Fly Away | Spruceworth 6.2

Chapter 23: Rough Mornings

Chapter 23: Rough Mornings

~Ollie~

       When my alarm went off, waking me up from my sleep, I reached for my phone to turn it off before looking over at Grant's side of the best. For the past couple mornings, he was already awake by the time the alarm went off. Not this time. He was actually fast asleep for once.

       And as much as I wanted him to sleep, we had to get to school. I sat up on the bed, gently shaking Grant awake. He just groaned, placing the pillow over his head before pulling the blanket over it. "Grant, you have to get up," I said.

       "Go away," Grant muttered. "Let me sleep."

       "Trust me, I want to but we have to go to school," I said. "And we have the musical's first rehearsal with the orchestra today."

       "All I heard was 'It's okay, Grant, you can go back to sleep," Grant said.

       "That's nothing close to what I said," I said. "Did you get enough sleep last night?"

       Grant removed the blanket and pillow from over his head to look at me. "I don't know. Maybe. The night was just a blur for me, really."

       I furrowed my eyebrows. "What do you mean by that?"

       "I was just awake one minute and asleep the next," Grant said. "And then I would wake up, stare at the ceiling, and fall back asleep. Then wake up, check to see how cute you are sleeping, and fall asleep again."

       "That doesn't sound creepy," I said.

       "Why would me waking up and going back to sleep creepy?" Grant asked.

       "I'm talking about you watching me sleep and you know it," I said.

       "I wasn't watching you sleep," Grant said. "I was just noticing how cute you are when you sleep. I mean, you're cute in general. Everything you do is cute. You can break a glass over my heard and still be cute."

       "Your compliments are very... weird," I said.

       "I know," Grant said. "What time is it?"

       "Just after seven-thirty," I said. "You didn't hear the alarm go off?"

       "Considering you woke me up and not the alarm, I'm going to have to say no," Grant said. He then sighed heavily. "I don't even know if I want to go to school today. Not because I'm tired or anything. I mean, I am a bit but I've been more tired. I could handle going to school like this."

       "So... Why don't you?" I asked.

       Grant was silent for a bit before he sat up. "Because I'm worried I'll have a panic attack in class where I can't leave. That I'll feel stuck and not know what to do. I've just been getting them all the time and I don't want them at school. I don't want them at all."

       I scooted closer to Grant, wrapping my arm around his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Grant. I wish there was something I could do to stop it."

       "No, don't," Grant said. "I don't want you to feel any pressure that you have to stop it or feel upset at yourself that you can't or anything. The best thing you can do, really, is just to listen if I need someone to talk to."

       "And I will," I said. "I definitely will. I don't want you to go through this alone." 

       Grant smiled softly at me before giving me a lingering kiss. "Thank you. For being the best boyfriend ever. Normally, I would say I'm the best boyfriend but I think you deserve the title after everything you've done for me recently."