Forever And Ever

34. Grayson

Emery's been gone for almost three hours and I'm absolutely fucking miserable.

I miss the shit out of her.

Devyn left a little while ago and hasn't come back yet. I have no idea where he could've gone.

My phone rings and I fish it out of my pocket. It's Emery.

I quickly answer it and put it to my ear.

"Gray?" I hear her voice, it's high and breathless.

"Emmy? What's wrong?" I ask.

"I—I need you to come get me. Please," her voice is shaking.

"Where are you?" I quickly grab my keys and jog to my car.

"Stella's house. I'll send you my location," she whispers.

I get her location and drive as fast as I can. It only takes about six minutes, but it feels like forever.

I park in front of the house and run inside. I yank the door open and run through the house, trying to find Emery.

One door has a group of drunk guys standing outside of it, banging on the door.

"Jack, hurry up," I hear one of them slur.

Oh fuck no. Fucking shit no. Please, no.

I run to the door and grab at the guys, shoving them aside. I reach for the handle but it's locked.

"Open the fucking door," I growl, trying to get the lock open.

I hear someone trying to open the lock and then a loud crashing sound. The lock turns and I fling the door open.

A drunk Jack is standing inside with a crying Emery. Her dress is on the floor and she's trying to get Jack to let go of her.

I grab Jack and slam him against the door. He tries to fight back, but he's too drunk to do much. I keep him pinned against the door and punch him repeatedly. I hear Emery's broken sobs behind me as she tries to get her dress back on.

Jack's body goes limp and I let him slide down the door. I turn around and Emery wraps her arms around me.

"Come on, baby. Let's get you home," I murmur, lifting her into my arms.

She nods and wraps her legs around my waist and buries her face in my neck.

I set her down in the passenger seat of my car and walk around to get in.

I start the car and slip my hand into hers. Her whole body is shaking.

"Fuck, baby, I'm so sorry. I should've been here," I whisper.

"No—no, you couldn't have been here. Aria wouldn't have let you," she swallows.

"I don't give a shit what Aria says. I don't want you to keep being forced into things like that," I kiss her hand.

"Thank you," tears form in her eyes again and she quickly looks down. "For coming."

"Look at me, pretty girl," I say, grabbing her chin softly and tilting her face up. "You don't ever need to thank me for something like that. You shouldn't ever have to go through that in the first place. You don't need to thank me."

She nods as the tears fall.

I keep her hand interlocked with mine as I drive back to her house.

When we pull up, Devyn's car is in the driveway. Emery takes a deep breath and wipes her eyes. I get out and walk around to open her door. I bend into the car and scoop her up into my arms. She leans into me and wraps her arms around my neck.

I carry her to the front door and open it slowly.

"Why the hell was the front door open when I got here?" Devyn demands but stops when he sees Emery.

"What happened?" He keeps his eyes on Emery.

I try to set Emery down so she can talk to him, but she clings to me. "No, please," she whispers.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. Come here," I hoist her up higher and she breathes a sigh of relief.

Devyn keeps looking at Emery. He looks hurt, scared, confused, worried, and pissed off.

"What happened?" He asks again.

"I went to a party with Aria," she murmurs like that's enough of an explanation.

Devyn looks up at me confused.

Jack, I mouth. Devyn's lips curl into a snarl and he looks like he's going to kill him.

Not without me you're not.

I walk to Emery's room and set her down gently on the bed. She grabs my arm as I turn to walk away.

"No—no. Please. Please, don't go," she quickly tries to get up and follow me.

"No, no, baby, it's okay," I whisper, kissing the top of her head. "Hey, it's okay. I'm not going anywhere. I was just going to grab you some more comfortable clothes to change into."

"Oh—okay," she lets go of me and sits down, watching. I quickly grab the shorts and hoodie she was wearing and hand them to her.

She slips them on quickly and I crawl into the bed next to her. She wraps her arms around me and I kiss her forehead. Her body is trembling again.

"Did he hurt you?" I ask softly.

"No," she whispers.

"Fuck, Emmy. I can't—I'm so so fucking sorry I wasn't with you," I lift her up and set her down on my lap, feeling tears prick at my eyes.

"Please don't cry," she puts her hands on my cheeks as she starts crying softly again. I rest my head on her shoulder and she wraps her arms around me.

I feel her body shake as she starts crying harder. I feel tears spill down my face and I press kisses to her shoulder.

"I love you," I whisper.

"I love you too, Gray. So, so much," she whimpers.

"You're so brave, baby. So strong. So kind. So loving. I don't know what I did to deserve you," I kiss her cheek.

"I could say the same thing about you," she kisses my nose, even as tears continue streaming down her face.

I don't know how the fuck I'm going to survive a whole fucking week in New York without her.

"I think I'm going to just put you in my suitcase and not tell Devyn," I mumble.

"Okay," she smiles.