Paparazzi//Grayson Hawthorne

Chapter Nine

We dont talk on the way home, it's awkward, but neither of us wants to talk about what happened.

I had gotten my nose to stop bleeding pretty quickly. However, there was still a cut just next to my nose, where one of the rings he was wearing must've cut.

Libby's eye was swollen, and my head was sore. Josh said he had to watch for any symptoms of a concussion.

The private jet lands, and we all get out, our things being carried into a car and being taken away, I assume to Hawthorne House.

Avery notices Libby's injuries before she notices mine; she checks Libby over as I just look down, not showing my own injuries.

I block everything out, sitting in the car. I bring my knees to my chest as I rest my head on the glass window, looking out at the world.

We reach the hotel, and I quickly grab my things. I try to avoid everyone, I don't want them to pay attention to the fact that I couldn't protect myself or my sister.

There's a commotion outside; I try not to think about what it is, but I, deep down, can already guess.

We rushed out a side entrance, being rushed to the SUV and away from the hotel.

When we arrive at Hawthorne House, the door is locked, and sitting there is a ring of keys, all different sizes. Alisa hands them to Avery before I can look at them properly.

There's another voice, one I haven't heard before; I think it's coming from some sort of intercom. I don't pay attention to the voice and instead, gaze at the ring of keys. I notice the majority of them look the same.

"Check the bit that goes in the door," I say quietly, only Avery can hear me, but she quickly redirects her attention to that part of the keys, quickly finding the correct one.

We walk into the foyer, and Alisa spins around to face us.

"Welcome home, girls" She smiles. I just nod slightly as I try not to react.

Nash Hawthorne walks into the room, which causes Alisa to leave before John directs his attention to Libby, saying something about security.

He leaves us with Nash. Avery is instantly telling him to back off of Libby, I assume he was flirting with her or something.

Suddenly we hear a crash down the hall which Nash starts walking towards, dragging us along behind him.

Nash was tall, he walked quickly. I had to take twice as many steps as him to keep up, my steps roughly only half the length of his.

He dramatically threw open a door. Inside was the most beautiful library ever to exist. The circular room was covered in shelves that went about fifteen to twenty feet up, all covered in books.

On opposite ends of the room stood Grayson and Jameson Hawthorne. There was no evidence of a fight. Grayson was clutching a book in his hand while Jameson was leaning against the railing to a staircase.

"So. Whose ass do I need to kick first?" Nash looked between the two brothers, which caught both of their attention.

"Must we always resort to fisticuffs?" Grayson rolled his eyes at the older.

"Looks like I have a volunteer for the first ass-kicking, do I have a second?" He turned his attention towards the younger of the brothers.

"Couldn't stay away, could you, big brother?" Jameson replies to the threat of the ass-kicking. "Abd leave these girls with you knuckleheads?" I feel exposed, as though he just tore a cover off of us, and now we're center stage.

"I wouldn't worry too much about them. They're clearly capable of taking care of themselves," Grayson spoke, glaring at Avery before his gaze shifted to mine. He noticed the plaster on my cheek. He noticed, but my sister didn't.

"Don't pay attention to Gray. None of us do," Jameson spoke before Grayson could say anything."Jamie, zip it" Nash tried to shut the younger up to no avail. "Grayson is in training for the Insufferable Olympics, and we really think he can go all the way if he can just jam that stick a little further up his-" "Enough," Nash cuts Jameson off.

"What did I miss?" Xander ran into the room, he's wearing a private school uniform, and he quickly took the blazer he was wearing off.

"You haven't missed anything at all, and they were just leaving. I'm sure you both want to get settled" Grayson directed the last bit toward Avery and me.

"Wait a second were you guys brawling in here without me? This is what I get for being the one who doesn't skip school" Xander quickly speaks, having obviously noticed something that gave away the fact that they had been fighting.

This brought Nash's attention to Jameson, noticing he wasn't wearing a school uniform. But before he could say anything, Xander tackled him to the ground, starting an impromptu wrestling match.

"pinned you!" Xander yelled right before Nash had gotten back on top of Xander in one quick motion. "Not today, little brother," Nash replied, smirking.

"Avery solved the keys faster than any of us," Jameson quickly spoke, causing everyone in the room to go silent before another argument broke out between Grayson and Jameson.

"Ash?" I hear Xander's voice from below Nash. I haven't been paying attention for the last few seconds. I was trying to disappear.

"Did something happen? Why do you have a bandaid on your face?" That caused the room to go silent again. Nash got off of Xander quickly, which caused Xander to walk toward me quickly.

He didn't get too close, a few feet away still, but he saw the plaster, and he saw the mark still on my nose along with the bruising. There was no way he hadn't seen it.

"I-" I tried, not liking the attention on me, "I'm okay" I tried to offer the five of them a smile, but I knew they didn't believe me.

Avery whipped her head towards me, finally looking at me, finally looking at my face.

She gently takes my chin in her hand, slowly moving me to look at her as she sees everything."He hit you too?"

That caused a slight uproar, everyone was talking, and I wanted to leave.

I think Nash sensed I wasn't comfortable as he told Xander to show us our wings.

"Come on. We'll stop for cookies on the way" Xander lightly bumped his should against mine, getting me to move.

"No cookies," Grayson spoke from where he was. He was much closer to Jameson now from their argument before. His voice was strangled as he spoke.

"Fine, no cookies," Xander spoke before we started to walk out. "We'll stop for scones" He smiled at Avery and me.