Damaged -Grayson Dolan-

Chapter Forty-Four

"Wait- he was going to what?" Mina's voice reached a high note and I winced.

"Shh, okay? It's not that big of a deal."

"Al, he was hesitating to accept a full ride scholarship to a dream school because he was worried about you." She repositioned her bathing suit straps. "I'd say that is a big deal."

I chewed on my lip and glanced out at the ocean. It was our last day in paradise and we'd chosen to keep it simple by just relaxing one last time on the sandy beach of Jacksonville. "Well I made him accept it, so it's a done deal. He going to Syracuse."

Mina lifted her face to the sun. "But what about you? Any ideas?"

I gave a shrug. We both knew it had always been a dream of mine to attend Stanford but now I wasn't so sure. Mina had applied for early admission to Savanah College of Art and Design had been accepted since the beginning of the school year. She'd told me that Ethan had a few good offers from schools in Georgia for wrestling scholarships so they wouldn't be far apart.

I was the only undecided variable.

"How's my favorite girl doing?" Ethan asked as he and Grayson came into view.

"Much better now that you brought us food." Mina answered, reaching up and taking the smoothie from him. Grayson settled next to me, handing me my blueberry, mango blend. "You're the best." I pecked his cheek.

"I know." He took a sip of his strawberry, pineapple drink. "Sad to leave?"

I sighed. "I wish we could stay forever. I don't even want to think about how cold it will be back home. Or school."

"And responsibilities." He added. "And homework."

"Stop," I groaned. "It's making me depressed."

He set down his drink. "Fortunately for you, I know just the thing that will cheer you up."

I raised my eyebrows as he stood up. "What- Hey!"

Grayson bent down and scooped me up, throwing me over his shoulder. "Grayson, I fucking swear if you throw me in the ocean-"

His body vibrated with laughter. "You're so cute when you're angry."

While I was enjoying the view of his extremely muscled backside it was not enough to keep me from squirming around in his grip. But his hold didn't loosen. Water washed around his ankles. "Grayson, don't you dare-"

He tossed me through the air and I landed with a splash in the cold water. I surfaced, coughing and wiping salt water from my eyes. "Asshole."

"Feel better now?"

"No!"

He frowned. "Maybe I should do it again." He started forward.

"Grayson, don't even think about it," I growled and glanced down. "This is my tanning bikini," I informed him. "Not my swimming bikini."

He looked genuinely confused. "Is there a difference?"

"Yes!" I stayed crouched down under the water, tugging at my top. "This one is strapless so therefore it doesn't stay up very well. Actually, it doesn't stay up at all- especially not when I'm thrown into the ocean!" I finally succeeded in making sure my bathing suit was covering all the vital areas before standing up out of the water again.

Grayson chewed on his lower lip. "Well, I can't say that I don't want to not see you topless."

"Grayson!" I flicked water at him and he burst into laughter. I couldn't help but join in.

~~~

"I don't think this is a good idea." Mina tugged at her purse hanging over her shoulder.

Ethan turned to her. "You don't have to get one if you don't want to."

She looked at Grayson and I. "I don't want to be the only one who doesn't get one, though. Al, are you actually doing this?"

I glanced up at the store window we were in front of and nodded. "Yeah. Actually, I've been thinking about doing this for a while but I just never got around to it."

Mina let out a breath. "Alright, let's do it." Ethan pushed open the door and we stepped inside. A wave of air conditioning blasted me in the face. I glanced around at the interior of the building. "I'm excited."

"Of course you would be," Mina muttered beside me, gripping Ethan's hand.

"Not gonna lie, me too." Grayson agreed. Mina rolled her eyes as we approached the desk.

"Good evening," the man behind it greeted us. "Do you have appointments?"

"No," Ethan informed him. "But we heard you take walk-ins?"

The man nodded. "You heard right. Assuming you all are 18, I', going to need to see ID and then I've got some paperwork for you to fill out before we get started. The wait might be a little bit since you didn't have an appointment but we'll fit you in."

"Sounds good," Ethan responded. The man handed us four clipboards and directed us to the waiting area.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Mina said staring at the paper in front of her. "I can't believe I'm going to get a tattoo." I let out a chuckle, filling out my information and fishing in my bag for my ID.

"I mean, I don't even have an idea of what I want." She signed her name at the bottom.

"You're overthinking it, Mina. Just relax." I finished my form and handed it back to the man who came to collect them.

"What are you getting?" Grayson asked Ethan who sat across from us.

Ethan shook his head. "Let's keep it a suprise." Grayson rolled his eyes and looked over at me. "I suppose you aren't going to tell me either?"

"Nope," I said with a smile. "You'll just have to wait and see."

"Is it going to be my name with a heart around it?"

I shoved him. "Very funny."

We waited for around twenty minutes before the man came back into the waiting area. "Alright, we're all set. Who's going first?"

The four of us glanced at each other. "I will," I said standing up.

"Right this way then," The guy turned around. I winked at Grayson over my shoulder who just shook his head at me. I followed the man out into the main area and back to a chair where a woman was fiddling with a bunch of instruments.

"This is Vanessa," he introduced me. The woman looked up and me and smiled. She had short brown hair and bright blue eyes. "Have a seat, right here."

I complied, sliding into the leather chair.

"Okay, so what were we thinking for today?" Vanessa said, turning her attention to me.

I swallowed. "This might be an odd request."

She chuckled. "Trust me, honey, I'm sure I've had weirder requests than what you've got."

I let out a nervous laugh, suddenly feeling butterflies in my stomach. I slowly held out both my wrists, flipping them over. My scars were stark against my now tan skin and shone plainly in the light. Vanessa was silent for a moment and then looked up at me with a small smile. She held up her own wrists to show me. I sucked in a breath. You could see the faint outline of dozens of slash marks on the skin beneath the tattoos overtop. "You..."

"Oh yes, honey." She nodded slowly. "And I was just about your age too."

I chewed my lip, glancing down. Vanessa placed a hand on my shoulder. "Let's make them into something beautiful, shall we?"