In Another Life

58

The fandom knew. Or they would because my dumb ass had posted pics with the girls in our swimsuits. I was wearing the exact swimsuit as the girl (me) in the pic with Colby. But it wasn't like we were together or anything. I was just coming out of the pool and he was looking at me. That didn't say anything except that he liked what he saw. I shivered a little, thinking about the way he was looking at me in that picture. Honestly, even though this could be bad, I felt a little self pride knowing that he had felt that way. I had never been overly confident in myself, hating the way that I look, so this was an ego boost for sure. "You sure you're okay?" Sarah asked, plopping down on the foot of my bed. I nodded and smiled. "Yeah, fine. So what's the plan? Are we hanging out with you guys or do we need to find something to do ourselves?" I asked Colby, only half kidding. I didn't know what he had planned on doing. Yeah, last night was wonderful, more than I could have ever imagined, but that didn't mean that he planned on spending all of his time with me, or if the group even wanted us around. Maybe they just wanted to enjoy their mini vacation away from fans. He reached his hand up and twisted the helix piercing in his ear, smiling at me a little. "Sam has breakfast for everyone over in our room. We were going to get everyone together and make some plans. Of course you guys are invited too. I mean, if you want too." I shrugged nonchalantly, while my insides did flips. "Okay, let me finish my makeup and we can go." "Ooo I need to do some touch ups too! We'll be back in a few!" Sarah grabbed Brennen's hand and pulled him back through the adjoining room door. Brennen just looked confused as he pulled the door closed behind him. I set my makeup bag, the one from Tara, out on the dresser and dumped out what I needed. Colby walked up beside me and started picking up random pieces, looking at it. "Thinking of wearing some today? My eyeliner is right there," I said pointing, as I used my other hand to rub in primer. "You could always bring that look back." He smirked, and met my gaze in the mirror. "Nah, I think I'm good. Maybe for Halloween." I smiled and rolled my eyes, while I went back to what I was doing. I felt his eyes on me in the mirror, but I was trying to concentrate so I avoided his gaze. By the time I got to doing my own eyeliner and mascara, the feeling of him boring a hole into me was too intense. I had the eyeliner wand at my eye, when my body involuntarily chose that second to meet his gaze. My hand jerked and I stabbed myself in the eye. "OW FUCK," I exclaimed, dropping the wand and covering my eye. "ow, ow, ow, shit, this burns!" I backed away from the dresser, both of my eyes watering, and turned to go to the bathroom. "Are you okay?" he asked, stepping towards me. "No," I griped back, annoyed that a single look from him could make me blind myself. It wasn't fair that he had this kind of power over me, damn it. "What can I do to help?" "Nothing, I gotta flush my eye." I walked into the bathroom, leaving the door open, and turned on the cold water. I moved my hand and leaned towards the mirror, inching my eye open. Black tears leaked from eye. There was liquid eyeliner still in my eye. I had to flush it, which meant all of the makeup that I had already applied was about to be fucked. "uuuughhh fuuuuckkk," I groaned, annoyed and in pain. I leaned, my hair swinging forwards, grazing the wet sink. "Here, let me," his deep voice sounded from right beside me. I almost jumped again. I felt his hands move across my neck, leaving a trail of goosebumps, as he gathered my hair in his hands. "Thank you," I muttered, splashing water into my eye. "Does this happen often?" he asked, no sound of sarcasm, just curiosity. "No, of course not." "Good. I wouldn't bother. I don't know why you use all that stuff anyways. You don't really need it. You've got a natural beauty." I froze over the sink bowl, and looked up, meeting his gaze with my bleary one. Then I caught my reflection. "The mirror says otherwise," I said, pointing at the girl who had water dripping down her face, puffy eyes, and runny makeup. He laughed, and swept his hand across my forehead, pulling the stray hairs back. Then he leaned forwards a bit, so that his mouth was next to my ear. "Trust me, you don't need it," he said softly, before planting a soft kiss against the shell of my ear. I let out a shaky breath, and met his gaze again. "Thanks. I don't think I have time to do all of that again anyways, so fresh face it is." I reached for my face wash, then realized he was still holding my hair up. "Um, I have a scrunchie. You can let go, if you want." I said, holding up the scrunchie that I had left on the counter. He shrugged and grinned. "I'm good." "Okaaayy," I said, a little nervously, then started the process of washing the gunk off of my face. I honestly hated wearing a lot of makeup so I usually kept it simple but I had planned on looking extra nice today for obvious reasons. Guess it just wasn't happening. When I was finished, Colby passed me a white, fluffy towel that was hanging on the rack and I dried my face. He let my hair go, watching the strands sift through his fingers before it fell back against my shoulders. "Are we ready?" he asked, meeting my gaze. I nodded. "Yep, guess so." We grabbed our stuff, like my purse, and made sure that we had our phones, before knocking on adjoining room to see if Sarah and Brennen were ready.