Paparazzi//Grayson Hawthorne

Chapter Seventeen

After finishing having my 'makeover', I quickly shower and get changed.

As I walk out of the bathroom, I see Xander standing beside his bed, on his phone.

"How are you feeling? I know it was probably a bit of a scare with your room, I know I'd be beyond freaked out and then get rushed into having the stylists, but I'm proud of you for telling them you didn't want feminine clothing that was really brave of you, a lot of people wouldn't be able to tell their stylists that but you did and it was really cool" He rambles as he looks up from his phone, offering a small, awkward smile.

"I'm okay, it was a bit overwhelming, but I feel better after that shower. Thank you, Xander" I smile up at him as we both walk towards the door.

"Actually, I might grab a hoodie, hold on" I quickly say before I go to rummage through the rack of clothing left in Xander's room, they had taken the rest away, probably to be put into my closet, but they had left one for while I'm staying in Xander's wing.

"There aren't any fucking hoodies in here," I sigh as I pass through the last piece of clothing, looking up, a look of disappointment covering my features.

"Here, use this one. I don't wear it much" Xander quickly throws a hoodie over to me.

It's soft, really soft. It's simple, just a light gray hoodie. I smile as I catch it.

"Thanks," I smile up at him as we both walk towards the door once more.

"No problem" He smiles back at me as I open the door for the two of us.

We walk the halls for a while, and every so often, we stop, and I admire the stuff around us, quickly adjusting my hoodie in the process.

I quickly pull at the hoodie slightly to make it baggier as I hold the bottom in on itself slightly, bringing the hoodie up higher, so it's not down at my knees, but also so it's baggier.

"You okay?" Xander asks as we stop for probably the hundredth time. I nod quickly as I lean forwards slightly more.

I see Xander look at me from his peripheral vision as we continue walking.

Soon, we see Jameson, who quickly looks over the two of us, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"So Xander and Grayson, huh?" He quickly says as I feel my head snap towards him, my eyebrows furrowing.

"I'm sorry?" I quickly say, looking back at Xander as he sighs.

"Well, first, you get all cozy with Grayson even though he obviously doesn't trust you since he treats your sister like absolute crap, which you must see, but you do nothing about it, and now, you're prancing around with Xander here, and wearing his hoodie" Jameson quickly says, giving me a look of what I can only say could be disgust.

"Jameson, don't," Xander quickly says, rolling his eyes at his brother.

"Listen, Jameson, we've not met, but everyone has their own problems, and both Grayson and Xander help with mine. I'm not just cozying up with them, and I don't care if Grayson doesn't trust me. He's helped me, though, so it doesn't matter if you think he doesn't because he certainly trusts me with things that he doesn't trust you with. As for Xander, we are friends. Do you know what that means? But he's letting me wear his hoodie because I happen not to have access to any hoodies at the moment, and I needed one," I quickly say, getting annoyed at the boy.

He rolls his eyes at me, "It's not cold in Hawthorne House. It made sure of that the temperature is never cold," He quickly says, his face stone. I feel worry take control of my face as I don't know what to say. I'm  stuck.

"Jameson, leave them alone. Ash is perfectly okay to wear a hoodie wherever or whenever they want, and you don't get a say in that, plus you're close with Avery, so I think Gray and I are allowed to be close with Ash," Xander quickly says before a different emotion crosses over Jameson's face, an emotion that looks between apologetic and anger.

"Come on, Ash, lets just go," Xander quickly whispers as he gently takes my hand, pulling me away from Jameson as we walk the halls once more.

"I'm sorry about him. We were always taught family over anything, but he and Grayson have had it out for each other all their lives. It's gotten worse over the past year, though, and so he's probably just annoyed at Grayson has allowed you to get close to him, but they're so distant," Xander rambles quickly as we walk away.

"No, it's okay. This is probably hard for you all. You guys deserve to be mad at my sisters and me. It's understandable," I reply, a small smile on my lips as I reassure him that I am, in fact, okay.

We walk for a while longer, seeing both Avery and Libby in a sitting room on a couch.

Libby quickly rushes toward me, looking me over before checking my face, gently grabbing my cheeks as she checks everywhere, grazing her hand over my bruise in the process.

"Are you okay? We heard what happened, nothing happened to either of us, and we weren't allowed in your wing to check on you," Libby quickly says as I flinch slightly, causing her to take a step back.

"I'm okay. I'm staying in Xander's wing until I'm able to go back. They have to repaint my walls and redo the carpet. I'll have to get whole new guitars, though. Everything I owned was kind of destroyed" I let out a small laugh to ease the tension that had built in the room.

"Oh god, that's terrible. I know how much those guitars meant to you" Libby lets out a small sigh as Avery stands, finally making her way over to the three of us.

She nods toward my hoodie, "You're cold?" She quickly asks. My eyes go wide slightly as I feel her eyes on me, "No- I just- you know- I just wanted to wear a hoodie" I stumble over my words slightly before they both shrug it off.

I feel my brain unfocus as my eyes get blurry, I hear people talking, but I don't hear what they are saying.

"Ashlyn? Come on. We're going to dinner," Libby's voice breaks me out of my head as it causing me to flinch backward slightly.

I see Avery rise her eyebrows from behind Libby as I nod quickly, turning around and following Xander toward the dining room.