Last One Standing (wattys2017) (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

Every Petal Is A Reason I Love You

"Come to a party with me." a quiet voice stirred me out of my roundabout thoughts.

It didn't take a genius to know who was standing in my doorway; it took a genius to figure out how to get him out of my house completely.

"I'm not going to a party, Griffin." I responded without looking up from the pile of envelopes on my bed.

"I know you don't want me in here, that you'd probably rather watch me jump off a cliff than get in a car with me, but I think it'd be good for you. It would get your mind off of all of this shit."

His voice was closer, as were the echo of his footsteps. I lifted my head up a fraction, feeling Arrow twitch on my lap at the closeness of Griffin.

Sometime over the last couple weeks, he had given up shaving his beard all together. I had seen it grown out once before, but it had only been for a couple days. I had always thought a slight stubble on a guy was kind of hot; Toby has teased me about it for years.

"Thanks for the concern, but I don't want to go." I tore my eyes away and went back to staring at the untouched zip lock back in front of me.

Arrow stretched as she stood on my lap, then waddled over to Griffin and threw herself down on his arm. A hint of a smile played at his lips, losing his eyes in the puppy's brown ones.

"Tobias is such a kiss ass." He stated, rubbing Arrow's head with his thumb, "What guy buys a chick a dog, then friendzones the hell out of her?"

"Toby's one of a kind." I replied.

"That he is." Griffin agreed, "What if I told you Toby would be at the party?"

I pushed the zip lock of envelopes under the fold of my comforter and turned to Griffin once more, "I've got more important stuff to do than spend my Friday night at a party, Griff."

"Please." He took my hand, "I'm sick and tried of seeing you hurt over that piece of crap."

"One thing that piece of crap told me was to never give into peer pressure." I poked his nose with a small smile and stood up, setting Arrow in her small bed on my way to my desk.

I could feel Griffin's eyes on me from across the room, all I could do was shift anxiously under his gaze. I was scared to go downstairs and face my brothers and stepmom. I was horrified to face my father if he was down there too.

Maybe a party wouldn't be so bad, it would loosen me up and get me out of the house for a while. Most of the guys in our town new better than to come within a hundred feet of me if they had thoughts of hitting on me; in there eyes I was the Crazy Eight's little sister and they'd be left for dead if they touched me.

"Yeah, okay." I spun and faced my brother's best friend on the bed, "I'll go to a party with you."

*

Griffin Young's definition of a party was far different from my brothers idea of one. We didn't pull up to a yard littered with red solo cups and teenagers wandering around aimlessly, we pulled up to a small diner I hadn't been to since I was a kid.

"Griffin, you said-" I started, turning my attention from the window to the boy in the driver's seat beside me.

"I know what I said. We will party here, just not in the way you think." he climbed out without another word, reaching in back and grabbing his Letterman to keep the cold front from the getting the best of him and nipping at his bare arms.

I locked the doors on my way out of the car and met him in front of the Camero parked next to us, hugging my own light jacket around me. A peaceful feeling set inside me once we walked through the front doors.