Paige was no longer the confident and sassy girl she once was. At college, she keeps her head down and barely gives anyone eye contact. One thing that no one can miss though, is the growing baby bump.
“Stop looking over at her Manchester. She made her bed and now she has to lie in it.”
I nod, chewing on my lip. I’m sitting on Grayson’s knee in the cafeteria with all our friends around us. “I know you’re right, but look at her, she’s pregnant, the father of her baby is dead and according to the news, the bailiffs are closing in on her parents.”
Grayson sighs and follows my gaze to where Paige sits on her own. “You’re too kind hearted baby, you know that right?”
I shrug. “I just can’t help but feel for her, despite everything she’s said and done.”
Grayson smiles and drops a kiss on my lips. “What do you want me to do, sweet cheeks?’
I fuss with his tie. “Maybe you could give her an allowance you know for the baby? After all, the kid is going to be your baby brother or sister.”
Grayson nods his head, thinking over my suggestion. “If I agree, will it make you stop looking over there with those sad eyes?”
I wrap my arms around the back of his neck. “It would.”
“I guess I have enough money to spare her some,” he says reluctantly. Grayson is much less forgiving than I am. “I’ll get my solicitor to draw an agreement up.”
Grinning, I lean in and kiss him and he holds the back of my head and deepens the kiss.
“Is this what they’re like all the time?” Ems asks and I look up and stick my tongue out at her.
“All the damn time,” Owen grins. “It puts me off my food.”
“Well, you can always go sit somewhere else,” Grayson tells him flatly.
Ems chuckles at her brother and leans her head on her boyfriend’s shoulder. It is strange but good to have Ems here with us. She has settled in to Harper Grange well. No one dared to say a word to her about her father out of fear of pissing off Grayson. She has good days and bad days as she works through her grief and she has started counselling which I think is helping. Owen has been her rock, he has been there for her through it all, and I think Grayson is even starting to see that Owen is good for his sister, just as much as she is good for him.
We are all in college today for revision lessons. Most of us have our last few exams coming up this week, and then we’ll be free.
In a couple of months we will say goodbye to one another and all move on to the next chapter of our lives. I came here broken and alone and today here I am surrounded by good friends and a guy that I know loves me with every breath in his body. We still have our last summer together. We are all spending the summer in Ibiza. One last summer together. One last blow out before we all move forward. What our friends and family don’t know yet, is that we are going over there to buy our future and build our own dream in the sun. Dom and Izzy were off to university together in Carlisle. Lottie was off to study History at Plymouth and Owen was off to Oxford. Yes, you heard that right. Beneath all the bravado, our friend Owen was a brainbox and will one day become a doctor. This was great news for Courtney, who was joining him on the same course there so they would both have someone they knew there. Everything is about to change, but I am excited for my future and I intend to make my mum proud and live my best life in her memory.
“What are you thinking about in that pretty head of yours, Manchester?” Grayson whispers softly into my ear.
I smile, wrapping my arms around his neck. “The future, posh. I’m thinking about our future together.”
“I love you, Manchester,” he tells me, his eyes mirroring his words as he looks deep into my soul.
“Ditto, Posh, fucking ditto.”
The End.
Epilogue
14 MONTHS LATER.
It’s a beautiful night. There’s a slight breeze in the air that stops the heat from becoming uncomfortable. The bar is packed out tonight. You could hear the sea in the background even though it was too dark to see it. I close my eyes and soak in the sea air. I look around at what my guy and I have achieved.
We finished our exams and then dropped the bomb to my dad and Sophie that we weren’t going off to university like everyone presumed we would. My dad wasn’t best pleased, but he realised that there was no persuading me otherwise. I think he was more bothered about me moving to another country than he was about me not attending university. I don’t think he was quite ready to let me go, given he’d only had me in his life for such a short time. By July we were in Ibiza and had rented an apartment while work started on the bar. Grayson had let me have full control over the interior and I’m not going to lie, I’d loved every second of it. It made me realise that my future was in interior design.
My mum’s house sold after two months on the market, selling at just over the asking price. It had been hard locking up for the last time and saying goodbye to my childhood home, but I will always carry those memories with me. I’d used some money from the sale to start my business. I sell home interiors online, and it was slow at first, but my followings on Insta