A Light in the Dark // c.b

41

The logical reason would be to sell the house, and just say fuck it. The least logical reason is to leave everyone I love to live in a house in Australia. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

"Josie?" Colby says, knocking on his door. He creaks it open, and I turn to look at him. He walks in and sits on the couch next to me, and I draw my knees up and rest my chin on the top.

"Hello," I say, sighing.

"What do you want to do?" He says, and I squeeze my eyes shut, them reopen them.

"I don't know. I don't want to leave you, but my dad clearly wants me to live in this house he bought me," I say, and I shake my head.

"You should go, then," he says, and his voice cracks. I look at him, and squint.

"No," I say flatly, and take his hand.

"Josie, he has the house for you. He wants you home," he says, his voice cracking.

"Colby, you are just tired. You aren't thinking straight," I say, and squeeze his hand.

"Oh Josie, I'm not the one who's not thinking straight," he tells me, and I look over at him.

"Really?" I say, and shake my head in exasperation. I sigh, and stretch my legs out in front of me again, rereading the damn letter.

"Josie, you need to go home," Jake says from the doorway. I look over, and see he and Sam in my doorway, looking solemn.

"How do you guys know?" I say, confused.

"Colby told us," Sam says, and they both walk in and sit in front of me.

"I love Colby, I love LA, I love you guys, I love this house, I love this place, I love everything here. Why would I drop everything and move to another country?" I say, a tear falling down my cheek.

"Because its what your dad wants," Colby says, wrapping his arms around me tightly.

"I don't want to be alone," I say into his shoulder, and I feel his head nod.

"I know. Maybe you can talk to Phoebe," he suggests, and that honestly didn't seem like a bad idea. Phoebe hasn't really ever left San Francisco anyway.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," I say, putting my head in my hands.

"Neither can I," He says, and I watch his hand wave the boys away.

"What about us?" I say, looking at him.

"I don't know," he says, tracing patterns into my thigh.

"Colby, you know I love and appreciate and adore you," I say, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"And I the same," he says, and I swallow hard.

"I think .... we should break it off," I whisper, and he just nods.

"I hate to say it, but I agree," he says, his eyes watering. A tear falls down his face, and I dried it with my thumb, looking into his bluer than blue eyes.

"Fuck," I say, and start crying right into his chest.

"I'll come visit if you visit," he says, and I nod into his chest.

"Of course. I don't know how long I can stay without my Colbert," I say, and he flashes me a small smile.

"I don't know how long I can stay without my JoJo," he says, and I make a face.

"Never call me that again," I say laughing a bit. He laughs with me, then helps me pack as I call Phoebe. She was totally on board with the idea surprisingly, and even took it upon her to buy the plane tickets. I would drive up to Sam Francisco and then we would fly to my new home together. Ew, that was weird to say.

"I love you still," Colby says as he helps me zipper up my third and final suitcase.

"I love you too, still," I say back, and he helps me gather my suitcases to bring down to my car.

"You be safe," he says, wrapping me in a hug.

"You too," I say, leaning my head on his chest.

"God dang it," Sam says, giving me a huge bear hug. Jake then hugged me over Sam, and Colby came up behind me.

"Wow, I'm going to miss Dev and Kat, please tell them to call me as soon as possible. And Corey, and Aaron," I say, and they nod.

"We will set up a call where you can talk to all of us," Jake says, and I nod, biting my lip.

"Well, um," I say, as I put my purse onto the passenger seat.

"We will miss you so much," sam says, and Colby stands there quietly. I take the opportunity and lean forward to kiss him again. He lets me, and wraps his arm around me, holding me close. When we let go, there were tears flowing down both our faces. Realization hit as well that I just broke up mutually with the boy I loved, and I am leaving for fucking Australia.

"You know, I'll be back. I'll be back all the fucking time," I say, then bite my lip.

"Oh, we know. Do bring Phoebe," Jake says, and I nod to him.

"Okay, um I love you guys," I say, and finally get in the drivers seat. As I drive away and look back, I see them all standing just outside the gate, and my heart broke even more.

Don't worry y'all the story ain't over yet.