𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 || 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐇𝐚𝐰𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞

Eight

❥ 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐒 𝐀𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓, 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐙𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐋𝐄𝐅𝐓.

Yourself.

Sometimes it's easier to pretend this isn't your life, and that you're just a small piece of the universe. What happens to you doesn't matter. But when you open your eyes, this is your life.

And it's pretty fucked up. Right?

It's all supposed to get better, but I don't feel better at all. I feel like i've lost everything.

Rummaging through the drawers, I looked for some proof of Toby's disappearance, but I found none. Why was I even looking? Toby was probably dead, and my father was most definitely behind it.

I told myself I would focus on the task at hand, but I broke. I knew I would. I say i'm fine, but it hurts to see Grayson with Eve. And maybe I had no reason to hate her— maybe she is really innocent—but God, Avery was right.

We had finally built a life for ourselves, and I was threatened by Eve coming in.

That was the truth.

I felt something. A solid.

Pulling the drawer open, I saw what I had been looking for.

A USB.

"Found you," I said through a grin. I took the USB between my two fingers and examined it. It looked authentic to me. Point 1 for Evelyn.

"Thank God, i've been looking for you!" I turned around to see Avery walking toward me. She stopped a few feet away from me. Panting. "Listen, I know you're pissed at me, and I get why! Really!"

I cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Okay, the point is, we need to put our differences aside to do this. I know you found the USB. I want to help."

It was hard not to laugh. If there was one person who was willing to do anything to win— take out Jameson— it was Avery. She wanted this as bad as I did.

"Okay, look." I stood up and held out the USB for her to take. She examined it just like I had a couple of minutes before.

"Evelyn, this is—"

"What'd you find?" Eves perky voice came into view, and Avery and me both snapped our heads to the left to see her standing there. Red hair in her face, innocent green eyes, all Eve like.

I didn't like it.

It was the way she said it, almost knowing. "A USB," Avery said, and I could tell she was just as wary as I was.

"Mind showing me?" Eve batted her eyelashes at me while trying to get a closer look at the USB. "I don't bite."

"After we're done with it," I said.

There was a few moments of silence before I heard a soft click. And when I looked up again, I was met with Eve.

Holding a gun.
—
❥

"What are you doing?" Avery said.

"Just give me the USB, and everything will be fine."

"Nothing about this is fine." Oren stood in front of Avery and I. He held his gun out to her. "Put the gun down, or I will be forced to shoot.

"I can't do that." She looked delusional.

The door to the altar burst open, and Grayson rushed in, not missing a step. Oren took this as an opportunity to pin Eve down because she was so focused on the door.

"Let her go," Grayson commanded as soon as he was in arms reach with Eve.

"Absolutely not, she held a gun to them." Oren gestured toward Avery and I. Something in Graysons face gave. as if he had realized something.

At the end of the day, Grayson Davenport Hawthorne knew.

He knew Eve had been lying.

"Grayson, look at me." Eve was wiggling all around the floor, trying to find any way to get out of Orens grip. She failed every time. "Don't believe them, i've always been innocent."

"She's lying," I said, willing Grayson to believe me.

It was Evelyn vs. Evelyn.

Grayson looked at me, a soft expression coating his face. Come back to me, I thought. Be the person I love and remember.

"You're seriously going to believe her? You don't owe her anything!" Eve laughed. "Remember what you said? She's a mess? You don't need that in your life."

I remember that. The way my heart broke. Because I had always put so much trust in Grayson, that it killed me when he let me down.

He chose her.

"I was wrong," Grayson said, his voice a small whisper. He looked at Eve. "And you are wrong. I owe her more than I know."

Eve was slipping. Away from him. And I could feel him coming back to me.

"Don't do this, Grayson, you're going to regret it." Eves breaths were staggered. Short. "I swear to god, if you don't help me now, I will find a cliff to jump off of. You already failed Emily, wanna fail me too?"

She was delusional. Oren wasn't going to let her go anywhere. "That's your choice," Grayson said. "Whatever you do after this point isn't up to me."

And in that moment, every feeling I had for Grayson Davenport Hawthorne came crashing down. All the anger, happiness— love, it was all worth it.

Though I was still pissed at him, it was reassuring to know he wasn't gone yet.

Oren dragged Eve out toward the front door. "You're going to regret this, all of it." Eve locked eyes with me. "Soon, you're all going to wish this ended with me.
—
❥

a/n:

no way spring break is ending.. okay anyways sorry for not uploading as much!! i don't want this series to end tho 😭😭 BUT I HAVE NEWS!!

i may or may not be writing bonus scenes with Evelyn and the gang (particularly grayson) of when she was younger and in the brothers hawthorne! i'm not ready to let this series go so i'm doing that after i finish act 3 🙏🏻