Chapter 29// It's you Cress or it's no one, there will never be an in-between"
I shuffle in my bed trying to get in a comfortable position as I continue to peacefully sleep. My arms are wrapped around a pillow and I'm deep under my duvet as it's so cold in my room.
"Dawson" I think for a moment that I've heard the voice in my head but then I here it again.
I peel my eyes open and groan at the person to get the hell out.
"Cress, I need you to wake up"
The voice makes me instantly open both my eyes and I see him sitting on the edge of my bed.
"Elliott if you wanted to sleep in my bed, you don't need to ask" I tell him pulling the duvet over my head.
"Cress, I need you to come with me" His voice sounds desperate and nervous. This time I sit up and rub my eyes. I look up at him and see his dark shadow but his blue eyes stand out in the darkness.
He walks over to my light switch and turns it on. I close my eyes at the pain of the bright light. Prick.
"What the hell is wrong with you Elliott?" I tell him off.
"Keep your voice down, or else you'll wake up Daniel" He shushes me. He's wearing a navy blue Nike sweatshirt and a pair of ripped black jeans. Those really don't look like bedtime cuddle clothes.
Am I the only one who finds guys in black seriously attractive?
"Please, Elliott you know Daniel sleeps like the dead" I laugh as I slip on a hoodie.
I throw my hair in a high messy ponytail and rub a hand across my face. Elliott watches me with a smile on his lips.
I near my bathroom door and put on my tan ankle length uggs.
I go back to my bed and flop next to Elliott.
"Now what was it you wanted?" I ask Elliott.
"I need you to come with me, it's really important" He says with a serious face.
"Okay give me a second let me change and..."
"We don't have time, we need to go now!" He growls at me, jesus this boy needs a nap.
I look down at myself I'm wearing my hoodie and a pair of PJ shorts. Oh joy, this is going to be fun.
"Not a chance" I warn him but before I can begin to strip out my PJs Elliott has scooped me up in to his arms: bridal style.
DunDunDaDun, here comes the bride.
I'm about to shout at him to put me down until I remember that Daniel is just down the hall.
"Elliott we're not running away to get married in Las Vegas are we?" I ask. He's grasping on to me tightly against this chest, I feel his chest shake as he laughs at that.
I wrap my arms around his neck for security, he leaves my room and practically hops down the stairs in style towards the front door.
"Put me down Grayson " I tell him but he completely ignores me.
"Dawson you're coming whether I have to tie you up or not" And with that he carries me out of the house in to the night.
His car is parked at the front of the driveway and he pushes me in to the car, he climbs in next to me and turns the heating up.
I look at the digital clock. 1:22 AM. Is this boy bloody insane?
"Elliott I swear to god you've lost the plot, have you seen the time, do you think you are some kind of night creature" I shout at him but he's still smiling. What is wrong with this boy?
In front of me on the floor is a terribly wrapped present that almost looks like a cushion.
"What's that?" I ask Elliott while he's trying to focus on the road.
He takes a quick glance down "Let's just say I keep all my promises"
Elliott has made a lot of promises in his past.
"Like the time you promised to make sure I live a sad and lonely life, and remember the time you promised that when you learnt to drive you would run me over and let's not forget..."
"I get the point," He grumbles. I know I'm making him feel bad, but he deserves it especially because he just dragged me out my warm bed.
He parks the car at a quiet side road "Open it"
Oh so it's for me. He's looking at me carefully as I pick it up. There's tape wrapped all around it, I raise a eyebrow at him and he just shrugs.
I attempt to tear it open; I even have to use my teeth to cut through the tape.
"Next time Elliott a gift bag will do just fine" I spit out a chunk of tape from my mouth.
It's a soft sort of material, it's a plain dark blue hoodie, I give him a questioning look, until I turn it around.
Grayson. 17.
"Oh my" I gasp in surprise. Elliott's gone through so much effort to get me this, he must have.
"You like it don't you?" There's a sort of desperation in his voice that he's trying to hide.
"Of course I love it" I smile, taking my current one off and slipping the dark blue one on.
"You're such a softie you know that" I point out.
"No I'm not, I'm as tough as a hard on" He argues. I lean over to cup Elliott's chin.
"You're a wee cutie" I grin but he swats my hand away.
"Only for you Cress, come on we're going on a adventure"
He's far to excited for 1 AM in the morning.
I follow him to the back of the car, god I must look like such an idiot in my PJ's .
I give Elliott a weird look as he chucks a blanket at me and takes out a basket that looks like it's been stolen from little red riding hood.
I try and peak in to the basket that Elliott's holding but he pushes me away and gives me an angry glare.
"Patience Dawson"
He begins walking in the direction of the trees, I quickly run to catch up with him.
After what feels like forever I begin to complain.
"Can you not give me a piggyback ride?" I groan but nothing I'm saying changes his facial expression, it 's like everything that went in one of his ears left the other.
Elliott stops at the edge of a steep hill. I look around; it's a empty patch of grass. The moonlight's reflecting off the trees nearby creating shadow around us.
"Put the blanket on the floor" Elliott tells me.
"I'd much rather rap it around myself'
"Don't be difficult Cress"
I lay the tartan blanket out; I drop down to the ground thinking the grass would be soft. Instead I smack my backside off the floor.
'Ow" I say rubbing my butt. Elliott stand above me laughing at my stupidity.
"Its not funny" I grumble.
"Cress you're absolutely hilarious" He grins in my direction. He drops carefully to the ground next to me, still grinning.
"Elliott what have you done?' I ask because of his weird attitude.
He opens the basket and pulls out a paper bag and chucks it in my direction. I catch if before it can spill everywhere.
I am instantly hit with the strong smell of fried food.
I gasp when I look inside the bag, there's a normal fillet with hot wings and popcorn chicken.
I look up at him with my mouth open in shock. There's no chance I was expecting this, Elliott got me a KFC and we're both sitting in the middle of nowhere.
His smile is so wide when he looks at my face.
"You got me chicken?" I ask in shock.
He scratches the back of his neck in embarrassment "Yeh, I sort off drove  40 minutes to go to the 24 hour KFC for you"
I throw an unexpected hug at him, and we both fall in to the grass.
He shoves me off him and I instantly sit up and open the bag filled with delicious chicken. I can't help but smile at the chicken.
"What's the occasion" I ask him as I eat the chicken like an absolute pig. What can I say, I'm a girl that loves her food.
"Haven't you realized yet" He asks overdramatically, pretending to be offended.
"Is it a late valentine's day, I know it isn't your birthday or is it ..."
"It's our first official date"
I stop eating and look at him in surprise. I'm sitting here in my weird PJ's in the middle of nowhere, while Elliott is telling me funny stories about the football team and all this time this has been our first official date.
I can't help but smile at the extent Elliott has gone to. That even though this moment could have been seen as nothing, it's so important.
"Why?" I genuinely ask. Why has he gone to so much effort to make this moment so special when he could have just taken me to some fancy restaurant?
"Cress if I told you I was taking you on a date, you would put on a pretty dress do your make up and straighten you hair. I love you in every way possible, but the way you look right now is the way I love you the most"
His voice is soft, his lips curl up at the end of his sentence as he fiddles with the cuff of his sweatshirt.
"One day when we're older, you'll give up on your make up and having perfect hair. You won't care about how you look. But that will never change my opinion of you because I think you're at your prettiest right here right now, in your cute PJ's and bed hair"
He brings his hand towards my face; he gently takes a small string of my curly baby hair and tucks it behind my ear.
"I don't want to go to a stupid restaurant where we have to act all posh. I want to be here where no one can come in the way, where you can act like a absolute fool and be who you want to be"
"You said one day when were older" I ask him.
"Yeh because I see potential in us and I can never look at another girl the way I look at you. It's you Cress or it's no one, there will never be an in-between"
I sit they're dumbfound at his words, I want to say something just as meaningful as him but I can't. Because nothing I say will ever beat what came out his mouth.
"You don't know what you're getting in to" I tell him.
"I was 'in it' the day I saw you at he ice skating composition"
*
"Do you remember this place?" Elliott asks.
I'd stolen the last bits of Elliott's popcorn chicken and ran around all the grassland with it as he ran after me. He'd let me get away with anything except his chicken. Eventually he caught me before I could even eat a crumb.
I'm sitting cross-legged on the tartan blanket, both my elbows are on the floor and I have my chin in my palms.
Elliott is playing with the ends of my hair.
"When we were 12, we came here at Easter with my mom to roll our eggs down this hill"
The memory pops in my head. Elliott's mom had decided to take Elliott, Daniel, Conner and me to this hill to roll coloured eggs.
"I remember that, it was so much fun and then we started rolling down the hill racing each other and then you..." I trial off because the rest of the memory is not as fun
"Then at the top of the hill I pushed and you rolled down the hill" He finishes the sentence for me, I can clearly hear the regret in his voice.
I mean I'm alive and heathy but at the time, I didn't feel great.
"That was the first day I felt jealous" He continues, he's looking up at the starts likes he's studying them.
I give him a questioning look as he continues.
"The only thing you did that whole day was look at Conner, you laughed at everything he said and you looked at him like I wish you looked at me. I'd never felt anything for a girl let alone my best friend's sister. I eventually go so angry that I... I was a stupid kid" He sighs putting his face in his hand.
I shuffle in front of him and cup his jaw in my hand.
"Elliott..." I begin. His blue eyes are so clear and the moon reflects off his face and at this moment in my PJ's I realize I can never love anyone the way I love him.
Everything we've put each other through all the hate has brought us to this.
"I don't care that you hurt me, I don't care what you did to me as a kid. All I care about is that you love me right now and nothing matters more"
He pushes his face forward to capture my lips, usually our kissed have been passionate and heated but this one was different.
Instead this one is soft and gentle. Elliott moves his lips in a way that's so caressing and loving.
I close my eyes and I feel him clasp my left hand with his.
I open my mouth ever so slightly, but he pulls away and puts his forehead on mine.
"I really really love you so much" He emphasises.
"I'm never going to get tired of this" He breathes and brings his lips back to mine.