XPLR | Colby Brock

~20~

"This way," Colby said, not letting go of my hand. I looked at my hand in his, my heartbeat so loud in my ear I couldn't hear anything else. He's making me feel the same way I do around Kai.

And this is wrong. Oh so wrong.

Is it though? Really? You're not even dating Kai.

Yes! It is wrong. You're bailing on him to hang out with another guy! It doesn't matter if I'm dating him or not. What matters is that he wants to see me but... I don't really want to see him.

Colby brought me to the top floor, where moon light shone through cracks in the roof. The floor was practically falling apart, but it was still sturdy. He glanced back at me. "You doing alright?" He asked softly.

I nodded a little, looking around as I took my hand away and put it in my hoodie pockets. He smiled softly at me. "Come on. We're almost there," he nodded for me to follow him up a few more stairs and to a wood frame door with eight square windows cut out. A few were broken and dirty.

He lightly pushed it open, and the muffled sound of waves was suddenly clear. It was a full moon tonight, and the stars in the sky glimmered brightly.

A balcony, the most intact thing on the cliffside mansion. It over looked the beach and the tides. I smiled and walked out to the railing, leaning over to get a closer look.

He smiled, he knew I absolutely loved it. It was by far the prettiest thing I've seen in California.

I turn to him and smiled. "Thanks for bringing me here, Colby."

He had succeed, I'll give him that. I had completely forgot about the ticket and the encounter with Hayden. And he knew it well.

He walked up beside me and leaned across the rail too. "This is the one place I'll never do a video at," he said softly. I looked over at him, "Why not? It's perfect for some Instagram pictures."

He looked up at the moon, the soft light shining down on his face as he closed his eyes. "This place is special. It's not on any maps, isn't gossiped about, mostly untouched by society," he turned around and leaned against the rail, head pointed down but his eyes still closed.

"Closed off. As if it were meant to be that way. This place is special for me, I've never gone here with Sam or Corey or Elton, because this place deserves some peace. But at the same time, doesn't it seem so sad?"

I looked towards the inside of the mansion, wondering where he was going with this sudden monologue. I shrugged.

"It does. Like it wants to be forgotten, but at the same time cherished. So I want to keep it that way. I guess one person coming here every once in a while  wouldn't hurt it, in fact, I think someone appreciating this beautiful architectural masterpiece would make the old building really happy. Or at least the person who designed it." He smiled at me, meeting my eyes for a few seconds.

I had never heard him speak like that before. I was speechless. He was always quirky and funny in the few videos I watched. Carefree, happy, and as bad as it sounds, blatantly oblivious.

"So if I made a video here, people would go to it and explore it all the time, make it wither away faster. And as selfish as it sounds, I like having this place to myself. The location of it only known by me, and now you," he smiled as he put his hands in his pockets and started to walk inside again, strolling slowly as if we had all the time in the world.

I followed him, not sure what to say. I wanted to thank him, but at the same time that seemed like he could take it like I was being sarcastic, and I wanted him to know I truly appreciated him bringing me here.

Why is he so nice to me?

I'm not used to this kind of thing. Well, I'm not used to boys in general, and "nice" is the best way I can put it. I guess a better way of saying it is, why does he favor me over any other girl or guy?

I may not know Colby that well yet, but I can tell by how he described Cavenaugh mansion that he truly cared about it. And he chose to share it with me. It's obvious he has taken a special liking towards me over Elena, or any other girl or guy that's been in his videos. Cavenaugh Mansion is a big deal to him.

I don't deserve it.

He did all of this just because he felt bad for me, for something I wasn't even worried about. I know looking back on this one day, it'll be a lie. I would've been worried about it, I know it.

So I guess it really did work.

I knew the ticket would've been hard to pay for, but I could've made it with Elena's help. I knew that Elena would be a mess without Hayden, and having seen him would've made it worse, but we could've made it.

"Why did you do all of this?" I asked as I followed Colby, not realizing I'd said it aloud. He just turned to me and smiled. "Why not?"