mistaken identity

When Grant asked about Alina, Brayden didn't hold back. She told him that the young girl asked about him often, and worried about his health. Ever since that kid's day he organized, Alina had really come into their lives. Brayden had never met her before that day, and she found herself growing quite close to the little girl since. They shared a lot, so it made sense.
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Brayden wasn't sure if Grant realized that his face gave away his displeasure upon hearing what she said, but she didn't point it out. Instead, she just responded to what he said to her. "I shouldn't what? Answer her questions when she asks about you? Why?" she asked. She didn't understand why he felt that way.
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"I don't understand why you don't want anyone to worry about you, Grant. It only means that they care," she said, giving a pause there to let those words sink in. "Is it so bad to have people care about you?" she asked him with a slight frown.

GRANT KELLER - SUMMER 2040 - HIS FLAT - wearing - ♥

Brayden stiffened when Grant raised his voice at her, snapping at her when she asked if it was wrong for people to care about him. He went on a short tirade about how people caring turned into hope and then they were the ones who got hurt when their hope was for nothing.

Brayden stared at him as she tried to understand what he was saying. she didn't usually have people worrying about her, so she didn't get what was so wrong about it. He continued though, saying that Alina didn't need to worry about him because she had her own problems to deal with; his shouldn't matter to her.

Her anger was starting to rise at his selfishness. "Did you ever stop to think that, perhaps, her worrying about you helps her forget about her issues for a bit?" she snapped before she could stop herself. "Yes, she has a lot of problems that are more pressing than yours, like whether or not she will make it to her tenth birthday, but it helps her not to think about it for a day or two by wondering after you instead," she added. didn't he get it?

"Bloody hell, Grant. Are you really so selfish that people who care about you aren’t allowed to worry?" she asked as she pushed her chair back from the table. "You know what? It was a mistake coming here. I shouldn’t have cared how you were getting on and wanted to visit for a bit. I'm not used to being worried about so it didn't think that it would be a bother," she said as she stood up.

"Enjoy the rest of your meal. I trust you'll have no problem cleaning it all up when you're done," she quipped before she headed over to where her jacket was. She was not going to stay if he was going to be like this. She knew he was having a hard time with this, but that didn't mean he had to take it out on her. She wasn't the one who injured him.

GRANT KELLER - summer 2040 - his flat - wearing - sorry for the wait, bb ♥

Brayden was just lifting up her jacket when Grant spoke, stopping her in her tracks. She turned to look at him, her eyes narrowing into slits, as she took him in. He was staring in her general direction, but not at her, and she felt a bit of her anger recede a bit. She knew this wasn't easy for him. And while she didn't know firsthand how it felt, she knew what he was dealing with and she wanted to help him in any way that she could. She had helped Franz Dürer just the same, so she did have hope that she could help him too.

But he didn’t want her help. He didn't want anyone's help. He wanted to go about it all alone because he thought it would be better to do it that way than to let anyone try to be hopeful for him. His final words, a verbal slap in the face, widened her eyes and parted her lips. Her shock at his harshness was written on her face as clear as day, but she knew he couldn’t see it. So, instead, she decided to let him feel it. She dropped her jacket and then crossed the room to where he stood and, without warning, slapped him hard across the face.

"How dare you," she said, her voice barely above a whisper as her found it hard to speak after he verbally assaulted her. "I am not trying to help you for myself, you arrogant bastard. I am trying to help you for you," she told him, her voice starting to get stronger, "but it seems that I am not allowed to want to help someone that I care about because I hate seeing him suffer," she said. Tears were starting to sting her eyes, but she didn’t bother to brush them away because she knew he couldn’t see them.

"I think it's time for me to go, before either of us say anything else we might regret," she said. "I'll see you when I see you, Grant," she whispered before she started to turn away from him so she could go.