Heated // Grayson Dolan

F I F T E E N

-Graduation Day-

"The three stooges actually graduated college?" The twins' sister joked as the graduation ceremony came to an end and Grayson, Ethan, and Dallas had met up with Cameron and I outside the building.

"Proud of you, Dal." I smiled as I gave him a big hug.

"Thanks, Sydney" He stuck out his tongue and pointed at me with both hand causing me to laugh at his stupidity. "I need to talk to you something important when we get to the house." He added simply.

"Okay." I nodded.

I walked over to Ethan, with a smile on my face.

"Congrats, dude" I hugged him.

"Thanks" he smiled as we both pulled away.

"He's an idiot, I have no clue how he did it." Cameron scrunched up her nose.

"hAhA i hAvE nO cLuE hOw hE dId iT." Ethan scrunched his nose up back at his sister, mimicking her before walking over her to annoy her.

"Grayyyy!" I my smile expanded by 210% as I made my way over to my favorite smol bean.

"Sydddd!" He smiled back making my heart go warm. Honestly, I'll never get enough of that smile.

"Congrats." I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him into a big, tight hug.

"Thank you, baby." He whispered to only I could hear.

Standing up on my tipy toes, I leaned upwards, whispering, "I got the video," to him.

"Oh my gosh, thank you."

"I'll send it to you before you even get close to the hospital."

"Syd, you're actually the best. Thank you," he spoke in a low voice with the cutest small smile on his lips.

"How are you feeling? Nervous? Excited?"

"A little bit of both..."

"Don't worry about it, Gray. When he sees you, the biggest smile will be on his face and then you'll know visiting him and feeling hurt to see him so sick is better than not visiting him and still feel hurt."

"Grayson, let's go!" Ethan called out as he motioned towards the parking lot.

"I gotta go, Syd. See you tomorrow!" Grayson smiled gently before catching up with Ethan and Cameron.

"Let's go grab something to eat." Dallas half smiled as the Dolans left.

. . .

"So," Dallas stalls as he puckers his lips and twirls the spaghetti on his plate over and over again, not changing anything with each twirl.

"Stop that." I groan before making him put the fork down. "You said you needed to tell me something earlier. Stop stalling and just spill."

"So I want to take a gap year before I start actually working, right?"

"How are you going to make money? You're going to go broke and your student loans are going to get worse. I mean do it if you want, I'm not stopping you, but I don't think that's a good idea." I folded my arms

"I was getting to that part, Sydney..." His voice lowers.

"Okay... Tell me." I unfolded my arms, placing them on top of the table.

"I'm going to join the military for a year, maybe even two before starting to put my degree to use."

"Oh." I forced a smile. "That's great." I stated, my voice monotone.

To be honest, the thought scared me. But that didn't mean I wasn't still happy for his decision, he'd be fighting for our country. Yet, fear laced my thoughts of the possibilities of unfortunate events.

"You don't sound very enthusiastic, Sydney."

"I know. Just had some scary thoughts. But please, don't let that stop you. If you want to do it, then do it. I'd be proud to say that my cousin is fighting for our country."

"I'll be okay. I promise. I'm a strong guy."
"Wait, Dallas. Does this mean I have to go back to Florida?"

"No, you can still stay at my place. Me casa es still tu casa."

"When do you leave?"

"Monday..."

"Four days from now? You've known you're leaving for how long now? And you're just now telling me?"

"Don't get mad at me! I didn't know how to say it."

"I'm not mad, I'm upset. If you had told me I would've spent more time—"

"Spent more time with me because you need to cherish moments with me while you still can? Seriously? I heard you talk to Grayson at the graduation, telling him to cherish the time he has left with his dying father." He shook his head. "Sydney," he scoffed, "I'm going to be okay."

"Doesn't change the fact I'm going to be scared shitless. I'm glad you're going, really, you're doing a good thing. But that still doesn't change the fact I'm going to be worried about, because I don't want to lose another person I care about."

"You're not going to lose me, Sydney. I promise you."

. . .

"Did you tell the twins?" I asked Dallas as we walked around in the random small plaza the restaurant was in.

"No."

"Dallas. They're your best friends."

"I couldn't tell Grayson because he would tell you. I couldn't tell Ethan because he would tell Grayson."

"This isn't something you should be hiding from people. It's really a brave and wonderful thing to do. As scared as I am, I'm proud of you, Dal."

"I know, it's just hard to tell people I care about because I know I'm going to miss them. But I know it's all going to be worth it when I see everyone again." He smiled towards the end.

"You're going to be an amazing solider, Dallas." I encouraged genuinely. There was no doubt in my mind that he's do a good, honorable job.

"You think?"

"Oh, I know." I laughed lightly. "But you still need to tell Grayson and Ethan."

"I'll tell them tomorrow." He nodded.

"You better." I laughed lightly as we continued to walk on the sidewalk under the roof of all the shops, only thing lighting up the path being the shop lights and a few dim street lamps.