Meddle About by Chase Atlantic

Cause it's not just a figure of speech you got me down on my knees it's getting harder to breathe out.

Spin the bottle. The rules were simple. Someone spins the bottle and whoever it lands on has to kiss them. Then that person spins and thus forms the endless cycle of spin the bottle.

It's 8pm. The doors are locked, lights are low, we are all sitting either on low sofas or the floor, most residents are sleeping except us youths. 

"Who's going first?" Avery asks. "Oldest starts." I say, everyone turns to Grayson. With a sigh he leans forward and spins the bottle gently. It lands on Max. 

They both look around to make sure they actually have to do this and share a delicate kiss. They sit back from each other. 

Max spins the bottle and it lands on Avery. They smile and dramatically kiss each other's cheeks. 

Avery laughs a little and spins the bottle. Jameson.

A breathe gets stopped in my throat. I don't know how to feel about that.

I see Jameson's eyes dart to me then immediately back to her. He smirks a little then leans into her, holding her neck with his hand. He keeps going for much longer than he needed to and I sink into my shoulders. I'm not jealous. 

They separate and he winks. "Ew" Thea mutters disgustedly.

Jameson spins and gets Thea. She scrunches her face together then eventually kisses him. She makes it as quick as possible making sure to wink at him teasingly when done to which he smiles sarcastically.

Thea spins and gets Rebecca which makes her smile. She kisses Rebecca with a soft but still steamy kiss and leans back. Rebecca shyly spins the bottle and gets Xander who gives her a small peck on the lips.

Xander barely taps the bottle and it's so obvious he did on purpose so it landed on Max next to him. She doesn't realise this and lets him kiss her. I grin proudly at the couple I've been rooting for since before they even met. He pushes his luck by starting to kiss her deeper but she pushes him back with a smirk.

"My lips are too tired. Someone else go." Max jokes with a face of exhaustion. Avery grins and spins the bottle. Grayson. Perfect. Just perfect.

They lean towards each other and kiss, not a small peck but not a steamy make out sesh, somewhere in between that still makes my blood boil.

They pull apart but stay close to each other for a second before snapping out of their daze and sitting back. 

I've not kissed anyone yet, I open my mouth to joke about this but as if having heard my thoughts the bottle stops slowly facing me. I look up at Grayson who is sitting on the chair next to me whilst I'm on the floor. 

I lean up towards him and when our lips are inches away he says "If you don't want to just kiss my cheek, it's just a game." He comforts so quietly no one but me can hear.

I don't waste any time answering, instead I press our lips together for a few seconds and smile brightly, patting his cheek for extra measures. He smirks and shakes his head at me. 

I lean across to the bottle on the ground and spin it as forcefully as I can. It spins quickly and then slows down at Thea but then spins on slowly until it's barely facing Xander.

"Come on then Pear Bear. You must be really good if two of my brothers are in love with you" Xander jokes, I smile and stand up to get to him. I step over the bottle and reach him.

I bend down so our faces are level. "Careful Xan, you might make it three Hawthornes in love with me." I joke before connecting our lips.  

The 'small kiss' starts to deepen into a steamy make out. I sit on his lap and my hands go to his hair, his go to my waist. God. He might actually be better than his brothers.

Everyone watches us confused. As great of a kisser as he is, i feel nothing but a platonic love. But its still fun to joke around and have a little fun. 

He teases his hands down and I try not to smile into his lips as Avery, Jameson and Grayson all stand up at the exact same time. "Okay that's enough" Avery almost laughs.

I pull back from Xander both of us grinning. "Feel anything?" I ask, "Nothing. You? " he asks. "Not a single thing." I smile. "But I know now I went after the wrong Hawthorne, you're by far the best kisser. We should do that again some time." I say sarcastically. "Same time next week?" He asks jokingly. 

I stand up and walk back to my place on the ground, "For the record we would have the hottest kids." Xander states, "Oh definitely." I agree, winking at him jokingly across the room.

"Anybody want to explain what just happened? Did I miss a plot line or something?... Xander and Paris just kissed. This is a very big deal!" Thea says astounded. Neither of us say anything, Xander just wipes off some of my lip gloss from his mouth. 

"Unfortunately ladies, there's only so much of me that can be shared around so Paris, if you'll do the honours once again?" Xander quips.

I sigh and spin the bottle again, laughing at Xander's mock vainness. My laughing and everyone else's fades the second the bottle stops of Jameson. I glance at him. 

I can't kiss him. I would love to but it hurts even talking to him knowing we can't be together. 

I can't bring myself to look at him but I know he's looking at me along with the majority of the room. 

"It's getting late, we should probably go to bed." Xander steps in, sensing my discomfort. I glance at him thankfully, he nods slightly.

"Yeah, I'm exhausted." Max agrees standing up. Everyone else starts saying here good nights and leaving. Thea, Rebecca and Xander are gone now. 

"I'm gonna go in the hot tub. I'll see you guys tommorow." Jameson stands awkwardly and heads outside. Grayson smiles awkwardly at the remaining three of us and heads upstairs. 

We all go up the staircase, Avery splits off to go to her own room but Max and I walk the opposite way to the girls room. We pass the boys room where the door stands creaked open. 

Max and I both peer inside as we pass by slowly. Grayson stands brushing his teeth shirtless, his trousers still on and his skin glowing. Xander stands my his bed getting dressed wearing only pajama bottoms. 

I swallow.

Max and I slow down at the exact same time and by the time we pass their doorway we are both flushed and drooling. 

Grayson uses one hand to sweep back his hair, I feel my knees weaken. It falls perfectly into place, sort of messier than his usual hair. 

His toothbrush moves in his mouth. I wish i was that toothbrush.

If I didn't have control I would walk inside and.. Max keeps walking towards our room and I quickly follow her, hoping to not get caught staring.

I turn towards her and smile. "You like Xander?" I whisper accusingly. "What? No I don't." She defends.

"What can you say? I saw you kiss him." She says carefully. "Xander's my friend, we were joking around and you know it. I think he likes you.. I think you like him." I theorise. 

"Well if I like Xander then you like Grayson!" She exclaims, trying to catch me.

"Looks like I like Grayson." I smirk. "Don't need to tell me, I saw you staring more than I was which is saying something. And, you're blushing just as much as I am." Max laughs as we walk inside the shared girls bedroom. 

The room layout is sort of weird. Libby and Avery each have there own rooms. Thea, Rebecca, Max and I are together. Xander, Grayson, Jameson and Nash are supposed to be together however I'm guessing Nash is in my sisters bed instead. God knows where the security guards and Alisa are sleeping. Does Alisa sleep?

Max and I walk passed the beds of Thea and Rebecca, smiling politely at them. We put our bags on the last beds and Max doesn't hesitate to sit on the end of mine and start whispering whilst Rebecca reads in her bed and Thea showers.

Max comes towards me and kneels beside me, "In other news.. You still like Jameson." She decides with a smirk. "I still love him." I correct.

"Why are you not back with him then?" She asks. "Because he broke up with me Max. We can't just get back together because I want to, it's gotta be a mutual decision." I explain.

"He wants you back more than you want him. He was ready to kiss you back there. He wanted to." She persuades. I don't answer. 

"Go talk to him." She insists. We hear the shower stop. "I can't. He's in the hot tub. It would just be awkward if I spoke to him in the freezing cold whilst he was all warm and sweaty and shirtless.." I take a moment to think about him. "Then get in the hot tub with him." She suggests.

"I'm not getting in the hot tub with him, that's too risky-" I start.

"What happened to the brave Paris I used to love. Take a risk." Max encourages.

"What if he tells me he wants nothing to do with me and then we're both just all wet and sweaty and awkward and none of us want to be awkward and leave so we just sit there in silence." I continue. 

"Or what if he tells you he still loves you, proposes to you and faxes you right there and then in the hot tub." She imagines.

"Well then we'd have a wedding to plan." Thea says from behind us, having just re-entered the room in her pj's. "Thea! Tell me not to go outside. Because Max is a bad influence and if I keep being told to do it I might actually." I panic. 

"Paris, do what you think will make you happy even if that means faxing a Hawthorne in his musty dead grandfathers old hot tub and getting proposed to. All that I want is for you to be happy, if he breaks your heart again don't say I didn't warn you." Thea tells me the opposite of what I thought she would.

"What the hell happened to 'Hawthorne bad. Paris good.'?" I half joke. "Rebecca! Tell me not to." I beg. She looks up from her book and sort of shrugs with a facial expression suggesting she thinks i should.

"You guys are really awful." I say as I stand up and leave the room. As I do so, they cheer for me teasingly and I laugh to myself.

I run outside in the icy cold weather. I run until I can hear the bubbles of the hot tub. 

I walk around the last corner after fixing my hair. Jameson and I make eye contact. He looks down at the water in front of him, refusing to look at me.

I stand awkwardly, breathing heavily after running out here. Neither of us want to be the one to say something, so we stay in dead silence for minutes. 

"Are you going to come in or not?" Jameson asks almost impatiently but more hopeful than anything. 

"Oh, no. I never brought a bathing suit." I smile awkwardly. "Then why are you here Paris?" He clenches his jaw. 

I frown and contemplate. I rip off my shirt and joggers leaving me only in my underwear which I'm going to use as a bikini for now. I shiver with the nip of the ice cold biting every part of my body.

He looks at me, with something in his eyes I can't quite decipher. I climb over the side of the hot tub and he instinctively puts a hand out for me to help me in which I gratefully take and sit down opposite him. 

He looks at the water and I try to look anywhere but him however I struggle. 

We don't make eye contact for a few minutes. That is until the jets automatically turn off.

He stands up to turn the jets back on however what I didn't realise was that the buttons are right behind me. He walks through the water towards me and leans beyond me to press some buttons. 

I feel his breath on my face, I wait for the bubbles to start again yet he makes no move to turn them back on or sit back down. "I never got that kiss earlier." He whispers seductively. My eyelashes flutter quickly and my heart beat picks up. 

Both sensing the atmosphere, we lean in and share a kiss. I pull away. 

I contemplate my choices and before I can overthink it, I quickly lean back in and start eagerly making out with him. The kiss becomes more. More than a kiss has ever been. I want him. He wants me. 

He kisses down my neck and reaches my collarbone, right where my bra strap sits. He uses his finger tips to slide the strap down until it hangs loosely. His lips move to my breasts and he kisses gently.

My hand goes to my bra clip to remove the obstacle getting in the way. He stops me. "Are you sure?" He asks unsurely, "Yeah, if you are." I nod. God I hope he is. He nods as if it's obvious and continues kissing me, he quickly pulls back when he gets a thought. 

"What about Kennedy? What if he sees?" He panics, "No, I haven't seen him in hours. It's just you and me." I smile, a smirk teases the ends of his lips.

His hands go to the clip and start unclipping. I can immediately tell he's done this before, he can unclip a bra with one hand. 

I move my arms to take it off but then a figure in the trees catches my eyes. "Shit! Jamie! Stop!" I whisper shout, pushing him off of me. "Sorry." He starts, thinking he did something wrong. "No. Look." I hiss. "I think.. shit. Someone's out there." I confirm. 

I can see the fear in his eyes, practically feel his heart dropping at those words. He slowly turns around, to not make it obvious. "Fuck." He mutters when he sees the clear black silhouette of a person.

"Oren!" He shouts inside, hoping to grab his attention. "Oren!" I try too. "Oren!" Jameson yells, significantly louder than before. 

The figure can clearly tell we have noticed them so they start bolting for the distance. Jameson gets ready to pounce and chase them but I grab his arm, "stay." I beg. He looks in my eyes and stops.

Oren must have noticed the distress in our voices as he runs out with his gun and chases the culprit. A few guards follow closely and one comes towards us. 

"You both okay?" He asks. I nod, still startled. The guard turns his back to us as he watches out for anymore figures watching us. 

We both stand, Jameson helps me re-clip my bra which I didn't even remember was i clipped until now. I step carefully out of the hot tub, followed by Jameson. 

He puts his arm around me and comforts my shivering body, pulling me towards him and placing a kiss on my head. 

I can't believe we could let this happen again. Especially in such a vulnerable state.

Almost all of the people staying here tonight are outside in their pj's and are watching in shock.

Oren returns with all the guards. "Nothing. Whoever it was is long gone. I want a full search of the perimeter." Oren announces, two guards run off to search around the house. 

He comes towards Jameson and I now and speaks to us. "You kids okay?" He asks. We both nod, still a little scared from the incident. "Just a little shaken up?" Oren asks. We both nod and Jameson strokes his hand up and down my arm for comfort. 

"You think paparazzi?" Alisa asks Oren. "I hope so." Oren replies. "You hope it was paparazzi?" I ask confused and chittering every word. "Well paparazzi sounds a lot better than a stalker." Oren tells me. 

"A stalker?" Jameson speaks up, also chittering slightly. "Well hopefully not. It's not likely but we can never know what we're dealing with." He tells us. 

"What the fax happened out here?" Max asks running towards us. Avery, Libby, Xander, Thea, Rebecca and Grayson all follow.

I look up at Jameson to see if he has an explanation better than the one I could give with how dazed I am. He watches the guards search in the distance. 

I peel away our freezing bodies and try not to shiver too much but fail miserably.

Libby hugs me close to her, "You're freezing." She squeals when she touches my skin. She pulls back instantly.

"I'm fine." I shake my head, dismissing the idea I could possibly be cold. She takes off the hoodie she was wearing, she passes it to me and I gratefully put it on. I smell it and quickly determine it isn't hers. Which only further confirms what I already knew, her and Nash are hooking up. 

I tie my wet hair back with the spare hair tie I keep on my wrist. 

I turn back to Jameson who is now wearing Xander's hoodie. He looks at me, I walk closer to him and he holds my hand. Our freezing cold hands meet and don't let go until at least fifteen minutes later when we are finally inside. 

Everyone sits or stands in the main room staring at us as we snuggle closely together under a blanket with hot drinks. 

"You think they got photos of you?" Grayson asks. "I fucking hope not." I widen my eyes at the thought. I'm already a slut who everyone wants dead. This will only make matters worse. 

"What exactly were you two doing out there in the cold?" Libby asks, "We were in the hot tub, it wasn't cold in the hot tub." I say. 

"So what if they get a couple photos of you in a hot tub. It's not a big deal." Avery dismisses. We both go quiet. "Unless that wasn't all you were doing out there." Nash suggests with a raised brow.

"What? No. We broke up. We were just chilling in a hot tub." I lie. "Then what's the problem if photos get leaked?" Grayson asks. 

"Well if you must know.. the jets turned off so Jameson came over to turn them on again and he sort of slipped and our lips.. landed on top of each other and out of shock.. my bra unclipped and he tried to put it back on for me but it sort of looked like he was about to take it off..." I lie talking slowly. Max and Xander are smirking and trying not to laugh. 

"Yeah.. It's just a big misunderstanding." Jameson agrees, smirking slightly as well. 

Everyone in the room sits in silence. 

"God. I hate when that happens." Max sighs, "Accidents like this happen to the best of us." Xander shrugs. Both struggling to contain their laughter.

Silence.

I bite my cheek holding back a grin. Jameson squeezes my hand under the blanket to get my attention however I refuse to look at him, knowing if I did I would burst out laughing. 

Someone please say something. I silently beg.

"Would you look at the time.. Rebecca? Shall we?" Thea gestures to the stairs which they leave up, going to bed. 

"I think we should get another blanket." Avery says. My face scrunches up. I wasn't expecting that. 

"Max. Pass that blanket." She requests and Max tosses her the blanket that was previously beside her. Avery makes a point of separating Jameson and I to opposite sides of the couch with different blankets.

"And what exactly did that prevent?" I scoff. "I don't know what could be going on under that blanket." Avery shrugs. "If I was gonna jerk him off we would probably wait until you're not in the room." I hint. 

"You hopefully wouldn't do it at all" Libby interjects. "How do you know I've not already had him inside-" I start teasing innocently.

"Enough! Jesus. You're effortlessly gross you know that?" Avery interrupts. "Not effortlessly. I put blood, sweat and tears into being this gross. Mostly sweat. Lots of other bodily liquids too.." I continue teasing. 

"Fuck you-" Avery shakes her head in disgust, "That's my job." Jameson interrupts, joining in on my joke. 

"Go to bed." Libby sighs giving up. Jameson and I both stand up to go. "Not together!" Nash yells.

"God." Avery groans in frustration, "That sounds like Paris when I-." Jameson continues the joke. "Stop before you start." Grayson warns.

"We were on a roll there." I wink as I leave, "Just like last night" he smirks. 

God. I wish we actually were back together. Are we? Is it the best idea for anyone if we are?

Well now I've got a lot to think about before I next see him tommorow. 

(A/n. I have no clue what people will think of that chapter. Either way I think I like it? Maybe not the best for Grayson fans but more Graris soon i swear. I have no idea what drug i was on when writing that Xander and Paris make out but i SWEAR it was them joking platonically don't take it seriously. ALSO.. double upload this weekend because I really wanted everyone to read this one because I loved writing it. Enjoy.)