Chapter Twenty-One: I'm Just Getting Used To Being Me
*•*•Bailey's POV•*•*
"That's... That's impossible." I said, refusing to accept the fact that Kendall was getting hurt because of me.
I looked at Parker who had a similar face to mine, "K-Kendall... He's out with his dad who's on his deathbed." Parker stuttered, shaking his head.
"Dad took him." Max explained, "He threatened Kendall, saying that if he didn't help, he would kill his family, slowly. Kendall's fighting, though, but I don't think his father's going to make it through."
I turned my gaze back to Max, "What do you mean?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.
They've already hurt his... My... Family?
"Since his father was already, sick... He's weak. Dad has been hurting him the most." Max said, sadly.
I looked at him with anger. I stepped closer to him only to be tossed on Grayson's shoulder. I tried to fight out of his grasp, "Why didn't you stop this?!" I screeched as Grayson walked towards the couch, "Why didn't you stop this? Kendall's family shouldn't be in this!" I yelled. I didn't sign up for this, "I want out! I want out. I want out, damn it!"
"I'm sorry, Bailey. I really am." Max yelled over my voice, "I didn't mean for any of this to happen." He said, not wanting to look at me.
I couldn't contain my anger. I was no longer angry at Max, I was angry with myself. I couldn't handle the fact that Kendall's family getting hurt was my fault. I shouldn't have gotten close to the bad boy. I should've closed the door on Grayson when he asked if he could enter my house that day. I should've left when I had the chance.
Next thing I knew, Parker had me in his arms, hushing me as the others talked. I was then passed over to Dylan who was caressing my hair when Parker joined in on the conversation. Honestly, I couldn't hear a thing. I blocked out all the sound in the world, but the only thing I could hear was my heart beating a hundred times faster than it had been a few moments ago.
I stood up from Dylan's grasp, grabbing attention from the group of people around me. I walked into the hallway and went into a random room and locking the door. I slid down the door, and broke down. I brought my knees to my head and cried into them.
This is all my fault.
I should've walked away. I should've ran when I had the chance.
I felt the door open, making me get pushed aside. The door closed and then I felt a person sit beside me and hug me. I immediately hugged them back and cried in their shoulder.
I looked up with my bloodshot eyes, only to meet Max's deep gray eyes, "What are you doing here?" I asked, coldly, taking my arms away from his warm body.
"I felt it was my fault you're crying." He shrugged.
I looked at his eyes before sighing, "I'm sorry, Max. I-"
"I should be the one that's sorry." He said, "I'm the one that kind of drugged you, and may have kind of kidnapped you."
I didn't say anything, making him sigh, "Look, I swear I'm done with my father. I don't ever want to be involved with his shenanigans again." I looked up at him only to meet his gaze.
His eyes told a story, just like his brother. Regret and truth, "It's... Fine." I said.
"I'm sorry, Bailey." He whispered, "I swear I'm going to help the guys as best as I can."
I nodded before leaning into his shoulder, "Max?" He hummed in response, "Is Kendall... Okay?"
"He's well..." He trailed off, looking me in the eyes, before sighing, "No. He's not." He said.
My heart dropped, "What did your father do to him?" I asked, trying to hide the hurt in my voice.
"I'd rather not say." He said, "I don't want you to hate me even more."
"I don't necessarily hate you. I just... Dislike you to an extent to say you've got me as an... Acquaintance."
He smiled at me, "I swear I'll get you not to hate me by the end of this."
"It's not going to be that hard, to be honest." I shrugged, laughing.
He smiled at me before standing up, "Let's go to the guys." He said, giving me a hand up.
"Thanks." I muttered.
He opened the door for me, before we entered the living room, gaining attention from the other guys, "You fine, Teddy?" Parker asked.
I nodded before sitting next to Grayson, laying my head on his shoulder. His hand landed on my knee rubbing soothing circles on my skin, "Max," Grayson said, making all attention go to him, "What's dad planning?"
"He's thinking of taking Bailey and hurting her until you agree to be apart of the family business." He said, calmly with an emotionless face.
Max's words made everyone stay silent for a moment. At first I believed everyone was just thinking, then I realized everyone looked lost, confused almost, "What do we do now?" Dylan asked.
Another silence fell upon us when Grayson finally spoke, "Well, we make a plan," Grayson announced, "and I know exactly what we're going to do, but Bailey? We need you out."
My eyes glared at Grayson, "What? Why do I always have to be out?" I asked.
"Because it's for the best." Grayson said, turning to Dylan, "Is your girlfriend here?"
"Yeah." Dylan answered as I sat up, "She's already in Parker's house taking care of Cal."
"Can you call her over to take Bailey?" He asked, as Dylan nodded.
"She knows, too?" I asked in disbelief.
"Yeah." Grayson shrugged.
"Don't worry, Bailey," Dylan said, "Just because she has a child, does not mean she can't defend herself."
"You guys are unbelievable." I groaned.
They continued small talk, leaving me out of it. I noticed that Grayson, from time to time, looked at me from the corner of his eyes, thinking I could not see it. When the doorbell rang, Dylan and I immediately stood up.
I followed Dylan to answer the front door. When he opened the door, we were greeted by a pretty woman who had a baby in her hands. To be honest, she looked like a ray of sunshine, "Hey Elly." Dylan smiled as he pecked her cheek, "Thanks for coming on short notice."
"It's fine. I couldn't wait to meet your sister." She said as she smiled brightly. She looked behind me, "Is this her?"
I smiled, "Hi, Elliot." I greeted her, causing her to squeal.
"You're so adorable!" She said, "And call me Elly."
"Okay, Elly." I said, making her smile, "What's his name?" I asked, looking at the baby in her hand.
"Calum." She said, smiling down to the child.
"He's a cutie."
"Anyway," Dylan said, "Elly and you can hang out at home. When the guys and I are done making the plan, Parker, Luke and I will help move our stuff into the Bailey's house. Yeah?"
"Okay." Elly said, turning to me, "So let's go?"
I nodded in response before yelling goodbye to the guys. I hugged, Dylan before following Elly out, "So," I said as we entered their car, "is Dylan good to you?"
She giggled, "Of course. Once you get to know him, he's a sweetheart."
"He already proved that." I said, moving my gaze to the child in the seat next to me, "Calum's so cute!" I squealed.
"He's got his looks from his father." Elly said, sighing.
"What are you studying in uni?" I asked, as she started the car.
"Well, English literature and other shiz." She shrugged, "They're all things my family want me to study."
I narrowed my eyes at her, "Why can't you study something you'd like to study?" I asked, confused, "You should be whatever you'd like to be. What is it that you want to be?"
"Well, I want to be a engineer, but that's impossible."
"Why isn't it possible?"
"The Calum. It's too much to pay for a babysitter."
"I'd be happy to pay for babysitting, or just be the babysitter free of charge?" I offered.
"Dang it why do you have to be nice?" She muttered.
I giggled, squinting at her with confusion, "Are you sure it's just Calum?" I asked. She didn't answer. Elly just focused her eyes on the road, "Are you afraid of what your family will believe?"
She stayed quiet, answering my question, causing me to roll my eyes, "Elly, come on. If they can't see what your good at, then help them see it. They'll approve of your decision of becoming something you want to become."
She smiled at me, "Thanks Bailey." I nodded before holding Calum's little hand, "I think we're going to be good friends."
When we arrived at my house, she parked in my driveway. I helped her with Calum, carrying him inside as she brought the bag for him. When we entered the house, I placed Calum on the couch before helping out Elly with his baby stuff.
"How's your school life?" She asked.
"Good, I guess." I answered, shrugging afterwards.
That was the first time I was unsure about my school life. I always knew exactly how school life was. Mostly because of how I'm used to going to school, coming home, do next week's homework, then go to sleep.
Ever since I met the boys, I just... I don't know, eased up slightly. I stopped being so work heavy. Yes, I still do the next week's homework, but I don't do it all in one day.
"What do you mean by 'I guess?'" She asked, sitting next to Calum.
I sighed, sitting next to her, "Well, there's this guy..."
"And what's this guys name?"
"Grayson?" I said, more like a question.
"The guy that brought you and your brother together?" She asked in disbelief.
I nodded as she shrugged, "Couldn't blame you. I met him before I met you. He's... Wowza." She said in awe.
"Oi. You have a boyfriend and I child." I said, playfully, "Respect both of them."
"I will, I will." She said, putting her hands up, surrendering, "So what about him?"
"I kind of like him..." I admitted.
There was a small silence, until she broke it with a squeal, causing Calum to cry, "Oops." She said, hushing Calum, calming him down, "So you like Grayson?"
"I guess I do." I shrugged with a smile,
"Have you guys done the dirty?"
My eyes widened as my face reddened, "Oh my gosh." I groaned.
"Sorry." She giggled, "Did you guys kiss?"
"We kissed, yes."
"You guys have kissed and are not together?" She asked, as I nodded, "Well damn. Your relationship is... Complicated."
"Yup." I sighed.
"I say... Well, listen to what your heart wants."
"I don't even know what I want." I sighed, running my hand through my hair.
"From what I'm hearing, I believe that you want something more than your current relationship with Grayson and that Grayson wants more out of it too, but not the bad way." She said, "Is he bad boy of the school?"
"Yeah."
"Has he opened up to you in a way?" I nodded, making her, smirk, "He's in way too deep. I should've known that from the way he's been asking his friends to protect you."
"Do you think he-"
"Loves you? Yeah." Elly giggled, "He's whipped for you."
Our moment was cut short when Grayson and the guys came barging in, "We're back and we have ice cream!" Parker yelled, holding up three tubs of three types of ice cream.
"And we already got your stuff from Parker's house." Bennett said, dragging two luggages beside him. He placed them beside the couch while Dylan put the rest of the stuff beside them.
"Is Max here?" I asked.
"I is here." Max said, with his hands up, "Your place is nice by the way," when his eyes landed on Calum his whole face lit up, "Oh my god, a baby!"
He ran over to Elly, "May I?"
"Yes, you may." Elly said with a bright smile, "This is Calum."
"Hi Calum," Max cooed, "He's so cute."
"Thanks." She said, "So you're Max?"
"Yeah." He nodded, smiling down at the baby.
Her welcoming look dropped, turning into a menacing glare, "I swear to god if you turn your back on these guys, I will personally find you and kick your ass." She threatened, "Got that?"
He smirked at her, "I see the ray of sunshine has some darkness in her." He said, making her glare go harder into his head. He rolled his eyes, "I won't screw up. You got my word."
"Okay." She said, returning to her bright smile.
"Let's eat!" Parker said, plopping down on the couch, cracking open a tub.
By his action, all of us skipped dinner, besides Calum because well he's a child, and went straight to desert with the ice cream, while watching a movie. We were all quietly munching on ice cream, until one by one all of us, besides Grayson, Elly, Dylan, and I, fell asleep.
Elly and Dylan helped, Grayson and I clean up. We took the ice cream and put it into my fridge, "Hey, Bailey?" Grayson said, "Can I talk to you?"
"S-Sure." I stuttered, turning my head to face Elly who's giving me a thumbs-up and a wink. She mouthed, 'Go get some, girl,' causing Dylan to hit her on the head. She giggled, before taking Calum into her arms and singing him to sleep.
I followed Grayson into my room, and watched as he closed the door, "What's up?" I asked, stretching.
"You know I like you right?" He asked, sitting down beside me.
"Yeah." I sighed.
"Good."
"Why?"
"Because I just don't want to make a move on you when you don't know." He answered, "Do you like me?"
I didn't answer, instead I just laid back, "I see..." He sighed sadly moving from the bed.
I shut my eyes. I felt horrible. Why didn't I just say I liked him. Why didn't I-
I felt a pair of lips go on mine. I widened my eyes, surprised that he was still here. When I didn't kiss back due to the shock, he only kissed me harder. Grayson's movement finally registered through my head, I ran my hand through his hair. I moved farther up onto my bed as he followed.
His arms were keeping him up, while I pulled him closer to me, "You can't say you don't like this." He panted, breaking the kiss.
"I never said I didn't like you." I grinned up at him.
"Good, because if you didn't like me, this would would be awkward." He said, kissing me.
I pulled back on the kiss pushing him towards the bed, "We should stop." I said, "This isn't going to end well for both of us."
"Yeah." He sighed, pulling me down to lay next to him, "But it was worth it." I nodded, before snuggling in his chest.
For a while, we didn't say anything. We were both quiet and I could tell that the both of us were thinking, "Hey, can I ask you something?" I asked.
"Shoot."
"Do you remember the thing I said when I went to your house and found you drunk?"
"Yeah. How you wanted to... Um... Fix me?"
"Yeah."
"What about it?"
"Am I?" I asked.
He didn't answer for a while, leaving us both in silence. I sighed in disappointment before turning my back on him, "You have," he answered finally, "I'm just... Getting used to being me."
*•*•*•*
(A/N)
Hey people! So next week is the start of the next school year for me. I'm going to start going back to the same schedule did two months ago which is updates every Friday. So yea. That's just gonna start next week.
Anyways, thanks for supporting this books with your comments and votes and I hope you have an amazing day!
Luves ya!
:-) <3