R.E.M

eleven

GREYSON'S POV

"You're late," Ariana said, standing by my room's door while I was coming off the elevator. It was clear she was just as drunk as I was, just by the way her words were slurred. I was struggling to even walk properly, once getting off the elevator. I didn't remember how much I drank, but it was a fairly decent amount for me to be this fucked up.

"I'm sorry, I got caught up in something," I explained, not wanting to go into detail about my date with Gigi. It was great, but I loved the idea of being able to keep something to myself, even if it was just for the moment."Are you ready?"

"Don't you have to go change?" She asked, raising her eyebrow, disregarding what I said initially.

I smiled, lifting my shirt up. "I wore it under my clothes." The brunette rolled her eyes, trying to hide her smile as she started walking back to the elevator, prompting me to follow behind.

The pool's water was colder than I expected it to be, but considering we were sneaking inside past closing time, I didn't expect it to be warm either. The lights were dim and the employees had finally stopped checking the hall that the pool rested in, so we snuck up to the sky deck to get to the pool. The employees didn't really do a good job of shutting everything down though, since the doors were still unlocked.

Ariana and I slipped in, making sure to lock the door behind us as we picked a spot to discard our belongings while we got in.

I was first to get in, diving in hard so that my body adjusted quickly to the water's temperature. Instead of following my lead though, Ariana walked carefully down the steps, holding the rail as her other hand let her hair loose. I was too busy clearing water out of my eyes and ears, to realize the proximity of the woman.

"Did you have to be that dramatic?" Ariana smirked referring to my dive, only teasing me as I rolled my eyes.

"I was captain of the swim team, it's natural." I laughed, only teasing the woman watching as her smile grow bigger.

"Sorry Captain, I should've known," She smiled, splashing a bit of water on my face. "How was dinner?"

"Well Jack's really happy, so it was great,"

"Oh, Bella's legit?"

"I guess so," I shrugged, flicking water her way, "Or at least she better be, Jack loves hard."

"Wait, what happened to Jack and her ex?"

"She cheated with one of Jack's costars while they were on set."

"That's so fucked up," Ariana mumbled, looking over at me. "It's good that Jack's with someone new though, she seems much happier too,"

I smiled, my shoulders growing a bit cold from being out of the water. "Yeah, I know." We were quiet for a minute, unsure of what to say next. Things were always comfortable with my assistant, so it wasn't like it was awkward, we were just content with it.

"I've really missed you," She said finally, not bothering to break eye contact with me. "And I know you've been busy with your PR but I see how it's been taking a toll on you. It's just—you won't tell me anything because you've been avoiding me and don't say you haven't because you never take Zeke with you to meetings because he's a terrible note-taker and everyone knows this."

"Ari—"

"If you're doing this because of the rumors about us, you know we can always figure something out, G."

"It isn't that simple, you're my assistant and I'm your boss, and if people even think we date, it makes me look bad."

"It makes you look bad?" She spat, her eyebrows furrowing. "Your fans have been calling me a slut because they found out about my engagement. I know it's hard to deal with but it isn't just you who has to deal with this, I do too. We're friends, Greyson, so instead of avoiding the other, we work shit out."