My Roommate. My Savior.

Chapter 25

(If you have found the apple to your pie and the straw to your berry, tell me the story in the comments.)

(Time skip to Christmas time. This is one month before Grayson's six months are over. The one week never ended.)

(Ali's POV)

We are at my parents house for Christmas Eve. We have been here for about a week and tomorrow we are going to go to Grayson's parents house for the last week of our Christmas break. I'm very excited and although he'll deny it, Grayson is excited to see his family too.

My stiches are healed. It hurts down there occasionally but very rarely. I was informed that I could never have children because of what my area went through but I've decided to adopt when I'm ready because I don't want all these innocent kids to move in with someone like Greg.

Jorge, Patricia and Alex are all in jail. Alex was stupid enough to get another girl and she was smart enough to go to the police. Greg and Gina lost their fostering privileges.

I had to testify against Alex and Jorge and Patricia. It was hard but every time I tell my story it gets easier. Alex got 5 years in a local prison and Jorge got a life sentence with no chance of parole. Patricia got 10 years also no chance of parole. I was kind of upset that she didn't get longer but Jorge's trial made me feel better.

My family came to the college every weekend cause they wanted to see us but they didn't want us to have to drive. My parents got very protective after the kidnapping.

Vivy has opened up a lot and she and Grayson are the best of friends. She talked to me about why she was distant and I was kind of sad but I got over it and now Vivy and I are closer than we were before.

I have met Grayson's family before. They came to the college for Thanksgiving, my family did as well. We had a big lunch in the courtyard at the college.

Macy and Mason are the cutest things on earth. And Mason is more cocky than Grayson. The first words out of his mouth when he saw me were, "Wow Bubba, she is hot." Grayson thought that was the funniest thing ever.

Macy was shy at first but by the end of the day she loved me. She wanted to stay with me but obviously she couldn't.

My mom and his mom got along really well and so did our dads. I will tell you though. Our parents are exactly the same with the exact same humor and that is dangerous. I can't tell you how many times Grayson and I blushed because of embarrassment within 4 hours. It was worse than baby pictures.

Apparently I used to think I could jump in Spanish. Then when I told dad he said, "Let me see." Then I started jumping up and down. Not in spanish. Grayson thought that was so funny. I'm still hearing about that.

But I can get him back with the story about how he was super excited about the fish swimming in water. Apparently that's very unusual. He hears about that every day. "Hey Grayson, guess what?" "What?" He will get excited with me. Then I will say something like, "The ice that I just pulled out of the freezer, is cold. Who knew?" If looks could kill I'd be 20 feet under. I know its only 6 but, every time he gives me the look he'd bury me 1 more foot and they all add up to 20.

Anyway, now it is Christmas and we decided it'd be better if we had separate Christmas dinners. Because as previously stated our families in the same room is embarrassing. The mom's and dad's laugh because of the memories. Lily Jose and Vivy laugh cause, "They've never heard these stories." Macy and Mason laugh cause everyone else is. Then we have me and Grayson that blush and curse and say, "No mom they don't want to know." Or, "No dad, they really don't want to hear that story." Course they don't listen and we wind up with red cheeks and a long line of, "Fuck, shit, no, dammit." Mumbled under our breath.

Moral of the story is Allen plus Romero family dinners equal embarrassment. The end.

But I must say, even with all the embarrassing stories and the picking on each other at home I am happier than I've been in a long time.

I'm getting stellar grades in school. I don't have to worry about when Jorge is going to take me again. I don't have to worry about when I'm going to get another "visit" from Patricia or Alex. And I know that Grayson is going to protect me from Greg and Gina no matter what it costs him.

I have learned to forgive. I've learned to have faith and I hope, all the time. If I don't know the answer to a life problem I don't just assume the worst and I don't just sit and be scared. I hope and I have faith that my hopes will be a reality.

If there is one thing I've learned it's that being scared and worrying. Or shutting people out. It doesn't help. When you have a big fall, sometimes you need someone to help you get up and if you shut people out and you don't have relationships, who is going to help you get up.

I know from experience that when you go through something so horrible you isolate yourself like I did. And you don't trust anyone. You live in fear because if you don't someone could see it as a sign of weakness. You don't love because when you do it breaks down walls and the person you love could walk over the line and hurt you. At the end of it all, you die alone.

You never know how great it feels to actually love and be loved. You never know what it feels like to have friends.

Now that I have let my walls fall I have a loving boyfriend. Fantastic friends and family. So yes I have faith and hope and I forgive. But greatest of all, I have love. And at the end of the day, that's all you need.

"Ali, My love?" Grayson says walking into the room and wrapping his arms around my waist as we look out the window, at the moon, together. "Are you ok?" I nod.

I turn to face him with tears rolling down my cheeks without my consent. I look in his eyes and see him smiling at me and looking right back into mine. I rise up on my tip toes and connect our lips.

This kiss is not like any other. This kiss is passionate and loving. It is gental yet it has a fire in it that makes it so hard. I feel tingles all over my body from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him closer to me and he does the same with his arms around my waist. I don't want it to end.

I pull away to take a breath. Leaning my forehead on his I say, "I love you with all my heart."

Don't worry its not over. This is just part one. I will be writing a sequel called "Loving the Douche Bag" It will start right where this one ended. I hope you enjoyed reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it!

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😜AJC😜