spaces between us (grayson Dolan)

ch. 24 all smiles for now

Grayson (POV)
"Hey Gray wake up, we have to go to mass." I heard Ethan say while barging into my room. I moaned while covering the pillow over my head, pretending like I didn't hear him. "Dude come on. We're leaving in 15 minutes." Ethan said pulling the sheets off me. I groaned even more.
"Tessa's family's coming." I heard him say with a smirk. With the mention of her name, I immediately hopped out of bed, so I had plenty of time to get ready and look my best. I quickly raced to my bathroom and shaved and brushed my teeth almost at the same time.
(Remember, that in this book Grayson and Ethan are like 17 so, yes they do shave😊)
I put some cologne on and combed through my messy bed head hair. When I finally got it the way I wanted it to look, I threw on some khaki pants, a blue long sleeve, and Sperrys.
"Do I look good?" I asked Ethan who was of course, already ready. He looked up from his phone while laying on my bed.

"Ya sure. Let's go." He replied walking out my door.

Tessa's (POV)

Today, my family and I were going to church with the Dolans. I woke up early and decided I wanted to look my best if Grayson was gonna be there. After I had showered, Hadley came galloping into my room, running in circles with a big smile on her face.
"Well your happy this morning. Wait... is it someone's birthday today?" I asked with a smile, already knowing the answer.
"UH HUH! It's my birthday. It's my birthday. It's my birthday." she chanted in a sing-song voice. I laughed at her silliness and she exited my room to go announce it to the rest of the family.
I made my way to my closet and picked out a maroon romper with a cute sweater because it was still cold as heck. Putting on my outfit, I went back in my bathroom to finish getting ready.

My whole family piled into the car to head over to mass. We got there and parked the car. We saw the Dolans outside and met up with them. Cameron and I started talking, while Grayson, Ethan, and Nick were engulfed in their own conversation. Everyone sat down just as mass began.

After mass, we all decided to go back to the Dolans house. As long as we were back by 3:00, everything would be fine. Because at 3:00, Hadley was having a birthday party at Build-A-Bear Workshop. That reminds me, I have to ask Grayson something.

"Who's hungry?" Mrs. Dolan asked as she brought out some lunch. Everyone dug into the food. After eating, the kids all went down into the basement. Grayson and I were playing foosball, when I thought it would be a good time to ask him.

"Hey Grayson, can I ask you something?" I asked.
"Of course, what's up?" He said looking up from the table.
"It's Hadley's birthday today and we're throwing her a party at Build-A-Bear. I was wondering if you would want to come and help me?" I said a bit shy.
"Really? That sounds like so much fun! Of course I will help!" He said with excitement.
"Ok thanks so much! The party is at 3:00 in the mall, so we can drive up there together." I replied back
"Yeah ok." he gave me a smirk just before he scored on me.

It was 2:45 and Grayson and I had just gotten to the mall. My parents already kinda reserved the whole store, so we just started putting up decorations. Balloons were everywhere and there was a banner that read: HAPPY 6th BIRTHDAY, HADLEY!in hot pink letters. Everything was set and we were just waiting for the kids to arrive. Once they were all here, the whole place turned into utter chaos. Little kids shouting and running all over the place. It was kinda scary to be honest. I wondered how Hadley had met so many new friends, but then again making friends was a piece of cake when you were six.
I was helping some of them pick out clothes for their stuffed animals. I looked around the store and caught sight of Grayson. He was at the "wash your pet" station. The stool had broken and the kids were too short to reach it, so Grayson would pick each kid up and hold them while they "washed" their animal. Then he would gently set them down and pick up the next one, his back muscles flexing each time. I smiled to myself. He was being so cute with the kids. All the little boys were trying to climb on him since he was practically a mountain compared to them. When all the little kids had gotten their stuffed animals, we ate cake, sang happy birthday, and opened presents.

When the kids had gone home, I made my way over to grayson. We were both worn out.
"Wow! That was tiring." as I rubbed my aching limbs.
"Yeah it was." Grayson said as he did the same, sighing.

"I didn't know you were so good with kids. Thanks for helping out." I smiled as I recalled the cute memory.
"Haha, yeah I guess I am." he laughed.
He pulled me into a hug. This had been really fun!