Paparazzi//Grayson Hawthorne

Chapter Nineteen

We finally arrive at the mall, going through a side entrance so as not to attract any bystanders in the parking lot.

"Here, put these on" Xander hands me a cap and sunglasses, a smirk playing on his lips as he holds in a laugh.

"We're not in the MCU, that probably wouldn't work here, Xan," I laugh quietly to him as he walks slightly closer to me.

Xander is on my right while Grayson is on my left, both not far away as Josh walks in front of us, there is other security not too far away, keeping eyes out, but I don't know who.

"Is there anywhere you want to go to first?" Grayson asks the two of us as we look at each other, shrugging.

"Lets just walk around and see if we find anything" Xander smiles as we start walking past random stores.

I see a couple of people staring, their phones out, taking photos, recording, or maybe comparing us to photos.

I don't know if the bystanders know who I am yet, I have tried to not be anywhere, tried to not be online at all since everything happened.

I'm sure they recognize Gray and Xander, though. They're famous, they've always been famous, and it's been said that they were media trained and press-ready by the age of seven, I had read about it one time, and it sounded so crazy, giving press interviews at the age of seven.

"Look," Xander quickly calls, pointing to a store, I follow his gaze. He's pointing towards a music store.

I feel my eyes grow wide as my smile does the same, quickly picking up my pace, each of the others following closely behind.

As I gently push open the door to the store, I feel my jaw drop, I've always loved music stores. Just the whole aura in them feels magical.

I know that they are following me as I walk down the isles, looking at each instrument with amazement and adoration.

"Ash, look" Xander points towards a section. There, on the shelves, lined up, are electric guitars.

I feel my legs pick up their pace once more, walking as fast as I could toward the section.

I walk through the electric guitars, reaching out to gently touch one every once in a while.

Then, I come to a stop right in front of a pale yellow one. The body is yellow and white, while the bridge is black.

It's not the same as my old one. No guitar will ever be the same as my old one, it will never hold the same memories or hold the same value in my heart, but this one, this guitar, is near perfect.

I reach out, feeling my eyes blur slightly as I gently touch the bridge, gently moving my finger up the side of the bridge before moving it down toward the body, my eyes following my finger as I feel Grayson and Xander look at me.

I let out a breath, one I hadn't realized I had been holding in, as I stand up fully, straightening my posture as I look down at the guitar once more.

"Are you gonna get it?" Xander quickly asks. It was obvious that I love that guitar, but I can't get it right now.

"You have the money for it, Ash. You're allowed to spend your money," Grayson says, his voice quiet as he gestures toward the guitar.

I feel my gaze linger on the guitar for a few more seconds before I pull it away, looking at the two brothers.

"Not now. I'm not going to get it today. Maybe another day when nothing is as hectic" I smile a small, soft smile at each of them before turning once more and walking away from the electric guitars.

"Is there anything you guys wanna look at?" I quickly ask the two, turning to face them.

Grayson and Xander look at each other for a few seconds, mumbling between each other, speaking a different language.

The two share a look before facing me again, their faces softening, "Come on, you two, don't pull that, please, I'm okay, and I'll buy a new one eventually. I just don't want to right this second. I'll buy one when my room is fixed, okay?" I quickly say, starting to feel slightly anxious.

The two of them give me another look before I roll my eyes, "Neither of us needs anything, Ash," Grayson quietly says before I nod, turning around once more toward the guitar pics.

"You're getting a guitar pic?" Xander asks from next to me as I look through the bowl, nodding."mhm, I always get them when I can. They're like little memories" I smile up at him before I look down once more, picking through the small objects.

Xander pulls one out, it's a simple black and white checkered one, "What about this one?" He quickly asks, holding it between his thumb and pointer finger.

"I think that's the one" I smile a small, tight smile as he places it in my hand, and I quickly go up to buy it.

When we leave the store, I noticed more people than earlier looking at us, staring at us.

Xander and Grayson take notice of the people as well, looking around a bit more, trying to be discrete about it.

"Ash, it's time," Jash quickly says as the amount of people grows.

There is suddenly more security around us than there was before as Xander motions for me to look down.

"We have to be as discreet as possible when leaving, meaning they know we are here and they know we are leaving, but we cannot give them anything to make a headline out of," Xander quickly says as he takes a small step away from me.

I feel my breathing pick up as we walk toward the exit.

I didn't realize we had gotten so far from where we came in. I wish we had never come out to the mall. I wish we had never left Hawthorne House.

"Shit," I whisper to myself as my chest gets tighter and my breathing gets harder to do.Grayson and Xander both look at me, worry filling their eyes.

"You're okay, Ash. You've got this, okay?" Grayson whispers from beside me; he's closer now, closer than he had been before, closer than he had been when we were making sure no headlines would be made out of this.

"Mr. Hawthorne," Someone warns. It's one of our security, he's telling Grayson to move away from me, but Grayson ignores him.

Grayson gently reaches for my hand, taking it in his.

"Ash, you're okay. You've got this. We're only thirty seconds away now. Then we'll be at the car in no time," He quickly whispers.

I feel eyes on me, so many eyes, including Xanders, as he looks at Grayson and me.

Grayson gently rubs his thumb over my hand as we walk, counting down from thirty quietly.

"Eight," Grayson quietly whispers as we walk through the side door.

"Seven," he whispers as he takes another small step closer to me, moving his hand from mine.

"Six" He moves his arm, so it's resting around me gently.

"Five" He gently rubs my shoulder as we get closer.

"Four" The calls and yelling is dying out. There is no noise apart from us breathing, our footsteps, and Grayson counting.

"Three" A car door opens, and he moves his arm from around me, taking my hand again.

"Two" He quickly gets into the car, sliding over to the middle more.

"One" He smiles a small smile as I slide in next to him.

[We love adding on to the trauma but also <Grayson3]