BRIGHT

Chapter 42- Greyson POV- Big Brother

"Thanks for dinner, Mom, it was great," I said, grabbing my plate, along with everyone else's. I had had great conversations with my parents during dinner, but Maggie had not said much of anything.

"Of course, Sweetheart," my mom replied.

"Thank you for taking the plates," my dad added.

"No problem," I told him. Maggie said nothing. It really bothered me how she was acting, not that it was wrong, but I missed the great relationship we had together. I turned on the sink and began to wash the dishes, just like we had to do in therapy. I heard my dad talking to Maggie in hushed tones. My mom came into the kitchen and began to help me with the dishes.

"I missed you, my Greyson," she told me, kissing my cheek.

"I missed you too, Mom," I added. She turned the water off and looked right at me.

"Honey, I need you to know that no matter what you do, your dad, Maggie, and I will always love you. Yes, we may not always be thrilled with the choices you make, and the ones you made recently were horrible. But we will always love you, okay?" she confirmed.

"I know," I replied honestly.

"Maggie will come through, you know she will," she said.

"I hope so," I said bluntly.

"She loves you, honey, it's going to be fine," she expressed. I nodded and turned the water back on and continued to wash the dishes. "I can do this, you should go shower."

"You sure?" I asked.

"Of course," she said.

"Wait, just one second," my mom called after me before I went up the stairs.

"What is it?" I asked, walking back to her.

"How are you doing with everything that happened with Peyton?" she asked me. Then I remembered everything that had happened. I had never heard if the people Peyton were staying with were my biological parents.

"Fine, I guess. But there is something I need to talk to you about," I said.

"Sure, anything," she replied.

"Those people who kidnapped Peyton, who are also my birth parents," I started to say.

"Can you give me one second, Grey?" she asked. I nodded. She went into the dining room and shortly after she did so, Maggie scurried up the stairs. They had told me about my birth parents the last time they visited me. It had not taken me by shock, because I was pretty sure that those people were my parents after Josh and I had talked. I heard her whisper something to my dad and then the two of them came into the kitchen.

"Sorry to have cut you off, I just thought your dad should be here for this too," my mom explained.

"No, it's fine. I just haven't heard much about Peyton, how is she? " I asked.

"We don't know very much. I know that Josh talked to you about everything that happened, but apparently, she's okay," my dad explained.

"How are you feeling about the breakup?" my mom asked.

"It's been kind of rough, but I don't want to lose her as a friend, so I'm going to try to be friends with her," I said.

"That's a good choice, and if things were meant to be more, she'll come back to you," my dad advised. I nodded.

"You good?" my mom questioned. I nodded.

"Now go, shower up," my dad instructed. I walked up the stairs and anxiously looked at Maggie's door. But, I knew I had to just let her breathe for a little bit longer. I grabbed a cutoff, a pair of boxers and shorts to change into for bed. I headed into the bathroom and threw off my dirty clothes. Showering felt great, the ones at the facility were like locker room showers, so this felt heavenly.

As the water sprayed throughout my hair, I began to think about what to do with Maggie. She clearly wanted space, but I knew I had to talk to her. An apology was necessary first, and I knew I needed to express that I understood why she was so angry.

I hopped out of the shower and threw on a pair of basketball shorts I had grabbed along with the cutoff. I tousled my hair with a towel and took a deep breath. I knew it was time to go talk to Mags.

I walked up to her door and gently knocked.

"Mom?" she called.

"No, it's Greyson," I told her softly.

"Go away," she demanded.

"Please Mags, just let me talk to you," I pleaded.

"What if you hurt me again?" Maggie questioned, I could tell she was crying.

"I swear I will never hurt you again," I promised. "Just please let me in." Maggie opened the door and her tear stained face broke my heart.

"Hey Mags," I said.

"Hi," she replied. I walked into her room and sat on her bed, and to my surprise, she sat next to me.

"Listen to me Maggie, what I did was terrible. It is the worst thing I have ever done in my entire life. Hurting you was an awful, unforgivable, mistake. I just want you to know, I understand why you are mad at me, and I would be angry with me too. You deserve everything and you need to know how much I will always care about you and love you. You are the best little sister I could ever ask for, and I hope we can be close like we were again someday. Therapy helped me a lot and I know how to handle my anger much better now. I don't expect you to forgive me, but I just want you to know that I am sorry," I expressed to her. She was looking at me right in the eye the entire time I talked to her. She said nothing at first and I took a deep breath. But, before I knew it, she jumped into my arms. I hugged her tightly.

"I love you too, Grey," she whispered in my ear.