saved | e.d.

45

GRAYSON POV

i know exactly where this idiot went. everytime he needs to get out and go somewhere he always goes to the same place.

hidden, peaceful, and small.

the st. johns pond. it's in the woods but not too far, the sun cascades through the trees and the stars twinkle above the bare spots above.

the pond holds lily pads and pink flowers in the spring and summer, ice skating and snow tops in the winter, and multicolored leaves in the fall.

he likes to sit on the dock and just think when he's been too overwhelmed. i park my car in the wider part of the pathway behind ethans car.

i hop out and begin walking towards the pond area and just as i thought, i see ethan sitting on the small wooden dock just staring out at the pond.

he must've heard my footsteps and whipped around to see who it is.

"it's just me. we need to talk." i say. i see ethan relax a little but he's still tense. because even though he was talking to alex i was still there too. and it was gonna effect me as well as her and him.

"i didn't mean to blow up like that." he said still staring out at the pond.

"yeah, you did. just not that loudly and in front of me. but i don't blame you. if i would've known that you heard her and i that night i would've stopped." i said sitting next to him on the dock. neither of us looking at eachother.

"i never meant to hurt you. so i'm sorry if anything i said hurt you. i just wanted her to know that she hurt me. that's all." he said.

a silence fell between us until i decided to speak up again.

"what we're the dreams like?" i asked looking over at him. and he finally looked at me.

"you really wanna know? because i know you love her and i don't want to hurt you more." he said seriously.

"i'm a big boy i'll be fine. but you on the other hand really need to talk about it." he takes a deep breath and looks back out to the pond.

*flashback to ethans dreams/alternate world*

-the next day after alex and grayson talked-

"we have a mission" i walked down the stairs speaking to lex since she was the only one left in the house other than me.

"i assumed we did since the rest of the guys are gone. what are we doing?" she turned to me fully and looked up at me. god she's pretty.

she's gonna look even better at dinner tonight. i sent the guys out of the house early so they could set the house up with a nice dinner and decorations.

"your buddy max....he's been spotted with athena who is still affiliated with the faceless. he's already seen where you are and it's not safe if he's going back to them. so the mission is just to go see what he's doing." i explained.

we actually do have to do this, but it was the perfect excuse for a date/asking her to be my girlfriend.

"e....you know i still care about max." she said.

"i know, i know, but we have to put yours and our safety first." she just nodded and grabbed her phone and knife. we always keep something on us incase of a surprise ambush you know?

once we headed out the door i brought up my phone and texted grayson.

me- we just left. you guys ready?

gray- all good.

me- i owe you one

-

"okay that mission was a bust he literally just went to go get a pack of cigs and left. I DIDNT EVEN KNOW HE SMOKED" i chuckled at her being baffled. apparently max had changed a whole hell of a lot since the last time they were friends.

he had gotten two sleeves full of tats one of which i think was alex's name....yikes. and he smokes cigs now and who knows what else.

anyway, i led her into the dark house and felt her tense up.

"it's only 7:30 why are the lights out?" she asks.

i reach my hand up to the light switch, which i told grayson to connect to the string light i wanted him to put up. and in one swift motion the whole room lit up in beautiful twinkling lights.

i heard her gasp, as she looked around. there was a table set for two in the middle of the room, the couch had been moved to make room, aaron was KING at cooking so he cooked dinner for us and it was still steaming.

i had to text him an hour in advance so he had it ready and still hot.

"what the..." she said kind of to herself but i was standing right behind her. i moved from behind her and stood in front of her.

i held my hand out for her to grab and she looked up at me.

"how would you feel about dinner?" i asked with a nervous smile. she wasn't speaking and it was driving my nervousness up a wall.

she nodded with a shocked smile and grabbed my hand. my body finally relaxed, and i led her to the table. i pull her chair out for her and then sat down in mine.

-

"let me guess aaron cheffed up the meal?" she asked forking some of her steak into her mouth.

"yeah i was so stressed that it would be cold when we got back so he told me to text him when we were an hour away from being home." i chuckled.

she just stared at me with a certain look in her eyes i hadn't seen before. it wasn't bad, it certainly looked like a good thing.

"what's that look?" i asked

"admiration? it's just this dinner is probably the sweetest most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me." she said with a soft smile.

"well that's what you do for the girl your crazy about." i said swiftly. surprising myself because i thought my voice was gonna crack or i would stutter. but i didn't. GO ME!

"g-girl you- what?" she asked surprised.

"alex, i care about you. more than just best friends." i started. "your smile, your laugh, your smart ass brain, your caring nature even when you didn't get it yourself, the way you stopped at nothing to make sure that you got along with everyone when you moved in, everything you do just makes me like you even more." i admitted.

her eyes finally spilled over with tears as she smiled. that same look of admiration appeared on her face again and i smiled.

"i- i care about you to e... ive known for a little while that what i was feeling for you wasnt just a friendly thing. you drive me crazy in the best way possible." she gushed. my heart burst and my whole body melted.

*end of flashback dream*

i looked over to grayson after telling him the first dream, since they came in flashes as i remembered them.

he looked out at the pond absently and stayed quiet.

"keep going." is all he said. not even bothering to look over at me again.

"okay" i answered back turning my head back out at the water.

—————
A/N: sooooo flashbacks? they're gonna be a huge part of this story now. because i have IDEAS

VOTE