Forever And Ever

30. Grayson

"Who wants to tell me what happened?" Mr. Perkins sighs as he sits down and rubs his temple. "Or should I just start with what Jack said?"

When we don't answer, he sighs. "Very well. Jack claims that he didn't start it. He said that he was just talking to the two of you when Grayson attacked him. Is that true?"

"Why the fuck would you think that's true?" Emery glares at him.

"Miss Jenson now is not a good time for your attitude. I understand that Mister Woods is your friend, and you would want to protect him, but you cannot—"

"I'm not fucking protecting anyone," Emery snaps. "Jack started it. He's an asshole. It was his fault."

"Did he hit Mister Woods first?" Mr. Perkins glares at Emery.

"No," I say before Emery can reply. "He was just saying a bunch of bullshit. He's been harassing Emery for a couple of days and I'm sick of it."

"I'd like to speak to Miss Jenson alone," Mr. Perkins says after a minute.

Emery gets tense but nods. Devyn and I stand up and walk out of the door.

"Thank you, for taking care of her," Devyn says after a couple of seconds of silence. "I don't want to even think about what he would have done if she was alone."

"I'll always take care of her," I murmur, staring at the door and willing Emery to hurry up.

"I know you will, Grayson," Devyn sighs. "That's why I like you two together. I know you're always going to watch out for her."

"So you're not mad we're together?" I look at him.

"No," he sighs.

The door to Mr. Perkins's office opens and Emery comes walking out.

"Let's go," Emery mumbles to us. I quickly get up and follow her, with Devyn close behind.

"What happened?" I ask her.

"We're all suspended," she says, not breaking her stride.

"Yeah, I kind of—"

"What the hell did I do?" Devyn frowns, cutting me off.

"It's only for three days, Devyn," Emery sighs, finally slowing down.

"Okay, good," he grumbles as he turns around and walks out of the school.

"What about me? I'm guessing it's probably longer than three days," I murmur.

"Yeah," she purses her lips. "We have two weeks."

"You do too?" I frown. "But you didn't do anything wrong. You shouldn't even be getting—"

"I don't care that I'm getting suspended, Gray," she smiles softly, grabbing my hand. "That's not what I'm worried about."

"Then what? I know you didn't want me to get us into trouble—"

"Gray," she says again, squeezing my hand gently. "I'm not worried about me, I just didn't want you to get suspended and then have to stay here by myself. I don't want to deal with Jack alone."

"Oh," I whisper. That makes sense. I don't want her alone with him either. I don't trust him.

"Come on," she sighs, pulling me towards my car. "Let's just go home."

We get into my car and she takes my hand again. She lifts it to her face and presses kisses all over it.

"I have bruise cream at home," she whispers against my knuckles. "I'll help you when we get home."

"I don't need bruise—"

"Don't fucking argue with me, Gray," she narrows her eyes at me.

"Okay," I smile softly as I start driving.

Emery continues holding my hand and kissing it softly.

"Are you okay?" I mumble.

"I'm fine," she takes a deep breath. "Fuck, Gray. I thought he was going to hurt you. You scared the shit out of me."

"He didn't," I squeeze her hand reassuringly, and almost groan from the pain in my fingers. I shouldn't have hit him so many times.

"Did he hurt you?" I murmur.

"No," her voice sounds hoarse.

"Don't lie to me, baby," I bring her hand to my lips and kiss it. "If he hurt you, I need you to tell me."

"He didn't hurt me," she whispers as we pull up to her house. "Just scared me a little."

"I don't know what I would've done if he had hurt you again," I sigh, turning to face her.

"He didn't. I'm fine," she smiles sadly. "Come on. Let's go put some cream on your face."

I follow her inside and into the bathroom. She squats down and opens the cabinets before digging through them. Once she finds the cream, she hoists herself onto the counter.

"You're too damn tall for me to try to do this from my height," she huffs when she sees my questioning look.

"Okay," I laugh quietly and move to stand between her legs so she has better access to my face.

"This might sting a little," she whispers as she squeezes some of the cream onto her fingers and rubs it onto my outer eye.

I wince a little and she stops.

"Sorry," she murmurs.

"It's fine. Just do it," I squeeze my eyes shut.

She takes my hand and drapes it over her shoulder. "Squeeze my shoulder if it hurts," she mumbles before going back to rubbing the cream into my skin.

My breath quickens slightly from the pain and I rub my fingers through her hair. She flinches softly.

"What the hell is that?" My eyes snap open.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Emery bites her lip and focuses intently on her rubbing.

That's bullshit. We both know it. She knows exactly what it is.

"What's this bump from, Emmy?" I ask, even though I already know. Jack made her hit her fucking head.

"It doesn't hurt," she says quickly.

"Bullshit. You flinched when I touched it," I murmur, careful not to touch it again as I pull my hand back.

She takes my hand and rubs the cream into my knuckles, even though they aren't bruised. Just a little bloody.

"Emmy," I whisper, grabbing her chin and gently tilting her face up. "Let me look at it."

"Okay," she bites her lip and shifts on the counter so that I can see the back of her head.

I run my fingers over her scalp gently and freeze when she flinches again.

"You need to put ice on this," I mumble.

"No, I don't—"

"Emmy," I cut her off. "You need ice."