R.E.M

eighteen

ARIANA'S POV

Before Greyson could even part her lips to speak, a loud banging erupted from our door. We looked at each other, unsure of what to do, as she was still seemingly in shock. I was afraid that if I moved, the moment was over, and I might have to face the possibility of her not feeling the same.

It took another loud knock and someone yelling, "Greyson, it's Everett, open the fucking door!"

Greyson's eyes flashed over to the door, before grabbing my waist to move me aside, as she went to open the door. As soon as the door flew open, Everett pushed past Greyson, shutting the door.
I could tell by the look on her face that she didn't know what this was about, but her agent was absolutely fuming.

"You lied to me!" Everett said, with his hand holding his mouth and chin as he paced around the room. "I asked you if anything was going on between you and her and you told me no—"

Greyson's eyebrows furrowed. "Everett, what the fuck are you talking about? I didn't lie to you."

"Really?" The man scoffed, holding up his phone. "I just got a very interesting call from a Matthew Cox, do you know him?"

"He's my ex," I spoke up, just before Greyson could answer. Everett's eyes flashed to me, a smile coming across his face, displaying he was even more pissed.

"Oh, great, even better," Everett laughed, clasping his hands together. "Well, your ex Ariana, called me and told me all about your little relationship. You met up after the premiere, talked about it, and spilled everything to him. Not only is this Matthew Cox convinced you're together and Greyson's PR is fake, but he's also threatening to release it to the public. And if he does that, Greyson is fucked, you'll be the ex that lied and cheated on Dylan O'Brien, once fans put the pieces together,"

"Surely they won't believe that, he has no proof," Greyson added, her eyes flickering between me and Everett.

"Think about it Greyson, you were at a movie premiere, paparazzi were there. Do you really believe that no one stuck around afterward? That no one will have proof of you three together."

"But what he's saying isn't true, we were just talking to him," I said.

"So there is absolutely nothing going on between you two? I need to know because if something else happens, I won't be able to save you."

"No," She answered quickly, my eyes traveling to her. "I told you it's strictly business Ev, we're good friends, that's all."

His eyes turned to me, "Ariana?"

I shrugged, "She's right, it's just business." Even though that was a blatant lie and we both knew it.

"Give me something, G," Everett asked, pleading. "Anything, even if it's little," I didn't know what he meant exactly, but Greyson sighed, looking at him as if she didn't wanna do what he asked.

"I had a fling with Gigi Hadid in Cabo, she called me now and she wanted to make things official." She finally let out.

Everett smiled, embracing her in a hug. "Greyson, I fucking love you!" He beamed, patting her back. "This is great because you're gonna call her back and say yes,"

Greyson's face fell. "What?"

"She's nice, attractive, and good at her job, why wouldn't you want to? Plus, if Matthew goes through with his threats and it's reported that you're secretly with a Hadid instead, they'll think your relationship with Dylan was PR to cover that up and not some affair that you had with your assistant during your relationship with Dylan."

"She's not what I..." She trailed off for a second, looking over at me as I caught her glance. I could tell there was something she wanted to say, but she stopped herself, a tight-lipped smile appearing across her face. "Yeah, um, I'll call her."

"Good, so then I guess this is all figured out," Everett said, a lot calmer than he was ten minutes ago. "Actually Ariana, I want to talk to you separately if that's okay,"

"I'll be downstairs with my family," the actress told us, with a small smile on her face as she left the room, but I could see the stress written across her face.

As soon as the door shut, Everett took a seat in one of the armchairs, and I sat next to him in the other one.

"Hey, my team and I will handle your ex, okay? It's clear he isn't over you and he's making up lies because of that. You're one of us now so we'll make sure he isn't bothering you anymore." Everett explained, his hand resting on my shoulder.

I gave him a small smile, "Thank you Ev, but I think I can handle it,"

"I believe you can," He chuckled with a shrug. "But we care about you, so let us help you. Besides, Greyson doesn't know it yet, but she and Jack got the parts, so we'll need you and Nolan more than ever now, plus my guys are good when it comes to people like Matthew,"

"Wait, why didn't you tell her about it yet? She's been anxious about it all day," I asked and he shifted in his seat.

"I needed to talk to you first," Everett said, growing more serious. "I'm not stupid Ariana, I see what's going in between you two, more importantly, the shift in Greyson. I see how she looks at you, how she cares about you, I've seen it before when she was with Madelaine. But after that breakup, she was never really the same, it was hard getting the Greyson you know, to where she is today, just ask anyone. We just got her back a year ago and I can't sacrifice losing her again. You're good at what you do, in fact, the best, I can't lose you either if a breakup happens. I need a star Ariana, someone who's strictly career-focused, Greyson is in her prime, and only getting better. You're a great person in her life, in everyone's life even, and I love having you here, but understand that I am not taking the risk of what will happen if you two act on those feelings, I'd rather do this with Gigi. I know you and Greyson are good together, but you won't be good together,"