A week and a half passed and Sloan was able to do pushups by herself, as well as stay on the skateboard while dodging the tennis balls that Grayson and Jared threw at her. Her paddling got faster and she was almost back to her normal speed. Jared still helped her with pull ups but that was mainly so she didn't fall and get hurt.
Halfway through the week, instead of using the tube, they took out the water skis which gave more of the feel of surfing. Now, Jensen was in the process of tying Sloan's paddle board to the rope attached to the back of the boat. This way, she has something that's as close to a surf board as you could get without having an actual board, and Jensen could see how well she con control the actual board.
When the rope is tied and secured to both the board and the boat, the rest of the group gets on the boat while Sloan pulls herself onto her board. She gives the thumbs up before onto the rope as Jensen slowly pulls out of the cove, picking up speed when they get into the open water. Sloan waits a moment until he stays at a constant speed before taking a deep breath.
She releases her grip on the rope and puts her arm underneath her chest and flattens the forearm out, pushing herself up. She quickly finds her footing and is able to easily manipulate the board. She makes it go the left some, bracing herself for the wake. She goes over it flawlessly before reentering it then going to the other side. She manages to stay up for fifteen minutes before she leans back too far and falls into the water.
When Sloan breaks the surface, she hears everyone on the boat cheering. She smiles before swimming to the boat, climbing up the ladder. Her feet have barely touched the ground when Jensen pulls her into a tight hug, making her laugh.
"Am I ready?" She asks.
"More than ready." He answers. "How about, when we get back from the convention, we go to the beach and see how you do?" Sloan nods excitedly.
"How am I going to duck dive?" She asks, having not thought about it until now.
"I can figure something out." He says.
"We need to get back to the house so you can get ready." Danneel tells her, coming up to her side.
Tonight is the night that Grayson and Sloan are going on their first date and Danneel was helping her get ready. Grayson wouldn't tell Sloan where they were going and neither would Danneel, who Grayson asked for advice on where to go.
It made her slightly nervous, not liking not knowing where she's going, but she trusted the two. Sloan takes a seat with Grayson at the front of the boat, enjoying the silence as they go to the house, the smile from finally feeling like she was surfing again never leaving her face.
When they reach the house, Danneel hands JJ to her husband before grabbing Sloan's wrist and practically dragging her off the boat and to her bedroom. She grabs a towel from the hallway closet and thrusts it into her arm before pushing her into the bathroom.
"Mom, I don't have any clothes!" She exclaims.
"Wrap the towel around you. We're both girls." She says with a shrug. Sloan laughs and shakes her head before closing and locking the bathroom door.
After taking a long shower to soothe her aching muscles and drying off, Sloan wraps the towel around her before walking into the bedroom, where she finds Danneel standing in front of the bed with a bunch of clothes on it. She finally grabs a simple black dress and throws it at Sloan.
Sloan grabs some underwear and a strapless bra from her dresser, making Danneel turn around while she changes. The dress had spaghetti straps and falls just above her knees, the skirt loose and flowy. Danneel hands her a pair of black heeled ankle boots that zip up in the front and Sloan quickly puts them on before Danneel gets to work on her hair.
She brushes through the tangles before drying it, then brushes it out again. She ties little knots at the top that connect together before curling it. She does her makeup in a natural look before putting a pair of gold dangling earrings in her ears then slipping a gold ring on her middle finger, the gold contrasting perfectly with the black. Danneel steps back and smiles at her handiwork.
"Perfect." She says. Sloan smiles and stands up, giving her step-mom a hug and thanking her. She opens her door and walks downstairs, finding Jensen and Jared in the living room. The two stand up when she enters and give her wide smiles.
"You look beautiful, sweetheart." Jensen says as he walks up to Sloan, giving her a hug.
"It's all Mom." She tells him.
"You look great, Sloan." Jared tells her. Sloan smiles at him just as Grayson comes down the stairs, wearing a dark blue button up and a pair of black jeans. He smiles at Sloan when he enters the room, feeling like his breath got knocked out of him at the sight of her.
"You look amazing." He says. Sloan blushes and looks down for a second before meeting his gaze again.
"You don't look too bad yourself." She says with a smile.
"Be home by 9:30." Jensen says, taking a step forward. "And Grayson, I trust you and I like you, but if I find out that you did anything or tried to pull something over on my little girl, I will not hesitate to hurt you." Sloan rolls her eyes slightly.
"Dad." She scolds lightly.
"I won't." Grayson tells him seriously. Jensen nods once and gives Sloan a hug, placing a kiss on her head.
"You two have fun and stay safe." He says.
"Bye, Dad." Sloan says as Grayson offers his arm to her. Sloan loops hers through his and they walk to the door.
"And no sex!" Jensen yells after them as they walk out, making Sloan groan in annoyance.
"Oh God." She mumbles, making Grayson laugh. "I am so sorry about him. He knows he can trust you. I don't know why he did that."
"Because he's your father and you're his little girl." He answers with a shrug. "I would do the same thing if I had a daughter."
The two walk to Grayson's truck and he opens Sloan's door for her. She thanks him and climbs in, buckling up as he closes the door and goes to the driver's side. They pull out of the driveway and Sloan's mind is swimming with ideas of where they could be going.
"Gray, where are we going?" She asks as he enters the city of Austin. Grayson just laughs and shakes his head, placing his hand on her leg.
"You'll see soon enough." He says and Sloan huffs in annoyance. "Relax, babe. It's a surprise."
"Fine." She says, glaring at him playfully. Sloan reaches down and touches his hand, playing with his fingers absentmindedly as she watches the scenery fly by.
After about fifteen more minutes, the two pull up outside of Sloan's favorite Italian restaurant. It was a little on the nicer side but not super fancy. But definitely wasn't somewhere you would want to wear jeans and flannel to.
"Babe, this place it kind of expensive." Sloan says as she remembers that he's paying for dinner.
"Don't worry about it." He tells her, pecking her lips before getting out of the car, going to her side and helping her out. He doesn't let go Sloan's hand when she's out, he just laces his fingers with hers as the two walk into the restaurant.
The host shows the two to a table in the back away from the other customers. They thank him before sitting down. Sloan sits with her back to the wall and Grayson sits in the seat across from her, knowing she has to be able to see the whole room.
"How did you manage this?" She asks. "It's impossible to get reservations here."
"Not when your brother's famous and you're somewhat famous." He says with a smirk and Sloan rolls her eyes playfully. She knows Grayson handle ever trades on the fact that his older brother's a celebrity and he's slowly becoming one. He only does it when it's something he thinks is important enough. And, apparently, he thinks tonight is important enough for it, which makes butterflies float about in Sloan's stomach.
The waiter returns and asks for their drink order, both teens getting sweet tea. When he returns with the drinks, the two let him know that they're ready to order.
"I would like the lasagna with the house salad." Sloan says. He writes it down and turns to Grayson.
"I think I'll have the same thing." He says. The waiter nods and they hand him their menus. Sloan does a quick sweep of the room before looking back to Grayson.
"When are we going to make this public?" She asks, wanting to get the discussion out of the way. Grayson sighs.
"I don't know." He says honestly. "Whenever you want to is fine with me."
"What about at the convention?" She suggests. "If someone asks a question about our relationship, which I'm sure at least one person will, we tell them." Grayson nods.
"That sounds like a plan." He says.
"Do you think I should get a prosthetic?" Sloan asks randomly when they're almost done eating. Grayson looks up at her in surprise and confusion.
"What?" He asks.
"Should I get a prosthetic?" She repeats. Grayson sighs and puts his fork down.
"Where's this coming from?" He asks. "You've never mentioned it before."
"I know. I've been thinking about it a lot lately." She tells him. "I mean, it's not like I'll be able to do anything with it like I can with the one I wear for the movie, but at least-" Sloan stops herself from saying her next words.
"At least what?" He presses, but one look into his eyes tells Sloan that he already knows what she's going to say, both of them briefly thinking back to the conversation they had months ago in Vancouver.
"At least then I'll look a little bit normal." She says quietly, looking down at her plate. Grayson places his hand over hers but she doesn't look up.
"Sloan, look at me." He says gently. Sloan slowly lifts her eyes to meet his. "Normal is so overrated. You are so much better than normal."
"But I want to feel normal. I want to feel-"
"Don't say it." Grayson pleads, shaking his head.
"I want to feel beautiful." Sloan says anyway, making Grayson's heart shatter in his chest. Why can't she see herself the way he sees her? "I want to feel like I did before."
"Sloan, you are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. Always have been and always will be." He says. "And I don't want to date a normal girl. I want to date you. A girl who is so much more that an pretty face. You're my best friend. We've been through so much together and we've both grown together. I have watched you grow into the person you are today. I have gotten to admire the way you overcome impossible challenges and keep your head up. I don't want to date the old you. I want to date the you that's sitting in front of me." Sloan smiles widely at him. "That being said, if you want to get a prosthetic, get one. But just know that I think you're even more beautiful with one arm than you ever were with two."
"How do you always know just what to say?" She asks him.
"It's a gift." He says, feigning arrogance. Sloan rolls her eyes playfully just as the waiter arrives with the check. Grayson doesn't let her look at it, knowing she'll want to pay him back for her half. He just gives the waiter Jared's card and waits for the man to return with it.
"So what are we going to do now?" Sloan asks once they're in the truck, seeing that they still had an hour left to get home.
"We could go look at the stars for a while." He suggests. Sloan nods and Grayson starts driving to an empty field about fifteen minutes away from the lake house. He pulls over and shuts off the car and the two get out, climbing into the bed of the truck. Grayson lays on his back and pulls Sloan into his side as she rests her head on his chest.
They watch the stars for a while, pointing out some of the constellations they could find and occasionally pointing out a shooting star. Grayson begins playing with the ends of Sloan's hair and she looks up at him to see him already looking at her, making her blush.
"What?" She asks, laughing lightly.
"Nothing." He says, shaking his head with a smile. "I could just lay here like this forever." Sloan smiles and places a quick kiss to his lips. Well, it was meant to be a quick kiss.
Grayson puts his left hand on the side of Sloan's face as he deepens the kiss, placing his other on her waist and slowly slides it up her side, tangling his fingers in the ends of her hair. Sloan runs her fingers over his chest and runs them through his hair before pulling away slightly to catch her breath. Grayson sits up and she follows before the two continue the kiss. When Grayson's hand starts sliding up her leg, Sloan pulls back.
"We can't." She tells him breathlessly.
"I know." He replies, resting his forehead on hers as he cups her cheek, gently rubbing his thumb over her cheekbone. "I know."
They take a moment to catch their breath and calm down before deciding to back to the house. They climb in the car and drive back to the house silently, both of them thinking about what almost happened in the field. When they reach the house, Sloan turns to Grayson with a smile.
"Thank you for this." She says. "I had an amazing time."
"Me too." He says, his smile matching hers.
Grayson gets out of the truck and runs to Sloan's side before she can open the door, opening it for her and helping her out. Once she's on the ground, Grayson laces his fingers with Sloan's, bringing his right hand up and tracing her cheekbone with his knuckles before giving her a soft kiss before the two walk hand in hand into the house, finding it empty.
The two walk into the living room to find it empty. Sloan sees the light on he dock was on and the adults were swimming. The two go up to their rooms to get their bathing suits on. Sloan pulls on her striped bikini and takes off of her makeup and jewelry before walking out of her room, finding Grayson waiting for her in the hall.
"Ready?" He asks. Sloan nods and the two walk downstairs and out the backdoor.
"Race ya." Sloan says before taking off down the porch steps, Bandit hot on her heels.
Sloan sprints through the yard and looks over her shoulder to see Grayson gaining on her, a smirk on his face. She lets out a squeal as she pumps her legs as fast as she can, racing down the dock. She sees the adults moving to get out of the way as they see her run down the wooden structure. Sloan reaches the end of the dock and dives just as Grayson reaches out for her, his fingertips grazing her foot as she dives into the dark abyss.
Sloan comes back up and smiles at her boyfriend. "I win." She says. Grayson shakes his head and jumps in the water. Suddenly, a hand wraps around Sloan's ankles and pulls her under the water, making a surprised yelp fall from her lips. She comes back up and glares at Grayson playfully, splashing him before swimming over to her dad.
"Where's the convention this weekend?" She asks.
"California." He answers.
"So, instead of waiting until we get back to go surfing, can we just take our boards and do it there?" She asks hopefully. "We could all have a beach day and just hang out." Jensen shrugs before nodding.
"Then we'll need to go by the house and grab the boards before we leave." He says, receiving a nod in response. "And I was sent an email of the schedule this morning. They have you scheduled to do a panel on Saturday morning."
"By myself?" Jensen nods. "Okay."
"By the way, Misha's not gonna be there." Jared informs her next. "His kids are sick and now he is too."
"Are they gonna find a replacement for him?"
"They're trying to." Jared says. Sloan nods and looks around the dark lake, missing the smirk Jared and her father share. The group swims until almost midnight when they all get tired. When Sloan pulls herself onto the dock, she realizes she forgot to get a towel.
"When someone dries off, can you go grab me a towel from the house?" She asks no one in particular. Jensen finishes with his and wraps it around her shoulders. "Never mind." Sloan dries off quickly before heading to the house and to her room, where she changes into her pajamas, which consists of a cropped AC/DC shirt and sweatpants, before crawling into her bed and falling asleep.