Lydia Drake
For the second time in one day, I wake up. Only this time, I'm wrapped in a blanket of warmth known as my boyfriend. To say that I don't want to move would by an understatement. In fact, to say that I'd rather not do anything else would be an understatement.
But when I catch a glimpse of the room, I see that there's an orange glow to the white walls as if the sun is setting or rising. Glancing at the little clock on my wall, I can just about read that it's nearly seven pm. Jesus. We really slept all day and he's still out next to me. Completely out.
Being careful not to wake him, I unlatch my arms from his neck, bring my leg back to myself, and lift his arm off of my hip. I stand up on the couch, which almost makes me fall off, then step over the back onto the ground. My foot hits the cold floor, sending a shock through my entire body. Everything suddenly feels cold; it's almost as if Colby's the only warm thing here.
I creep into my bedroom where I find a crop top and shorts and go to my bathroom. After I've gotten ready complete with a shower, I apply a little bit of makeup. It's not too much but not too little, either. Just enough to make me prettier without caking it on.
While I'm brushing my hair, I hear the tiniest movement in the other room that makes me frown. Without stopping, I step out of the bathroom and walk through the little hallway to see Colby standing in the middle of the room . . . dressed. As in, different clothes and hair fixed.
He must sense that I'm in the room because he turns, looks me up and down, and smiles. "Hey." It takes him a moment to figure out why I look so confused. Is it really that hard to figure out?! Where the hell did he get those clothes from? "I always have some spare clothes in my car." He answers my unasked question.
"W- okay . . . are we going to your place soon?"
"We have to do it at some point." He nods at me, watching from across the room. He's reluctant to go and see his friends, no doubt because he'll never hear the end of it. After all, I can bet that it's been a long time since he last had a girlfriend.
Out of nowhere, he walks up to me, wraps his arms around my waist, and drops his head down to my shoulder. His face snuggles into my neck, which is not what I expect at all. I'm a little frozen. This is different, but I'm certainly not saying that I don't like it. I actually really like it. A lot. For some reason, having him so close to that specific part of my skin has lit a fire within me.
"What's this for?" I ask quietly. I forget about my brush and almost throw it onto the counter nearby to just focus on him. He's only focusing on me, so it's only fair.
"Assurance." He mumbles, sending vibrations down my spine. Wow. That's a really new feeling that I love.
"Of?"
"That I," he pauses as he pulls out from my neck, "won't be an ass just because of my friends." I giggle and shake my head, wrapping my arms around him to pull him in close again. He wastes no time in snuggling right back into my neck. He even places a kiss there, which has its own sensations connected to it.
One of his hands rests on my hip, the other on my lower back. I want it to go lower but something tells me well have to take it a little slower than that. We should have a while, if things go well between us. No need to rush.
**********
I smile when Colby takes my hand. We've just pulled up to the house in his car and he's circled around to open my door for me, then intertwined our fingers together. Admittedly, I expected him to go back on his promises not to be an ass or to become distant suddenly. But it doesn't look like he will yet.
Without a word, we head towards the inside. I don't get to walk up the steps because he grabs me by my hips and picks me up. I let out a little yelp of surprise that only turns to a bit of a giggle as he places me on the top step, then jogs up to be on the same level. He takes my hand again and opens the front door for me, waiting.
It's been forever and a bit since I came into this house. It's feels weird for more than one reason. The last time I was here, I was mad at Colby and almost ran out. Now I'm here, and I'm with him. Officially. We're dating: boyfriend and girlfriend.
Oh, god. The boys are right around this corner. And the girls. I have to admit, I'm not going to look forward to their comments. I have some replies set up but that's only if one of them says something specific. It's going to be hard to stand up for myself, however, I'm determined not to let them push me around. Just because Colby has a girlfriend now doesn't mean they can treat him—or me—any differently.
That dreaded garage door sits in front of me, closed. I feel my heart beat quicken just a little but I keep up my good mood. I reach out for the knob, twist, and push open the door.
In contrast to the dark hallway, the room is lit up with LEDs. It's different to last time: more colourful. The LEDs are flashing different colours from red to green to purple at a slow rate, creating this mysterious but intriguing atmosphere.
Of course, my fascination with the change doesn't keep me distracted for nearly long enough. The heads of almost everyone in the room turns to mine and I see each of them look at our hands.
Colby comes into the room with me, shuts the door, and doesn't even hesitate to sit on the beanbag. And to pull me with him. I'm not on his lap, but close since the way the chair works pushes us together in the middle. Just when I think he's done showing everyone there's something going on between us, he leans back and drapes his arm lazily over my shoulders.
I meet Tara's eyes and see the expression on her face. It's priceless. Her jaw has completely dropped and she looks a mixture of shocked and happy, as shown by the tilt in the corner of her mouth that makes her look like a kid at Disneyland. Exactly like one.
"Hey, Elton? Am I dead?" Brennen asks without taking his eyes away from us. Elton punches him hard on the arm but he doesn't flinch. "Huh... must just be a different dimension."
I don't know what happens when I open my mouth, I only know that my attitude comes from nowhere. Maybe it's just I don't like to be treated like a museum artefact? "If it was a different dimension, then you'd actually be attractive." I remark, raising a single eyebrow at him. A hint of amusement flashes in his eyes as the others around the room snicker or laugh.
Naturally, I glance at Colby. It's a surprise to see that he's relaxed around his friends because he's let himself smile as he looks at me. Wow. This is different. I expected hard-ass, dickhead Colby the second we came through the gate but I'm getting the one that I know instead. The softer one. He'd hate that if he heard my thoughts.
"Has Colby gone and got himself a feisty girlfriend?" Elton asks with a smirk, looking at me.
"I don't want to hear another word about it." Colby snaps in his direction. I don't mind that his attitude has come out for second because mine did too. I'll let him off as long as he doesn't become distant.
"Is that a threat or a request?" Jake questions. He knows that he's only pushing his luck, which is why Colby only glares angrily at him. "Message received." He goes back to Tara, snuggling unexpectedly into her neck. She smiles and lets him. Weird. Guess he's just a bit of a neck-snuggler like Colby.
Speaking of, I decide to test how far he'll go with this 'not gonna be an ass' thing. If this makes him distant, then that's my fault. I'll admit that, but I'll also scold him later for it.
I shuffle so that his arm falls down around my waist instead and move my legs over the top of his. He doesn't move, which isn't good or bad yet. When I sort of lean my side against his chest, his arm moves to rest over my legs.
The room, since everyone's broken into conversations, is filled with the quiet buzz of talking. I catch Tara's attention as well as Jake's and I think Corey's too and we begin to talk. Just little things. Thankfully, they stay away from the subject of Colby or the fact that I'm almost lying on him.
Colby stays quiet the whole time. As in, dead silent. I can see that sometimes he finds something we say funny, or that he wants to join in. But he doesn't. He's not ready for that yet, and I respect it. I mean, it's a big ask to expect him to be sitting here like this with me in the first place.
Over time, I slowly break away from talking. Despite sleeping all day, I'm exhausted and I just want to go back to sleep. A thought crosses my mind: will Colby let me sleep here? Maybe with him? We haven't slept together in a bed yet and it'd be the first time . . .
My thoughts stop when I feel a wave of tiredness fall over me. Colby, who is my boyfriend, is here anyway, so I shuffle forwards onto his lap and rest my head against him. I feel fluttery knowing that he's letting me do it, even rubbing his thumb lightly against my thigh—which feels amazing—in front of other people. I don't know why but it gives me a little kick.
Okay. One more test. I need to know my boundaries so I don't jump him and catch him off guard.
I lift my head from his shoulder and casually move my face closer to his. Up until this point, he's been looking either at the hand that's on me or at Sam. But now he looks straight at me and glances at my lips for a split second. When he meets my eyes, I bravely lean in and kiss him. And he doesn't stop me. In fact, he kisses back and brings his arm a little bit more around me.
He pulls back after a moment so I drop my head onto his shoulder, close my eyes and let out a little sigh. I feel his eyes on me the whole time and even after that. I have no doubt he's not the only one looking at me because I hear the tiniest whisper from Tara behind me.
"I literally don't get what the hell happened." She tells Jake. "She hasn't said anything to me, I'm personally offended." I smile a bit, flicking my eyes open to look at her. She's already looking at me and motions her head towards the door as if asking to go and talk. I shake my head. I'm too comfortable here. Actually, I want to see if I can stay here tonight. Because if not, then I'm going to head out. I've been here for hours already and I'm tired anyway.
"Am I staying here tonight?" I whisper, looking up at Colby now. He looks at me, all over me, then moves one of his hands to my hair, brushing a few strays behind my ear. I scrunch my face up and hide into his chest for a second.
"You can if you want to." He answers quietly.
"Do you want me to?" He has to think for a second.
"Truthfully? No. I have a work thing tonight." Right. A work thing. He's explained that to me whilst also infuriatingly not. He's said that it has something to do with his big secret and they have to do... jobs. I guess thats what they call them? I'll ask more about it another day. "Don't want you waiting up for me." He adds a little quieter.
I smile. "Don't flatter yourself." He exhales quickly as sort of an amused huff then lifts his phone to check the time. Wow. It's technically the next day already; way past midnight. And I'm going to have to work tomorrow if I want to keep my apartment . . . fuck.
As if he reads my mind, he unwraps the arm that's still around me and takes my hand instead. The moment we stand up, most of their heads turn to us. Colby ignores it and slips through the door but I hear a comment.
"Don't bang too loud!" Jake calls after us. I flip around in the doorway, lift my middle finger with a fake smile, and shut the door. They laugh but I'm the one to ignore it, following Colby quickly up the stairs and into his room.
The moment he shuts the door, I kiss him. It's not sexual or anything, just a quick, innocent kiss. "Thanks for keeping your promise." I whisper against his lips. My arms have found their way around his neck and his hands are resting on both of my hips.
"It's a promise for a reason, Lydia." He replies as he pulls back. It takes not even a second for his face to be snuggling into my neck just like earlier. We actually stood like that for a while before and I have a feeling it's going to happen again. I feel a couple of kisses, but nothing much.
"I'm surprised they didn't say much down there." I mumble for something to talk about.
"I warned them the second we entered the room."
"Ah, that explains it." I laugh but it quickly turns into a sigh as I close my eyes. God, I'm tired. Colby, once again knowing what I'm thinking, leans down and picks me easily up from the floor. I stay clung to him until he falls down onto the bed with me on top.
"I'll have to go soon." He mumbles against my neck still. "But you can sleep in here and steal whatever food the other girls have bought."
"Do you boys not buy food?"
"No, we go out to get ours or order." I hum and shrug, moving to the side off of him then walking to his closet. I feel him watching me as I steal a large t-shirt blatantly in front of him. But the 'show's not over. I don't waste even a moment before I pull off my shirt, pull his on, then take off my shorts.
When I glance at Colby, he's just staring at me while lying down. There's no smile but I see humour in his eyes, thankfully. "Stop staring at me, creep." I tease.
"You're not leaving this room looking like that." He tells me, the light disappearing. My eyebrows rise as I slowly walk over to him. He watches me all the way until I climb up to straddle his waist.
"They all know better than to even glance in my direction." I remind him, leaning down to kiss his jaw then going a little lower. I feel his muscles tense beneath me but he doesn't move. I stop at the bottom of his neck, come up to his lips, and pull away. "You should go and do your job, shouldn't you?" He nods. "Then go."
"Do you have work tomorrow?"
"Yes and I'll wait for you to wake up to leave." I lie. There's no way I'm going to wait for him to wake up; I'll just sneak out. It'll be easy enough considering he sleeps during the day anyways.
"You sure about that?" His eyes narrow. I roll mine and move onto the bed, pulling covers over me as I lie down.
"Yes." I get one last kiss and then he's gone. Literally, it feels like he disappears with a flash right before my eyes. The door closes gently.
At least I'll get to wake up to him tomorrow.