Gravity

Chapter 3

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Soundtrack

Hearts Don't Break Around Here – Ed Sheeran
Every night I'll kiss you, you'll say in my ear
"Oh, we're in love, aren't we?"

***

Tyler's arms are wrapped tightly around me when I wake up, pulling me into his chest. I place a light kiss to his temple before groggily climbing out of bed and tugging on an oversized sweatshirt.

"Where are you going?" Tyler asks, beginning to stir, his voice slurred from sleep.

"I'm gonna go shower before we head out," I say, grabbing my shower caddy and a change of clothes. "You still have some time, go back to sleep."

"Mkay," he sighs, though I think he's already unconscious by the time the words leave his mouth.

I smile at the boy sleeping peacefully in my bed. It seems almost impossible to me that, in just a few hours, we'll be separated for the first time since we got together. The thought makes me want to blow off everything and climb back into bed with him.

Sighing, I leave the room and head down the hall towards the communal bathrooms.

I notice they're more vacant than usual when I walk in. In fact, it looks like I may be the only one here. Perks of waking up at 6:00 on a Saturday.

I pick one of the many empty stalls and lock it behind me, putting my clothes and towel in a safe spot before turning on the faucet.

The cold water surprises me, shocking me awake.

"Holy shit!" I squeal, jumping out of the way of the stream of icy water.

I hear a giggle from outside of the stall, followed by a girl's voice saying, "Water heater's broken."

"Thanks for the warning," I say dryly, tentatively sticking a foot under the water.

"No need to be all salty about it," she teases. After a brief pause, she adds, "Don't feel bad, the same thing just happened to me."

Her voice.

It sounds so familiar but I can't put my finger on where I've heard it before. Maybe I met her at orientation?

I shake it off and continue with showering as quickly as humanly possible. I don't want to have to withstand this frigid water any longer than I have to.

When I exit the stall, I hear humming coming from near the sinks and I give in to my curiosity about the déjà vu inspiring girl.

Poking my head around the corner, I'm met with a familiar mess of caramel curls.

It can't be-

"Ivy?" I say, shock evident in my voice.

She quickly spins around, the smile falling from her face when her eyes land on me.

"Grace?"

We stand in a tense silence, both shocked by the other's presence. Her emotions are completely masked by her expression, and I'm not sure whether she wants to hug me or kill me.

Which is honestly pretty understandable.

It's been well over a year since I was taken away in an ambulance, lips blue and icy as they tried to force my heart to beat again after it was taken away in a trailer. Everyone at home thought I had tried to kill myself, and I assume everyone back at the ranch had the same idea.