iridescent ↠ grayson dolan ✓

↠ t h i r t e e n

{ c h a p t e r  t h i r t e e n }
lauren's pov ;

Lauren awoke to soft sheets and sprawled duvets as morning light trickled through the hotel windows. Grayson's arm was wrapped around her waist, her head resting on his bare chest. She smiled to herself as she thought about the previous night and all that had happened, even after the amusement park. And with those thoughts playing in her head, she dosed off into a deeper sleep.

She woke up a little while later to find Grayson gone. Beside her was an empty bed, his pillows placed perfectly in a pile and the sheets on his side looked seemingly untouched. Lauren knitted her eyebrows together, wondering where he might've gone. Did he regret last night?

Lauren's worries were casted away when she saw a bouquet of sunflowers on the desk next to the bed. Next to it, was a plate filled with pancakes and fruit, and a note scribbled in Grayson's handwriting.

Gone to get you a little surprise before our date. Hope you like the flowers, I thought it'd remind you of home. Be back soon, I love you.
- G

Lauren closed the letter gently with a smile, tucking it into a small pocket of her backpack. She picked up a pancake on the plate. It was still warm, meaning that he couldn't have left long ago.

Grayson hadn't exactly asked her out before the letter, but Lauren knew how nervous he would've been. Besides, the letter was cute.

She looked out onto the busy street below. Small shops were littered with hundreds of heads, weaving in and out of the dense crowds. Lauren could've sworn she spotted Grayson's quiffed up brown hair entering a shop that sold dresses.

She laughed to herself, her cheeks coloring slightly. He was so cheesy; buying her a dress before their first date. She shook her head with a smile. She loved him so much.

After shamelessly devouring the whole plate of pancakes and fruit, Lauren decided she might as well relax in bed again. They had slept at an ungodly hour of the morning after all, and Lauren's body was tired from the previous night.

She spent an hour in bed without being able to get any sleep. She blamed it on the jitters she felt in her stomach about the date that night. She instead resorted to taking a bath, water could always make her feel at ease.

She wondered where Grayson would take her. He didn't seem like the type of guy to take her to a fancy restaurant; he knew that wasn't exactly her scene. It must be quite fancy for him to buy her a dress for the occasion but Lauren ignored that. Where he took her didn't matter. As long as they were together.

Lauren glanced at the clock in the wall. Grayson had been gone for nearly two hours. How long could he have taken to buy a single dress? Why was he taking so long?

The pancakes had gone cold, the wet grapes slowly wilting into a brown color. She bit her lip and tried to stop thinking negatively.

He was okay. He was okay. He was okay.

Just relax.

The sentences she repeated in her head were empty. She didn't believe them, as much as she tried. She would have to go see for herself. She threw on a pair of jeans and one of Grayson's sweaters and hurried down onto the busy streets. Her insides twisted with fear as her mind played images of something horrible happening to him; each scene more terrible than the next.