meet me in the woods ☾grayson dolan au

s i x t e e n

[ 16 ]

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Her face stung where she had been cut, but the surrounding skin was numb. Everything felt numb, as if she was an emotionless and lifeless body. She was confused, and she was hurt, and betrayed by the one who swore he would never hurt her.

She flicked her bathroom light on, opening the small closet and pulling out a first aid kit. Most of the items inside were jumbled and messed up, and some of the medicines were out of date. Ryder sighed and picked up a wipe to clean the blood from her skin, and another to disinfect the cut.

It stung like a bitch and she hissed when she went to disinfect it with a small amount of hydrogen peroxide. It still continued to bleed slowly, and she applied pressure with a piece of gauze and medical tape. Sure, she looked terrible with her left cheek covered by tape and gauze, but at least she didn't have to see the blood anymore. The realization that the cut would most definitely scar entered her mind and she sighed and leaned her head against the bathroom mirror.

A small knock came from the other side of her bedroom door, and she peeked her head from the bathroom.

"Hello?"

It was quiet again before she heard Grayson on the other side take in a sharp breath, "you understand that I am sorry, and I have no clue why I attacked you, right?"

Ryder didn't answer, but her fingertips reached up to touch the cut covered by the bandage. She didn't know what to say. Quite frankly, she didn't understand at all. She couldn't possibly take his apology when he had no explanation himself. It was like taking a medicine without knowing the side effects.

"It was completely my fault, I lost myself to myself. He was nowhere and I just got so angry until I couldn't feel anything," he spoke into the cold wood of the door.

"Please accept my apology."

Ryder shook her head even though Grayson couldn't see her. She had made up her mind.

"No."

"Are you scared of me?" He asked, surprising himself with the question.

"No."

Grayson thought about the woman at the farmers market, and wondered exactly how many people knew of his past. How many people labeled him as a murderer?

"Why aren't you like everyone else?"

"Because I believe you," she told him before she entered her closet looking for a suitcase. When she found it, she threw it on the unmade bed and unzipped the zipper.

Grayson listened and put together the sounds to know she was packing. Tears welled into his eyes but he blinked them away and forced himself to walk the opposite direction of her door.

"You should leave," Ryder quietly said, not realizing that Grayson had already left her alone.

"I should leave."

She didn't pack much, and the suitcase wasn't completely full. There wasn't much she wanted to take with her, so she didn't care that much of her belongings would be left behind.

She grabbed the knob to her bedroom door and wheeled the suitcase out behind her. The wheels were loud in the quiet house. Her eyes were fixed on the front door, but she could see Grayson sitting at the kitchen island with his head in his heads.

Hoping she could leave without a last conversation, she was mistaken the second her cold fingers touched the even colder metal.

"Where are you going?" His voice stopped her but she didn't turn around to look at him.

She grabbed the doorknob and began to leave but he asked once more.

"Please, where are you going?"

Ryder stepped through the door, only replying when the door had almost completely shut behind her.

"You know where to find me."

What would come next, she didn't even know as she left the property without looking back. He had betrayed her and there was nothing more she could do if he hadn't gotten better.

Years, it took years to rehabilitate him into trust and love, and he had just ruined it. He had put his life into reverse and forgotten everything that he had worked so hard to obtain.

Grayson watched from the kitchen window as the girl who kept him sane walked away without a glance back in the direction he came from.

He felt something that he hadn't felt in a decade; he felt heartbroken.