Everett's POV
What was supposed to be all of us alternating to drive turned into Grier and I driving since everyone else just happened to fall asleep. I don't think either of us cared, because we could play whatever music we liked and just talk to each other.
Five days at the beach with my best friends, what more could I ask for?
"Do you wanna share a room?" Grier asked me as she drove
"Are you asking that reluctantly or you want to?" I questioned her
Grier took a quick glance at me, "Why would you think that?"
She sounded somewhat annoyed.
"I'm just asking because I got that reluctant vibe on Prom-night when we slept in the same bed." I explained
"On prom night that was our first time in a bed together, of course, I was nervous and scared. Are you forgetting what happened at my house when we were supposed to be watching a movie?" She asked me
Grier had a great point.
"I just wanted to make sure, that's all. But I will share a room with you." I agreed
"Are we going to share a hotel room at Vidcon?" She asked me
Two days after we came home from our senior trip, we were hopping on a plane to California for Vidcon, then after Vidcon was over we were going back home for a day to make our move to California.
"Sounds like you don't wanna be away from me." I teased
Grier smirked, "That's pretty accurate while you're joking."
"Oh, I know." I smirked back
The first days of vacation were amazing. We usually went to the beach, ate, partied, slept all day, and then the cycle repeated. It was crazy how fast the trip was going by and now it was our last day.
I could feel Grier's eyes on me as I woke up.
"Morning, stranger." She smiled
We still hadn't had sex, because so many things popped up.
She fell asleep downstairs one night, Jude got mad at Aria one night and slept on the floor of our bedroom, and last night we both fell asleep straight away.
"Morning." I said back all groggy
"We should probably get changed."She suggested
"It's already 11:30." Grier pointed out
I watched as she sat up. My God why is she so pretty?
"You really made me mad last night." Grier started
I frowned, "What, why?"
"You fell asleep with your shirt on." She said climbing out of bed
I scoffed as I sat up, "You could have taken it off."
"I'll remember that, I'm going to make sure everyone else is up and dressed," Grier said as she got out of the bed
I got out of the bed, made it, and grabbed a pair of swimming trunks out of my suitcase. I put them on, brushed my teeth, and attempted to make my hair look nicer.
Grier walked into the bathroom now in a red bikini.
"Everyone is up." She informed me
"What a surprise." I joked as she began to brush her teeth
Damn was this potentially my life in ten years?
I texted my parents to keep them updated while I stayed in the bathroom with Gray.
We met up with everyone downstairs, walked to the beach, and then claimed our spot.
It was weird having people coming up to me and asking for pictures or seeing the paparazzi thinking they were sneaky.
"They're so dating."Grier pointed out Chris and Paisley
They were definitely looking like a couple. Paisley was on his back laughing and smiling.
Grier sat down next to me and I put my arm around her.
She put her hand on my cheek and kissed my other cheek.
"Who's acting like a couple now?" I joked
"It's public knowledge that we're dating." She justified
I kissed her cheek.
I prayed every night that no matter what obstacle life threw our way that we would ultimately end up together. I don't think I could ever find someone better than Grier. I know we are young, but gosh, I could just look her in the eye and see everything.
"Whatcha thinkin' about?" Grier asked me
"Nothin', but there is a paparazzi." I pointed out
Grier groaned, "Disappointed, but not surprised."
Like clockwork, a few moments later we saw that CelebGossip tagged us in a new post.
"So far the comments are just people freaking over finally seeing a few your tattoos or people wondering what you're drinking." Grier informed me
"Good ole lemonade." I answering with a grin
We stayed at the beach for an hour or two before we headed back to the house for lunch. We ended up just throwing some hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill.
We went into town for souvenirs for our families and for ourselves. We also just wanted to have some fun, so we went to this mini amusement park.
Grier made us take photobooth pictures that I would cherish forever. I shoved half of it in the back of my phone case so that she would always be with me and she did the same.
She also made us buy cringy t-shirts that said 'She's mine' and 'He's mine' because they were two for ten dollars. Grier Johnson always got sucked into bargain deals, but it was one of the things I loved about her.
She always knew when a sale was going on, once we bought a snowcone maker because it was only eight dollars, it made for a good YouTube video while it worked for thirty minutes.
We all headed back to the rental house to get ready for dinner.
"Can you tie this?" Grier asked walking out of the bathroom
She was wearing a mustard yellow mini dress that tied in the back.
I knew this because she picked out when I went shopping with her, but really it was just me tagging along while she texted everything to Holland because I didn't give strong enough opinions.
"Also, can I borrow your jean jacket just in case?" She asked as I tied the dress
"Yes, love, but I like it better without the jacket." I said as I wrapped my arms around her
Grier grinned, "I was saying, just in case it's cold in the restaurant."
"I'll keep you warm." I spoke
"Remember that." She ended as I moved away
"What did you call this dress when I first tried it on?" She asked with a smirk
I rolled my eyes with a smile, "All I said was that you looked like a cute mustard bottle."
She let out the smallest, but cutest laugh.
"Okay then what did Holland say?" I asked curiously
"Oh, you don't wanna know." Grier spoke as she put on her white vans
"Tell me." I begged
Grier looked at me, "She said it made my ass look good and it made my legs look long."
"I could have said that!" I exclaimed
She shook her head, "Holly also said it was a lowkey freakum dress."
Oh the Johnson sisters.
If I had children who were was close as Grier and Holland and Jack and Finn, then I did something right.
"How so?" I questioned her as I put on my shoes
"She said that you would wanna untie the back, because it's not hard to tell that I'm not wearing a bra." Gray answered with a smirk before she walked out of our room
That girl was something else.
Holland also wasn't wrong.
It was probably a good thing that we ended up outside, but this whole trip made me realize that I probably was never gonna have a normal restaurant experience again.
There wasn't a day where I could just eat without someone asking for a picture or worse someone recording Grier and I eating thinking we couldn't tell - but we knew.
There were so many unattractive pictures of us eating or off guard everywhere.
At the end of the day, I was grateful for it all because this is the life I dreamed about.
At this restaurant, there was live music that we all danced to along with the bunch of other of strangers.
Jude may have also snuck in a flask, but Grier and I both didn't drink.
One thing that I learned about her is that she tried to avoid drinking after her experiences with her old friend group and now that we were in the public eye.
Let me tell you, in a car with four drunk people was an experience. They were all singing and stumbling over their words while trying to tell jokes.
"We can leave them downstairs." Grier decided when we got back to the house
"Great idea, I don't wanna pick up any vomit or anything." I added
Nah, you just wanna untie that dress.
Grier and I locked ourselves in our bedroom while the rest of the crew was downstairs, well just Chris and Paisley. I didn't even wanna know what Aria and Jude were doing in the pool
She jumped onto me as I laid down on the bed.
"Hey." She smiled
I smiled back at her with a laugh, "Hey, baby."
Grier started to kiss me and we just made out while we heard drunk Chris downstairs singing Britney Spears.
"Wait." Grier said grabbing the remote to the stereo
I continued to kiss her neck as The Weeknd came on
"Much better." I grinned
"Do you want to?" She asked me
I looked her in the eye, "Do you?"
"Yes." Grier answered as she went back to kissing me
Who woulda thought this at the beginning of senior year? Everett Griffin and Grier Johnson - together, like really together.
"Are you sure?" I asked her as I untied her dress
She nodded, "I've been thinking about this a lot. More than you know. I want to, Evie."
I grabbed the condom that I stashed in the nightstand after the night that we got so close to having sex before Jude came in.
Why did I have to be a dumbass and not wait for someone who was genuinely good for me? That was something I would never forgive myself for. I could tell by the way that she looked at me that she really and truly loved me and I loved her.
One thing led to the next and before I knew it, I was staring at a naked Grier.
"You're so beautiful." I murmured
"We can stop anytime, don't forget that." I added
She nodded, "I know."
She never asked to stop.
I kept checking on her from start to finish well until she started kissing me so that I would shut the hell up.
When we were together it felt like the world stopped and the only thing that existed was us.
It didn't matter that I lost my virginity to someone with 'experience' because the sex I had with Grier Johnson was better than anything - because I love her.
We just laid under the covers after, her head was on my chest and my arms were around her.
"I love you." Grier said
"I love you, Gray." I said back
I began to stroke her hair, "You don't regret anything, right?"
"I don't, do you?" She answered
"No, it was amazing." I replied
Grier put her arm over me, "You know, I thought I was the one who needed constant reassurance, but you, oh it's you."
She wasn't wrong.
"I didn't wanna hurt you or go too fast or too slow, you know. Oh fuck, I didn't mean for that to rhyme." I explained
She smiled, oh that damn smile.
"I know and I appreciate that. Just less talking next time, unless you're talking dirty." She added
"Oh, goodnight, Gray." I ended, kissing her forehead
"Night, Evie." She murmured
-
Grier's POV
I sat on the floor of Holland's bedroom because she was helped me pack for Vidcon and now I was helping her pack. I really wanted her to go with me, but she had nationals for dance.
"How was Florida?" Holland asked me as she made a list of everything she needed
I started grinning from ear to ear, "Really well."
"Did you guys, you know, do it?" Holland wondered with her voice trailing off
I scoffed, "Why would you think that?"
"Seriously Gray? You dragged me to your waxing appointment, plus the birth control, and you have been dating for a while now." She pointed out
I nodded, "We did."
Holland squealed.
"Shut up." I hushed her
"Dude, how was it?" She asked me all excited
I had to admit. It was kind of awkward to talk about this stuff to your fifteen-year-old sister because I didn't want to set a bad example for her.
"It was surprisingly good, you know because some people make their first time sound horrible but I guess when you do it with someone you love it's not. It wasn't awkward or anything, it was nice." I answered lowly
"But, don't have sex with a guy unless you really love him." I added
Holland looked me in the eye, "How do you know if you really love him?"
"When they accept you for who you are, respect you and your boundaries, when you can feel them making you a better person. You can tell by how they make you feel, they can make a bad day good, and when you just wanna be around them all the time. Plus there's this feeling like when you look into their eyes you can see everything. It's hard to understand right now because you're young, but don't rush into anything at your age." I answered
"Oh yeah, definitely not." Holland agreed
"You know, when I first met Ev, I was a little scared, because you haven't had the best taste in guys in the past. I'm really happy you choose him. I mean, Gray, he's literally a perfect match. What boyfriend takes Jack and Finn to the trampoline park when you're not even with him. Plus, he took me to dance when no one else could. He showed me what to look for and no matter what happens with you guys, in the end, I'm always gonna be thankful for him." Holland vented
My heart. My fucking heart.
I never heard Holland talk like this.
I never realized the impact that he had on my family, but it was a pretty big one.
He would golf with my Dad, play tennis with my Mom, take Holland to dance or would invite her to come along with us, he would hang out with Jack and Finn to be the big brother they never had.
I would always be thankful for that.
My God, Everett Griffin was my perfect match.
I didn't realize before then, but my heart knew.
I was thankful for every bad thing that led me to him.