Forever And Ever

35. Emery

The door to my bedroom opens and Aria walks in.

"What the hell happened?" Her voice sounds so worried.

"Jack happened," I whisper, clinging tighter to Grayson. He rubs my back gently.

"What—Emery I'm so sorry," Aria gasps. "I didn't know he was going to be there. Stella never invited him. Shit, I'm sorry."

"It's fine," I shrug, trying my best to keep my voice even. "It doesn't matter. He didn't get to do anything."

"I'm sorry," she says again before she turns and walks out.

I let out a breath and look up at Grayson. His eyes are still a little bit red, and I can't imagine what I must look like right now.

"You're so beautiful," Grayson smiles softly at me.

I smile and tuck my face back into his chin.

I shut my eyes for a second before falling asleep.

My eyes flutter open when I feel Grayson getting up. "Where are you going?" I gasp, getting up to follow him.

"Nowhere, baby," he scoops me into his arms and sets me back down on my bed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. I just need to go to the bathroom."

"Oh, okay. Sorry," I murmur, sitting on my legs.

"Would you prefer to go with me?" He kisses my forehead.

"No," I lie.

"Come on, baby," he sighs, pulling me up with him.

God, I hope I'm not annoying him.

"No, it's okay. Really, I'm fine. I'll wait for you," I scramble back onto my bed to wait for him.

He looks so confused.

"I don't understand, baby," he shakes his head. "You didn't want me to leave, and now you want me to go and you stay here? I don't understand."

"I'm sorry," I whisper, biting my lip as I feel tears threatening to fall again. "I just don't want to annoy you. I don't want you to get upset with me."

"Oh, baby," he smiles sadly. "I'm not going to get annoyed with you. Why would you think that? I love spending time with you."

"I know, but I'm being dumb. I don't—"

"Hey, you're not being dumb, pretty girl," he takes my hands in his. "You're just anxious. You're not dumb, I promise you that. Why do you think I'll get annoyed with you? Did Jack tell you that?"

Yes. "No."

"Listen to me, baby," he murmurs. "I won't ever get annoyed with you. You have your reasons for not wanting me to leave, and no one can blame you for that. I don't give a shit what Jack said, because he doesn't know me. He doesn't know how I feel. He's an idiot. And an asshole. Don't let him tell you shit."

I smile as he taps my nose.

A few seconds later, my door opens, and Devyn steps inside. He sees us sitting together and hesitates for a second. "I can come back later if you'd rather—"

"No, now is fine," Grayson sighs.

"I was just going to ask if you guys wanted something to eat," Devyn mumbles.

"Yeah, we do," I murmur.

"Okay," he nods. "Then I'll go now—"

"Actually, can you stay with Emery for a minute?" Grayson asks.

"Yeah, sure," Devyn says, coming and sitting next to me on the bed.

I watch as Grayson gets up and walks out of the room.

"Emery, he's going to come back," Devyn says softly. I don't even realize my hands are shaking until Devyn squeezes them.

Grayson walks back into my room a couple of seconds later. I exhale deeply when I see him.

"Thanks," Grayson nods at Devyn. Devyn nods back before walking out.

"I feel like I've put a strain on your relationship with Devyn," I say quietly.

"It's not your fault, baby," Grayson kisses me. "I chose this too."

"Yeah, but still," I mumble.

"We're working on it, okay?" He murmurs. "You said it yourself, he's trying to be understanding about us. And I know he doesn't hate us together as much as he says he does. He told me he's glad that you're with someone he trusts."

"He did?" I smile.

"Mhm," he nods. "He's happy for us. It's just taking him a little longer than I thought it would for him to get used to this."

"Okay," my smile grows.

My door opens and Aria walks in again.

"I'm sorry," she says again, still apologizing for the party.

"It's fine, Aria," I shake my head.

"I brought you food," she bites her lip.

"Food? Really?" I quickly get up and hear Grayson chuckle as he gets up and follows me to the kitchen.

Grayson stays next to me as I dig my food out of the bags. I sit down and start eating and Grayson twists my hair around his fingers before pulling it out of my face with a ponytail.

"I want to see your pretty face when you eat," he smiles when he sees my confused expression.

"Okay," I say through a mouthful of food. I swear I'm a different person when I'm eating. I don't know how he thinks I'm fucking pretty when I eat like this.

"Someone looks hungry," Devyn laughs as he and Aria walk in and sit down next to us. "When was the last time you ate?"

"I don't remember," I shrug.

"Bullshit," Grayson shakes his head when Devyn narrows his eyes at him. "I fed you last night. Don't get me in trouble. I was going to feed you this morning but Aria had a party she needed to take a friend to."

"Oh," I murmur, shoving another fry into my mouth. "What he said."

Grayson just laughs quietly. He rests one of his hands on my thigh under the table, and I immediately relax into his touch.

"How about this," Devyn chuckles. "When was the last time your boyfriend didn't spoil you, and you ate food here? Like a normal person?"

"Now that," I point at him, "is a fan-fucking-tastic question."

Aria laughs and Devyn shakes his head.

"Yeah, I don't remember either," Grayson smiles sheepishly when Devyn looks at him.