By My Side {Grayson Dolan}

Chapter 2

I'M BACK! I hope you enjoy.
(So guys I changed the name of my best friend because I didn't want to use her real name)
-----

The next few days passed rather quickly for Grace. The day of the funeral came and went. Lots of tears were shed by Grace and all those who attended.
Three days after the funeral, Grace's mom drove her to the graveyard and dropped her off.
"Are you sure you want to do this? I can stay. Or I can go pick up one of your friends so you're not alone."
Grace shook her head. "I'll be fine. I just need to take care of some things."
Her mom looked at her worriedly. "Okay, sweetie. I'll be back in an hour. Call me if you need anything."
"I will, Mom."
Grace watched her mom drive off and then began to walk through the endless maze of headstones. She stopped when she reached a freshly-dug grave with a headstone that read, "Olivia Joy Smith: 1999-2016."
Grace slowly sat in the grass and stared at the ground in silence. A few minutes later, she cleared her throat and began to talk.
"Hi, Liv. It's me," she paused, swallowing the lump in her throat. "I don't even know if you can hear me, but I just need to say something." A tear rolled down her cheek, but she brushed it away. " I'm so sorry. For everything. I was a terrible friend. I let this happen. I'm positive there was more I could have done, but I didn't, and I'm so sorry."
As she spoke, Grace pulled up handfuls of grass.
"When you first told me about you depression and cutting, I was scared to death. I was afraid it would come to this. But then I told your parents and they got you help, and you seemed to be better. I thought you were better. I thought you got help. I thought I had my best friend back. And then I became so busy and distracted that I didn't even notice that you were getting worse."
The tears fell freely now.
"When I got your text, my heart stopped I should have gotten there sooner. I could have stopped you, or at least got the fire department there quick enough to pump your stomach. But I failed, and I'm sorry. I failed you. I failed your family. I failed your friends. I even failed myself."
Grace was crying too hard to speak. She cried for all the times she'd been a bad friend. She cried for all the times she'd not been there for Olivia. She cried for all the people who loved Olivia and were now hurting. But mostly, she cried for herself, because she'd lost her best friend and now her heart was breaking. Her cried turned to loud sobs. Her breaths became more tagged. She tried to take a deep breath, but it felt like her chest was closing in. She crawled onto her hands and knees and curled up in a ball. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to breathe. Her chest got tighter, and Grace whimpered. She lay on the grass, gasped for air, tears still rolling down her face. She stared up at the clouds and tried to focus on the shakes instead of the sharp pains in her chest.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, the pain in her chest subsided and she could take a deep breath. She lay silent in the grass for a few minutes before slowly sitting up. She pulled her hair out of her face and wiped the tears from her cheeks.
"Great. Now I'm going to start having panic attacks," Grace mumbled. She took a shaky breath and turned toward the grave.
"This is so hard. I hate this. I wish you were here." Grace swallowed the lump in her throat and cracked her knuckles. "But I promise to try to hold on, for you sake. I'm going to try to enjoy this world you left behind, despite how empty and broken you've left me feeling. I'm going to make up for all the times I wasn't there for you by trying to be there for everyone else. I'm sorry for letting you down." Grace paused before whispering, "I miss you. I love you."
She sat in sole be for a few minutes, making sure to wipe all traces of tears from her face. Grace pushed herself to her feet and groaned. She walked back through the maze of tombstones and took a seat by a clump of bushes to wait for her mom. While she was waiting, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and began to scroll through her texts.
Many people had texted to ask if she was okay, so Grace quickly responded to all of them, telling them she was fine.
Then she clicked on Mell's contact and pressed 'FaceTime.' A few rings later, a soft voice answered.
"Grace?"
"Hi, Mell."
"Oh, I've been so worried about you! How are you? Are you okay? Are you alive?" Mell rambled on.
Grace smiled softly. "I'm fine, Mell. It's just hard to adjust to everything. And I'm obviously sad. But I'm okay."
"I've honestly been worried sick about you."
"There's no reason to be worried. I told you I'm fine."
"I know you better than that Grace." Mell rolled her eyes. "You're not fine. You may pretend to be okay, but that doesn't mean you're really okay. When you say you're fine, you're usually not."
"Really, Mell. I appreciate it, but I'm fine."
"Okay then." Mell shrugged. "Oh, wait! Have you been on your fan page?"
"Um, no. Why?"
"Oh my gosh, Grace! Go look! Right now!"
Grace furrowed her eyebrows. "Why?"
"Just go look."
Grace opened her Instagram app and quickly logged onto her fan account. Her notifications were full of her followers telling her that they loved her and were always here to talk. But what caught Grace's eye was a comment from Grayson Dolan himself.
"HOLY CRAP, MELL!" Grace screamed, she hands shaking.
"I KNOW!"
"I CAN'T BREATHE!"
"What did he say? Read it to me again."
Grace took a deep breath and read the comment to Mell.
"Grace, I'm so sorry for your loss. Death hurts. Hang in there, baby. I'm always here to talk. Ily💙"
Mell squealed. "Goals, oh my gosh, Grace."
"I can't believe it, Mell!"
"Wait, check your DMs! Maybe he DM'ed you."
Grace clicked on her messages and, sure enough, at the top of her messages was Grayson's name.
"Mell, he messaged me."
"Well, read it, you idiot!"
"I'm scared."
"Just read it!"
Grace opened the message.
Gray: Grace, I can only imagine how hard this is for you. I admire your strength to even make it this far. Please don't give up. You're strong enough to overcome this. I can't thank you enough for all your support. It's people like you that motivate Ethan and I to keep going. I may or may not have stalked your page and I love it. Thank you for being amazing. Hang in there, baby. I know you can make it through. Don't ever doubt yourself. I'm always here to talk. I love you. 😘"
Mell squealed again. "Goals, Grace. Oh my gosh, freaking goals."
Grace just stared at her screen in shock, her mouth wide open.
"He messaged me." She murmured.
"I know, honey." Mell giggled. "Well, what are you waiting for? Write him back!"
"He sent it two minutes ago."
"So hurry up and write him back while he's still online!"
Just as Grace began typing, she got notification after notification after notification.
"He freaking spammed me, Mell." Grace choked out.
Mell began to jump up and down. "MY OTP IS HAPPENING!"
Grace got one last notification that said, "@graysondolan followed you."
She dropped her phone in the grass and covered her mouth to keep from screaming.
"Grace? What happened? The screen went black."
"HE FOLLOWED ME!" Grace cried, picking up her phone.
"NO HE DIDN'T!"
"YES HE FREAKING DID!"
"Write him back while he's online! Go, hurry!"
Grace reopened her messages and excited started typing, her hands shaking.
Grace: Gray, first of all, thank you for spamming, commenting, messaging, and following. It honestly made this past week so much better. Secondly, thank you for the kind words. Losing Olivia is the worst thing I thought I would ever have to go through. And even though it seems hopeless now, I know that in the end I'll be a stranger person. The past four days have been exhausting. Constant tears, no sleep, hardly any food, and lots of guilt. I know it's my fault that she's gone. There's no point in denying it. And I know that the next few months will be full of these kind of feelings. But I'll be okay. As far as you and Ethan go, you have no need to be thanking me. I should be thanking you for all the days you made better, all the frowns you've turned into smiles, all the friends I've made through you, and most importantly, for being yourself. I love you more than words can say. Thank you for changing my life. I'm sure you probably won't even see this, but again, I love you. Stay adorable. 💙"
"How's that?" Grace asked Mell, after she read it to her.
"Perfect. Now send it."
Grace hit send and looked up to see her mom pulling up. "Mom's here, Mell, but I'll call you alter. We need to catch up."
"Okay, bup. I'm gonna make you talk to me, by the way."
"I have been talking to you."
"I mean about her, um..."
"Suicide. You can say the word, Mell."
"I know." Mell frowned. "I just don't want to upset you. I know you blame yourself, but it's really not your fault."
Grace smiled softly. "I'm already upset. Saying a simple word won't make me feel anymore upset. And it is my fault. Anyways, I'll call you later tonight."
"Okay," Mell sighed. "I love you. Stay strong."
"I love you too."
Grace ended the call and jogged over to her can. As she climbed in, her mom glanced at her worriedly.
"You okay?"
Grace nodded. "I'm fine. I just know I'll be spending a lot of time here."
Grace felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, but assuming it was Mell pestering her about "talking," she ignored it. Little did she know that it was someone else, someone who would change her life completely.

-----
SO WHAT DID YOU THINK GUYS?!? It took me forever to get this written. I'm sure there are lots of typos, so please point them out to me. And be honest with what you think. I suck, I know lol. So, go follow my fan account (@gracie_dolan) and please comment/vote! Ilysm💙