Endurances

Part 21 - A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

The next day, Grayson came into my room very excitedly.

"come on babe get ready!"

"For what?" I said groggily

He whined, "come ooonnn it's valentines day! I'm taking you out, dress fancy for tonight, but pack a bag with casual clothes. Oh and bring a bathing suit" He said with a wink.

I got up out of bed and went into the bathroom to shower. After I got out, I curled my hair and noticed the color of it had gotten darker. It was less blonde than it was brown now. It was strange, but not that big of a deal. It was probably just from always being inside.

I did my makeup, and then put on one of my favorite dresses.

I packed my bag with a couple of my workout clothes, some doc martin boots, jeans, leggings, and lots of Grayson's shirts I had stole, along with his sweatshirts. I wasn't sure how much I was supposed to pack, so I packed quit a bit just to be safe. I also brought my camera so I could take cute pictures of us.

Grayson smiled and kissed me as I stepped out of my room to greet him.

He jumped up and down like a kid in a candy store, "k lets go."

As we walked to the car Grayson got more and more excited with every step.

Once he opened my door, I was surprised. There were roses all over the dashboard, and a huge teddy bear in the drivers seat that was holding a bouquet of roses and chocolate.

Today was gonna be a long day, since Gray didn't know I thought red roses were cliche, but I would get over it because he put so much effort into it.

Gray smiled, "Happy valentines day babe"

I smiled back at him, "Aw Gray, you didn't have to do this."

He chuckled, "Oh El, this isn't even the start of it."

I smiled and kissed him and then got into the car while he put my suitcase in the back with a bunch of other stuff. I wonder what it was all for.

We drove for a long time, probably about 7 hours, and it was starting to get dark outside when Gray stopped the car.

"Wait there" He said, smiling

He ran down a hill not that far from the car, but I couldn't see what was on the other side of the hill. It was most likely part of the surprise.

After about 5 minutes, Grayson came running back and let me out of the car.

He grabbed my hand, "I love you so much Ellie, and you mean the world to me. I wanted to make this entire week for us so special, that you will never forget it. Because today is not only Valentines day, but tomorrow is your 19th birthday."

I had completely forgotten about my birthday. I was 17 when I arrived here, and my 18th birthday was four days after, so I didn't really celebrate or anything because I was to wrapped up In everything else that was going on.

I couldn't stop smiling, "I don't deserve you Gray, I love y-"

I get cutoff by the sight in front of me.

I gasp, "holy shit Gray."

He smiled, "come on lets go."

As we walked down the rest of the hill, I couldn't take my eyes off of the scene in front of me. There was a table set up under a tree. The table had a white tablecloth on it, and there was candles on it. It was beautifully litten by lanterns scattered throughout the tree above it.

I was pretty much speechless.

"G-gray when did you do this? This place is seven hours away from your house, and you were never gone for more than 14 or more hours recently."

"I paid a team to set it up when we were on our way over here. They're still around here somewhere taking pictures and they'll bring dessert out to us as well."

Soft music started playing in the background as Grayson and I ate. We were just talking when he asked me,

"So um, what happened to your parents? How did you end up in foster care... If you don't mind me asking."

I shook my head no, but In reality, I did mind. I didn't feel comfortable telling him because I would break down as soon as I started talking. I had just gotten to the point where I didn't dream about them. I would even wake up crying sometimes.

I looked down, "I don't want to talk about it."

Grayson grabbed my hand "Hey, that's okay. I don't like talking about how my dad passed either." (to soon?)

Gray and I went back to eating and just talking about random stuff. He said something about my camera.

I smiled "oh ya! Iv'e already taken a few pictures."

"can I see them?"

"Of course, but there's only one right now."

I held out the photo to Grayson.

"It's just you in the car, not that big of a deal."

He smiled, "come on El, it's a big deal. Look how happy I am. I'm happy because of you El. This picture is really worth a thousand words."