Chap­ter 28 begins with a piv­otal moment in Grayson’s life, as he reach­es a sig­nif­i­cant mile­stone in his jour­ney of per­son­al growth. After a lot of hard work and ded­i­ca­tion, Grayson final­ly man­ages to read The Lit­tle Engine That Could from cov­er to cov­er. It takes him near­ly an hour to fin­ish the book, and by the end, he is drenched in sweat and phys­i­cal­ly drained, yet there is a deep sense of accom­plish­ment with­in him. The effort required to com­plete the book is immense, but the vic­to­ry of achiev­ing some­thing he once thought impos­si­ble fills him with pride. His young com­pan­ion, referred to as “the kid,” watch­es this entire process unfold, react­ing in an unex­pect­ed­ly qui­et man­ner. Instead of the usu­al cel­e­bra­tion, the kid qui­et­ly smiles, keep­ing a respect­ful dis­tance, allow­ing Grayson to rel­ish the vic­to­ry in his own time and with­out the need for exter­nal val­i­da­tion. This shows a deep under­stand­ing and respect for Grayson’s per­son­al jour­ney and achieve­ment, cre­at­ing a sense of cama­raderie between the two, where the val­ue of the moment is under­stood but not over-empha­sized.

When Grayson final­ly reach­es the end of the book, a sim­ple, heart­felt expres­sion from the kid reveals just how deeply he appre­ci­ates the moment. With a clenched fist and a soft “A‑men,” the kid express­es his joy in a way that mir­rors the solem­ni­ty of a prayer, except here, it is a cel­e­bra­tion of per­son­al tri­umph, an acknowl­edg­ment of the hard work and per­se­ver­ance that Grayson has shown. This small ges­ture of sup­port rein­forces the bond between them, where the kid doesn’t need to shout or draw atten­tion to the victory—he sim­ply acknowl­edges it in the most mean­ing­ful way pos­si­ble. The term “A‑men” encap­su­lates the respect he has for Grayson’s effort and accom­plish­ment. Their rela­tion­ship, though unspo­ken at times, con­tin­ues to grow, as the kid becomes more than just a com­pan­ion; he is a men­tor, some­one who under­stands the impor­tance of patience and qui­et sup­port. This moment sig­nals that the boy and the man are not just pass­ing through life together—they are tru­ly learn­ing from each oth­er and grow­ing in their shared expe­ri­ences.

Lat­er in the chap­ter, the dynam­ic between them shifts as the kid requests a corn muf­fin, and Grayson, now embrac­ing his role as some­one capa­ble of nur­tur­ing anoth­er, hap­pi­ly offers his culi­nary skills. Thanks to the kitchen sup­plies the kid thought­ful­ly pro­vid­ed, Grayson is now able to pre­pare a sim­ple meal, some­thing that was pre­vi­ous­ly beyond his reach. As Grayson asks if the muf­fin should be toast­ed or but­tered, it is clear that their grow­ing bond extends into the every­day details of life, where small ges­tures, like shar­ing food, deep­en their con­nec­tion. This play­ful exchange, while seem­ing­ly insignif­i­cant, marks a sig­nif­i­cant step in their rela­tion­ship. It show­cas­es the com­fort and trust that they have devel­oped, where they are not just shar­ing phys­i­cal space, but moments of joy and light­heart­ed­ness as well. Grayson, once hard­ened by years of iso­la­tion and hard­ship, is now open­ing up to the boy’s friend­ship in ways he nev­er expect­ed. As they sit down to enjoy the muf­fin and sip apple juice, there is a sense of mutu­al care and com­fort, demon­strat­ing the pro­found impact their com­pan­ion­ship has had on each other’s lives.

As the evening unfolds, the kid invites Grayson to stay the night, offer­ing him a space of warmth and secu­ri­ty. At first, Grayson is tak­en aback by the sug­ges­tion, dis­miss­ing it as absurd, but the kid’s per­sis­tent kind­ness grad­u­al­ly changes his mind. The boy lov­ing­ly pre­pares a sleep­ing area, lay­ing down a mat and pro­vid­ing a blan­ket to make Grayson as com­fort­able as pos­si­ble. This sim­ple act, filled with affec­tion and care, demon­strates the deep bond between them, as the kid wants noth­ing more than to make Grayson feel wel­come and cher­ished. Grayson, who had long car­ried the weight of past mis­takes and feel­ings of fail­ure, begins to feel a sense of belong­ing that had elud­ed him for years. His ini­tial resis­tance fades, and he gives in to the exhaus­tion, allow­ing him­self to rest and accept the kind­ness that the boy offers. For the first time in a long while, Grayson feels need­ed and appre­ci­at­ed, and this marks a sig­nif­i­cant shift in his out­look on life. The themes of com­pan­ion­ship, accep­tance, and vul­ner­a­bil­i­ty are high­light­ed as Grayson allows him­self to embrace the warmth of the kid’s affec­tion. As Grayson drifts off to sleep, he whis­pers “A‑men” under his breath, a qui­et affir­ma­tion of the love and com­pan­ion­ship he has found with the boy. This sim­ple expres­sion reflects not just grat­i­tude but a qui­et acknowl­edg­ment of the trans­for­ma­tion he has undergone—moving from iso­la­tion and rejec­tion to accep­tance and con­nec­tion. Their friend­ship, built on mutu­al respect and sup­port, serves as a pow­er­ful reminder of the heal­ing pow­er of com­pan­ion­ship and the impor­tance of embrac­ing vul­ner­a­bil­i­ty.