The Neighbours Next Door

Four

Ethan sat on my left and Grayson sat on my right. Georgie was still on the screen, fumbling with her long matte black fingernails. "It's getting late, Hayden. Are you free to talk about Alejandro or do you need to be getting somewhere?" That was her way of saying 'Make the most of these guys while you have them because as soon as I am visiting you in Jersey, I am making a move.' I got her hint and pretended to yawn. "I'll let you go but we have to talk tomorrow." Even though, Georgie was sometimes jealous and cocky, she was my best friend and I loved her so much because of her support. I didn't know any other girl that would've let me spend my evening with Ethan and Grayson instead of them. Georgie hung up on her end first and I closed my laptop screen. I sighed heavily and let my head go all floppy. It fell straight onto Grayson's shoulder but he didn't seem to mind.

"Your bed is set up so you can go to sleep if you want." Ethan offered. I nodded and accidentally yawned again. "Here, I'll help." It all happened so quickly, I was over his shoulder and being taken up the huge fight of stairs in an instance. "Get a good night's rest, Spongebob. We'll see you in the morning with pancakes." I was flung onto the extremely comfy bed and both twins sorted out what was left to sort out in my room. Grayson switched on a nightlight that was plugged into the wall beside me and Ethan tucked me in. "We don't want your tootsies getting cold, Spongebob." I laughed quietly and fell asleep as soon as the brothers closed the door.

*Time Skip brought to you by Kanye Peppers*

Where was I? I felt around to find my phone torch but my eyes soon adjusted to make out a small blue nightlight shining not too far away from me. Still not recognising my surroundings, I reached for my phone and checked the time. 3:35am. My lock screen was swarmed with notifications from Georgie but I was too dazed to check them. Some mumbles came from the corridor and I had a sudden rush of bravery, so I made my way to the door. All the lights were off in the hallway but my keen ears were sensitive to the noises from one of the various rooms. I tiptoed to the opposite side of the house and dragged my hand along the door frame to distinguish where the door handle was. Once I hand it in my grasp, I pushed down and opened the door so it was a-jar.

"No, please." Some sniffles followed. In the midst of the night crickets and the dark, I couldn't differentiate which twin was talking. I didn't know which room belonged to who so I was blind walking into the room. "I'm begging you, just don't take it out on my brother." Unfortunately, there was no nightlight in this boy's room.

"Hey, are you awake?" I whispered into the atmosphere.There was just a sniffle in response. "I'm guessing it's sleepwalking."

"My brother doesn't deserve this. Take it out on me, not Ethan." Ah, it was Grayson. Cameron did say something about his weird habits in the car ride to their place.

"Gray? What's wrong?" The sniffling occurred once more, then there was a deafening silence. "Grayson?"

"Hayden, is that you?" Grayson moved around in his bed and turned on his phone torch. It's spotlight only illuminated the floor so that I could see where I was going. "Come here." I made my way over to his bedside and perched on the end, where his feet were curled. "Can you not sleep?'

"Not really. I just heard you."

"I'm sorry. Cam mentioned my sleep-talking but it barely ever happens. What did I say?" Grayson opened his duvet as if he was inviting me in. Being desperate for some male attention, I climbed in so that we were spooning in a friend way (if that is even possible).

"You were talking about Ethan not deserving something and that the person you were talking to, should take it out on you." It was then that I realised that Grayson was wearing a low amount of cloth on his toned body. He was practically half naked within a few millimetres of me. The only material between our skin was his boxers/briefs/shorts and my Spongebob pyjamas. Curse that youthful matching set.

"Ugh, that explains why I'm crying. I have this dream so often." Grayson paused to wipe his teary eyes. "It's like a flashback to when me and Ethan were at public school. It's like a never-ending record that's my bullies' voices saying 'I'm going to ruin your life and especially Ethan's.', 'I'm going to make your life a living hell when I get hold of Ethan.'" I just lay in his arms, silent, thinking about how earlier Ethan was getting upset about how he couldn't protect Gray. And now, Grayson was worried about not being able to protect Ethan. "He's my brother and I don't want anyone to hurt him. You know?" His voice started breaking a little so I hushed him.

"You two have got each other's backs. With each other, both of you are safe. Don't cry, Grayson." I felt his warm breath of the back of my neck, making my willpower decrease by the second. It took everything not to turn around and place my lips onto his. "Just relax, you're okay." Soft snores replaced the sniffling, signalling that the poor man/child was asleep. I took that as my chance to return to my room for the night but as soon as moved, Grayson's hold on me tightened.

"Stay, Hayden. You calm me down." And I swear in that moment, I fell in love.

A/N

Shorter update than usual but I felt as if there was no other way I could've ended it. Spooning in a friend way is such a joke, what even. If Grayson asked me to climb in beside him, I would literally say, "Take me, Mr.Dolan, for I am yours." Joking, Grayson is all for Georgie. I am quite the Ethan girl. I am writing this chapter and author's note at around 1:00am and I have exams in the morning. I think I have just accepted that I am going to fail, but this is all in the name of fan-fiction. I honestly can't wait to get Georgie into the story fully because it gets crazy. I can't tell you the whole storyline but I can give you a clue. It's set in LA and sh** goes down. Cat fights, brother fights, the odd kiss and more Spongebob pyjamas. Yeah, let's just take a moment to applaud Ethan for giving Hayden the cutest nickname. That would be known as.. GOALS.

It's late and my brain is turning into mush. Vote and comment on this chapter what you thought and what you would like to see in the upcoming chapters. I know that I won't be starting a new book until this one and my blurbs are finished, but let me know what kind of book you would want after this one is finished. Thanks, BromieOmies.

From Pia :]