Song:
❥ 𝐈 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫
—
❥ Grayson led me into one of the bathrooms down the hall. I was in too much of a daze to comprehend anything right now, so Grayson had to quite literally drag me to the bathroom.
Once he shut the door, I looked up in the mirror and saw red marks littered on my neck. More reminders of what he's done to me.
"So much for just pushing you." Grayson murmured, turning the sink on to wash the blood off his hands. The water turned a light red.
I met Graysons eyes in the mirror, and he flinched. "What is it?"
"Your hair— Emily." The words spilled from his mouth like poison. "Did you do that?"
"No. It was—" Thea. Oh my gosh. "I didn't know—"
"Thea and her games. It's not your fault." Graysons expression remained still, but the cracks of his armor were showing. I wanted to reach out to him and touch his face, tell him it's okay, but it was clear the conversation was done.
Hesitantly, I touched my neck. I winced.
"Don't do that." Grayson turned off the sink, directing his attention towards me. "You'll make it worse."
"It's not going to get any better." I said. "It never will, not when he's here."
Graysons eyes shifted to something.. sad. I hadn't meant to be such a downer but there was nothing to be happy about. How much more fucking violence would there be?
Turning back to the sink, I let the tears fall from my face. I shook my head rapidly. I shouldn't be here. I don't even know who I am— what i'm doing with my life. All I know is i've been sucked into Tobias Hawthorne's game and I want out, and—
"Breathe." Grayson placed his hands on my face, soothing me. "I'm here."
Nodding, I leaned into him. When I first met Grayson Hawthorne, I never expected him to be this warm. His scent— his whole demeanor felt like home. Even though I had only known him for three weeks, something about him was so familiar.
It's like there's something about him I can't recall, but have always loved.
"I am not going on these dumb monkey bars." I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest.
"Come on, Eva. Please?" Jameson smirked, tumbling down the slide. Classic J.
"I won't let you fall." Grayson Hawthorne may only be eight years old, but I could tell he would be a protective one when we were older.
I neared closer to the edge, hesitantly. "Are you sure? I don't—"
"Watch out!"
Jameson collided into Grayson, whose hand hit me in the face. My legs fumbled and before I knew it I was colliding with a pole.
"Eva. Oh my gosh—"
There were voices, but everything was really far away. My only thought was: am I going to die?
"Evelyn, what is this?" I snapped back to reality at the sound of Graysons voice. He had a piece of paper in his hand. Tobias letter.
Xander's words flashed through my head. Don't tell anyone. Especially Grayson.
"Grayson, don't—"
"What the fuck is this?" Graysons hand shook as he looked at the letter. His mind was working in all sorts of ways, and not for the first time, I was speechless.
There was only one thing I could do: Tell him the truth.
"It was your grandfathers letter." Breathe. "To me." Breathe. "I— I don't know how to explain it, but I think—"
"Evangeline." He breathed the words out like they were a prayer. Grayson looked at me, hard; rough, like his whole existence depended on it. He placed the letter down on the sink, and for a moment I thought he was going to walk away.
Until he pushed me up against the wall.
"Grayson—"
And then he kissed me.
He kissed me like I was his only source of oxygen. It was rough, passionate, and I never thought it was possible to feel so alive from somebody else's touch. If the world was ending, the one thing that would keep me alive for that much longer, would be this.
When I kissed him back, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, running my fingers through his soft blonde hair. Grayson moved from my lips to my neck, peppering me with soft kisses.
Oh. My. Gosh.
This was heaven on earth. It had to be.
Grayson stopped kissing me and looked straight into my eyes, and his silver irises pierced through my heart.
"I knew it was you." Kiss. "From the moment I saw you," Kiss. "Everything about you was so familiar." Kiss.
Holy shit.
"Do you know," Kisses down my neck. "How long I've looked for you?"
Suddenly, it all starts to click in my mind. Her. He looked for her all those years. I was her. Evangeline. It didn't make sense, and I didn't even know if It was possible but Graysons lips on me were the only thing I cared about—
"I knew you didn't die."
I froze.
What. the. fuck.
It hits me then. I'm making out with Grayson Hawthorne in a random bathroom, at my Hawthorne Foundation party.
I'm making out with the heir apparent, the guy who was supposed to have all of this.
And he thinks he's making out with somebody who died.
Just like Emily.
I pushed Grayson off of me with all the strength I had. He furrowed his eyebrows. "What did I—"
"I can't." And before he could say anything, I opened the door and ran towards the party as quick as my feet would take me. Running down the stairs, I ignored Grayson's voice calling out to me.
When I walked into the ballroom, all eyes were fixated onto me. Did I look that bad? Was the first thought I had, and within seconds Alisa was beside me.
"You have made my job increasingly harder since you've arrived, Evelyn." She examined my hair. "What is going on with you? Your hair is a mess."
Grayson was what was going on with me.
"I had a situation." I whispered.
Alisa looked towards the stairs and then back at me. "What do you mean?"
Matthew. I hoped my eyes were enough for her to realize what I was talking about, and after a few seconds of silence, Alisa gave me a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Go sit down. I'll talk to oren." Alisa signaled over to where Avery was sitting. "Have her help you with.. this." She motioned to my figure and embarrassment crept into my skin.
Alisa headed towards the stairs in haste, and for a moment it was just me and my thoughts. I knew what I needed to do.
I had to tell Avery the truth.
I made my way over to our table and as soon as Avery locked eyes with me, she was up and about.
"What happened? Where did you and Grayson go?"
"What do you mean me and Grayson?"
Avery sighed, pulling me down to sit in a chair. "Everybody saw you go upstairs, and Grayson went after you five minutes later."
Shit. "Avery, he's here."
"Who—" Avery paused, and realization dawned over her face. "Matthew?"
I nodded.
Avery looked down at my neck. "Please don't tell me—"
"I'm fine." I'm not.
"So you and Grayson.. weren't—"
I grabbed her hand, lacing our fingers together. "Avery, we need to talk about something." She sat down in the chair next to me, hesitantly nodding.
I knew I couldn't keep lying to her. Avery was always the riddle solver, the one who would stop at nothing to discover the truth. I stayed away from that. Something about it was dangerous to me, scary. I was the mystery, the girl who minded her own business.
I was the one who didn't know anything about her childhood. Until now.
I looked around to make sure nobody was listening, and then I inhaled a breath. Exhaling, I turned to face Avery.
"I- I think I found something out, Av. About who I am— why we were chosen."
Avery squeezed my hand tightly. "You did?" She was hungry for more, just like Jameson Hawthorne was when I showed him the letter.
"Yes." I said. "You know how I can't remember my childhood?" Avery nodded. "Well, it's starting to come back to me. Being here at Hawthorne House is making me remember." I didn't know what exactly, but it was something. "Avery, I think we might have lived here. At Hawthorne House."
She said nothing.
"I know it sounds crazy. But, mom always had secrets, remember?" She was slipping away from me the more I talked, but now that I'd started, I couldn't stop. "Think about it. I don't remember anything until the age of seven, and my first memory was you. What if— what if mom—"
"Evelyn, stop." Avery held her free hand up. "This is ridiculous."
"The letter. The one Tobias Hawthorne left me? There's writing in invisible ink, Av. It says Evangeline. I- I showed Xander and Jameson and—"
"You did what?" Fuck. "Evelyn, what is going on with you? You're being reckless!"
"It's no different from what you do all the time."
Slashes of hurt crossed Avery's face, and I swallowed the guilt threatening to spew out of my throat. "You know why this is important to me."
"It's just as important to me, but you never listen! I've always put you first, Avery. I broke a leg and got shot because I was looking after you! I told myself I wasn't going to get involved, but look at what's happened because I didn't?"
Avery didn't respond. But it wasn't a shocked type of silence, it was something else. She knew something I didn't.
"Tell me."
"Ev—"
"You know something? That's why you're so angry i'm telling you this." Her face was a deep shade of crimson red, but I couldn't care less. I couldn't care if the whole fucking room took pictures and videos of us.
"Please—"
"What is it?"
Silence.
"You know what Avery?" I said, standing up. "If you won't tell me, i'll just find out." I shoved my chair back into the table, my heels clicking on the floor as I walked away.
"Freaking heiress." I murmured.
—
❥
a/n:
ngl evelyn's so badass... her and Grayson would dominate tbh. also i've planned what will happen will evelyn meets eve (EW) aka the other annoying evelyn in the final gambit (which i did not plan for when I first started this) but ooo it's gonna be good