forum Next Steps [Private RP — Closed]

Started January 16, 2019 by @Imperfect_Autumn group

tune

My head spun as he lead me away, my eyes fixed on the arm he had so casually slung around my shoulders. “Gray?” I ventured, my voice much weaker than I would have liked, thanks to the tiny voices whispering in the back of my mind.

Gray’s POV:

It was when we were out of their sight did I let the smile drop off of my features. I didn’t feel satisfied at doing what I did. I wished I could ruin them with a snap of my fingers.

It was when Violeta called out my name that I snapped out of my thoughts. Her voice was weak and hurt and it only fueled my anger.

I stopped and turned to look at her, before sighing and wrapping my arms around her tightly. I didn’t know what had gotten into me, but I couldn’t shake it off. All I wanted to do was make sure she knew.

“Don’t listen to them,” I told her, rubbing her head lightly. “Don’t you dare let their words get to you. You are beautiful. Do you understand me? They’re nothing compared to you.”

What on earth had gotten into him?? Had he hit his head?? Was this some kind of sick joke?? You are beautiful… they are nothing compared to you… Gray was calling me beatiful? This didn’t make any sense. The fact that he was hugging me didn’t make any sense. The fact that he cared didn’t make any sense.

But as idiotic as those girls were… their words had hit me harder than they should have, unearthing memories of high school, of digging my nails into my thighs until the skin broke and gave way to droplets of blood. I found myself sinking into his embrace, his words touching me on a deeper level than I could have ever imagined, but the only thing I could say was “I didn’t think you cared about me enough to do this… thank you,”

Gray’s POV:

I liked her.

That was all I could think of when she gave into my embrace. That’s why I always wanted to make her smile, to let her know she was worth something. Because I liked seeing her smile.

I rubbed her back slowly, resting my chin on the top of her head.

“Well, I can see why you’d think like that…” I replied, chuckling a little. “I do have quite a… reputation.”

Figuring she wouldn’t want me hugging her any more than I already had, I slightly pulled away from her.

“Now come on, finish your food,” I said to her softly. “And don’t ever think about what happened here, okay? I will be right back with the food I left behind.”

Why did I feel so desperate for him to stay? Why was a warm feeling beginning to spread through my chest? I looked up at him with wide, confused eyes. Why was he doing this? All I could do was nod mutely and pull away, staring down at the sandwich still clutched in my hand.

Gray’s POV:

When I came back, the girls were gone. It brought a satisfied smile to my face but it later disappeared. Every time I remembered the pain flashing through Violeta’s eyes, it made me want to ruin anyone who dared to even think about harming her. She was such a precious girl… why would anyone even want to hurt her?

Shaking my head, I grabbed my burger and the drink and walked out, finding Violeta at the same place I left her at. I smiled softly when I reached her. This was confusing. It really was, but at the same time, it wasn’t.

“I’m back,” I was a bit surprised she hadn’t left, though. Whatever the reason why she didn’t, I wasn’t going to let her, anyway. There was no way I was letting her leave without at least putting a smile to her face. “C’mon, let’s go somewhere quiet.”

Feeling like a stupid, insecure seven year-old, I nodded and let him lead the way, trying to sort out the impossible puzzle that he had handle me. I couldn’t believe that any of that had actually happened— did Gray have an identical twin brother that I didn’t know about? What on earth was going on?

At the same time, I wanted to drop my sandwich and keep walking despite my cramping and craving. Every time I thought about taking a bite, nausea overtook me and bile rose to my throat. Was I eating too much?

(Poor Violet!)

Gray’s POV:

I looked over at Violet in concern. She looked sick, which wasn’t very shocking to me.

I gently pulled her over to a nearby bench and took a seat, patting the spot next to me.

“Sit,” I told her. “You’ll feel better once you take a seat. Do you want water?”

I knew all of this was confusing her. Up until her outburst from the week before, she had been under the impression that I was faking everything just to hurt her. And now here I am, protecting her. If I were her, I’d be confused, too.

):

“No, thank you,” I somehow managed to respond, searching his face for some kind of explanation. My hands sat limply in my lap, loosely clinging to what was supposed to be my lunch. After a long pause, I finally dared to speak a small part of my mind. “Why are you doing this?”

Gray’s POV:

I was just about to take a bite out of my burger when she finally spoke up. I froze before setting my lunch down and sighed.

“Standing up for you?” I questioned, looking at her with a raised eyebrow. “Because I didn’t like what I saw.”

Of course I couldn’t tell her it was because seeing her get hurt fueled my anger. Of course I couldn’t tell her it was because I wanted to protect her. She would never believe me. It wasn’t like what I said was a lie, though.

He was so composed…. brushing all this off like it was such a tiny feat.. I felt tiny next to him. “That’s not what I meant,” I told him quietly, eyes darting away. “Why are you being this nice to me? Why do you… care? It’s not like I’ve been anything but rude to you..”

Gray’s POV:

I fell silent for a while, taking a sip of my drink before I shrugged.

“No one deserves to be bullied,” I answered simply. “I’ve got no reasons to ignore someone who’s being treated like this.”

But you called me beautiful. You said you cared about me. Suddenly, it felt as if I was dealing with something very fragile, so I uttered a simple “Oh.” and fell silent. A moment after, I held my sandwich up. “I’ll be right back… I’m just going to throw this out. The mayonnaise tastes really weird.”

Gray’s POV:

I nodded at her, relieved she didn’t ask me anything else. It wasn’t a surprise that she was like this. Up until now, she thought I was only making fun of her. And then I slide in and defend her from a bunch of bullies, telling them that Violata’s important to me.

But it wasn’t like I could tell her why.

I took a bite of my burger before covering it up and holding it tightly.

I slipped away before he could suspect the real reason I was leaving, jogging lightly up to the garbage can and dropping the sandwich in. My return was slow as I continued to attempt to sort things out in my head, which inevitably failed.

Gray’s POV:

I stood up when she came back, smiling at her.

“I’ll walk you to your dorm,” I said to her, sipping my soda in an attempt to finish it.

Oh. Gray was smiling at me. He wanted to— Oh. I blinked up at him several times to make sure I wasn’t dreaming, then nodded slowly. “You— you are? Oh— okay.” Shoving my hands into my pockets, I tilted my head in the opposite direction of the restaurant. “It’s this way.”

Gray’s POV:

We walked in silence, and as I passed a trash can, I dumped my empty cup of drink it in. What were we supposed to say now? I had absolutely no idea.

Then I remembered something.

“Did you try the desserts from the party?” I asked her curiously.

I felt a strange tug, an urge to look him in the eyes, which was exactly why I kept them glued to the ground instead. “Yeah. The cupcakes were good.”

Gray’s POV:

I grinned at her, although she wasn’t looking at me. She was really trying to avoid doing that, huh?

“I’ll take you to the that bakery some day,” I mused, looking ahead instead of at her. “Their desserts are to die for.”

I only nodded mutely, my confusion practically written across my face. What the— After another few seconds of tense silence, I dared to speak my mind again. “Why would you want to spend time with me?”

Gray’s POV:

I raised an eyebrow at her.

“Well, why wouldn’t I want to?” I shot back. “Is there some sort of an unspoken rule that states I can’t?”

I practically withdrew into myself, as if I was trying to shrink into a tiny ball on the ground. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to sound— sorry. I’ll shut up now.”

Gray’s POV:

Uh-Oh. Way to go, Grayson.

“No, that’s not what I meant,” I shook my head. “Listen, I’m not going to hurt you. That was never what I wanted from you.”

“We establishes that,” I said quietly, though I still wasn’t entirely sure. “But you’ve never been this nice to me before. It’s always flirting, even though you knew I didn’t like it. Whether I wanted it or not.”