As I stare down at Layla who lay above her grandma's grave screaming out words while crying and sobbing her eyes out I knew this was a bad idea.

A terrible idea.

"Please, grandma." She sobs out. "I want to see you again."

When I see her hands begin to dig into the soil, I finally step forward.

"Don't do that." I bend down, as her hands dig deeper.

"I want to see her." She sobs again, looking on the verge of passing out.

"Get up, I'm taking you home." I pull her fist out of the ground, trying to pull her up

"No." She wrenches her arm away, glaring at me as she falls back. Her head merely touching the grave stone.

Her eyes fall shut for a moment, as she takes a deep breath of the air, her breath hitching.

"Dad and Luise had sold me." She whispers, as she rolls onto the side, her eyes looking down at the soil where her grandma was buried deep inside.

I tense up from her words and release an awkward cough.

"I didn't know until I was kidnapped." She says. "How can they stoop so low like that, over money?" She shakes her head, her hair now covered in soil.

"Layla–"

"I guess it was for the best I guess." She repeats some words, obviously too drunk to realise.

"They never liked me anyway. I couldn't imagine if I was still living in that rubbish family, I'd probably go insane." She laughs emptily.

"As if I'm not already."

She goes back onto her back, placing her hands over her stomach as her grey eyes look up at the sky, tears shining in them.

After a couple of moments she releases another sob.

"I just miss you so much grandma." She says, then hiccups. "I wish I could just.." She grits her teeth as her fists dig into the soil again. "Join–"

"Love" I sigh, as I shuffle closer to her until I'm looking down at her face. I gently pull her hands out of the ground again, as I entwine our fingers together.

She turns her head my way, her eyes staring at our hands before she looks up at me, blinking a couple of time to clear her vision.

"You're grandmother was a wonderful person, she wouldn't want to see you like this." I say softly, running my thumb along her knuckles her eyes drift down to her hands again, before she looks up at the sky, her lips trembling.

"I miss her." She whimpers, a tear trickling down her cheek.

"She was my only family who actually cared. She was the one who was always there for me before anyone else." She begins to sobs again.

"Shh, its fine." I try to calm her down as I brush my fingers against her cheeks.

"We didn't even say goodbye. I didn't even go to her funeral." She continues to say.

"She needed me but I wasn't there for her. She told me she was lonely." She shoves her fist into her mouth as she cries silently, her voice laced with guilt and so much pain.

"It isn't your fault, sweetheart." I say softly, trying to calm her down, as I push her hair back and away from her face. "I'm sure she would agree. She can probably even hear you right now, you know."

"She may no longer be alive but her soul is still awake. Do you think she would be happy seeing you put yourself down like this over something you couldn't control?" I ask, as I begin to lay myself beside her, pulling her closer to me.

Her wet red eyes flicker up, meeting mine as I run my fingers over the apple her cheek.

"Do you understand me?" I ask after a while of her silence.

She continues to stare at me and I raise an eyebrow.

She moves her body closer to me, as she places her small hand against my cheek.

Her breathing slowly begins to calm down, and she buries her face into the nape of my neck as she takes a deep breath.

"I guess you're right." She croaks out, sniffling.

"I am." I wrap my arms around her small waist, running my hand over her back trying to warm her shivering body up.

"We should get going now." I say after some silence.

"Back to the party?" She croaks, lifting her gaze up to mine.

"Do you want to?" I raise a brow and she thinks about it.

"Do you?" She asks instead.

I shrug. "If you do then sure."

She blinks a few times then shrugs.

"I don't know. How about you?"

I chuckle then shrug, looking at my watch. "There's a couple of minutes till the new year. Do you want to spend it here?"

"Oh." She looks surprised at the time, as she begins to sit up, me following. "Yeah, I want that." She nods, as her sad eyes set on her grandma's grave stone.

Her hand reaches over as she begins to trace her fingers along the engraved letters as she releases a soft sigh.

A couple moments later, it's now past 12, as I watch Layla wrapping her arms around the stone, closing her eyes as she whispers things to it.

"C'mon love." I say softly as she pulls away, wiping a stray tear.

"Happy new years grandma, I'll come and visit you again soon, I promise." She sniffles, patting the soil as we both stand up on our feet.

I wrap my arms around her, as we begins to walk away from the graveyard and towards our car.

As we enter, Layla glances at me, her eyes swarming in her dress pocket.

"I can't find my phone." She panics, and I dig my hand into my blazer, pulling it out as I hand it to her.

Luckily it didn't crack due to the protection and there was only a few scratches.

As I drive off to Layla's house, I glance at her every now and then, seeing her eyes glued to her phone as she plays candy crush, an amused smile playing on my lips.

I see she's still obsessed with that game then

We continue to drive to her house in a comfortable silence, with her hiccups emitting here and there.

As I come to a stop at the curb, I turn the engine off turning my gaze to Layla who then turns her gaze to me.

"You got the keys?" I ask and she nods, pulling them out.

She opens her mouth to say something but closes it, as she begins to fiddle with her fingers.

"What is it?" I ask, placing my hand over hers.

"Um. Are y-you coming in?" She asks, her cheeks flushing and I chuckle.

"Of course I am."

"I mean, you don't have to. You can go back to the party and hang out with Nicole if you want." She says and I roll my eyes.

"Think I'll pass." I open the door exiting.

I go over to her side and open it, waiting for her as she begins to shove her stuff into her pocket.

I take a step back as she gets out and I close the door shut following her to the house.

She unlocks the door and we enter.

I watch as she begins to head to the stairs as I set my keys down, heading to the kitchen as I fill a glass with water.

I go up and enter her room, handing her the glass.

"Sober up a bit." I say and she takes it gulping it down.

She sets the glass down, running her hand through her hair as she groans. "I need to have a shower." She heads to the bathroom.

"Coolio." I say, shrugging off my blazer as she shuts the door.

I head out and into the guestroom, as I pull my phone out.

I quickly send a text to Luca, before dropping it onto the desk. Releasing a sigh.

I tug my tie off before removing my shirt and then head into the bathroom having a quick shower and brushing my teeth.

I exit the bathroom and then head to bed, taking a seat as I grab my phone.

"Killian?" I hear Layla's voice from next door.

"Here." I call out then hear the patter of her feet.

She soon pops in, her gaze landing on me. "Why are you sleeping here?" She frowns, pushing her wet hair back.

I raise a brow, my eyes trailing down her black tank and white shorts before looking into her eyes again.

"You want me to sleep in your room?"

"I don't know." She shrugs. "If you want to."

"Are you still drunk?"

"I don't kn–"

"Okay." I roll my eyes. She definitely still was, by the looks of it.

"You're not wearing a shirt." She then asks, her eyes trailing down.

"Oh really? I had no idea." My lips twitch up as I shuffle myself under the sheets, she walks over to me and sighs.

And then I notice her grey eyes, still looking dazed from the alcohol.

She frowns at me and I raise a brow.

"You want to cuddle?"

She nods, and I shuffle back giving her room.

She climbs up, tying her wet hair into a bun before laying comfortably next to me, she looks at me and smiles.

I wrap my around her, pushing her closer as I bury my face into her neck. Breathing in her feminine scent, as I release a deep breath.

"I missed you, Killian." She murmurs, as she begins to wriggle against me trying to get comfortable.

"I missed you too love." I say softly. When she continues to move I release a groan. "Stay still."

"Okie dokie." She giggles, as she presses her face against my chest.

After a couple of moments, she speaks again, her voice laced with confusion.

"..Uh, Killian... what's that poking me?"

I roll my eyes.

"Just go to sleep."

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Hey guys, hope you enjoyed this kinda short chapter! Xx

Q: Just wondering how old my readers are? I'm actually turning 18 next month so that's great I guess, lmao.

💙💙