Heartbeat // Grayson Dolan

22. [talk]

Teala's POV

"Wanna skip first?" Grayson questions from next to me.

I shrug. "I mean, I'm down. I don't like science anyway."

"Okay," he says, walking into my house. "I'm just really tired. I didn't get much sleep last night. After I fell asleep, I had the most terrifying nightmare."

"Awe," I say, sitting next to him on the couch in my living room. "Wanna talk about it?"

His cheeks warm up. "No, I'd rather not."

My heart clenched at the sight. You could tell Grayson hadn't gotten much rest. His eyes had slight bags under them, and the way he looked seemed as if he didn't care today about looking unkept.

"Well, lets go to sleep then," I frown.

He nods his head and lays his head in my lap. I play with his locks of fluffy hair. This is something I've always done, mainly because I loved the soft feeling.

I can see him close his eyes and he sighs deeply, snuggling himself closer to me. I faintly smile, and comb his hair off of his forehead. "You look cute like this, all cuddled up," I whisper.

I can see him grin. "You just look cute all the time."

"I know," I chuckle.

Silence settles, and I tilt my head back trying to fall asleep because I had assumed Grayson had due to his lack of talking and steadier breathing.

But just as my eyes begin to feel heavy, he speaks up. "Teala, I know this might not be a good time, but tell me how you got that bruise. I don't think I can live without knowing the truth anymore." He shifts his head so he can see my face, and I sigh, biting the inside of my mouth.

Am I seriously going to tell him right now? What even caused this sudden outburst of wonder?

I sigh.

"It started off as a simple, innocent peck. It wasn't meant to turn into such a heated kiss, but it did. And despite all the things that had happened to me previously, I liked what it had turned into. That is, until he wanted more from me."

His eyebrows furrow and I can see fire burning in his eyes. "I was a virgin at the time, and that's really all I had left to my name. Mason had taken away so many things from me already. I knew I didn't like Mason, and that's why I never ever agreed to having sex with him. But I guess he had been sick of it." I explain, my eyes getting teary. But before I could cry or show that I'm upset, I remembered what Grayson said to me.

"You're stronger than this."

I clench my jaw and open my eyes. "He raped me, Grayson. Took the last piece of innocence away from me to satisfy his needs. And everyday for about two months now, I've had that mark to remind me every single day."

Grayson's breathing was now sped up, and his face had a tint of red. "He did what?!" He asks as he sits up next to me.

"You asked for this Grayson," I say, standing and ready to stop talking about this, and Mason in general.

"Teala, you can't just get up and walk away from this! You can't keep acting like this is nothing," Grayson says angrily, turning me around to face him.

I flare my nostrils and bite my tongue, some words almost being said that I would have HIGHLY regret. "Gray, I understand you care about me. But just leave me alone when I want the conversation to be over!"

"No! Listen to me," he replies, grabbing my full attention. "Boyfriend or not, I care about you. And you seriously must think I'm an idiot if you think I'm going to let that motherfucker walk around knowing he's hurt you and got away with it. That's just not gonna happen. Stop running away from this, because you can't run forever."

"Grayson stop!" I say, pushing his hands off of my shoulders. "I've been getting along just fine with this! I don't need you to fight my battles or tell me how to live my damn life!"

"You know what? You're right." Grayson agrees before grabbing his keys off of the couch.

I laugh. "So now you're just gonna run away? Go home like a little bitch?"

He doesn't respond to me and exits my house, almost slamming the door.

"I didn't wanna ride to school with you anyway," I mumble, kicking my backpack across the floor.

Was it something I said?

Grayson's POV

I am beyond heated.

I can't believe she went all this time acting like rape is no big deal! NO BIG DEAL!

It hurts my heart so much to know that she's had to go through this alone because she thought nothing of it.

Although she hasn't noticed it, Teala really hadn't been the same for the past couple of months anyway.

She's been crying over a lot of shit that she normally wouldn't, and she's been more distant. We used to spend every single day together. And now, it's only around three days a week.

The person that I'm mad at the most is myself for not noticing that Teala was silently crying for help this whole time.

How could I not read through all of this?

I get in my car and slam the door, my breathing picked up to a fast pace. What's my next move?

Kill Mason fucking Cooper.

-

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