Lean on me

Chapter 14

Sloan leans over and picks up the laces, using her thumb to hold the left one in place and her index finger to loop the other underneath it. She tries making two loops with the laces but can only make one. She tries to back another one but the first just slips out of her grasp. Sloan sighs in frustration before trying again, and again, and again. After five tries, she gives up and sits back. 

"Damn it." She mumbles before sighing and looking at Jensen. "Go ahead. Say it." 

"Say what?" He asks as he leans forward and ties her shoes.

"I told you so." She says, looking down at her hand resting in her lap. "That I should just accept help and not try to do things I know I can't do anymore. That I need to learn to ask for help and be okay with not being able to do everything I used to." 

"I wasn't going to say anything." Jensen says with a small smile before standing up. "Everybody ready to go?" 

The three stand up from their seats and move to the front door. Sloan and Grayson grabs their book bags and Sloan starts walking to the SUV. Jensen hands the keys to his truck to Grayson, who jogs to catch up with Sloan. 

"Actually, you and I are going to get coffee and breakfast." He says, coming to a stop beside her. 

"Gray, I have to be at set in an hour." She tells him. "I don't have time for coffee this morning." 

"They pushed back your shooting time. You don't have to be there until 11:00." He says with a small smirk. 

"Grayson, what are you doing?" She asks in slight exasperation. 

"Taking my best friend out for breakfast." He says, offering her his arm. Sloan smiles and loops her arm around his, the two of them walking to Jensen's truck. 

Forty-five minutes later, the pair pulls up to Sloan's favorite coffee shop. Grayson gets out of the truck and quickly walks around the vehicle, opening Sloan's door for her. She smiles at him in thanks as she climbs out of the car. 

The two walk into the building, which was nearly empty since it was still pretty early. They approach the counter and the lady behind it smiles at them. 

"How can help you?" She asks. 

"I'll have a large warm vanilla latte." Sloan says. She begins patting her pockets, searching for her wallet, only to realize it's not there. "I forgot my wallet. You can just cancel my order." 

"Add it to mine." Grayson says quickly. Sloan starts to object but Grayson shakes his head. "I was gonna pay anyway." The lady behind the counter smiles at the two, looking between them quickly. Grayson orders and pays and the two sit at a small table by the window.

"Thank you." Sloan says after a few minutes. "One day I'm gonna pay you back for all these times you've payed for my stuff." 

"Don't worry about it." He tells her with a smile. "You don't owe me a thing." Sloan gives him a small smile, looking down at the table for a second before looking back up. 

"Wanna play a game?" She asks. 

"Sure." He says. "What game." 

"The ABC game." She says, seeing a confused look cross his face. "Name a country that starts with A and I'll name one that starts with B. Then we keep naming countries alternating letters." She explains. "If you name something other than a country or you can't name one, normally you would do a shot. But, since we're underage, we have to pick some other type of consequence." 

"We could do shots of espresso." Grayson says with a shrug after a few moments. Sloan nods. 

"Okay. You start."