Safe Place to Fall

17

Grayson. 

I wake up on Sunday morning at 5:30AM. I quickly shower and bundle up in many layers. The weather has gotten colder within a matter of weeks. Once I am adequately dressed I head to the kitchen, grabbing an apple and a cup of coffee. I plan on taking Theo for breakfast once we get to the skating pond, but I am starving. I need something to tie me over for a while. 

I check my phone and see it is almost 6AM. I write dad a note and head to the truck. I blast the heat on as I back out the driveway. It has snowed quite a bit since yesterday. 

I talked to Trevor last night, Hanna is still sick. Theo wanted to visit her on the way home tonight, but Trevor advised against it. He said she has gotten worse and is fighting a fever now. 

I head over to Theo’s giving her a call when I’m halfway there. 

“Morning beautiful” I say when she answers

“Morning Gray” She yawns 

“I’m almost there, are you ready?” 

“Almost, I overslept” 

“No worries... I’ll come to the door okay?” I make the last turn to her street. 

“Okay.. I’ll unlock it now, just come in when you get here” She says before hanging up. 

I pull into the driveway a few minutes later and jump out of the truck, leaving it running to keep it warm. I go inside, the house is dark. I can see light coming from her bedroom, I pull off my boots and walk over, leaning on the door frame as I watch her. She moves around the room, grabbing sweaters and leg warmers. I approach her from behind, wrapping my arms around her. She melts into me right away, leaning her head back onto my shoulder. 

“Morning” She whispers

I lean down and kiss her exposed neck softly. 

“Grayson…” She whispers, I pull her around so we are facing one another.  I place my hands on her cheeks and pull her in, kissing her with need and hunger. She returns the kiss with lust and desire. Her hands go to the underside of my arms, her fingers are warm. Her nails grip my skin making me moan with pleasure.

I have to pull away before I feel like I am too carried away. 

“You should finish getting ready” I say as I sit on her bed and continue to watch her. A few minutes later she is bundled up, complete with mittens, a scarf and a toque. She reaches her hands out to me and I let her pull me up. We head out to the truck after Theo leaves Emily a note letting her know she won’t be home till later. 

We get into the warm truck and I pass Theo a blanket. She gets comfortable in the passenger seat. 

“Very thoughtful, off to a good start” She teases as I head out of town. 

“Well I like to think I thought ahead.. Can’t let you be cold” I place my hand on her thigh as I focus on the road. She is silent for a while, I take a peek at her and see she has fallen asleep. I smile to myself as I turn the radio on low. The visibility is not great, the snow is picking up.  I check my GPS to make sure I’m headed in the right direction. The town Theo mentioned is so small you could blink and miss it. 

Only about twenty minutes to go until we arrive. I looked up the small café and they are open at 7:30AM, we only have half an hour to kill before we can have breakfast. I slow the speed of the truck because I’m having a hard time seeing the road. A while later my phone buzzes letting me know we are near the turn off. Five minutes later we are in the small town. It is really pretty, little cottages line the roads, there is only one traffic light in the entire town. I drive to the café and park out front. 

Checking my phone and see we still have fifteen minutes to kill. I turn the music up slightly and look at Theo who is still fast asleep. After a few minutes I decide to wake her, I gently shake her shoulder. 

“Mhmm” She groans as she shifts in her seat. 

“Theo, we’re here..” I say softly, she turns her head towards me opening her eyes. 

“We’re here?” She repeats as she yawns 

“Yes, I thought we’d go have some breakfast before we go skating” 

“That sounds good... I’m starving... what time is it?” She stretches her arms out in front of her as she unbuckles her seatbelt. I see the open sign turn on in the café and I nod my head towards it letting Theo know it was time. 

“Ready?” I ask as I jump out, coming around to open her door. 

“Starved” She giggles as we run inside from the cold. 

We sit down at an empty table, we have our pick of the place, there is nobody here. I guess first thing in the morning on a Sunday there isn't a lot of traffic. 

“You kids are out early” The elderly waitress comes over to us. 

“Yes Ma’am.. We came to do some ice skating” I say 

“Well with weather like this I doubt you’ll be able to do that” She says as she sets down two menus on the table. 

“I’ll be back with coffee” She turns to leave. 

“One tea please” I say on Theo’s behalf. Theo smiles at me and mouths thanks.

“Well I guess I should have checked the weather beforehand. I’m sorry Theo. I know how much you wanted to do this” I say as I play with the sugar on the table.

“This is really nice still Gray.. We can always go ice skating some other time.. But what are we going to do now?” She looks around at the empty café. 

“One coffee, one tea.. Let me know when you're ready to order dears” The waitress comes back placing the two cups down in front of us. I pass Theo the tea and take the coffee. 

“Thank you” Theo smiles at her. 

“Well, we can stay in here and talk and get to know each other more if you’d like. Or we can just go home” I say hoping she doesn't want to leave. 

“I like the sound of that, very much. I want to get to know you better.. Maybe if the snow stops we can go for a walk later” She looks up at me. 

“Great, let’s see what looks good,” I say as I pick up one of the menus. Everything looks very appealing to me. Theo is not a super picky eater so I know she will enjoy some of the items as well. 

“Ready to order?” I ask her, she nods happily at me. 

I nod at the waitress who gets up from her seat, looks like she was working on a crossword puzzle. She walks over slowly and we order our food, she heads to  the kitchen. I turn back to Theo. 

“So, what do you want to talk about?” I ask her as I sip my coffee. 

“Well, I know the basic things about you, your favorite color is teal, your birthday is February 27th” She starts to say. 

“Okay, so what do you want to know?” I chuckle.

“Well, there is one thing I have been curious about since the first day I saw you” She looks at her hands instead of at my face. 

“What is that?” I am genuinely curious now. 

“Your tattoos, when did you get them? Do they have any special meaning?” 

“Ah, well the Dragon is in honor of my mom. She was fascinated by them, dad and I have matching ones. His is blue, as you know mine is purple, mom's favorite color” I explain to her. 

“And the other ones?” She asks 

“The one on  my hip is in memory of my childhood friend who died of cancer. Dad let me get it once I turned sixteen. The one on my back was to cover up a scar I got when I was six. I fell off a bunk bed and hit my dresser on my way down” 

“I’m sorry to hear about your friend” She says 

“Well, I have heard many things from Trevor about you, how you were an up and coming singer with your brother?” I ask her 

She simply shakes her head and stays silent. A few minutes go by without us talking, I feel like I stepped on a nerve. 

“Dad was driving us to a concert, the weather was like today’s.. Bad visibility. But Caleb and I wanted to perform so badly dad took us anyway. We got hit by a drunk driver and went into the ditch, the car flipped and Caleb and dad were both gone. They found me two days later.. I was all alone with my dead brother and father in the car with me for two days…I could hear the animals at night coming. I was so scared I was going to die along with my family.” She trails off looking out the window. 

“Theo.. I am so sorry.. I had no idea” I say as tears spring into my eyes.

“I have spent years thinking it was my fault, I begged to go to the concert and I got them both killed” She cries softly, her head hung low. 

“Theo, it wasn’t your fault.. You were ten years old. It’s not something that should be hung on your head” 

She nods and quickly wipes her tears away. “I’ve never really talked about that before. I’ve had it in a tiny box in the back of my head for years.. Sorry I suppose this is not exactly a first date kind of talk” She says as she fakes a smile at me. 

I reach over and hold her hand, giving it a small squeeze. 

I see the waitress coming with our food, I move my hand away so she can set the plates down. 

“Enjoy, let me know if you need anything else” She says as she looks at Theo then gives me a small glare. As if she thinks I have done something to hurt Theo and make her cry. 

We eat in silence for a while before I break the silence. 

“Before my mom died she told me that one day I would meet the woman of my dreams and that when I do everything will click into place. She said that I would feel it in my entire body, from my toes up to the hair on my head, I would know.. Theo.. I think you are the one she told me about” I tell her as we finish our food. 

“Grayson…” She whispers.

“I know” I say. 

The storm has let up, we go for a small walk, Theo shows me the pond she used to skate on with her dad and brother. 

“It’s so beautiful here.. I had forgotten” She says as she looks around the pond. 

“It is very pretty” I say as I keep my eyes on her, She looks gorgeous with the snow all around her. 

“I really missed it here… I had some great memories here” She whispers as she steps forward to the ice. 

“We will come back and go skating next time” I tell her as we head back to the café. 

We have some hot cocoa and head back home. We listen to music and sing along to each song on the way back. 

“I had a great day Grayson. Thank you” She says as I park in her driveway. 

“I had a great time too, Theo. Thank you for taking me to such a special place” I say as I walk her to the door. 

“Do you want to come in for a while, maybe watch a movie?” She asks 

“Sure that sounds like a perfect ending to the day” I say as we head inside. 

We curl up in her bed and watch a movie, Theo falls asleep on my shoulder halfway through. Once the movie is done, I peel myself free from her and tuck her in. I exit her room gently closing the door behind me. As I’m heading out of the house I see Emily in the kitchen. 

“Oh Grayson, how are you dear?” 

“Ma’am, I’m doing well thank you, and yourself?” I ask her. I feel like I have to be very formal with her as she is a teacher at the school as well as Theo’s guardian. 

“Grayson, please just call me Emily.. I’m very pleased to see how happy Theo is these days. She has had such a hard life. Losing so much at such a young age. I’ve watched over her from afar for years, hoping the future would be better for her.. I can safely say that you are the reason for her happiness” 

“I’m glad to hear that, she makes me extremely happy too”