All The Little Lights // c.b

13

I wake up at noon, per usual, forgetting I had stayed the night at Colby's. He was on the couch on his phone, and looked over at me.

"Morning," He says smiling, and jumps on his bed.

"Morning," I say, and rub my eyes gently. I reach for my phone and see I had three missed messages from Ella.

Ella - girl wya

Ella - helloooo

Ella - r u at the house?

Me - yes

I shut off my phone and give my attention to Colby, who sits on the other side of the bed. I sit up and look at him, smiling.

"Whatcha looking at?" He asks, and I smile.

"You," I say quietly, and he pretends to flip his hair over his shoulder. I bring my hair up into a messy ponytail, and look at him again.

"You have to do anything today?" He asks, and I nod.

"Unfortunately, I do. Ella has a meet and greet thing actually," I say, putting my hands behind my neck and stretching.

"And you have to go?" He asks, and I nod.

"Yeah, she wants me to go since I'm in her vids like three fourths of the time," I say, and he nods in understanding.

"Well, let me know how it goes," he says, a smile on his face. I nod and get out of his warm bed, walking over to where he was sitting and lean down to hug him. He hugs me tight and when I stand he looks at me sadly.

"Why so sad?" I ask, and he looks down.

"Your leaving meeeee," he says, and I laugh, giving him one last hug as I leave his room. I walk down to my car and get in, driving back to my apartment to change. I take off Colby's sweats and tee shirt and put them to the side, and change into a pair of jeans and a long flowy shirt that I tucked into the front of my jeans. I put on a short jean jacket and put on a pair of black and white checkered vans.

"You ready to go?" Ella asks, coming into my room.

"Yep, you wanna drive?" I ask.

"No, I will, I want to vlog this!" She says excitedly, and I laugh. I grab my keys and we get into my car. As we drive, Ella talks about how excited she is to meet us, and it brings a smile to my face. My best friend is an inspiration. When we pulled up to the venue, we could see fans in a line in the spot we were going to meet them. It was a large conference room area, and we parked in the back so we wouldn't be seen. With the help of security, we made it into the room where we sat in front of the table where the fans were going to meet us. Ella also came out with merch about a month ago, before we went on our Australia trip, so I was excited to see her fans repping her merch.

"You ready?" I whispered to her, and she nodded excitedly. She had her camera ready, and then the doors opened. Fans flooded into the lines to meet her, and I smiled. Most of them had their phones out, and I waved at one that was pointed in our direction. The first fan came by, and handed Ella a letter.

"Hi! I love your vlogs, oh my god!" She says excitedly, and Ella smiles wide.

"Thank you! Wow, I love your hair!" She compliments the girl, and she smiled.

"Wow, thank you! Can I get a picture?" She asked, and Ella nodded, getting up from behind the table and having me take a photo with the fan's phone.

"Thank you!" She says, and then she surprisingly comes to me.

"Hi! I just wanna say you are super pretty," the fan says, and I smile.

"Aw, thank you! So are you!" I say, and she leaves. Wow, she was so sweet.

***

We were halfway through the meet and greet when my phone vibrated. I took a second and saw it was Colby. I smiled and texted him back from under the table.

Colby 💕- hows it going?!

Me - great! Her fans are the sweetest

Colby 💕- aw! do they know abt us yet?

Me - i dont think so, no one has said anything. We also haven't exactly announced it via social media....

Colby 💕- riiiiight. Haha i have to go Brennen and i are heading to a friends, see you soon?

Me - yea, have fun!

I locked my phone and looked up again to see a fan just finishing up with Ella. She had a tee shirt in her hand which Ella had signed. She walked over to me and smiled.

"Hi, Josie, can you sign my shirt?" She asks, handing me a blue sharpie.

"Of course!" I say, and sign it.

"Can I get a picture too? You are super pretty and Ella's vlogs are obviously amazing but I love the ones that you are in," she says as I come around the table.

"Aw, you are so sweet, thank you!" I say, and the fan's friend takes a picture of us.

"Can I have one too?" Her friend asked, and I nodded. They left, and I sat back down, feeling lighthearted and happy.

***

The meet and greet was over too soon, and Ella and I drove home at around 5pm.

"I am exhausted," Ella groans, throwing her body onto our couch.

"Me too, girlie," I say, and decide to text Colby.

Me - hey col, just came home from m&g :) how is/was the party?

I lock my phone and hold on to it as I walk to my room. I strip out of my clothes and throw on Colby's tee shirt and a pair of my leggings. Little does he know he is not getting this tee back. I check my phone again, and see Colby sent me three messages.

Colby 💕- glad to hear!

Colby 💕- party is cool, been petting a cat most of the night ahah

Colby 💕- wanna hang tmr?

Me - aww! And yes, what do u have in mind?

Colby 💕- i wanted to explore a bit, just u and me :)

Me - sounds good :)

I smile, and hold my phone to my chest. I am a lucky girl. As I lay there thinking about him though, anxiety sets in. A bunch of what if's cloud my head, and I take a breath. I roll over in my bed and hold a pillow over myself, and fall asleep.