𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 || 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐇𝐚𝐰𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞

Two

❥ "𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐎 𝐀𝐕𝐎𝐈𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍, 𝐈 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐀 𝐒𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐄 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍," Xander explained while raising his pointer finger. "Evelyn?"

"Yes?" me and Eve said at the same time.

Xander scratched the back of his neck. "Okay— umm, Eve?"

"Xander!" I yelled.

But then in a flash— it's six months ago, me and Grayson are laying in the grass, and he calls me Eve. Evie.

Now that's all gone. He can barely look me in the eye.

Xander must of notcied the switch in my demeanor because he said, "How about this. You—" Xander pointed at me. "are Evelyn, and she's Eve." He moved his pointer finger onto Eve.

"That sounds good to me," Eve said.

"Perfect!" Xander clapped his hands together. "Now, what's our dilemma?" Nash glared at his younger brother.

"When was the last time you saw Toby?" Avery asked Eve. Out of everyone here—Eve being the exception— Avery cared about Toby the most. He considered her to be a daughter, blood or not.

"Last night." Eve looked pained. "I- I don't know what happened, but one minute he was there, and the next he was gone." I could see Eve playing out the possible scenarios in her head. "I miss him. He's my dad. I know he never wanted this life for me."

"Well, it is in Thea's words: a broken, twisted, mess," Xander added. "Toby knows that." I narrowed my eyebrows at Xander and he held up his hands apologetically. "But I mean, we're not that bad—"

"Enough," Grayson said. He looked at Eve, and his features softened. "We will help you find him."

She smiled at him.

But I knew that look in Grayson Hawthorne's eyes— the way his features softened and how his body relaxed when he looked at Eve. It wasn't normal.

It was the Emily look.

The look I hadn't seen in a long time.

"Hey, how about we play a game?" Xander suggested. "Ya know, maybe get to know Eve a little better?"

His brothers stared at him. "Hello?! Chutes and Ladders! Except, it's Hawthorne style." Xander wiggled his eyebrows.

"I need a shower," Eve said abruptly.

"I'll show you to mine," Avery added, ushering Eve out of the room. She signaled for me to follow her— to which I grudgingly did.
—
❥

"We can't trust her," I said as soon as I heard the shower running.

Avery leaned against her window and let out a sigh. "I know, but we can't just ignore the fact that Toby could be missing."

"He is missing." Grayson walked into the room like he had been in the conversation this whole time. Stalker. "And I think she looks pretty trustworthy to me."

"Um— you've known her for a total of, what, five minutes?" I laughed, but nothing about it was genuine. "I don't think you have a say in this."

Grayson furrowed his eyebrows at me. "Excuse me? This is my house. I have every right—"

"Correction, Avery's house," I pointed out. Ha, take that Grayson Hawthorne. That was definitely a low blow because the glare he gave me was impossible to look away from.

"Evelyn, please." Avery cut in between me and Grayson. I hadn't even realized how close we we'd gotten since he stepped into the room. Avery looked at Grayson, placing her arm on his shoulder. "We're not saying she's.. not trustworthy, but we don't exactly know if we can trust her either."

"I think we should have just played Chutes and Ladders." Jameson walked into the room and stood behind Grayson. "But my opinion has never been valued around here, so I digress."

Avery titled her head at him only to earn a wink.

The shower turned off and any hope of getting through to Grayson dwindled inside of me. Wherever Eve was, he would follow.

"Fine," I said while standing up, "Let's play Chutes and Ladders."
—
❥

bad idea.

"I.. ate all the Oreos," Xander confessed. "I'm sorry."

"I think we'll live," Jameson said. Avery smacked his arm. "Hey! I don't even like Oreos!"

"I'm a cowboy," Nash added.

"Well, I'm pretty sure we already knew that?" Libby wrapped her arms around Nash's waist from behind and placed a kiss on his shoulder. "Regardless, it never gets old."

Nash smirked. "Darling.."

"Oh my God, no." Xander walked toward Libby and Nash and pushed them apart. "Down here? We keep it PG 13. No exceptions."

"Ewww, Xander." Nash shook his head in disgust.

"Sometimes, I feel like I wasn't mean for this. Like Tobias Hawthorne choosing me was a mistake." Avery's words made the room fall silent, and the mood switched completely.

"That's not true," I said. Avery gave me a sympathetic smile, but I was only focused on the look Eve was giving her. I didn't like it.

"Well, I think Tobias Hawthorne is an asshole for pulling me out of this life only to drag me back into it." Hopefully I could shift the focus from Avery to me. Eve would have to stop shooting daggers at her then. "But, what do I have a say in?"

From the corner of my eye, I saw Jameson smirking. "Cheeky Grambs, cheeky."

"For what it's worth," I leaned back into the couch, "I value your opinion, Hawthorne."

"I don't see how this game is supposed to help us find Toby." Eve looked irritated. Good. "If this is how you guys normally do things, maybe we should try something different?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, hoping my tone came off as anything but neutral. Grayson glared at me before turning to Eve.

"We'll find him, Eve. If some people won't help, I will." Eve nodded at him and he placed his hand on her shoulder. Rubbed it.

Up and down.

"Hey Grayson, do you have a girlfriend?" I pipped up, and Grayson inched back from Eve instinctively. "I swear you do.. I just— I can't put my finger on who it is?"

All's fair in love and pissing off Grayson Davenport Hawthorne.

"Evelyn," Avery warned.

"Okay, game over." Xander walked over to the couch and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "How about we call it a night?"
—
❥

a/n:

evelyn is just not having it rn 😍 i would love for her and lizzie to meet each other like they are total opposites but I feel like they would understand each other yk?? also it's so weird writing Jameson with Avery in this story bc i'm so invested in my Jameson fic😭 like i feel like Lizzie is gonna pop up out of nowhere and Jameson is going to crumble🤷🏻‍♀️ okay rant done bye now!! ALSO I GOT GUTS TICKETS!!