Waiting For Us [COMPLETED]

chapter 4 - i do smile

Talia:

Grayson lifts his head up and notices me.

I give him a small smile and watch his eyes travel from my face and down my body. They immediately halt when he reaches the now bloodied towel pressed against my hand. Shit, I forgot that was there.

Grayson's eyes widen at my injury and his mouth hangs open a little. After leaving his water bottle at the automatic filling station, where it continues to collect water, Grayson walks up to me and grabs my forearm to inspect my hand closer.

I shift my body weight and I look around his shoulder, which is way too large for any normal eighteen year old. "Your water bottle is still filli—"

"What the fuck happened to your hand?" he questions, cutting me off. Ha, cutting. Just like what the glass did to my hand.

"Oh, it's no big deal," I say. Looking back at the water bottle, I now notice it's overflowing. That's not good.

Grayson lifts his eyebrow and makes eye contact with me again, something that I have not seen very often from him.

"You're bleeding through a towel. I wouldn't say that it's no big deal," he says sternly, but softly. Huh, I have never heard that combination of tone before. Well, I've also never cut my hand open with glass, so I guess there's a first time for everything.

I move my arm a little bit and he finally releases me, leaving behind a warm and tingly spot on my forearm. This makes Grayson frown a little. That's cute.

"It was an accident during a science lab. Some broken glass attacked me. I'm fine, I swear," I assure him.

He opens his mouth again to argue, but then-

Crash!

Our heads whip around to find Grayson's water bottle smashed on the ground and spilling liquid everywhere.

"Fuck," whispers Grayson, running his fingers through his hair. He has nice hair. He rushes over and tries to pick up the water bottle, but just ends up dumping more water on the floor.

I start laughing. I have no idea what comes over me at that moment, but there is something humorous about this situation. There's me, standing with a bloodied towel and sliced hand. Then there's Grayson, Mr. I'm-Apparently-Dark-and-Mysterious-and-Don't-Smile-Ever, who is struggling on the ground to disperse the puddle of water that resulted from a tragic accident. I just can not stop laughing. Oh, my God, what if this is hysteria?

Grayson pauses from what he is doing and looks up at me from his squatting position...and smiles.

My laughing immediately stops and I blurt, "I thought you didn't smile."

Shit, I should not have said that.

"You thought I didn't smile," he repeats back to me. At this, he stops smiling and gives me a blank stare that's impossible to read.