Damaged -Grayson Dolan-

Chapter Six

"Up, Mina, let's go!"

Mina groaned from where she was lounging on her bed. "What do you want?"

"First of all, how are you still in bed?" I glanced at my watch. "It's noon."

"So?" Came her muffled reply. "It's Saturday."

I rolled my eyes. "We're going to hang out with Grayson and Ethan."

As I'd expected, she shot straight up in her bed. "What?"

"Yep," I said. "Grayson asked if I wanted to hang out. So I told him yes and that you were coming with."

Mina tossed aside her blankets and jumped up from her bed. "How? And when? Where?" She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and groaned at her reflection. "I look awful!"

"Relax. We're just going to their house. Four friends, hanging out."

"Except we aren't friends! Well, maybe you and Grayson are, but-" She yanked open her dresser drawers, pawing through the abyss of clothes inside. "Ethan and I are definitely not friends. I can barely speak a coherent word around him-" she ripped her hair from its messy bun and tossed the rubber band aside.

"Mina, relax. You need to calm down, honestly. You're rivaling me when I have a panic attack."

She faced me with her hands on her hips. "Very funny, Alanna."

"Ethan's cool. You need to just act normal around him. Be yourself." I checked the time on my phone. "Do hurry up though. I already told him we were on our way."

"Alanna!" Mina turned back to the mirror. "What do I wear?"

"I don't know." I glanced down at my outfit. I had on grey Nike leggings and a long sleeved purple t-shirt. "I don't think it matters."

"Fine." She tugged on a pair of black cotton leggings and a short-sleeved grey shirt. She glanced at me. "Won't you be hot? You do know it's not winter anymore, right?"

I tugged my sleeves down over my hands. "I'll be fine. Hurry up."

"Okay, okay. Someone's anxious to see their 'friend'." She emphasized the word "friend" and I glared at her.

She ran a brush through her hair, sprayed herself with perfume and brushed her teeth. "Alright, let's go."

I followed her downstairs where we told her mom goodbye and then out to my car. I typed the address Grayson had sent me into my phone as Mina claimed the aux cord. "I can't believe this is happening." She muttered.

"Neither can I, to be honest. I never thought I'd... you know..."

"Actually like someone who clearly likes you back?" Mina filled in.

"Okay, let's not get ahead of ourselves," I said, turning right down the neighborhood street.

"Oh please, Alanna, he invited to hang out at his house."

I didn't answer, focusing on the road. Driving still tended to freak me out but not as much if I was the one driving. Sharon said it had something to do with the fact that I was the passenger in the car when the accident happened. I could handle riding in the passenger seat but not for extended amounts of time.

"This must be it," I said as I pulled to a stop in front of a dark grey house. There was a wrap around porch with two chairs and a small table occupying it. The shutters around each window were painted a homey blue and a large oak tree was nestled in the front yard.

"Here we go," Mina muttered climbing from my car.

I could hear my heart hammering in my chest. I wasn't nervous per say, more excited I guess. I rang the doorbell. After a few seconds, the door swung open revealing Grayson. I swallowed at the sight of him and the bright smile he sent me. I loved it when he smiled. "Hey Alanna, hey Mina. Come on in." He held open the door for us and we stepped inside. It was warm and smelled good, like cinnamon.

"Ethan's in the basement already. We were thinking about ordering pizza. Is that good with you?"

"Yeah, sure," I answered looking at Mina who nodded her consent.

"Awesome. It's this way." We followed him through the kitchen and into their basement which turned out to be quiet large. There was a huge flatscreen TV on one wall and a big couch, the size of half the room. Ethan was laying on the floor, scrolling through the Netflix queue when we rounded the corner.

"Bro," Grayson nudged his brother with a foot, "why are you laying on the floor when we have a huge ass couch for that purpose?"

Ethan rolled his eyes at his brother. "I can do what I want."

Grayson heaved a sigh. "Alanna and Mina are good with pizza. So let's order because I am starving."

"Okay, we just have to decide on toppings. Cheese, pepperoni- what else?"

Nobody said anything at first and then Mina spoke up. "Pineapple."

"What?" I asked incredulously at the same as Grayson. We glanced at each other before both turning to look at Mina. "No way," I told her.

"I like pinapple on pizza," Mina defended.

"Yeah," Ethan said, sitting up. "Same here."

And that's when I knew that I didn't have to worry about Mina getting along with Ethan at all.

Grayson threw his hands in the air. "Pineapple does not belong on pizza." I nodded in agreement with him.

"Your opinion is irrelevant," Ethan informed him. He pulled out his phone. "I'm the one ordering and its two against two so Mina and I are getting a pineapple pizza."

I laughed at the look that crossed Grayson's face. "Whatever." He snatched up the remote and sat down on the couch.

Ethan held his phone to his ear. "I'm gonna go grab some drinks from upstairs."

"I'll help you," Mina hopped to her feet and I winked at her as they left the room. I came over to the couch and settled down next to Grayson.

"So what are we feeling today?" He asked me.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Not really sure."

"Hmm," he continued scrolling through as Ethan and Mina returned with bottles of water in hand. Ethan tossed one to Grayson and then handed another to me. Mina hopped onto the couch next to me, leaving a little space between us. Ethan slumped down next to her.

"Oooh-" Mina exclaimed as Grayson scrolled past the action movie section. "How about the Italian Job?"

"I'm down," Grayson answered.

"Yeah, let's do it. I love that movie," I said. Grayson clicked on the title and the movie started. I'd seen the movie so many times so it was easy for me to focus on other things. Like how Grayson's arm was around the back of the couch and dangling close to my shoulder. Or how good he smelled- a mixture of mint and spice. Or how warm I felt being this close to him.

I almost expected the tightness in my chest to start but to my surprise, I didn't feel anything at all.

In fact, I felt perfectly at peace and like I didn't have a care in the world.

A little while later the doorbell rang and Ethan disappeared again with Mina to retrieve the pizza. "Thanks for making us do all the work while you guys just sit there," Mina joked as the returned with the boxes.

"That's what you get for ordering pineapple pizza," I retorted sitting up to snag a piece of cheese pizza.

Mina rolled her eyes as we ate in contented silence and watch the movie play. I took a sip of my water, settling back on the couch. This time I didn't worry about my feelings of claustrophobia and shifted closer to Grayson. He must've gotten the hint and this time, draped his arm over my shoulders completely.

I felt the slow movements of his chest and the warmth from his body filling the small space between us. A small smile made it's way onto my face.