Corey was getting better, slowly, but she was. After several weeks of refusing to leave her dorm or Colt's side, Wess had come and taken her out on a best friend road trip. He hadn't made her talk or anything but rather just reminded her that there was more to life than the four walls of her dorm. She knew he was worried, knew he was right, but it had been so hard to be away from Colt. After they'd had the discussion about being able to feel what the other was feeling, Brea had told them about the soulmate bond that his sister shared with her husband. The two had figured out that that must be what they were though the flush of warmth and feeling was almost overshadowed by the fact that they'd discovered this after such a horrible event. Still, it had done wonders to be on her own again, if only for a little bit. Not to mention their connection made her more able to handle being away from Colt.
Despite the steps she was taking, Corey knew it wasn't nearly enough to be considered 'back to normal'. She knew her boyfriend was still worried, still more affected by what had happened than he wanted to admit. It didn't take a soulmate bond to pick up on that. They had been granted special permission from the school to have a suite together which effectively took the step of them moving in together without anyone actually acknowledging it. Both had been pretty social prior to the kidnapping but after it was like they forgot anyone existed outside of each other. They stayed in most of the time, only seeing their immediate circle of family and friends. Colt's moms were worried about them both but nobody had outright approached the couple about their concerns. At least outside of 'you should talk to someone'.
Corey had started seeing Dr. Love fairly soon after Wess took her away for the weekend and the therapy was definitely helping. The night terrors had been reduced to nightmares that were able to be controlled and overcome rather than screaming and thrashing that resulted in hyperventilating and debilitating panic attacks. They didn't happen every night either which meant both of them were sleeping better. Still, when Colt approached her about a weekend away, she had reservations at first. Was she ready to go somewhere that wasn't their room on an extremely secured campus? It had taken some gentle coaxing but eventually the temptation to just spend time with her boyfriend and go somewhere like normal couples did (like they had done before) won out. That and Colt's obvious hopefulness and eagerness were strong factors too.
She had been surprised how much she relaxed on the drive all things considered. They were laughing and singing along to the radio like old times before she even knew what was happening. Soon enough, Corey had fallen asleep, which was another feat. Despite the peace and carefree attitude she'd achieved during the drive, when Colt gently ran a hand over her arm to wake her up she started with a sharp gasp. Her heart raced for a moment before she took several slow breaths as Dr. Love had taught her. Brushing her hair back, she smiled as his face came into view. Sitting up, she adjusted the denim romper she wore that had become disheveled as she'd slept before looking out the window. Her smile widened as she took in the beautiful resort unfolding around them, the sounds of waves and birds and all manner of things tickling her ears as a warm breeze danced over her cheeks.
"It's beautiful," she murmured, leaning her head on the window as they approached the sprawling building that must have been the resort. "How in the world did you manage to find such a classy place?" she teased, casting a smirk back at him as hair blew around her face.