"Hi, Grammy!" I squeal excitedly as I walk into her hospital room.
The second we landed, Xander and I went to the nearest flower shop to get my grandma flowers and made our way over to the hospital.
"Arya! Honey, you gave me a fright!" My grandma gasps before a big smile takes over her entire face.
"I missed you!" I say before pulling her in for a tight hug.
"Is Xander here?" She asks.
"Grammy...I'm starting to think you like him better than me." I joke.
"I do."
"Grammy!" I yell before we both start to burst out laughing.
And just then, Xander walks through the door.
"Grammy!" He hollers before setting the flowers on the table and pulling her in for a hug.
I just stand back and watch the two of them talk and laugh about random things.
The way Xander's face lights up anytime my grandma "accidentally" reveals something embarrassing about me.
Or how he helps feed her whenever her hands start to shake.
I never thought I would say this, but I think I'm falling in love with him.
Holy shit-
"You look better," I say to her.
"Well, I would hope so. I don't know what Xander did but nurses and doctors come in and out of my room every 30 minutes. You didn't have to go through all this trouble, Xander."
"Don't worry about it. As long as you're doing better, that's all that matters." He smiles down at her.
My heart is about to burst.
"How was Hawaii?" She asked.
"AMAZING!" I yell.
"We did so many things! I tried surfing for the first time, we went swimming in a waterfall, snorkeling, dancing in a club, and so much more!" I explain.
"That's great honey! I'm glad you ended up going."
"I mean I had no choice, you literally shoved me out of the door." I laugh.
Before I could tell her more, a nurse came in to check her vitals.
I feel Xander walk up behind me and wrap his arms around my waist.
"You forgot one thing." He whispers so only I could hear him.
I did?
"What?"
"All the sex we had."
"Xander!" I gasp.
"What?" He laughs.
"Shut up! We did not have that much sex."
"We went through a 30 pack of condoms in less than a week." He says.
Fuck he's right.
"Arya? May I speak to you for a moment?" The doctor asks.
"Of course," I say before following the doctor into the hallway.
"How is she doing doctor?" I ask as soon as I shut the door behind me.
"Miss Ali...her cancer is spreading a lot faster than we thought." He whispers.
"What? How! She looks better than last week though!" I cry.
"I'm so sorry Arya but sometimes how someone looks physically doesn't mean they look just as great on the inside."
"How long?"
"Pardon?"
"How long does she have left?" I whisper.
"I would say 3-6 months."
Fuck.
"Does she know?"
"Uh...we told her this about a month ago."
WHAT?!
And she didn't tell me?!
"I- uh...thank you, doctor," I mumble before heading back into the room.
"What happened?" Xander asks.
"N-Nothing, he was just telling me what he did with her while I was gone." I lied.
Xander looks like he didn't believe a word that just came out of my mouth but he decided not to push me to say anything.
I decided to take a seat next to my grandma on the large hospital bed and try to pay attention to the TV in front of me.
While we were watching an extremely dramatic soap opera with my grandma, Xander's phone started to ring.
"Excuse me." He mumbles before walking out into the hallway.
"That boy is so in love with you." My grandma laughs.
"Grammy!"
"I know it's hard for you to open up sweetheart but...are you in love with him?"
"Yes," I mumble as my cheeks begin to turn pink.
"I KNEW IT!" She yells before I shove a piece of chocolate in her mouth to quiet her.
"What do you mean Alyssa's gone?" I hear Xander's loud voice from the hallway.
"I'll be right back," I tell my grandma before walking out into the hallway.
"Asher calm down!" Xander yells.
He moves the phone away from his ear and mouths "I'll tell you in a second".
I wait by the door while watching him pace around the hallway.
He looks stressed and worried and I'm nervous now.
Alyssa means a lot to him and if anything happens to her, I know it will really affect him.
He finally hangs up the phone before walking over to me.
"Asher's sister ran away."
"What?! Why?"
"I'm not sure but Asher said she was fighting with her dad and Macy and just ran off."
"Oh shit."
"I know and it's weird because Alyssa isn't the type to argue and run away."
"So Asher has no idea where she could have possibly gone?"
"No."
"Did he call Jess? Maybe she's with his sisters."
"He called every one, no one knows where she is." He explains.
"Wait! What about her mom's grave? Asher went there, maybe she did too." I suggest.
"Oh shit, you're right! I hate to leave you but I need to help him find her." He says.
"It's okay baby. Go! And when you find her, text me." I stand on my tippy toes and kiss him.
"I will! Lo-" He cuts himself off by clearing his throat.
"You okay?" I laugh.
"Oh yeah, I just choked on air. I'll call you later." He says before running out of the hospital.
Holy shit!
We literally just got back 2 hours ago and shit has already hit the fan.
God, I hope Alyssa is okay.
The poor girl is only 14 and she's wandering around the city alone.
I sigh before making my way back into the room.
"Is everything okay?" grammy asks.
"Yeah! Something came up and Xander needed to leave." I explain.
"Oh okay."
"Why didn't you tell me?" I ask suddenly.
"Tell you what?" She asks.
"You knew you didn't have much time...didn't you?" I ask.
"Arya-"
"Grammy, you know I have witnessed death before. You know that I never got a chance to say goodbye to mom and dad. Why would you not tell me?" I ask frustrated.
"I- I didn't tell you because...because I've never seen you this happy before. Before Xander, you were always home 24/7 and were watching over me like a hawk. It's almost like Xander was your breath of fresh air. When I found out, I was planning on telling you but when I came home that night, I saw you and Xander baking in the kitchen. You just- you looked so happy and I didn't want to stress you out with the news. I did plan on telling you after you came back from Hawaii I just didn't know how."
Aw shit, now I feel bad for raising my voice.
She has a point though, I feel like ever since I've known Xander, I've been more carefree and happy.
"Grammy- that's sweet of you to keep my happiness in mind but you need to tell me things, no matter how bad it is," I explain.
"I'm sorry my love." She mumbles and I watch as tears begin to fall down her face.
"It's okay." I walk over to her and pull her into a hug.
I'm trying my best not to burst out crying.
I wanna stay strong for her.
I just can't imagine my life without her.
I feel like for once in my life, I have no idea what to do.
"I want us to take a road trip." I blurt.
"What?" She laughs.
"I want us to have one more big adventure together."
"You know I can't fly."
"Then we'll drive. Where do you want to go?"
"Why don't we drive down to Boston."
"Sounds great! I'll start planning." I say excitedly before grabbing my laptop from my bag.
"And Arya..." I look up at her.
"...invite Xander too." She smiles.
"Of course." I laugh.
I swear this woman has a bigger crush on him than I do.
Since it's wintertime, Boston is actually one of the most beautiful places to visit.
As I'm doing research, I notice my grandma has fallen asleep.
She looks peaceful.
I feel my phone vibrate and see that it's a text from Xander.
We found her.
I let out a sigh of relief.
What happened?
Too long to write in text.
Is she okay?
Yeah, just stressed.
Can I call you?
Of course!
My phone immediately starts to ring and to make sure I don't wake up my grandma, I head out into the hall and sit down while leaning against a wall.
"Hello?"
"Hey, baby." He whispers, his voice sounding hoarse.
"How's Alyssa?"
"She's...hanging in there?"
"What happened?" I ask.
"She uh- she found out that her dad isn't her actual dad."
"WHAT?!" I let out a gasp which caused some nurses and doctors to glare at me.
"I know. Apparently, her dad is a doctor that her mom had an affair with."
"What the fuck."
"And the worst part is that Asher knew and never told her."
"Holy shit."
This is way too much to take in at once.
"Where is she now?" I ask.
"She's sleeping in one of the guest rooms. She fell asleep while we were watching a movie."
"Who's we?"
"Me, my brother, and Jesse."
"Oh. So Asher doesn't know that you found her."
"He does but she made us keep him away from her. So she's staying with Ax and me for now."
"Jesus." I sigh.
"How are you?"
"I'm okay."
"What happened with the doctor babe?"
Fuck.
"I told you-"
"Tell me the truth, Arya. I want to help you."
I remain silent.
I never liked when people offered to help me.
I just like doing everything alone.
I hate being a burden.
He's already done way too much for us.
"Babe?" I hear him call out.
"Oh uh sorry."
"It's okay. What happened Arya?"
"Nothing, like I said, we just talked about what he did with her while I was gone."
"Arya-"
"Xander please- please just let it go." I sigh while trying to hold back my tears.
Be strong Arya.
Don't cry.
"I'm sorry for intruding. Tell me when you're ready." He whispers.
"Thank you."
"Alyssa called her real dad today." He changes the subject.
"Oh my god. How did that go?"
"He seemed happy to hear from her. They plan on meeting next Wednesday at the diner."
"The diner I work at?"
"Yeah. Jess, Ax, and I are going with her just in case."
"That's good. Does Asher know?"
"No, at this point she wants nothing to do with him."
"Poor thing."
"I just can't imagine what she's going through."
"Neither can I."
We continued talking about everything that had happened today before I let out a loud yawn.
"Alright baby, I'm going to go to sleep," I whisper.
"You're sleeping in the hospital?"
"Yeah. I wanna stay with Grammy tonight."
"Okay. Call me if you need anything."
"I will."
"Goodnight."
"Goodnight baby."
I don't deserve him.
----------Author's Note----------
New ship: Xander & Arya's grandma 😩
Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!
-Pradabagg
Word Count: 1722