It's About Time

Natalie sat in the auditorium nervously, surrounded by hundreds of anxious families. The atmosphere sparked with excitement as everybody waited for the lights to go down. To Natalie's left there was a mother who looked rather nauseous, holding a small toddler on her lap. The toddler was giggling and pulling on her mother's earrings. She looked at Natalie who gave her a big smile and stuck her tongue out. The little girl let out another loud giggle and went back to tugging on her mother's ears. To Natalie's right was a dark haired teen wearing a bored scowl and furiously typing away at her phone screen.

Natalie looked around the room again and her breath caught in her throat as she made eye contact with a certain pair of dark green eyes. Logan sent her a confused- though dazzling- smile and gestured wildly to the empty chair to his left. Quickly, Natalie stood and excused herself as she walked past the mother and toddler. Before she had even made it to the empty seat Logan's arms were around her. Breathing in his musky scent, she smiled.

"What the hell are you doing here babe?" Logan pulled back and sent Natalie a look of confusion so strong it was almost comical.

"I made it all the way back to Michigan before realizing that I was already home."

Logan snorted.

"That was really cheesey babe", he laughed, wrapping an arm around Natalie's waist and leader her back to their seats. Natalie laughed with him.

"Fine, you're right. But I really missed everyone and I couldn't stay away."

"Well, I think that a lot of people missed you too", Logan said, smiling gently.

The conversation ended as the house lights went down and the principle walked onto the stage. Natalie smiled as Mr. Lewis took his place behind the podium, a few of Natalie's old teachers sitting behind him.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen", Mr. Lewis's voice boomed throughout the auditorium. "I am honored to stand before you as we say goodbye to the graduating class of 2015." The audience applauded and many students whooped and cheered. Natalie only half listened as he gave his speech, knowing that in a few minutes, she would see Grayson again. Her stomach clenched at the thought and restlessly searched through the student section, looking for him among the hundreds of heads.

"Please welcome to the stage the valedictorian for the class of 2015, Mr. Grayson Steele." Natalie's head whipped back up to the stage as Grayson entered from the left. Logan whooped next to her, shouting about Grayson being his little brother. Natalie laughed as Grayson's cheeks flamed in response to his brother's cheers. As Grayson took the podium she couldn't help but stare. Grayson's tousled brown hair was covered by his red graduation cap, little curls of hair poking out around his ears and falling down on his forehead. After settling himself, Grayson sent the audience a dazzling smile before welcoming them to the ceremony.

"I hope you guys don't mind but my speech isn't going to be humorous or anything. I'm going to be kind of a downer actually." He forced a quiet laugh and lifted an arm to run a hand through his hair before remembering he was wearing cap before dropping his arm and continuing.

"Since my dad's death, my family and I have been through a lot. I honestly think that my brother has been waiting for me to snap. He tries to hide it but I see the way he watches me or freaks out when I'm alone too long." Logan ducked his head and Natalie reached out to rest a hand on his arm. "And I don't blame him. After my dad's death, my mom couldn't handle being a single mom of two boys. Her best friend had just died and there we were, needing to be fed and clothed and tucked in at night. She stayed strong for as long as she could but after a while, she just couldn't take it. She was admitted to the psyche ward, leaving my brother as my sole caregiver; and he was a damn- darn- good one. He quit school to get a job and take care of me. He was there to tuck me in and feed me dinner and teach me how to throw a punch at anyone that deserved it. So when I was diagnosed with depression-" He broke off as the hiss of whispers filled the auditorium. Holding up a hand, he silenced the crowd before speaking again.