Meeting A Bad Boy

Chapter One-

Tillie Grayson changed my life.

She did not pull me out from in front of a bus, or give me the Heimlich or anything, but she changed my life in a big way.

When I met Tillie, I was a 14-year-old kid who was terrified at the idea of High School. It sounded like torture and I wanted nothing to do with it. My parents had died in a car accident 2 years before and since then, it had just been my Aunt Stacy and me.

When my Aunt Stacy had been offered a promotion that entailed moving to Miami, I was terrified. I had lived in my house my entire life, in Houston. My parents had met there, been married there, gave birth to me there and lived with me until their deaths there. That house meant everything, it had history. Memories. Funny stories, sad stories, scary stories. I was leaving everything I knew behind.

I did not have a choice though; my aunt Stacy deserved this opportunity and I could not stand in the way of that.

One month later we were packed and moving into a bigger house thousands of miles away. I cried for 2 days. A kid could only handle so much, and boys can cry too, ya know.

Two weeks after moving to the sunshine state I had to start my freshmen year.

I knew no one, had met no one, and it did not look promising.

Except for Tillie. Tillie had thought I was someone, even if she was considered popular. She was the nicest person I had ever met.

Walking into my Freshmen homeroom, I was surprised I hadn't peed my pants yet. But amazingly I refrained.

Next thing I knew- This slender, pale girl walked in and I was captivated. Not by her looks, or her bright blue eyes, or shiny light brown hair. I was caught in her stare because it seemed like she could see right through me. Have you ever looked at someone, and just felt like they could bring nothing but peace and happiness to your life? Yeah, me either. Well; not until that day.

I had known for a year that I was gay at that point, so if you asked me today- I still couldn't tell you why we clicked instantly.

Without hesitation she walked up to me and asked, "This seat taken?"

When I shook my head no she sat down and put her books on the table like she did this every day.

Which you could tell she didn't, because looking around the room you could see that people were staring, and not in a good way really.

She turned to me with a smile and held out her hand "Tillie Grayson, and you are?"

I shyly grabbed her hand and replied with "Erik Henderson."

She smiled widely and shocked me with her next statement.

"I think we’re going to be good friends Erik Henderson." And she turned around to face the teacher, acting as if she had not just said the weirdest thing on the planet.

She was right though, of course. We were best friends, up until the day both of our lives were forever changed.

Tillie and I did everything together. She was even my first kiss, which made us laugh for hours. We went to the football games, while I moaned and groaned about how smelly and packed it was, while secretly glancing the buns of steel always visible on the field. I went to movies with her, went shopping with her- which she thought was just adorable after I confessed my sexuality. We had Friday movie night, and Saturday morning pancake eating contests.

I washed her hair and she helped me dress like a normal person. She always said I had no taste whatsoever. She was right.

Being gay, did not guarantee I knew what to wear.

She always said I was hopeless after I admitted that, but we both know she loved making me look presentable every day.

Four years later and we were graduating high school. Finally. Tillie was still my best friend, my everything. Her friends had learned to accept me by sophomore year, although they still said they never understood our relationship. That was okay with me if Tillie was there.

Our graduation ceremony was long, and my Aunt Stacy cried the whole time to my embarrassment. Sitting next to her were Tillie's parents screaming her name and crying simultaneously. They loved me; said I was not like anyone else their daughter hung out with. Which apparently was a good thing.

After the ceremony we ate dinner with our parents and finally escaped while laughing hysterically, drunk, and giddy on the feeling of freedom. We had done it. Finally, been freed from the prison known as High School.

Graduation night of course ended in a party. A loud, crazy party with way too much alcohol. Beer flowed and people danced like crazy.

I can still remember that night like it was yesterday.

Tillie and I drank way too much, which was not the first time, but this time was different. Tillie grabbed my hand and dragged me to a room upstairs while I giggled at how clumsy we were. I could always laugh with Tillie.

When we reached the room, she sat me down and pulled herself together, and looked at me seriously. Well as seriously as we could manage with this amount of alcohol in our systems.

"Erik, I want you to be my first."

I had never been more shocked in my life, or more drunk, to be honest.

"But Tillie-."

"Erik, we've been best friends for 4 years. I love you like no one else and I want you to be my first everything." And she giggled a little bit "You were even my first kiss, but don't tell."

I smiled at her, still a bit shocked but not...repulsed by the idea of sleeping with Tillie. Even if she was a girl. She was the best person in my entire life, erasing whether her gender mattered or not.

And so, it happened. We slept together that night and woke up with no regrets. Because we were Tillie and Erik, best friends no matter what.

Maybe it was always meant to be.

2 months later we found out that Tillie was pregnant.

We were terrified, and scared, and angry at ourselves...but not for long.

We never slept together again, but we were having a baby. We had to prepare for that.

Our parents were understandably angry, but they always said it was better that it had happened with each other, than other people.

3 months later we found out it was a girl. A beautiful baby girl, and she was Tillie's and mine. Feeling her kick for the first time is a joy that can never be forgotten.

4 months later on a Monday morning Tillie went into labor. I remember trying desperately not to pass out as I grabbed our hospital bag and ran to the car, only to run back two minutes later to a panting Tillie, patiently waiting for me to remember that she actually needed to go with me.

God, that was terrifying.

The pain, and screaming, and fear was overwhelming.

We were 19-year-old kids and we were having a baby.

I held Tillie's hand until the panic started.

They said that Tillie had Abrupto Placenta and that she was losing blood fast.

That night was the scariest night of my entire life.

Tillie gave birth to a beautiful baby girl that night.

Tillie also lost her life that night.

I grabbed her hands with tears streaming down my face and begged her to stay with me. There was no way that I could manage this without her.

"I can't do this on my own Tillie, you can't just leave me like this. Our daughter needs you. I need you...more than anything. I love you, Tillie Grayson. Please, please don't go." I swiftly wiped my eyes, trying to see her through the blur of my tears.

She laughed weakly and held my hand "I love you too Erik Henderson." She took a shallow breath. "I want you to always love her, no matter what. Do not suffocate her. And for the love of god, teach her to drive a stick! I won't have our daughter stranded at some party like you were."

We both chuckled wetly.

"I want you to name her Paige, it's a strong name. I want you to find some hot boyfriend and teach her that all love is acceptable." She chuckled again and sighed weakly.

The nurses were working but you could tell Tillie was not going to make it. Her eyes said it all. There was too much blood.

"You will be the best father out there Erik, and don't ever doubt that. I love you..."

She took her last breath an hour later, while I clutched her hand and cried. The nurses eventually pried me away and I walked out into the hall in a daze. I slid down the wall and stared at our families.

I could tell that her parents and Stacy already knew, they were crying. Eventually the sorrow radiating from them was suffocating me and so I tumbled to my feet and started walking. I could not take it anymore.

I wandered down the hall and when I stopped, I realized I was in front of the nursery. My daughter was in there.

I looked around and when I finally saw her, my breath caught.

She was so tiny.

She was beautiful, just like her mom. So beautiful, just like I knew she would be.

The nurse caught my eye and smiled, motioning me in.

After a minute of hesitation I had walked in and held my daughter for the first time.

She opened her eyes and gazed at me silently. She was going to break hearts one day. I already knew it.

I felt wetness on my cheeks and realized I was crying again.

I looked at her. So tiny, and fragile, and beautiful.

I smiled a little " Hi Paige."

----------

That's why 4 years later I was raising a little girl all on my own.

I watched Paige run around the swings and laughed at her war cries. This child was something else.

"Our daughter is a little hellion, Tillie Grayson." I said softly into the wind. I sat back and knew that she was always watching us and knew just how much of a hellion her daughter was.

Paige was in fact a crazy child, and I do not know how I did not have grey hair yet. Even if I was only 23.

She was an amazing kid though. She had Tillie's blue eyes, so beautiful they could haunt you. But she had my black hair, with big curls all over her head. She refused to let me cut her hair and so it was down to her waist now. She said she wanted to be the black-haired version of Rapunzel. She was too smart and too stubborn for her own good.

She was still tiny, dainty. And so cute, it made me laugh all day long. You could see Tillie in her, every single day and it made me smile. I could point out those little things one day when Paige started asking more questions about her mom.

I sat on the bench nursing my coffee and smiled at her antics. Every time we came to the playground it was an adventure.

She ran over to me and did a war cry before launching onto my lap. I just barely saved my coffee and smiled at her.

"Whoa there munchkin, don't kill my coffee."

She smiled innocently and I rolled my eyes at her, laughing.

"Hi daddy. Did you see me beat those boys at swords?" she asked while clutching my arm, waving said sword around wildly.

"Of course I did, I think you could be a knight one day my dear Paige." I replied seriously.

She giggled "Knights don't exist daddy, gosh."

See? Too smart.

"Well you could be a modern-day Madam Knight!"

"I want to be a firefighter daddy." She shrugged and giggled before jumping off my lap, letting another war cry rip.

"Of course you do. Didn't you want to be a mermaid two weeks ago?"

She sighed "Daddy that was forever ago. And firefighters are way cooler."

"Well if you say so baby. And that wasn't forever ago!"

She rolled her eyes as if to say, 'He is so slow'. And I laughed. She was like Tillie in that regard, always made me laugh or chuckle.

I stood up and grabbed her small hand, making her dispose of her sword, and started walking us home while she skipped beside me.

"So, what else is we doing today daddy?"

"Well my dear daughter, you must clean up all your toys because for some reason they are covering every square inch of the house." And I gave her a stern look.

She pouted but continued to skip "That is soooo boring. I don't want to do that."

"Well that's just too bad Paige. You need to clean up."

She sighed, very dramatically and said, "Fine daddy, but I better get ice cream after this."

I threw my head back and laughed "Deal, sister."

"I am not your sister, I'm a daughter."

"Yea, yeaa." I unlocked our front door when we arrived and pushed her in ahead of me so she could not run next door to see the kittens. Again. She'd done that 3 times this week.

Crazy munchkin hellion child. But I loved her.

We spent the day cleaning up toys, which ended up in the washer and dryer somehow. Of course, Paige gave me an innocent look, but I knew her better than that.

We ate Ice cream and watched cartoons. Managed to have at least one tickle fight, and a little spilled popcorn.

I loved Saturdays; Saturdays were our days. I devoted this day to my daughter because I wanted to miss nothing.

When it was time for her to go to bed, I gave her a bath and tucked her in. I plugged her night light in, read one story and turned off the light when I reached the doorway.

I turned around and gazed at her.

She was the best thing of my life.

"I wish you could see her Tillie, so grown up already. So beautiful. She's so much like you it’s scary." I whispered.