16. The Green-Eyed Monster

"So, your name's Greyson?" Leah asked, her chin resting in her palm and looking like a small child witnessing a sunrise for the first time. "As in, grey son?"

He huffed. "I could imagine that's the reason they chose the name, yes."

They both sat at the kitchen table, whilst I observed their interaction from the kitchen counter. If Leah could have been sitting on his lap, she would have. She was leaning so close, it was as if she couldn't hear his voice. But he was speaking at a suitable volume, so I could only assume this disregard for his personal space was due to her heightened interested in him. It irked me that Greyson didn't seem to mind her obvious flirting. On the contrary, Greyson seemed to welcome the attention. Like all other men that came before him, he was falling for Leah's charm.

She half-rolled her eyes. "Not very original, if you ask me."

"I didn't."

"What?"

"I didn't ask you."

Her jaw slacked.

The smirk on Greyson's lip grew wide. "I'm sorry, I don't have much experience with conversation. I've been told I can be quite blunt at times."

She laughed. "And who pointed that out to you?"

All of Greyson's teeth now showed, and that beaming expression automatically sent my heart flying. I'd never seen him smile so openly before now.

And it isn't even because of me, I realised sadly. That's disappointing.

"A good friend of mine," Greyson said. He must be talking about Everett. "Someone that had my back when I was stuck in that hellish place." Yep. Definitely Everett.

"You know, I agree with Leah," I cut in, before Greyson could share any horrible thing that happened at the Filing Cabinet with Leah. So far, they mostly spoke about telepathy, books – which, apparently, Greyson had owned a very diverse literary collection when he lived at the Agency. I was surprised to learn that his favorite genre was fantasy, same as me, and that his favorite book was The Hobbit. Things I would never have expected to hear from him - and they also spoke of music. All of which I was fine with. But the horrible part of his life? I wanted to avoid revisiting the memories as much as possible. Greyson needed a break, and needed to surround himself with positivity. And what better person to bring out the good vibes than my best friend Leah? "They didn't even try to give you a respectable name," I continued.

Greyson quickly set his sight on me, and my pulse automatically sped without mercy. "You don't like my name?"

Shrugging, I lifted the kettle and poured hot water into my mug. I had made tea, whilst the two of them had been deep in conversation, for over two hours now. Not once had they asked for my input, so I had stepped away to give them their space. I had always disliked feeling like the third-wheel, and it happened way too often when Leah was around a man. "I think it could have been chosen with more consideration."

"I'm curious." He furrowed his brows, observing me from afar. Again, I noticed his was slouching, leaning against the left arm of his chair, and letting his forearm droop from the table's edge. "What would you have chosen, if you had had the chance to name me?"

"I don't know," I snorted while stirred a spoon full of honey into the hot liquid. "But Greyson ain't it."

He met my sentence with quiet reflection.

Stirring my spoon in a clockwise motion, I watched as the honey blend perfectly into the chamomile infused water. The sound of metal against ceramic, made a pleasing bell like sound that seemed to cleansed the negative energy trying to lay claim over me. I didn't want to feel bitter about the two of them getting close, but I did. After all we been through together, it should be me and Greyson that should be forming a strong friendship. Not Leah and him. Leah shouldn't even be here right now!

"So?" Leah cut in, lassoing my gaze back to her. "What do you plan to do with our new buddy, now that he's free from the... U.N.P.A, was it?"

It was surprising how quickly she had consumed all this information, and how quickly her attitude had changed since she'd first met Greyson. Her fears had completely vanished now that she discovered how charming he was.

"I want to send him away," I said simply. That seemed to wipe the smile off her face. "Away from this planet, so he can finally be safe," I clarified.

Greyson, who was still watching me, frowned.

Leah nodded, understanding crossing her lovely features. There was a twinkle in her eyes when she looked back at Greyson. "What can I do to help?"

"Leah, I don't need you to do anything," I said, "it's dangerous enough as it is. We shouldn't even be discussing all this with you. It's not ideal. If the Agency ever finds out you've been harbouring me in this cabin, they'll surely bring you in for questioning. And believe me, it won't be a conversation you'll want to have." The horror behind her stare told me she understood what I was implying. "Why did you even come here, Lee?"

"I thought you would be lonely all by yourself," Leah shrugged. "Plus, my mom told my brother I was going to be living here for a while. She has no idea it will actually be you sleeping in her bed. So, I wanted to check in with Francis, and make sure he doesn't come here uninvited. If he did, he might catch sight of you and Greyson. He lives just down the forest path, it would only take him ten minutes to pop in for tea."

"Back up, Francis is my neighbour?"

"Yeah, I know. It's annoying." She gasped. "Do you imagine, if Francis knew about Greyson though! The guy would be bouncing off the walls." She peaked over her shoulder at Greyson. "My brother's favorite movie is 'man in black,'" she explained, as if Greyson knew what that meant. "He loves aliens. He'd love you."

Greyson winced.

I bit my cheek to prevent myself from smiling and resumed: "First of all, no one - other than you - is allowed to know about all this! And Second...I thought Francis lived in the city? Did he move out of Spokane?"

Greyson's eyes volleyed from me to Leah. He had no clue what we were talking about, his confusion was obvious by the look of his mien, but he followed the conversation and seemed to enjoy it all the same.

"Yeah, it was a big move too." Leah gathered her long blonde hair over her left shoulder and began to fidget with her split ends. "He was pretty much forced to move into Grandma's old place. A year ago, Granny died and left the house to my mom. However, mom was too busy with her book tour last year to take care of the farm. So, she asked Francis to do it. He ended up liking the seclusion and the animals so much, that he ended up staying."

"This is really bad news, Lee."

Her nose wrinkled as she slid her long hair strands through her pink polished nails. "Yeah, I know."

"This is really really bad." I ran my hands through my loose curls with a groan. "I promised Greyson he would be able to walk outside without any problems." I glanced his way, as comprehension cross his stare. "With your brother around, he might as well be back in a prison."

"Don't be mad at me!" Leah was on the defence. "You're the one who wanted to live here! Best I can do is tell Francis that I want my privacy. But knowing him, he'll probably come around once in a while to check up on me anyway."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "That's great, just great." Taking a swig of my drink, I slammed my cup on the counter and sighed. Greyson looked miserable, it sent shards of glass through my heart. This wasn't fair to him. "Guess we'll just have to hurry up and contact your Alien family."

When he looked back at me, there was a look in his eyes I couldn't quite decipher.

"How long do you suppose it will take for the Aliens to find him?" Leah asked, voice a bit on edge from the mention of other aliens.

"Not sure. But they've been looking for him, for as long as he's been alive on this planet. So, we just need to send them some kind of S.O.S. message. Hope that it's enough for them to find us. Maybe you can try calling out to them by means of telepathy, Greyson. I bet they'll hear you if they're close by."

Again, I couldn't quite read his expression.

"Do you think you can try it?" I asked.

Leah reached across the table and put her hand on top of his. "Don't worry." He flinched at her touch, his attention darting back to her immediately. She was beaming at him, exposing her adorable protruding tooth and shamelessly comforting his hand with her thumb. "It will be okay. I'm sure you can do it."

This time, jealousy poked its ugly head and I couldn't stop it. I wanted to stalking towards them and shove her hand away from his as quickly as I could. But instead, I shoved the intrusive thought away, knowing I had no claim over him. Instead, I dug my teeth into the inside of my cheek and kept my mouth firmly shut.

Greyson gave Leah a closed-lip smirk that seemed to melt her into her seat. Their eyes lingered a little too long, before she took her hand back. "You'll do great," she added.

"I'm going to make food! Anyone hungry!" I said, turning my back to them.

Making my way to the cupboard, I did everything to hide the irritation rising in my chest, and pulled out what I needed to make a few bowls of cereal.

...

Over brunch, Leah and I started reminiscing over our childhood as Greyson eavesdropped with heightened interest. Going from summer camps, to elementary school, all the way to our first high school party, we found stories of all kinds; Some that made us laugh, others that made us cringe. Greyson grinned at the embarrassing moments, and looking shocked when we told him we once accidentally set fire to our school gymnasium. Leah and I had wanted to do a baton twirling routine for a school rally, and had decided that setting fire to our batons would enhance the performance. The moment we lit them using a bit of gasoline, the fire went out of hand. We lost half of our indoor bleachers that day, and scarred a few students in the process. Firefighters were called, classes were cancelled, and Leah and I received two weeks of detention. Neither of us had ever looked at a baton the same ever since.

"I like her," Greyson admitted to me, when Leah was leaving the house.

We stood side by side, waving Leah goodbye as she hopped into her truck to go visit her brother and force him to stay of his side of the forest. The front door was wide open, letting fresh air sweep briskly into the house as we watched her start up the truck. It roared happily and she gave us one last wave.

The temperature had dropped another few degrees since we'd arrived, warning us of the coming winter days.

"I knew you would enjoy her company," I said, an unfamiliar edge pocking at my tone. "Lots of people do." Don't get jealous, Ashlyn, I warned myself. It's not cute.

"I did." He stretched. "But I've enjoyed your company a lot more."

Everything falls away, and I could only hear the beating of my heart. Don't read too much into that, I reminded myself. He's just being blunt again. Like he said before, he isn't use to normal  conversations.

He yawned, looking as if he could collapse where he stood, any minute now.

I cranked my neck to examined his guise. "Did you manage to sleep at all last night?"

He dragged in a breath. "Not really."

"I thought as much." Wind whipped my hair across my face as Leah's truck wobbled out of view. "Do you usually have trouble sleeping?" I added, as I stepped back and closed the door.

He stepped back with me, considering his answering. "The Agents used to give me medication on the daily," he admitted with a hint of hesitation. "And when I developed a disdain for the pills, I began closing my eyes and pretend to be asleep every night. When I failed to convince the them, all three of the Agents would gather inside my cell to force those little white pills down my throat." I shivered. "That's why I became really good at pretending to be asleep. I was able to fool them enough times that eventually they stopped the use of medication altogether. Which I found to be a huge blessing despite losing a few nights of sleep."

"Do you not feel tired?"

"I do." He grimaced and went to sit on the stairs behind us. "I feel tired constantly." Then, he peeks up at me and my throat constricted. The look he gave me was full of - what I could only describe as - panic. "But I don't mind. I like it that way," he added quickly.

Leisurely, I made my way to his side and sat. "Doesn't sound healthy. Are you sure you don't need help?"

"Now that I'm far from my cell, I don't want to pretend anymore..." His throat worked. "Please, if I decide to remain awake during the night, let me. Anything is better than taking any type of drug ever again." His head fell into his palms, allowing his fingers to dig through his hair and gipping tightly, pulling at the roots. "I don't want to ever go back to that. I can't go back to that life."

"I know," I whispered, not knowing what else to say. "I understand."

There were no guarantees that he would stay away from the Filing Cabinet. For all I knew, the Agency could find us tomorrow and drag him back to that prison by force. I wanted to tell him that everything would be okay, and that he would make it out of the planet without a hitch, but, how could I? For all I knew, that was a lie...

Something in my chest tugged. I didn't have the heart to lie to him, but... I have no idea how else to fix him.

It's not your job to fix me.

I gasped, my eyes bulging with shock.

I barely had time to let my heart settle, before Greyson sprung to his feet and backed himself into the front door. His eyes were like saucers as he realised what he'd done.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that!"