"Grayson and I are just friends."

"How could you leave her there!"

"I don't blame you."

She may not blame him, but he did it all too well. This was no longer going to be a safe haven for him. He knew that. How long he would have to stay away, he did now know. But he had to get out of here soon.

He was not going to say goodbyes to anyone, for goodbyes would mean no return. He was not his uncle....or his step-uncle? This wasn't a family any more but his grandfather, the great Tobias Hawthorne had made sure that the brothers would put each other first....and her. So that's what he would do. He would put his brother first....and her. No matter what.

Jameson's logic of, "Hey man, you saw her first" would not work here, because she did not feel the same way for him as he did for her. He would give her the freedom to choose the one that she wanted, which she did, because history would not repeat itself again, certainly not because of him.

The steps walking down the grand staircase at the entrance of the Hawthorne Mansion echoed Grayson Hawthorne's feelings. He was not in the right state of mind and that was exactly why he needed to do this.

His bags were waiting at the entrance, awaiting his departure. He had left behind a letter and had hinted at his leaving to Oren. But he would not say goodbye. This was not his family in a way. He had no father, and after her actions, he would not have a mother any more. But he would change the poison of the tree for himself. The house he had grown up in was not his any more and he did not deserve it either.

She did. She deserved the entire world.
Would he come back after a few days? A few weeks? A few months? That would depend on how he decides to move on.

Move on from the games.

Move on from Emily Laughlin.

And move on....from Avery Kylie Grambs.