"It's okay, you can do this." I sigh and continue mixing the muffin mix that I'm making. When I get stressed, I bake. A lot. So far, I've made muffins, cake, brownies, cookies, and cake pops. What do I do with all this, I can't eat it.
There's a knock at the door and I slowly walk to it, reluctantly opening the door to see Grayson's brother, Ethan, standing there. "Did Grayson send you here?" I walk into my kitchen and he shuts the door behind him, following me.
"No, I sent myself here." he says and I look at him with a confused expression on my face, he furrows his eyebrows at himself too, "Where'd all this food come from?"
"I got stressed out." I respond in a murmur, "Help yourself."
He takes a seat on the barstool at the island and cuts himself a brownie, "He's fretting."
"I told him I would think about it." I scoop more of the muffin mix into the cupcake pan.
"Madison, he's miserable. He's locked in his room all day and comes out to eat a fuck ton of food or use the bathroom." Ethan explains, sounds like me on my period, "Why don't you give him a chance?"
"I don't know how to!" I exclaim, "The things he has said to me, it's hard to forget. I get he may not have meant all of them, but they were true and every time I think of him I think of what he has said to me. All the crap I've taken from him. I don't know how to drop all that because he actually loved me that whole time!"
"You just forget, when you get to know Gray, he's the sweetest guy you could ever know. I'm not only saying that because he's my twin, either, I mean it. He acts all tough on the outside but on the inside he's been falling apart for a while."
"Way to make me feel bad." I sigh, putting the tray in the oven and cooking it for 20 minutes.
"I'm sorry. But Gray, he's clueless when it comes to girls. Why do you think he hasn't had a real meaningful relationship?" he asks, it's true. Grayson's longest relationship lasted a week and he's only had 3. "Admit it, you want to say yes to him."
"He's in the fucking car, isn't he?"
"Depends."
"So if I say no, he's not in the car?" I ask and he rolls his eyes with a groan, "Go get him."
"About damn time." he runs out of house and I sigh, cleaning myself up a bit. Why do I care so much? Because you like him too, you idiot. I take off my apron and throw it on the ground, stacking all the food on the counter and washing my hands, wiping the paper towel over my face to make sure I don't have anything on my face.
"I can go, I'm sure Ethan probably pressured you into this." his voice says, it's so gentle but at the same time raspy. It's quiet, though, and shaking.
"This doesn't mean we're dating, it means I'm going to get to know the Grayson Dolan that everyone else knows. We're going slow, and who knows where we'll end up."
"I'm sorry." he says, "I, uh, I'm sorry."
"I'm not going to do this if you keep apologizing." I reassuringly smile, "Let's start now." I sit at the island and he nods, sitting beside me. He quickly texts Ethan telling him not to wait.
"Where do I start?" he asks, running a hand through his messy hair and he's biting his bottom lip.
"Well, we're starting over. But I have to know exactly why we are."
