Cross My Heart

“Grayson, please, just answeh yeh phone … I’m sorreh. I didn’t mean what I said!”

“Gray, c’mon … I ‘ate not talkin’ teh yeh! And I ‘ate fuckin’ answerin’ machines! I don’t want teh tell yeh what I ‘ave teh say in a message. Please, call meh back!”

“Grayson Jane Andrews, I love yeh and if yeh love meh back, yeh’ll answeh the next time I call! I just need one minute - sixteh seconds teh explain mehself! Gray … I just … I love yeh and I need to ‘ear yeh voice, alright?”

Grayson continued playing each message that Oliver had left her as she sat on her couch, shoveling another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth. She’d already heard each one before, but the sick, twisted part of her loved to hear the desperation that came out of Oliver’s mouth with each voicemail. And she had no doubt that he would be leaving more, if she’d delete some, but as it was, her voicemail was full.

Oliver had even tried coming to the apartment a few times, and although Leah grew close to letting him inside once or twice, he’d never gotten through the door. Ignoring Oliver also meant avoiding her job, and she could only hope that the other workers wouldn’t be too angry with her for not showing up.

After listening to the last message, Grayson set her phone down and spread her legs out, truly feeling like the definition of a slob. Her hair was tossed into a sloppy bun and she was wearing an old dark blue band shirt that had once belonged to Oliver back in his ‘chubbier’ days, complete with holes and all. A pair of yellow and green checkered shorts clad her legs, barely reaching past her bum. The pint of ice cream she was eating out of sat on her stomach and she sighed as she took another bite of the dairy product.

“I have another date with Josh tonight. Are you gonna be alright if I leave?” Leah asked as she walked into the room, taking a seat on the recliner.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I mean, you’re not gonna try and do something stupid, right?”

Grayson rolled her eyes. “I’m not suicidal, Leah.”

“Just making sure,” the older girl said, slipping on her red heels. Once she had them on her feet, she leaned back into the chair. “Can I ask you a serious question, Gray?”

“Why not?” she offered, licking her spoon.

Leah seemed to take a moment to think about what she was going to say before finally letting it out. “I’ve seen Oliver hurt you multiple times, and yet you always seem to forgive him. What makes him so special? I mean, what sets him aside from any other guy you’ve met?”

“Everything,” Grayson answered right away, not missing a beat. “Everything about Oliver makes him special. Not just his looks, but the way he talks and the way his whole face lights up when he smiles or when he’s really excited about something. He likes to come off as a conceited man, but if you bother to look deeper, you’ll see that he’s slightly unsure of himself, just like every other person. When he laughs, he makes you want to laugh – it’s just that contagious. We understand each other in a way that no one else has ever been able to.” She stabbed her ice cream with her spoon a few times. “And I know I’m crazy for loving him, believe me, I know that. But … it’s something I can’t help. He can be an asshole and sometimes he says the wrong things at the wrong time, but he’s also got a good heart and … I don’t know. I think it goes for anyone who’s in love: you see something in someone that just pulls you in and makes you want to stick around. For me, that person is Oliver.”

Leah gave her a smile and grabbed her purse from the coffee table. “I thought you’d say something like that. I love you, Gray and don’t kill me, okay?”

“What’re you talking about?”

“Bye!” her sister shouted before slamming the door shut.

Grayson laughed to herself and shook her head as she stood up, going to the kitchen to put her melting ice cream back into the freezer. However, as soon as she lifted her eyes, she froze, her breath hitching in her throat. There, in the middle of her kitchen, stood Oliver, his hands shoved in his pockets with the most peculiar look on his face. Grayson shifted on her feet, trying to pull down the ends of her pajama shorts.

“I, uh … I didn’t-“ before she could finish her sentence, her face was being held between Oliver’s hands and his lips were pressing against hers, awakening every nerve in her body. Her heart began hammering against her chest and butterflies blossomed in her stomach.

When he pulled away, his beautiful hazel eyes gazed at her. “I were an arsehole, Gray. I didn’t mean anyfing I said and I onleh said it because when I saw yeh wif Findleh, and the way yeh were ‘oldin’ ‘er, I realized ‘ow much I loved yeh,” he said gently, the pads of his thumbs brushing against Grayson’s cheeks. “I got scared and I got angreh wif mehself fer bein’ scared and I took it out on yeh. I need yeh teh forgive meh, Gray … I can’t take not ‘avin’ yeh in meh life.”

Grayson sniffled and held back her tears, giving him a small smile. “Don’t I always forgive you, you stupid boy?”

Oliver’s face lit up with a smile and he pressed another kiss against her lips. “Did yeh mean everehfing yeh said?” She gave him a confused look. “What yeh told Leah, did yeh mean it?”

Grayson blushed and nodded her head. “I meant every word, Oli.”

He pressed his forehead against hers. “I still don’t fink I deserve yeh, but I want yeh teh be mine.”

“Then ask me.”

“Grayson, will yeh be meh bird?”

“No,” she joked, making him pout and her laugh. “Yes! You have no idea how long I’ve waited for you to ask me that!”

He grinned. “’M sorreh, love.”

“Do you think we can try and go for a period of time where you don’t do something you have to apologize for?”

Oliver laughed. “I can try.”

“Yeah, you better,” she said, poking his chest.

He grabbed the ice cream from her hands and set it on the counter behind him before pulling her into a tight hug, nuzzling his face into her neck. “Yeh smell like oranges.”

She laughed, her own face buried against his neck. “It’s my body wash.”

“Smells ‘eavenleh,” he commented before placing a soft kiss against her skin. “’Ey, Gray?”

“Hmm?” she hummed, her fingers tracing his flower tattoo.

“I'm in love wif yeh,” he whispered into her ear, shooting a shiver down her spine.

She grinned, pressing a kiss against his collarbone. “Promise?”

“Cross meh ‘eart, beautiful.”