Madison threw the pen down on her desk. Her eyes immediately filled with tears. She folded up the letter with shaking hands and shoved it into an envelope. She picked up the pen again and wrote the word 'Cameron' on the cover, as she had done with Grayson's name many times. She opened her desk drawer and placed the letter into it; it stood out amongst all the letters addressed to Grayson.
Madison shut the door. She glanced across the door and spotted the bottle of pills that lay on her bed. The mere sight of it made her eyes tear up again. She didn't want to do this, but it was for the best. She had brought too much pain to the people she cared about in her 17 years of life.
She stood from her chair and made her way towards the bed. The white pill bottle contrasted greatly with the red bedsheets. Madison sat down and picked up the bottle. She interested herself in the label, reading over what the pills contained. She was delaying the inevitable.
She pushed down the lid of the bottle and twisted. The bottle had a child lock. To keep children, like her, away from the potentially harmful drug that was inside.
'Madison!' Her mother yelled up the stairs. 'Madison!' She sounded... relieved?
Madison's eyes blurred again. She didn't want her mother to find her only child dead on the floor. Madison knew her actions would crush her mother, but she had to do it. It was the only way.
A knock sounded on her door. Madison jumped. She quickly put the lid back on the pill bottle and flung it under her pillows. She dried her eyes, not wanting her mother to know she had been crying.
'What do you want Mum?' She groaned. She wanted to sound like the moody teenager she wanted her mother to believe she was, not the mature, suicidal child she really was.
When she got no answer, Madison stood from her bed and walked to the door. She opened it, a scowl on her face.
Her frown quickly melted when the door was fully opened. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened. She was dreaming, she had to be. What she was seeing was an illusion. There was no other explanation. It couldn't be.
But it was. And Madison couldn't believe her eyes. He was here. Standing at her bedroom door.
Grayson.
Grayson. With his messy brown hair and chocolate eyes.
Grayson. With his black backpack and white t-shirt.
Grayson.
It was Grayson.
'Grayson?' Madison asked in a whisper, her hand reaching up to his cheek to make sure he was really there. 'You're here?'
Grayson smiled his perfect smile. He covered her hand with his, which was trembling on his cheek. 'I'm here.'
That voice. Madison couldn't remember the last time she had heard it. She had forgotten how it made her feel. She had forgotten about the butterflies, the fireworks that exploded in her chest when he was near. She had forgotten, but getting them back made her feel alive again.
She suddenly pulled away, her hand snapping towards her chest. She took a few steps back. Grayson's eyes clouded with confusion and fear.
'How are you here?' She said in a breathy tone. 'What-How-'
Grayson stepped into the room. He pulled his backpack off and zipped it open. He dug his hand around before eventually pulling out a handful of white envelopes. Each one had his name written on it in Madison's messy handwriting.
'They reached me. I have no idea how, but they did,' Grayson held the letters in front of her.
Madison was in disbelief. 'W-Where did you go? What happened?'
Grayson put the letters back into his backpack and let it fall to the floor. 'That is a long and unimportant story right now,' Grayson stepped towards her and held out his hands. 'All that matters is we're here, together.'
Madison finally let a genuine smile fill her features after months of frowning. She stepped towards him cautiously, half afraid that he would disappear. When he didn't, she let herself jump into his arms.
Madison felt more at home in Grayson's home than she had in her entire life. His arms wound around her waist, pulling her as close to him as possible. Madison wrapped her arms tightly around his shoulders, burying her face into his neck, terrified to let go. She was overwhelmed by the smell of Grayson's cologne. It filled up her senses in the best way possible.
Madison broke down. She tightened her grip on him as sobs racked her body.
'I was so scared Grayson,' she cried. 'I thought you were dead.'
'Shh. I know. I know,' Grayson rubbed her back soothingly. 'But I'm here now. And I'm never going to leave you again.'
Madison pulled away and looked into Grayson's eyes. They resembled hers; teary and bloodshot. She stood for a moment, transfixed by the passion her looked at her with. And then, after weeks of waiting, she kissed him.
She had forgot how mind blowing it was. She forgot how his hands felt in her hair, his tongue on her lips, his stubble scraping her jaw. Kissing him felt so new, but so familiar the same time. She wanted to do it for all eternity.
The eventually pulled away, resting their foreheads together, taking deep breaths in through their grinning mouths. Madison gazed at Grayson, at his pearly white teeth and pink cheeks. She only had one thing left to say to him.
'I love you.'
He said it back without hesitating.
