Bad Boy's Protection (Protector #1)

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

I had a lot of trouble sleeping last night. My mind just wouldn't shut off. It kept replaying many of the evens that happened and how I was almost assaulted again.

Like before, I stayed in my room almost all day. That was until Mom told me that Grayson's family was coming over for dinner yet again, including his mom and his sister. So instead of staying in my pajamas, I had to get changed. I still never told my parents or Tony what happened, and I didn't know if I was going to.

Mom called me downstairs, telling me that the Princes were here. I slowly got out of bed and went downstairs. As soon as I was downstairs, Grayson pulled me in a sudden hug -I didn't hesitate to hug him back, though.

"How are you?" he asked in a low voice.

"Tired," I replied, my voice as low. "I can't sleep." I hugged Grayson even tighter, feeling more comfortable than I had ever felt. I needed the comfort. Grayson didn't seem to mind how tight I was hugging him considering he kept hugging me.

"Poppy," Mom said, causing Grayson and I to pull away. "Why don't you and Grayson go to the basement and play some video games? Dinner won't be ready for another hour."

I nodded before Grayson and I went to the basement. "I'm not in the video game mood," I told Grayson as I sat on the couch.

Grayson sat beside me. "You still didn't tell your parents, did you?"

I sighed and shook my head. "I don't want to talk about it, Grayson. It keeps me up at night. I haven't slept since it happened. Not fully, that is."

"Talk to them," Grayson said. "They need to know."

"I can't talk about it," I said. "I don't want to. Please don't bring it up again. Please."

Grayson sighed. "I don't want to leave it alone. You need to talk to your parents."

"Just stop talking about it!" I said, raising my voice.

"No," Grayson said. "I'm not going to leave it alone. You know what happened when I left what happened to me alone? It continued to happen. I couldn't fight back and my mom did nothing, so I left it alone."

"That's different," I muttered, crossing my arms and leaning back into the couch.

"How so?" Grayson asked. "If anything, you had it easy compared to me."

I scoffed. "What, you're saying that me being assaulted was easy?"

"That's not what I meant," Grayson said. "What I meant was that you were sixteen when you were first assaulted. I was ten when my dad and brother started beating me. You really think what you're going through is difficult? Try going through what I did."

Grayson stood up and walked towards the stairs. "Where are you going?" I asked.

"To tell your parents about what happened," Grayson said.

My eyes widened. "What? No, Grayson, please don't!"

Grayson continued walking up the stairs anyway. "If you won't, then I will!"

I got up and followed Grayson. "Grayson, please!" I was nearly begging him not to.

He was too stubborn. He wasn't listening to me at all. He was already up the stairs and to the living room where everyone else was. "Gene, Izzy," Grayson said. "May I speak with you for a moment?"

"Since when are you this polite?" I heard Grayson's dad mutter. Rude.

"What about?" Dad asked, standing up from the couch he was sitting on, as did Mom.