Completely uninterrupted sleep is something I've never experienced before with my limited memories. I always have them poking at my subconscious trying to remind me of what I'm missing out on, and now I suppose lying in bed with the guy the universe has been trying to get me to find all this time, allows me to have a break from all that torture.
I lean back slightly to peer at Colby, who's rolled onto his back at some point during the night. One hand rests on his stomach while the other is trapped beneath my body, and his lips are slightly parted. I find myself smiling as I sit up away from him, glancing out the windows for the approximate time.
It's approaching evening by now, which means I should probably get back home or visit the coven house, but I haven't been to this house much. Maybe there's something familiar here that brings me comfort. Right now, comfort is all I care about.
Leaving Colby asleep in bed, I creep out of his room and retrace my steps back to Corey and Devyn's room. I take note of everything I pass, the energy signatures that call out to me. It seems they're all faded as they lead me down the stairs to the kitchen, where I discover the whole clan lounging around lazily.
Corey spots me first but quickly looks away in embarrassment, catching Devyn's attention. Since she's in the middle of a conversation with Katrina, it causes a domino effect and everyone notices me.
"Lydia?" Sam asks in surprise. "I didn't... When did you get here?"
"Um..." I tuck a strand of my hair behind my ear, a small smile on my lips. "Last night? Doesn't matter, I'm just exploring."
"In our house," Jake states quietly.
I cross my arms over my chest. "Yes, Jake, in your house, because it's definitely yours, isn't it? It's not like someone else owns it." He meets my challenge with a knowing smirk, to which I just wave a hand at him. "I won't be long, I just need some more places to portal to... because what happened last night can't happen again."
Kevin instantly perks up like a dog, excitedly leaning toward me. "What happened last night?" I glance at Corey and Devyn, who both awkwardly stare as far away from me as possible. A few realising chuckles sound out around us, but Kevin just frowns for a long moment. And then it clicks and he grins. "Does Corey have a nice ass?"
I roll my eyes. "You're incredibly immature, Kevin." I turn to keep looking around their house, though I don't see many rooms on this ground floor, and just about peer over my shoulder to look at Corey. "You do have a nice ass, though, Corey. I can tell through your jeans."
He gasps at me but laughs after, relieving the awkwardness between us. None of them look or speak to me while I walk through each room downstairs, even slipping through the kitchen at one point for one of the only doors I'd actually be able to portal to. I think I hear them go silent but I just walk into what appears to be a garage.
My necklace starts tingling as I stand just in the doorway examining the room. At first, I do it so I can come back another time, but slowly I begin to notice something strange about this place. It definitely feels familiar, as if I've been here tons of times before. My lips press together in thought.
Without considering what my actions might do, I walk up to the nearest seat—a beanbag just beside the door—and touch it. My mind instantly fills with pure white, and flashes of myself sitting there on top of a dark figure blind me. I feel a little gasp escape my throat at the mixture of warmth in my chest and complete pain surging through my head.
Something takes my hand away from the beanbag, and I blink for a moment to get rid of the flashes. I haven't passed out, which is a shock.
Colby stands in front of me with a deep frown on his face, his fingers wrapped around my wrist and the other hand on my waist—ready to catch me if I drop. His eyes search mine desperately for something, as if he thinks the answers to life itself are hidden in them.
I gulp and regain myself, twisting to fully face him. "You okay?" I ask and he scoffs, rolling his eyes. My lips twist into a lopsided smile.
"I felt your pain," he tells me. I'm taken aback when he takes the other side of my waist in his hand, pulling me to him. I have to admit, the lingering headache slowly eases with his contact. And then I realise the only reason I can feel so many tingles is because he's still shirtless.
"Did I wake you up, then? That's... my bad," I mutter, distracted by a tattoo on the side of his torso.
One of his fingers tips my chin up and I startle, my heart pounding. I'm not sure why Colby's suddenly grown more confident but a part of me really likes it. He glances over my face with a cute grin on his, and then pulls me even closer to him. My arms wrap around his waist as he holds me to his chest.
"I would have woken up soon, anyway," he tells me softly, one hand at the back of my head sifting through my hair. "You been exploring?"
I nod without pulling away. "Mhm."
It feels so good to be this close to him, to have nothing in my sights or tainting my nose but him. My chest tightens at just the thought of having this feeling for eternity, even if we haven't actually agreed upon that. I'm sure he won't mind, though.
We don't move for a few blissful moments. Then I take a deep breath and look up at him, and he looks down at me in return. His eyes instantly flash to my lips but he doesn't linger long. I slide my hands to his chest, resting one on the tattoo near his heart.
"I'm going to head back to my apartment but my coven are coming over for training soon, so I'll be back in a bit," I promise, glancing between his eyes rapidly.
He hugs me tighter. "Yeah, okay."
"I'll see you later, Colby." I stand up on my toes to press a quick kiss to his cheek, which renders him totally silent. Smirking, I create a portal at the door back to the kitchen and step through straight into my apartment. A part of me expects him to step right in behind me, but he behaves and waits.
As I turn toward my bedroom, I notice a figure in the hallway and stiffen, only for the familiar sensation of Eliza's aura to settle over me. I relax and smile at her, as she grins back at me, her head cocked to the side.
"So, where've you been?" she asks teasingly.
I chuckle to myself. "That's a secret."
"Oh, really? My body warning me that there were a dozen vampires on the other side of that portal doesn't mean anything, then?"
I grin. "Nope. Means nothing."
She rolls her eyes. "Why did you go to him?"
"I don't fully know," I admit softly, slipping by her into my room. She follows but keeps a respectful distance so I can move around finding an outfit for the night. "I was restless last night and decided it wouldn't do any harm."
"I think it's sweet," she mutters, "but I'm surprised you were comfortable sleeping in a house with that many vampires."
"I trust them."
"You don't know them all that well—and neither does the rest of the coven," she reminds me.
"I know, but I trust my past self, too. If she chose to be a part of them, then surely they can't be so bad? From what I understand of this whole thing, the real me would have intervened if she was making a mistake."
"You make a good point." Eliza nods to herself, her thoughts crossing over her face. When she meets my gaze once more, she's smiling softly. "I'm glad you found them. I wasn't so certain about keeping you away at first, it just seemed wrong."
I shrug. "I think it's better this way. I wouldn't have been anywhere near as accepting of them when I first woke up. I used to hate vampires."
"I remember," she laughs.
"So, to be able to get used to vampires who are good and to know them a little first, I'm more open to... everything."
"Everything?" she questions as I slip into my bathroom. I leave the door ajar so we can easily talk to one another.
"Yes, everything."
She sounds amused again. "What does everything mean?"
I sigh knowing she isn't going to let this go until I give her what she's fishing for. Sticking my head through the gap in the door, I say, "It means my relationship with Colby."
She nods in approval. "Well, as I said, I'm happy for you, Lydia. I'll be honest, I knew you and Tyler weren't a great match. You were good together but you were more like friends. He treated you no differently to how he treats the rest of us."
"That's what we thought, too," I call out, the running water of my shower drowning her voice. But I can still just about hear her.
"Colby seems much more your type, too." I just laugh to myself, shaking my head at the thought of Colby's style. I don't know much about how I dressed before, but now, I've adopted a similar fit most days. We suit each other well, and I'm sure someone's thought that since I realised what's really been going on between us.
Lightly touching the necklace on my chest, I smile wider. Tingles still resonate from his touch and from sleeping in his bed with him. Although I'd rather go slow since just a year ago I was nine... at least, in my head, things with Colby seem like they might escalate quickly. It's so addicting to feel all the happiness I get from being around him.
Irrational, but addicting all the same.
Eliza continues to talk to me even when I walk out of the bathroom in just a towel. She turns her back and I get dressed, listening to her ramble about the world, the coven, the clan and anything else that invaded her thoughts. She isn't usually this talkative but I appreciate the slight distraction from my own thoughts.
When I'm dressed, she turns back to me and asks, "Are we headed straight for the clan house for training?"
"Yes," I answer swiftly.
"I'll text the others, you go on ahead." A mischievous grin overtakes her face, but I just smile and nod, walking to my bedroom door. Setting up a portal to the hallway of the clan house, I walk into—for the second time—Jake causing trouble.
The portal closes behind me as I startle, stepping back. Jake has been thrown across the room and landed right at my feet staring up at me. He gives me a grin like he's in no pain at all, then leaps up and charges back at who I realise is Mike.
Despite the delicate nature of the flooring in the house, no one seems to have any arguments about all of this happening inside.
"What did you do this time?" I decide to ask Jake, glancing up at Mike's intimidating form across the room. He's cracking his knuckles ready for another hit.
Jake shrugs. "Oh, you know, just made fun of him... I should learn to keep my mouth shut."
"Probably wise," I agree, laughing. My necklace sends a jolt through my body and I turn to see Colby hovering a few feet to my right assessing the situation. I give him a gentle smile, forgetting momentarily about Jake.
"You wanna repeat what you said?" Mike asks, and I turn back to the feud.
Jake laughs. "Nah, I'm good, man. Help a brother up?" When Mike ignores him, I take Jake by his shirt and drag him up to his feet. He stumbles, disoriented, then grins at me. "Thank you, Lydia. You're a great help."
"Of course," I muse. I feel the tingles of my necklace getting stronger and step to the side on instinct. My arm brushes Colby's but I try not to react too much, looking up at him. He places his hand on my waist.
"Jake, Mike, go back to your proper sparring partners," he orders without looking away from me. I hear a little shuffling, then Colby circles to stand in front of me. But he doesn't remove his hand. "Where are your coven?"
"They're on the way," I tell him quietly. "Eliza got me to come ahead of them. I wasn't going to say no."
He smiles, just barely, and my heart skips a beat. "We're all going outside in a minute, as soon as the coven are here."
"Sounds fun." I speak absently, far more interested in the way his lips move. I haven't been this drawn to him yet, but these little touches are new. The hand at my waist is sending sinful thoughts wild in my head, not to mention the pretty sparkle in his blue human-like eyes. I find my hands on his chest without realising but instead of blushing like I expect, I'm just filled with more need for him.
Colby must sense it because he sighs and lowers his head, which just so happens to press our foreheads together. I close my eyes in content for a moment. This is nice. It's certainly distracting from everything else going on in life.
But the addition of four witches' auras draws my gaze to the side at the rest of my coven arriving. Colby raises his head and pulls back from me to greet them, and I stand by his side. Lilly sends me a quick wink.
I smile. I feel genuinely happy.