Enchanter (A Grant Gustin FanFiction)

23. Promises

Allegro

My eyes widen at the the lush decor of the house. Wooden furniture, wooden stairs, Italian marble floor, pictures on the wall. I am also shocked by its huge area. The living room in itself can fit one-and-a-half of my house. The walls are painted are white with a fireplace- the place of fire now absolutely clean. I can imagine Grant during winter, with his nerdy glasses on as he swirls his glass of wine in one hand. I imagine the way the fire is the only object lit up, making even the shadows look on his face look tempting. I imagine the way the dim light of the fire would light up his green irises, his brown hair.

I am suddenly broken out of my reverie with a blonde walking over to me. I also notice Tom beside her.

"Hi, All-Allegro? Did I pronounce that correct?"She says and I am sure that my jumbled up thoughts are resembled in my expression.

"Oh, am sorry. I am Gracie, Grant's sister."She says figuring out my obvious question as she pulls me into a brief hug. She looks at her brother, Grant. "Be a man, bro. At least introduce me to your crush."She says and grins. I look at Grant and of course, a small blush has creeped up his cheeks and spread across his neck. I am positive that am slightly blushing too, however, I try to stifle it by grinning at Gracie.

"C'mon let's get going."Tom says and smiles at me. I see the warmth of it and I find myself suddenly remembering Cameron and his handsome smile.

"But dad. I had been waiting all day to see Allegro."Gracie says and I bite my lip to bite back the laughter ebbing at my lips at her behaviour.

Tom and Gracie get involved into a too deep conversation of whether I should go with Tom or Gracie. They are so engulfed into the conversation that they are talking about me in my presence. I wait there awkwardly, staring at the father and daughter.

Grant ducks down slowly as his mouth comes near my ears and I feel his hot breath fanning over my neck.

"I am sorry. They keep doing this. " He says and I smile at the family, the bonding they share in spite of the silly fight, the love for each other so strong that it can cut rocks.

Gracie and Tom look at me, their fight suddenly stopping.

"Whom do you want to go with?"They ask and I slowly walk towards Gracie. I put on a apologizing expression on my face and look at Tom, Grant's and Gracie's grin never faltering. 

"Okay."Tom says and shrugs his shoulders. 

"We'll join you boys over dinner." She says and tugs at my hand to take me into the other direction. I turn my head back to see Grant standing there, smiling slowly at me,the expression lifting up his eyes.

Gracie and I walk through the house, as she holds onto my wrist while leading me through the corridor of the house. We walk in silence and I feel awkward suddenly, not having the reason of me being here by my side. 

"Where-"I begin but Gracie cuts me off.

"We need to talk."She says. We take a flight of stairs and I am immediately mesmerized by the place we reached in. It's not a balcony exactly or the terrace either. It's somewhere in the middle, something that cannot be described in words. The fresh summer air hits my face and I breath in the smell of flower pots around us. We slowly walk into the air and I notice a small glass room on one side of the place. Lights of the city twinkle below us, as I watch the beguiling sight, the pulchritude of it enthralling me completely. 

"It's about my brother."Gracie suddenly says and I look at her to find her looking at me. I stay silent, indicating her to go on. I watch as she slowly leans her body backwards on the railing that keeps us from falling down from this height. 

"He likes you."She says and I feel all of the beauty slipping away from the place. What leaves is ice cold blood running through my veins. 

"How do you know that?"

"It-I just do. It's in the way he speaks of you, the way he talks about your presence, your beauty. His eyes lift up. It's like your a topic that, if introduced upon in the conversation, he will dwell on for lifetime." She says and I look down at the blinking lights of the city. 

"But..it's not that. It's something else I wanted to tell you."She says and our eyes once again meet.

"His previous girlfriend, she.."She says and looks away as if speaking it would cause permanent damage. 

"She?"I ask.

"She..died of leukemia."She says and I once again feel the world slipping away from my feet. My thoughts reach out to Grant immediately and my mind at once answers why he had moved from Chicago. Was that the reason behind it? I think of his smile, that always has managed to hide back this news from me and has  spellbound me every time I have looked at it. I wonder of how his previous girlfriend had been. Was she pretty? Did she have blue or green eyes? How much did they love each other? How did they meet? 

"The month Ava passed away, Grant..he..he broke down completely. He locked himself up, refused to eat, refused to speak. We had to put up a notice for him in the college. He became more of a machine than a man, moving mechanically everyday. And we could see through it. He has lost a lot of loved people in his life. Sometimes when I look at him, I still see a part of him dying inside. I can see it, the hollowness, the ache, the longing-everything. I-" She says and before I even know I have crossed the area and have pulled Gracie into my arms. There is something I  love about this girl, who was just any other stranger to me a few minutes ago. I feel strangely attached to her. I know how it feels- seeing someone you love die slowly, being helpless. You are there the whole time. 

You can do anything to make the pain go away. Anything at all. But that's the whole problem isn't it? There is nothing you can do.

I feel Gracie's tears slowly fall on my dress and  I hold her, my hands rubbing her back slowly in a soothing gesture.

"I am sorry.I-"

"Shh. It's alright, yeah?"I say. It's absolutely alright. There is no way on earth I can watch someone feeling the same way as me and not helping that person out. I myself may be in the pit, if that is what it takes to get the others out. 

I already feel an unspoken bond establishing between me and Gracie, a similar ache being the common ground holding us together. 

"All I wanted to say is..is that..Grant likes you Allegro. He sees in you another opportunity of building something he thought he had lost long before. Something he had not expected to find again."She says. 

"So please, Allegro. I beg of you. Don't break his broken heart anymore. If you do, I know he won't survive this. Please."She says and I feel my heart lurching at her words.

"Okay."I say and she pulls apart from the hug.

"No. Promise me. Please."She says, her eyes glistening with tears. For a flicker of a second, I see an eight-year-old girl with pigtails, with her mommy at the hospital where he is given the confirmation of her short number of days. My heart twists at the thought and I close my eyes to push back my tears. Allegro, please. Do it. Why would you not do it? It's something you've wanted to for the lifetime- something that you fought for. You've always wanted to help. Take the opportunity. Help her when you can. 

I take in a deep, unsteady breath before opening my eyes and looking back at Gracie with two words running like a windstorm through my mind. 

I open my mouth, daring to say them aloud.

"I promise."I say and my mind races instantly. I hope I meant the words. Should I have refused her instead? Should I had not told it out loud? 

My thoughts are proven wrong, however, because Gracie's sad, heartbroken face splits into a smile as she pulls me into a hug. And for that moment I promise myself one more thing: to keep the promise I had made forever.

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