Hey babes! Back again with a new chapter for ya! Only TWO MORE CHAPTERS LEFT! One legitimate chapter and then an epilogue. I'm so excited, you guys. But also kind of sad, too. But I have more stuff in store for this universe, so it won't be the end of it just yet.
Enjoy!
Pushing open the front door of his best friend's apartment, Kebo steps inside, closing the door behind him again as he peers into the living room in search of his friend.
"Grant, you ready to head out now, mate?" he calls out as as he makes his way deeper into the apartment, having not found him in the living room. "Hannah's waiting in the car, but you're being rather slow this morning and I don't think that I like it. If we miss our flight then we miss the wedding, and you know how much I hate breaking promises. Especially to people I care about." He leans down and greets Max with an affectionate head rub as he passes the dog in the hallway. "Where's your dad, huh? Is he moping about in his room?" Max lets out a bark and Kebo chuckles. "That's what I thought." He stands up straight and moves through the apartment toward Grant's room at the end of the hall, finding the other man lounging back on his bed, staring up at the ceiling with his guitar lying across his stomach; his fingers are on the frets and he's absentmindedly plucking at the strings. "Grant," Kebo speaks up, getting his friends' attention.
Grant tears his eyes away from the ceiling to look over at Kebo. He furrows his brows. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm picking you up so we can catch our flight to go to Massachusetts for Skye's wedding. Remember?"
Grant's face hardens and he looks away from his friend. "I changed my mind, I'm not going."
Kebo takes a few more steps into the room. "What do you mean you're not going?"
Grant sighs and sits up, setting his guitar on the ground, letting it lean against the wall. He looks over at his friend. "I mean I'm not getting on that plane and I'm not going to Massachusetts so I can watch the woman I'm still in love with get married to some other guy. I know I told her that I would go, but I can't. I just can't do it."
Kebo nods slowly and moves so he's leaning back against one of the bedroom walls, sliding his hands into his pants pockets. "No, I get it, I really do."
"How do you get it?" Grant asks. "You're not the one who's been in love with Skye for just over a decade."
Kebo nods curtly. "True. However, that doesn't mean it's not going to be excruciatingly painful for me to watch one of my closest friends marry some other bloke that I know can't possibly love her as much as you do, not with the history you two have together. I think you're forgetting who's been rooting for the two of you since the very first day you told me about the 'beautiful brown haired girl with mischief in her eyes' when we were on the playground. Even though we were kids, I knew you were hooked on her that first day and I know it still to this very day."
Grant lets a small smile cross his lips. "Yeah, that'll probably never change."
Kebo takes a deep breath and shifts on his feet. "Grant, I stood by your side as your Best Man when you married Skye all those years ago, I even helped you write your bloody vows even though you should have done it yourself; I know you're always going to love her. And as much as it truly pains me to say it, maybe you should consider moving on somehow. Things didn't work out with Lorelei, again, and they didn't work out with Sophia. Skye's going to be married to another guy very soon and there's nothing you can do about that."
"I know that, Kebo," Grant tells him through gritted teeth. "Believe me, I know that. But I can't go to her wedding and watch her pledge herself to someone else while I'm still in love with her. I just can't do it, Kebo. I'm sorry. You and Hannah are just gonna have to go without me."
"What am I supposed to tell Skye or Jessica if they ask me where you are?"
"Just tell them I think I've come down with something and didn't want to risk getting anyone else sick while there in case I am sick."
Kebo sighs. "Alright." He takes a deep breath and stands up from the bed. "But you're going to owe me big time for this, you hear? I could very well tell Skye that you simply didn't want to go, but I'm not going to do that because I'm your best friend and I genuinely care about you."
Grant rolls his eyes. "Whatever, Kebo. Just go, alright? Tell Skye I said congratulations and that I wish her and Miles all the best."
"You don't, though," Kebo counters.
"But she doesn't need to know that."
Kebo nods. "Right. I'll see you in a few days, then. While we're there Hannah and I are going to do a bit of exploring. I think Jess said that she wanted to take us around town and show us some of her favorite places to go."
"Yeah, okay. See ya." Grant lies back down on his bed and pulls his guitar onto his lap, plucking absentmindedly at the strings again as he stares up at the ceiling above him, searching for a non-existent pattern to occupy his mind.
Kebo sighs and then turns around and makes his way out of the bedroom, giving Max a pat on the head as he moves toward the front door. "Take care of him for me, boy." He gives Max a small smile before stepping out of the house.
"Where's Grant?" Hannah asks him once he pulls open the door of the car.
Kebo sighs as he climbs inside. "Still in the house. He said he's not going."
"What? He isn't?"
Kebo shakes his head. "Nope. Said he won't be able to sit through the ceremony and watch Skye get married to another man. Can't really blame him, though. It'll be tough for me and I'm not even in love with her."
"But I thought he was happy for her," Hannah says.
"He most definitely is not that," Kebo replies. "Well, I think he's happy that she's happy, but he wishes that she could be happy with him again. You didn't meet him until a few years after the divorce. He was absolutely devastated when Skye left him. His sister and I for sure thought he was going to do something crazy and hurt himself somehow. It took him a long time to come to terms with the fact that he'd probably never see Skye again because she promised to never come back to California if he was still here."
"And then the reunion happened," Hannah states.
Kebo nods. "Yeah. And he found out he has a daughter he never knew about and now Skye's back in his life because of that little girl whom he might have gone his whole life not knowing about had he not gone down to that room at the reunion. Now the woman he loves is marrying someone else and he thought he'd be able to be there to support her but he can't because he's still in love with her and knows he won't be able to keep that off his face if he goes there."
"But would she really know if no one told her?"
"Skye's always been the best at reading him so she'd know pretty quickly when she saw him. She might not say anything about it, because she wouldn't want to make things more awkward than they'd already be, but she'd know."
Hannah nods in understanding. "Ah, okay. So what are we saying if anyone asks us why he's not there?"
"That he's sick."
"Is he really sick?" Hannah asks as she pulls the car away from the curb.
Kebo scoffs. "Love sick."
.
.
.
Breathing in deeply, Grant opens his eyes and stares up at his bedroom ceiling for a long moment, his eyes roaming over the blank canvas above him.
Max barking loud in his ear pulls his attention away from the emptiness above him and he turns his head to see the large German Sheppard standing next to his bed, his head resting on the mattress.
"Hey, boy," he says with a small smile. "How are you?"
Max simply rises up and grabs the blanket wrapped around Grant in his teeth and pulls it down off of the man to the end of the bed. Then he rises up a little further and uses his wet nose to push roughly at Grant's side.
"What are you doing, Max?" Grant asks his dog.
Max continues to push on Grant, letting out a few barks as he does do.
Grant sighs, understanding what the dog wants. "Alright, alright, I'm getting up." He sits up on the edge of the bed and straightens out his t-shirt. He looks over at his dog. "Happy now?"
Max lets out a bark and then makes his way over to the bedroom door.
Grant stands up and follows after the dog, going to move into the kitchen when he hears a knock at the front door. "Sorry, boy," he says to the dog, pausing in his steps. "Looks like your food is going to have to wait for a few minutes."
There's another loud, quick knock at the door.
"Coming!" he calls out as he switches paths and makes his way toward the front door of his house.
A third knock sounds and he sighs.
"I said I'm coming!"
When he reaches the door and pulls it open he stills, his brows furrowing together in confusion when he sees the brunette woman standing in front of him, her hands wringing together and her bottom lip bit between her teeth.
"Skye?"
"You weren't there," she says simply, a small frown on her face.
"What?"
"My wedding," she clarifies. "You weren't there. And you said you were going to be there. Jess was pretty upset that she didn't get to see you."
Grant nods. "Right. I'm sorry. I uh, I started coming down with something and didn't want to risk anyone else getting sick if I showed up."
Skye just stares up at him before cracking a smile. "Liar."
The edges of Grant's lips twitch. "Yeah, I wasn't sick. And I'm sorry I missed it. But I just have one question for you right now."
"What?"
"Why are you here at my house in California instead of on your honeymoon with Miles in some other part of the world?"
Skye shifts on her feet. "Can I come inside?"
He shrugs. "I guess." He steps aside and allows her to move into his house.
Skye walks past him and then turns around to face him, still wringing her hands together. "Miles called the wedding off," she tells him once the door is closed.
He furrows his brows again. "What? Why would he do that?"
Skye swallows thickly. "Because he realized something that I was trying so hard myself to deny because I didn't want it to be true because I didn't want to get hurt again."
"And what would that be?" Grant asks her. "What did Miles realize?"
"That I'm still in love with you."
Grant's breath catches in his throat. "You're what?"
Skye shakes her head. "I know that's probably the last thing you want to hear from me right now after everything that's happened this past year, especially considering how just yesterday I was supposed to be getting married to another guy and the last time we saw each other I was pretty upset with you and I ju—"
Skye's eyes go wide at the rough yet gentle familiar feeling of Grant's lips on hers, cutting off her speech, her head tilting backward automatically to accommodate for their difference in height. She doesn't waste any time in reciprocating the kiss, cradling his face in her hands and pulling him closer to kiss him deeper.
Pulling away, Grant breathes heavily and rests his forehead against hers. "I'm still in love with you too," he whispers. "I always have been and I always will be."
"I'm really glad you said that," she tells him.
"So then what does this mean?" he asks. "What does all of this mean for us?"
Skye takes a deep breath. "I honestly don't know. I hadn't really thought that far ahead." She lets out a breathy laugh. "Showing up here and telling you how I feel was as far as I got in my plan. I even took a plane here, which we both know I hate doing, so that probably tells you a lot. I just wasn't sure if you'd take me back or not once I got here, considering how horrible I've been to you recently."
Grant smiles and strokes her cheek gently with his thumb. "It wasn't just you," he tells her. "I've been pretty awful too. And of course I take you back, Skye. I will always, always take you back. I am so madly in love with you."
Skye grins up at him. "And I am madly in love with you too. I don't know if I ever really stopped, but I tried to push it down, to get over you and move on. But I guess I just couldn't do it in the long run." She rises up onto her toes to press her lips to his again.
Grant smiles against her lips, kissing her deeper.
After a moment he pulls away to look at her. "We should probably talk, though," he tells her.
She shakes her head, going for his lips again. "I don't want to."
He moves his head back. "Skye..."
She sighs. "Fine." She drops her hands and steps back, a frown forming on her face as she moves away from him.
"Hey, don't be like that," he says, taking a small step forward. "I just think that we should talk about some stuff before things between us really go anywhere. That's all."
"What's there to talk about?" she asks. "We just kissed and said we still love each other. Shouldn't that be enough? I know you've wanted me back since the moment you saw me again so why are you insisting that we talk right now?!"
"Because we need to," he tells her. "Yesterday you were supposed to be getting married to another guy, you said so yourself. We can't just overlook that. And we live on opposite sides of the country. We also have Jess to think about. What if things don't work out again between us? What is that going to do to her?"
"Do you think things aren't going to work out?" she asks him with a raised eyebrow.
He sighs. "No, that's not what I meant. Just that this time around, it's more than just you and me that's at stake here. We also have our daughter to think about. We can't just jump into this again without thinking about everything. What if things don't work out again and she's the one who gets hurt the most because of it? We can't do that to her."
Skye turns to face him and looks up into his eyes, placing her hands flat on his chest. "Look at me, Grant. All I know right now is that I love you and I want to be with you again. We can worry about all of that other stuff later; I just want to be with you, in so many different ways." She slowly slides her hands down his body, stopping when she reaches the top hem of his pants. "And I know you want to be with me too."
Grant doesn't say anything else, simply cups the back of her neck in his hand and leans down to sear his lips to hers hard enough to cause her to stumble backward. She manages to regain her footing just enough to be able to grab hold of his belt and pull his body closer to hers. Grant deepens the kiss between them, running his tongue along the seam of her lips as he cards his fingers through her hair.
Skye moans into his mouth, running her hands up underneath of his t-shirt, letting her nails graze against his skin ever so gently.
Grant shivers at the feeling and quickly flips them around, pushing Skye up against the nearest wall, holding her hips tightly in his hands. He breaks away from her lips to trail hot, wet kisses down the length of her neck. Her breath hitches in her throat when he nips at a pulse point, her fingers tangling in his hair and tugging.
"Grant..." she breathes out, her eyes fluttering closed as he kisses down across her collarbone toward the valley between her breasts.
"You are so beautiful," he says to her, unbuttoning her flannel shirt as he presses kisses to each patch of skin as it's exposed. "So incredibly beautiful." He pushes the shirt off of her shoulders and lets it fall to the floor.
Skye grips Grant's hair tighter and tugs his head up to capture his lips in hers again, sucking his bottom lip between her teeth. Lifting one leg up to wrap around his hips, she pulls him closer to her and rolls her hips forcefully against his.
Grant groans into her mouth, pressing her harder into the wall.
"Bedroom," she says breathlessly. "Please."
Grant pulls away from her lips, looking at her with dark, lust-filled eyes. "Are you sure?" he asks her.
She nods, staring straight into his eyes. "I love you, Grant. And I've missed you. So much. So damn much."
Grant smiles. "I've missed you too." He pauses. "Kebo's going to be pissed that he flew all the way across the country only for there to be no wedding."
Skye lets out a laugh. "Probably. But something tells me he won't be pissed for too long once he finds out why the wedding got cancelled."
"He is our number one fan," Grant tells her with a small smile.
"But I am your number one fan, as cheesy as that may sound," she tells him. "Now come on." She grabs his hand and drags him down the hallway. "It's been years, I'm dying to see if you're just as good as I remember you to be. It might take us all day but I'll endure it to get the right answer."
Grant smirks and steps up quickly behind her, scooping her up into his arms bridal style. "You're not the only one who's curious," he says huskily into her ear, pressing a lingering kiss to the corner of her mouth as he nears the bedroom.
Stepping into the room, he carefully sets Skye's feet on the floor, walking them backward until the door is closed, Skye pressed right up against it with her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. She cups the back of his neck and pulls him down to her lips again, jumping up after a moment to wrap her legs around his waist, the two of them getting completely lost in each other.
.
.
.
"Well that was definitely just as good as I remember it," Skye tells Grant as they lie curled up together underneath of his sheets, their legs tangled together and his arms wrapped comfortably around her from behind. "Maybe even better, actually."
Grant smiles from his spot behind her, pressing a kiss to her bare shoulder blade. "Ditto." He shifts them on the bed so she's lying on her back and he's hovering above her, resting on his forearm. "I really missed you, Skye. I really thought I'd never have this again. But now I do."
Skye smiles up at him. "We both do."
"Yes we do." He takes a deep breath. "What are your parents going to think about all of this?" he asks her. "Last I checked they still hated me for driving you away to the other side of the country."
"I think they'll be happy, eventually," she tells him. "I mean, deep down they still love you to some degree because they've known you practically forever, and you're Jess' dad so they're going to have to hear about and see you every so often."
"But…" he prods.
She sighs. "But they still aren't your biggest fans at the moment when you consider everything that went down between us and that you're pretty much the sole reason for me moving to the other side of the country with their unborn grandchild."
"And now that is all in the past," he reminds her. "We've both put it behind us and moved past it, and soon enough your parents will too. They love you and Jess, so I'm sure in time they'll be able to come to terms with what's happening now."
Skye nods. "Very true. I love what's happening now, by the way." She lets out a content sigh as she lazily runs her hands up his back. "When we were together, my favorite thing was getting to wake up in your arms; you always made me feel safe. And I don't think you know this, but you used to smile in your sleep." She brings one hand to his mouth and traces her fingers over his lips. "You could be deep in sleep and you'd still be smiling. I thought it was very cute."
Grant smiles and reaches up to hold her hand against his lips, pressing a gentle kiss to her fingertips. "I wrote you a song," he tells her after a quiet moment.
Skye smiles at him. "So what else is new?"
Grant laughs quietly. "Well, it's not quite finished yet, but I've been working on it for a while."
Skye lets out a content sigh and moves a little on the bed to get more comfortable. "Will you sing it to me? I don't care if it isn't finished yet. I just want to hear you sing to me."
"Do you want me to grab my guitar?" he asks her.
She shakes her head. "No. Sing it to me just like this."
Grant smiles. "Okay." He takes a deep breath and then opens his mouth to sing softly to her.
If the heart is always searching,
Can you ever find a home?
I've been looking for that someone,
I'll never make it on my own
Dreams can't take the place of loving you,
There's gotta be a million reasons why it's true
When you look me in the eyes,
And tell me that you love me.
Everything's alright,
When you're right here by my side.
When you look me in the eyes,
I catch a glimpse of heaven.
I find my paradise,
When you look me in the eyes.
How long will I be waiting
To be with you again?
Gonna tell you that I love you,
In the best way that I can.
I can't take a day without you here,
You're the light that makes my darkness disappear.
He reaches out and brushes some of her hair back, smiling gently as he pulls her closer.
When you look me in the eyes,
And tell me that you love me.
Everything's alright,
When you're right here by my side.
When you look me in the eyes,
I catch a glimpse of heaven.
I find my paradise,
When you look me in the eyes.
He takes a deep breath when he finishes singing, waiting with slightly bated breath. "So, it's not done yet, like I already said, but what do you think?"
Skye smiles at him and lifts her head to brush her lips against his before closing the small gap between them. She pulls away and looks at him. "I loved it, it was beautiful."
"You really think so?" he asks.
She nods. "Mm-hmm. And I'm sure it'll be even more beautiful once you finish it and put it to music."
He smiles. "I'm sure it will be." He takes a deep breath and cups the side of her face in his palm. "I love you so much," he tells her.
Skye turns her head to press a kiss to the inside of his palm, sighing contently. "I love you too. I don't ever want this to end."
"It doesn't have to."
"We live on opposite sides of the country, Grant," she reminds him. "And you're supposed to be going on tour really soon."
"I don't have to go on tour. I've done plenty of them over the years."
Skye shakes her head. "No, Grant, you need to go on that tour. You can't do that to your fans. It wouldn't be right or fair to them for you to just cancel it when they've all already bought their tickets."
"They'll be fully refunded."
She tilts her head. "Grant, I'm serious. You need to go on that tour."
"But what about us?" he asks her.
She smiles softly. "I'll still be here when you're done," she assures him. "And I'm pretty sure I saw that one of your shows brings you near my neck of the woods."
He gives her a small smile and nods. "That it does. I may or may not have done that on purpose so I'd be able to stop by and see Jess while I was on the road."
"Well maybe you can stop by and see the both of us."
"I can most definitely do that. And maybe I can even stay for a while. I mean, I'm pretty sure that show is the last or second to last one of my tour."
"I would not be opposed to you staying out there for a little while longer."
"Neither would I." He takes a deep breath. "So then how about this? I go on my tour for the summer, and after I play that last show out on the east coast, instead of coming back here to LA, I take a break from my music and spend some time in Massachusetts with you and Jess."
"You really want to take a break from your music?" she asks him.
He nods. "Yeah. I was lucky to be able to get my latest album out."
"Really?"
He nods again. "Mm-hmm. I was starting to lose my momentum with writing music. So I think that taking some time off will really do me some good in the long run. Especially if I'm out in Massachusetts with you and our daughter. We can spend time together, get to know one another again, and learn how to be a family."
"A family," Skye says softly and then smiles. "I really like the sound of that."
Grant smiles back at her. "So do I."
So? What did you think? Let me know in a review down below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!