"My life wasn't worth living until you."
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When Layla Greene struggles to handle the death of her best friend, her father decides to uproot and move her family to California in aims to keep her on the right track he put...
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Song for this chapter: Hard Sometimes
- Ruel
We pull over just outside of my house and I take a quick glance at Gray. We haven't spoken the whole drive back home and my fingers nervously play with each other in awkwardness.
"Do you wanna come inside?" I ask, hesitant.
"No thank you."
"Are you mad at me?" I mumble, nervous to hear his answer. He lets out a sigh, then faces me.
"Of course not, Layls. I just wish you'd tell me what's happened to you." He says, reaching forward and tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
I think for a second about why I haven't told Gray anything about my past. I trust him so much, so why can't I tell him? My gut tells me that it's better if he knows before we go any further so he can leave without feeling too bad.
"Mase and I grew up together. As soon as we met at the park when we were five we just clicked. Our parents got on, he was an amazing friend. I got really badly picked on when I first started school because my teeth all grew in wonky, I had braces for five years just to straighten them out. But before braces, they were awful and all the boys would push me over in the playground. Mason stuck up for me, he hated them for picking on me, despite him being really popular and getting on with everyone. He knew how to make anyone feel special." I mumble out, and Gray reaches for my hand when he sees my eyes well up.
"You don't have to do this. I want you to open up, yes. But in your own time, when you're ready." He says.
"I trust you." I say simply and he nods his head, signalling for me to continue. "I wasn't very popular at all in school and I didn't notice it then but Mason liked to choose everyone over me, I just accepted it because of how grateful I felt towards him for helping me when I was younger. Then I met Cleo, it wasn't an instant connection because she hated me when she first moved because I wouldn't stop talking to her, but I grew on her and soon we wouldn't do anything without each other. Mason continued to hang around with his new friends more and more and I didn't mind because I had Cleo." I pause for a slight second and Gray squeezes my hand to show his support.
"But when my braces came off, and I came back from summer of freshman year, everyone swarmed me talking about how much of a 'glowup' I had gone through. Suddenly people wanted to be friends with me and because I wasn't used to that kind of validation and acceptance, I loved it. Mason's confession of love followed shortly after and soon we became the 'it' couple. I had loved him since I was six and he had finally noticed me as more than just a friend, I was so happy. I introduced him to Cleo, and immediately they got on. I remember loving it, how close they were."
