Snippet #1916977

Greyson didn't fight the small smile that crept up on him when she nudged him. Neither, none, she knew what he meant. For a split second, he wasn't thinking about the awkward and tense air between them. He wasn't calling her a bitch in his mind. It was like old times, when they could laugh and joke and say 'screw the world' 'cause they were in it together. But things change. That fact was made clear by how the smile fell as the joke wore off like a bad drug and they remembered 'oh yeah, we're not two kids in love anymore.' He saw her take her eyes off of him out of the corner of his own and, like a habit, look straight ahead of her. Like he was doing now. Eyes fixed on absolutely nothing in particular, it's like he was looking just to make sure he was still in this world, but nothing was really registering in his mind.

Suddenly, she spoke up again. Good. Might as well kill all and any odd silence between them. Honestly, he felt like if the conversation didn't keep moving, it would fall apart completely. And he wasn't surprised about the outcome with her friends and all. It's hard to keep up with someone who was also trying to keep up with a kid. And work. And being forced into adulthood because of one decision. Then again, it takes two to make a dumb decision like that. Should he feel guilty? Nah. He knew the answer to that one. Can't feel bad for what you didn't know about, right? Right?

Her last two statements caught him off guard. Well, maybe he wasn't flashing his faults like a badge anymore, but the inside might not have been as golden as he'd portray it. However, Greyson couldn't focus on that thought. It actually felt... nice to hear someone say that. He looked down at the ground for a second, then around him, not sure how to return that. And was he happy? "Yeah... I'm happy," he answered out loud, his voice as even as ever. That wasn't necessarily a lie. He had friends, a place to stay, a steady job. Hell, he even had his own stray dog he'd feed whenever he crossed paths with the dog. He wasn't unhappy in the least. But, it's not the same kind of happiness you get when you're not caring about anything, only that one girl who stole your heart and your future, if you had one.

Greyson quickly turned to look at Emma. "Are you happy?" he asked, not meaning to snap the question back the way he did, but it suddenly felt important.