The drive to LA was long and brutal but I was happy that by the end of it I was feeling better.
I still couldn't wrap my head around the idea that someone drugged me. It had wondering what the goal was for that, but I was trying to not worry about it.
Colby was confident that going to this banquet would be fine, but I wasn't so sure.
Every time we went to these sorts of things, something happened.
Hell, the last time I went to an event like this I was literally shot.
I tried to trust Colby on this though.
After driving all night, we finally pulled up to what looked to be like a luxury hotel.
"Always so flashy." I said with a laugh, looking up at the fancy hotel. "Only the best for you." Colby said with a grin.
Once Colby parked the car, we got out and Colby grabbed our bag.
"How are you feeling?" He asked and took my hand. "Better than when we left." I said, trying to ignore the pain that was still sitting in my head.
It felt like a phantom pain that was trying to trick my brain into taking some pain pills.
That sort of thing would happen when I relapsed so I had to be careful to not take anything to trigger myself again.
"Good. I need to get your actual meds but I don't want to get them here since it's trackable." He said as we walked towards the hotel.
"I'll survive." I said as we walked inside. We got checked in then went upstairs to our room.
In true Colby fashion he got the penthouse which had a beautiful view of the city. I would never be able to get over how luxurious being with Colby could be.
I didn't need all the glitz and glamor by any means, but it was nice to have from time to time.
"This is beautiful." I said and looked out of the floor length window. The city of Los Angeles was stunning, the lights twinkling against the night sky.
"Yeah, I always forget how pretty it can be." Colby said as he wrapped his arms around me from behind.
"Have you ever been actually exploring around here? Or is it just all about the violence?" I asked and leaned my head back against his shoulder.
"Usually it was about the job." He said and rested his cheek on my head. "I would love to just walk around." I said with a sigh.
"I wish. It's just too dangerous." Colby said quietly. I could tell he was guilty about it but he was just trying to protect me.
I couldn't be mad at him for that.
"You must be tired." I said and turned around to face him. "Exhausted." He said as I nodded. "We should go to bed then." I said then turned to go towards the bedroom.
"Are you tired?" Colby asked as I shook my head. "No, but I'll lay with you." I said causing him to grin.
"Come on then." He said then took my hand and led the way to the bedroom.
"How long are we staying here?" I asked as he pulled his shirt off.
"Until Saturday. Thought we could enjoy a couple days with everyone here before we get back to Seattle." He said as I crawled into bed.
"You're so sweet. I don't want to go back to isolation." I said with a sigh as he got in bed, wrapping his arms around me.
"I know. I'm hoping it doesn't have to be like this for long." Colby said as I rested my head on his bare chest.
"You're doing your best." I said quietly then looked up and kissed his jawline. "Get some sleep." I said quietly as he chuckled.
"Goodnight, sweetheart." He mumbled, his chest vibrating. "Goodnight." I said then sighed and tried to relax.
After only a couple minutes, Colby's breathing was getting deeper and slower meaning he was asleep.
I laid with him for a little while before I carefully got out of bed.
Since I slept most of the way here I was wide awake.
I knew I couldn't leave the room but I wanted to just be outside.
I grabbed a notepad and a pen from the desk that was in the living room, then went out onto the balcony.
It felt so peaceful out here, the crisp night air hitting my skin.
Life was constantly moving so fast that I felt like I couldn't ever fully relax. Right now was the first time I truly have felt relaxed in a really long time.
I let my mind drift off as I aimlessly sketched on the notepad.
I was worried about the banquet we were going to tomorrow.
Every time we went to one of these things, something went wrong. I would do anything to just have a nice normal night where we dress up and socialize.
I was expecting there to be questions since everything was so crazy in Seattle right now.
I wasn't ready for it.
The more time that went by, the more I craved a normal life. I wanted to not have to worry about someone killing me or taking me away.
I wanted to just be with my boyfriend and friends. I wanted to be reconnected with my siblings but it just didn't seem to be in the cards.
No matter how hard we tried I think we were going to be stuck in this life forever.
"Jules?" Colby asked groggily, causing me to flinch and turn towards him.
"Hey." I breathed out and put my hand on my chest. "You okay?" He asked and walked over to me.
"Yeah. You didn't get much sleep." I said with a sigh. "Woke up and didn't feel you next to me. Got scared." He said as I nodded.
"I'm okay, just drawing." I said as he looked down at my sketch of the city scape.
"That's really good, Jules." He said and took the paper from me, looking at it.
"Thanks." I said with a yawn. "Come on, you're tired." He said and held his hand out towards me.
"Okay." I said quietly and took his hand, standing up. "You're sure you're okay?" He asked as we made our way inside.
"Yeah." I said with a sigh. I didn't want to tell him that I was upset about the lack of normalcy.
There was nothing he could do to make me feel better so I wasn't going to stress him out with that information.
"Okay..." Colby said with a hesitation that told me he knew I wasn't being fully truthful.
"Just tired." I said as we got back into bed. "Okay. We'll talk about it more in the morning." He said and pulled me close.
"Goodnight, sweetheart." He said then kissed my head.
"Goodnight." I whispered and rested my head on his chest. I felt like I was going to cry with all of the thoughts that were circulating through my head.
There was just something so vulnerable about how I was feeling.
Knowing that tomorrow I would be paraded around with Colby, as if it wasn't the most dangerous thing we could do.
I knew I would have to keep my eyes down and that I would have to be ready for anything.
It was so terrifying putting yourself out there like this while being around such dangerous people.
I had to put trust into Colby, and just hope and pray he could protect me if anything were to go wrong.
No matter what happened tomorrow, I would be by Colby's side.
We would be okay.
I ended up sleeping for only a couple hours because my nerves were so high. I was glad that Colby was able to sleep though because he needed to be on his A game.
"Did you sleep at all?" Colby asked groggily as I nodded. "A little bit." I said with a sigh.
"Did you want to come with me to get you a dress or do you want me to just pick one so you can get some more sleep?" Colby asked as he looked down at me.
"I wanna come with." I said causing him to grin. "Then we should get ready then, huh?" He asked then kissed my head.
"Can we just lay together for a little while?" I asked as he nodded. "For just a minute." He said then pulled me closer.
Part of me wanted to beg him to let us stay here. I was so worried about tonight after all the trauma I have been through, but I knew it wasn't possible.
This was just a part of the job and I would have to hope that things would be okay in the end.