Paparazzi//Grayson Hawthorne

Chapter Six

My eyes meet his almost silver ones; his eyebrows are furrowed as a look of hurt crosses his face; he is supposed to inherit everything.

Everyone is staring, it feels like the room has frozen, except it hasn't. Everyone is so loud. They're yelling, arguing; they won't stop.

I can't hear what anyone is saying, I can just hear their voices, but they are all clashing together. They're mixing together, and it's too loud.

I feel my arms go to cover my ears, but I stop. I stopped because that would seem like a sign of weakness, but I can't show weakness right now.

I try to look at Grayson, I try to make eye contact with him, and for a split second, he returns the eye contact.

He looks confused and conflicted. He was supposed to inherit everything, and yet here me and my sister are, taking everything from him and his family.

He has gone through his whole life preparing for today. Preparing for the day he inherits billions, but Avery and I have taken all of that away from him. We've taken his life's work.

He looks mad, he doesn't know what to do. What would he even do at this moment? His brothers all knew that he would get everything; they had accepted it. However, no one thought Tobias Hawthorne would disinherit his entire family.

John Oren is close by now, he's moved towards us. He's saying something, but I can't hear it; my brain isn't picking up any words or phrases.

I see Xander from the corner of my eye; he's raising his hands, he's saying something, but I can't hear him. He directs his attention from John Oren and my sisters to me, a sorrowful look on his face.

I can't breathe; it feels as though the room is closing in on me, and everything is getting smaller by the second. I can't breathe, and the room is going to crush me.

I see Avery stand, I don't know where she goes, but she bolts out of the room. Libby follows after her.

I can't move. I feel stuck, frozen in place.

People start leaving one by one, it gets quiet again. I try to breathe, but nothing seems to help. I don't know what to do. I mean, it's not every day you inherit a half split of 46.2 billion dollars.

I feel someone sit next to me before I see them, "Ash" The voice speaks; it's Xander; I don't know if he's going to be mad, I don't know if he's going to hate me. I don't want him to hate me.

"Ash, it's okay; I'm here, okay?" Xander's voice is soft, it's genuine; I don't feel unsafe in any way with him talking to me.

"Ash, can you look at me? Please?" He asks; I feel my body turn towards him; I don't think I could trust my head to turn on its own; it feels like it would fall.

I can feel tears well in my eyes, sitting on the edges of my eyelids as I will myself not to cry. I don't know why I would be crying. I have nothing to cry about I just inherited 23.1 billion dollars.

I can see Xander's facial expression soften as he looks at me, I can see the way his eyebrows furrow together slightly, and his deep brown eyes seem to be the most beautiful color of brown, reminding me of the earth; I need to come back down to earth.

"Ash, you're okay; I got you, Ash" Xander speaks slowly, it's the first time I've heard him talk, and it not be fast; it's strange, hearing him speak differently.

He offers me a small sorrowful smile before I close my eyes, not wanting to be here, hoping that I'll open them again and be in class.

I wish I were in class right now. That's not something I wish for very often, and yet here I am, wishing to be somewhere I actively avoid.

I feel someone lightly touch one of my shoulders; it's not Xander, as it's the shoulder further away from him.

"I've got her, Xander, you go try to calm mother," I hear the voice say, god that voice.

"Are you sure you've got them? I can stay; I'll walk them out to Avery," I hear Xander say; I don't know what about what he said, but it made me a bit calmer; it made me feel happier.

"I got her," He speaks; I can tell Xander is reluctant, especially with the way Grayson had probably been looking at my sisters and me with a look of pure hatred just minutes earlier.

"Okay, I'll just be outside, though; come grab me if you need me." Xander seems to direct that to the both of us; I nod slightly but keep my head down again.

"Ash," Grayson speaks, his tone filled with more emotion than I've heard before. I'm scared to look at him, scared he'll hate me.

"Ash, I need you to look at me, follow my breathing" His voice is hesitant, but I open my eyes slightly, staring at my shoes.

I don't want to look at him or meet his eyes; I dont want to see the look of hurt and betrayal. I don't want him to hate me.

"Ash" He sounds almost desperate. I close my eyes for a split second again before I look up at him, meeting his eyes.

He looks hurt and betrayed, he looks confused; I don't blame him.

But he offers me a small smile. I don't know if it's genuine or just a smile of him telling me to get out of his house and leave his family alone but it's a smile nonetheless.

"Listen, this is all a lot, and everything is happening suddenly, and everyone is confused and hurt, but I also know that I can't leave you here because you've already had one panic attack here today, and now you're having a second, but your sisters are outside, I assume you're going somewhere to stay" He's hesitant but gently takes my hand in his, holding the eye contact as he leads me out of the room and to the front door. Dropping my hands and walking away before saying goodbye.