37. quidditch coach.

How they cheered How I stared In that [crowd of thousands] Then I started to run And to call out her name As the crowd on the road went wild I reached out with my hand And looked up And then she smiled The parade Traveled on With the sun in my eyes She was gone But if I were still ten In that [crowd of thousands] I'd find her again GRAYSON - 37 - COACH

[allybrightly]

graysonparke‌:

It was too much - being around everyone at Dissendium. Talking, laughing - with the people they loved. It made him want to do the same. He had thought being with Terrie would ease his mind, distract him. But then the military man had shown up, and he was old news. It only made him miss Ally more. He thought he’d probably had his mind made up now for some time, Grayson just had to work up his nerve to act on it. He touched his sister’s shoulder lightly, nodding his goodbyes, certain she’d know where he was going even if he didn’t say. He pulled his phone out of his pocket to call Althea, and cursed. It was dead. How would he be able to track her down now? She could be anywhere. He decided to start with the office - it wouldn’t be the first late night she’d worked. But as soon as he opened the door, the cool night air carried her voice to him, and he couldn’t help a small chuckle. It was too easy - it was like it was fate, and he felt certain in that moment, that he was the right decision. “It’s not bad.” He agreed easily, shoving his hands in his pockets and making his way toward her. “I’ve gotta say, this is about the last place I’d expect to run into you.”

The sound of his voice made her jump. She hadn’t expected it to be him. She turned to look at him, blinking in surprise. “I…work asked I make an apperance and my friends thought I needed a night out.” She told him with a shrug. “Are you…are you having a good time? Here with anyone?” She felt like a jealous teenage girl as the question escaped her lips before her brain could stop it. “That is none of my buisness. I’m sorry.” She shifted her weight, her hands fidgeting infront of her. “I should…I should go. I don’t want to ruin your night. I shouldn’t have even called you. I’m sorry.” 

[graysonparke]

"Just Terrie." He said quickly, shrugging lightly as he came to stand before her. They were still a fair distance apart, much further than he wanted to be, but it was an awkward situation at best, and his feet wouldn't seem to bring him any closer just yet. He thought to ask her if she was here with anyone - but her next words silenced him. "You called me?" He asked, licking his lips as her words sent butterflies into his stomach. But before he could think about it any longer, she was trying to leave, and it filled him with a strange sensation in his chest - he wanted her to stay. "Please don't leave." He whispered, the words hanging between them.

[graysonparke]

kaylakingston‌:

Kayla smiled in response, although it didn’t reach her eyes. “G,” she started slowly when the girl’s attention was stolen by passing dancing reindeer. “You would tell us if something were wrong, right? You’re not going to leave the team or anything, are you? Because we’re behind you, no matter what. If that means beating up management or something, you know we’d only hesitate for a moment,” she joked, hoping to either make him smile or realise whatever was going on for him, he wasn’t alone in.

"No, no." He waved away her concerns before her words fully registered. "I mean, yes I would tell you and no, it's nothing like that. I'm not going anywhere." He smiled reassuringly at her, that much at least, was absolutely the truth. He nodded slowly, watching Juliette, knowing that if he wanted to talk about it, now would have to be the time, before she wanted his attention again. "It's nothing to do with work, it's.... personal." He started, giving her a look, waiting to see if she wanted him to go on. "My girlfriend and I sort of.... broke up. I guess. I don't really know what to call it, but we're not speaking."

[graysonparke]

theresaparke‌:

“You know, someone once told me trust must be earned. I’m not saying she is worth it, and I’m not saying she isn’t, but maybe, maybe you don’t decide that right now. Maybe you find out later on whether she can ever earn your trust or not,” she considered, knowing it wasn’t the concrete answer he was looking for. “But you want to know your son, and you should. So maybe just, I don’t know, try to focus on that. Focus on him and things will settle one way or another with her.”

"Maybe." He murmured, seeing the point in her words even if he didn't want to. "What if he doesn't want to know me?" Grayson whispered, looking at his feet. It had been forefront in his mind, but it was the first time he'd voiced it out loud. "He had a father - that man raised him as his own. He's probably going to resent me for ruining that."

[graysonparke]

theresaparke‌:

“G, I have full length pants on, you should be happy, this is probably the most tame thing I’ve worn to a party in years.”

"Ok, this conversation is really just making me want to claw my eyes out more and more the longer it goes on, so I'm gonna finish my beer and we're going to talk about something else." Grayson decided, raising an eyebrow as he did exactly as he said he was going to. "So, who's the lucky guy tonight? Wait, let me guess. Your not boyfriend, Niko?"

[graysonparke]

allybrightly‌:

Ally just stared at him, her heart both sinking into her stomach and pounding fast like a drum. She’d missed him, more than she had in years. The fight they had felt so fresh and the pain in his eyes only made the ache worse. “I…sorry. I wasn’t watching were I was going…just finishing up christmas shopping. You too?” She asked awkwardly, looking at his bags as she showed hers.

Nodding, Grayson wasn’t sure what to say. He wasn’t sure he could make himself form any words at all - his mouth had gone dry at just the sight of her. Any progress he thought he’d made toward getting past all this - everything that had happened between them - had disappeared. He was angry all over again. But more than that, he was incredibly hurt. “Uh, yeah.” He swallowed, choosing to look at his bags instead of at her. “Just uh, Juliette. You know.”

[graysonparke]

theresaparke‌:

“Good, means it must be a good one then,” Terrie laughed. “Besides, can you really call it a shirt when it has this little fabric?” she added, unable to stop herself from teasing her brother.

“Mm. Nope. Nope, not what that means.” He shook his head, but a laugh managed to escape him regardless. “Oh come on, that’s just mean. Be nice to your big brother.”

[graysonparke]

allybrightly‌:

Ally really didn’t want to be at the party that night. She wanted to be anywhere but there. Honestly she wanted to be with him, but he still wasn’t answering her  calls. She sighed as she pulled away from another endless conversation to check her phone. She couldn’t let the year end without one last attempt. She stepped out on to the patio and gave Grayson a call. Her heart falling as it once again went to voice. She pinched the brim of her nose trying her best to not cry. She straightened up when she heard footsteps and music from inside joining her outside. “It’s a beautiful night!” She said, forcing happy without even turning to see who it was.

@graysonparke

It was too much - being around everyone at Dissendium. Talking, laughing - with the people they loved. It made him want to do the same. He had thought being with Terrie would ease his mind, distract him. But then the military man had shown up, and he was old news. It only made him miss Ally more. He thought he’d probably had his mind made up now for some time, Grayson just had to work up his nerve to act on it. He touched his sister’s shoulder lightly, nodding his goodbyes, certain she’d know where he was going even if he didn’t say. He pulled his phone out of his pocket to call Althea, and cursed. It was dead. How would he be able to track her down now? She could be anywhere. He decided to start with the office - it wouldn’t be the first late night she’d worked. But as soon as he opened the door, the cool night air carried her voice to him, and he couldn’t help a small chuckle. It was too easy - it was like it was fate, and he felt certain in that moment, that he was the right decision. “It’s not bad.” He agreed easily, shoving his hands in his pockets and making his way toward her. “I’ve gotta say, this is about the last place I’d expect to run into you.”

[graysonparke]

“I hate that shirt.” Grayson teased her, although managed to keep his features in a light scowl as he did so. The truth was, he thought she looked nice, but he had to give her a hard time. 

@theresaparke

[graysonparke]

theresaparke‌:

“What do you want to do?” she asked softly, fairly certain she knew the answer but knowing that he had to see it himself or he’d never fully agree. 

“I don’t know.” He whispered, feeling as if his heart was breaking all over again. “I really don’t know.” Grayson had never felt so conflicted in his life, his mind reeling so hard it almost made him nauseous. “I don’t - I don’t want to lose her, and I want to know my son, but I.... how do I get past this? I feel sick, I can’t even look at her. How am I supposed to ever trust her again?”

[graysonparke]

kaylakingston‌:

“Wow, so sparkly!” Kayla indulged the girl, throwing her coach a questioning look at his choice of words. “You sound like me last year when you had to practically drag me to the holiday celebrations.”

Grayson softened as Juliette beamed at the attention, giving Kayla a half shrug as she looked back to him. “She’s the one doing the dragging this time around.”

[graysonparke]

brightly-apollo‌:

Apollo laughed, “You’ve got some crazy stalkers out there, huh? I bet it’s weird being famous.” Apollo had completely forgotten why he’d been there to see the man in the first place. “A little. I don’t really know what im going to do after I graduate right now. But, I don’t think it’s realistic seeing as I haven’t played in school. I know everything there is to know about the game, but that’s all theory.”

“Oh, I’m sure I’ve got more than I care to know about.” He laughed, shaking his head. “Thankfully, they seem to have calmed down now that I’m off the pitch.” Shrugging, he picked at the hem of his shirt for a moment, thinking about his career. That jersey had brought up more memories than he’d anticipated. “I mean, that’s a bigger part of it than most people think. If you ever wanted to pursue it, I could pull a few strings, see what I could do.”

[graysonparke]

hereforthebooz‌:

Sully laughed, “Ok, something must really be wrong for you to be saying that. What happened with Ally? You saw her tonight?” Sullivan had rarely seen his brother this worked up before. Even more rare was that it wasn’t his fault. “Do you need something to drink, man? You’re shaking.”

He wanted to laugh with him, but he couldn’t. He just watched him, wishing it was two days earlier, wishing he could joke about this. “Nah, not tonight. She was over last night.” Grayson started, wishing his brother could just know without him having to tell him. “Yeah, actually - do you have any scotch?” He hadn’t had any in ages - he tried not to drink anything stronger than beer or wine since Juliette was born, but he needed a real drink. “Her kid is mine.”

[graysonparke]

romanwinslow‌:

“I don’t know.” Roman sighed. “I feel like such a jerk.” He ran a hand through his messy hair. “What about you? What brings you to the pit of despair?”

Grayson shrugged, not sure what to say to him. With a sigh, he took another long drink before answering. “I’ve got a seventeen year old kid I didn’t know about."

[graysonparke]

theresaparke‌:

Terrie nodded, not having realized the woman hadn’t meant to tell him. Suddenly any sense of empathy she had for the woman was gone, and she was torn between sadness and anger. “I’m so sorry G,” she sighed sadly, wrapping an arm around him in an attempt to be comforting to her big brother. “She should have told you, you’re right. What she did was unforgivable.” 

Grayson leaned into her, thankful for his family even more than he usually was. He didn’t know what he would have done if he hadn’t had Sully and Terrie to turn to. “What do I do?” He asked softly, shaking his head, looking up at her desperately, silently begging for her to have the answers he was looking for.

[graysonparke]

hereforthebooz‌:

“Ok great, right about what?” Sully looked at him blankly. It was obvious that his brother was going through something but he wouldn’t come right out and say it. “Would you just sit down and actually speak real sentences.”

“Ally.” He said hotly, getting worked up all over again. Grayson glared at him for a second, but did as he said, sitting down and trying to get himself under control. Shaking his head, he shrugged out of his jacket. “I shouldn’t have .... I should have listened to you.” He almost laughed, never thinking that sentence would have come from his own mouth, directed at his brother. “Merlin, what is the world coming to?” 

[graysonparke]

brightly-apollo‌:

Apollo smiled a little more as he held the jersey in his hands and looked at all of the signatures. “What? Really? Dude, you know you could sell this and make tons? Although, I guess since it’s yours, you probably already have tons.” He laughed at his own silliness, but then remembered he was supposed to be upset with his mother dating this guy.

Unable to help the light chuckle that fell from his lips, he shook his head. “Yes, really. I don’t need it. I’d rather it go to someone I know won’t..... burn it because they hate me, or something.” He winced inwardly at his own words, only realizing a second too late that it might remind the boy that he was supposed to dislike him. After all, he was dating his mother. Grayson shrugged somewhat awkwardly, not sure what to say now. “Have you thought about going pro?”

[graysonparke]

allybrightly‌:

Ally had been out shopping for Apollo, gift bags full in her hands. She’d found something she couldn’t resist for Juliette, even if Grayson wanted nothing to do with her the mom in her couldn’t not buy her a gift. She had even managed to get gift for her co-workers and a few friends. She had looked down for a moment at her list when there was another person in her space. “Oh! Sorry! I….Grayson…” 

His feet stopped moving instantly - he didn’t know what to do. It was as if someone had dumped ice water over the top of his head (which had happened to him before at games, so he would know) and he froze. He hadn’t been expecting to see her - he’d been avoiding her so he wouldn’t have to. “Althea.” He said somewhat stiffly, voice gruff. “It’s, uh.... I - sorry, I’ll just...” He trailed off, looking to the side, wishing he could will his feet to walk away from her.