Chapter 100 He Makes Me Weak
Quinn's POV
"Watch your head," Grayson said. He placed his palm on top of my head as I climbed through a box-shaped hole to reach the attic.
It turned out that the place Grayson wanted to show me was the attic located on the top floor of his house. And now we were climbing the stairs, him already there and me still on my way.
"Okay, safe landing," he said with a sigh of relief.
I looked around. "You know, what we're doing right now reminds me of that movie they show at Christmas. About the little kid playing in the attic on Christmas Eve."
Grayson chuckled. "And we're in that movie."
By the way, this place is very neat, as if it is cleaned every day. But I'm also not sure that anyone lives here, considering that this mansion is very large with dozens of rooms.
If it's not for living in, then what is this place for?
"This is the room where Gerry and I used to play when we were kids. Now it's a storage room for the things he left behind."
I immediately approached Grayson and rubbed his back. "Are you okay being here again?"
He took a deep breath and then looked at me with a smile. "I just want to remember it one last time. I'm brave because you're with me. So I think it'll be okay."
I nodded. "Okay, if that's what you want. I'll always be there for you."
Grayson smiled once more before finally starting to walk down this place. I followed behind him.
Even though our stories are different, I know how it feels to return to a place that holds many memories of our past. Like me living in my old flat with all the memories of my mother, that's probably how it feels.
I also know how sad and hopeless Grayson feels about his twin brother. Maybe not exactly the same, but more or less like me when I almost died upon hearing Dylan's diagnosis from the doctor at that time.
Grayson and I, coincidentally, have a lot in common.
We both live our lives not only for ourselves, but also for others who depend on us. We endure every pain and trauma that comes our way just to make sure the people around us don't worry. We have to live with trauma that may be difficult to heal. We... share our pain in order to heal.
Grayson, he's actually just like me. He has trauma too, and he's not as perfect as he looks.
The amazing thing is, he doesn't let his trauma stop him from pursuing his dreams. The amazing thing is that he can hide it all so well until others think he's an untouchable man with a cold heart.
But if they only took the time to get to know Grayson better, they would know that Grayson is very fragile. Like a dandelion that is easily blown away by the wind. That's what Grayson is really like.
"This box contains photos of us from when we were born until Gerry passed away." Grayson stopped and then crouched down. He pulled a box from under the cabinet and took it out.
Grayson opened it and I saw that it contained a stack of photo albums. He took the one on top.
"Oh, it's been mixed up. It used to be in order. The top one is the oldest photo and the bottom one is the most recent," he explained.
I finally got another album.
When Grayson opened it, I did the same. And the first thing I saw was a photo of two babies with the words 0-12 months written below it. Below the writing were the faces of baby Grayson on the right and baby Gerry on the left. Only then did I see the other photos taken day by day.
And it turned out that what Grayson meant by twins was only their birthdays, not their faces. Because they had different faces. Twins but not identical, fraternal.
Suddenly, a long, large index finger landed on baby Grayson's face. "Oh, that's me."
"Your cheeks look like inflated baseballs," I commented.
"Hey! Is that a compliment or an insult?"
I chuckled and pointed to Gerry's face. "He's so handsome. Even as a baby."
I thought Grayson would be mad because I praised his twin brother, but it turned out he agreed with me. "You're right. He is very handsome. More handsome than me, really."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah. He was a star from birth, not me. So you better not look at him too long or you'll be hypnotized."
I rolled my eyes when I realized that was just Grayson's way of focusing on himself. "Are you jealous?"
"A little."
I shook my head in disbelief. Then I turned to the next pages.
Honestly, all these photos were really cute. I couldn't stop laughing when I saw them because Grayson really looked different as a baby. I mean, everyone looks different with their babies, but Grayson... I don't know, he looked even more different.
Who would have thought that this cute baby with chubby cheeks would become a famous ice hockey player who is everyone's idol, right? That's what I mean.
"Eww, you can't look at that one." Grayson suddenly snatched the photo album I was holding.
But he was too slow because I had already taken the photo he was referring to. I looked at it and it made my eyes pop.
It was a photo of him naked in the bathtub with his hair... gone. He was bald!
I couldn't hold myself back anymore. I laughed so hard I fell to the floor.
Oh, it was so cute. He was so adorable, especially with his hair that was invisible.
"Quinn, please, that's embarrassing," he said. He tried to take the photo from me, but I quickly hid it in my shirt.
"Let me keep it, okay?" I gave him puppy eyes. "Please."
Grayson combed his hair and sighed deeply. "Okay. Fine."
"Yeay, finally. Now I have something to tease you with."
"But it's not free."
Suddenly Grayson cupped my face with his big hands and kissed me.
But I felt that this was not just a kiss to pay for the photo. It was a kiss to release something he had been holding back, to release his sadness.
I cupped his face with both hands and made our kiss more intense. I wanted to help Grayson release and leave behind all the sadness he had been holding in all this time. So that later, when we returned, when he returned to the rink, he could focus on his game again.