the half of it

chapter fifteen

grayson woke up around ten in the morning, familiar whistling from the kitchen which led him to believe that cameron was making breakfast.

he sat up in his bed and reached into his night table to pull out the necessary supplies to change his colostomy, doing it with ease before pushing himself out of bed and into his wheelchair.

the metal rims were cold, his hand shivered as it came in contact with the cold metal. grayson rolled over to his dresser and exchanged his black hoodie for a light grey one, brushing his fluffy brown hair with his fingers.

the kitchen was a crystal clean, cameron bent over the sink scrubbing plates while humming show tunes to himself.

"morning" grayson said as he rolled to the kitchen table and rested his elbows on the table. cameron dried off his hands with a towel and went over to the table beside grayson.

"last day home" grayson said as they both scrolled on their phones with little interaction.

"new york is calling my name" cameron smiled sarcastically, his black suitcase and duffel bag sitting by the front door.

"when do you leave?" grayson asked as cameron pushed rubbed the back of his own neck.

"an hour" cameron smiled nervously, trying to come across as nonchalant but failing.

"nervous?" grayson asked, fidgeting with his own hair before putting his phone down flat on the table.

"nah, i'll be back in six months" cameron smiled, standing up and pushing off the glass table.

"i got to pack up a few things before i leave" cameron avoided the question, giving his brother a pat on the shoulder before heading up the stairs.

graysons phone dinged, a two tone sound that a piano made. he picked it up off the table and gripped it in his left hand, checking to see who texted him so early in the morning.

am i still invited? - owen

if you're still going with the homework story - me

say at 11? - owen

54 mayfair cres - me

cant wait :) - owen

grayson rolled back down the hallway, into his room and shutting the door behind him. he stared in the mirror at his already fuller face, jawline and cheekbones still defined but not as unhealthy as it was.

the door creaked open minutes later, cameron standing in the doorway with his shoes on and jacket in hand.

"hey man, i'm leaving" cameron walked over to grayson and leaned in for a hug, patting each other once with a loud clap.

"have fun at college" grayson smiled as cameron stood back straight up, smiling widely as walked out of the room with grayson following behind him.

the house seemed empty with nobody there, humming of the refrigerator was the only noise that grayson could pick up within the entire house.

the doorbell interrupted that, a musical ding that filled the house and rang through graysons ears loudly.

he rolled toward the front door, opening it to see owen standing with a goofy smile on his face. he was wearing light blue jeans and a dark green t-shirt, a black backpack slung over his shoulder.

"ready to teach me math?" owen smiled as he walked in the house, closing the door behind him as he slipped off his black boots.

"you know in mean girls when she pretends to be bad at math to fuck that guy?" grayson asks with a smile as he rolls over to the couch and owen flops down on the cushion beside him.

"you did not just quote mean girls" owen laughs as he pulls his purple spiral notebook out of his grey backpack.

"oh fuck off" grayson rolled his eyes as he got onto the couch, smiling widely as he leaned back to gain is balance.

"yes i understand your super gay reference" owen said as he leaned back too and brought the notebook onto his lap.

"and i don't accept the fact you're comparing me to a horny lindsay lohan" owen took a pencil, offering another one to grayson but he shook his head.

"a horny lindsay lohan is definitely a compliment" grayson teased as owen pulled out a large textbook.

"sooo, are you gonna help me or whatever?" owen put on a high annoying voice, flipping his hair to the side.

"show me the question" grayson leaned forward, looking over the textbook as owen twirled the pencil around his fingers.

"6 first teacher"owen smiled, sliding the notepad over for grayson to balance of the edge of the couch.

"okay so you have to graph it first so you can find the vertex" grayson said, passing the book back over and watched as owen sketched a small graph.

"can you do the first? so i can see" owen stuck a pencil in owens hand, lingering his fingers just a little longer than necessary.

"i can't" grayson said, gripping the pencil as tight as he could.

"why not, you don't have to answer" owen said, taking the pencil back and crossing one of his legs closer to him.

"nerve damage, i just can't grip it right" grayson shifted uncomfortably, nervous about telling too much.

"okay, just tell me then" owen turned so he was facing grayson and put the book in his lap with the pencil gripped in his left hand.

"okay" grayson spent the next hour explaining how to do the questions, owen seemed completely lost but nodded along with a smile.

"thanks for this" owen said as he shut the textbook and shoved it back in his backpack.

"no problem" grayson answered, moving back into his wheelchair.

"we should do this again sometime" owen said as he pulled on his shoes, dropping hints in a subtle way.

"i'll call you" grayson smiled, blushing as owen opened the door.

"you better"