What A Secret Looks Like | ✓

23: tessa

My eyes blink open slowly to see Grayson hovering over me, shaking me lightly. "What are you doing Grayson?" I ask, yawning as I start to realize that we're not in his apartment or my hotel room.

"You have a little bit of drool on the side of your cheek," He teases, and I sit up rubbing my face, only to find that he was right. I was drooling.

And then I notice Sephine next to me chuckling at me, "You looked so peaceful so I didn't want to wake you up."

I sit up yawning again, "You should have, I just didn't get a lot of sleep last night." I explain, forcing myself to not glare at Grayson, whose fault it was that I didn't get any sleep.

"Gray, she's definitely a better actor than you," Hayes jokes. His comment catches my attention, and I look over at Grayson as he smiles happily at me with a sort of easiness over him.

"I told them, but they already knew," He says. I look hesitantly at Sephine and Hayes. We never discussed telling them.

Hayes smiles kindly, "I need to apologize because I wasn't very nice to you when I first saw you. I actually was an asshole, you've been a big help with us getting through everything. Both of you deserve to be happy and if that's with each other then we're happy for you."

"So you're okay with it?" I ask and Hayes and Sephine nod. I feel lighter now that we're not a secret anymore. All of the secrets are wearing me down and that's one less I have to hold onto.

"Oh thank fucking god, I really didn't want to have to find a new friend." I really don't want to see anyone else either because I don't think they'd have the same level of patience Grayson has put up with. They also wouldn't be Grayson which would be the biggest deal breaker.

Grayson shakes his head at me, but the smile doesn't fall from his face, "I see exactly where I stand."

"Are you guys leaving for the meeting already?" Sephine asks, jutting her lip into a pout. I guess it would make sense why they're both in suits and ties. It can be hard to tell sometimes because I feel like it's all they both wear.

"Yeah, it's in an hour. We have more prep to do so we have to get going." Hayes says kissing the top of her head gently, meanwhile Grayson caresses my cheek gently.

"We'll be back later Bella," Grayson says quietly. I lean into his touch, trying to understand why he would tell Hayes and if-

"Okay," I nod as he pulls his hand back. I wait until the door shuts behind them before I look at Sephine, "How long did you guys know?"

She shrugs, "I figured it out when you both came over, and Hayes needed help with the contract. You looked so shocked when he walked through the door and then when Grayson tried to keep the shock off his face. I thought something was up, but I had it figured out within moments after I realized you both were dressed up. Your hesitance in answering what kind of a relationship you had was a dead ringer. Hayes had no idea though which was obvious because of some of the things he said."

"That was so long ago though! You could have said something."

Sephine looks down at her hands twisting her pinky ring, "I was going to, but then the day we went grocery shopping I could tell that something had happened. You didn't say it was Grayson but he was in a funk that week too. I figured it was best not to mention it since I could tell that you didn't want to talk about it. And then everything else happened, and I-um-I didn't think it was the right time." Her hands shrink back towards her stomach that's hidden by an old sweatshirt, but I can tell she's trying to force them to stay in her lap.

"Yeah," I agree, looking down at my own hands. "You didn't uh-"

Sephine's face softens when she realizes what I'm asking, "I didn't tell Hayes so he couldn't have told Grayson. It's not my story to tell."