never be the same | grayson dolan

thirty four

Grayson's POV:

I frantically enter the quiet house praying that Bill isn't at the marina. I desperately need to convince him to hop on a plane in three weeks to visit the girl who needs me the most right now.

"Bill." I call out while walking into the living room. I sigh of relief when I see him emerge from his bedroom seconds later.

"Hey, everything alright?" He curiously looks at me with a confused expression appearing across his face.

"Do you have a minute to talk?" I can already feel the nervousness taking over my body.

"Sure." He motions toward the couch as he walks into the living room. "What's on your mind?"

"Have you talked to Madison today?" I take a seat on the black leather material and look up at him.

"Unfortunately." He sighs while shaking his head. "She's not having the best day."

"Her mother cannot force her to go to NYU." My stomach sinks just thinking of the crazy idea.

"That's Julie for you." He doesn't seemed phased by his ex wife's actions "Always controlling the situation."

"She can't take Madison's future away from her." I angrily reply.

"I'm sure my daughter put up a good fight." I can see a light grin forming on his face. "Trust me, she'll end up coming here."

"I miss her a lot." I begin to ease my way into the conversation.

"I do too." He casually states. "June will be here before we know it."

"I can't wait until June." I sigh. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

He crosses his arms over his chest and stares down at me, waiting for me to give my proposition.

"I've been looking into flights to go visit her in a fews weeks." I look up at him.

"Grayson, I know you miss her but you can't just show up to her apartment. Julie already doesn't approve of the relationship, there is no way she would allow you to stay there."

"I don't care about your ex wife." I try not to sound too harsh, but it's the truth. "I just want to surprise Madison."

"You can't miss school." He sighs and stares down at me with a disconcerting look. "Especially because you're failing a few of your classes."

Crap. I didn't think he would find that out.

"Your teachers have emailed me multiple times saying you haven't been focused or prepared in class. Missing homework assignments, failing tests, not handing in essays. You need to start worrying less about my daughter and more about your school career."

"I understand I've been slacking," I begin to justify my actions. "And I promise you I will do better in school, I just need to see Madison first. It would only be for a weekend."

"You've never been to New York." He shakes his head in disagreement. "You've never even been outside of Florida."

"Please, Bill." I can't believe I'm actually begging for his approval. "I can find my way around, I'll be fine."

"It's a huge city." He continues to disagree with me. "I don't feel comfortable sending you there alone."

"I won't be alone." The words fly out of my mouth. "Anthony will be with me."

"Really?" He tilts his head to the left as he continues to look at me. "And you talked about this with him?"

"Yeah, he said he would come with me so I wouldn't be traveling by myself." Crap, now Anthony's involved.