Grayson Aldine was nothing like Melanie Beaumont.
He grew up in an unforgiving yet wealthy household. His parents pushed him to be the best, forced him to strive for the best, leaving no room for mistakes. He didn't know any better when he left her...
"Nobody said it was easy. No one ever said it would be this hard."
Melanie Beaumont
"Stop! Don't crowd her! She just needs some air." It was faint. Muffled.
My eyes slowly opened and my vision was blurry at first. I could faintly make out someone hovering over me until my vision cleared and I realized that it had been Amber, with worry in her eyes.
"Someone grab some water for her."
Warm hands cupped my face and it wasn't Amber that I was seeing anymore, it was Grayson. His face filled with a million different emotions, guilt being the most noticeable one.
"Woah, stop, you need to sit." Amber was the one who pushed Grayson out of the way and made me sit again.
"What happened?" I felt hazy. My head was still spinning.
"You passed out. You're okay. You're inside the house. Everything's fine, you just need to drink some water." She passes me a cup of water and I take a couple of sips before rubbing my temples. "You're lucky he caught you or you might have cracked your skull." She was shaking her head now, a look of disapproval on her face.
Grayson was reaching out to grab me again when Amber smacked his hands away from my face. "Stop touching her." It was a bad habit of his. He was protective of me. Too protective all the time. I was thankful that Amber had stopped him. I didn't need him touching me, I didn't want him touching me. I just wanted space.
His presence was consuming. Too much all at once just like it had always been.
"Do I need to go to the hospital?"
"No- you were out for less than a minute, you should be okay. My guess would be that you passed out from the shock... maybe the screaming. But you should be okay, have you passed out before?"
"A couple of times..." After mom's death... her funeral... dad's death... his funeral. It was like a cycle on repeat. Over and over and over. Never ending. I just wanted it to stop... but I guess it would finally stop now.
"We can take you if you'd like. I'm not a doctor so I'm not completely sure if we should be worried-" She was into nursing. She would make a good nurse, maybe even a greater doctor. Fast on her feet and a quick thinker.
"No- I think I'm okay... I just feel lightheaded."
"Then we should take her-" Grayson was pushing his way in again. Forcing himself into the conversation as if he had a say in the matter.
"If she doesn't want to go, we can't force her-"
"To hell with that. I'm taking her to the hospital."
So damn bossy and so damn sexy all at once. "I'm fine." I grumble out. "Can we get a second?" I ask my housemates who eye us warily. They were probably afraid of us killing each other. If they heard the screaming then yeah, they should've been scared. But I needed to talk to him. Alone. I needed to know what I would have to do now.
I watch as my roommates all look at each other, almost as if they were communicating telepathically before they leave us, making their way to the back porch.
"Are you okay?" His voice comes out gruff but I can tell how worried he actually was. He was always crap at hiding his emotions just like me.
I take a deep shaky breath. "I'm fine." Then another one. "What needs to be done now?" I didn't even know if Beth had a will in place. We never talked about what would happen if she died... It wasn't something that we thought we needed to talk about for a very long time but I guess it all came sooner rather than later.
"She has a will. You'd have to go back up... funeral arrangements, burial..." He starts listing off the things that would need to be done and I listened quietly, thinking about my options.
I would have to take a break from school. At least a week, maybe even two. To plan the funeral out. She would want to be buried next to my mom. She had to be buried next to my mom. They were close. I knew for sure that that was what she would've wanted without even looking at her will.
My hands were shaking, I was shaking. Heart ache. Pain. All the emotions that I thought I would never feel again came running in, hitting me like a truck.
Don't cry Mel. You can't cry.
"Mel." His voice comes out hoarse, as if seeing me in pain brought him pain. "You don't have to do this by yourself." But I did. There was no one else. There was only me.
I wiped a stray tear before sniffling. "I don't even know if I have money to buy a plane ticket." I would have to look at my account but I already knew that I didn't have money. At least not money I could spend on a plane ticket. Only one thought came rushing to my mind. How would I pay for this?
I already pulled out my laptop from my backpack, looking for tickets. Tomorrow. I needed to leave tomorrow. The sooner I left the faster this would be done. The sooner I could pretend like nothing happened at all. The sooner Grayson would leave.
"$500." I wanted to wince at the number. The cost. That would be enough to cover almost two portions of rent. I already had to pay my meal plan back on my credit.
"Put it on my card."
"What?" My head whips over to Grayson who just sighs in response, pulling out his wallet before taking a sleek matte black card out with accents of gold.
"Put it on my card." He took my hand, flipping it so my palm was up and placed the card on my hand before he closed my hand with his. "Buy two, I'll go back with you."
"I- Grayson... What?" I was incredulous. Why in the world would he want to help me?
His eyes meet mine. "If what you've said is true," he takes a deep breath. "And I will find out if it's true Mel. If it's all true, we owe you a hell of a lot more than a damn plane ticket."
"But- but that's over a grand." I sputtered out. Our two tickets together would be a little over a grand. I didn't think that money was even a problem for him considering how filthy rich he was but it needed to be said.
A plane ticket was not like a cup of coffee... especially not one that is this expensive.
He runs his hand through his already messy hair. "I don't give a damn, either you do it or I do it myself."
"I can't just take your money!"
"We can figure it out later. You can pay me back." Okay, that made me feel just a little bit better. I could pay him back. I would pay him back.
And with that, I booked two round way tickets back to my small hometown.
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