𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 || 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐇𝐚𝐰𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞

Thirteen

❥ "𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐌𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔'𝐑𝐄 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐍 𝐑𝐔𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐘?"

Grayson put down his stick thing (sword, maybe?) and sat down next to me on the stone bench. Of course it was stone, this was Hawthorne House after all.

"What makes you say that?" Grayson said.

"Because you haven't talked to anyone in days, Grayson." I nudged his shoulder. "What's on your mind?"

Grayson played with his thumbs. "I can't face you."

"Why?"

"Because you almost died, Evelyn." The fear Grayson had been holding in was bursting at the seems now. "And I hate myself for letting the past—Emily— dictate what I do now, again. You could have died—"

"Grayson," I said, my tone firm. I grabbed his hand and interlaced our fingers together. "That's okay."

Grayson cocked his head back, surprise settling into his features. "How is that okay? After all of this, you were right—"

"No, I wasn't." Maybe i'd been right about Grayson being hung up on Emily before— but now? Everything has changed. "The fact that you're thinking that just proves that this? This battle in your mind with Emily? It won't last forever."

Grayson stared at me, and then his shoulders sagged as far down as possible. He dropped is head to the ground, and my heart split into pieces.

"I can't do it, any of this." Grayson pulled his hand away from mine. "I don't want to be alone anymore. I don't think I physically can."

"You don't have to be," I said, taking his face into my hands with more purpose than anything else I had ever done. His gray eyes bored into mine, and if I wanted to I could trace every line— every detail of his face out. "I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."

Hope flickered in his eyes, and it lit up his whole body. I could feel it.

"Why?" he whispered.

"Because," I said, "some people are worth staying for. Running isn't always fun, you know." Grayson laughed and placed his hands on top of mine, slowly removing them from his face. He pushed a loose strand of hair behind my face.

"So, what now?"

That question could mean anything and everything. Because leave it to Tobias Hawthorne to let us believe the game is over, and then something new comes at us unexpectedly.

But as of right now?

"I could think of a few things, but," I smirked, leaning in close to Grayson, "how about this?"

Grayson already knew what I meant, because within seconds his lips were pressed to mine. And this time, it wasn't a secret, or for show.

It was real.
—
❥

3 MONTHS LATER —

"They're going to kill us."

"Nonsense," Xander said, licking his fingers of excess brownie batter. "This is a masterpiece."

"You mean the failed cake, cookies, and brownies?" I gestured to the monstrosity in front of us. Xander smirked, continuing to eat all the batter in sight. "This all your fault."

"No!" Xander looked at me. "You don't know how to preheat the oven!"

I gasped. "Noooo! You were the one who said adding three cups of water would give the cake more moisture."

"And?" Xander looked at the cake with hunger. "I think we achieved that."

"Yeah, so much so that the cake melted to the ground." Not only that, but Xander also tried to make Oreo cake from a cup which exploded in the microwave. "We just need to clean this up before—"

"We're back!" Avery's voice sent a shock wave through my body. Shit. Xander looked at me with the same what the fuck expression.

"Do something!" I whisper yelled at him.

Xander nodded and started wiping away the batter with his.. body. Hands and all.

"Xander!" I ran up to him and tugged on his shirt. "That is not what I meant."

"Well—"

"Holy shit." a voice none other than Jameson Hawthornes said, and my attention fixated onto the five people in front of us. Grayson, Jameson, Libby, Nash, and Avery. "What the hell happened?"

I eyed Grayson who was on the verge of tears.

Literally. He needs to lighten up.

Actually—

"We were trying to surprise you guys, but.." I looked at Xander who immediately knew what I was thinking. "GHA," I said, barely holding in a grin.

Grayson Hawthorne Attack.

Me and Xander ran towards Grayson, and he didn't have enough time to get away because within seconds he was covered in cake batter.

Poor suit.

"You didn't," Grayson said.

"Oh, we did." Xander wrapped a hand around my shoulder. Jameson and Nash were laughing their asses off right next to us. Avery and Libby didn't look surprised, because this always happened.

I had a marvelous time picking on Grayson.

"Fine." Grayson grabbed my face and smeared cake batter all over it from his hands, and I screamed in retaliation. Asshole.

"You guys," Jameson said, placing his hands on Avery's shoulder. "are idiots."
—
❥

a/n:

OMGGGG YALL?!? part 2 is done i'm so sad but part 3 is def gonna be my fav bc Evelyn goes from badass to baddest but it's gonna be a rocky ride..

make sure to leave a star and comment if you'd like bc it supports the story yk 😌🙏🏻 BYEEE