on both sides, which is why I’m confident that they’ll be able to work things out.”
“But I don’t think that they want to,” I said, suppressing a sniffle.
“Don’t worry about that.” My mom tapped my nose and gave me a small smile. “I have a plan. They’ll be friends again before the year is over, I can guarantee it.”
I wondered if she was right, if her plan would work. The way that I saw things, Sebastian was very adamant about maintaining his ground. How would my mom get him to listen and realize that he had also been wrong?
I guessed only time would tell. We still had a little over a week before the new year, so I knew that if what my mom was saying was true, I wouldn’t have to wait very long. I could only hope that she was right.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Grayson
I knew that I had to fix things, I couldn’t leave it how it was, with Serenity ignoring me and Sebastian frustrated. I was confused, and I wanted to know the truth, and I didn’t want to let Serenity down.
So I decided that the best course of action would be to show up on Christmas Eve. In hindsight, maybe it wasn’t the smartest thing to do, or the most respectful, but I was a desperate man in love, and for that I think I deserved some forgiveness.
When I knocked, the first face I saw was Sebastian’s. He was seething, eyes dark with anger, hands curled into fists at the sight of me.
“How dare you come here?” he demanded. “Haven’t you done enough damage already?”
“Sebastian, I want to fix things.”
“Well you’re too late. You should have thought of that before you betrayed our friendship.” He spat at my feet, and moved to slam the door in my face, but then Mrs. Allen showed up behind him and set a hand on his shoulder.
“Let’s not be rash now,” she said. “Grayson, why don’t you come inside?”
Sebastian gave her a curious look, but stepped aside and let me in anyways. Mrs. Allen shut the door behind us and then gestured for us both to follow her into the living room.
“Mom, what are you doing?” Sebastian asked, keeping his voice low.
“I’m taking care of things,” she said. “Now why don’t you go grab your father and meet us in the living room.”
Sebastian nodded, and headed off to go find Mr. Allen while Mrs. Allen had me sit down in one of the familiar armchairs.
“Are you sure this is wise?” I asked her. “You know he’s really angry.”
“I thought you wanted to fix things.” She tilted her head, giving me a strange look.
“Well of course I do, that’s why I came here. But Sebastian doesn’t want to listen to reason. I mainly wanted to talk to Serenity first.”
“That’ll come in good time,” she promised. “Don’t worry, I have a plan.”
That was so like Mrs. Allen. She always seemed to have something up her sleeve. Whenever Sebastian and I had gotten into fights when we were younger she always had some scheme to make us get along again.
But this wasn’t like the old days anymore. I didn’t know if a board game or baking a batch of cookies together was going to help us see through our differences. Clearly I had crossed a line when I got together with Serenity, a line that Sebastian would not allow to be broken without consequences.
Then Mr. Allen and Sebastian entered the living room. Clearly Mr. Allen knew what was going on, for the look he had on his face almost rivaled Sebastian’s.
“I never would have expected this from you, Grayson,” he said. “I always thought you were a good kid, with some sense in you. So why’d you do it?”
“Let’s not ask such pointed questions,” Mrs. Allen replied. “I feel in this instance you’ve only heard one side of the story. It’s time to let Grayson talk.”
“I think I’ve heard enough to have an opinion on it,” Mr. Allen insisted. “He messed with my daughter and betrayed the trust of my son. What more is there to hear?”
“There’s always more to the story than what’s on the surface.” Mrs. Allen turned to me with an encouraging smile. “Why don’t you go through your side of things first, dear?”
“Okay.” I took a deep breath. “I never meant to cause any harm, I really didn’t. When I came back and saw how Serenity had grown, I couldn’t help but be attracted to her. Maybe things would have been