R.E.M

thirty eight

ARIANA'S POV

In the restaurant, we were hand in hand, with Izaak, Zeke, and Saf staying in close proximity. It wasn't really packed, but every few seconds or so, I'd notice Greyson gaining the attention of others, either due to her sunglasses or the fact that she was, well, her.

Meanwhile, I wasn't even thinking about yesterday, with my mind instead being on tonight with my dad. I was nervous considering things between the two were tense and I didn't know how tonight would play out, so I was just enjoying my night with her so far, especially since she gave me one of her jackets to throw on top of my mini dress.

It took a bit to find him, but Dad was sitting in the back so we had to move past a couple different tables to get to him. Our security made sure to grab a table nearby (due to our new security rules) and Greyson took the seat next to me. I knew Izaak and Zeke were especially happy that Greyson was paying tonight, so I could hear them waving down a waiter for shrimp.

Anyways, I could tell my dad didn't expect us to actually come, as if he invited us just to say he made an effort to reconnect. I saw it in his face and I was sure Greyson did too, but he covered it up quickly, giving us both a small smile.

"Ariana, hi," Dad finally said, almost speechless, "I didn't know you were bringing Greyson along."
Her eyebrows furrowed, looking over at me.

"Of course, she was coming Dad, I said us,"

"Yeah, well I thought maybe—"

"We'd be broken up?" She asked blatantly.

"That you'd be at home. I heard about the accident from Frankie, I'm sorry to hear about that by the way,"

Greyson gave him a small nod, "Oh, thank you,"

"Of course," Dad added, setting his menu down, "Thank you for coming, I didn't think you would, especially after what happened but it means everything that you're here and giving me a second chance—"

"Dad, we're just here to talk to you," I said, interrupting his words, "I know things aren't the best right now, but you at least deserve to know were engaged," and he didn't believe us at first, even though he knew we wouldn't lie about something like this. I could see he was putting the pieces together, confused as to why we didn't have our rings on, but also noting the seriousness between us both.

I couldn't exactly make out how he was feeling and neither could my fiancée, with our hands intertwined under the table. But I guess it was all over my face that I was nervous too, because I could feel Greyson's thumb move across my knuckles softly, every now and then.

"After what, only a couple months of dating?" He finally blurted, after a few seconds passed, "Are you sure this is the right decision? You both are pretty young still."

"I didn't think that would matter anymore. Me and Matt almost got married even younger than me and Greyson are."

"That's different, Ari, you spent years with him...you only just met her." Neither one of us got the chance to add anything else though, before Greyson got up from the table to excuse herself to the bathroom. I knew there was no way in hell she actually had to go because we always did before we left out, so I figured she just wanted to give us some space.

I watched Izaak make his way over to the bathroom, standing outside of it to stay by my fiancée before I turned back to my dad.

"You're right, this is different," I started, "It didn't take me years to realize I was unhappy with Matt, I knew it like two months in but I stayed because I thought that things would get better as time went on and they didn't. If I would've just trusted my gut and left in the first place, we could've saved so much time and broken up. But now I have her and Greyson's everything and more. I've felt like this ever since I met her, you can't expect me to not trust my gut and give up something as important to me as her, that's bullshit."