When Gracie Met The Grump

by Mariana Zapata

For what seemed like minutes, the three hugged. Alexander was hugging people. I knew he wasn’t some heartless monster, but it was still fucking shocking. Just as quickly as I thought that, I realized a hug sounded nice.

It had been a long time since I’d had one of those. Sitting on his lap while I was sick didn’t count. Did it? I crossed my arms over my chest and let that sink in for a minute, feeling so alone it almost hurt. You would have figured I was used to it by now.

“Gracie, put the knife back in your pocket and come here. They can’t hurt me, and they aren’t going to hurt you.” His eyes glowed even brighter. “I promise.”

“Tell her you’re not going to hurt her,” he demanded. I could see both heads move from him to me and back again. “Tell her,” he repeated. “She’s been itching to stab someone for a couple weeks now.”

“We would never hurt each other or you,” a male and female voice said at the same time, their words layered on top of each other.

He’d let me hold his finger because I needed it. If I had to choose anyone to trust… if I could, it would be him.

He was the closest thing I had to someone who cared about me. And if that was sad, it was what it was.

So I took it. I took his fingers, then skimmed mine until I touched his palm. Slowly, he pulled me toward him, toward them. Then he did the last thing I ever would have expected. Alexander, The Defender, the hero, the icon who dropped f-bombs, hugged me. His chin went to the top of my head as he pulled me into him. One arm went around my shoulders, the other around the middle of my back, and he hugged me ...