Owned By a Greek god

**** RYAN P. O. V ****

THE NEXT DAY

“Are you really going to lock yourself up and drink again today?” I asked him why he didn’t answer his door thirty or so minutes after we got back from the clubhouse.

“Ryan go away. I’ll be okay.” He said. He seemed to be drunk.

“Can you just let me in for a moment? Or I do what I’ve been trying to avoid doing?” I asked.

“What does that mean? Break down the door?” He asked and I moved back gaining moment. I gave the door a glorious kick and it flew up.

“Yes, I sure would.” I said this when I saw him lying on the floor with a bottle of drink in his hand.

“Jason are you insane? When did you become so weak?” When I got close to him, I asked.

“Since you let Melina kill my humanity,” he said. He said this while taking another sip from the bottle. I let out a sigh and reached for the bottle, which I then threw away.

“C’mon Ryan! That’s the only way for me to forget her.” I laughed at what he said.

“If that’s what happens. Since yesterday afternoon, you should have forgotten all about her. But now you’re here and all the memories are still clear.” I told him, and he sat up and reached for his head.

“Ryan, I’m thinking about her. No matter what I do, I can’t get rid of her. Even though I know I can’t, I want to hold her, kiss her, and be there for her.” He said and I nodded.

“I know Jason, but if she saw you like this, she wouldn’t be happy. You look like waste brother.” I said.

“You tried.” He said again that he was lying on the floor.

“Okay, then let’s do this. You should go to the funeral right now and tell her how you feel. And how do you really feel about that?” I asked.

“Ryan I adore her. I’m totally crazy about her!” I nodded when he yelled.

“I got it okay. I have it. So you should go tell her how you feel, let it all out, and then you would feel better.” I said that I was trying not to think about what Gracie would do.

“What if I tell her and she says the same thing she always says in response? She doesn’t like me.” Exactly what I was trying to avoid, he said.

“It’s at least worth a shot.” I told him, and he just shook his head.

“Ryan I can’t take it if she says that to me one more time. And I won’t go to any dumb funeral. Harrison, her boyfriend told her that, okay?” I sighed when he said it.

I knew it would be a disaster. If he tells her this and she doesn’t feel the same way. Jason won’t make it through.

“Okay fine! I would go to the funeral and say what you want to say.” I said, and he gave me a shoulder shrug.

“Have luck, but don’t give any feedback. I’m already in pain.” He said it, and I got up and looked at him.

“You are awful, Jason. Go take a shower.” I told him, and he closed his eyes.

“I love how it smells. I can’t smell Melina anymore.” He said.

“Does everything always have to be about Melina?” He sat up and looked at me when I asked.

“Yes! Since she’s here! This spot!” He said this while poking his head, and I agreed while narrowing my eyes.

“Don’t you think you should talk to a counselor?” I almost whispered my question.

“Don’t you ever dare!” He barked.

“Oops! Sorry. Don’t worry, I’ll tell Gracie everything she needs to know, and the goodbye will be just as you wanted.” I said going to the broken door.

“I wanted it to be a kiss to say goodbye. It can’t be just how I wanted it to be.” He said something, and I looked at him.

“Are you sure?? You know, I could help you.” I said winking.

“If you touch her, I’ll kill you myself.” I laughed out loud at what he said. I shook my head and looked at the door.

“When I tell you to open the door next time, do it! You take care of this.” I said I was leaving the room.

“I dislike you! From inside the room, he yelled.

“Oh yes you do.” I mumbled to myself smriking.

**** MELINA P. O. V ****

I reached for the black funeral dress that Harrison had bought for me. Before putting it on, I put it on the bed and dried myself off.

It was the right size for me. He did a great job of getting my size right. I looked in the mirror to see how I looked, and I thought I looked great.

Harrison’s “Wow” from behind me woke me up.

“Oh my God. When did you get here, Harrison?” I asked, and he came up to me with a smile.

He said, “Right now.”

“You should have knocked because what if I was naked?” I asked, taking another look in the mirror.

“But you weren’t, and you aren’t now.” He said that, and I grinned and shook my head.

“How do I look?” When I looked at him in the mirror, I asked.

“You look stunning. The dress looks good on you.” He said this, and I could feel his arm around my waist.

“Ah. Do you not think I should look beautiful? I mean, this is a funeral, so I should be sad.” I told him, “Facing you,” as he let go of my waist.

“Melina, just because it’s a funeral doesn’t mean you have to look bad. You have always been beautiful, and you always will be.” He said this while running his fingers through my hair.

I kind of felt the same way he did.

“You, too, don’t look too bad.” I said something to break the uncomfortable silence between us. He was all black, and his blazers were black and shone.

“Really? You like it, right?” He said this while he was standing in front of the mirror. I let out a sigh of relief.

“Yes. I’m sure Nina will enjoy it.” I told him, and he sighed, bowed, and then turned to look at me.

“Gracie, it doesn’t matter what she does.” He said.

I asked, “Why not?”

“We just like each other. There’s no more.” He said that, and I smiled as I helped him put his tie back on.

“Do what I say, Harrison. You two look really good together. If you were a thing, I would be so happy.” I said.

“Gracie, I don’t love her! I love you! You’ve always been the one!” He yelled, which made me shake.

“What?” I asked like I was in a dream.

“Guys?” We heard Nina’s voice. She sounded close, so we both tried to act like everything was fine. She looked very pretty when she walked through the door.

“Wow Nina you look gorgeous.” I said smiling.

“Gracie, thank you. And you look very pretty too. Harrison has a great sense of style.” When she answered, I laughed.

Thank you, Nina.” I answered so as not to do what Harrison had just done.

“So, we will soon be going to the cemetery. We have to leave now.” She said, “I’m going,” and she walked away. We both looked at the door.

“I would go now.” He said this as he walked out of the room. My mouth was open, but I couldn’t say anything.

I got my purse and followed them out of the room. I walked outside and saw that an Uber was already waiting for us.

In fact, there were two of them. Nina got into the first one, and it took off. So I guess the second one is for Harrison and me.

Why didn’t she just bring me along?

Harrison opened the door for me and stood there until I came in.

“Thanks.” I said that we were in the car. He closed the door and walked to the other side, then opened the door and sat down right next to me.

When I thought about what he said in the room, I had to swallow hard.

I’ve never thought of him as anything but a friend. How come he waited so long to tell me?

When the Uber driver turned on the engine, we started moving. We fell into an awkward silence again, and I didn’t know what to say.

“I didn’t want to say that now.” I looked at him as he spoke.

I asked, “Why?”

“No, not like that. I had something to tell you before we left town. I didn’t just want to give it to you like that.” He said it, and I nodded, still not able to say anything.

“Won’t you say anything?” He asked looking at me.

“Harrison, I don’t know what to say. This is the most surprising thing I’ve heard all day.” I told him, and he grinned.

“Just look in your heart to find the words.” I sighed when he said it.

“My heart has nothing to look for.

I just need time to digest it.” I said and he nodded.

“Fine. I would give you time, because I’ve felt this way for more than ten years. It’s not hard at all to wait right now.” I looked at him as he spoke.

“A decade?” I asked in awe.

“Yes. Since we were both in the same orphanage. Before I was taken in by a family.” He said, and I made a circle with my mouth.

“Woah. And you didn’t tell anyone?” He smiled when I asked.

“Here we are.” When the Uber driver spoke, I turned my head to see what was going on.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

“Let’s go.” He said to open the door and run down the stairs. He ran to where I was and opened the door before I could.

“Thanks, Harrison.” I said climbing down. I firmly gripped my purse and looked around.

Just then, a big picture of Nina’s mother caught my eye.

“Oh my God.” I said that I put my hand over my mouth.

“What’s the matter?” Harrison asked, so I went to the place where the picture was.

“Are you aware of her?” As tears fell from my eyes, he asked.

“Because of me, she is dear,” said Harrison. I said while crying.

“What do you want to say?” When he asked, I started crying.

“Because of me, she got shot. When I hurt his mother by accident, Jason killed her.” I did a rap.

“Gracie Quiet down. I don’t get what you’re saying at all.” He said.

“Hey, the show is about to start. Let’s go.” I looked at Nina when she said that.

“What’s wrong with you?” She asked, and I told her no.

“Nina, it’s no big deal. We’ll follow you right behind.” Harrison said, and as she walked away, she smiled. Harrison took my hand, and I looked at the painting one more time before I left.

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