addictive (c.b.)

twenty two.

Colby's POV

"What, Emily, what the fuck do you want?" I asked her as I called her back.

"You know, you're never going to be fit to have children with that attitude." She snapped.

"Yeah okay, what is the issue?" I asked.

"Just wanted to give you the update..." She hesitated.

"And? COME ON!" I snapped, loud enough to make heads turn at the hospital, "I'm sorry...It's been...Hard here."

"Whatever. Get ready to...Not have to deal with me again. It's not yours." She said, defeated.

"YES! I told you. Colby Brock is always safe. Whose is it?" I asked out of pure curiosity as relief washed over me.

"It's...It's James's baby." She said quietly.

"That doesn't make any sense...How?" I asked.

"I might have...Went and visited him...Right after the last time you and I 'hung out'. The guards weren't looking, the jail is surprisingly relaxed. We got away with some things and I guess you get the rest." She exhaled.

"Are you kidding me? You went and saw the man that abused both you and Sophia? And you fucked him??? AFTER he did all of the bad shit?? What the hell is wrong with you?" I tried my best to remain quiet.

"Colby, I don't know. I'm not asking you for help, I'm just giving you an update. I'm scared. I don't know what I should do. I need to tell my mom." She said.

"Yeah, you do. I can't believe you. I gotta go. I'll check in with you tomorrow." I said and hung up the phone abruptly.

Anger seethed through my veins but ultimate relief cooled it down. Now that one problem was solved, I just had to figure out the other.

The love of my life doesn't remember me.

And what is there to do about it?

"Hey, you okay brother?" Sam came behind me and asked.

"I'm...Conflicted." I said.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"The baby isn't mine...It's James's. Sophia doesn't remember me. Everything is just a mess." I said sadly.

"Brother, that's great news, confusing and stupid, but great! Luckily, I don't wanna know the details. Just wanna say if you ever keep something like that from me again I'll have your head on a stake. I'm here for you dude, no secrets, and NO MORE EMILY," He looked at me sternly before continuing, "As for Sophia, I'm upset too. But I know you're hurting way more. give it some time. Corey is in there with her now. Devyn said she told her about the night they ordered sushi at three in the morning and she could picture it but couldn't exactly remember. It was strange, but a reason to keep hope."

"Thanks man, I appreciate you more than anything. You guys aren't going to shun me?" I asked.

"As long as you stay the hell away from Emily? No," He chuckled.

"Trust me. I will. I do want to check up on her every now and again. Over text or phone call, of course. You guys could even be there while I do if you want." I held my hands up in defense.

"Nah, I trust you brother. I know you'll make the right decisions from here on out. A lot lays on the line." He said, patted my shoulder, then walked away.

I need to do better.

After about ten minutes, Corey came back out. The rest of the group met up together and joined me. Isabel joined us minutes later.

"Visiting hours are over, she's going to 'meet' the rest of you tomorrow." She said.

"I'm nervous for my big first impression," Jake rustled his hair a bit.

Everyone chuckled.

"Guys?" I asked.

Everyone looked at me and stared.

Isabel still doesn't know.

"I'm sorry for fucking up. I didn't mean to overstep boundaries and I should have been honest with you all. The baby isn't mine. But it is James's. It's a weird and confusing story, but I'm relieved and I'm sorry. No more Emily, cross my heart and hope to die," I said, crossing an x over my heart.

"Brother, please don't be stupid anymore. We all know Sophia loves you too damn much to endure any more stupidity." Corey laughed, half serious.

Everyone started walking out of the hospital and Isabel hung back by me.

Here we go.

"I swear to any God in this universe that I will violently hurt you if you ever go near Emily again. I don't care if you check in on her or whatever Sam said you were going to do, that's fine. But if it goes any further, if you see her again, if you sleep with her again, if you do anything again, I. Will. Hurt. You." She harshly whispered.

"I know, I'm—"

"Shut up. I love you Colby but you're so fucking stupid. You know for a fact that Sophia did and still does love you with everything she has in you, whether she remembers that right now or not. Please, please don't fuck that up. I can't afford her to be hurt anymore." She said, her voice threatening to crack.

"I understand. I've been so stupid, I know. I promise you I'm going to make it better and I'll do whatever I can to make it up to her, even when she doesn't remember me yet." I said.

"She's doing good so far, but when Devyn told her about the sushi, she got a headache trying to remember. I'm scared it'll get worse the more we press on her. We need to take it slow. I want you to be the last to re-meet her, and then tell her everything gradually. The good memories, please." She said.

"I know. We'll try everything we can to get her to remember. I'm on your side, we're all going to do this together." I said.

"I'm trusting you on this one, Brock," She said, raising a brow at me.

We piled into the rental car, which we also extended our rental time on, and drove back to the AirBNB with higher hopes than we had the night before. Once back, we had a quick dinner, which Aaron clumsily whipped up because it was his night to cook.

Everyone got ready for bed and I walked up to my room and got changed.

How is Sophia going to remember me?

I paced around, as I usually did when I was nervous. Finally, it dawned on me. I opened my phone and scrolled through each of our messages that I had never brought myself to delete. I then went to my camera roll and my social media stories and found some videos and pictures of our favorite memories together.

I stumbled around my room, fueled by desire and ideas, found a stray piece of paper and a pen, and started scribbling down notes immediately.

The day I took you on our first official date to Disneyland. Your eyes twinkled in shades of blue, red, and pink in the lights of the ferris wheel. You told me about your home life for the first time. You're normally beautiful, but you being so open with me made you ethereal.

Our Malibu beach trip, where I kissed you for the first time. Nothing else mattered, just us in the water with our hearts feeling connected.

I continued to write more and more until the front and the back of the paper were full. I smiled to myself, finally feeling relaxed after a long day.

Going to bed tonight was easy because I was so determined for tomorrow to come. I thought about how I would say everything I wanted to, and how I had to take it easy on Sophia so that I didn't hurt her.

I've already done enough after all.

Bring on tomorrow.