Chapter 25

Chapter 25

~Grayson~

I was extremely confused when Poppy wasn't in the parking lot. I offered to drive her home and she told me she would wait in the parking lot. I didn't get it.

Instead of wondering where she went, I texted her. I hoped she didn't get a ride from someone else. We were becoming so close again and I didn't want to lose it.

After a minute or so, she messages me back. I read the message, mad at first that her dad picked her up, but then I reread the text. Something was up. She never used full sentences when she texted and she rarely capitalized the first letter. She was a lazy texter, so why was she taking her time with this?

I reread it again and again until something popped out. The first letter of each word was capitalized, but the word 'I' wasn't. Then I looked at all the capitalized letters. H. E. L. P. M. E.

…Help me. Crap! Poppy was in trouble! It must have been Dedrick! He knew Poppy was my weakness and now, he was getting my revenge. I needed to find out where there were, but that was next to impossible. They must have a hide out somewhere and the only people who would know it would be Dedrick, Devon, Adam, Jace, and most likely Belle.

Wait. Belle. It was a long shot, but I was going to risk it.

I got into my car and drove to Belle's house. Her house was just two down from mine, luckily. If I didn't know where she lived, I would have been very stuck.

I got out off my car and knocked repeatedly on the front door of Belle's house until her mom answered. "Can I help you?" she asked. Belle's mom didn't know of me, thankfully. If she did, she would probably only know the bad things and would have slammed the door in my face.

"Can I speak to Belle, please?" I asked.

She gave me a skeptical look before calling Belle down the stairs. Belle appeared by the front door, looking shocked to see me. "What are you doing here?" she asked. It wasn't in a hating way. More of curious.

"I need your help," I said. "It's about Poppy."

Belle looked at me for a bit before turning inside her house. "Mom?! I'm going out for a bit!" Her mom replied with a simple 'Okay' before Belle stepped outside and closed the door. "What about her? Is she okay?"

"I think she's in trouble," I said. "And that Dedrick and Devon are involved."

"And why do you need my help?" Belle asked.

"I'm guessing they're in some sort of hide out," I said. "And I'm guessing you know where it would be." Belle didn't reply, but the look she had was enough confirmation. "Please. I don't want Poppy getting hurt."

Belle sighed. "Fine. I'll show you where it is."

"Thank you," I said. I led her to my car and we climbed in. Belle gave me the directions to the hideout. When we got there, I knew Devon was there for sure. His car was parked in a parking lot by a forest.

"I'm coming," Belle announced.

"If Poppy is here, what will Devon think when he sees you helping me?" I asked.

"Like I care," Belle said which shocked me a bit. I didn't question her though. "Look, I know this place inside and out. Knowing them, they have her kept in a small room. I can easily get in through the window. If you go through the main entrance, they'll be in the room there. You can distract them and I'll get Poppy and get out."

"And how would I know if you got her?" I asked.

"You'll know," Belle said before walking towards a path in the forest. I followed her and about a minute later, we were standing in front of a small, wooden cottage. "Devon's dad built this a year or so ago. He owns this property. Wait for a few seconds before going through the front door." She quickly jogged towards the opposite side of the house.

Like Belle told me, I waited for a few seconds before going in the house. Dedrick, Devon, Adam, and Jace were in there. "Where the hell is she?" I asked.

The four of them looked up at me, their expressions shocked. Dedrick spoke up right away, though. "Who are you talking about and how did you find this place?"

"You know who I'm talking about and I have my ways," I said. "Where is Poppy?"

"What makes you think she's here?" Devon asked.

"Because of the text she sent me," I said.

"How can you tell she's here when she told you she was studying?" Adam asked. Man, he was an idiot. He just admitted she was here.

Devon noticed Adam's slip up and slapped him. "Seriously?!"

"What?" Adam asked.

"I never said Poppy told me she was studying," I said. "And to answer your question, her text spelt out 'help me'. Let her go. She has nothing to do with this."

Dedrick stood up and walked over to me. "Really? You expect me to let her go? Not until my revenge is complete. And with you here, it makes it even better. Four against one. Not fair, is it?"

"What will you do?" I asked.

"Something that will bother you," Dedrick said with a smirk. "It will bother you with I have fun with her, right?"

Devon, Adam, and Jace were fast enough to grab my arms before I could hurt Dedrick. Normally, I could escape this situation, but not when it was these three holding me back. They were quite strong put together.

"Don't touch her!" I snapped. Poppy wouldn't be able to go through anything remotely similar to what Ben did. I knew Dedrick was going to do something worse if he knew it bothered me.

Hurry up, Belle... The only problem with Belle's plan was that she never told me exactly how I will know that she got Poppy out. She just told me that I would know

"So, it will bother you," Dedrick stated. "And just think, this isn't even half of the revenge."

"I swear, you will regret it if you touch her," I warned.

Dedrick, however, just smirked. "Who would have thought that Grayson Prince could ever fall in love with someone?"

"I'm not in love with her," I said through my clenched teeth. I couldn't let Dedrick know the truth. If he thought I only just liked Poppy, it would be nothing compared to what he would do if he found out I was in love with Poppy.

I'm in love with Poppy. I just realized that. I was totally screwed.

"Really?" Dedrick said. "Let's find out." He walked towards a door and I knew that everything was over then. Belle never gave me a signal, if there was one. But then Dedrick opened the door and exclaimed, "What the hell?!"

The three idiots released me and went to the door. "How is she gone?!" Devon asked.

Then, from outside, I heard Belle yell "Run Grayson!"

The four turned to me and before they could react, I quickly ran out the door where Belle was. With Poppy. I was so relieved to see her, I pulled her into a hug. "Thank God you're okay!"

"Now's not the time to hug!" Belle said, pulling the two of us apart. "We need to leave now!"

Before we could run back to my car, the four guys ran out of the house. However, Devon looked way to shock to do anything. "Belle?! You told Grayson where this place is?'"

"Man, some girlfriend," Dedrick said. "This is why I said she shouldn't know about this place."

"Ex-girlfriend," Belle corrected. "I told Devon I don't want to be with someone who resorts to violence to get their way."

"Poppy," I whispered while Devon and Belle argued. "Run to my car and start it." I pulled my keys out of my pocket and handed it to her. "Just follow the path behind us."

"Okay," Poppy said. She took a few discreet steps back before turning around and running away.

"She's getting away!" Dedrick said. Belle took the opportunity to turn an follow Poppy down the path. As soon as the four started running, I did too. I had to get to my car before them.

I reached the end of the forest where my car was. Poppy and Belle were already in there and it was started up. I jumped over the driver's door and quickly pulled out of the parking lot.

"They'll follow us," Belle said. "We can't go to any of our houses!"

"Then where should we go?" I asked.

"What's a place they hate?" Poppy asked. "And where they would never go to?"

Belle thought for a bit. "There's a park they refuse to go to. I don't know why... "

"Is it by the seafood place?" I asked.

"Yeah that one," Belle asked. "How did you know?"

"Did Devon ever tell you how I allegedly almost killed him?" I asked.

"No," Belle said. "He refused to talk about it."

"Then you should know that I didn't almost kill him," I said. "I almost had him killed."

"What's the difference?" Belle asked.

"If I almost killed him, then it would have been intentionally," I said. "But it wasn't. Devon and I were friends before. And one day, Dedrick ran out of a bar we were hanging around and said we need to leave. I was the only one with my license so I drove but I wasn't paying attention and I crashed the car. Devon got severely injured as Dedrick turned out to have illegal drugs. He was arrested and they blamed me. And the crash was near the park."

"Are you serious?" Belle asked. "That's why they want revenge on you. Now I'm glad I dumped that loser."

I looked over at Poppy. "How are you holding up?"

"Besides being kidnapped, I'm just fine," Poppy said with a hint of sarcasm. "I was scared. I was worried they would... .you know."

"Like what Ben did," Belle said. "Poppy, I'm sorry I believed him when there was actual proof of what he did. I was just in denial. And I'm sorry I made everyone at school hate you."

"It's fine," Poppy said.

"Really?" I asked. "You're forgiving her like that?"

"She got you to stop Ben," Poppy pointed out. "And she helped you get me. That's good enough for me. Besides, I missed my best friend."

"Me too," Belle said. "Any chance we can go back to being friends?"

"We can try," Poppy said.

I rolled my eyes. Poppy had a point about how Belle helped her but in my opinion it didn't make up for the way Belle treated her.

I pulled into the parking lot of the park. "Now what?" I asked.

"We just wait here for a bit," Belle said. "They'll give up eventually. In the meantime, I'm going to get some food. You two want anything?"

Poppy and I shook our head, so Belle got out of the car and went towards a food stand.

"Thanks for getting me," Poppy said. "I was afraid you wouldn't get the message."

"I just know you really well," I said.

"Dedrick told me something," Poppy said. "He said that you breaking up with me was your way of protecting me. Is it true?"

"I think I made that pretty clear when I broke up with you," I said. "But after what happened with Ben, I realized that being with you is the best way to protect you. I miss you."

Poppy didn't say anything. Instead, she leaned forward and pressed her lips against mine. Her hand rested gently on my cheek as I kissed her back. I missed her so much.

"Poppy?" I murmured against her lips.

"Hmm?"

"I love you," I said before I could stop myself.

Poppy pulled away and looked at me, eyes widened. Crap, why did I say that? I just got her back. What if she didn't feel the same way?

"That... That wasn't supposed to come out," I said with a sigh.

"Is it true?" Poppy asked me.

I looked at her, trying to read her emotion. She was giving me nothing though. But then I realized that if I lied to her and say I didn't, she might actually feel the same way and she would be heartbroken. And if she didn't feel the same way, she should at least know how I felt.

"I love you, Flower," I said honestly.

Poppy smiled as she pressed her lips against mine again. I didn't know if she felt the same way, but at least I knew she accepted it.

Suddenly, someone clearing their throat made Poppy and I quickly pull apart. However, I moved away too fast and bumped my elbow on the car horn, making a loud but short honk.

Belle snorted. "Glad to see you two get along," she said as I rubbed my elbow. "Anyway, the boys should have given up by now. We can go."

I started up the car as Belle got in. "Where to first?" I asked.

Poppy suddenly got a text message. "Um, my parents are going out of town," she said. "I'll be home alone..."

"I'll stay with you," Belle offered. "Life at home has been a bit boring to me recently."

"Okay," Poppy said with a smile.

I pulled out of the parking lot and drove to Poppy's house. When I got there, Belle got of the car first and walked towards the house.

"Poppy?" I said before she could walk away. "Any chance we can be together again?"

In reply, Poppy kissed my cheek. "I'll see you later."

I smiled as I pulled out of the driveway and to my house.