1.11 - Loose Ends

     Grant's POV

     I got out of the car into the harsh winter breeze. I sighed to myself as I mustered up the courage to walk inside and get it over with. I didn't want to hurt her, but I knew who I wanted to be with. I had to let her know that it was over. I locked the car and headed for the familiar entrance.
     I gingerly walked up and rang the doorbell. I knew I couldn't just walk in the house anymore, especially not now. I didn't want to drag it out longer than it needed to be, either. I just wanted to get it over with. After a few seconds, she came to the door. She gave a soft smile. "Hey, Grant." Selena said.

     "Hey." I said, scratching my head. For a while, nothing was said between the two of us as I tried to find the words to say.
     "Do you wanna come in?" Selena asked. "I could make some coffee."
     I shook my head. "No, I can't stay."
     Selena nodded. "Okay. What's going on?" she asked.
     I took a deep breath, then I came out with it. "We can't see each other anymore."
     Selena looked at me for a couple seconds, then looked down at her feet. "I know. You're married, it was stupid of me to get involved in the first place."
     I looked to the blinding snow, and turned back to Meredith. "I never should have done that with you. I've always loved Meredith, and I always will." Selena looked back at me. "If you haven't figured it out yet, I left Meredith a while ago. She did something horrible to me and I thought I hated her for it, but I don't. I knew I still loved her even when we slept together. I think I was just using you as a way to get back at her, and that's my fault. I'm sorry."
     Selena nodded and brushed her hair out of her face. "Ok. Thanks for telling me. I hope you two will be happy together again." Selena said with a weak smile.

     I leaned in for a quick hug before turning back to my car. "Grant." she called after me. "If you decide to tell her, tell her I'm sorry."

Meredith's POV

 

    I had finally accepted that there was a chance that Grant wasn't coming back. And I knew that was my fault. I was stupid and didn't listen to what he was telling me. I guess, ultimately, that's what he was afraid of. Since he left, I've come to terms with the fact that he might not come back now. I may have drove him away for good this time. If that's the case, I just needed to move on with my life.

     The kids were going to be leaving for college in a few years, and by then, it would just be me. I decided to start my blog back up again, in the hopes that I didn't lose too many followers. I decided I would continue being a lifeguard, and I would put my energy into my blog, like I did when I was younger. I didn't need to remarry. I don't even know if I could, mostly because of my age, but also because no one could measure up to Grant. He was my first and only love, and I would just have to accept that he was gone for good.

     I finished typing my blog post in the study when I heard the door open. I got up and walked to the living room. Grant stood in the hallway.

     I stared at him, wide-eyed. "Hey." I managed.

     Grant just stood there for a few seconds, before taking a deep breath and saying. "I think I'm ready to come home now, if you'll have me."

     The second he said that, a teardrop clouded my eye. I sniffled, and nodded. "Okay." I said shakily.

     "I have to tell you about Selena, though."

     I stopped, and told him to sit down so we could talk. He sat across from me at the dinner table, and he started his story.

     "A long time ago, when I was in high school, I dated Selena. I thought I was in love with her, to the point where I thought she was the girl I was going to marry. Then, a week before I met you, she cheated on me with some guy named Oliver. I broke it off with Selena, and then I met you a few days later. And, when I met you, I fell in love with you almost instantly. I thought it was maybe because I was so broken up over Selena that i tried replacing her with you, but it wasn't that. I was simply in love with you from the first day I met you. We had kids, and then that whole thing with Joey came up, and you weren't yourself anymore. You were a great mother to our kids regardless, but you weren't Meredith anymore. You were someone completely different, especially after Courtney and Kristy died. When I got upset at you when you tried helping Gary out, it was just because I didn't want to lose you. I had this feeling in my gut that I was going to lose you, and you would go off and marry somebody else and have his kids, and you would just leave me all alone. That was the worst thing that could have possibly happened to me, and that's why I left. I know it happened a long time ago, and I know that you're sorry, it just caught me off guard. I'm sorry I left, and I just want to be your husband again."

     The tears were falling fast now. I stood up and jumped into a hug with Grant. All the plans I made after Grant had left were disappearing, but for once, I didn't mind. I had my family back.

Vin's POV:

I couldn't sleep. I couldn't eat. I couldn't think.

     The police started investigating the murder of Katie Reynolds. They haven't caught any of us yet, and eyewitnesses said they saw three people back behind the theater, but they don't know it's us. I just have a bad feeling about the whole thing. I feel like Ella might throw either Eli or me under the bus, or maybe they might catch Eli since he's in the police computer already. I just hope to god he didn't touch anything, or else he might just throw the both of us under the bus. In the meantime, Everyone carried on like normal. It made me sick. My mom kept asking me questions about that night, but I just put them off. What made me feel worse is the fact that Khloe's been crying in her room all week. Katie Reynolds was Khloe's best friend since elementary school. I knew that she looked familiar, I just couldn't place it. Now that I know who it was, I wish I just did something more that night. Now, I didn't know what to do.

     I took off my hat and placed it on the dresser, letting my unkempt hair free.

     Ryder walked in the room as I was staring at myself, and came up behind me. "You look good without the hat."

     His compliment was enough to make me smile. "Thanks."

     "Yeah." He turned towards his dresser, digging through his shirt drawer. After I didn't say anything for a while, he turned back to me. "Are you okay? I'm really worried about you, bro."

     I shook my head. "I'm fine." I said, my voice rising a little too high.

     "I know your voice gets high when you're upset. What's going on?"

     "It's nothing." I denied, keeping my voice under control.

     "Vin, just tell me what's going on. whatever it is, I won't tell mom or dad. Even though, Mom's really worried about you in particular." He paused, then kept going. "Did you hook up with that Katie girl that died the other night?" Ryder asked, half-jokingly.

     I sharply exhaled. "No." I scratched my hair, and turned to him. I had to tell someone, I couldn't take it anymore. "I was there. That night. When Katie died."

     Ryder's expression changed almost immediately. "What do you mean?"

     "You've seen the news reports, right? You know how they're saying that three people were involved? That was me, Ella, and Eli."

     Ryder looked at me with shock. "did you-?"

     I shook my head. "It was Ella. She pulled a knife on her and just stabbed her." My voice shaked a lot.

    Ryder closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay. So what now?"

     I started to sob. "I don't know. I don't know what to do. I'm scared and I don't know what to do."

     Ryder walked over to me and wrapped me in his arms. I held on tightly, sobbing into his shirt. "It's gonna be okay, alright? We're gonna figure it out. I won't tell anyone.

"It'll be okay, I promise."