Fame//Grayson Hawthorne

Chapter Twenty-Five

I woke up to movement in the room.

I keep my eyes closed for a few moments as I calm my breathing.

It feels like that night all over again, I can hear movement, footsteps.

I feel the hand on my arm lightly, causing me to flinch.

"Shit, Ash" I hear his voice.

"Hey, I know you're awake, it's just me" Grayson says again, removing his hand from my arm.

I open my eyes, trying to make sure my breathing was as normal as I could get it before I rolled over to face him.

"I'm sorry for scaring you, I was just going to say goodbye" He whispers as I sit up.

His hand makes it way to my face, gently tracing over my cheek with his pointer finger.

"I'll be back in no time okay? We're going to go there, possibly stay the night, depending on when we are able to get in contact, and then we'll come right back okay?" He says softly.

I feel myself nod, moving my legs to the side of the bed.

He's standing just in front of me.

He towers over me, leaning down slightly to speak to me.

"Please keep contact, give us updates, anything. It doesn't have to be about the game, just updates." I quickly say.

He nods a small nod.

I quickly stand.

He doesn't move back.

He stays exactly where he is as I stand.

We're barely inches away from each other.

I can feel his breath on mine we as each stand there, neither speaking.

"Stay safe" I whisper, meeting his eyes.

"Always" He whispers back.

He gently pulls me in for a kiss, tucking a small strand of hair behind my ear.

"I've got to go, Jamie's probably waiting for me" He whispers as he pulls away.

And so, Grayson left.

He left his room, his wing and Hawthorne House.

Suddenly, the room felt too big, too empty without his presence.

I felt alone.

I haven't felt alone these past few weeks.

I had all of the Hawthorne brothers to annoy, I had my sisters.

But in this moment, with both Jameson and Grayson leaving for this trip, and it not being early enough for anyone else to be up, I feel alone.

I hear a knock on the door, it's gentle but still firm.

I quickly walk over to it, opening it slowly.

There stands Xander.

He's in his uniform, already ready for school.

He's got two scones in his hands.

"I don't know where my dear brothers are going, I do know you do, however, I also know that you didn't go to breakfast, school or dinner last night so I'm here." He quickly says.

"Why are you up and ready so early?" I ask him, yawning slightly.

"I have to go to school early Ash" He smiles a small smile at me.

"Oh yeah, you have your robotics club every Friday" I remember, a smile taking over my lips.

He smiles, handing me the scone in his hand before he takes a bite of his own.

I want to eat it.

It's just hard.

See, the thing about forgetting to eat so much is your body then forgets to remind you to eat because it goes off of a bodily routine, so if you don't eat, your body doesn't know when to remind you to eat so it doesn't really remind you to and then you forget to eat even more because your body doesn't remind you and then when you do eat it feels weird and you feel full really quickly because you usually don't eat at that time so your body doesn't really understand why exactly you're eating and then the next day it'll remind you to eat at that time again and then you'll forget once again and it'll stop.

So basically, in short, when you don't remember to eat, your body also forgets to remind you to eat, then, when you do eat it's weird.

I take a small bite of the scone, causing Xander to smile widely.

"I have a theory" He suddenly says once he finishes his scone.

I raise my brows at him, urging him to continue.

"Have you learnt about the other properties you and Avery own? The houses I mean" Xander asks.

I shake my head no, my brows furrowing slightly now.

"Well, you have a holiday home in Colorado. It's called True North" Xander says slowly.

"I leave to Skye my compass, may she always know True North" I quickly say, remembering the line from both wills.

"That was Skye's clue. We have to go to True North" I quickly say.

"Avery and I won't be able to go" I quickly deflate, remembering we have to stay here all year.

"I'm sure there is some sort of loophole. I'm sure of it" Xander quickly says.

"We can ask Alisa about it later, but for now, we wait" I smile a small smile toward Xander before popping the last bit of scone in my mouth.

"For now, we wait" Xander repeats, smiling a wide smile before he checks his watch.

"Crap" He quickly says.

"I've got to go, I'll see you later today Ash. I'm proud of you" He quickly says, already jogging toward the door to the wing backward.

"I'm proud of you too Xan" I call back right as he reaches the door.

He turns back for a few seconds to send a wink my way before he leaves, leaving me alone once more.

[Hi yes, Grayson comforting Ash and then Xan being the bestest bestie ever]