Affiction

2

Kiara's pov

Within the first half hour of our drive home, Gabby had fallen asleep in her carseat.

"Are you excited to be going back home?" I asked Colby quietly, grinning as he glanced over at me.

"Yeah, but I won't be home as much," He sighed, "I wish things could be different. For her," He glanced into the rearview mirror as he added that.

"I know," I said, slipping my hand into his, "We can work on it though,"

That was clearly a lie. Things would hardly change, no matter how much we wanted them too.

Colby was too important to the crime world. If he was to leave, there was a very high chance he'd be killed.

So, this was how it was going to have to be.

He didn't believe me either, rolling his eyes as he continued to focus on the road.

I pulled my hand away from his, picking at my nails.

I knew that Colby would not let himself believe such things, that we will be a normal family, that we're safe, things like that. It annoyed me, however, and he was aware of that.

"I wish things could be different," I sighed, scrubbing my forehead with one of my hands.

"I know," Colby agreed, reaching over to rub my leg gently, "You've been saying that since we met,"

"That's because I mean it," I insisted, leaning against the door.

"I love you," He sang, clearly trying to change the subject.

"I know," I said, glancing over to see him staring at me with raised eyebrows.

"Really?" Colby asked with a grin, "is this how you're going to be?"

I shrugged with a giggle, continuing to check on him silently as he drove.

He's aged well, and by "well" I mean it looks like he's hardly aged a day.

If anything, he looks better. His hair is still the same brown, hanging over onto his forehead. He's been working out, though most of it is hidden by the tattoos crawling over his skin.

Even though we've had our ups and downs, I know for certain that I love him more now than I ever did before.

The closer and closer we got to Oakland, the more security checks we were stopped by.

I counted six by the time we actually were allowed into the gates, each one asking for valid ID's and the first four made us get out of the car to search it.

Thankfully, the officers were kind enough to let Gabby sleep throughout the entire process, which was something I was worried about.

It wasn't until we pulled into the driveway that she woke up, stretching and pointing out the window to the house.

It was the same house that Colby and the others lived in when I flew back with Jake. The issues with the city have basically made moving impossible, but we were lucky enough to have such a big place to call home.

"Yeah we're home," I smiled, turning around in my seat to tickle her, "Do you want to go in,"

"Yeah!" She clapped, and I grinned over at Colby, who was smiling at her too.

"Oh my god she's so fucking cute," I gushed before getting out of the car.

Colby beat me to the trunk, shouting to me, "Get the kid, I'll take in the shit,"

I pulled open the car door, trying my best to take off Gabby's seat buckles as she squirmed.

"Your daddy is just so silly huh?" I asked, not expecting her to do anything except laugh or smile as a response.

Gabby's vocabulary was very limited, and she mostly only spoke when she wanted something.

"Kat," She grinned, pointing to the house.

"Yeah, Kat's in there. You wanna see her?" I asked, shutting the car door with my foot.

She buried her head into my neck, and I heard mischievous chuckles come from her.

"Do you have everything?" I asked Colby as he pressed the button for the trunk to automatically shut.

"I think so," He said, quickly catching up to me. Even with his arms full, he was still making sure he opened the door for Gabby and I.

"Kat, someone's looking for you!" I shouted before pulling off Gabby's booties and holding onto them with my free hand.

Sam was the first person to poke his head into the room, keeping his distance as he began speaking, "How was it?"

"We'll talk about it later," Colby said, causing me to shoot him a questioning look.

Gabby wouldn't be able to remember anything, so there was no point of waiting until she wasn't around to talk about his work.

"Where is she?" Kat asked, running excitedly into the room, "Where's- oh there she is!"

Gabby made grabby hands for Kat, which the pink haired girl copied in return.

"I'll watch her. You guys go unpack," Kat said, waving us towards the hallway where our room was.

"Yes ma'am," I said, reaching for one of the bags over Colby's shoulder for him to refuse to give it to me.

"I got it," He grumbled, "Let's go,"

Even after all this time, Colby was incredibly insistent on keeping our affection limited around his friends.

I never thought to ask him about it, but it didn't concern me that badly.

We made our way down the hallway, up the stairs and to our room.

I opened the door for Colby, waiting for him to slowly prowl his way in before shutting the door behind us.

"Jesus," I sighed, causing him to glance at me as he set the suitcases down on our bed.

"What?" He asked, his hard facial expression crumbling away.

"You think you're so scary, and you're not. I promise," I said, walking over to the bed and unzipping my suitcase.

"I can't let them think I'm getting soft,' Colby shrugged, making his way to our walk-in closet.

"One look at you and Gabby and they know you're soft," I huffed out a laugh, tossing the clothes in the laundry basket in the corner of the room.

"That's different," He shouted from the closet, walking out as he slipped on a shirt, "I'm not soft, I just have soft spots,"

One glance at his body said he was lying.