never be the same | grayson dolan

thirty nine

I hold onto Grayson's hand tightly as we make our way through the city. We stop every few minutes for him to point at large buildings in amazement and beam with happiness over the high energy the city consists of. He is by far the cutest tourist I have ever seen. He quickly looks up and gasps in excitement as he points his finger in front of him.

"Holy crap, is that the Empire State Building?"

"The one and only." I smile and look up at it in the distance.

"I can't believe it's right there." He smiles at the large building.

"You can pretty much always see it." I lightly laugh as we continue to walk.

"This place is amazing and I've only been here for like, two hours." He looks around at all of the different types of people you see on the streets of New York.

Everyone is doing their own thing, some are trying to get home after a busy day of work, others are exploring everything the city has to offer. People are playing music and dancing in the street. Costumes of famous characters such as Elmo and Mickey Mouse are walking around. The lights are brighter than ever, shining directly on the thousands of people walking through the city.

I finally turn onto the block where Christopher said they would all be. It's a tiny pizzeria that is more lowkey compared to the popular and crowded ones. Grayson's mouth still hangs open as he soaks this night in. The second we enter the restaurant we see Christopher, Ava and Anthony sitting in a wide booth in the corner of the room.

They already have a pizza pie in front of them with only a few slices missing from it. We make our way over to them and smile.

"Hey guys." I slide next to Christopher, who is sitting across from Ava and Anthony.

"Finally." He mumbles the second I am seated next to him. "We were wondering if you guys were gonna show."

"I need to try New York pizza immediately." Grayson laughs and sits down next to me.

"Dude, it's fucking awesome." Anthony looks down at his plate. "It's the best pizza I ever had."

Ava looks at me from across the booth and shoots me an annoyed look. "Why are you still in your dress?"

I lightly shrug and look back at her. "I figured I would stay in it longer."

"This is so not fair." She whispers. "You guys are still in your homecoming outfits."

"You didn't have to change." Christopher chuckles while taking a sip of his soda.

"I thought we were having a movie night!" She whispers through her teeth, probably so Anthony won't hear her.

"Plans changed." I smile brightly at Grayson next to me. He takes a slice of the large pie that is in front of us and grabs an extra plate to put his pizza on. "Get ready for the best piece of pizza you will ever eat." I giggle.

"I'm ready." He grins at me before taking a bite. His eyes widen as he chews the pizza in his mouth.

"Dude, how good?" Anthony says across from him.

"Holy shit." Grayson swallows the piece and looks at me. "This is amazing."

"I told you." I laugh at how adorable he is.

Grayson smiles and looks down at the slice in his hand. "I think I found my second love."

"I have never seen anyone obsess over a slice of pizza like the two of you." Ava laughs as she looks back at the two boys drooling over it.

"Because the pizza in Florida sucks compared to this." Anthony states while taking another bite.

"This is better than so many things in Florida." Grayson laughs.