Hello Stranger

Chapter 16

~Andrea's POV~

After our long grocery trip, we stopped for pizza before heading back. Ethan and Cameron were trying to carry as many bags as they could but were struggling. They kept almost falling. Me and Ellie followed behind them laughing at how much they were struggling.

Someone cleared their throat and I looked to Ethan and Cameron thinking it was one of them, but it wasn't. I followed their gaze to see where they were looking. In the middle of the stairs, Grayson stood there looking at us. Just the sight of him made my heart race a little. 

Ethan and Cameron walked into the kitchen. "Hey," I say casually. 

Grayson looks away from me and at Aaron. "You need to see this," He said before going back upstairs.

What the hell? It was one thing to not answer, but it's another to completely ignore my existence. It was like he didn't even acknowledge me. Aaron shot me an apologetic look before following Grayson up the stairs. I thought about following, but before I could Ellie grabbed my arm.

"Just leave it," She says shaking her head. I knew she was right. He's too moody. I can't keep guessing when it's okay to speak to him.

I follow Ellie into the kitchen as we start helping the boys put away all of the food. We definitely bought a lot more than necessary. But at least it meant I could practice my cooking.

A couple of minutes into putting away groceries Ellie stopped me. "What happened with Grayson?" Ellie asks. The boys continued putting away groceries but I knew they were listening.

I shrug, "He's supposed to be helping me find something. But he's back to being a dick so I don't know." I was surprised that Ellie actually believed it and went back to putting away groceries. I was going to start helping when the front door opened and Jackson came over. I gave him a sweet smile and started walking toward him. "Hey. I didn't know if you were going to be coming back."

"I do live here Andy," Jackson points out. Andy. It sounded so normal when he said it. So familiar.

I chuckle, "I know. I just wasn't sure when you were coming back. You were gone last night and most of the day."

"Yeah, I had to take care of something," Jackson looks over at the kitchen and notices all the bags of food. "Are we feeding an army?"

"No, but they insisted we get everything we might want because they would rather have too much than too little," I reply.

"Well, any of us could've driven you to the store at any time. I think they just wanted to send money," Jackson says.

I think about it for a moment. Ethan and Cameron were the main ones throwing food into the cart. Aaron was looking at his phone the majority of the time and didn't really care. "You might be right."

"Usually," Jackson smiles.

I playfully hit him, "You're cocky."

Before Jackson could respond we hear a crash upstairs followed by a lot of thumping. Ethan and Cameron were too busy bickering to notice but Ellie walked to our side and looked toward the stairs with us. Jackson stepped in front of me and Ellie as if to protect us. Moments later Aaron and Grayson come tumbling down the stairs punching each other repetitively. I saw Jackson move forward to stop them and I almost reached out to stop him but decided against it. Ethan and Cameron rushed over to separate the two boys. It took Jackson and Ethan to stop a pissed off, Grayson. Aaron ultimately seemed unfazed and calm.

Grayson pushes Jackson and Ethan off and storms off out the back door. Aaron just calmly walked toward the bathroom. I followed because he was bleeding pretty badly. They both were, but I trusted being around Aaron more right now. I wasn't pissed at him and he wasn't pissed.