I collapse next to Emery and she tucks herself into my arms.
I kiss her head and she sighs happily.
"I love you," I murmur.
"I love you too," she smiles.
"Gray?" She looks up at me after a couple of minutes.
"Yes, baby?" I close my eyes.
"Can we go somewhere?" She asks quietly.
"Yeah. Where?" I breathe into her neck.
"I don't know. I just want to hang out with you before you leave," she says.
"Okay, let's go," I rub her back.
"Mhm. I think I need a Power Nap first," she grins sleepily.
"Okay, baby," I laugh, kissing her forehead. "We'll go when you wake up.
"Good idea," she yawns.
She falls asleep and I smile at her.
She's so fucking beautiful.
I let myself drift off next to her.
I feel Emery moving and I look down at her.
"Sorry, love. Did I wake you up?" She bites her lip sheepishly.
"Nope," I stretch. "Did you figure out where you want to go?"
"The movies maybe?" She shrugs.
"What movie do you want to see, baby?" I ask.
"I don't know. You pick," she smiles at me.
"We'll check when we get there," I kiss her cheek.
"Okay," she closes her eyes.
"Wait here for a minute, baby. I'm going to tell my dad that we're leaving for a little bit," I roll to the edge of the bed and she sighs.
"Hurry, love," she says softly.
I throw on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt before opening the bedroom door.
"Get dressed," I kiss her. "We'll leave when I come back."
I walk into my dad's room and he looks up at me.
"Watcha need, kid?" He asks.
"I'm taking Emery to the movies. I just wanted to tell you that we were leaving," I say.
"Alright. Sounds good," he nods. "Oh, hey, I almost forgot. Emery's sister brought a bag of stuff over for her. It's in the living room."
"Okay, thanks," I smile at him and walk to the living room to get it.
I grab the bag and walk back into my room.
"Emmy," I laugh. "Get up, pretty girl. You're not even dressed yet."
"I can't get up," she shakes her head.
"Why not, baby?" I sit down on the bed next to her. She buries herself in my arms.
"Too comfortable," she murmurs.
"I thought you wanted to go to the movies," I run my fingertips through her hair.
"I do. But I also want cuddles," she mumbles.
"I can give you cuddles there," I tuck her hair behind her ear.
"Really?" She looks up at me.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" I tilt my head.
"I don't know. Most people think it's embarrassing—never mind," she shrugs.
I know what she was going to say, and she didn't mean most people. She meant Jack.
"I'm not embarrassed to cuddle you in public, baby. You know I'm not," I hold her closer to me.
"I know, but I—"
"Baby, I'm not embarrassed, and I don't want you to think I am," I kiss her forehead. "I love you. I'm not like him, okay? I wouldn't ever be embarrassed by you."
"I know. I love you too, Gray. I'm sorry, I just—we dated for so long that I think everything he did or said kind of just sticks with me, does that make sense? Like, because I dated him and he said things, now it's what I expect everyone to be like," she clings to me, tucking her head into my neck.
"Hey, don't be sorry. It's okay," I cup the back of her head in my hand. "I get that."
I hold her tight until she finally looks up at me.
"Can we go to the movies now?" She grins.
"You still want to go?" I mumble.
"Yeah. Do you?" She whispers.
"Mhm," I kiss her. "Get up and get dressed, baby."
"I can go like this," she smirks.
"Definitely not," I say into her ear.
"Why?" She pouts innocently.
"I'm not letting my girlfriend go to the movies naked," I murmur. "It'd be too fucking distracting to me. How am I going to pay attention to the movie?"
"Fine, I'll put clothes on," she sighs dramatically.
She walks around my room to the closet and pulls out one of my hoodies. She slips it on and inhales deeply.
She slips on a pair of small shorts from the bag Aria brought over and opens her arms to me.
"Okay. All dressed," she crawls back into my arms.
"Oh, baby," I kiss her neck softly.
"Now we can go?" She tilts her head.
"Now we can go," I stand up and wrap my arms around her. She squeals and wraps her legs around me.
I lift her up and throw her over my shoulder.
"Gray," she laughs. "Put me down."
"Nope. I'm going to carry you all the way there," I spin in a circle and she laughs harder.
I open my bedroom door and stop moving. Mr. Whiskers is sitting there staring up at us.
"Emmy, I think we hurt your cat's feelings," I lower her to the ground and she scoops him up.
"We might need to take him back to my house so Devyn can babysit him," she pets his head.
"Babysit him? Why can't he stay here?" I arch an eyebrow at her.
"Don't be silly. He can't stay by himself," Emery stands up and hands me Mr. Whiskers. He meows at me and I narrow my eyes.
"I don't think he likes me," I look back at Emery and she's smiling like crazy.
"Oh, Gray, you look so cute. He loves you. And you love him. You know you do," she throws her arms around me.
"Okay. But what about my dad? You don't want to leave Mr. Whiskers here with him?" I kiss her head.
"You said he worked a lot yesterday. I don't want to bother him," she whispers.
"I can ask him, baby. I'm sure he won't mind," I brush her hair back.
"Okay. But don't make him think that he has—"
"He won't," I murmur.
"Okay," she says.
I take her hand in mine and lead her to my dad's bedroom. I knock on his door before opening it.
"Dad?" I say.
"Yeah?" He asks.
"Can you watch Mr. Whiskers while we're gone?" I ask.
"I—what? Who's Mr. Whiskers," he rubs his chin.
"Emery's cat," I say.
"I didn't know Emery had a cat," he looks at Emery and she smiles.
"Grayson got him for me," she grins up at me.
"Oh, yeah, sure. I'll watch him," my dad says. I walk over to his bed and set Mr. Whiskers down.
He crawls on top of my dad and stretches out.
"Thank you, Mr. Woods," Emery comes up next to me.
"It's Paul," he sighs.