Chapter 12

ALYANA'S POV

"Are you almost done packing?" I nag as Colby shoves sweatshirts into his suitcase.

Today is the beginning of our week long trip and of course, Colby waited until the very last minute to start packing. Soon we're leaving for Michigan to see my childhood best friend, Jaid. We'll be staying there until Monday and then leaving for Kansas. I will be meeting Colby's family this week, but I can't let my nerves get the best of me.

"Okay, we can go now," Colby zips up his overpacked suitcase and carries it down the stairs.

"You guys ready?" Sam asks opening the front door.

Sam and Katrina offered to drive us to the airport and pick us up when we come home. We'll have to take Ubers or get a rental when were in Michigan and Kansas, but I'm fine with that. I would definitely rather do that than drive the whole way.

"Hey, don't be nervous. Everything will go perfectly," Colby says like he can feel my nerves leaking out of me.

"I know, it's just been so long," I grab his hand from the center consul in the back seat of Sam's car.

"You guys are best friends, time shouldn't matter."

He's right, the time wont matter.

The drive to the airport took about an hour, so we finally arrived around 2 and our flight takes off at 4, which means we won't get into Michigan until 8. We're just going to our hotel tonight and going to see Jaid tomorrow. At least that gives me more time to get my nerves out of the way.

"Have fun guys," Sam yells out the window as we gather our bags from the trunk.

"Alyana," Kat grabs my hand from the passenger window, "Don't worry, Colby's parents will love you."

We both wave goodbye before walking into the airport. The line to get our bags checked was unbearably long, but we finally got through security and walked to our terminal.

"Hey," Colby says before sitting down in the waiting area for our gate, "I posted our video yesterday and it's doing really well."

"Oh really?" I pull out my phone and go to Youtube.

The video was already half way to our like goal with it only being up for one day. I can't help but to wander to the comments.

"Don't worry," Colby places his hand on my thigh, "they love you."

He wasn't wrong, most of the comments were very positive. Some saying how cute we are together, some noticing certain time stamps when Colby looks at me, and some complimenting me. I was surprised at how supportive most people were. Colby told me about how his fans are notorious for hating any girl that he is around, but maybe they think I'm different.

The rest of the wait for our flight was uneventful and boring, but thankfully it went by fast. As the plane starts it's bumpy track off the runway, I find myself tensing up.

"You okay?" Colby asks gripping his hand into mine.

"Yeah, I just don't like the take off and landing process," I admit looking out the window to watch us ascend higher into the air.

"Just some bumps, it's okay," He put his arm around me and brought me closer to him.

"You're so amazing, I can't believe you're doing this for me," I say referring to the trip.

"Anything for you," He gently kisses my cheek, "We deserve to get out of LA for a bit anyways."

Once the flight was over, we took an Uber to the hotel that we booked for the next three days. It was small, but still had everything we needed. It had a queen sized bed, a mini fridge, coffee maker and a full bathroom.

We decided on ordering a pizza to the room and chilling the rest of the night. As we waited for the pizza to come we flipped through the TV channels provided in our hotel and found something to watch. By the time the pizza arrived, we finally agreed to watch old reruns of Spongebob.

"Come on Alyana you're falling asleep let's go to bed," Colby said after many episodes of Spongebob.

"Okay fine," I groan rubbing my eyes.

I quickly put on more comfortable clothes while Colby takes off his shirt leaving him in his sweatpants.

"Come here babe," He whispers holding out his arm for me.

After Colby turns off the bed side lamp, I lay my head on his chest and slowly drift to sleep.

Morning came quicker than I would have liked. The sun shining through the sheer drapes wake the both of us up.

"Good morning," I hear Colby mumble in his raspy voice.

"Good morning."

I look up to see the sun perfectly illuminating Colby's bright blue eyes. He was trying to squint the sun away, but it still managed to reach him. Even with his messy hair and squinty eyes, he still makes my heart skip a beat.

"What time do you wanna head out for the day?" He asks rolling over to face me.

"It doesn't matter to me," I admit, "I just hope that she's home when we decide to go."

"Why don't you call her and ask her what she's doing today?" Colby suggests.

"That would ruin the surprise though."

"Not if you just call her like you want to catch up and then ask her if she has plans for the day."

That wouldn't be too suspicious, only if we talked on a regular basis. I don't call Jaid just to call her, honestly I haven't called her in a while. That's why I'm so nervous about showing up at her house today. What if she changed? What if she's mad at me for not keeping in touch as much as I could? So many things could go wrong today.

"How about sometime while we're here, you meet my parents?" I suggest to Colby and watch confusion grow on his face.

"Alyana, they're dead," He tries to hide his laughter.

"I mean like go to their grave. I haven't been there since they died and I can talk to them," reminding him that I am a medium.

I try to not let that side of me take over my personality, I like to hide it the best I can. I will admit that situations like these make me glad that I can do what I do. 

"Oh," He realize what I mean, "Yeah I would love to."

After laying in bed for a few more minuets, we finally got up to start the day. We both took showers and I decided on wearing a black skirt with a lavender tight fitted top and Colby put on his usual black jeans and tee shirt. I suggested that we go to the IHOP down the road to get breakfast, and maybe to stall a little.

"Come on, everything will be fine," Colby says trying to coax me out of the building.

"I know," I drag myself into the Uber.

The drive from IHOP to my old neighborhood was about 20 minuets. I wasn't only nervous to see Jaid again, but I was almost terrified to go back to where I use to live. Jaid lived next to me growing up and then moved to the same apartment complex that me and Nick lived in, but Colby doesn't know that and I didn't want him to know. After what happened this past month, I wasn't sure how I would handle being in the same building that all of it happened in and I didn't want to put that pressure onto him.

When we pulled up to the building, my heart dropped. All of the nerves and memories came rushing back to me. I couldn't let my trauma get the best of me, I'm here to see my friend and that's what matters. Colby held tight onto my hand as we walked up the stairs to Jaid's apartment. My hand was almost shaking as I lifted it to knock on her door. The door that was right beside his, but thank god he wasn't in it. However, all the memories are. I knock slightly and immediately hear foot steps approach the door.

"Hello...oh my god Alyana!"

I watched Jaid's face turn from confusion to utter excitement. She threw her arms around me and pulled me in for a tight hug. She was happy to see me.

"What are you doing here!" She screams pulling away from the hug to look at me.

"To see you," I smile back.

"Oh my god I can't believe it, please come inside."

Colby and I walk into her apartment as I introduce him.

"This is Colby, my boyfriend. He brought me here so I could see you," I explain gesturing over to him.

"Nice to meet you," Jaid shakes his hand, "Thank you for bringing her back to me."

"What have you been up to?" I ask looking around at her newly decorated apartment.

"Well actually since we're on the topic of boyfriends,"Just then a tall skinny man with longer fluffy dark hair walks in the front room, "This is my boyfriend, John."

We all shake his hand and introduce ourselves to him. He seems like a nice guy, I'm glad she finally found someone to settle down with. A little later, Colby suggested that him and John go out to do something so Jaid and I could have some time alone. I appreciated it, but also felt bad because Colby knew nothing about this guy.

I filled Jaid in about Colby. I told her how he does Youtube and how we met. I explained how Colby has posted me on Youtube and Instagram plenty of times and now I'm starting to get more popular social media wise. As little kids, Jaid and I always wanted to start a Youtube channel

"You're living out our dreams without me," She laughs.

Eventually, I told her about how Nick found me because of the popularity. She was the only person that knew I was leaving when I did three years ago, she was the one that suggested moving to LA. She told me that it was so big with so many people, there was no way he would find me.

"Oh my god Lane, I'm so sorry," She places her hand on my leg after hearing the story, "I can't believe that happened."

"Yeah it was crazy, but he's in jail now so we don't have to worry about it anymore."

She told me about the past 3 years of her life. Her brother got married and has two kids now, which absolutely blew my mind. The boys stayed out for about 2 hours while me and Jaid caught up. It felt amazing being able to see and talk to her again. I missed her so much.