Gravity

Chapter 8

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Soundtrack

I'm Not Calling You A Liar – Florence + The Machine
I'm not calling you a ghost
So stop haunting me
And I love you so much
I'm gonna let you kill me

***

I take a step back to fully absorb the scene that I'm walking into.

Standing in the doorway in one of Avery's t-shirts, hair piled in a messy bun atop her head, is the last person I thought I'd ever see again.

"Who is it, Tess?"

Avery's voice is as gentle as I've ever heard it. His genuine care for the girl standing in front of me is apparent in just those four words, and I feel a knot in the pit of my stomach. Shocked by the feeling, I quickly blame it on this sudden reintroduction and my sheer exhaustion.

Tessa turns towards him, her face flushed with shock that's quickly brewing into anger.

"Why is she here?" she asks, her voice laced with venom.

Avery looks at her for a moment before his eyes turn to me and widen in recognition. His expression quickly changes from shocked to almost smug, his eyes finding their way to mine and never leaving.

"I didn't know you were coming tonight," he says.

"It was a last minute thing."

Tessa crosses her arms defensively over her chest, obviously affected by the tension in the air. She looks for a second as if she might say something but decides against it, biting her lip so that I won't notice it trembling.

I look between the two of them and find myself fighting back laughter despite the situation.

"How is this my life," I say out loud, mostly to myself. I take one last look at Avery before adding, "I'm too tired for this and I want to see my boyfriend. Goodnight you two."

With that I push past the two of them and high tail it towards Tyler's room.

As I'm walking away I hear Tessa's voice.

"Boyfriend?"

"My roommate," Avery answers as I'm closing the door behind me.

I pause for a moment before locking it for good measure.

You know, just in case Tessa decides she wants to murder me while I'm sleeping.

"Grace? What are you doing here? It's 2 in the morning," Tyler says, climbing out of bed to come greet me. "Not that I'm not happy to see you."

I catapult myself into his arm, catching him off guard with my fervor.

"What was that for," he chuckles, placing a light kiss on my temple.

"I just missed you," I sigh, snaking my arms tighter around his waist. "Oh, and the universe really does hate me."

He pulls away just enough so that he can see my face, pursing his lips in a frown.

"What does that mean?"

I open my mouth to answer him, but the increasingly loud voices in the next room do my job for me.