"Happy Thanksgiving," Lana's voice filled the room at max volume.

My eyes shot open and my heart was beating fast. "Lana. Don't ever do that again," I yelled in anger. "You scared the living shit out of me."

"Can you two stop yelling," Grayson mumbled.

"You two are, seriously, the cutest non-couple ever," she said.

Confusion set in as to what she meant by that; that is until I looked down.

Obviously the pillow didn't do it's job. Grayson was on his stomach laying at a slight angle, with his chest and head laying on the pillow and his arm wrapped around my waist.

Either I'm a heavy sleeper or he has the softest touch, because this has happened more than once, now, and I've never felt it.

I pulled the pillow out from under him, his head hitting the mattress, and lunged it at Lana, but she slipped out and shut the door before it could hit her.

"What was that for?" he asked.

I ignored him, instead grabbing his arm and tossing it off of me. "And you were worried about me being handsy."

He rolled onto his back. "Guess I'm just naturally drawn to you."

It was only six in the morning. I was hoping my phone was broken, because waking up this early on vacation is just uncalled for.

I slipped out of bed and grabbed some clothes before going into the bathroom. I put on a pair of black leggings and a maroon colored sweater because it is Fall, after all, and Thanksgiving.

When I stepped back out Grayson was already changed into a pair of dark denim jeans and a maroon t-shirt. My face fell. "We look like we planned on matching," I told him.

His grin spread wide. "Aren't we the cutest?" He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and lead me out of the room.

Once downstairs everyone was in the kitchen preparing the food.

"Oh, my, goodness," Lana began pausing between each word. "You two look so cute!"

Was it too much to hope for that no one would notice? Or at least not say anything.

"Aw, how cute," Stacie chimed in when she saw us. Well, at least she was in a chipper mood.

Grayson and I began helping prepare the food. I helped the girls with everything but the turkeys. Turkey duty was left to the guys, who after some time, seemed to figure out how to do it and finally get them in the oven.

"Why are we cooking two turkeys?" I asked the girls.

Lana shrugged, but Stacie seemed to know. "Oh, Tyler's parents and Grayson's parents are coming." She said it as if it was well-known news.

Just then the front door swung open and their parents stepped inside, everyone greeting each other.

"I feel like we just crashed Thanksgiving," I whispered to Lana.

"Me too," she said.

Apparently Tyler overheard us because he said, "You did not crash Thanksgiving. You two were invited because you're our friends."

Everyone hung around talking among each other while waiting for the food to be ready. Grayson and I were sitting on one couch while his parents sat across from us on another.

"It's so good to see you, again, Ellie," his mother said.

"It's great to see you, again, Mrs. Pierce."

"You two look so cute with your matching shirts" she beamed and Grayson and I glanced at each other but said nothing. "So, how long have you two been dating?" she asked us and it seemed like the room went quiet as though everyone was waiting to hear the answer.

"One month -" "Two months -" we said in unison and she looked at us confused.

"Two months-" "One month-" we said in unison, again.

Her confused stare stayed prominent while Grayson's father sat beside her with an amused grin. Well, at least someone was finding it amusing.

Grayson scratched the back of his neck, and I tried everything possible to not just melt to a puddle on the floor.

"We're not dating," he confessed to his mother.

"Why would you lie about that?" she questioned.

"Well, technically we didn't lie, you kind of just assumed," he said sounding careful with his word choice.

"You could have corrected me," she said.

"That's my fault," I told her still trying not to melt. "I don't know, you just seemed really happy that he had a girlfriend." I was picking at a loose thread on the throw pillow. "And I mean, I don't blame you because it is Grayson, after all."

His father let out a gut wrenching laugh.

"So not funny," Grayson said as he sunk back into the couch.

"Oh, c'mon son. When is the last time you had a girlfriend?" his father asked him.

"Good question," I said.

"Maybe I'm just waiting on you, pumpkin," he said and tapped my nose with his finger.

"Stop doing that," I told him.

"What? This?" He tapped my nose, again.

"Do it again. I dare you."

He tapped my nose, once more, but jumped from his seat when I moved to grab him. So, I stepped onto the arm of the couch and jumped right onto his back.

He stumbled and tried to regain his balance. "How many times do I have to tell you to stop doing that?" I asked him.

He started laughing, while I attempted to reach around him. Then I started tapping his nose. "Is this annoying to you?" I continued to tap his nose. "is it?"

"Okay, okay," he said through his laughter.

He, again, tried to steady himself from all the movement but hit against the couch. He tried to take a step forward but from the impact I started falling backwards. "Oh, shit," we both said. I was losing my grip and he attempted to grab hold of me. My hands slipped off his shoulders and I fell backwards over the couch, but not before taking him with me.

It truly was a site to see. My body was on the couch, head hanging off and legs still hung over the back, while his upper half lay on top of me. But to say it wasn't funny would be a lie. We were laughing way too hard for our own good.

"I, so, wish you guys could see yourselves from our point of view," Lana said through laughter.

After we got ourselves sorted out, we all talked some more. This time it felt easy to talk to his mother knowing the truth was out in the open. Even though she told us that she knew we weren't together but that we should be because we were just too cute together. I guess that's just how some mothers are, or maybe she had been talking to Lana, I don't know.

We had an informal late lunch with us all spread out around the living room, but it was nice. I can't remember many Thanksgiving dinners with my own parents, though I spent enough with Lana and her family and that was good enough for me.

The parents left around eight that night. We were all staying another night before heading back to campus.

When I stepped out of the bathroom Grayson was already laying in bed. "Jared's called you twice," he told me.

"Oh. I need to block him," I said as I crawled into bed and grabbed my phone, quickly blocking his number.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

"About what?"

"What he did to hurt you so bad?" His voice was calm and sweet and his eyes stared right into mine full of compassion.

I found myself opening up to him about when I first met Jared and when we first started dating, ending with the last night we were together.

It was three in the afternoon. I was upstairs in my room laying on my bed scrolling through social media.

Jared came busting through my door and I greeted him but got no response, and when I looked up from my phone I noticed how angry he was.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

"What's wrong? You. You're what's wrong," he spat.

"What did I do?" I could feel the nerves building inside of me. "Have you been drinking?"

I wasn't sure how much he had to drink. His eyes were bloodshot and he seemed a little off, but he spoke fine.

"I've drank some." He waved it off as no big deal. He ripped my phone out of my shaking hands. "You've been flirting with some other guy."

"What? No I haven't!" I jumped to my feet and tried to grab my phone from him but he held it up in the air out of my reach.

"Do you think I'm stupid? I looked through your phone earlier while you were in the shower."

"You had no right to do that." I was standing up for myself and even I was surprised, but I was still shaking.

"Well, I'm glad I did. I heard you were flirting with him at the last party but I didn't believe you would do that to me."

"Maybe because you treat me like shit."

"Excuse me?" He gripped my arms tightly. "I treat you like shit?" He pushed me up against the wall pinning me there. "I do everything for you."

"You're hurting me, Jared. Let go." I tried to push him away, but he just tightened his grip; it felt like he was squeezing down to my bones.

"How can you be so selfish?" He shook me before slamming me against the wall, again, my head hitting against it.

'You're hurting me, stop!" I tried to wiggle out of his grip, but it was no use.

"I can't believe you could do this to me, Ellie." He pulled me from the wall and pushed me onto the bed.

I sat there staring up at him trying to hold back the tears. "I did this because of the way you treat me. All I want is to be happy."

"If all the things I do for you don't make you happy, then what the hell else do you want?" The back of his hand swiped across my cheek and I lightly bit the inside of my cheek to bite back the sting, and attempt to not show weakness in front of him. "You're a slut and you're trash."

He walked out of the room, so slowly and steadily like nothing had just happened.

~~~

Maybe that was why I punched Stacie when she called me a slut and last nights trash.

It wasn't until I had finished telling Grayson the story of Jared and me that I realized his arm was around me and I was snuggled up to him with my head resting on his chest. "I was used to him treating me that way, getting mad and yelling, not hitting me. That was the first time it ever escalated to hitting me, but that day something just told me to get out of that relationship and away from him. But I don't even cry about it anymore. I'm just pissed." I chuckled. "And the funniest part is that I never cheated on him, I wouldn't do that, but he had been cheating on me." It really wasn't funny, but what else do you do but laugh at the irony.

"I'll kill him," he said as he ran his hand up and down my arm; a sweet gesture, but his words and the tone he used to say them, not so much.

'I'd rather you not go to jail over him." I gave a light chuckle.

I could feel him shrug. "It would be worth it."

I shook my head. "I don't think so. And besides, I don't plan on seeing him ever again, so." Something inside of me felt like I should be crying, but I couldn't. It was as if I had cried every last tear I ever could over him. "But I punched Stacie, so doesn't that make me just as bad as him?"

He held my hand. "No, it doesn't."

I tilted my head up to look at him. "How doesn't it? I did the same thing as him."

"No you didn't. Yeah, maybe you shouldn't have punched her but I think you were more so mad at Jared, not her. You did it in a moment of weakness from being reminded of what he said and did to you, and yeah, maybe it wasn't the best decision, but his came from an angry jealousy. And being punched once isn't the same thing as slapping and slamming someone against a wall multiple times."

"I guess." Maybe he was right, but I still felt awful about it and wish I never did it. Her words just made me think of Jared. I've always tried to just push the thought of him out but he's always been in the back of my mind. I guess in a way I never really got closure from that. I never got to say to him the things I wanted to and how I truly felt about him and what he did to me.

Even Jared had apologized to me more than once, but every time I told him I wouldn't get back with him he looked at me with such hatred. Even though how bad that was, that wasn't what pushed me away from him completely, but I wasn't going to tell Grayson, especially after the way he reacted after hearing that.

I still didn't understand how I was able to tell Grayson so easily and haven't even told Lana, yet, my best friend.

"We should go to sleep," I told him and tried to move away from him but he just pulled me closer and I didn't fight it.