Forever And Ever

43. Emery

Aria comes stalking back into my room.

"Are they okay?" I sit up quickly.

"They? Or Grayson?" She smiles.

"Shut up," I lay back down, fighting a smile.

"They're fine, Em," she says as she lays down next to me. "Let them fight. They'll get through it. They always do."

"They've never fought this bad," I whisper.

I hear a door slam and I jump.

"They'll be fine," Aria says again. Her phone buzzes and she gets up.

"I got to go. I'm meeting up with Stella. You'll be okay?" She turns to face me.

"Yeah," I murmur.

"Okay. I'll see you tonight," she says as she walks out.

I grab my phone and try to call Grayson. He doesn't answer. I bury my face in my pillow, quickly falling asleep.

I hear my bedroom door slam and sit up quickly, clutching at my blanket.

"Sorry," Grayson mutters, leaning against the door and looking at me.

"Are you okay?" I whisper. I get up and walk over to him. I move my hand to touch his face but he grabs my wrist and gently pushes my hand down.

"We need to talk," he mumbles, his eyes distant.

"Okay," I nod, stepping away, even as my stomach turns in nervousness.

I sit back down on my bed and look at him. He keeps staring at the wall like he's forgotten I'm here.

"Gray?" I whisper.

"Yeah?" He looks at me.

"You said you wanted to talk?" I swallow.

"Yeah," he looks away again.

"Gray, please. You're scaring me," I feel tears threatening to spill down my face.

"Sorry," he says again.

"I don't know—"

"I think we should break up," he says suddenly.

No.

Suddenly, I feel like he just punched me. No, he's not being serious. He can't be serious.

"What? Why?" My voice shakes. "Did I do something wrong? I can fix it—I can—if you just tell me—"

"It's nothing you can fix," he refuses to look at me, and for some reason, that hurts more than anything else.

No.

"Are you sure?" I stammer. I stand up again, but can't make my legs move.

"Yep. Positive," he says.

"I'm sure it is. I can try—if you just let me—"

"You know, you're really fucking annoying when you do that," he says, looking like he regrets it even before he says it. His jaw works and I can see tears forming in his eyes.

No. God, no.

I feel my face turning red and tears fall down my cheeks. "Right. Sorry," I whisper, turning away from him.

I hear the door open and close. I turn back and Grayson's gone.

I've lost everything. He was my fucking everything.

A sob escapes me and I quickly clamp a hand over my mouth. My knees buckle and I collapse on the ground.

No.