a long way from home ; g.d.

t w e n t y - f o u r

Just for old time's sake, Grayson and I went to Mario's New York Style pizza, the place we went on our first date. We sat at the exact same spot, and ordered the exact same thing as last time.

"It's crazy how much has changed since the last time we were here," I said. I had flashbacks from last night with Gus and smiled to myself. "I mean then we were just complete strangers on a date. Now we're..."

"A couple, on a date," he answered. He reached across the table and took my hand in his, rubbing circles around my palm with his thumb. "I love you, Elle."

I smiled and dropped my face in my free hand, smiling and blushing like crazy. "I love you too, Gray."

He raised the back of my hand to his lips, planting a light kiss on it. He then playfully pushed my hand back towards me and cleared his throat. "Duh."

I laughed and took a drink of my water.

Just as we began to talk about something, his phone rang. He slid it out of his pocket. "It's Ethan." He answered it, and I could hear Ethan's frantic voice through the phone, even though I couldn't make out what he was saying. "Ethan, Ethan, calm down, dude. Now say it again, slowly."

I was worried, and took Grayson's hand back in mine. He squeezed it, listening to his brother's rambling.

After a few minute, he looked up at me and sighed. "Alright, I'll tell her. Yes, I'll show her it. Okay, call me if you hear any updates." He hung up the phone and put it to the side of him, face up and still on.

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "There's an amber alert out for you."

My eyes widened. "What?!"

"Your mom apparently sent out a missing child report. It was on the news. And Ethan told me to show this to you."
He picked his phone back up and opened Snapchat, turning the screen towards me. It was a snap from Ethan: a picture of me, on the news, with the words "missing" above it.

He turned it off and threw it down. "He wanted me to show you because he didn't think you'd believe it."

I sighed. "I definitely would have. That crazy bitch." I said the last part mostly to myself.

A worried look flashed across his face, and both of his hands were now wrapped around my one. "What are we gonna do, Elle?"

I shook my head. "We'll worry about that when we go back to the apartment. For right now, let's just act like my entire world isn't falling apart."

He nodded and took a drink of his Pepsi.