a long way from home ; g.d.

e i g h t

After spending about 3 hours hanging out with the four of them, I began growing more and more tired, and decided to head back to my floor and get some rest. We all agreed to hang out tomorrow though, and I had each of their numbers written on my hand, since I still refused to whip out a flip phone in front of them.

Grayson walked me there after I said goodbye to the other three. They were like their own little family. A crazy, dysfunctional, loving, family. If I'm being honest, if I were to have to choose them out of a crowd, I would've never guessed they'd be friends. They were all so different, yet they complimented each other well, and you could tell they made a good team.

I felt myself grow more and more tired and felt like collapsing once we reached my door. "I would invite you in, but it's already a mess in there and I might fall asleep the second my ass hits the bed."

He chuckled. "That's fine, another time then."

I smiled up at him. "Yeah, totally. And thank you for the pizza, and for being so understanding when I told you about the whole 'running away' thing."

"No problem, thanks for eating a whole large pizza with me. And of course. I'm not judgemental. You can tell me anything."

That entire sentence made my knees weak. I tried to think of something to say, but I thought of nothing. And in that moment of weakness, or maybe it were the emotions I was still feeling, but I took a small step forward and hugged him. He rested his chin on the top of my head and hugged me back, tighter than I expected.

I breathed in the smell of his cologne. It was strong, but not too strong. This is the most safe and secure I've felt in a long time. It's like I was in my own little shelter. All my worries about my parents, about being alone in New York, about money, just went away. I wanted to just invite him into my room and offer to let him stay the night just so I could fall asleep feeling like this. But that was still for another time.

After a minute, we pulled away, and I felt cold all over again. "Can I be totally transparent right now?" He asked. I nodded. "That was probably one of the best hugs I've had in a while. Just thought you should know."

I laughed. "Why, thank you. I really needed it, sorry if it was weird."

He shook his head and pushed my shoulder lightly. "Absolutely not. Goodnight Chavelle."

"Goodnight Grayson."

He remained eye contact with me until turning the corner at the end of the hallway and heading towards the elevator. I sighed, and entered my room, closing the door behind me. I had left the TV on, despite all the lights still being off.

I guess I had left my phone at home too, because I could hear my annoying, tacky windchime ringtone going off. I picked it up, and read the number. I immediately recognized it, and let out a gasp, throwing it on my bed. I took a few steps back, as if it were about to explode.

It eventually stopped ringing, and I let out a sigh of relief, despite my heart almost jumping out of my chest. I took a few deep breaths, and slowly turned towards my duffel bag at the end of my bed and took off my jacket, along with my shoes.

I began to start folding them, until the phone started ringing again. I could feel tears start to form in my eyes, and my hands began to shake. I sat down on my bed, my leg folded under me. I slowly reached over and picked it up, and felt the tears pour down my face. I bit my bottom lip hard enough that I could feel the skin tear a little.

I flipped the screen part up, and pressed it to my ear.
"Chavelle?"
"Mom?"