How We End

Chapter 9

Chapter 09

"What about the pink dress she wore the other night?" Chris looked over at me.

"No freaking way." I panted.

"But it was cute!" Chris exclaimed.

"To you." I mumbled, trying to catch my breath.

"Do you think she'd want a dog?" Chris asked me.

"I don't really know Chris, get her whatever. The. Hell. You. Want. To." I panted as I stopped, resting my palm on my knee.

Chris stopped jogging and hovered over me, "Come on, Grace. We haven't even run 10 blocks."

Chris woke me up early this morning to go for a run. I was still sleeping when he barged into my room with the wonderful idea. Apparently, he wants us to keep in shape. So, I threw on my tank top, track pants and running shoes but my boobs hurt like hell.

I stood up straight, "I'm f*****g tired, Chris."

"Too bad, we're not done. Let's get moving, sloppy ass." He started jogging again.

I groaned, rolling my eyes as I started jogging to catch up with him.

"I think I'm gonna get her a dog, a puppy. She won't shut up about how much she loves them." Chris said, referring to his Aunt Karen, Uncle Stanley's wife.

They've both been really good to Chris and Karen's birthday was coming up next week Saturday so we would both be going back to LA because Stanley was throwing her a birthday party.

Celebration.

Dinner.

Whatever.

But all I knew was that there was a dresscode; black dresses for the ladies and for the males, suit and tie.

And yes, Chris had wealthy relatives.

"I'm sure she'd love it." I breathed out.

"What are you gonna get her?" Chris asked.

"I'll definitely figure something out." I bit my lip.

"I am so excited for her birthday party!" Chris squealed.

"My boobs are killing me! I am not wearing the right bra for this!" I stopped again, panting. I cupped my boobs in my hands, earning a few stares.

"Easy, darling, easy." Chris rubbed my back.

"Haven't we had enough? I think I'm gonna faint and die!" I exclaimed.

"Easy there, tiger. We're not so far away from Starbucks, let's have breakfast there." He stated.

"Okay." I agreed and we both walked to and into Starbucks.

* * * *

I was seated alone in the living room of me and my best friend's home. Chris had gone out shopping for what he'd wear to the frat party tonight. Leave it to Chris to care about all these kind of things.

I held a bowl of caramel popcorn in my hands and took out the remote from under my butt. I was prepared to spend my Saturday afternoon binge-watching episodes of iCarly. I was about to press play when I heard a knock on the front door.

With my brows pulled together in confusion, I pushed myself off the couch and started walking to the front door. I heard a knock again.

I knew it wasn't Chris because he wouldn't knock.

"Calm your t**s, I'm coming!" I shouted as I pulled open the front door.

To my surprise, Dean Ryan was standing in front of me.

"Hey." He smiled.

"Hey." I said back as I opened the door wider and stepped aside for him to come in. Once he was in, I closed and bolted the door. "What are you doing here?"

"Can't I come visit my friend on a Saturday?" He smirked, walking over to the living room.

"Well, I was going to binge-watch iCarly if you wanna join me." I said as we both entered the living room. He had his back facing me.

"I was thinking we should go somewhere." He dug his hands in his pocket as he turned around to face me. Then, he froze and his eyes started roaming around my body.

My eyes widened at the realization that I was just wearing Chris' shirt and it ended a little below my butt. I wasn't even wearing booty shorts or anything, just the shirt. I didn't even have a freaking bra on.

"Um, okay sure. Let me put something on real quick." I said.

He sucked in a sharp breath, "Sure, you do that."

I forced a smile as I walked into the hallway and into my room. I closed the door and leaned against it.

Dean just blatantly checked me out.

Hoe.

I opened my wardrobe and picked out a pink crop top and a black A-flared miniskirt and threw them on my bed. I pulled Chris' shirt over my head and once I had hooked a bra on, I put on the outfit. I walked over to my vanity mirror, picked up a rubber band and tied my hair up in a high ponytail. I wore my black flats and unplugged my phone from its charger and placed it in my bag, walking out of the room and closing the door behind me.

I walked into the living room to see Dean, using the remote as his microphone and singing along to iCarly's theme song.

"Live life, breathe air, I know somehow we're gonna get there. And feel so wonderful..." He bobbed his head as he sang and surprisingly, he had a really good voice. "It's all for reaaallll!"

That was when I jumped beside him, curling my right hand into a fist and using it as my fake microphone;

"I'm telling you just how I feeeeel!" We both sang loudly.

Dean looked over at me, startled and we both started laughing. He was wearing a jean jacket over a plain white v-neck shirt, deep blue jeans and Nike sneakers.

He turned off the TV and I took the bowl of caramel popcorn, walking into the kitchen and placing it in the refrigerator.

I'll be back for you, baby.

I walked back into the living room and picked up my keys from the coffee table.

Dean and I walked out of the house and I locked the door shut. We both got into his car, Dean seated in the driver's seat and I, in the passenger's seat.

"Seatbelt." Dean instructed as we drove into the road.

I rolled my eyes and buckled my seatbelt, "So, where are we going?"

"It's a surprise." He smiled at me.

"I hate surprises." I glared at him.

He ignored me and turned on the radio.

"Dean, I'm serious. Where are you taking me?" I asked sternly.

"Relax Grace, it's just a place."

"Is it far?" I questioned.

"Not really. It's not so far from here." He replied.

"You better not be planning to murder me and dispose of my body in a bush. I actually plan on graduating from college, thank you very much." I muttered under my breath.

Dean laughed, "There's always that possibility. I'm really offended that you would think that of me, I thought you know me better than that, Grace, for real."

I looked out the window and said quietly, "People do unexpected things."

I felt his eyes on me, "Why do you say it like that?"

"Eyes on the road, Ryan."

* * * *

"It's a beach house." I bit my lip to keep from grinning too hard.

I loved beach houses.

"It's a beach house." Dean repeated and smiled.

I excitedly unbuckled my seatbelt and got down from the car, Dean doing the same, with a picnic basket in his hand.

The view was breathtaking, the sun shone beautifully on the sea blue water. The beach house was a big cabin and just by looking at it, I could tell it had a homey feeling. There were tall trees scattered around, the whole atmosphere of the place was frabjous and the beach sand looked so tempting.

"It's beautiful, Dean." I said, my eyes roaming around the place. I took off my shoes and placed them in the car.

I loved the feeling of beach sand on my bare feet.

"Thank you." He said beside me. "It's one my family's vacation houses."

I started walking, "Where are you from, anyway?"

"Los Angeles." He answered.

"Really?" My eyebrows shot up. "I'm from LA too."

"You see, Grace? It's like we were made in the stars." He said with emphasis.

I rolled my eyes, "Bullshit."

"Come on Grace, we both know you want a piece of The Big D." He said, winking as he pointed at himself. "That's me. I'm The Big D."

"Um, barf." I scrunched my face up in disgust.

"You hurt me so." He placed his hand dramatically on his chest.

"You're like a brother to me, Dean." I kicked on the sand with my bare feet.

Dean stopped walking.

I looked back at him, "What?"

"I can't believe you just brother zoned me, Chip. Never, and I mean ever, have I been brother zoned. That's even worse than the friend zone." He exaggerated. "I'm almost in tears."

"Don't be so dramatic." I rolled my eyes.

We walked towards the bank of the river and Dean spread a picnic mat on the sand. We both sat on the mat and Dean started offloading the picnic basket.

"What do you want to be in future, Grace?" Dean asked me as we ate.

"A writer." I replied. "I love writing, I have this amazing passion for it. I want to be a successful writer and work in a publishing company. I want to be independent and be able to stand on my own two feet without help from anyone. Just like my mom."

"Your mom sounds amazing. I like that." He stared at me.

I chuckled lightly, shaking my head. "W-What about you? What do you want to be?"

"Tough question." He bit his lip thoughtfully. "I want to be a professional soccer player but who cares about that? I'm just gonna end up as the CEO in my family's empire. Yay."

"Why don't you just do what you want to?" I asked him softly.

"It's not that simple, Grace." He picked a stone and threw it into the water.

"But it's your choice, it's what you want." I pressed on.

"They don't care about what I want. I have two sisters, my elder sister is a Victoria Secret's model and my little sister is still in high school. I just have to." He said sadly.

"Have you talked to them about it?" I asked him.

"What's the point? My dad's hell bent on making me the CEO anyway."

"Just try and talk to them, Dean. How bad can it be?" I shrugged.

Dean breathed heavily, "Well enough about that. Tell me more about your family, especially your mom. She sounds wonderful."

"My mom and my dad have been married for about twenty-four years or so. It's just me and my little brother, Tommy. He's an asshole but I love him. Um, we're all blonde but my mom and I have white-ish blonde hair while my dad and Tommy have dirty blonde. I have my father's eyes. I think I have up to a hundred cousins because my mom had a really big family with a lot of siblings. My mom is a manager in this big ass construction company. My mom is really beautiful. She always has this amazing and contagious smile, she's always cheerful. She's my role model. I want to be like her when I grow up because I know that whatever s**t life throws at her, she's always strong enough to throw it back twice as hard." I finished. "I'm ranting, sorry."

"No, it's okay, I don't mind." He said in a low and raspy voice. "I love watching you talk."

I felt my cheeks heat up, "What about you, Dean? Tell me about your family."

"There's not much to tell. I love my family. I don't really have beautiful memories to share about my parents, they were mostly never around. Leaving us with nannies while they go on business trips. My elder sister, Dora, kind of became our mother figure. I love my sisters although they can be real bitches. Don't get me wrong, my parents are the best and when they're around for holidays and s**t, we have a lot of fun but they weren't ever really there for us. Maybe they were there in the early stages of our childhood but it wasn't enough." He looked like he had more to say then stopped.

This seemed to be a sentimental topic for him so I decided to change it, "How about you give me a tour? I haven't seen what the cabin looks like yet."

"I'd love to be your tour guide, Miss Anderson." He smiled and stood up and held out his hand.

I placed my hand in his and he effortlessly lifted me up.

The sun was slowly disappearing from the sky and the view was beautiful. We both walked to and into the cabin and he began to show me around. It was pretty f*****g big for a beach cabin but it had this homey, warm and comfortable feeling. As Dean showed me around, he shared a few memories from the beach house with me, a smile on his face as he spoke.

When he was done showing me around, we stepped out of the house and sat on two chairs on the porch.

I stared into space, my eyebrows knitted together as my mind started wandering off like it always did and somehow my thoughts drifted to my Mother. I knew my father was still cheating on her, I had the feeling in my gut. I wonder if she knew or had any idea that he was still being unfaithful. Maybe she just wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt and put her trust him; another way my Mother and I differed from each other.

"Penny for your thoughts?" I heard Dean's deep voice speak.

I shook my head, still not facing him, "It's nothing."

I felt his intense eyes on me. After a long moment of silence, Dean spoke softly;

"Why do you hide yourself from the rest of the world, Grace?"

That was unexpected.

I turned to face him, "I don't."

"You do." He stated as a matter of fact, his eyes locked on mine. "Why do you feel the need to always protect yourself? What are you protecting yourself from?"

"From getting hurt, Dean." I said, my tone low. "I feel the need to always protect myself because no one else will, I don't need anyone to. People feel like I just choose to put on a b***h act, I don't feel it's a b***h act, I just feel it's who I am. The comments back in high school were terrible, girls kept yanning on about how much of a b***h I am, that I felt it was cool to put up a front and act mean and rude to everyone. That I was scared to live my sorry excuse of a life. I don't care about any of that and I choose not to let it define me."

"I hate that you have to feel that way." He whispered.

"Well.." I shrugged.

"Thanks for sharing that with me, Chip. Really, it means a lot."

There was a long moment of silence, only the sound of our breathing and crickets could be heard.

"The frat party's going on right now. Why don't we just go?" He smirked.

"I don't know, Dean..."

"Please, Grace. Please." He pouted, his bottom lip sticking out.

"Okay, fine."

His puppy dog eyes were just too adorable!

"Yay." He smiled.

His phone rang and he picked up and put the phone on speaker. "Perfect timing."

I heard Chris' voice, "Hey, Dean. What did she say?"

"She said yes." He smirked at me. "We'll be there soon."

He hung up and looked at me.

"You guys trickered me." I pouted.

"Yup." He smiled.

"I didn't even get ready. I don't have any makeup on and look at what I'm wearing." I groaned.

"You look wonderful to me."

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