Grayson and I kept walking for hours and hours on end. My legs felt like they were going to give up at any moment but I had to keep going and every so often hoist Grayson around my shoulder as he was limping on one leg. It was already around 6pm and the sun was starting to set.
Just when I thought we were most likely sleeping hungry tonight Grayson started running.
"Grayson! What are you doing?" I ran after him and a couple 100 meters later he came to a quick stop.
We were at the edge of the woods and overlooking a farm and fields of corn, wheat and other plants. There was a small house and a big barn too.
I hid the gun in our backpack so it wouldn't scare whoever lived there.
"Do you think they'll let us sleep there?" I asked Grayson and he just shrugged and made his way down the hill towards the small house beside a barn.
We got to the front door and I tried fixing my self up a bit to look more presentable.
Grayson knocked on the door and an old lady opened the door with a smile. Another old man that I assumed was her husband also came to the door .
"Hello, we were lost in the woods and wondering if you'd be so nice as to let us sleep here for the night. We're fine with the barn even." I said with a smile on my face. The last thing I wanted was to scare them into changing their mind.
"Of course darlings! My name is Julia and this is my husband Carl." Julia said and opened the door for us to come in.
Grayson and I mouthed her a thank you and sat down on the couch beside each other. The house was small and cozy and had a lot of old vintage furniture. A dog came running towards us, wagging its tail.
"I'm gonna make an amazing dinner for you people. We barely get guests anyways." She said and went to the kitchen.
Carl stayed quiet and studied us sitting across from him.
"What's y'all's names?" He asked breaking the silence.
"I'm Grayson and this is umm... my friend Sofia."
"Okay okay. How did y'all get stuck in the middle of no where? You don't look like y'all are from around here." He said suspiciously.
"Well umm." I nudged Grayson with my elbow to help me out.
"Yeah... our car broke down while we were driving to Oregon." Grayson said awkwardly.
"Ahh okay." He said scratching his beard.
"Okay dear! Dinners almost ready. Why don't you go clean off and I'll show our guests to the bathroom to wash up a bit." Julia said coming to the lounge area while taking her oven mits off.
She took us outside to the back where there was a sink and a small cubicle with a toilet in it.
"I'm sorry we don't have a shower but I can get you a bucket of water and some soap if you need to shower." Julia said.
"It's okay ma'am. This is more then enough." I said assuring her.
Grayson and I took turns washing up and then went back inside. The dining table had a lot of food on it and my stomach growled just smelling it. There was a roast duck, casserole, a garden salad and some soup.
"I tried to make with what we had." Julia said.
"This is amazing! Thank you!" I said and we all sat down.
"So what is the casserole made of? It's really good." Grayson asked. While digging in.
"The dog." Carl said with a serious expression on his face. Grayson almost choked on the casserole and spit it out into the napkin.
"Carl! Excuse him, my husband likes to joke around." Julia said laughing nervously.
Grayson and I just laughed awkwardly and switched to eating the duck. Food had never tasted so good especially after not eating any for a few days other than the nasty stale bread, cheese and lettuce the bad guys had given me.
Grayson and I ate like we had never seen food before not caring about manners.
After we were done. Grayson used the bathroom and Carl read a book while Julia and cleaned the table and washed the dishes.
"So how long have you and Grayson been together?" Julia asked passing me the wet dish to dry.
"Oh um were not together."
"Excuse me for asking. I'm just curios, the way he looks at you... he's definitely in love." She said.
I blushed, "we were together for 6 months but then... my mother passed away and things happened and it didn't work out."
"Hey listen to me. As a mother to you I would tell you to give the poor boy a second chance." She said touching my hand.
"Listen to his side and consider it. You can't spend your whole life scared and in doubt." She said. I nodded and considered her advice.
"Come on I'll give you a flannel to cover up. It gets chilly at night on the countryside. She gave me a big red and blue flannel to put on over my tank top.
Later Grayson and I were sitting near the fire together while Julia wrapped Grayson's wound tightly.
"I think it's time for bed." Carl said yawning.
"We have some pillows but no extra rooms." Julia said.
"It's alright. We don't mind sleeping in the barn." I said and she nodded.
Carl got us some pillows and blankets and took us out to the barn. There were horses, pigs, chickens and goats there but all the animals were asleep. We put a blanket down towards the door under the stary sky.
Grayson and I lay down beside each other and put the other blanket over our legs.
"Hey what time is it?" I asked him.
He looked at his watch and responded,
"9pm." He said.
"That's pretty early to go to bed... I heard that farmers wake up with the sun and go to bed with the sun but I didn't think it meant literally."
Grayson chuckled. We stayed quiet for a while watching the night sky.
"Sofia I've been really wanting to say this but I can't find the right time... I'm sorry. I'm really really sorry for what I did to your and Corey's baby back in March. I didn't mean it at all. It's just sometimes... this demon comes inside of me and I cant think straight and I do bad stuff. But I hope you can forgive me."
"I... I forgive you Grayson. The doctor had told me that the baby couldn't survive anyways or even if it had survived it would have been disabled or underdeveloped from all the stress I was carrying form my moms death."
"I hope Corey can forgive me."
"He never talked about it to me. Our relationship wasn't working out and he broke up with me a little while ago." I said holding back tears.
Grayson touched my hand with his fingers and I held his hand tightly.
"Sofia It's not my place to tell you but... Corey has bipolar disorder. He was diagnosed after his fathers death which made him forget stuff. He used to have loads of panic attacks and other problems and it was hard to deal with but Ethan and I stuck with him through it. He forgets bits of stuff which was a side affect of his fathers death."
That explains a lot.
"A few days ago I was talking to Madison and she told me he was taking therapy and having surgery soon." Grayson told me.
I nodded and sniffed back tears a bit.
"Hey. What is it." Grayson shifted his eyes to me and wrapped his arm around me.
"I just missed you a lot. It was hard dealing with losing my mother without you and when I saw what mess you had made of yourself, I was going to break. I know you have secrets and reasons Grayson but I need to know." I said.
"I'll tell you when I'm ready but I promise you I will always cherish you forever and never let anything bad ever happen to you. Ever." He said wrapping his arms around me.
I snuggled in his chest breathing in the familiar scent that always brought peace to my heart and fell asleep there.