to be together.
The reality was that it was probably unlikely for that to happen.