The Choice (a Painful Past)

171 (Colby's POV)

I didn't move from the bathroom door, until I heard the shower start.

Something had changed from the time we came inside, to the time she went back outside to get her phone. She was crying earlier, but this was different. She was destroyed when she was telling me her story, but this time, she wouldn't even look at me.

Everything in her posture had changed. She was defeated.

But what had happened?

"Is she okay?" Sam asked, as I walked back over to my bed.

I shrugged.

"I don't know."

I sat down at the foot of the bed and put my head in my hands. Everything had been better right before we came inside.

She was laughing.

I moved my feet and felt something. Callie's phone. It was lit up, like she had a notification.

I picked it up to set on the bed for her, when she got out. I didn't mean to look at it. I didn't mean to pry, but there wasn't a lock on her phone.

When I picked it up, my finger hit the notif and it opened to her texts. I was about to exit out and put the phone down, when some of the hateful words caught my eye. Whore. Bitch. Cunt.

Anger flared- no, not anger. Rage. Rage flared inside of me like I had never felt before.

Worse than when she told me about the worst parts of what that dickhead had done. Worse because he had the audacity to say these disgusting things to her.

I couldn't help it. My fingers acted on their own and scrolled through all of the texts that he had sent her, while she was here with me. He was gaslighting her, manipulating her, and talking to her worse than I had ever even witnessed.

How could he talk to the person he supposedly loved like this? The woman who he claimed to raise a child with! He never deserved her!

"This FUCKING PRICK!" I roared.

"Whoa, bro, what the fuck?" Nate asked.

"Dude, you okay? What happened? Wait, that's not your phone. Colby, that's not your phone. What are you doing, man?" Sam rambled.

I shook my head and didn't bother looking at them. I let every bit of rage I had pour out into typing a reply text. I shouldn't.

I knew that I shouldn't, but I couldn't seem to care. All she did was make excuses for him. That's all she had ever done, and I still didn't know why.

She was too good for him.

He needed to be taken care of and she wasn't going to do it herself.

"LISTEN HERE, YOU PIECE OF FUCKING RUNNY SHIT! DON'T YOU EVER EVEN BREATHE IN CALLIE'S DIRECTION AGAIN. YOU'RE DONE. SHE'S DONE WITH YOU. YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO TALK TO HER THIS WAY. YOU'VE PUT HER THROUGH ENOUGH. YOU BETTER PRAY TO GOD THAT I DON'T SEE YOU BEFORE I LEAVE. IF I DO, YOU BETTER PRAY FOR SALVATION, BECAUSE I AM GOING TO BEAT YOU WITHIN AN INCH OF YOUR GOOD FOR NOTHING LIFE. BTW, Callie knew nothing about us going to Ben's party. Ben invited us. We talked to him all night and he never even mentioned you. Thought you'd like to know how great you are at being a father, since you wanna talk about her being a bad mother. Now, FUCK OFF and pay attention to your recent victim. Bitch."

I was fuming. My breathing was rapid, and I felt like steam was literally coming out of my nose.

"Colby, put the phone down. Whatever you're doing, stop. Stop, brother. Callie isn't going to appreciate-" Sam was cut off by the bathroom door opening.

Callie stepped out, with her long hair hanging wet around her shoulders. She was rubbing a towel through it.

I hit send on the text and tossed her phone on the bed, before she could see me. I was positive that she would see it later, but that was later.

That's when I saw that she was wearing my long button up shirt that I had taken off. It was a little tighter on her and stopped about mid-thigh, giving me an excellent view of her legs.

"Um, sorry, I found this in the bathroom. My jeans had blood on them cuz I fell outside and busted my knee. I don't know which one of you this belongs to, but I can change, if it's a problem. I just don't have anything of my own here. I didn't plan on staying." She rambled.

My eyes found her knees and noted the open wound there, on her right leg. It was still bleeding just a little and looked raw.

"It's Colby's shirt." Sam replied, when I didn't say anything. "I'm sure he doesn't mind. He just seems to be tongue tied at the moment." He laughed a little, when I shot him a glare.

"Come here. Let me see your knee." I said, meeting her gaze.

Her eyes were still troubled, but the shower seemed to have helped her regain her composure.

"No, it's okay. Just a scrape. I'll be fine." She said, shaking her head so that her wavy hair bounced around her.

"Callie, come sit down." I insisted.

She rolled her eyes but came to sit next to me. She pulled at the ends of my shirt, making sure that it stayed down.

"Do you have any shorts or something that I can put on? This is just a little...revealing." She whispered.

"I don't have any shorts." I replied, as I pulled my backpack over next to me to get the first aid kit out of it.

With what Sam and I did, I usually kept a small supply of bandages and such, just in case.

"Oh, okay." She replied, quietly.

I placed my hands on her naked leg and looked into her eyes.

"Can you prop your leg on my lap? Or the bed. I just need better access." I said, noting the deeper tone that my voice took on.

Her skin was velvety smooth under my palms, making me want to keep them there forever. She nodded and lifted her leg. My shirt shifted, showing a little more of her plump thigh.

I tore my eyes away, before that skin could hypnotise me. I took out the antiseptic spray and held it over her knee.

"This is going to burn a little." I said.

She nodded and bit her lip.

"I do have a pair of gray sweatpants that you can borrow. That's what I usually sleep in." I said, just as I sprayed her knee.

"Oh!" She gasped.

I blew on the wound, gently, to ease the burn, then opened the larger sized bandage that I had.

"You got yourself good. How did you fall?" I asked.

I layered the bandage with the antibiotic ointment, then placed it over her scrape.

"Oh, um, I don't know. Just drunk, I guess." She mumbled.

I didn't believe a word of it. It had something to do with those damned texts, or maybe she had talked to him. I didn't know which it was, but I knew it had something to do with that dickhead.

"Hmm, I didn't think you were that drunk anymore, but okay." I mused. "There. All better."

"Th-thanks." She stammered.

She went to move her leg, so I pulled my hands back and put the supplies back in my bag. I went ahead and pulled out the sweatpants while I was at it.