Bad Taste (Part I) // Colby Brock

105 - Katrina

Rebecca basically passed out on Colby's chair while Tara and I cleaned up the vervaine. We would have made her do it herself if she was anyone else, but being Colby's One made her doubly untouchable and uncontrollable in our house. Of course, she was also knocked out and our friend, so we let her sleep. We disposed of the vervaine—I was in charge of that so it didn't hurt Tara—before collapsing onto one of the couches and watching Rebecca. It was creepy, sure, but she looked so peaceful.

The last time I'd been around her asleep, she was muttering Colby's name. Strangely, she wasn't doing that now. I considered that she might not actually be out since she always whispered his name when he wasn't with her, yet she didn't respond when I whisper-yelled.

"Weird, isn't it?" Tara asked softly, tilting her head to the side. "She doesn't say his name when she's in a room with others." I knew that wasn't true. "Think she somehow knows, even in her sleep?"

I shrugged. "Maybe. I think she's just holding her breath for him, you know? Anticipation even unconscious. She wants to save her voice for him."

Tara suddenly grinned as she zipped next to Colby's chair, looking down at Rebecca. "Think she's going to yell at him?"

"Definitely."

We started laughing quietly enough that we wouldn't wake her up when Tara's head snapped toward the door. She narrowed her eyes, her ears twitching. I suddenly felt on alert, as if I was supposed to be grabbing a stake and hiding. Tara's gaze slowly drifted to Rebecca then back to me. "The others are here; no Colby," she paused, "or Sam."

I felt like it was earlier all over again, my nerves rising in my stomach with the dread of what'd happened. Sam and Colby only ever went missing together, apparently, and it put me and Rebecca in the same position again, though she was asleep still.

Tara kept listening for any sign of them as the others filled in the room. Jake sat beside her tentatively, hesitant as if something was wrong. Now I was really scared. And someone must have figured that out because I saw lips moving around the room but heard nothing. Eventually, my informer, Corey, twisted to me.

"They're alive," he said, "but Colby was staked in the stomach and he's weak. He wouldn't let us stick around; only Sam."

When I glanced over at Rebecca, I realised her hand was resting tightly on her stomach, her knuckles white again. I looked at Tara in surprise—she'd noticed the same thing but hadn't stopped staring.

Rebecca really was his One.

Not that we needed any more confirmation for that at this point: they made it obvious just in the way they looked at each other.

Tara's head snapped the other direction and I heard the front door. Rebecca jerked awake, though I couldn't understand why at first. She flinched a little looking down at her stomach before turning toward the door, her eyes narrowed.

Corey leaned over to whisper in my ear. "Sam and Colby are back. They're walking slow." I just nodded without a word.

The anticipation of Colby's return in the room was intense, and I couldn't help but assume it was all Rebecca. She looked like she might just run out there to meet him herself if he didn't hurry up. She shouldn't have even known he was here, but I understood because I had butterflies in my stomach at Sam's return, too.

After a few painful moments, the door opened and Sam slid in first, slow and careful. He looked worried but he didn't turn back to the other pair of footsteps behind him. He walked straight to me, a little faster than before. As soon as he was next to me, I grabbed his hand, ready to watch Colby and Rebecca.

I was sure everyone was.

He was much slower than he'd ever been. I couldn't tell if it was because he was nervous or because he was in pain. Either way, it took him way too long to get through the door. He didn't have the chance to shut it behind himself before Rebecca was up. Her long legs made only three huge steps, then the sound of a slap echoed around the room.

I almost burst out laughing, matching the mood of everyone else around me.

Now Rebecca stood in front of him, her arms crossed and her face illustrating for everyone exactly how she was feeling. "What the hell! What fucking trouble did you get yourself into?! Sam came back. Why didn't you, asshole?"

Colby watched her in silence, the look in his eye one I'd learned to look for. I could feel Rebecca softening right in front of us all, and I knew that we were about to witness a completely different side to her. Even more so when I saw a tear slip from her cheek unexpectedly. She quickly wiped it but another cane from her other eye and she turned her face away from us and him, her jaw set.

Something about the moment was so intense as Colby reached out and brushed the tear away with his thumb, turning her face back to him. There was just a second where they stared at each other before her arms were around his neck and his were around her waist. She was stood on her toes despite her heels, her body entirely arched to fit against his. I could just about see Colby's face: how he was closing his eyes with furrowed brows to take in the moment.

I think it was finally the time they both realised and accepted how much they cared about each other.

We all knew it was deeper than just caring for each other, but we didn't feel like getting our necks snapped—or threatened to be bitten, in my case.

So we let them have their moment in peace... with a dozen sets of eyes on them.