Into the Light

73 Anna's POV

 I hadn't done most of the the things that I had done with Colby, with anyone that I had dated. "Yeah, yeah," Brennen replied, with a wave of his hand. "We all know it. Y'all will figure it out one day." Colby squeezed my hand and shot me a smile. Seeing him take it in stride helped the anxiety that was rising up inside of me, and I sighed. That conversation could wait. Right then, I just wanted to play stupid games and laugh with my friends on the way home. So, that's what we did. I couldn't ever remember a time that I laughed as hard as I did on that trip back home. It didn't matter if I said something stupid, or didn't understand something, because they were all acting just as dumb. I caught Colby watching me a couple of times, but he would just smile and squeeze my thigh. Every single time he did, I felt the electric current that he left behind travel up my skin. We stopped for food about halfway into our drive and got some snacks for the road. When we were worn out on the goofy games, Colby turned the music up and we just relaxed for a while. I stared out my window, enjoying the scenery, while most of the others stared at their phones. For something that was supposed to help the world connect, I had never seen people so disconnected. It was sad. The cotton candy clouds hung low in the sky, leaving tendrils swirling into the blue. The sun was bright but air conditioning in the car kept us cool. I wanted to roll my window down...or I guess let my window down. There wasn't a handle to twist for it to roll. There was only a button. Anyway, I wanted to let my window down so that the wind could pour inside the SUV, but I wasn't so sure that everyone else wanted that. I satisfied myself with watching the birds in the sky or the different people that were walking down the sidewalks. Some of them were dressed in the most flashy, outrageous clothing that I had ever seen, with a rainbow of hair colors on their heads. It was quite interesting to speculate over who these people were and what they were doing. I started to get tired from the long drive and decided to close my eyes, just for a little while, against the harsh sunlight. Before I knew it, my door clicked open, and Colby was standing beside me. "Hey beautiful," he said, quietly. "Hey yourself," I replied, before sliding out of the vehicle. I stretched my arms above my head and rolled my neck to work out the kinks. The nap had left me feeling kind of drained, and I let out a deep yawn. Colby chuckled and closed my door behind me. "Sounds like you're still tired." "Maybe a little," I agreed. "Don't really want to sleep though." He hoisted his bag over his shoulder and took my hand, before we started walking to the house. "Where are the others?" I asked, looking around for everyone else. "You slept through it. I dropped Brennen off at his house, Jake and Tara went to see his brother, Corey's friend was here when we pulled up, so he left with him, and Sam and Kat are inside." "Well, dang," I murmured. Everyone had left before I had even gotten out of the car. "You want to relax today?" he asked. I yawned again and nodded. He led me up the stairs to his room, then to his couch. After dropping his bag on the floor, he joined me and picked up his laptop from the coffee table. "What are you in the mood for?" he asked. "Actually," I said, leaning my head over onto his shoulder. "I want you know how much I appreciate what you did for me. The trip and everything. The little themed café brought back so many memories. Sometimes, it gets hard to see them, through all of the darkness, but they came back so readily there. Christmases with my family, late night calls with Holley. It was really amazing. I've never had a guy try so hard for me, to make me happy. Thank you, Colby. It means the world to me." I felt his lips touch the top of my head, in a feather light kiss. "You've been through so much, Anna. You deserve to feel some happiness," he replied. I tilted my head up to look at him. I meant to smile, or joke, or do anything, but I couldn't. I got lost, stuck in his intense blue gaze. His eyes flitted between my own and my lips. My heartbeat, the one that I hadn't gotten used to just yet, started speeding up. He dipped his head and pressed his lips to mine in a slow, languid kiss. The fire was only simmering, burning lightly below the surface, as his lips and tongue slow danced with my own. I couldn't remember ever being kissed by someone that was just so damn good at it. He pulled back gently, and smiled down at me. "Since you enjoyed the trip back in time so much, how about we keep it going? Got any favorite movies that you want to watch?" he asked. "Really?" I asked, as a smile crept onto my face. "Sure. Anything you want to watch. We can just hang out and relax the rest of the day," he replied. "Okay, hmm, let me think," I said, tapping my chin with my finger. "Do you prefer horror, drama, comedy, or what?" He shrugged his shoulders. "Doesn't matter to me." "Oh, come on!" I exclaimed, slapping his thigh. He hissed in between his teeth and flinched. "Oh shit," I cried, remembering that he was still hurt. Apparently, my sleep induced, hazy brain had momentarily forgotten. He was just acting so normal! "It's okay," he said, breathing through his nose. "Your elbow caught me, but it's passing. Just hurt for a minute. I'm okay." "I'm so sorry," I said, moving slowly to lift his shirt and see the wound. "Can I?" He nodded and motioned for me to go ahead. I sucked in a breath when I saw it. It wasn't horrible, but he hadn't bandaged it this morning either, so the ugly red and purple skin surprised me. "Why didn't you rebandage it?" I asked. "I told you that I would do it, if you needed me too." "I just forgot. It wasn't bleeding, so it's not a big deal. It needs to air out some too," he replied. "It doesn't even hurt right now. Now, what movie would you like to watch?"