Disclaimer: Don't own it.
The outside of Colin's house was in dissaray. The porch had broken floor boards and chipped paint. You could tell that it had once been really nice, but as time went on, it kind of faded away and became neglected. The house itself looked the same way that the porch did. The thing was, it would've been a beautiful, soft blue bungalow on the beach. But not now.
"The inside is a lot better, I promise," Colin said, squeezing my hand as we headed up an overgrown path. "My brother's girlfriend, Kenny, has been helping us fix it up the way my mom had it before she died. But we can only do that when Dad's not around."
"I don't care what it looks like," I assured him as we stepped inside. Honestly though, he was right. The inside was warm and inviting, but bright and open. The walls were a soft blue in the living room, and they were visibly blue from the kitchen too. The appliances looked decently updated (like a few years back) and the hard wood floors were swept and cleaned. The soft brown couches made it look inviting and I truly did think about just curling up on it and falling asleep. Oh yes. Very inviting.
There were three bedrooms left. His dad's was off limits, so we didn't go in there, but I snuck a look at his sisters room (Danielle) and saw a lot of pink and green. There was a bathroom across the hall. Brandon's room (his brother) was linked to Colin's room by a bathroom that they shared.
But he didn't take me there yet. He said he wanted to wait until the end of the night. So, we hung out with Brandon and Kenny for awhile.
"My brother treating you right, Sammy?" Brandon winked at me.
"Not at all," I teased. "He's horrible to me."
"Oh you poor thing," Kenny cooed, looking amused. "Come here, we'll take care of you."
I giggled as unlinked my hand from Colin's. To be truthful, it hurt not to have our fingers laced, but I played along. I sat in between Brandon and Kenny on the bed, while Colin sat on the floor in front of me, his head in my lap.
"Please forgive me," he said pitifully. "I am terribly sorry for all the horrible things I've done to you."
"Is that sarcasm I hear?" I asked.
"Never," he shook his head. I laughed and looked at Kenny.
"What do you think?" I shrugged. "Should I forgive him?"
"Well, he does look oh-so-adorable!" she giggled along with me, patting Collin's head.
"That he does," I placed a hand on his cheek. "Since you're looking so cute right now, I supposed I can forgive you. But one wrong move, and you're outta here, understand young man?"
"Yes ma'am!" he said joyfully, and pulled me off the bed and into his lap. It was funny how a month ago, I would've been flipping out. Public display of affection was no longer an issue for me though. I giggled even more in his lap.
Kenny smiled at me. "So, what do you think of Danielle's room?"
"I love it," I said. "Did you decorate it?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact I did," he replied. "I've done the entire inside all by myself. Colin and Brandon helped with the dirty work, but all the ideas are mine."
"Well, it's really nice," I said.
"Would you like to help with the outside?" she said. "It'll need a good bit of repairs, and I can't think of what color to paint it once we've redone everything that's falling apart."
"Well, I think that it should be painted the same color it originally was," I said thoughtfully. "It looks liked it would be a nice blue color. As for the porch, it should be stone, and then the railing should be white wood. It'll go nicely with the house. And it should be extended so that we can put some furniture on it."
"Wow," she nodded in approval, smiling. "That actually sounds like a good idea." When Kenny smiled, I couldn't help but smile back. For some reason, she looked like a younger version of Emily to me. She had the same motherly aura, and even looked like her with the hair, face, and eyes. I shook it off and we continued talking about our plans for the house. We thought about redoing a bit of the structure, wiring, plumbing, and the roof.
"This stuff costs money," Colin warned. "You know that, right?"
"Duh, stupid," Kenny rolled her eyes. "You know I've got this covered."
"But babe-" Brandon began but was cut off.
"No discussion," she said firmly. "It's my present to all you guys."
Sheet really was sweet, and over the next hour I grew to like her and Brandon. After a small dinner in the newly done dining room, Collin and I played with Danielle. We played Monopoly for two hours.
"I call the dog!" I exclaimed like a little kid. "And the banker!
"I call the pot of gold!" Danielle cried out, snatching it from the bag.
"What am I supposed to get?" Colin asked sadly.
"The shoe," Danielle and I answered at the same time, while I held out the little shoe to him. He grumbled about teaming up against him and sat down next to me. I extended my legs and draped them across his lap. When he wasn't moving his shoe or rolling the dice, he was drawing circles around my knee. The touch made my entire body tingle.
After awhile, I ended up with a lot of money, and a lot of hotels and houses, also owning over half the board. When Danielle went bankrupt, she tried robbing from the bank, and Colin ended up distracting me by kicking my houses and hotels everywhere with the tiny shoe. As revenge, I sat in Colin's lap and tickled Danielle as we both squirmed, causing Colin to fall onto his back and we all rolled around laughing. It was chaos.
I felt the presence before I heard or saw it.
Collin and I both quickly calmed down, and upon seeing her father enter the living room, so did Danielle.
"Hey, Dad," Colin said gruffly, taking my hand. I squeezed it to assure him I was there for him. I could feel the tremors in his body starting slowly, just at seeing as his dad.
"Colin," his father said. "What's going on here?"
"Sammy and I were just playing a game with Dane," Colin answered nervously. "It got out of hand, I'm sorry. I'll clean it up."
"You bet you will," he grumbled. He looked at me and his mouth twitched as if he might smile. "What's your name girl?"
"Samantha Uley," I said quietly. I felt Collin's shaking increase at my frightened tone. I squeezed his hand again to try and calm him down with the contact.
"And your mother's name?" he asked.
My throat tightened at the mention of her. "Jade. Her maiden name was Nelson before she took my fathers."
He studied me for a second more before erupting into a fit of laughter. "Colin, my boy. Don't be as stupid as I was!"
"Sir?" Colin asked confusedly. The shaking had stopped as a completely new expression took over his face.
"From ages sixteen to twenty four I dated Jade Nelson." He sighed. "When I proposed, she said no. Three months later she got pregnant with that Levi Uley and they had a shotgun wedding. I was broken hearted until your mother came along." He looked at Colin. "Like I said, boy, don't be as stupid as I was and let her go too quickly."
"Yes, sir," Collin said, looking shocked. I felt that way too. Collin's dad and my mom? Wow.
"Clean this up," Mr. Grey reminded him, then looked at me. "And you and Danielle go get cleaned up for dinner."
I nodded as he left the room, looking at Colin in shock.
"My dad never laughs or smiles," Danielle stood up, smiling at me. "You must be magic."
)-(
After dinner, Colin finally showed me his room.
It was room was nice. The walls were tan, with pictures hanging up all over the place. I noticed several of the pack, his sister and brother, and me. It made me feel special that he had a picture of him with his arms around me on his bedside table. We were sitting on the couch in the living room, both not even looking at the camera as he snuggled his chin into the crook between my shoulder and neck. I had my eyes closed, and I remembered reeling in the warmth of his arms when Emily snapped the picture.
"This is the night you told me about imprinting," I smiled, picking it up. He placed an arm around my waist and smiled.
"Best night of my life," he said. "Well, at least for now."
"What's goon be the best night ever?"
"The night you agree to marry me," he placed chin on top of my head. "The fact that you'll say yes will be even better than the wedding night."
I blushed. "How do you know I'll say yes?"
"Don't tease me," he muttered. "It's not a nice thing to do."
"Well, I'm just saying, a lot could change from now to the night you propose," I shrugged. Suddenly, he scooped me up and twirled me around, placing me on the bed. I giggled as he got down on one knee and grabbed something from his bedside table. He spoke softly. "When my dad was talking about proposing to your mom earlier, it made me nervous about what you might say someday." He showed me what he had been holding.
It was a ring. My eyes widened and my mouth dropped open.
"Samantha Jade Uley," he said sincerely. He wasn't even smiling. The only thing I could get from his face was love. "I love you. And even though we've only been together about a month, and we're only fifteen, I know you're my soul mate." He winked quickly, making me giggle before he turned serious again. "I'm not very good with words, and you know that. But I can promise that I'll love you forever, somehow provide a safe place for you to live, and take good care of you no matter what may happen.
"So," Colin held up the ring. It was small, with a silver band and topaz diamond- my birthstone. "This isn't technically an engagement ring. My brother has that. This is my mom's purity ring that my grandfather gave to her in high school. It was a promise to love her, and someday get her a real engagement ring. I want to get you one someday. But for now, I'm asking you to love me back as permanently as I love you."
Tears had obviously welled up in my eyes as his speech took place. I smiled and Collin and let a few tears spill over, taking in a shaky breath. I wiped at my eyes, but the tears kept coming.
"Yes, Colin," I said quietly. "Yes, I will love you forever."
He stared at for a second. "Really?"
I nodded. "Yes, I will." A few more tears spilled over and I let them as I tried to control my breathing. Grinning like a fool, Collin slipped the ring on my right ring finger and I found that it fit perfectly.
"Thank you," he said, leaning up and kissing my lips softly. I giggled against his lips and pulled him onto the bed with me. It wasn't really that hard. He was completely willing to comply.
I wrapped my arms around his neck as we kissed, losing myself. For a little while, my father hadn't ever abused me, my mother had never died, and Claire didn't have cancer. Everything was okay in the world because I was with Colin.
When we pulled apart, we lay on his bed, snuggled into each other. "Are you happy?" I asked.
He grinned again. "I'm so incredibly happy that I can't even think straight. Though that may be from you kissing me so heatedly."
I giggled. "Who needs thinking straight anyways?" I pressed my lips to the space right above his ear, breathing a little bit on him. He shivered slightly and flipped me over so that he was on top of me.
"Or thinking at all?" and he pressed his lips to mine in an almost forceful way that I had never seen from Colin. I found it kind of hot to be honest, though I did like the sweet side of Colin.
As his fingers nested in my hair and his teeth nibbled my lower lip, I decided that I liked Colin's rough side. I really, really liked it.