2 Truths & a Lie | Grayson Dolan

three

grayson, 3/19/18

i'd agreed to meet with reese the next day. dinner was okay, liam seemed alright. i should be happy for her. but she kept on giving me mixed signals, a certain insecurity from inside her. her hands in mine. her eyes glancing at my face. it made me go crazy. i couldn't stop thinking about it, it kept on looping in my head, over and over again.

i pull the hood over my head and step out of my car, heading towards the restaurant that we'd agreed on. the sun was setting and the breeze was cool, the wind ruffling through my clothes. i look around and see her standing by the entrance, looking at her phone. behind her, a couple of young girls look at me and smiles play across their lips. of course. they hold up their phones and once again their cameras follow me as reese and i walk inside.

her hand grips mine and her fingers settle into the gaps between mine, holding onto me like an anchor. i don't pull back, she knows what she's doing. we walk towards a free table in the back corner. i let reese slide in one side of the booth and sit across from her, her hand detaching from mine only to lace them back together as we both grab for the menu. i laugh and open it, holding it towards her.

a crimson shade shines on her cheeks as she bashfully looks down to read the menu. her eyes bounced from one word to another, her lips parted in a soft breath as she mumbles the words along to her reading. i take my own menu, flipping it open instinctively as a waitress walks up to our table. "can i ask the beautiful couple for drinks?", she asks us and i'm about to object at the suggestion that we were a couple when reese perks up.

"i'll have a dr. pepper. what about you?", she turns her head from the waitress to mine. i clear my throat, looking down at the card, realizing it's upside down. i laugh uneasily as reese flips it sound for me, putting it back into my hands. "a water is fine.", i conclude to avoid further delay and smile tightly at the waitress, who's hitting down our orders on a small notepad before looking back up and nodding, walking off.

my eyes reconnect with reese's and a spark short wires my brain, making my body seem incapable of anything. her eyelashes droop along as she looks down at her fingers. the blue ribbon was wrapped tightly around one of them. "i know everything must be hard for you to understand right now.", she mutters under her breath, not wanting to meet my face. outside, a group of girls had pressed their faces onto the glass and peered in. the waitress who took our order ran out a minute later and scared them off.

"yeah, well, it's very confusing alright.", i conclude in a tight breath, biting my lip. she pulls the ribbon loose and fiddles around with it, tying and untying knots with it. then she pauses, looks up and sighs. "the thing is, i don't know wether it's in my...wether i'm allowed to say what the issue actually is. it's not that i signed a vow of silence but...", she holds her breath and gulps softly. my palms begin to itch. "it's very personal. i don't think it's fair to be the one telling you what the situation is.", she repeats herself in a different way.

i feel anger surge inside me. her eyes are twinkling, a shade of mystery within them. "look, reese, is there anything you can tell me at all because if not then i feel like i shouldn't be here.", i choke softly and lean forward. i take the ribbon from her fingers, brushing her skin sending me tingles all down my spine. she shakes her head. "liam is not an obstacle, grayson.", she whispers and i snort, leaning back and pulling my hand away, the ribbon pinched between my fingers.

"he's your husband.", i hiss the last word, biting hard on my lip. she sits there, hands falling into her lap. she stares at me, her eyes prickled with tears. our waitress comes back with our drinks and quickly takes our food order. i wait for her reply in silence, even if it made me feel like a complete asshole for snapping at her like that. "yes.", she mutters and looks down at her hands, quiet as ever. i feel hot with guilt and shame. but at the same time, i was not going to ruin her happiness with another man, even if that hurt me.

"but we're not together.", she whispers so softly i barely hear it. i dart my eyes straight at her angelic face, staring at it, my brows pinched into a frown. she looks up at me again, a small tear rolling down her left cheek, her face glowing a soft red. she breathes in sharply, wincing softly at her inhale as she begins to elaborate. "i married liam because his parents are...homophobic.", she begins to stutter, small cries between her words. i'm not ready for what she has said and lean forward onto the tabletop so hard, i feel it tilt towards me and fall back to the floor with a drop.

she jumps up in her seat softly and i hurriedly stammer an apology. she bites her lip and then reopens her mouth to speak. "liam is gay. he doesn't even like me the way you think he does. he's my best friend.", she links short sentences, trying to make sense of what she had just said but i cannot catch on. she takes my hand with the ribbon and folds her fingers into mine. she lingers there, tears rolling down her face as she emits a small laugh from her lips.

"he wants me to be with you."

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hello luvs!
<3 thanks for 450 reads already!
xx,cece