Somewhere only we know by Keane

Oh, simple thing, where have you gone?

I wake up peacefully this morning. I smile in bed and open my eyes seeing about a million eyes staring at me. Nash Hawthorne with his arm around Libby comforting her, Xander Hawthorne sitting on a chair, Avery pacing, Grayson Hawthorne speaking with a doctor, Oren and Kennedy discussing and a doctor holding a clip board being interrogated by one eager Grayson.

"Morning" I nod. They all watch me sceptically. "How do you feel?" Avery asks walking towards me. "Little put on the spot but other than that great" I joke. "We were worried sick" Libby speaks up. "As much as I love a little attention this is not what I had in mind" I quip.

My eyes start scanning the room for one particular person, "Jameson left after you got in the ambulance, we don't know where he is" Xander says noticing my roaming eyes.

"Paris. I have an officer stopping by shortly to get a statement regarding what happened. You can tell them who did this and they can arrest him" Oren says. I nod.

I sit up on the bed forgetting the fact I was just brutally shot in the stomach. I wince at the pain when I move. Grayson steps forward and stops me, he helps me lean forward a little and props a pillow behind me so I am sitting up.

"You went into emergency surgery and got stitches. We recommend slowing things down for around a month. Normally when we undergo this surgery patients may struggle to stand up and walk around for the first week or so. Your about to be doped up with morphine so you may have some side affects that come along with it. That could include headaches, dizziness, confusion, tiredness and sickness like throwing up. Due to your injury you may have some stomach cramps, sort of like period cramps but a lot more painful" the doctor explains to me.

Brilliant.

"It's not recommended to drive or cycle for a prolonged period of time. Smoking and drinking is almost totally out of question, it's definitely not recommended. But considering your age you shouldn't be anyway. Wash the wound two times a day and replace the bandage once it's clean which prevents infection."

In one ear and straight out the other.

Just smile and nod.

She seems to buy my smile and nod as she nods back and exits the room.

"Smile and nod you sneaky bitch" Avery mutters to me, remembering my habit of not listening then smiling and nodding which almost always works. I send a wink her way.

The nurse re-enters with a needle. She smiles and rolls up the sleeve of my hospital gown i never noticed i was wearing. She pricks my muscle and presses down. "It'll take about 5 - 10 minutes to really kick in, until then I'd recommend having some water. When was the last time you eat?" She asks. "Last night at dinner, maybe 7pm?" I remember.

"So around 19 hours ago" she asks. I check the clock, 4:02pm. "Yeah" I answer with a confident nod.

I look around at everyone watching me intensely. I take the glass of water next to me and take a sip. It starts to hit me. The tiredness. The dizziness. The bile rising in my throat. "I'm about throw up" I warn. Everyone looks around urgently and when Avery spots a cereal bowl she passes it to me just in time for the puke to spill out of my mouth and into the bowl. "Lovely" I smile falsely.

My head spins with dizziness as I pass the bowl back to Avery. My eyes flicker closed every few seconds. "I think we'll leave you to nap" Libby says, "Yeah" Avery agrees. They all begin to pile out of my room each saying goodbye and leaving.

Xander hands me a balloon and places a friendly hand on my shoulder before making his way outside. Avery and Libby place a kiss on my forehead before leaving, Nash nods at me. Everyone else is now gone except Grayson.

He closes over the curtains and walks towards my bedside. "Sleep well Paris" he places the duvet over my arms and removes the pillow from underneath my back. He strokes my forehead a moment longer but kisses my forehead in goodbye. He turns the lights out and locks the door.

Sweet rest.

I am woken up by a very clearly fake cough, I open my eyes and try to sit up but struggle yet again. I look around the room and see Alisa and some cops. "Paris Grambs?" One asks.

Oh shit.

What am I under arrest for this time?

"Yeah?" I ask with a hoarse voice. "Can you recall the incident which occurred last night?" No, I've actually forgotten already.

"Yes" i answer, "Can you please let us know everything that occurred that night, leave out no details"

"Ok.. well I was in the woods with Jameson, Grayson and Avery, I think it was around 11pm? Then Jameson was unhappy about something so he left and then a little later I left as well because I needed time to think. I left about 11:10pm and as I was walking away I received a text from Jameson. It said something like he needed to see me and told me to go to the beach and when I-"

"At what time did you receive the text?"

"11:35pm maybe? I hurried to the beach and when I got there it was around 11:45pm, I walked towards who I thought was Jameson as he was wearing the same suit as him. He turned around and it wasn't Jameson, it was Danny Stewart -my ex- he said someone sent him to injure me but he would kill me unless I slept with him. I thought he was joking but then he pulled out a gun and said I had to make my choice so i started running and then he was shooting and I ran into Jameson outside about an acre away from the house and we stopped so i could explain because I thought I had lost him but then we heard shots and kept running. I guess I turned around a little to see if he was still there but when I did he shot me. I heard him saying things to Jameson but I couldn't really hear. Jameson carried me back to the house and got help."

"And what time did you arrive back to the Hawthorne house?"

"I sort of had a hole in my body so i didn't really stop to check the time" I say.

The men nod and make a move to exit. "Have you seen Jameson Hawthorne since the accident?" They ask before leaving.

"What happened last night was hardly any accident" Alisa speaks up.

"Incident." He corrects. "No, I haven't seen him. Why?" I ask.

"We need to speak to him as he was a key witness and he could have had an involvement"

"How? He saved me? He didn't do anything wrong?" I argue.

"We need to know how Danny got the phone and how he knew what suit Jameson was wearing"

"Jameson dropped it and photos of us all were plastered all over the internet last night." I justify.

"Well we still need to question him"

"I can assure you he had no involvement" Alisa speaks up for me.

"Well that's for us to decide."

Jameson wouldn't do this? Of course not. How could I even think that for a second.

"We'll also need to take your phone for evidence"

I nod and let them place my phone in an evidence bag before leaving with it. Alisa turns the lights back off for me to sleep.

I sleep peacefully for what feels like hours. I wake up to the sound of a door closing. I look around confused. I think when I was asleep those doctors gave me more morphine as I feel loopy and confused.

I see a figure in the doorway and sit up trying to scoot away fearing it's Danny coming to finish what he started. "Hey. Hey" Jameson soothes. My wound aches as I scoot away. I wince. "Sorry" he whispers. "Turn the light on" I order. He does.

I look at his guilty looking face. He frowns when he sees me in light. "I'm sorry" he begs on the verge of tears. He stands above me. "Why?" I ask wearily wondering if he was involved. "It's my fault. If I didn't storm away I wouldn't have dropped my phone or left you and he never would've gotten to you" a tear breaks free from his eye.

My eyes start to well up. I've never seen him cry. He doesn't seem like the type to cry often. "It wasn't your fault. You saved me and I will forever be thankful to you for that. If you hadn't dropped your phone he would've found another opportunity to do it and who knows, i could've been alone in the middle of the woods and I could've bled out. Then you would've felt even worse, you saved me. Okay?" I smile, wiping the tear from his eye.

His eyes stare into mine. "What time is it?" I ask, he sniffs and looks down at his watch, "It's 10pm" he answers. It's been almost 24 hours since it happened.

"Why are you here?" I ask. I've been asleep since the cops left at 5pm. "I had to see you. I kept having these memories and then thoughts about you and I had to know you were ok. Well clearly not but I mean I had to know you were alive. I'm sor-"

"Shut up" I laugh. "I'm fine. I mean, the food here might slowly kill me but thankfully I slept through dinner so I'll be fine for now." I joke. He grins.

"Can I.. see it?" He asks. I nod and roll up my hospital gown painfully, squeezing my eyes closed. A bandage covers the wound, I remove the bandage even though I probably shouldn't. I look down. The wound is covered in blood and is completely bruised around the area. His fingers trace around it over the bruises. I place the bandage back over it and Jameson's hand remains on the bruise. His cold hands are a contrast to my warm skin.

He is on a chair beside the bed, his hand massaging my bruises. I hate to admit it but it feels a lot better with his touch. I can't stop myself grabbing his face and kissing him. He pulls away, I frown. "Sorry" I sigh.

"No it's just uhh.. your pumped up on drugs and your probably still high on adrenaline so i shouldn't." He says. "Take advantage of it. Kiss me." I say. He swallows.

"Please" i beg this time. "I need this. I need you" I say in a low voice. He looks at me as if he's never seen me before.

He brings his lips down to mine and we kiss. His lips are so soft and always seem to beg me for more. I start deepening the kiss into more. I grab him by his tie and pull him into me, I wrap my arms around him and keep my hands on his neck.

I suppose I pulled him too hard because he looses balance and puts a hand down to stop him falling. Unfortunately that hand happened to be right on my bullet wound. I yelp in pain and wince, he jumps back from my bed.

"Sorry" he says, "It's not your fault" I say with my eyes squeezed shut from the burn of my wound. He takes a step towards me and strokes my cheekbone with his thumb, I calm at his touch.

"How long can you stay?" I ask desperately. He looks around and gives in, "I'll stay if you need me too" he replies. I say nothing. He stands up and makes a move towards the door. "Jamie," I whimper despairingly.

He turns around with one hand on the door, "I need you."

He walks towards me and takes his coat off. I scoot to the very edge of my bed and watch as he removes his shoes. He undoes his very top button and slides under the sheets next to me. It's only now it becomes apparent to me he is still wearing the clothes from last night, almost 24 hours. He hasn't slept. I mean I barely have either constantly waking up with nightmares.

I snuggle right into him and he puts his hand in mine, the other is in my hair as he caresses it gently. "Please don't leave" I beg. "I'm not going anywhere Eiffel Tower" he grins. I don't even argue with the nickname tonight.

Sleep comes quick with my head on his chest. I finally feel at ease. I know if anything happens whilst I sleep Jameson would be there and that thought was more comforting than it sounds.

"I want you to fuck me."

"Right here in the sand. And i want you to tell me you love me. And I want you back. For good."

"Absolutely not. What's my other choice?"

"I kill you"

He pulls out a gun.

"Danny.. don't do something you'll regret"

"Last chance.. take that ridiculous dress off and let me fuck you until you can't walk or close your eyes and prepare for the sweet merciful death"

"Who's putting you up to this? Just tell me and I'll get them locked up before they can hurt you"

"I'm not being forced to do shit. I just have to send a warning to Avery by hurting you but I chose to kill you. You're a side piece. You always have been. You think those boys care about you? They don't that was proved tonight when that Jameson kid left the second it was over. God I hated that one"

"Hated?"

"I fucking shot him dead sweetheart."

"No.. no you didn't"

"How else do you think I got his phone?"

"I'm going to fucking kill you"

"Correct me if I'm wrong Sweetheart, but.. aren't I the one with the gun?"

"What's it gonna be?"

I start running.

Far away.

As far as I can.

He follows.

I approach the woods and when I am halfway through I see something.

A body.

I kneel beside the body.

I roll the body over.

Jameson.

I can't help the scream that escapes my mouth.

I turn around and find a gun to my head.

"Danny.. Seriously you don't-"

Bang.

I wake up in a sweat, panting as I jolt up into a sitting position. Jameson wakes up as well, he sits up as well.

"Hey.. Hey. Hey. It's ok" he comforts putting his arms around me. "I'm here" he pulls me into his chest. I breathe in his scent. Tears roll down my cheeks.

"Don't cry" he pulls away and wipes my tears with his thumb.

"What was it about?" He asks. "What the fuck do you think it was about dickhead" I bring back my old nickname for him, he smiles slightly. "Still sticking with dickhead huh?" He whispers. "As long as you call me Eiffel Tower I will call you Dickhead" I smile.

"Well then Eiffel Tower. I guess I will officially be dickhead for the rest of my life" he jokes. I grin and lay back down in bed. He flops back as well and cuddles close in the same position as before.

"What time is it?" I ask lowly. "It's 5am. The doctors came in at 3am and topped you up on whatever drugs your prescribed to" he informs. "Great" i sigh, already sick of the painkillers after only 3 doses.

I turn around to face the opposite side to Jameson and he wraps his arms around me. I think this is what they call spooning, which should not have that name because it is basically just cuddling.

I wake up to an obvious coughing noise. I open my eyes and turn towards the creator of this sound, Nash Hawthorne.

He stands at the edge of my hospital bed with Libby. On their left is Xander. On their right is Alisa and Oren. At the door is Thea with balloons and flowers.

Every single one is smirking. "Morning" Nash says with his thick accent. I don't get what they are grining at until I remember Jameson is in my bed. I look at him and nudge him. "Jameson" I hiss. He takes my hand that I nudged him with and kisses it.

Nash, Xander, Libby and Thea all choke out a laugh. Oren grins and tries to hide it.

"Jamie" I speak louder. His eyes open and he smiles at the sight of me. I turn to face everyone and his gaze follows.

"Morning" he greets trying to play it off. He gets out of bed and slips his shoes on. "It's really a lovely day isn't it" he says as he hops around on one foot awkwardly trying to find balance to tie his shoe.

"Jamie" I start, he turns to me "Your making it worse" I grin. "Jamie?" Libby quotes. "Says you, Mr Nash Hawthorne over here is already calling you Libs. It takes years to build up that status" I reply. She goes a little red.

"I'll be back Eiffel Tower but I think the cops have been trying to find me for hours so I should probably go deal with that before I become a person of interest" he jokes. He comes towards me and whispers in my ear, "I'll help you take that braid out later"

He also places a kiss on my forehead. I glow a vibrant shade of red as he walks out.

"Pear" Libby hisses coming towards my bedside and sitting on the chair. "What the hell was that all about?"

"What? We're friends." I justify.

"Friends with benefits." She corrects.

"Libs!" I yell really high pitched.

"Tell that to him. He clearly does not think you're just friends"

"Okay I am not having this conversation in front of two of his brothers"

"Please continue. I personally find it fascinating. Tell us every detail and leave nothing out." Xander says taking a seat on a table that sits in the corner of the room.

"What was that Oren? You would like a coffee? Let's go get a cup" Alisa says. "What? I also wanna hear all about this" he whines like a child jokingly.

I place my hands over my face in embarrassment. Alisa and Oren leave.

"So what happened?" Libby asks. "Nothing. He just showed up to see if I was okay and he got in bed because I kept having nightmares." I lie.

"You always blink excessively when you lie. You slept with him didn't you?" Libby says. "What? Gross, Libby. No. I'm not even 17 yet. We kissed a little and I thought we might and I sort of wanted to but then he sort of fell and landed on my bullet hole and that was kind of a turn off" I recap.

"You thought you might? And you wanted to? Please tell me your Mom had the talk with you because I am not prepared to have that conversation"

"Eww. Libs. Oh my god! I really just said to Jameson Hawthorne's brothers I made out with him and then wanted to slept with him" I groan in pain.

"That conversation is mild compared to the bed time stories Skye gave us when we were younger" Xander says.

"Well I for one loved that" Thea scoffs with a grin. I forgot she was there. "Give us a moment" my jaw tenses when I see her. The three step by into the corner of the room and have their own conversation.

"You... You are a manipulative bitch"

"At ease soldier. I heard what happened and I felt bad. I brought you these" she hands me the flowers and balloon which says get well soon and this really horrible photo of a sad puppy.

I hesitate before taking both and placing them on the side table, "thanks. But this doesn't change the fact you dressed Avery up like a fucking doll to hurt the boys"

"I know it wasn't the best decision but I think you and I are quite similar when you think about it, so I think we could make a great team"

"I don't think we are" I reply. "We would both do anything for the people we love. We fall in love too easily. We're driven. Feminists. And we've both lost someone who we loved most" her voice softens at the last sentence.

"Well maybe we are but the only difference is I didn't dress someone up like a dead girl to hurt two guys because you blame them for her death even though they actually loved her more than anything" I argue.

"That might be true. But we've both made mistakes that we want to take back"

"What do you mean?" I ask. "You weren't with your Mother when she died." She says. "How do you know about that?" I ask defensively. "Paris.. the point is I think we're both in serious need of a friend." Jay and Emily.

I sigh. "Thanks for the flowers and balloon, Thea. I appreciate it. I'll maybe see you later and we can talk when I'm less pumped up on drugs." I reply. I do need a friend.

"Bye Paris" she replies walking away.

The three walk over when Thea is gone. "What was that all about?" Libby asks. "She wants me to be her friend?" I say almost like a question as I'm not fully convinced this is even real.

Avery, Libby, Nash, Grayson, Xander, Oren and Kennedy are all here. Oren and Kennedy stand outside the door in case anyone tries to get in.

The conversation is rather quiet until Jameson Hawthorne walks in. "Great! Any other Hawthorne's want to join? Any long lost brothers who can complete the party? I'm fine! I don't need anyone here never mind all of you" I say finally.

"Woah Eiffel Tower. What happened to 'I need you'" Jameson teases. Avery's eyebrows shoot up slightly and Grayson glances towards me. I glare at Jameson with cheeks gleaming a bright red.

"You heard her. Everyone out" Jameson jokes coming towards me. "You too" I add. Nobody moves.

"Being in here is so boring! Nothing happens. I want drama." I groan.

"Do you really want drama? The last time there was drama you got shot" Avery says. I roll my eyes and start fiddling with my hands. "I want to try standing" I say. "Pear. You know the doctor said it can be up to a week since the surgery. Your currently sitting at 39 hours" Libby smiles apologetically to me. I sigh.

About twenty minutes later Nash and Libby decide to make their move to go get coffees for everyone. "Can I get a coffee?" I beg. "The doctor said no eating or drinking until at least two days." Libby reminds. "Please, I'm thirsty" I beg. "Drink water" she smiles before leaving.

"Now's our chance," I say when they are officially gone. I throw the duvet to the bottom of the bed and sit up slowly. "Woah.. what do you think you're doing?" Avery asks. "I'm standing up" I say deadpan.

"No you're not" she replies. "Yes I am" i say. "Well you're on your own then" she steps back. "Fine" I smile.

I roll my two legs off the side of the bed and push myself off slowly. Grayson lunges forward and places an arm around my waist. "Stop. I've got it" I argue.

He lets go and I fully stand up. The pressure standing up puts on my wound is excruciating. I squeeze my eyes shut and bite the inside of my lip.

Jameson takes a step closer and holds me by the shoulder. "Stop!" I yell. "Paris" he warns. "What? I can do it myself and I don't need any of you telling me I can't"

He takes his hands away and steps back. "Take a step forward then" he instructs. I look up at him. I step forward but putting weight on only one leg sent a shocking pain through my waist. I let out a cry in pain.

Jameson steps forward again and holds my shoulder, he helps me take a step forward mostly lifting me but letting me believe it was mostly me doing the work. He helps me back onto my bed and tucks me in. I give him a mocking smile which he returns promptly.

"I need more drugs" I mutter to myself right as Jameson steps back from my bed. As if just on cue the nurse enters the room.

"I saw that! You're not supposed to be standing yet. Just give it a few days without pushing yourself" she says. "What if i need to take a shit?" I ask. "Paris!" Avery scolds, "It's a valid question" Jameson justifies.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it" the nurse says. "What if I told you that I needed one now?" I ask, "do you?" The nurse asks. "No" I answer.

"I think you need more morphine" she says, "well if you insist" I joke. She removes a needle from her scrubs pocket. "Do you give those to all your patients?" I ask jokingly. "Only for you" she winks sarcastically.

She pokes the needle into my shoulder and presses down on the end. "Now if you don't mind, I'll take a look at your wound, clean it up and change your bandage" she says. "If you wanted me to take my gown off you should've just said" I tease.

"Paris." Avery says, clearly sick off my jokes, "just roll your dress up for the kind nurse who probably has children she wants to get home to see" she says. I roll the gown up to just where my bra ends and the nurse begins inspecting.

"Okay there is a lot of bruising which is normal" she examines. She finally rips off the bandage making me flinch. "Have you already taken it off?" She asks, "yeah" I admit, "that's alright, made it easier for me"

I look down to the wound, there is definitely a lot of bruising. "Okay, I'm gonna get this cleaned up" she smiles as she walks towards a drawer of medical supplies. She removes a couple things and walks back over.

She holds a bottle upside down so liquid runs out all the way onto a gauze. She doesn't hesitate before bringing it down to my wound. It burns. A lot.

"Mother fucker!" I yell at the pain, she continues dabbing around the wound. She begins pressing extra hard with the gauze and when she does I take in a sharp breathe of air.

She then takes out some kind of ointment and squeezes it onto my wound, she rubs it in until it disappears. She then takes a bandage and tapes it up.

"There. That wasn't too bad" she states, "Maybe for you" I mutter as I roll the gown down. She exits the room with a grin and closes the door.

"We should probably get going" Avery states checking the time which reads 4pm. "We'll meet Libs and Nash downstairs" she says. They all make a move to leave but I stop them.

"Grayson" I say, he turns to face me. "Can you stay?" I ask, he nods. Jameson clenches his jaw and intensely watches my eyes.

Avery and Jameson leave and I shout bye. "I need to talk to you" I say once they have both left. He nods in signal for me to continue, "What you said. That night." I start.

"I said a lot of things" he dismisses. "You know" I insist, "Please enlighten me" he acts as if he has no clue what I'm talking about. "I might be pumped up on morphine but I remember everything, especially that" I reply.

He pauses, his eyes flicking between my mine. "What about it?" He asks trying to dismiss the importance of his words.

Did he tell her that it was me? That I killed her?

"Grayson" I trail off. "Paris" he responds. He takes a deep breathe.

"We'd always known her. Mr. and Mrs. Laughlin have been at Hawthorne House for decades. Their daughter and granddaughters used to live in California. The girls came to visit twice a year-once with their parents at Christmastime, and again in the summer, for three weeks, alone. We didn't see much of them at Christmas, but in the summers, we all played together. It was a bit like summer camp, really. You have camp friends, who you see once a year, who have no place in your ordinary life. That was Emily-and Rebecca. They were so different from the four of us. Skye said it was because they were girls, but I always thought it was because there were only two of them, and Emily came first. She was a force of nature, and their parents were always so worried she'd overexert herself. She was allowed to play cards with us, and other quiet, indoor games-but she wasn't allowed to roam outside the way we did, or to run." He starts, he is opening up to me so I don't say anything, making him know I'm listening.

"She'd get us to bring her things. It became a bit of a tradition. Emily would set us on a hunt, and whoever found what she'd requested-the more unusual and hard to find, the better-won" he tells. "What did you win?" I ask softly. Grayson shrugged. "We're brothers. We didn't have to win anything in particular-just win."

"And then Emily got a heart transplant," I say. Recalling something Jameson or Avery had told me. "Her parents were still protective, but Emily had lived in glass cages long enough. She and Jameson were thirteen. I was fourteen. She'd breeze in for the summers, the consummate daredevil. Rebecca was always after us to be careful, but Emily insisted that her doctors had said that her activity level was only limited by her physical stamina."

"If she could do it, there was no reason she shouldn't. The family moved here permanently when Emily was sixteen. She and Rebecca didn't live on the estate, the way they had during visits, but my grandfather paid for them to attend private school."
"She wasn't just a summer camp friend anymore." I say. "She was everything," he looks down to the floor for a moment. "Emily had the entire school eating out of the palm of her hand. Maybe that was our fault."
"Or maybe," Grayson continues, "it was just because she was em... Too smart, too beautiful, too good at getting what she wanted. She had no fear."
"She wanted you," I say. "And Jameson, and she didn't want to choose." Sounds familiar. "She turned it into a game. And God help us, we played. I want to say that it was because we loved her-that it was because of her, but I don't even know how much of that was true. There's nothing more Hawthorne than winning."
"The thing was..." Grayson chokes. "She didn't just want us. She wanted what we could give her."
"Money?" I suggest. "Experiences," Grayson replies.
"Thrills. Race cars and motorcycles and handling exotic snakes. Parties and clubs and places we weren't supposed to be. It was a rush-for her and for us." He pauses. "For me," he corrects. "I don't know what it was, exactly, for Jamie." Jameson broke up with her the of her death.
"One night, I got a call from Emily, late. She said that she was done with Jameson, that all she wanted was me." Grayson swallows. "She wanted to celebrate. There's this place called Devil's Gate. It's a cliff overlooking the Gulf -one of the most famous cliff-diving locations in the world." Grayson looks down, almost ashamed. "I knew it was a bad idea."
"How bad?" I ask. He is breathing heavily now. "When we got there, I headed for one of the lower cliffs. Emily headed for the top. Past the danger signs. Past the warnings. It was the middle of the night. We shouldn't have been there at all I didn't know why she wouldn't let me wait until morning-not until later, when I realized she'd lied about choosing me.

"Cliff diving killed her?" I ask. "No," Grayson says. "She was fine. We were fine. I went to grab our towels, but when I came back... Emily wasn't even in the water anymore. She was just lying on the shoreline. Dead." He closes his eyes.
"Her heart didn't kill her. The adrenaline did. Or the altitude, the change in pressure. I don't know. Jameson wouldn't take her. I shouldn't have, either. You know what my grandfather told me, after Emily's funeral? Family first. He said that what happened to Emily wouldn't have happened if I'd put my family first. If I'd refused to play along, if I'd chosen my brother over her."
"That's what this is about. One-zero-one- eight. October eighteenth. The day Emily died. Avery's birthday. It's my grandfather's way of confirming what I already knew, deep down. All of this-all of it-is because of me."
"Grayson." I start, talking gently to the boy with squeezed shut eyes and his hands clasped together at his mouth trying to keep himself together.
"You didn't kill her"
It seems he needed to hear those words. He opens his eyes and looks up at me, there is a shiny layer of tears lining his eyes. I reach out to the chair he is sitting on beside my bed and take his hand.
"You look just like her" he reiterates with a hoarse voice. I know I do. I don't know how.
"Especially in that dress and her hair" he adds. I still have that braid in. 40 hours and I haven't found someone to take it out yet.
I think he's about to leave when he stands up. However he takes a step towards me and starts taking my braid out, I pull myself forward to the middle of my bed. He takes a seat at the part of my bed where the pillow sits.
Neither of us speak a word as he removes the tight and now messy braid. His hands are gentle as if my hair is the most delicate of objects. At one point he stops for a second, I turn my head to face him and see a sentimental look on his face. "You don't have to do it. I'll just have Avery do it later." I say.

"No. I just needed a second" he assures before continuing. With all the hairspray used in this hair you would think it would hurt but he manages to be so gentle that it doesn't hurt at all.

Once he has removed the braid my hair is back to its wavy style but even wavier some how. He places both of his hands on my shoulders. I turn my head back to face him, he brings his face down to the crook of my neck. He doesn't do anything for a moment, he only breathes as if he's considering something.

That's when I feel his lips fall down onto my neck, gently pressing warm kisses on my neck. He starts deepening the kisses to full french kisses. His lips trace up my neck and along my jawline until he can no longer reach me. I am still facing the opposite way to him so he grabs my leg and spins me around, he pulls me onto his lap and we start kissing a lot more intensely.

A couple of moans escape my lips unwillingly. I have only kissed him once and it was amazing, it also didn't nearly last as long as this.

My hands are in his hair pulling roughly, he lets out a moan as I move my hands around his hair.

Damn. Two brothers in 18 hours. I'm a slut.

(A/N: 6000 Words!!!!! I've never reached that many before. Those filler chapters recently are worth it for this. Two make out scenes in one. I didn't know if I should've cut one of them because it seemed a little too fast. There's a bit of something for everyone today. I'm not entirely sure how long is left. The original book has about 1 or 2 chapters left but idk how many more I'll have like this where none of the plot lines happened in the og book. Let me know your thoughts on Thea and if you think she should be friends with Paris or not. Also it's getting really close to the end so remember to fill out the form:

https://forms.gle/HUvQibLNSN1fShxW7

Thanks.)