𝐂𝐑𝐘ᵃʳⁱᵃⁿᵃ ᵍʳᵃⁿᵈᵉ

thirteen

a/n: dedicating this chapter to one of my lovely readers, Wynonnatrashbckup. happy birthday bb!! this is for you + i love youuu ;) wish them a happy birthday in the comments <3

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alexa's pov

i tightened my fingers around the fabric of my dress as miles pulled up to the facility. it doesn't matter how many times i've been here before in the past few months, i still get nervous.

miles pulled into our usual parking spot for visitors and put his car in park. he looked over at me, his eyes soft. "you okay?" he asked, reaching over the console to grab my hand.

i gave him a small smile and nodded. "yeah, i'm okay. just nervous." i shrugged my shoulders and he nodded.

"ready?" he asked again, taking his keys out of the ignition. i nodded and opened my door before he could leave the car himself, shutting it behind me. i walked around to the back of the car and he met me there a few seconds after. he locked his car behind us before grabbing my hand in his again.

he had to pull me a little to get me walking, my feet wanting to stay planted right where they were. i always get nervous every time we visit her because i never know what i'm going to see.

miles hit the buzzer on the door and waited for the doors to unlock. it only took a few seconds for the door to make it's buzzing sound and unlock, so miles reached forward and swung open the heavy door.

he let me step in first and i did, immediately reaching for his hand again when he was inside. my other hand rested against his bicep as we walked up to the receptionist. this time around, it was a woman that looked to be in her early fifties, named eliza.

eliza's been at the front desk a few times we've been here before, and she's always super sweet to us.

we stopped at the desk and eliza looked up from her computer, a smile spreading across her lips. "alexa and miles! it's nice to see you two again!" she exclaimed.

i smiled at her as miles grabbed a pen from the counter and began to sign in. "hi eliza. it's nice to see you too! how've you been?" i asked her, my hands fiddling with the bottom of my dress.

"i've been good, sweetheart. how are you holding up?" eliza questioned me, genuine wonder in her blue eyes.

"oh, uh, i'm good." i said as miles stepped back and put his hand on my lower back.

eliza smiled softly. "that's good, honey. well, i'll let you two go now." she winked at us before returning her attention back to her computer, making me giggle.

miles and i left the front desk and walked over to the metal detectors. he went through first and went unscathed, and so was i as i stepped through. the security guy nodded at us so we kept walking until we reached the end of the hall, meeting a woman with a clipboard named anna.

anna is always the one to lead us into the meeting room. she's a bit older than miles and i, and she has a super welcoming personality.

she smiled when she saw us, like eliza did. "hey, guys! it's good to see you two. do you guys need a few minutes before we go in, or are you good?" she asked with a quirked brow.

i felt miles looking down at me so i looked up at him. he raised his eyebrows at me and i nodded, making him drop his hand from my back. "we're ready," he told her, making her smile and nod again.

"great! just in here!" anna waved her hand for us to follow her and we did, walking just a few more feet down to a set of double doors that led out to the patio. every time we've come here, we've been to the patio. anna told us that it's her second favorite place here.