Unproven- Chapter Eighty Four "Drawing a Line in the Sand"

Ary walked to the park an hour before Grayson was supposed to meet her. Andie and Sonya thought she was sick- well actually she'd told them she was sick, but what they probably thought was that she was still wrecked over the photo scandal and her confrontation with Grayson.

And she was still a bit wrecked over the confrontation. Despite Dori's assurance that he was extremely sorry, a part of her was afraid this was another one of his games. Especially since Dori was sparing with the details, only telling her that his cruelty yesterday was because the thought of her sleeping with another guy had nearly killed him. Something about drinking whiskey all weekend and plotting Tyler's death by beating. Obviously a lot more had been said, but when she tried to press for details Dori had insisted it would be better if she heard it from him.

She sat on a swing and pushed off, swaying gently. She did understand his overreaction- she knew him well, knew that no matter what had happened between them he wouldn't have stopped thinking of her as his, so if she had slept with someone else it would have damaged, maybe even destroyed that idea. So it made sense from his warped way of looking at things- but he'd really crushed her this time.

She thought she'd sunk into as deep a depression as she was capable after the first time he'd broken up with her, and thought she had cried as hard as you could possibly cry the day he'd sent her the breakup text, but she was wrong on both counts. Even though the other times had lasted longer, they had not been as deep or as a dark as that hour she'd spent in the bathroom stall after she'd cried so hard she hadn't been able to catch her breath and thought she might die of asphyxiation. The deep dark part? She had almost wished that she would.

Never in her life had she entertained such thoughts, not after her parents and not after both of his cruel breakups. No, in fact she had consistently scorned the girls who had let Grayson affect them to that degree. And last night she'd consoled herself by reasoning that she would have gotten past it even if he hadn't let her know he was sorry, and it would not have taken months or years, or even too many days to do it. She had faith in her ability to coax the sun through the clouds. But if she was honest with herself, she had to face that there was a part of her that might never get over him completely. And also face that he may never be good for her, that their relationship wasn't healthy.

She'd been holding onto the words her mother had spoken, about the soul mate's ability to rip your guts out on occasion. But she had to wonder if this was what she'd meant. That ripping out your guts translated into wishing you would just die already so you wouldn't have to face another minute of soul-searing pain. One thing she did know was that if today was about more than a deeper apology, if it was about getting back together, she'd have to make it absolutely clear that if he ever again told her she meant nothing to him or that she was nothing in general, it would be the end of them. No matter how badly she wanted to be with him, or how much she loved him.

She could take him being angry, she could take fighting with him and the occasional name-calling in the heat of a moment. Hell, she could probably even take a physical altercation if it spurred from passionate anger...So yeah, there was a lot she could take as long as the vast majority of their relationship was on the good side of passion.

But there was one thing she could not take, not anymore, and that was to feel as if she didn't matter, that she had never mattered.

She knew it was a large part of the lessons he'd learned from his father, the big secret to what he called his endgame, and really, if your goal was to rip someone's heart and soul out of them it was a brilliant maneuver, very effective. Too damn effective. She prided herself on being a strong individual, but there was a limit to her strength and she'd found it. She never wanted to feel like she had in that bathroom again in her life. It was now and forever a deal-breaker.

Of course this whole line of thinking might be moot if his purpose in coming here was to tell her that he wished things could be different but he had to let her go. If so, her heart truly would be broken, and she had no doubts about it taking a good long time to heal. But she would heal. She would find a way to get through it.

She heard a car pulling into the parking lot and her adrenaline spiked. She watched as he got out and started toward her, realizing that she'd long since memorized everything about him. Even if she couldn't see his staggeringly beautiful face, she'd know him by the way he walked as if he owned the ground he stepped on, or by the way his toned arms seemed to hang loosely at his sides but were actually vibrating with tension. She knew his body, his mannerisms, his expressions, better than she did her own.

When he reached her she started to get up but he stopped her by dropping to his knees in front of her.

"Never in my life have I been sorrier for anything I've said or done than I am right now," he told her, his beautiful eyes filled with regret.

She nodded slightly and he took her hand. "I know I've put you through hell, which is the last thing you deserve. I am a complete and utter bastard, screwed up to the point of certifiable, which makes you the last thing that I deserve. But if you'll forgive me, give me one last shot at this, I will spend the rest of my life becoming someone who could deserve you-" he swallowed. "There's a lot more I need to say, would you go for a drive with me?"

She nodded again and he got to his feet, pulling her up with him.

Grayson drove them to Mulholland drive, to the park where they'd once discussed the idea of fooling his father. It seemed fitting since they'd never really went through with it, but this time they would have to.

When they got to the bench where that first discussion had occurred, he told her everything that had gone through his mind the night before, including his vision of their future children, along with the alternate future that made him want to take a dive headfirst off the Golden Gate Bridge.

She was silent through his whole recitation, though her eyes welled up several times and she laughed briefly when he mentioned the goofy dog. And finally he told her that turning the future he wanted into a reality would be the most difficult enterprise of their lives, if she were even willing to consider it.

Ary pulled herself from the picture he'd painted with effort. It was more than she'd dared hope for and she couldn't stop the smile that formed on her face. "I love you Grayson, with my whole heart. There's not much I wouldn't consider doing to make that future happen. And I think I've proven I can handle difficult."

He smiled back, but it faded quickly. "I know sweetheart, but when I say difficult I mean damn near impossible, which is why I tried to let you go. But I can't, because I love you, I need you. So I'm willing to put everything I've got into getting us through this tiny window of possibility. We talked about this before, the day you met my father, remember?"

She made a face, "How could I forget? You were scared, for my life even."

He nodded, "Exactly. I told you that he wouldn't let me go, wouldn't disown me because I'm the only thing he's got. I wouldn't put it past him to threaten your life to keep me away from you, or send me away and impress on you how imperative it is that we stay apart. Hell, he could even use a threat to your grandma, or Andie, or anyone you care about. And he'd get away with it. As I also said before, too much money, and too much power."

She bit her lip, "I thought the whole bloodline thing ended centuries ago, especially in America. I mean I don't know anyone whose heritage doesn't include at least two different nationalities, and most of the time it’s more like four."

"It's not about that, not about being Italian or English or German- it never was. The kings of one country were often married to the princesses of another, it's not about nationalities it's about royalty. And according to my dad there are thirteen noble bloodlines, and we are direct descendants of these. And he claims that we are completely pure because no one in our entire family line has ever reproduced with someone outside of one of these bloodlines."

She frowned, "But why? Why does it matter? It just seems so archaic, like something you'd believe if you worshiped a particular mythical god."

He sighed, "It is something like that, but it doesn't matter to me. I keep thinking, my father's still pretty young, only forty-five, there's no reason he couldn't find a suitable young wife from the right family, and produce more heirs. I don't understand why he didn't do that years ago, he's not the type to put all his eggs in one basket so to speak. I mean anything could happen, I could die in some tragic accident and he'd be left without an heir, so why? Maybe he can't have more children, that’s the only plausible scenario I can see. I never thought to ask him about it, and now it would raise suspicion if I did. I guess it doesn't matter, it just might have made things easier, made it possible for him to disown me and let me be."

"Hm," she said, "Yeah, that is strange. Of course all of this is strange to me. I was thinking the other day that it was like something out of a historical romance novel only those are fictional so the noble guy can marry the peasant girl, but obviously in reality that's not how it's done. Okay. So where does this leave us, what do we do?"

"Well first off," he pulled a phone from his pocket and handed it to her. "It's prepaid and I already activated it under the name Jenna Johnstone. My number for my prepaid phone is already in the contact list under Jack, and I gave one to Dori too. Next I'm going to give Dori money to buy a used car and put it in her name so I can get around without him knowing where I am, or thinking I'm somewhere else. And most importantly I'm going to put money away, stash it in a small safe that I'll have Dori keep for me."

Ary laughed a little, "Wow, now I feel like I'm in an adventure novel."

He smiled, "Yeah, I guess that's one way to look at it."

She tipped her head to the side and looked at him, her expression becoming serious.

"What is it?" He asked anxiously.

"I need to know a few things and say a few things before you proceed with this crazy plan."

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