Cherish || grayson dolan

twenty seven

"I can't believe you are actually leaving, for good this time." Erica says giving me a hug. I squeeze her tight. The last thirty minutes I have been hugging all my friends goodbye while telling then how much I'll miss them.

"I know. But I'll be back for Thanksgiving and Christmas." I tell her while I move on to hug the twins.

"Better be." She jokes. Joseph and Jacob give the biggest group hug. While of course, teasing me for leaving them again for another set of twins.

"You guys will always be my favorite twins on the planet, so don't fuss." I tease. They roll their green eyes at me before making sure I knew just how much they were going to miss me.

After hugging majority of the only people who cared for me, I tightly squeezed Payton. We hugged for a good minute while she said 'I'll miss you' over and over, and not to mention goodbye at least ten times.

Saying goodbye is the hardest, because you really don't know when the last time you will see them is. After that, I made sure to hug and say goodbye to my mom and dad, wishing Riley was here as well. But of course, she promised to fly out to New Jersey to see me and of course, her other family.

I said goodbye for the 100th time before getting into the car to head to the airport with my favorite cousin and aunt of all time. I was so so excited and all I felt was butterflies in my stomach.

-

"It feels so good to be home." I say as I walk into the house through the tall wooden door. As soon as I did, I noticed everything looked the same. The familiar comforting scent that I grew to love filled my nose and my body with warmth. I couldn't help but smile.

All the memories from the summer of living here filled my mind as I walked into the living room. Soon, I made my way into the kitchen, which reminded me of the time Grayson decided to make me lunch, I moved to the basement, where we told each other we liked each other, but didn't think much of it.

I made my way up the stairs and found the room I stayed in. I opened the door and the room was exactly how I left it. Pictures from the summer that I hung up were still on the walls, the lights I got still hung above the gray headboard.

I really really missed this place. I plopped down on the bed and just smiled. This is my room. This is my home. No more worrying about the teenagers from my school, no more worrying about Cole. The hate, well besides the fans, but that finally began to die down.

As I sat there enjoying myself, Emercyn comes and plops down next to me and cuddles my side. "I'm so happy you're here." She says.

"Me too."

"Hey come downstairs in a little okay?" She asks. I nod my head and sit up as she leaves me room. I go over to my suitcase and put on leggings and a hoodie because for some reasons, the house was so cold.

As I fixed my hair out of the hood, I decided I'e go downstairs. Right as I turn toward the door, I see a face I thought I wouldn't see for a couple more months. The smile on my face grows even wider as I run over to them and wrap my arms around their neck tightly.

"Is this real? Or am I dreaming?" I whisper pulling away to see their face.

"This is real, baby." That familiar deep raspy voice rings through my ears as a smile is played across both of our faces. Before I knew it, I felt his lips press against mine.

I didn't realize how much I missed the feeling of his soft plump lips against my own. The way they made me feel so warm inside. I felt the same butterflies I always felt when I was with him.

"I missed you so much." He whines, trying to pull me closer to him. His grip on my waist tightened as he nuzzled his head into the crook of my neck. He left soft kisses making me wrap my arms tighter around his neck as I run my hands through his hair.

"I missed you too." I tell him as he pulls away smiling down at me. "Thank you for coming. How long are you staying?"

"A week." He says. I fist pump the air from excitement earning a laugh from the cutest boy around. Oh how I missed his laugh, his smile, and his oh so amazing personality. I'm so glad to be here with him.

"Let's go downstairs." I tell him, grabbing his hand and pulling him with me. As we reach the bottom, I see Ethan and Emercyn talking.

"ETHAN!" I say rushing over to him and giving him a hug.

"HAYDEN." He says, mocking my voice, making me pull away and glare at him. "I'm sorry." He laughs and pulls me back into a hug.

"It feels so good to have all of us together again." Emercyn says as I pull away from her boyfriend. I nod my head in agreement as I feel a pair of arms wrap around my waist.

I smile to myself as I feel whole again. This is what I was missing when I went back to Oklahoma. Yes I had all my friends there, but these three people are the ones who make me the happiest. I got distracted by my thoughts when Ethan pulls us all into a group hug.

For a good hour, I talked to all three of them about Oklahoma. While I did this, I sat on the recliner with Grayson as he snuggled against me, playing with my hair which made me almost feel tired. I told them about everything. How it was when I got back, to being with Payton again, going back to school and being around everyone, to the Cole drama and to being with all my actual friends.

After I explained, Ethan went all inspirational on us talking about how I shouldn't let people get to me and not to show a reaction. It was almost, word for word, what my dad had told me. Ethan is too sweet sometimes, but I'm glad, because I know he'll always be sweet to Emercyn.

As I sit in Gray's lap, my head rested on his shoulder as he either scratched my back or played with my hair, I completely zoned out of his conversation with Em and E. All I could think about was how amazing it felt to be back in his arms. To feel the comfort from him. His familiar sint filled my nose and warmed me inside. Sometimes I would even feel him press small kisses against my forehead.

"You getting tired?" I hear. I look up at his perfect face and nodded my head. He leans down and presses his lips softly against mine, leaving a gentle kiss.

"You should get some rest, you've been on a plane all day." He says. I nod my head and start to get up and stretch. Emercyn and Ethan say goodbye before Ethan gives me a hug as well.

"Tell Em to seriously get some sleep." Ethan tells me. I nod my head laughing as in a way of saying I would. Grayson wraps his arms around my waist from my side, and leaves a kiss on my cheek, one on my forehead, and one on my lips.

I turn full toward him and pull his face to mine. "Don't tease me, Dolan." He I tell him, kissing him. He pulls away with a smirk on his face.

"You're sassy when you're tired." He says.

"We've been over this before." I remind him.

"I know." He laughs. "Now go to bed. I love you." He says, giving me one last hug and kiss before pushing me to the stairs. As I start walking up, I turn around to watch the two boys leave. I stand there with a smile on my face before running to my room and falling on my bed.

I finally feel happy again.