i choose you // e.d

Reunion

"I miss you too." Meredith looks up at me. 

"Can we go back to how we were? Forget what happened?" I ask her.

"You don't still hate me for what I did?" 

"It's in the past, as is that relationship." I nervously chuckle.

"Wait, what?" She asks, turning around and seeing Gray.

She turns back around, her eyes looking terribly sad.

"Oh, no no no. It's not like that. He dragged me out of the house because I haven't come out of my room in a week." I reassure her, grabbing her hand. "I promise."

"Oh, okay." She looks happier, knowing the truth.

"Do you want to come over with me and Gray, sit with us and talk?" I ask, hoping she'll say yes. I'm desperate to have my best friend back.

"I don't want to intrude." She shyly says.

"Oh, don't be silly." I stand up, grab her hand, and drag her out of her booth and over to ours. 

She slides in across from Grayson, and I sit beside Gray. 

Grayson is looking down at his phone so I nudge him and clear my throat, sending a smile Mere's way.

"Hey." He smiles at her.

Her eyes twinkle as she says, "Hey, G." She's the only one who's ever called him that, so his cheeks turn bright red.

"What have you been up to?" I ask her, feeling awkward.

"Well, I got a job at Old Navy, but it's awful. The pay is okay, but the people are terrible." She rambles on about how people are just rude and the manager yells all the time.

"Wow, I'm so sorry." I apologize.

"Eh, it's life," Mere shrugs, "What about you guys? How's life going?"

"Well, I told you that Ethan and I broke up. Things got too intense in my life and it was too much on him, I guess." I tell her how the breakup went, then she looks at Gray.

"Did you talk to him about this?" She questions.

"Uh, n-not exactly. Should I have?" He nervously asks her.

"I mean, he is your brother. You should've ask him why exactly he did it. Boys rarely tell the girls the truth when they break up with the, unfortunately." She rolls her eyes.

"I plan on asking him, I just haven't gotten to it yet. This one over here," he throws his thumb up and points it at me, "has taken up all of my time because she's soooo needy." He laughs at the end so I playfully punch his arm.

"Yeah, okay. Says the guy that called me to come over one time just because he watched The Notebook and cried." I giggle.

"Hey! It was a really sad ending!" He defends himself.

I throw my hands up and we all laugh. I've missed this, the laughing, the comfortableness. 

*Later that day*

I ended up inviting Meredith over so we could catch up some more. I was honestly kind of nervous, but mainly excited. 

We were leaving Waffle House now, and Meredith was following us back to the house. 

"Are you sure you're okay letting her back into your life after what happened?" Grayson questions me and grabs my hand, kissing it gently.

"Gray, I'm fine. Forgive and forget, right?" I repeat that last line in my head as we pull into the driveway.

Don't hold a grudge MaKena. She made a stupid mistake. You make a lot, so you can't judge her. She apologized plenty of times. Forgive and forget. Forgive and forget.

I step out of the now stopped vehicle and make my way over to my house, where Meredith parked. I smiled at her as she stood beside her car door.

"Is your mom home? I miss her." We walk up to the door.

"Um, actually... I have't exactly seen her in a while. She won't answer my calls or texts, I've left plenty of voicemails but I don't know what's going on," I confess as we walk up the stairs, "I figure she's just with some guy, drunk. She's been that way since dad left. She hasn't stopped drinking."

We pass her room, on the way to mine, and I point at it. There's empty beer cans and bottles everywhere. I shrug my shoulders and continue walking.

We walk into my room and I go to lay down on my bed when I realize my room is a disaster. I panic and start cleaning up quickly. I pick up all my dirty clothes and throw them in my dirty hamper. I sigh as I realize how many nasty tissues are in my floor. I pick my trash can up and go around the room, tossing them into it.

"I'm so sorry. I forgot it looked like this." I was so embarrassed. 

"Mak," She grabs my arm, "Stop, it's okay."

I sigh again and set the trash can down

"Wanna watch a movie?" She grabs my remote, making herself right at home, which I was hoping for. I was praying this wouldn't be as awkward as I imagined it being.

And it wasn't. It was just like old times.