Paparazzi//Grayson Hawthorne

Chapter Twenty-six

After school, Xander and I didn't hang out. He went to talk with Avery about something.

Of course, he went with Avery.

I can't be mad. She's a person, she's allowed to do whatever she wants, and she's going through this as well.

And Xander is his own person. He can make his own decisions and hang out with whomever he wants.

But I'm finally being noticed by Xander. He's noticing me. He's not just brushing me off or giving me attention. But he's noticing me. I don't want that to stop.

I'm sitting on a couch, not doing anything or even really thinking about anything. I'm just sitting.I find myself zoning out, staring at the wall furthest away from me.

I hear people walk through the halls. I hear them go about their days.

I hear someone walk into the room I'm in. I can hear them speak, but I don't hear anything they say. It doesn't get processed in my head.

"Ashlyn?" I hear the voice say, snapping me out of my daze. Turning my head to the figure near the doorway.

"It's nice to finally meet you, through all of the chaos I don't believe we met, with you and your sister disinheriting my family and all," Skye Hawthorne speaks, a condensing smile sitting atop her lips.

"Well, for your information Skye, my sister and I did not disinherit your family. Your father did." I quickly say, rolling my eyes slightly at her.

"Well, you and your sister do seem to be making yourselves at home," Skye now says, raising her eyebrows at me.

I just look at her, staring at her for a few seconds before standing up.

She's taller than me; most people are.

"It would be stupid of us not to make ourselves at home. This is our house, after all," I smile at her before I walk out of the room.

I can tell I've probably angered her by saying that. She probably hates me, and now, and if she had any control over her children, which from what I've heard, she's never had that control over them, then she might just forbid them from talking to me.

As I walk down the hallways aimlessly, I find myself once again marveling at the artwork."Ash, are you okay?" I hear Nash from behind me somewhere. I quickly turn around to see him at the doorway to a room.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm just walking around" I smile a small smile toward him.

"Mind if I join you in just walking around then? It is always good to have company, after all," He smiles down at me.

Nash is the shortest out of all the Hawthorne brothers, he seems maybe only an inch or two shorter than Grayson, but he's still tall.

I shrug, nodding my head, signaling that he can join me.

We walk for a while in silence. I stop to admire some art every once in a while, Nash stopping next to me, sometimes even giving some background on said art.

"So, what's going on between you and Libby?" I ask the older, raising my eyebrow at him as I break the peaceful silence.

"Nothing is going on between Libby and me, although she definitely is something else" Nash smiles as he speaks about my older sister, the bridge of his nose going a slight pink.

"What about you and my brothers then? You seem close with them," Nash smirks quickly.

"Well, Jameson is strange, the other day, he hated me, and then yesterday, he, for some reason decided to yell at Drake in front of hundreds of paparazzi" I let out a small, short laugh.

"Xander is amazing. He's like really great. I'm glad I've had him here, you know? He's just something else, and he's my best friend already" I smile a bigger, more prominent smile as I talk about Xander.

"And Grayson?" Nash asks, his brows raised as he smirks.

I roll my eyes at him.

"Grayson is great. He's really, really great. He was first to check on me yesterday, apparently, and he- he cares. It's weird because I'm not used to people caring much or people noticing me, but Gray and Xander notice me, and they show they care, and I'm just not used to it" I smile as I talk about them. My smile is smaller, but it's there. It's the most prominent smile out of all of them.

"Gray's not usually like how he is with you. He's usually very closed off. He doesn't let people in, not even me or any of the rest of my brothers. He's always been all business, but he's not like that with you. I saw you guys bowling the other day, he was genuinely happy to be there with you, and he's been a lot better since you got here, so thank you for that" Nash smiled a small, thankful smile toward me as the words left his mouth.

"We should get to dinner. I heard Mrs. Laughlin has something prepared," Nash quickly says before he leads the way.

When we get there, people are seated at the long table. I quickly take my seat between Grayson and Xander as I notice Thea just down the table a few seats.

As I sit there, everyone eating dinner, I hear Thea talking about something.

Skye raises her glass.

"A toast," Skye says.

"To Avery," Skye says. I don't blame her for only toasting Avery, I wouldn't make a toast to me either after our conversation today.

I see Grayson glance in my direction, and so does Xander.

"To Emily," Thea now adds suddenly, "May she rest in peace." She finishes.

Who the fuck is Emily?

I turn to see Grayson's grip tightening on his glass, his knuckles turning white. Emily is obviously a touchy subject.

I lean over ever so slightly, taking Grayson's spare hand from under the table. He looks toward me. I can see his jaw is tightened as his eyes look almost glossy.

I see Jameson leave right away, Avery leaves not long after,  Grayson follows her out, so I follow him.

I want to make sure he's okay. I know that he's obviously upset that this Emily person was mentioned, and we promised each other.

We promised.

I promised.

I see him and Avery talking at the front door. He seems upset, while Avery seems hesitant.

I don't listen to what either of them says. I make sure not to, as I'm sure it is none of my business.

After Avery left, I walked toward Grayson.

"Gray," my voice is quiet, but he can still hear me.

"Did you hear what we were talking about?" He quickly asks. I shake my head no as he lets out a breath.

"I need to do some work on the foundation," Grayson speaks quietly.

"Can I help with anything?" I quickly ask. I don't want to leave him to his thoughts. I know that it can make things worse sometimes.

"You don't know anything about it," Grayson scoffs slightly, turning to walk away, shutting me out.

"So teach me."

[No but that last line is probably one of my favorites]