I should leave her alone and let her come to me in her own time, but I’m selfish. I wanted to see her now. Ineededto see her.
Lifting my hand, I knock on the door and shift on my feet.
What if she doesn’t want to see me?
Welp, too late for that now.
The door swings open andPayton stands there with a huge grin on her face. “Hey, Greyson.”
“Hey,” I smile, shifting my feet again. “Is Lilly here?”
I knew she was here.
She shared her location with me just after Thanksgiving so I could know she got back to campus safe. She jokingly told me not to stalk her, but I did. Numerous times. Hence why I knew she was here.
She chuckles, pulling the door open more and invites me in. “Yep, she’s here. And she’s been in a sour mood all day.”
Okay, so it’s not just me she’s been off with…that makes me feelslightlybetter.
“She’s in her bedroom, be prepared for her to tell you to fuck off when you knock though.” She laughs.
I sigh, giving her a tight smile before walking down the hallway toward her bedroom. Lifting my hand, I knock gently, praying she’s awake.
“Fuck off!” She grumbles.
I chuckle, exactly what Payton told me to expect.
Ignoring her command, I instead twist the handle and walk in. Music plays lowly from the speaker on her desk, the room is dark except for the fairy lights on her headboard, and a light in the corner that’s glowing the room a soft purple.
She’s tucked up in her bed, turned away from the door, the duvet all the way up to her neck with her hand in a bag of popcorn while she scrolls through her phone.
She was deliberately ignoring my text?
“Hey.” I say, gaining her attention.
She jumps, clearly not expecting me to be here. “Greyson?” She looks at me with wide eyes. “What are you doing here?”
Stepping into her room, I close the door softly behind me. “I thought maybe you weren’t feeling well, so I came with some stuff.” Holding the bag up to show her, I take a step forward.
The plan was to come straight here to see her, but when I got into my car I made a detour toward the local store and picked up a bunch of snacks and other things.
I don’t know how to take care of someone, I’d never done it before. But I wanted to take care of her, to let her know that I was there. That I’malwaysgoing to be there.
Sitting up, she leans against the headboard and tilts her head to the side. “You got me snacks?” She asks, shock evident in her voice.
“Tampons and pads too,” I nod. “Why are there so many different kinds of both? I had to ask the woman who worked there what type I should be getting and—” I nervously chuckle. “I’m getting off track.”
Walking closer, I place the bag down onto the bed and look up to see tears glistening in her eyes. “You got me tampons?”
“Yeah,” I nod, scratching the nape of my neck. “I uh, I didn’t know if you started your period or something…I got snacks too.”
Opening the bag, she gasps when she pulls out the numerous bags of popcorn—buttery, salty, sweet, cinnamon, salted caramel, toffee, and even a cookies and cream flavor. I couldn’t leave the store with just one packet, I had to get every flavor they had because she deserved them all.
“Greyson…” Her voice cracks as her lip quivers.
Droplets of tears fall from her eyes. “Lil-Bug,” I say, sitting on the edge of herbed, and bringing her to my chest. “Why are you crying, baby?”
She sniffles. “Nobody has ever done anything like this for me before.”
