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Life Changing Chapter Four
After Grey had a fire started he came back to the table and sat himself down on the floor.  He watched the fire, but it didn't seem right to say that he was paying attention to it.  His eyes looked hollow.
I crossed to the edge of the table, looking down at him as he continued to watch the fire in silence.  For the first time, I realized how lonely I would have been without him.  He was the only thing in this world that was even slightly familiar to be, and despite the way he would be so 'up' one minute and so 'down' the next…I needed him.  I sat on the edge of the table and allowed my denim clad legs to hang over the side.  "Penny for your thoughts?" I finally decided to ask him.
"There have been others," he answered flatly.  I tried to understand just what he was talking about when he swiveled his head towards me.  "What you asked me back outside?" he explained.  "If I'd met other humans?  I have.  A lot actually."
I looked down him, and wondered how often I would have the chance to actually look down to pay attention to him due to our current circumstances.  I bit my lip nervously.  "And how were they to you?" I asked.
To my surprise he held his hand towards me, palm up before answering.  "Not kind," he muttered.  "I guess 'met' is a strong word now that I think about it."
I was still a little shocked that he was offering his hand to me, despite the words.  Was he actually okay with letting me sit in his palm?  So close to him?  Earlier it seemed like he couldn't wait to put me down and spare himself the burden.  But seeing him now, with his palm towards me, I carefully slid down.  "Well if you didn't meet them…" I asked as he gently lifted me.  "What happened with them?"  As we began to move, I crouched down to maintain some balance and he then lowered his hand to his lap so I could climb off.  I stared up at him.
"They run.  Simple as that.  You and Eva are the only ones to ever give me a chance, and you were practically forced to."
I settled again in his lap, trying not to think of just how close I was to him.  "Is that what you think?" I dared to ask him after a few moments.  "You think Eva was forced to stay with you?"  I paused.  "That I am forced to stay with you?"
He shook his head and began to speak, not taking his eyes off the fire.  "I just meant circumstances.  She wasn't even conscious until she was in my home, and you had no way to run when we met.  Everyone else always runs though."
I gulped when I realized that he was right.  I couldn't deny it.  If I had been on the ground when Grey approached, I would have run.  I would have ran as far and as fast as I could to get away from a sixty foot giant.  It only made sense.  You don't run towards things that are so much bigger than you.  You don't trust them.  I enjoyed reading and writing books about giants, yes…but I certainly wasn't going to just walk up to a strange one and hand myself over.  But something still plagued me now, since I was here and I knew Grey now.
"So…do you know where they go?" I asked.  "I mean…" I trailed off again.  "I mean this is an island!  What happens to those who run?"
I tried to see his face but his eyes were still locked on the fire.   I could only imagine what happened to people like me who ran away into the woods.  This place was built for someone like Grey, even though he was alone.  Those who didn't trust him, those that didn't give him a chance, I shuddered at the possibilities.  I didn't want to think about it so instead I tried to get Grey's attention again.
"Well I know this probably doesn't mean much to you, but I want to say that I'm sorry about the way that I acted," I finally decided upon.  "It was wrong.  Especially considering what I told you about what I learned about giants.  I was wrong…and despite the circumstances," I paused and looked up at him hopefully that he was listening.  "I have no intention of running."
He looked down then, his face slightly surprised.  "Thank you.  That means more than you think."
I heard him as he began shift above me to lower his index finger towards my hair, touching my ponytail and…his face grew bright red.  I jerked my head to look up at him with surprise.  "Oh!" he blurted out and immediately pulled his finger away.  "I'm sorry!  Old habit with Eva.  I can't imagine how much of a breach of personal space that was!"
"It's okay!" I shyly smiled up at him.  "It's fine!  Honestly…it's okay."  I wanted him to touch my hair again.  I didn't think he was capable of being so gentle.  I touched my hair self-consciously.  "It's a pretty bizarre color isn't it?" I laughed again.  Feeling him touch my hair…it felt surprisingly okay.
But he laughed nervously, paying more attention to my question.  "Yeah, I'll admit I've never seen a human with purple hair."  He scratched his down black hair then.  "Hey, would you mind if I asked a couple questions?  There are just a few little ones…no pun intended."  I noticed a small grin at his unintentional word play.
I touched my ponytail hesitantly.  So he finally wanted to know something about me.  I had questioned him all day; I supposed that it only made sense that he would be curious about me eventually.  I had finally piqued his interest.  But…I still wasn't sure to be touched or nervous about this idea.  I found myself stumbling for the words.  "Uh…yeah sure…of course.  I mean I've been grilling you all day," I said.  "It's only fair right?"  I turned my head away from him, hoping that he couldn't tell how nervous I was.
I couldn't see, but I could tell he was thinking.  "So, why IS your hair purple?" he questioned to my relief.  "I honestly didn't know humans could have purple hair."
"Oh…uh.  I dye it that way," I explained to him.  I smiled at all the crazy things I had done with my hair in the past.  "I've had all sorts of colors; blue, red, orange…pink.  I even thought about trying green.  It's definitely not natural or anything like that."  I laughed uneasily again, and continued playing the loose ends of my ponytail.
"So you can actually change your hair color?"  He seemed to be thinking about this.  "Wow."  He smiled down at me again.  "Do you think you could show me how?"
I tried not to loo uneasy.  "Well sure, if I had the right stuff…" I didn't exactly carry bottles of hair dye with me in my pockets so I wondered what Grey was talking about.
"We could go check later.  I can't always pace what it is humans leave, but I might have some."  He began to pull on a few strands of his own black hair that hung in front of his eyes, before flushing suddenly.  "Oh…wait," he said with disappointment.  "Never mind, I don't think I'd have enough."
I couldn't help snickering.  "Wait," I asked him.  "You want to dye your own hair?"
Grey turned his head, pouting slightly.  "Well I was considering it."
I began to feel excited.  I quickly stood up on his lap and looked up at him with a huge grin.  "Really?" I couldn't help asking excitedly.  "What color?  I'm curious now!  What color would you want to dye your hair?"
"Well my favorite color is red.  I was hoping that…you know…at first," he chuckled a bit at his statement and my smile grew even wider.
It would be tough.  With such dark hair, even if we did manage to find some red dye…his hair would need bleeched out just a little bit for the color to take.  How red did he even want his hair?  Dark red so that when the sun hit it, it looked like red…or really REALLY red?  The possibilities were endless!  "Well of course if you have the stuff, I would be more than happy to help.  That is…I mean…I'd kind of have to be in your personal space to offer any kind of help."  Hmm…maybe he wouldn't be comfortable with that.  I began to wave my hands around.  "Or!" I exclaimed as the idea came to me.  "I can always just tell you what to do.  Sound good?"
He chuckled again.  "Sure, we'll check tomorrow and if by some miracle I have enough…whatever you need, you can help me get my hair red!"  He looked satisfied with this statement and leaned against the table again.
"Sounds like a plan to me!" I called up to him cheerfully.  I relaxed against him then and joined in watching the fire.  They were planning another day together.  There was something so nice about that.  She didn't get to think about things like this back home…hmmm…but that wasn't important.  "So," I tried.  "Is there anything else that you want to know?  I thought you said you had a question earlier.  Was that it?"  I arched my head up to look at him and he looked hesitant.
"Um well…no.  What I meant before was…um," he closed his eyes again as he noticed I was watching him and then blurted it out.  "You said earlier you thought I was…something.  You didn't finish."  He opened up his eyes again and peered down at me.  "I wanted to know…what you honestly thought of me."
I felt the color drain from myself.  "Oh," I muttered and quickly turned my head back down.  I wasn't expecting that to be his question.  I didn't even think that he had heard me when I said that.  But he had.  "Well," I began slowly.  "I don't really know what you mean," I said to him with caution.
His voice turned a bit more forceful.  "Me, Eden.  How do you see me?" he asked.
Apparently he wasn't planning on letting this go.  "Uh well," I stumbled through my choice of words.  "I think…" I began to shake for reasons that I couldn't explain but pressed on.  I decided to turn my face away from his, hoping it would be easier to express myself.  "I think you're…pretty great actually.  You've been nothing but nice to me and you really don't have any reason to.  I really…" I sucked in a deep breath.  "I really like you Grey," I said honestly.  And it was true.  "But," I quickly added.  "I only just met you today so I know that probably doesn't mean a lot…" I started to fumble with my ponytail again and looked towards the fire with great attention.  At least I had gathered up the courage to say it.
"It means more than you think," he repeated.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw his hand coming forward again, index finger extended but he pulled up short.  "Um," he asked nervously.  "May I?"
Was he actually asking?  I smirked slightly at his hesitation.  I laughed, "You really don't have to ask.  I don't mind."
I relaxed under his touch as he brought his finger down again, gently stroking my ponytail.  After a few minutes I began to wonder what time it was.  It felt like such a long day.  Apparently he was thinking the same thing because he stopped.  "Looks like it's getting dark," he noted.  "We should probably head to bed."
"Bed?  I squeaked out.  Just how was that going to work?  I jerked my head up to look at Grey and he laughed a little before holding his hand out to me again.
"Yeah, bed.  You know that thing you go to sleep in at night?"  His seemed to be in better spirits at least.
That still didn't help my discomfort.  "Yes I know what a bed is!" I blurted out and playfully punched his hand as it came close.  I realized then that I didn't even think about sliding into his palm.  Just the short memory of him being so careful with my hair, it was hard not to trust those hands.  Plus, his better mood was practically radiating from his smile.  "So how exactly will this work?" I asked him.  "Do you have a place that I can sleep?"
He began to stand once he saw that I was situated enough.  His face looked a little strange as he pondered my question.  "Would you be okay with a pillow?  I don't have any beds your size," he said.
Oh.  "Oh!  Uh sure!" I tried to play it off and look calm.  I was beginning to feel a bit tired after this long day. Falling from a plane (was that really this morning?).  Meeting a giant…befriending him as well…and now…staying in his home.  "A pillow is fine," I said quickly.
After putting out the fire, Grey went to his room that I assumed was passing as a bedroom.  It was smaller than the main living space with only a single bed and a table, both having the same rustic look as the rest of his furniture, but it gave the room such a homey feel.  He set me down on the pillow and then rested his head on the other side of his.  His face was filling up my entire vision.  It wasn't a bad face, it was quite nice actually…but it was…right there.  This was the closest I had ever been to his face without sitting on his shoulder.
"So I'll just sleep here then I guess," I spoke with uncertainty.  "And this is okay with you?  You don't move in your sleep do you?"
His face changed slightly.  "Not that I can think of.  If you're worried though, I could always try to make you your own bed."
I tried to imagine staying in this place without Grey close by and I immediately began waving my hands around.  "Oh no!  It's fine!  I just wanted to make sure that you were okay with it."  I tried to be honest with him again.  "I rather…I rather sleep close to you actually, if you don't mind."  I settled down again, feeling exhaustion wash over me, and let out a yawn.  "Thank you again Grey.  You've been so nice…it means…it means a lot to me."
Up this close I could say for sure that he blushed before he smiled.  "I'm glad."
I felt his hand rest gently over top of me and I couldn't help but smile again.  I felt safe.  Despite everything in this strange new environment and sleeping next to a giant…I felt safe in that moment.  I peeked open one eye to look at Grey one last time before at last letting the sleep come.
"Good night Grey."