Chapter 29

Chapter 29

I was hoping Grayson would have called me to tell me how things went once he told his mom what his dad and brother almost did. He never did. I was getting a bit worried about him to be honest. I knew nothing bad could have happened but why wasn't he calling me?

Mom and Dad returned home later in the afternoon. Belle was still at my house because we were catching up and going back to be best friends. I missed her being my best friend a lot and I was happy that we were able to both put the incident with Ben behind us.

"Poppy," Mom said, walking upstairs from the dining room. She was holding a cell phone in her hand. "Whose phone is this?"

I grabbed it from her and looked at it. "Oh, that's why he wasn't calling!" I said to myself. I looked at my mom. "It's Grayson's phone. He must have left it here last night."

Mom raised an eyebrow. "Grayson was here last night? I thought you only asked for Belle to sleepover."

"It wasn't my fault," I said. "He invited himself in and refused to leave because of, well, let's just say family problems at home. But he slept on the basement couch while I slept in my room."

Mom sighed. "Even when you're not dating, you and Grayson are still close."

"Well," I said. "He actually asked me for another chance yesterday. We're got back together."

I, honestly, expected a harsh look from Mom; narrowed eyes and the shake of her head. That was not the case. She smiled instead. "I'm happy for you," she said. "I know how much you like him."

"I hate to interrupt," Belle said, "but I really need to get home. My mom needs to talk to me about what's happening with Ben."

"I'll drive you," Mom offered.

"Thank you," Belle said as she stood up from the couch. She walked over to me and gave me a hug. "I'm really happy we're friends again.

"Me too," I said.

Right as Mom was about to open the door to leave, someone knocked on the door. Mom opened it, revealing Grayson. "Can I come in?" he asked Mom.

"Of course," Mom said. She moved aside to let Grayson in, then she left with Belle.

"Hey," I said, walking over to him. "You left your phone here, by the way." I held it out for him and he took it.

"No wonder I couldn't find it," he said as he put it in his jeans' pocket. "So I have some good news. I told my mom about what my dad and Graeme did to me the day she left and she was pissed. So she told me to pack my things. I now live with just her and Ginny."

I smiled. "That's great, Grayson!"

"Yeah, it is," Grayson said, a smile matching mine. "We don't live far from here, actually. My new house is closer to here than my old house was."

"Is it weird just living with your mom?" I asked.

"Well, it is a bit weird even though it's been a few hours," he admitted. "But at least I know that she still loves me. Though me getting almost beaten to death happened five years ago, she doesn't trust my dad to raise me even more. Like when my dad said that he raised me for five years, my mom said and I quote 'Raised? Don't you mean beat him to a point where he almost died?'"

"Wow, your mom sounds pretty awesome," I said.

"Yeah, she is," Grayson agreed. "I never even realized how much I missed her. I was just angry at her, but now that she took me away from my dad, I couldn't be happier."

"Want to go out to celebrate?" I asked. "We can go to the café near the beach."

"Yeah, sure," Grayson said.

I turned towards the stairs. "Dad?!" I called. "I'm going out!"

"With who?!" he called back.

"My boyfriend!" I replied. Then I remembered that Dad never knew Grayson and I were back together.

"Boyfriend?!" he asked. "What boyfriend?! Do I know him?! Does he treat you well?! How long have you two been together?! Don't you still like Grayson?! Does he have a car?! I ship you and Grayson, you can't have a boyfriend!" I rolled my eyes at my dad's last comment and his question about the car.

"Dad, you're not allowed to ship people!" I told him. "It's a teenage thing!"

"I can ship my daughter with whomever I want!" Dad replied. "You're not allowed to go out with your boyfriend unless his name is Grayson Prince!"

"Dad, relax! It is Grayson!"

"Oh, okay! Have fun then!"

I shook my head with a smile as I followed Grayson outside and to his car.

"You're dad is really interesting," Grayson commented as we drove to the beach. "Ship? What kind of Dad ships his daughter with someone?"

"Mine," I said with an eye roll. "On the bright side, at least we know that he approves of you."

"Which is quite shocking to be honest," Grayson said. "Not many people do."

"That's because they don't know you," I said. "You're a really sweet guy once someone gets to know you, which is another reason why I love you."

Grayson smiled. "I love it when you tell me that you love me. I rarely hear those words."

"Way to turn this conversation depressing," I said.

Grayson shook her head. "I didn't mean to. It's just... .my dad and brother never told me that they love me and my mom left five years ago so I couldn't have heard it from her. But hearing it from you makes up for all the years of me not hearing it."

"Then in that case," I said. "I love you."

"I love you too, Flower," Grayson said. "Now stop distracting me so I can drive."

We spent the rest of the drive jamming out to music on the radio. Well, I was jamming out. Grayson was begging for me to turn of the 'horrible' music but I didn't listen.

When we got to the café, I immediately knew that something was wrong. Grayson didn't notice, but I could have sworn that the car parked besides Grayson's was Dedrick's car. I could recognize it ever since they kidnapped me.

When we got to the café, Grayson and I both ordered a coffee and a cookie. The cookies here were amazing and I couldn't help but get one.

I was sitting across from Grayson, facing the door. I saw Devon and Dedrick walk by the window beside the door, making me even more nervous. What if they saw us? What if they saw Grayson's car and realized we were here?

"Are you okay, Flower?" Grayson asked.

I turned my attention to him and nodded. "Yup, just lost in thought."

"Are you sure?" Grayson asked. "Because you just looked like you saw a ghost." He finished drinking his coffee and pulled me up from my seat since I was already finished. "You need some fresh air."

Before I could object, Grayson pulled me outside since we were sitting close to the door. "I'm fine, Grayson," I told him. "Really."

Grayson pulled me to the alley beside the café. "Poppy, I know when something's bothering you," he said. "I know you just as well as you know me."

"I'm fine," I said. "I promise."

"Promise?" Grayson asked.

I smiled, hoping it didn't look to forced. "Yeah."

"Okay," Grayson said. "If something's ever bothering, don't be afraid to tell me."

"I won't," I said.

"Good," Grayson said. "Because I care about you a lot." To prove it, he tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear, leaving his hand on my cheek before leaning down and gently pressing his lips against mine.

"Well well well, what do we have here?" a voice said suddenly, causing Grayson and I to pull apart. I knew that voice all too well. I didn't have to face him to know that it was Dedrick. The nastiness in his voice basically gave it away.

However, I turned to face him. My heart stopped immediately once I saw what he was holding.

A gun. And it was pointed at me.

"What are you doing here?" Grayson asked. I could tell that he was nervous. He was afraid.

"Oh, my cousin and I was spending the time at the beach," Dedrick said casually. "And Devon said 'Hey, since we have Poppy's phone, why not track to see where Grayson is?'" I forgot that he still had my phone. "So we did and we found at that he was here at the beach. And since we couldn't get revenge last time, we're doing it now." His voice changed from casual to very nasty. "I have one bullet in this gun. One. I will shot if you don't cooperate."

"What do you want?" Grayson asked.

"First, your cell phone," Dedrick said. "I don't want you calling anyone." Grayson reached in his pocket, pulling out his cell phone before tossing it to them. Devon caught it and immediately smashed it on the ground.

"Wait a second," Devon said. "Dedrick, why torture them any longer when we both know what you're going to do in the end?" The way he said it made me know that they planned this out before hand.

"You're right," Dedrick agreed. "Grayson, you almost killed my cousin and you got me sent to jail. Now, I'm going to take away the one thing you care about."

Everything next seemed to have happened in slow motion. Dedrick's finger that was on the trigger moved slowly and before I knew it, I heard the BANG! I never felt the bullet hit me. Because it hit someone else.

I watched in horror as Grayson slumped to the ground, seeming to be lifeless. Dedrick and Devon both left in a hurry. He had one bullet. He couldn't shot anymore.

I bent down beside Grayson. "Grayson?" I asked in a whisper. "Grayson, please be awake." I then saw where the wound was and honestly, it gave me a bit more hope. People who usually get shot in the shoulders normally survived, right?

I didn't know what to do. I watched stuff like this happen on TV shows and movies, but I never thought I would actually experience it.

"Poppy?" a voice said. I looked up, feeling so relieved to see Tony. As it turned out, the café was his favorite spot to be when he didn't have class. He then rushed over, realizing what was going on. "I heard a gunshot."

"Grayson got shot," I said, a sob forming at the back of my throat. "What do we do?"

"Apply pressure," Tony said as he pulled out his cell phone. He called for an ambulance as I looked around for something I could use to stop the bleeding on Grayson's shoulder. There was nothing though, so I had to resort to using my hands.

Tony hung up his cell phone. "They should be here shortly. Who shot him?"

"Belle's ex-boyfriend and his cousin," I said. "They... they were aiming for me but Grayson didn't let that happen."

Tony began to help applying pressure to Grayson's wound. "Why were two people trying to shoot you?!"

"It's a long story," I said. "Let's just say that they were trying to get revenge for something Grayson did and the only way to do that was to go after Grayson's weakness." I sighed and shook my head. "I-I should have told Grayson that I saw them here. It's all my fault... ."

"It's not your fault," Tony assured. "You never knew they were going to do something as crazy as pulling a trigger. Look, you know who they were. If you tell the police, they can easily find evidence against them."

I nodded, hoping he was right. "Why is nobody else coming out?"

"As soon as the gunshot was heard, everyone in the café hid," Tony explained. "I was just about to go in when I heard it. And being the stupid person I was, I came here to see what happened. Luckily they left."

"They only had one bullet," I said. I then looked at Grayson. "Wait. Why isn't he conscious?"

Tony checked for Grayson's pulse. "He still has a steady pulse. The ambulance will be here soon."

Soon was less than a minute. The paramedics quickly took over and loaded Grayson to the back of the ambulance as soon as possible. The police showed up right before the ambulance left and asked if any of us saw what happened. I told them what happened and who did it. Devon and Dedrick needed to be punished.

I just hoped Grayson was fine. I couldn't lose him.