Page 79 of The Absence of You
“Shit, are you alright?” Obviously he isn’t, but before he can answer me, his father appears behind him, fists clenched and his face red.
“Remember what I said, Son?” he hisses as Grayson remains silent.
“Grayson, what’s going on?” I’m suddenly worried, really worried. It’s like when we were kids, when he was petrified of his dad.
“It’s nothing. You better go.” He tries to smile, but it barely lands. I grab onto his forearm and pull him towards me. There is no way I’m letting him go back in there with that man. Just then, there’s a crack of thunder and a flash of lightning, and we both jump.
Colin pushes past Grayson and gets into his car. His eyes flick between the two of us as his scowl deepens. I swear he’s going to give himself a heart attack, his blood pressure must be sky high the way he’s carrying on. He starts the car and revs it aggressively. At least the prick is leaving. Good riddance. My relief is short lived, because the next thing I know, Grayson is running to the car. He yanks open the driver door and drags Colin from his seat. In the blink of an eye, Grayson has him out of the car and pinned to the bonnet. He draws his fist back and smashes it into his father’s face. I scream as the punch connects and blood sprays from Colin’s mouth. He turns and spits a mouthful of blood and what looks like a tooth onto the driveway. But instead of trying to struggle out of his son’s grip, he just laughs manically.
“Oh Son, you have fucked up. I will ruin you and your little girlfriend.” He turns to me and sneers, blood painting his clenched teeth. He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. “That’s right, you can kiss your place at Heathley Academy goodbye. You can forget any dreams you have of a decent career. I will ruin your reputation and your life.” Grayson roars at Colin’s words and hits him again, and I watch in horror as his head bounces sickeningly off the car bonnet. Before I can react, Grayson grabs his father by the throat and squeezes. Fuck, he isn’t going to stop. He is going to keep going until his father is dead. I hate Colin Banks. I would truly be glad to see the vile man in a grave, but not like this. Not if Grayson is going to spend his life in jail for it.
Grayson’s grip doesn’t loosen for a second, and his father’s face is turning slowly from red to purple. Is this what it was like for my mum, watching Joseph attack his father all those years ago?
Suddenly I realise how close I am to having a life like mum. An image flashes before me. Grayson in prison, me visiting him, him not getting parole. No. No, that is absolutely not happening.
I run over to them and try to pull Grayson off. Putting all my weight into it, I tug at his arm as hard as I can, but he’s so much stronger than me, and it’s not working. Colin’s eyes are bulging, and I know it’s going to be too late if I can’t stop Grayson soon. I’m never going to overpower him, so I need to try something else. I wrap my fingers around Grayson’s and his eyes dart to my hands. He doesn’t let go, but the distraction is enough to loosen his grip, and Colin takes a huge gulp of air.
“Grayson, please don’t do this.” I place my hands gently on his cheeks, trying to get him to look at me.
He doesn’t take his eyes off Colin, as he keeps him pinned to the car, but he doesn’t tighten his grip on his throat again. Colin is panting, but I don’t spare him a glance.
“I need to do this, Lia. He knows about your dad, your grandfather, everything. I wanted to turn him in, but he’ll ruin your life. This is the only way I can make him stop.” Grayson’s whole body is shaking with rage, his hold on his father still firm, blood coating his knuckles. Despite the violent scene, all I see is my childhood friend, drowning in years of abuse from his father. Colin Banks deserves every bit of the physical hurt that’s being inflicted, but I can’t let Grayson pay for it any more than he has done already.
“Grayson,” I plead with him, but he carries on staring at his dad. I’m aware there’s an audience behind us now. Dee and Joseph must have heard the commotion and come out to see what’s happening. Turning to look at them, I see their concern, but I hold my hand up, silently gesturing for them to stay on their side of the drive. If I can’t get through to Grayson then I doubt either of them can.
“Grayson,” I repeat more firmly. This time it it has an effect, but when he looks at me, I nearly break when I register the fear in his eyes.
“Lia. I can’t let him hurt you.”
“Grayson,” I look him straight in the eye so he can see the truth in my words. “I don’t care if your father tells everyone. I don’t care about the academy, or my reputation. I don’t give a shit if he decides to take a full-page advert out in a national newspaper or makes a fucking video about me that ends up going viral.” I take a small step towards him. “You are the only person whose opinion matters to me, and you already know everything.” This time when I gently pull his hands from his father’s throat, he lets me.
GRAYSON
My father drops to his knees, coughing and bleeding. He makes a pathetic sight crawling towards the house, and it takes superhuman restraint to stop myself finishing off what I started just minutes ago.
I force myself to turn away from him, and my gaze lands on the beautiful woman in front of me, who has almost certainly just saved me from a life behind bars. On the surface she looks unshakably calm, but I don’t miss the slight tremble in her hands.
Shit, what was I thinking letting her see me like that? There’s no way she wasn’t frightened witnessing my display of anger, but like always she doesn’t show any fear. She continues to be brave and selfless, always putting everyone else’s needs first. It’s one of the many reasons I love her. I want to thank but where do I even begin? There’s an ache in my throat, making it hard to swallow and impossible to speak. Instead, I pull her into a hug, wrapping my arms tightly around her, burying my face in her hair.
“I meant what I said, Grayson. I don’t care what he does to me. I will not watch you throw your life away. I won’t let you. I’m sure as fuck not letting another member of my family rot in jail for twenty years.” She tightens her arms around my waist and whispers into my chest, “I want to end that bastard too. God knows he deserves it, but not like this. We’ll find another way.” And I believe her, along with everything else she’s said to me in the last few minutes, but that’s not what I’m stuck on. All I can think about is the fact she’s just referred to me as a member of her family.
I stopped considering my father as anything but a sperm donor years ago, the same with my mother. She might have cared for me once, but not anymore. They certainly don’t feel like a family. The only person I need is Lia and to know she thinks of me like that too, makes me feel like the luckiest son of a bitch alive. Even if she never wants our friendship to be anything more than platonic, I’ll learn to live with that because she’s all the family I’ll ever need.
But then she surprises me. She pulls away from my embrace and silver eyes lock with mine.
“I shouldn’t have pushed you away. When you told me you loved me after the hospital. What I said wasn’t true. Not about loving you. Because I do, I love you. When I told you I didn’t want to be with you. I thought I wasn’t ready to commit to this, but I’m already committed. I think I’ve been committed since the first time I saw you on this doorstep, Grayson Banks.” The ache in my throat is back as her words nearly bring me to my knees.
“Please tell me there isn’t going to be a but this time?” I manage to croak out.
“There’s no but,” she confirms. “I love you, Grayson. I am in love with you. I want to be more than your best friend. If you’ll have me?”
“Of course I’ll fucking have you Lia. I love you too.” She reaches her arms round my neck, and I dip down to meet her. This time our kiss is nothing like the one we shared earlier in the week. It’s the beginning of something new.
Chapter Sixty
DAHLIA
Dee was quick to invite Grayson to stay at her house for as long as he needed to and he gratefully accepted. For the last two days we’ve barely left the house, trying to come up with a plan. I’ve told Grayson over and over that I don’t care what his father does to me. Yes, it would be disappointing to lose my place at Heathley Academy, but if it happened, I would deal with it. But he’s determined to find another way.
