"No!" Colby yelled and bolted away from me, I giggled and chased him with a handful of flour. "Gotcha!" I said hopping on his back, sprinkling the flour on his head, he laughed and held me up as I wrapped my legs around his waist. He ran around the island as I laughed.

He set me down on the dusty counter and put his hands flat on the counter, before looking in my eyes. I smiled and admired his face for a minute, his ocean blue eyes swimming with love and admiration. He smirked then brought both of his hands to my cheeks, caking my face with flour. My jaw dropped as his angelic laugh filled the room.

"What on earth is going on here?" Dads voice sounded from the doorway. "We made dinner!" I giggled out and hopped down from the counter, "you guys didn't have to do that!" He said and came up to me, kissing my head. "We wanted to. Go relax, I'll call you when it's ready." I said with a smile, "alright, who are you and what did you do with my daughter." He said and put his hand on my forehead, "daaaad" I whined and laughed hearing Colby chuckle beside me, "I'm just messing with you squirt, I'll be in the living room." I smiled, "okay, love you." I said and turned away, going to the oven to check on the meatballs. "Love you too, and Cora?" Dad said causing me to turn to him, "you got something in your face." He said and smudged more flour onto my cheek.

Before I could get him back, he ran out of the room leaving Colby and I alone again. "You're cute." Colby said and brushed the flour off my cheeks. "You aren't too bad yourself." I said and kissed him.

We finally finished making dinner and called dad to the table, which I set up as Colby showered. "Did you want to shower before we eat?" Colby said as we sat down. "No, I don't want it to get cold, I'll shower after." I said and took a sip of water.

"This looks really good guys, you really didn't have to do this." Dad said as we started eating, it was actually really good. "We basically invaded your space with no notice, of course we didn't have to make you dinner but we wanted to." I said and watched dad as he rolled his eyes playfully, "y'all aren't invading my space, I love having my kids around." He said and smirked at Colby. My heart swelled at him including Colby in our little family so quickly.

Colby smiled widely at my dad as he brought his fork to his lips. "Woah, what happened to your hand?" Dad said and gestured to Colby's busted knuckles. Colby's smile fell as I watched a rage fill his eyes. "Colby.." I whispered trying to calm him down, "did someone try to hurt you?" Dad said putting his fork down, staring at me, "no, nobody tried to hurt her, there was just a sad excuse of a man who was harassing her at the store." Colby said as I sucked my lips into my mouth, "and you hit him first?" Dad said and Colby nodded, "couldn't help it."

Silence filled the air for a second. "Atta boy." Dad said with a chuckle and slapped Colby's shoulder. I sighed a sigh of relief as Colby changed the subject, "thank you, by the way this is delicious Cora." I smiled at him, "you made it too, babe." I said with a laugh, "yeah but you did most of the work." He said and I shrugged.

We finished up dinner, dad offered to do the dishes with Colby so I could shower off all the flour that was still coating my whole body.

I made my way to my bedroom to grab some clothes before making my way to the bathroom. I couldn't help but chuckle at how ridiculous I looked. I sighed taking my hair down, sending a puff of flour through the air. I turned the shower on and got in, humming as the warm water cascaded down my body. I started to think about the night Colby and I met, the way he was so gentle with me without even knowing me. The way he kicked Jason out of the party without even thinking twice.

I shouldn't have thought about Jason.

My heart started beating out of my chest at the thought of him. How he didn't even know me but he thought he could just get with me. I thought about what would have happened if I didn't accidentally bump into Colby.

I didn't realize I was hyperventilating until black spots riddled my vision, I shook uncontrollably as I sat on the floor of the tub.

I thought about the night that I got the call that dad was in an accident, and how damaged he looked while in the hospital. How close I came to losing him. I thought about how I confronted my mom after so long. I thought about being hit as a child and how scared I was to be a mother myself. All of these emotions built up together as I sobbed, clawing my throat.

I couldn't breathe.

Like I actually couldn't get a breath in because of how badly I was hyperventilating.

I thought about how Jason came back into my life only to torment me even more. I thought about how I got arrested, and how scared I was about it. I couldn't get my mind off of the traumas I had been dealing with. I pulled my knees into my chest as I completely broke down.

I needed help but I couldn't scream out for anyone, or get up. I had to just wait this out. "Colby." I whispered, not even able to hear myself over the roaring water.

I could do this. I could handle this without him.

I shakily leaned forward and tried to turn the water to cold in an attempt to bring me back to reality.

Breathe you're okay now. All of those things are things of the past. Just breathe.

My heart was still racing, but the cold water was helping significantly.

You can do this. Please breathe.

I don't know how long I sat there, but eventually I was able to bring myself back. I spent another couple minutes actually showering before getting out and getting dressed. I looked in the mirror and saw that my cheeks were flushed, and eyes puffy. I sighed and put my hood up in an attempt to distract from those things.

I walked to the living room where dad and Colby were watching more of Sam and Colby's videos. My dads eyes were glued to the screen, his eyes darting across as they watched the boys running around the Biltmore Hotel, screaming about ghosts. I sat down next to Colby as he held his arms out to me.

I melted into his side, watching the screen as he kissed the side of my head. "You okay?" He mumbled into my hair, "yeah I'm okay." I said quietly and kissed his cheek.

"JAKE TOTALLY GOT POSESSED." My dad yelled causing Colby and I to laugh.