RUNAWAY
CHAPTER SEVEN...!
❝ SHE SHOULD'VE KNOWN , SEASON FOUR ❞
IT was almost too good to be true.
Jennie sat next to Grayson, on his picnic blanket, both munching on their fruit cups. She noticed that this was the closest they had ever been, their arms touching. She had a feeling Grayson knew as well, but neither of them mentioned it.
The rest of the picnic surrounded them. It was everything Grayson promised her and more. The fruit cups, the sandwiches, the sunset in front of them. It was all— perfect.
As she looked over at Grayson, she noticed him staring at her, "What?"
Grayson realized he had been staring at her for such an extended amount of time, looking down at his hands, as he cleared his throat, "Nothing, it's just—"
He couldn't help but chuckle softly to himself, as he looked back up at her, "You look really beautiful."
The blush that washed over Jennie's face made her look down smiling, trying to hide the fact that she was an exact replica of a tomato.
"Thanks." Her voice was quiet. Even though he couldn't see her face, he could tell she was smiling.
When she looked up again, she turned to him, slightly tilting her head, "Grayson?"
"Hm?"
She paused for a second, "What made you want to be my friend?"
It was a question that roamed around Jennie's mind for the past couple of weeks. Even after pushing him away, he always came back. Jennie liked that about him, but she didn't know why he did it.
What was it that he thought of her, to make him stay after all this time?
"Who wouldn't want to be your friend?"
She looked at him, "That's not an answer."
He let out a laugh, shaking his head. He looked up at the sky, pausing for a moment, before continuing, "I don't know— I guess, I saw you, and I just kinda thought— she's kinda cute. And then the more I got to know you, I realized she's really cute."
The cheesiness of his explanation made the girl roll her eyes, playfully, "So you're just my friend because you think I'm cute?"
"No," He told her, "I mean, yeah, it's a cool bonus, but— I think it was when you were teaching me about that Malthusian theory. You looked so— passionate, and it was the first time I'd seen anybody's eyes light up like yours did. And, in that moment, I thought— this girl's pretty cool, which is something I had never really thought about anyone before. Later that night, I realized I'd do anything to see your eyes light up like that again."
Jennie didn't know what to say, as she could feel her face heat up. Honestly, she didn't expect Grayson to say anything— that nice.
"Okay," He spoke, placing his empty fruit cup down, looking at her, "Your turn."
She looked at him, slightly confused.
"Why did Jennie, a girl who swears she hates me with every bone in her body, become friends with me?"
She chuckled softly. When her smile faltered slightly, she paused for a second, before speaking, "You are like— one of the first people around my age to actually care about what I say. Some people, they get annoyed when I ramble about certain things. They think it's weird."
She looked at the sunset in front of her as she continued, shrugging, "I don't know. I guess it was just nice to have someone listen to me."
The words made Grayson's gaze on her soften. The girl was slightly embarrassed at the fact that she didn't have a cute reason like Grayson did, but he didn't seem to care.
After a short moment of silence, after the girl opened up to him for the first time, he placed his over Jennie's. The teen was surprised at the gesture, but didn't fight it.
A couple moments later, she had let him wrap his arm around her shoulder, bringing her closer to him. She melted into his touch, her head on his shoulder, as the smell of his cologne hit her nose.
Grayson looked down at her, a smile forming on his lips, "I think you've finally warmed up to me, Jennie."
This time, she didn't roll her eyes, only sighing, her voice softening, "Yeah, I guess I did. "
She could feel the man's body vibrate as he let out a laugh, and soon enough, they were laying down on the picnic blanket. Jennie's head was on his chest, while his hands were occupied with playing with her hair.
The two laid like that, in a comfortable silence, for a good amount of time. Jennie liked the silence. It gave her room to think about a lot of things. Like how nervous she was before he picked her up, or how good she felt right now.
And really— just think about how she really didn't want this feeling to away anytime soon.
—
JENNIE AND GRAYSON spent the night laughing more than either of them ever had before.
The rest of the picnic was filled with smiles, and laughter. Real smiles, and real laughter. As the night went on, Jennie had felt more comfortable with Grayson's touch. The way he'd push her hair behind her ear, how he'd caress her thumb while holding her hand, or rest his hand on her back as they sat— it all felt nice.
A type of nice that not a lot of things had made Jennie feel in a long time.
As he drove her home, Jennie could sense Grayson occasionally glancing at her, which made her smile. He held one hand on the wheel, while the other was interlocked with hers.
"God, my mouth hurts from laughing so much." Grayson told her, as he walked her up to her and her dad's apartment— that they moved into after Haley left.
They stopped in front of her front door, looking at each other, as Jennie spoke up, "Yeah, I'm pretty hilarious like that."
"Making fun of me does not equal comedy."
"You're the one who was laughing." She told him, both of them letting out chuckles afterwards. She could feel her cheeks tint pink as she looked at him, causing her to look down.
However, his eyes remained on the girl, knowing that look on her face, "What are you thinking about?"
She paused for a second, looking up at him, "You know why I like you so much, Grayson?"
"No, enlighten me." He smiled, before his face faltered slightly, "Unless this is about to be another insult. Then— don't enlighten me."
She let out a giggle, shaking her head, before continuing, "You remind me of me. I guess that's kinda why I hated you at first, too. So— sorry about that. Sorry for being so— mean."
She let out a nervous chuckle, looking down at her shoes again.
Avoiding his eyes were something she found herself doing a lot throughout the night.
However, her gaze was quickly interrupted, when she could feel Grayson's hand cup the side of her face, moving her face to look at him. When she met his face, she saw he had a small smile placed on his lips.
"You know why I like you, Jennie?" He spoke, his voice soft, "Because, despite me being the most annoying guy you've ever met, you still gave me a shot. You helped that old lady cross the street after our picnic, and you told me to pull over when I was driving you so you could go give that homeless guy some money, and the food the leftover we didn't eat — You're kind to people. And you don't even see it."
Jennie felt like she was in a movie. Finally looking into his eyes, she felt like this was the part where the main character falls for the guy of her dreams. It was a feeling she had never felt before— and she loved it.
"You remember what I said about the Malthusian Theory?" She asked, looking at him.
"About how the population grows exponentially, and the food grows arithmetically? How could I forget?" Grayson recalled, causing Jennie to let out a short laugh.
"I think my liking towards you is growing exponentially." She told him, after a pause. Jennie was quick to cringe at her words after saying them, face palming herself, "Ew, that sounded way better in my head. Forget I said that."
Grayson smiled at her embarrassed state, shaking his head as she covered her face, "You're such a dork."
But when Jennie looked back at him, his eyes only stayed on her. Despite how nerdy her last comment was, she could see he didn't care. He didn't care that she was bad at the whole 'feelings' thing, or that she took interest in things like stupid geographic theories. If anything, he liked that about her.
Maybe even loved that about her.
Her gaze followed his. She could notice his glances switching back and fourth from her eyes to her lips.
And in just a few moments, Jennie could feel their lips meeting.
And when pulling away, Grayson could see Jennie's eyes light up like they did in the library that day.
He meant what he said— he'd do anything to see them light up like that again.
—
FINALLY, after spending a lot longer than Jennie thought they would outside of her front door, Grayson left. She watched him reach the elevator in her apartment complex, with a smile, before turning to face her front door.
Her grin was as bright as ever, as she unlocked her door. When she stepped foot in it, she tossed her keys on the table nearby, and took off her shoes.
It was a good day.
Was.
"Dad?" She called out, knowing he'd be back from his case by now.
She looked around the house. When she got to her father's bar cart, she noticed a glass of scotch that was only consumed halfway.
And before she could move her eyes away from the glass, she feel a hard material being pressed into her stomach, immediately recognizing it as a gun.
Her calm, and steady breathing quickly turned into heavy breaths that were hard to silence.
She should've known this night was too good to be true.
AUTHORS NOTE |
sending tissues for no reason lol see u next chapter
word count.
1733.