***
At The Beginning - Anastasia Soundtrack
***
Whatever penance is decreed, with that penance I will agree.
Liz thinks bitterly as she stares at herself in the mirror.
Her and Grayson are at Thea's house, having been led there by Tiramisu Panini Hawthorne, and now she stands in a floor length Snow White costume gown, complete with puffy sleeves and a red bow in her hair.
"Oh my God," is the only thing her brain can send to her mouth as Grayson steps into the frame of the mirror.
Wearing the tightest leather pants, the thinnest white t-shirt, and the hottest leather jacket, his jaw clenched and murder in his eyes.
"I don't want to hear it, Cinderella," he meets her eyes in the mirror, but they immediately soften as he sees her grin.
"Snow White," she spins on her heel just as Thea comes into the room too, eyeliner pen poised like a weapon.
***
They were inside a bar type building, JOHNNY O'S, the sign outside provided context. Nash was waiting for them just inside the door.
"That's quite the look you two got goin' on."
Liz can practically feel Grayson's glare at his brother as her eyes drift past the bar he's leaning on to a room where music is drifting from.
"Please tell me we have the place to ourselves tonight," Grayson stares.
Jameson saunters in. "We rented it out." But both Liz and Grayson knew not to breathe out in relief yet. "But then. . ." Jameson predictably continues, "a bachelorette party showed up, and the bride was so disappointed that this fine establishment was closed for the evening."
"A bachelorette party?" Liz knows Grayson is looking at her annoyed with her amused tone of voice.
Xander bounds into the room, holding a hot pink plastic champagne flute. "To Marina and Benny!" he declares. "Benny isn't here," he informs the two staring at him, one trying to turn him to ashes, the other having to suppress her smile because she knows she shouldn't be enjoying this as much as she does. "But Marina and her friends are going to love the outfits."
"What are we singing?" Grayson clearly wants to get this over with.
"What aren't you singing?" Jameson retorts.
"We might have put together a set list," Xander pulls out a piece of paper out of seemingly nowhere, Liz brushing up against Grayson to read over it beside him.
"Twenty-nine songs?" Grayson demands.
"Twenty-nine songs?" Liz laughs.
"Twenty-nine songs," Jameson nods. "You object?"
"Obviously not," Liz takes the paper so she can look it over more in depth.
"No," Grayson says sourly.
"Told you," Nash shoots a pointed look to Jameson. "Man and woman of their word. And since I won our little wager. . ." Nash angles his head back to the two. "Looks like you only have to sing three songs each."
"We each pick one," Xander smiles, and Liz feels Grayson revel in his relief.
"Plus a duet," Jameson adds, because of course. "You two can pick that one out."
***
Liz knows they'd never admit it, but the Hawthorne brothers were nicer to her than they were to Grayson.
As he performed "Shake It Off" by Taylor Swift and "Let It Go" from the Frozen soundtrack for the bachelorette party back-to-back, Liz reveled in her dramatic rendition of "Still into You" by Paramore, "Mary's Song (Oh My My My)" by Taylor Swift (because she's probably the only artist Nash knows), and "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran.
She doesn't really know what to make of the collection of songs, but she has no time to psychoanalyze it because Grayson is on his third song of the evening, some 50s one Jameson picked out that Gray would probably listen to regularly if he wasn't having such a traumatic experience with it now.
He hops off the stage, cheeks flush with what Liz can tell is embarrassment, but he'd just tell you he's out of breath from all the singing.
The two hang at the back of the room, relaxing in the fact that the spotlight isn't on them, fingers interlocking by their sides.
"Can't wait to get out of here," he states, resting his chin on the top of her head.
"Not until our duet," she leans into the touch.
Grayson is always cold.
Even in his t-shirt that sticks to his skin in the places he sweats, beginning to turn a little translucent, he still smells like his expensive cologne and silver cufflinks.
Liz thinks that's why they've always worked the way they do. She's practically a furnace if you're pressed up against her.
She knows how to look expensive for the sake of appearances, but she still has the slightest slouch, the chipped nail polish, the beads threading through her shoelaces.
She feels like the sun to Grayson's moon. The day to his night. The golden retriever to his black cat, if you will.
So obviously she picked out "Wouldn't Change A Thing" from the Camp Rock Soundtrack for their song together.
a/n:
they almost sang the last time bc Liz is dramatic like that but anyway
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brutal | grayson hawthorne
Fanfiction"It wasn't Jameson or Grayson's fault that Emily died," Liz clarifies for Avery. "Because it was mine." the inheritance games trilogy grayson hawthorne x female oc #1 in #graysonhawthorne 💪
