Lilah

Chapter 36 Bud

? Grey ?

"Look what I got mother trucker!" Azalea waltzes into the room, a smile on her face. She lifts up my high school yearbook.

"Shit," I grumble under my breath, running my hand through my hair she was previously messing with. Bear trots after her and I feel attacked.

She raises the blue and red yearbook like it's some sort of sacred shit.

She plops down next to me.

"I was in seventh grade when you graduated you old fart," she pats my thigh and I narrow my eyes at her.

Then she wiggles beside me excitedly.

"I can't wait to see lil' baby Grey," she smiles, opening the book.

"Oh, who's this beautiful man?" she wonders aloud and I scowl knowing it's not me that early in the book. I look over and spot the principal back when I was there.

The seventy-four-year-old principle.

I lean back and relax, watching her emerald green eyes travel over each and every page.

I thought she just wanted to see me but whatever, I guess that's fine. Not jealous.

"You were a senior in this, right?" she looks over at me and I give her a nod. Around a minute passes and then she lets out a gasp.

She leans her head down on my shoulder looking at my picture.

"I can't get over how cute you were," her voice remains soft. I frown.

"Were? Still fucking am," I grumble. She tells me that shit every day. I guess I have to come to accept it.

She laughs as I glance at the old picture. I was skinnier then. Not exactly like a stick but I needed a damn cheeseburger.

"Yes you still are," she speaks in her baby voice. The same voice she talks to Bear with. She leans into me and presses her soft lips against my cheek.

On the damn cheek.

"Really?" I grumble and she huffs.

"On the cheek, really?" She makes her voice deeper, mocking me.

She closes the book suddenly.

Am I about to get lucky?

I smirk watching her as she starts to get up. I widen my legs a bit for her to come sit right on me.

She turns and looks at my suggestive face.

"We're going to do arts and crafts," she says happily and the smirk falls.

What the fuck.

"You're giving me blue balls," I grumble up to her.

The first time I used that phrase with her, it took me five minutes to explain what it meant.

"You're giving me a headache," she replies and I narrow my eyes.

"You know what? We're not doing arts and crafts, I'm going to show you how to do something for me," she says brightly.

I internally hope it's sexual but deep down I know it's not.

She walks off and goes into our room.

I should fucking escape.

She comes back with all kinds of fingernail polish products.

Goddammit.

"Welcome to Azalea's beauty school," she introduces.

"I don't want to be in Azalea's beauty school," I mumble and she hushes me.

She makes me do a lot of things I don't want to do. You'd think it's easy to refuse a girl half my size but hell no. She's a fucking angel but do something she doesn't like, you'll regret that shit.

She's not a physical person, she's a mental person. She'll fuck with your brain. I know it all too well.

She made me try sushi. First of all, it tasted like shit.

I refused with all my power to try that shit. She doesn't even eat it herself, I don't know why she wanted me to try it. I continually said no.

So she pulled out all kinds of shit to bring up in an attempt to get me to eat it.

'Love, I'm scared to try it and I need you to make sure it'll be good.'

'Grey, you know I love you so much. I only want the best for you and I think you'll like it.'

'You'll be telling me how sorry you are when it's your favorite food.'

"Paint my nails darling," she smiles innocently.

"No ma'am."

"Yes sir."

"No ma'am."

"Yes sir."

"No ma'am."

"Okay," she shrugs and gets up. My eyebrows furrow because I know it's not that easy. She grabs Bear's leash by the door.

"Where are you going?" I wonder.

"Me and Bear and going to the park to attract nail artists. Preferably men," she hooks the leash onto his collar.

I sigh.

Knowing her, she'd go around the fucking park asking these people to paint her nails. She'd get excited when some random old creepy dude says he'll do it and then she'll get kidnapped.

"Get over here and sit your ass down," I roll my eyes when she smiles victoriously. She trots back over to me and she takes a seat next to me, throwing her arms around my neck.

"I knew you'd do it Sugar," she kisses my lips, "because you're just so sweet, aren't you?"

"Mhm," I hum, kissing her back deeply.

She pulls away and I'm left following her lips with mine. She giggles backing away from me.

"So," she picks up the color and opens it. She takes a couple of minutes to show me how to do it. It can't be that hard. It's like painting. I'm no fucking painter but this is basics.

"So..?" I trail off, wondering what she was going to say before. It's not like her to not talk. At all.

I slowly drag the brush along her ring finger, flitting my eyes up to hers.

"I was thinking of going to college," she gives me a hesitant smile. I pause for a minute before continuing.

I know it's something she's wanted to do.

"Yeah?" I mumble. A slight fit of nervousness contracts my chest. If my hands weren't already occupied, I'd already been messing with the scrunchie on my wrist.

"Which one?" I keep my eyes focused on her hands.

"UTK," she says softly. It's a four-year college. In Knoxville.

Knoxville isn't that far from here. About an hour depending on traffic.

Still fucking far from me.

"I looked into dorm room exemptions for freshmen and there really isn't any category I fit into," she explains.

"But that only means that we just need to wait a year and then I can come back here!" she adds quickly.

"Well I mean, if I make it into the school," she rambles on.

"You'll make it," I give her a smirk that seems to fade within seconds. I remain quiet for the most part.

I'm happy for her. She's happy, I'm happy. We're just going to have to be happy without seeing each other almost every second of the day.

If she makes it. She may have zero common sense but she's smart, she'll make it.

I'm glad she's finally able to do what she wants though. She spent her whole childhood being controlled by her father that she never got to do anything she wanted. Now she's got all the time in the world to do anything she wants to and I'll never take that away from her.

"Are you okay?" she whispers softly, "I don't want to make you upset or anything. I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't-"

"Shut up," I tell her.

"Excuse me sir-"

"You're going to make it into UTK and you're going to go and you're going to do whatever the fuck you want to do there, got it?" I assure her.

"Got it good babe," she scrunches her nose when she smiles and my heart does a flittery fucking thing.

"And you're going to punch guys who like you in the dicks and tell them you've got a man when they chase after your ass," I add, just to make myself feel better.

"And when I get arrested for that, you'll bail me out," she goes along with it.

"And I'm going to try drugs-"

"No, you're not," I shake my head at her.

"I was just kidding," she gives me a sly smile. She looks down at her hand.

"If the whole fed thing doesn't work out, take up being a nail artist," she smiles. I only roll my eyes. I gather my focus back on her hands and I feel her eyes on my face.

"I love you very much," she says suddenly and my heart flips.

"Kiss me bud," she mumbles, leaning closer to me.

"Don't call me bud," I grumble, pecking her lips.

"I do what I want," she retorts. She's not fucking wrong and that's the bad thing.

"Right now, I want an apple," she starts to get up.

"I'm not done yet, Azalea," I keep my grip on her hand.

~~~

?Azalea?

Where's Grey?

Oh, he's just laying on top of me with his hand down the back of my pants. Excuse me? What does he think he's doing?

I squint down at him and notice his peacefully sleeping face.

I laugh evilly internally. I grip onto his nose and hold it closed. When his mouth wakes a weird sound and he starts to wake up, I lean my head back and act asleep.

He raises his head off me. I feel him move his body off me only to grab onto me and pull me on top of him.

He pulls my head down gently onto his chest and he presses a kiss to the top of my head.

Aw, I love him.

I feel a little bit bad now. I covered his nose so he couldn't breathe out of it and he went and acted like a sweetheart.

It would be funny if I farted.

Why do I think these things? I poke my finger in his belly button. Why do I do these things?

He jerks and lifts his head up.

"Fuckin' evil ass," he grumbles, running his hand down his face.

Bear leans over from his lying position and he gives Grey on nice lick on the side of his face.

"You're my sweet Cherry Pie," I quote my all-time favorite song, pointing my fingers at him.

He has no reaction to my proclamation.

"Go back to sleep," his sleep-coated voice mumbles.

"Can I be the big spoon and you be the little spoon?" I start sliding off of him. I'm always the little spoon.

"If it'll make you fuckin' sleep again," he grumbles turning onto his side. I get behind him and throw my arm over his side.

I feel pitiful behind him. I feel like I don't even exist being behind him. And it's cold back here.

And if I fart he won't even feel it and what's the point in that?

"I don't think I like being the big spoon," I sit up and he sighs.

He turns over midway almost onto his back and raises his arm for me to climb over and be the little spoon. He gently guides me over the top of him and I lay down in my spot.

I curl up and he wraps his warm arms around me.

"Better now?" He rumbles behind me and I nod against him.

Within a minute or two, the doorbell is ringing.

Grey has nothing but boxers on.

Now that I think about it, he's only in his boxers quite often. He's got no shame whatsoever and I'll never complain about what he chooses to wear around the house.

"Go open the door," I mumble to him.

"Fucking no," he grumbles, pressing his face deeper into my neck.