at the edge of the cliff || ✔

chapter thirty: uncontrollable smiles

at the edge of the cliff

chapter thirty: uncontrollable smiles

I feel the bright sun burn through my eyelids. My body is being held by strong arms that I immediately know are Grayson's. So I don't freak out. Instead, I snuggle further into his much larger, much warmer body and I smile when I feel him pull me closer. These are moments that I have unfortunately come to love. Just being with him. I don't know what it is, but I like it. A lot more than I would like to admit.

"Shay?" I hear him mumble. Thinking he was awake, I put my head on is chest where I'm looking at him. But when I see his face, his eyes are still closed and his breathing still slow. He's sleep talking. "No, please stay." He mumbles moving his head to the side. I look at him confused as I realize he is dreaming about me. Should I be confused? Or should I be happy? My stomach does a flip and I keep staring. He is dreaming about me.

I literally sound like a twelve year old girl.

"You staring at me babe." His groggy voice pulls me out of my strange thoughts and I see I am staring at him. I look away quickly and sit up.

"I wasn't staring." I mumble kind of embarrassed. I wasn't staring. I just...zoned out. And I happen to be staring at his face.

"Sure." He says with sarcasm. I glance back at him to see him sitting up with his arms above his head stretching. I look away when I see his stomach showing from his raised up shirt. He wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me back so I am sitting leaning against him. His head sits on my shoulder and our cheeks are brushing together. "Hey shay?" He says, his voice sounding nervous. I hum in response after a moment.

Just then my phone rings loudly interrupting him. I mumble sorry and pull it out. Ryder. "Hello?" I say into the phone.

"Where are you?" He asks immediately. I pull the phone away from my ear to see the time. My eyes go wide when I realize its noon on the next day.

"I'm...out?" I say more as a question.

"Why didn't you come home last night? You need to come home and get ready. The last hearing is at three." He says all in one rush. I sigh sadly and look over at Grayson who was staring at me.

"Alright, I'm on my way." I say hanging up before he could ask any more questions. "I need to get home." I say to Grayson.

"Was that Ryder?" He questions standing up. I nod and take his hand as he pulls me up beside him. "Uh, let's go. I guess." He mumbles walking away. I look after him confused? What's his problem?

"Hey." I say jogging up beside him. I see him glance down at me, but he doesn't answer. "What's wrong with you?" I question. Nothing happened that would make him upset, which is why I am so confused.

"It's just..." He stops and looks over to me, running a hand through his hair. "Nothing." He shook his head and smiled at me. He held his hand out a little and I gladly took it. "So why do you need to be home?" He asks swinging our interlocked hands.

"I uh...the final hearing is today." I say looking up at him. Just saying it makes my stomach churn. I'm terrified.

"Are you okay?" He asks. He helps me over a fallen tree and I see his car through the trees. I shrug.

"Last time, I knew what would happen and I knew where I would end up that day." I say glancing up at him. "This time I don't." I add quietly. He hand squeezes tightly but comforting around mine.

"Everything will be fine." He assures me. There was some kind of determination in his voice that somewhat made me feel better.

"What if its not?" I argue. I can't help but worry that somehow I'll end up back with my father. And if I did, it would be twice as worse because of Amilio being there to. My arm was pulled back making me stop and I looked confusedly back at Grayson.

"Can't you just be positive?" He asked. His voice was normal and calm but there was something in his eyes. Annoyance, anger, I couldn't tell. I continue to stare at him, not understanding why he is so upset. "Everything will be fine, okay?" He said sounding more and more annoyed. I took a step back and pulled my hand away gently. I don't know why that hurt so much but it did. Probably because right now, with everything happening, I'm an emotional basket case.

"Okay." I nodded turning to walk away. I hear him sigh and then footsteps behind me. We walk in silence until we were standing in front of his truck. My hand was on the door ready to open it when Grayson finally spoke up.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled behind me. I turned towards him and looked at the ground.

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-Grayson's Point Of View-

Her eyes stared down at the ground and all I wanted was to see her smile. I don't know why I got so mad. Scratch that, yes I do. I'm worried just as much as she is. She was abused with her dad, and since I met her I don't know if she's got happier or just better at hiding everything inside. I sighed and stepped forward pulling her to my chest. "I'm just worried about you " I admit. She doesn't say anything and doesn't hug me back for a minute. But then her short arms wrap around me and I hear her take in a breath.

"Okay. Let's go." She suddenly pulls away and gives me a smile that doesn't reach her eyes. "Can I drive?" She asks randomly. I raise an eyebrow at her.

"You want to drive my baby?" I ask her slowly as she nods seriously. I hesitantly hand her the keys and she runs around the car and jumps in. I shake my head letting the smile take over my lips and get in the passenger seat. She starts to drive and I couldn't help but look at her. Her dark hair was messy and it fell in waves down her back covering her back and shoulders. I notice that the seat was moved up so her short little legs could reach. I feel myself smiling at her and I couldn't stop.

"What?" She asks looking over to me. She quickly looks back at the road but she keeps glancing over at me waiting for an answer.

"You." I say.