{ c h a p t e r t h i r t e e n }
lauren's pov ;
Lauren awoke to soft sheets and sprawled duvets as morning light trickled through the hotel windows. Grayson's arm was wrapped around her waist, her head resting on his bare chest. She smiled to herself as she thought about the previous night and all that had happened, even after the amusement park. And with those thoughts playing in her head, she dosed off into a deeper sleep.
She woke up a little while later to find Grayson gone. Beside her was an empty bed, his pillows placed perfectly in a pile and the sheets on his side looked seemingly untouched. Lauren knitted her eyebrows together, wondering where he might've gone. Did he regret last night?
Lauren's worries were casted away when she saw a bouquet of sunflowers on the desk next to the bed. Next to it, was a plate filled with pancakes and fruit, and a note scribbled in Grayson's handwriting.
Gone to get you a little surprise before our date. Hope you like the flowers, I thought it'd remind you of home. Be back soon, I love you.
- G
Lauren closed the letter gently with a smile, tucking it into a small pocket of her backpack. She picked up a pancake on the plate. It was still warm, meaning that he couldn't have left long ago.
Grayson hadn't exactly asked her out before the letter, but Lauren knew how nervous he would've been. Besides, the letter was cute.
She looked out onto the busy street below. Small shops were littered with hundreds of heads, weaving in and out of the dense crowds. Lauren could've sworn she spotted Grayson's quiffed up brown hair entering a shop that sold dresses.
She laughed to herself, her cheeks coloring slightly. He was so cheesy; buying her a dress before their first date. She shook her head with a smile. She loved him so much.
After shamelessly devouring the whole plate of pancakes and fruit, Lauren decided she might as well relax in bed again. They had slept at an ungodly hour of the morning after all, and Lauren's body was tired from the previous night.
She spent an hour in bed without being able to get any sleep. She blamed it on the jitters she felt in her stomach about the date that night. She instead resorted to taking a bath, water could always make her feel at ease.
She wondered where Grayson would take her. He didn't seem like the type of guy to take her to a fancy restaurant; he knew that wasn't exactly her scene. It must be quite fancy for him to buy her a dress for the occasion but Lauren ignored that. Where he took her didn't matter. As long as they were together.
Lauren glanced at the clock in the wall. Grayson had been gone for nearly two hours. How long could he have taken to buy a single dress? Why was he taking so long?
The pancakes had gone cold, the wet grapes slowly wilting into a brown color. She bit her lip and tried to stop thinking negatively.
He was okay. He was okay. He was okay.
Just relax.
The sentences she repeated in her head were empty. She didn't believe them, as much as she tried. She would have to go see for herself. She threw on a pair of jeans and one of Grayson's sweaters and hurried down onto the busy streets. Her insides twisted with fear as her mind played images of something horrible happening to him; each scene more terrible than the next.
Lauren could feel beads of sweat the size of golf balls drench her skin. Ringing screams vibrated in her ears. Grayson's screams. She looked around everywhere, her heart beating furiously out of her chest. He was nowhere to be seen. Her mind was making it up.
She told herself to stop listening to the voice inside her head. She was simply being paranoid. There was nothing to worry about. Grayson was fine, he probably just hadn't found the right dress yet. Knowing him, he wanted everything to be perfect for their date.
But the tugging feeling in her gut told her otherwise. She pushed past crowd of people, entering the dress shop that he had entered and scrambling to find the woman at the counter.
"Hi." She said, trying her best to keep her voice from shaking. "I was wondering if you could tell me where a boy went? He was in this shop, I think. Brown hair, brown eyes, about this tall," She raised her hand a little higher than her head to indicate his height.
The woman shook her head. "Maybe a picture?" She asked. "We have many customers who fit that description."
Lauren fished out her phone from the pocket of Grayson's hoodie and showed the woman her lock screen of a selfie of her and Grayson by the waterfall.
The woman hummed in thought, before slowly nodding. "We aren't supposed to give out customer information but you seem to know him." She said with a sigh. "If I remember correctly, he went out of the door and turned left. That was about an hour ago."
Lauren thanked the woman and hurried out of the shop. Her mind was on overdrive.
A lot could change in an hour.
Her short breaths and her frantically beating heart suddenly stopped when she heard a familiar ringing of laughter.
She could recognize that loud laugh anywhere.
Her mind was put at ease when she saw Grayson's tall figure in amongst the crowds of the street. She broke out into a relieved smile
His back was facing her, but she could clearly make out it was him. It wasn't her mind playing tricks on her. This was Grayson.
The only thing that puzzled her was that he was talking with two guys. Lauren could see them very clearly but she couldn't recognize who they were. They didn't look like family, more like old high school friends. One had light brown hair and an infectious smile, and the other had bright blue eyes and short, dirty blonde hair. They were both laughing at something Grayson had said.
Lauren was confused. She thought Grayson said he had no friends in school and that no one liked him. She shrugged. Surely he must've had a few friends that he didn't mention.
The spring in her step from the morning returned as she sprinted her way towards him. As she reached him, she wrapped her arms around him and left a kiss on his shoulder. She had never been more relieved to see him in her life.
"Hey, you left me in the hotel room," She said breathlessly. "If I didn't know any better, I'd have thought you were gonna ditch me before our date." She teased with a laugh.
"I think you've got the wrong guy, princess, But if you want a date I'm more than happy to comply."
Her smile fell.
That wasn't Grayson.
The boy turned around. He was too handsome for his own good, with messy jet black hair and a brilliant forest green eyes. His lips were set in a lopsided smirk as he folded his arms and leaned against the doorframe of a shop.
Lauren drew in a sharp breath.
It was Ethan.
* * *
I FEEL SO EVIL AND I LOVE IT
did you think this entire book was just gonna be fluff and cuteness lmao i had to be an evil ass bitch at one point
dedicated to cudisdolan bc she's such a sweetheart <3
ok bye sorry for being a bitch with the ethan thing but all will be explained soon :))