Did you ever leave?

7

3 months ago...

'It's the start of summer. You'll need to come out of that room at some point.'

'Fuck off, Eden,' I said from beneath my covers.

'You don't need to be so rude. I'm just looking out for you.'

'Fuck off, Eden.'

'There's something I have to tell you.'

I spun so that I was facing her and propped myself up on my arm. 'What?'

She'd been coming into my room a few times a day everyday for the last month and giving snarky comments about how I couldn't let the not-so-breakup get to me. I mean, how dumb could one girl be? We'd gone out for less than a week and I'd been fine for a whole month after returning to Los Angeles, so why now would I be so impacted by it?

Walking into that doctor's office alone had to have been the hardest thing I'd ever done. The place wasn't nearly as popular as your usual abortion clinics, but it was also a lot cheaper and there was no way that I could afford the $800+ dollars that they were asking for.

Afterwards, I felt a whole new kind of alone.

Why didn't I have anyone I could tell about it?

The question had plagued me from the moment I'd been told that I was pregnant.

When I'd first heard that they had made up, I asked Ethan to tell Grayson that I had to talk to him. He initially refused, insisting that he wasn't getting involved in our drama, but after I begged him, he realised the urgency. Grayson wasn't interested, and told Ethan to tell me that I was an indecisive whore.

I tried to relieve my stress by attending yoga and I even poured myself a number of hot baths, but I couldn't get in them. That's when the alarm bells started going off somewhere in the very back of my mind, quietly. Why did it hurt so much? I googled some different questions and the verdict was that I just had to stop overthinking.

Easy enough, right?

'Grayson and I are back together. We have been for two months.'

'I'm not stupid,' I croaked, my mouth dry as I didn't want to get up to refill my bottle with water.

'What do you mean?'

'I know you're only telling me because you want to start bringing him over.' I flipped back onto my other side, facing the wall. 'And it's not happening, as long as I'm around. Keep him out while I'm in; I don't want to see or hear him. You guys are loud as fuck.'

'Are you serious?' She was angry and unbelieving.

'Deadly.'

———————

Present day

•Grayson•

'Chris, this is Grayson. He's here as a volunteer.'

'Super,' he exclaimed, walking to me and shaking my hand. 'Great to meet you. Thanks for coming out, bro.'

'Yeah, no problem.'

'Grayson has a YouTube channel and, uh, he's...my partner on Dancing with the Stars.'

'No way! That rocks, man.'

'I'm more than willing to post a few snaps of me working and put the link to your website in my Instagram story. Milo told me about your bracelets and bottles.'

'That'd be really amazing, dude. Awareness is key with organisations like ours.'

I nodded and Milo clapped her hands. 'Great. Well, I'm gonna head off and get started.'

'Not so fast, twinkle toes,' Chris said. 'Grayson's going to shadow you.'

'What?'

'Take him around with you and show him the ropes. You guys are partners; what's the issue?'

She opened her mouth and looked between us before sighing. 'Fine.'

'Fantastic.'

She took me through to a room and tossed me a blue bib. 'Put this on. And use these to pick up the trash,' she said, throwing a net bag and blue gloves at me. 'I was supposed to be out in the boats today but volunteers aren't allowed to do that, so I guess I'll be on the beach, too.'

'How come you don't need to wear a bib?' I asked, smelling it.

'Because I've got a T-shirt,' she replied, pointing at her tight, blue shirt with the 4Ocean logo on it.

'Can I get one of those?'

'I actually work here; you don't. So, that's a no.'

We walked the length of the beach for the next eight hours, breaking our backs and picking up ten million plastic bottles and chips packets. I'd decided to start focusing on the publicity side of things and posted a lot about what I was doing and the company's mission. A few mega fans even figured out which beach we were on and turned up for some pictures with me, so I spent a while chatting to those who came.

'Let's get a selfie for my story,' I said, holding Milo's shoulders.

'I'm trying to work, Grayson.'

'Just a quick one, c'mon.'

She smiled and I snapped a picture, turning and adding a sticker telling the time.

'Could you put your phone down for two whole seconds? You're supposed to be interested in this.' She pushed a loose strand of her back with the back of her wrist.

'Hey, I'm doing plenty, okay? My fans are eating this up. They're all going onto the website and buying the merch right now.'

She rolled her eyes and walked away to hang with some of her coworkers.

~•~

•Grayson•

I hit the "answer" button on my phone and pressed it to my ear. 'E. How long are you going to be?'

'Change of plans: I'm not coming.'

'Is this a prank?'

'Something came up. Sorry, bro.'

I laughed and rubbed my arms, feeling the evening chill setting in. 'What's so important that you can't come help your twin out who is stranded in the middle of nowhere?'

'Something's up with Milo. Eden called asking me to help.'

'Milo? Are you fucking kidding me right now? It's her fault that I'm here in the first place!'

'Call an Uber or something, I don't care. I'll see you at home.'

This has to be some sort of elaborate joke.