grayson-reis

[grayson-reis]

@graysonreis: You want to talk to God? Let’s go see him together. I’ve got nothing better to do.

#pretend this is like a post with multiple slides #*

[grayson-reis]

@graysonreis: if you’re not smiling like @mackfox then are you really having a good time?

#*

[grayson-reis]

@graysonreis: soft boy hour

[grayson-reis]

@graysonreis: my valentine’s day aesthetic

[grayson-reis]

@graysonreis: 🌞 by @mackfox

[grayson-reis]

@graysonreis: when both fox sisters invade your room and one tells you that you need a haircut but the other one tells you that you look good with long hair. guess which said what. the answer may shock you.

#**

[grayson-reis]

lost boy || self para

It wasn’t uncommon for Grayson to come home with bruised knuckles. He’d been getting in fights since he was eight. The first one was when Jesse Davis made a comment about how Grayson was so much of a loser that even his own mom didn’t want him, and that’s why he was dumped at a firehouse as a baby. He wasn’t sure how Jesse found out that detail of him being put up for adoption, but even as a third grader he didn’t hesitate in taking a swing at him.

The group home he had been placed in had him transferred out shortly after, but even then, Grayson hadn’t stopped swinging.

Against bullies, against certain foster siblings, hell even some foster parents. Life in the foster care system was not easy for Grayson. There were times where he was beat, and starved, and deprived of fresh air. There were times when he thought that he was finally going to be adopted. There were times when he made true friendships in group homes.

None of it lasted, and Grayson didn’t know if permanence would be something he ever really knew.

Almost always he was placed in the same school district, or his social worker tried to. Sometimes he would end up in different counties, but more than not, he ended up back with the same people he knew since kindergarten. Nikki Fox was one of them and despite the countless times he had moved, and the black eyes he sported, she was always there for him. She was his one constant, and so was her family. Her father the pastor, her mother the sweet pastor’s wife, and her older sister Mackenzie. 

Grayson always had a bit of a crush on Mack, which was something he would never let Nikki know because he was scared it would ruin everything. That it would upset her and she would stop wanting to be his friend and suddenly, his one constant would be gone. So he kept it to himself, and enjoyed the friendship he had. The Fox family was kind to him. Often inviting him to sleepover, making sure to send Nikki with extra food so she could share her lunches with him. 

It wasn’t until he turned eighteen that they did the biggest favor they could for him, and that was give him a home. Grayson was sure that if the pastor had been able to, he would’ve taken him in earlier but it probably wasn’t appropriate to have a delinquent living in the same home with his daughters. And Grayson did always end up placed somewhere, but once he was legal, he was on his own. But he had no job, and still hadn’t graduated high school yet so he was shit out of luck until they took him in.

He tried his best to be as clean cut as possible while living under their roof. Grayson wasn’t always so successful, which was why he knew he had to keep his bruised knuckles out of sight. Underground boxing and cage fighting had found Grayson, not the other way around. It was a way for him to take out all of the anger he had in the very pit of his being for far too long. It was a secret that he knew he was going to have to keep for as long as he was in the Fox household because he was sure that it would get him kicked out. But he needed it, it was an outlet for him. It was better than him provoking fights just to feel that rush. Though, sometimes he still did rush to someone’s rescue and if fists were involved then, at least he could call it self defense.

Grayson found bandages in his bathroom that was downstairs in the basement which was his makeshift bedroom. His social worker told him that he had a hero complex and that it was going to bite him in the ass one day. He did have a hero complex, he liked helping other people. He liked helping people in ways no one ever helped him, because in the end-- the only person who was going to save him was himself.

#self para

[grayson-reis]

mackfox·:

Mack smiled as Grayson squeezed her hand and she nodded, “You’re one of my best friends, too.” She never expected to become so close with Grayson, but now she found it hard to remember a time when he wasn’t in her life. And now here he was, the person she could count on the most and she couldn’t be more grateful for him. Once she got out of the car, the red head wrapped her arms around Grayson in a hug, sighing as she let her head rest on her chest. This was the last little moment she would have with him to herself before entering the house. Her parents were long asleep by now but there was always the chance Nikki could be around and lurking. Mack bit her lip before she made up her mind. “I’m going to end it on Monday once I’m out of class. Are you free then to standby in case he explodes?” Still hugging Grayson, she carefully looked up at him as she asked. Grayson had been there for her unconditionally all night and she knew he would be there for her again when she needed him most. But still, she needed the reassurance before she could go to bed for the night.

A small smile tugged at Grayson’s lips as he felt Mack’s arms go around his waist. His arms went around her frame to hug her close, sighing contently as he felt her cheek rest on his chest. He could’ve stood there for hours holding her just like that. She was warm, and soft, and her hair smelled of roses. Even if they never got to be more than friends, he would always treasure moments like these. Moments where it was just the two of them, and for just a short while he could be her hero. “Of course, just text me where and when you want me there,” he told her, giving a sure nod of his head as he looked down at her. “I won’t let anything happen to you, Mack,” Grayson promised, giving her a gentle squeeze before letting go of her. After they hug broke, he moved his hand to her lower back as he walked inside with her, “Get some rest. You know where to find me if you need me,” he whispered to her, “Goodnight.” Grayson gave her a sweet smile and then waved at her as she went up the stairwell and he went down the opposite one. When he reached his bedroom, he turned the light on to see Nikki passed out in his bed. With a heavy sigh, he pulled one blanket over top of her body before getting in on the other side of the bed, making sure there was plenty of space between them. It didn’t take long for him to fall asleep, but part of him felt guilty for going to sleep beside Nikki when his thoughts were completely consumed by her sister, who was two floors above them.

#mackson002 #END #:)

[grayson-reis]

mackfox‌:

Mack brought her hand back into her lap as Grayson spoke and she immediately shut his apology down, “Oh no, no, don’t apologize. This is on me. I’m doing too much and not enough at the same time and I’m not being fair to you.” With a frown, Mackenzie twirled some hair around her finger anxiously. It was crazy how much could happen in such a short amount of time. “For what it’s worth, I’m really glad you were able to come get me tonight. I don’t know what I would have done if I’d had to stay at the party..” She glanced at Grayson and gave him a grateful smile. He already told her he’d be there for her whenever she needed, but he also deserved to know how much it meant to her so she was going to remind him continuously. “Thank you, times a million." 

Grayson let out a deep breath, how did things suddenly get so complicated? He took in what she was saying and parked her car in the driveway. After shutting the engine off, he turned his body so he was facing her completely. “Before any other feelings, you’re my friend Mack. One of my best friends, like I said... I would’ve dropped anything I was doing to come get you,” he reassured her and reached over to give her hand a light squeeze. “So you’re welcome, but I know you would’ve done the same thing for me so please don’t think of it as any sort of big deal like it bothered me or you tore me away from something. I like being the person you can count on.” Grayson nodded and smiled before getting out of the car and going around to open the passenger door for her.

#mackson002

[grayson-reis]

mackfox‌:

Hearing Grayson lay out her behaviour to him, she couldn’t help but admit she was the one giving him mixed signals. Being honest with herself about how she felt about him was one thing, straight up telling him to his face was another and she wasn’t sure how to properly articulate her thoughts. Biting her lip, she nodded at Grayson’s question and tried her best to explain, “It’s not about him, Grayson. It’s about me. I know he’s the worst but I’m still technically his girlfriend. So it’s not like I wanted to pull back from you, it’s more like I had to because.. Well, what does that say about me if I hadn’t? I don’t want to be that girl who possibly cheats on her boyfriend, no matter how crappy of a person he is. That’s not who I am and I..” She took a deep breath and felt more nervous than she had in years, “I don’t want to hurt you and I would never want to advantage of your friendship. You mean too much to me right now for me to not do this the right way.” She frowned and carefully put her hand over his on the steering wheel for a brief moment as she spoke softly, “And as right as this feels, I can’t let us fully go there until it’s over with him. Am I making any sense?”

As he listened to Mack speak, Grayson started to feel like a jerk. It wasn’t exactly fair of him to expect her to fling herself into his arms. He wanted her, but not when she wasn’t ready emotionally. Even though he hated Chad, the relationship still existed. She still had feelings for him, they were still together, and he knew Mack wasn’t the type of person to do that. He just liked her so much that his feelings were clouding his judgement. “Yes, you’re making sense,” Grayson admitted and he frowned slightly, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have made you feel bad like that... I just... I don’t know.” He didn’t want to carry on with his sentence, he’d already made things rough enough between them and it’s not like either of them could just walk away once the car stopped. After all they lived in the same house.

#mackson002

[grayson-reis]

Grayson felt his jaw tighten as he heard Mack’s voice. A million questions were running through his mind, but he wanted to get his response right. He didn’t want to argue with her, he just wanted clarity because things were getting mixed up between them and he didn’t like that. But he hated the idea of him falling hard for a girl who would never leave her god awful boyfriend but still being the one to call to pick up the pieces when she got hurt. He didn’t mind being that comfort for her, but he just didn’t want to be led on. His eyes kept on the road as he drove before replying, “Mack, you just said you needed to focus on ending things with Chad.. I touch you, you pull back. We’re sitting there, having a good time and I look at you and you pull back..” Grayson let out a soft sigh. “If you do feel the same way then why is he on your mind? I just feel like I’m not getting much right tonight..” The last part he muttered more to himself than to her.

grayson-reis·:

Mack didn’t finish her sentence and she honestly didn’t need to. Grayson knew exactly what she was going to say. She needed to end things with Chad before she could even think about being with him. His brows furrowed as he tried to hide the hurt on his face. What was all of this then? Out of everyone, she called him. She took hold of his hand again in the car, she was still wearing his jacket, and she had been looking at him the same way he was looking at her. “Okay, I get it,” he said defeatedly. Grayson hesitated for a moment before finally speaking up. “You’re my friend Mack, and I’ll continue to be your friend for as long as you need. But..” another pause, but this time he whispered, “But don’t take advantage of me because you know that I like you as more than a friend and you don’t feel the same way.” Grayson sighed and opened the car door for her before going around and getting into the driver’s seat.

Mack’s heart sank as Grayson whispered and she shook her head. Everything was coming out wrong and now she’d hurt Grayson when that was the last thing she’d wanted to do. But hearing him actually confess that he had feelings for her stunned her and it also hurt. Not because he did, but because he thought she didn’t. She would never dream of taking advantage of his friendship or of him in general, she wasn’t sure how this could have gone so sideways so quickly. Silently, she followed him into the car and kept her gaze forward. She waited until the car was on and he was starting to pull out of the parking lot before she muttered sadly, “Don’t assume you know how I feel.. There’s a reason why you’re the one I called.”

[grayson-reis]

mackfox·:

She was just about to hop back onto the hood with Grayson but then he was moving off of it and saying they should go home. Mack frowned slightly and tilted her head as she stood in front of Grayson, wrapping her arms around herself, “Oh? Um, yeah, okay we could go home if you want?” Her frown grew a little more as she watched Grayson and she shook her head, “I’m sorry, I made things weird didn’t I? It’s just that.. I need to end things with Chad before I can even… Before..” Mack let her voice trail off and she wasn’t sure how to finish that sentence. Did Grayson even want to actually be with her? Or was it just the chase of wanting someone he couldn’t have? Her parents would never allow something them to date while he still lived under their roof, so it would have to be a secret. And besides, maybe Mack was getting ahead of herself, maybe Grayson wasn’t interested in her like that and she was reading all of the signals wrong. Instead, she sighed and closed her eyes, “I need to end it with him. That needs to be my focus right now.”

Mack didn’t finish her sentence and she honestly didn’t need to. Grayson knew exactly what she was going to say. She needed to end things with Chad before she could even think about being with him. His brows furrowed as he tried to hide the hurt on his face. What was all of this then? Out of everyone, she called him. She took hold of his hand again in the car, she was still wearing his jacket, and she had been looking at him the same way he was looking at her. “Okay, I get it,” he said defeatedly. Grayson hesitated for a moment before finally speaking up. “You’re my friend Mack, and I’ll continue to be your friend for as long as you need. But..” another pause, but this time he whispered, “But don’t take advantage of me because you know that I like you as more than a friend and you don’t feel the same way.” Grayson sighed and opened the car door for her before going around and getting into the driver’s seat.

#mackson002

[grayson-reis]

mackfox·:

Grinning, Mack nodded while she dropped her hand from his wrist and her smile grew as Grayson looked at her, “Yeah.. wow..” Her breath caught in her throat as she suddenly became aware of just how close Grayson’s face was to hers, and how intimate this moment was. Mack felt conflicted. Grayson was looking at her like he was about to kiss her, or at least like he wanted to. She knew she wanted that too, but there was still the Chad of it all. On one hand, Chad clearly didn’t respect her so why should she care if she kissed someone who actually showed up when she needed him? But on the other, Mack didn’t want to be the type of girl who kissed someone else while she was still technically in a relationship, no matter how badly she wanted to or how shitty her boyfriend was. It was the principle of the matter which was why she gently scooted away from Grayson and shook her head, laughing awkwardly, “I’m sorry, I.. I know I reek. It probably won’t make that much of a difference but I really want to change right now.” She slid off the hood of the car and touched Grayson’s shin as she began walking around towards the trunk, “I have some leggings and a crop top back here, so no peeking and I’ll be back in a sec!” Mack laughed as she grabbed her clothes and went into the backseat of her car to change, trying to move as quickly as she could. Once she was changed, she started heading back to join Grayson with his jacket still on. She jokingly asking, “Did I miss any shooting stars?”

A frown spread across Grayson’s face as Mack pulled back from him. It didn’t feel like she just physically pulled back, but emotionally too. “You do not reek,” he said, trying to stop her from completely slipping from his grasp but he was too late. She was already sliding off of the hood of the car and moving around to the trunk. “Dammit,” he mumbled to himself and leaned back against her windshield. “I won’t peek,” Grayson called out loud enough for her to hear and rested one hand on his stomach, the other one propping behind his head. His gaze moved back up to the sky and now with ease he was able to find The Big Dipper, then he was actually able to find the Little Dipper beside it. The constellations weren’t enough to distract him from how he had felt his heart drop to the pit of his stomach just moments ago. Why was he not good enough? His brows raised as he saw Mack, “No, not this time.” Grayson got off the car and anxiously ran his fingers back through his hair, “We should head home now, huh?”

#mackson002

[grayson-reis]

mackfox·:

“You don’t?! It’s right there! Here, close your right eye and point your finger up in the air like this…” Mack demonstrated with her own index finger and once Grayson raised his hand she wrapped her hand around his and moved his hand so his finger was pointing at the first star in the constellation, “Okay, so that’s the beginning of the, um, handle? I don’t know if that’s right or what the official term is. But you follow this um, little stream of stars down until it breaks off into a sort of rectangle shape, see?” Her hand slid down to Grayson’s wrist as she mimicked the shape of the stars in the sky with the motion of his hand. She smiled a little to herself as she looked at the constellation before turning to Grayson with that same smile, “Can you see it now?”

His heart was pounding in his chest when Mack took hold of his hand. It took a lot of effort from Grayson to keep his attention on the stars that she was trying to point out to him and not keep his gaze on her. Squinting his right eye, he tried to follow along with the directions that Mack was giving him. He swallowed thickly as her hand moved onto his wrist and he tried harder to find the constellation in the sky. When he finally made out the shape of The Big Dipper, a big grin spread across his face.  “Oh, shit, wow...” Grayson didn’t want to lose sight of it by looking away, but he couldn’t help it and he turned to look at Mack. “Wow,” he breathed out as he stared at her longingly.

#mackson002

[grayson-reis]

mackfox·:

Mack let Grayson lead her out of the car, and she smiled at his idea, “I love looking at the stars!” Her mood already felt so much better than before and as Grayson helped her up onto the hood of the car, she scooted closer next to him and nodded at his question, “Way, way better.” Glancing up at the sky, she laughed a little as she pointed, “Is it lame that I only know where to find The Big Dipper? The rest are completely beyond my knowledge.”

Grayson laughed softly at what Mack said and shook his head. “I don’t even know how to find The Big Dipper so I find you very impressive right now,” he smiled, turning his head to look at her. “Show me?” He asked softly. And as much as he liked looking at the stars, and would normally love to have The Big Dipper pointed out to him, he could’ve looked at Mack all night and have been just as happy.

#mackson002

[grayson-reis]

mackfox‌:

The sensation of butterflies in her stomach began to stir and it was an unusual feeling. Sure, Mack had felt some nerves around Grayson before, but this was next level. She brought their joined hands up to rest her chin on his knuckles and grinned at his words, “I’d do anything for you, too.” She said it so effortlessly and automatically knew it was true. It occurred to her that this intense connection between the two of them was practically non-existent as far as anyone else was concerned. Part of that realization excited Mack and yet irritated her at the same time. Grayson was such an important part of her everyday life now, she didn’t want to hide that. When he parked the car, Mack squinted as she looked around and smiled, “Hey, are we near the lake? I haven’t been here in awhile!”

“Sure are,” Grayson smiled at her, “We’re right in front of it.” He turned the high beams of her car on so she could see better then got out of the car. After going around to the passenger side, he opened the door for her and smiled, “Come look at the stars with me.” Grayson held out his hand to help her out of the car before closing the door behind her. He kept his hand in hers while bringing her over to the front of the car. “Here..” The boy said, mostly to himself and let go of her hand to set his own on her waist before gently lifting her and sitting her on the hood of the car. Once she was settled, he took his spot next to her and wrapped his arm around her frame before tilting his head back to look up at the night sky, “Much better, right?”

#mackson002

[grayson-reis]

mackfox·:

Of course where they were going was a surprise. Classic Grayson keeping her on her toes. Mack didn’t mind, though. The real surprise came when he reached out to grab her hand. That was the last thing she would expect, but the gesture was appreciated. She let him hold it for a second before pulling her own hand back out of a nervous reflex. “Oh, sorry..” With an awkward laugh, Mack slowly slid her fingers back between Grayson’s and squeezed his hand, locking it into place as she smiled. “Have I said thank you enough times yet?” 

When Mack pulled her hand back, Grayson’s brows raised and he internally face-palmed. He just haaad to take a chance and try to hold her hand. Clearly, he didn’t take into account that he would make things awkward by doing it. He opened his mouth, getting ready to apologize but Mack had already beat him to it and her hand was back in his. Grayson smiled shyly, giving her hand a light squeeze back. “Don’t worry about it,” the boy mumbled about the hand-holding and then looked over at her. “You have, because I’d do anything for you, Mack,” he said sincerely. Just a moment later, they reached the parking lot in front of the lake he liked to go to clear his mind. After parking the car and turning the engine off, he smiled at her, “Here we are.”

#mackson002