Chapter 23

Chapter 23

I had a lot of trouble sleeping last night. My mind just wouldn't shut off. It kept replaying many of the evens that happened and how I was almost assaulted again.

Like before, I stayed in my room almost all day. That was until Mom told me that Grayson's family was coming over for dinner yet again, including his mom and his sister. So instead of staying in my pajamas, I had to get changed. I still never told my parents or Tony what happened, and I didn't know if I was going to.

Mom called me downstairs, telling me that the Princes were here. I slowly got out of bed and went downstairs. As soon as I was downstairs, Grayson pulled me in a sudden hug -I didn't hesitate to hug him back, though.

"How are you?" he asked in a low voice.

"Tired," I replied, my voice as low. "I can't sleep." I hugged Grayson even tighter, feeling more comfortable than I had ever felt. I needed the comfort. Grayson didn't seem to mind how tight I was hugging him considering he kept hugging me.

"Poppy," Mom said, causing Grayson and I to pull away. "Why don't you and Grayson go to the basement and play some video games? Dinner won't be ready for another hour."

I nodded before Grayson and I went to the basement. "I'm not in the video game mood," I told Grayson as I sat on the couch.

Grayson sat beside me. "You still didn't tell your parents, did you?"

I sighed and shook my head. "I don't want to talk about it, Grayson. It keeps me up at night. I haven't slept since it happened. Not fully, that is."

"Talk to them," Grayson said. "They need to know."

"I can't talk about it," I said. "I don't want to. Please don't bring it up again. Please."

Grayson sighed. "I don't want to leave it alone. You need to talk to your parents."

"Just stop talking about it!" I said, raising my voice.

"No," Grayson said. "I'm not going to leave it alone. You know what happened when I left what happened to me alone? It continued to happen. I couldn't fight back and my mom did nothing, so I left it alone."

"That's different," I muttered, crossing my arms and leaning back into the couch.

"How so?" Grayson asked. "If anything, you had it easy compared to me."

I scoffed. "What, you're saying that me being assaulted was easy?"

"That's not what I meant," Grayson said. "What I meant was that you were sixteen when you were first assaulted. I was ten when my dad and brother started beating me. You really think what you're going through is difficult? Try going through what I did."

Grayson stood up and walked towards the stairs. "Where are you going?" I asked.

"To tell your parents about what happened," Grayson said.

My eyes widened. "What? No, Grayson, please don't!"

Grayson continued walking up the stairs anyway. "If you won't, then I will!"

I got up and followed Grayson. "Grayson, please!" I was nearly begging him not to.

He was too stubborn. He wasn't listening to me at all. He was already up the stairs and to the living room where everyone else was. "Gene, Izzy," Grayson said. "May I speak with you for a moment?"

"Since when are you this polite?" I heard Grayson's dad mutter. Rude.

"What about?" Dad asked, standing up from the couch he was sitting on, as did Mom.

"Your daughter," Grayson said. "It's urgent."

"We'll go outside," Dad said, leading the way outside. Grayson ended up grabbing my wrist and gently pulling me with him. Mom closed the patio door so nobody else could hear.

"What about Poppy?" Mom said.

I looked at Grayson, trying one more time to convince him not to tell. "Please don't," I begged in a quiet voice.

"They have to know," Grayson said.

"Know what?" Mom asked in a worried voice.

"Know why Poppy has been acting so distant lately," Grayson said. "On Friday night, at the party..."

"Grayson, please!" I begged. I trusted him more than everyone. If he didn't respect that I didn't want my parents knowing, then what did that say about him? About us?

"At the party," Grayson continued. "Poppy was..."

"Please!" I continued to beg. "Please, don't."

Grayson looked at me as if he was contemplating. Then he said the words I didn't want him to say. "Poppy was nearly assaulted."

Mom and Dad looked at me, eyes widened. They didn't say anything; they seemed to be in shock from the news.

I, on the other hand, was angry at Grayson. "Yeah, thanks for listening to me. I thought you were the only who actually understood me!"

"I do!" Grayson said. "Remember what happened to me? At ten years old? It continuously happened because nobody was there to stop it. If your parents didn't know about it, it could keep happening."

"Wait, Poppy, you were almost assaulted again?" Dad asked. "By who? And why didn't you tell us?"

"I didn't want to talk about it," I muttered.

"Poppy," Mom said in a worried tone. "Who tried assaulting you? Do we know him? Did you even know him?"

I just looked away. This was the conversation I wanted to avoid but Grayson just had to ignore and tell my parents anyway. I thought I was able to trust him with anything. I guess not.

"Yes, to both questions," Grayson answered for me. "It was Ben. I was able to stop him before he did anything bad. He was very close to doing it though."

"Ben?" Dad asked. "Ben?! And you never told us, Poppy?"

"I'm calling his parents," Mom announced. "They need to know that neither of it was Poppy's fault and she's not lying about it."

"What?" I asked. "Mom, no! It's going to get worse if you talk to them!"

"How can it get worse?" Mom asked before both she and Dad went inside.

I looked at Grayson, feeling extremely angry. "Yeah, thanks a lot!" I said. "I didn't want my parents knowing because they're going to treat me like I'm some vulnerable girl!"

"I did what was right," Grayson said.

"No, you didn't," I said. "I wanted to handle this alone but you had to interfere and tell my parents. What part of 'please don't' didn't you understand?"

"Are you serious?" Grayson asked. "You need to stop taking something you have that I don't have for granted!"

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"I did what I did so you could have a relationship with your parents," Grayson told me. "Something I don't have. My mom left me to get abused from my dad. She wasn't there for me. I want your parents to be there for you."

I sighed, feeling extremely stupid. Grayson was right; I was taking my parents for granted. They wanted to help but I didn't want them to. And Grayson wanted his mom to help him, but she didn't.

"I feel like such an idiot," I said. "You're right. I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Grayson said. "Just please let your parents be there for you. If I can't have that, you should at least have it. I care about you too much to let you try to handle this alone."

It was nice to have Grayson being there for me after everything. Even though we weren't together, he was still there. It was a nice feeling.

I just wished we were together again.