warning: this fic/blurb is, as the title suggests, dark. it’s supposed to be unsettling, but I can’t really give warnings without spoiling the whole thing. if that’s not your thing (think like, criminal minds, crime show type stuff), please please please skip this one! i love you!
word count: 4.9k
Something was wrong. Very, very wrong. Grayson pulled you closer to him in the dark, uneasy and confused.
And then, it clicked.
“Why do you have pants on?” He whined, hand moving over the running shorts you’d left on before you climbed into bed. It was true that you usually just slept in panties, but you hadn’t thought much about it, too excited to get into bed and get cozy after your shower.
“I was cold, didn’t wanna take em off,” you explained, putting your phone on do not disturb and sitting it on the little bedside table that Gray had built for you. You rolled over into his arms, his left hand sliding down over your ass.
“I can warm you up,” he mumbled, using his grip to press your entire body up against his, pulling you over so you were almost laying entirely on top of him. It was true - he was always warm, tanned skin radiating a heat that could cure your cold fingers when you reached out for him in the middle of the night. He’d let you do it every time, even if they felt like ice cubes and made him flinch.
His hand moved again, up over your ass to your back, and then his finger dipped under the band of your shorts, seeking out more skin. He grumbled a bit when the fabric tightened against his hands the further he reached over you.
“What’s wrong?”
“They’re too tight,” he pouted. “My hands don’t fit.”
“Maybe your hands are just too big.”
“Maybe you’ve just got too much cake.”
You planted a hand on his chest, sitting up and giving him the most incredulous look your tired eyes could muster. He stuck his bottom lip out at you, tired eyes pleading.
“Take em off.”
“Considering you actually just used the word cake to refer to my ass in a sentence? Access denied,” you teased, ducking back down to curl up against him and closing your eyes. His chest rose with a sigh.
“Can I at least have a kiss?”
You smiled but stayed still just to see what he would do. He waited for a moment, and then you felt him shift underneath you.
“Hey. Hey you. I know you aren’t asleep yet.” He poked at your side and you held it together until he actually started tickling. When you broke you giggled against him, lifting your head up and pressing your lips to his. He hummed against you, lips chasing yours for a moment as you shifted and got closer to him. He squeezed your ass as best he could, pulling back a tiny bit.
“Hits different when you’re in underwear.” He answered your unasked question with a shrug, and even with just the moonlight coming through the blinds you knew he saw your eyes roll.
“I’ll just be over here-” you tried to roll away, but his hand caught the back of your head before you got far.
“Ah ah, don’t think so. You know I’m kidding.” He kissed you again before you could protest, not that you were going to. It felt too good to be in his arms for you to ever complain, and you melted into him, safe and content. You kissed lazily for a while, little mumbles of “missed you today” and “love you” the only things causing your lips to leave each others. Eventually, with a few last minute stolen kisses and a few more pressed to your forehead, you settled in.
The two of you fell asleep the same way every night, ever since the first time you’d found yourself staying over; him on his back, arm wrapped around your shoulders, lips on your forehead, you cuddled up against his side, leg over his waist. You’d drift as you slept, sometimes waking up to get back into each other’s arms. But no matter how far away you got, you were always touching somehow. Sometimes it was just your hands, sometimes one leg tangled with yours.
But when you woke up that night, it was his arm, thrown over your waist, heavy and warm.
You blinked a few times, trying to get your bearings in the dark, reaching over for your phone.
3:12 in the morning.
You huffed out an annoyed breath, unsure of why your body had woken you up. Grayson stirred a bit, sensing you moving in his sleep. You reached over, playing with his hair to keep him soothed.
Mouth dry, you waited until he started snoring again to coax his arm off of you and get out of bed. Any other night you probably would have just rolled back over, tucked yourself under Grayson’s arm and tried to go straight back to sleep. But you were so thirsty, you knew that you didn’t have a hope of getting back to sleep without at least a glass of water.
So you headed out of the room as quietly as you could, making sure the door didn’t squeak.
You were glad that the construction was over and you were back in the house - it was easier to navigate in the dark. Still, you let your fingers run along the wall so you made sure that you weren’t going to run into anything as you made your way through the house.
The kitchen was better lit than the hallway most nights, simply because of the security lights outside that lit up the backyard.
That was the first sign that you should have noticed.
But you weren’t awake enough to notice, to realize that you shouldn’t have had to reach over and flick the light switch to get to the cabinet.
You should have just stayed in bed.
For a split second, you thought maybe it was Ethan, up late, unable to sleep.
You were wrong.
The man was standing by the bookshelf that Grayson had made when the lights flooded the room. He had a bag with him, a large backpack that matched his black hoodie. He turned to you, eyes wide as he realized you were there.
It all happened very quickly after that.
You must have screamed, but you didn’t hear it. Still, you knew you must of, or he wouldn’t have run towards you instead of out the door. Before you could move he was right in front of you, breath hot and horrendous in your face as he grabbed you and covered your mouth with his hand.
“Where do they keep their watches?”
You’d seen enough crime shows, binged through episodes of criminal minds, seen so many ‘un-subs’ that surely, surely you knew what to do. But there, staring one in the face? Your mind went blank, blind panic taking over as you realized that this was real, this could be it.
Your first instinct was to tell him, tell him exactly where the watches were in Grayson’s closet, the second drawer down on the right. That’s what you’d always been taught. Give them what they want and get the hell out of there.
But then you thought about Grayson, Grayson in his room, entirely unaware of what was going on. The love of your life, vulnerable in his white sheets, sleeping peacefully like you’d left him just moments ago. There was no way in hell that you were going to put him in danger. You’d rather die.
“I said where do they keep their watches?” He repeated, his hold on your arm tightening as he pulled his hand back just enough for you to talk.
“Fuck you,” you spat, trying to wrestle yourself out of his grip. He was stronger than he looked, and the effort was futile.
“Hey!” wasn’t what you were expecting to hear, but he could have said anything and the same relief would have washed over you. It was unmistakeable, and close.
Grayson was awake.
You turned to look at him, beg for him to help you but you were yanked suddenly, spun around. His hold changed, moved from your arm to around your shoulders, across your chest. And then you realized why he’d pulled you over to the other end of the kitchen, what he was reaching for.
The knife block.
“Come any closer and I’ll kill her right now,” the man threatened, and between the new feeling of cold metal against your neck and the panic in Grayson’s eyes you knew you both had to take him at his word.
“Okay, okay, no one’s coming closer. Just don’t hurt her, please don’t hurt her.” He was begging like you’d never heard him before, a raw fear in his voice that broke you at your deepest level.
You thought about moving, trying to fight him off somehow. Grayson could take him down no problem if you got out of the way, that much was obvious. But the knife complicated things - you knew how sharp they were just based off of Ethan’s stitches.
Oh god. Ethan. You felt a pang of guilt that you hadn’t thought about him yet, and you prayed his deep sleeping wasn’t too deep tonight.
Somehow, it seemed that Grayson was on the same wavelength. You’d been keeping your eyes on him the whole time, but you missed when they flickered to the hallway behind you. Little did you know, Ethan had woken up to the voices, come out quietly, seen everything. Now all Grayson had to do was stall until his brother could get the security from the end of the driveway to the house.
“Get your watches. I want your watches, and I know which ones you have. Don’t bring me the cheap shit.” The man spoke up again, voice demanding.
“You can have whatever you want, but I’m not getting anything if you don’t let her go.” Grayson’s feet were set, his voice stern.
“Get the watches. I’m the one with the knife here, and you won’t be the one paying if you don’t do what I fucking say.”
“You hurt her and I’ll fucking kill you.” Grayson’s negotiating facade cracked for a moment, eyes burning in anger. He took one step forward, unable to stop himself.
Your neck was wet.
For a minute you thought you were crying, but you felt the sting, realized what had happened. The blood trickled down from where the man had pushed the tip of the blade in just enough to break skin.
“Back. Up.” He snarled.
You panicked, starting to writhe, desperate to get away from him. The knife cut in a bit further and you gasped at the pain.
“Baby don’t! Stop, stop don’t,” Grayson panicked, holding his hands up and taking a step back, eyes never leaving yours. “Okay, okay you win, I’ll get the watches, I’ll get them!”
“Grayson don’t.” Don’t leave me please don’t leave me.
“Shut up.” The knife moved again and you fought the urge to squeeze your eyes shut - if anything was going to happen, you wanted Grayson to be the last thing you saw.
I love you you mouthed to him, feeling the blade move against your skin as you spoke.
The sound of the door busting open was enough to make all three of you jump.
“HANDS! LET ME SEE YOUR HANDS!”
Suddenly the kitchen was very crowded - Ethan was there with the two security guards that worked nights for the boys - James, and Deandre, all of their eyes wide, bodies tense. You felt small surrounded by so many tall men - intimidated instead of relieved.
“Drop the knife and show me your hands. NOW.” Deandre demanded, gun drawn and pointed.
The man hesitated, cursed under his breath. It felt like an eternity before the knife clattered to the floor, too loud against the wood. It left a scratch there that you’d find three months later.
His arms released, rising up above his head in surrender. Immediately, another set of hands was on you, strong and firm and warm. Grayson pulled you harder than he ever had, moved you so fast you could barely register what was happening until he had you pressed up against his back. He’d put himself in front of you, standing tall and strong. You took in your first deep breath as you clung to the back of his shirt, your adrenaline pumping, heartbeat in your ears as James pulled the mans hands behind his back into makeshift handcuffs and led him outside.
As soon as he was out of eye sight Grayson spun, arms wrapping around you.
“Oh god. Oh god, I’m so sorry angel I’m so sorry, I love you so much.” The words barely registered to your ears he said them so fast, hot tears falling against your skin as he pressed himself to you.
“Ouch.”
You hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but he’d pressed up against your cut on your throat, causing it to sting. The pain was the only thing you could process, your mind foggy.
Grayson pulled back, unwilling to let go of you entirely but far enough for you to see the sadness in his eyes. “Ethan, go get something for her neck, just grab whatever we have.”
“The cops are outside, maybe we should wait-”
“I don’t give a fuck about the cops bro, just get me some damn gauze or something. Please.”
You watched Ethan walk away, or at least, you tried to - he was blurry, his form swaying around in your vision. Your heart was beating too loud, your head felt funny. You reached up to your neck, hand coming away wet and cold with blood.
“I think I’m - I don’t feel so good.”
Next thing you knew, there was something hard against your back, and too many voices.
“Y/N? Y/N can you hear me? Open your eyes if you can hear me.” It was a different voice, not the one you wanted to hear.
“Gr-Grayson.” You croaked it out.
“I’m right here baby, I’m here.” You forced your eyes open, searching for where his voice was coming from - he sounded too sad, and your fingers twitched, anxious to find him, to comfort him. When you blinked enough to actually see, there were three faces above you, contrasted against the lights and the white of the ceiling. Ethan, Grayson and another face, all three with the same look of concern painted across them hovered over you as you realized where you were. The kitchen floor.
“What happened?”
“You passed out on us,” Ethan answered, letting out the breath he’d been holding.
“Oh. Sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s your bodies defense mechanism. Too much going on at once,” the third face said. You looked down, saw the patch on his shirt. Paramedic.
“It’s not cause of the blood? She didn’t lose too much?” Grayson spoke up then, and your eyes went back to him, frowning.
“No, the cut on her neck is superficial. Neck wounds just bleed a lot initially but it’s already stopped. We’ll get you bandaged up, get you some water and you should be good as new!”
Good as new. You weren’t sure how you were ever going to be good again, especially when you saw the look on Grayson’s face. He was as easy to read as your favorite novel - angry, livid actually, unable to process anything other than the rage you knew was building up inside him the longer he sat there.
“Can I sit up?”
“Yeah, just stay sitting for a bit and we’ll take it in stages okay? Fellas, can one of you get some water for her?”
“Yeah, I got it,” Ethan patted your knee before he got up from where he was crouching, heading to the fridge. You started to sit up, body still unsteady. The paramedic helped you, moved you slightly to position you against the cabinets.
“The police are gonna need pictures of your neck, for evidence. I need to take them before we bandage you up.”
He wasn’t asking.
You felt sick to your stomach as you nodded, turning your head slightly to the side to expose your neck as he fumbled for his camera.
The only thing that kept you from crying right then and there was Ethan coming back down onto the floor and pressing the cup of water into your hands.
“Drink it bup, you’ll feel better.” You waited until the paramedic was done to bring the cup to your lips. The water was cold, nice against your dry throat, the whole reason you’d even gotten involved in the nightmare in the first place. You gulped it down, passing the glass back to E.
“More?”
“No, I’m okay. Thank you.” Your voice felt robotic, unattached as you kept your eyes on Grayson as the paramedic wiped your neck off and put a bandage on that felt large and sticky with antiseptic. You didn’t care- you were just waiting for what you knew was about to happen.
All it took was James reappearing in the room for him to explode.
“What the fuck happened! You realize how much we pay you two fucks, and somebody got past you, and inside the fucking house. Explain yourselves. Now.” His voice was booming as he passed you, headed straight for James, hands in fists.
“Gray, gray easy, easy,” Ethan cautioned, rising quickly to cut his brother off, getting chest to chest as he continued to yell over his shoulder.
“You see her? You see her right? You let that happen you useless fucking idiots-”
“Grayson. Stop.”
Something about the tone of Ethan’s voice pulled him out of it just enough for him to stop seeing red, to speak at a normal volume.
“I wanna know what the fuck happened. How the fuck he got in.”
“So do I. But I’ll handle it, okay? You’ve got other things to focus on right now. More important things. Take care of her, I’ll handle it.”
I’m right here, you wanted to say, but instead you grabbed onto the counter above you, pulled yourself up to your feet. The paramedic stayed close until you got your bearings, offering you a small smile of encouragement.
Grayson turned then, looked, really saw you for the first time since you’d passed out. The guilt was so blatant on his face that you knew he would be crying if he wasn’t trying to keep it together for you.
He turned away from Ethan, walked towards you slowly, not wanting to startle you.
“I-I-” you tried to find words, but your brain was still fuzzy.
“It’s okay baby. Just tell me what you need. Tell me what to do to make it better.”
You looked around, past him, watched the cops unpacking the backpack onto the coffee table - the play button, a few vinyls.
“I need to get out of here. I don’t wanna be here right now.” You were proud of yourself for getting cohesive sentences out, even if they did make Grayson’s face drop.
“Okay. We’ll go, we’ll go right now. E, can you call Nick and ask if we can stay? He’s closest.”
Ethan nodded, immediately pulling out his phone.
“Let’s get you a new shirt.” Grayson wrapped his arm around your waist, led you out of the kitchen and back towards his room. His hold was so firm that he practically sat you down on the bed, only leaving you so he could go get you something to change into.
You didn’t realize until he moved that he’d sat you directly in front of the mirror. Bad move.
You didn’t look like yourself. Your eyes were too wide, still frazzled. Shoulder too stiff, muscles all tense. But all that was commonplace when you saw the blood. It was a darker red than you expected, soaked into Grayson’s WZRD shirt that you’d slept in. Some of it had even gotten on your shorts. The cut was bandaged, but you still brought a hand up to it, gently running your fingers over where you could feel it was.
Grayson interrupted your gaze, moving in front of you and crouching down so you didn’t have to look up, like he might do with a child. You didn’t mind - it was nice to feel bigger, more powerful.
“Does it hurt?”
“Not really. Just feels weird.”
“Do you want a t-shirt or a hoodie? I grabbed both.”
“Hoodie.” You didn’t care if it was 80 degrees outside - you felt comfortable in them, felt less exposed. Safer.
He didn’t question it, just reached forward for the hem of your, his, ruined shirt, pulling it as gently as he could over your head.
It got worse. You hadn’t thought about the fact that the paramedic had wiped your neck off. Your chest, your skin that had been hidden underneath the fabric was stained an angry red, and you couldn’t help but gasp at the sight. You barely recognized yourself.
Grayson followed your eyes, seeing what you saw, immediately moving to block your view of your reflection.
“Hey, shh shh, it’s okay. I’ll get you cleaned up, it’s okay. I’m gonna get a washcloth.” He stood up, went to move away from you and the panic that rose in your throat made you feel like you were choking. As quickly as you could you shot a hand out, caught his arm, held on as he turned back to you.
“Please don’t leave me by myself.” It came out as a whimper, involuntary, weak. But you didn’t care. The thought of being alone was too much to handle, even if he was just behind the bathroom door.
“I won’t baby, I promise. You wanna come with me?”
You nodded, keeping your hold on his arm. It felt nice, like an anchor, reminding you that Grayson was there and if Grayson was there you were safe. So you held on while he got the washcloth, wet it in the sink, cleaned you off. When he pulled his cudi hoodie over your head you got your arms through as quickly as you could, reaching back out for him. He held your hand while he moved around the room, packing an overnight bag for the two fo you. It helped you to keep breathing steadily, even when he led you out the bedroom door, past the kitchen counter - he was careful to block your view of the blood on the floor. When you got to the door, Ethan was there, brows furrowed as he watched the cops mull around outside, checking to see how the security system had been breached.
He paused, looking at you, lips moving as he tried to start talking, hesitating, stumbling over his words.
You let go of Grayson for a moment, closing the distance and wrapping your arms around E.
“Thank you,” you mumbled into his chest, glad to feel him there and whole and unharmed.
He squeezed you against him, resting his cheek on top of your head. “I’m just glad you’re okay. Try to get some rest, don’t worry about anything here okay? Either of you,” he looked up at Grayson, letting you go. “Take the tesla, the porsche is blocked in.” He passed his brother the keys, giving him one of those twin looks that you couldn’t read. Grayson nodded, wrapping an arm around you again.
“I don’t know if he’s still out there. Just - just don’t look, okay?”
You did as he said, burying your face in his chest before he opened the door. He practically carried you to the car, guiding each step you took until you got to the door, climbing in. He ran around the side to get in the driver’s seat, immediately reaching back over for you once he got back in.
You felt lighter as soon as the car cleared the gates, and you curled up against Grayson as best you could, wrapping both arms around his right one, resting your cheek on his bicep, careful not to press on your neck. The last thing you wanted was for it to start bleeding even more.
The drive to Nick’s went faster without the usual traffic - you were there in less than ten minutes, walking up to his apartment door. He answered almost immediately.
“C’mon in guys,” he stepped aside, letting you and Grayson pass. “I grabbed some extra blankets and pillows for the bed. It’s a twin, I haven’t had a chance to get anything bigger yet, and I can get you anything else you guys need, like chargers or-”
“Thank you Nick. It means a lot, truly. We just need to get some sleep is all,” Grayson cut him off gently, practically holding you up against his side with how tight he had you pressed to him.
“Yeah right, of course. Well if you need anything, you know where I’ll be. Glad you guys are okay.”
“Thanks man.”
Grayson led you to the right, into a small room that was definitely meant to be an office and not a bedroom. The twin bed was pressed up against the far corner, the extra pillows and blankets stacked up at the end. Grayson dropped the bag by the wall, moved towards the bed and started to arrange it with his free hand.
It didn’t make sense why it happened then. Why everything came crashing down at that moment, watching him shuffle around pillows to make the bed the way he knew you liked it.
Alas, you fell to pieces, the weight of everything that had happened suddenly sinking it. Just how close you’d been to being seriously hurt, killed, how much danger the love of your life had been in.
He was startled by the sobs that started to rip from your lungs, but he caught you anyways, arms winding around your waist as he sat the both of you down on the edge of the bed, you on his lap.
“It’s okay baby, you’re safe. You’re safe it’s okay, I’m here. I’m here.” He repeated it over and over, rocking you back and forth. The thought of him being hurt had your mind spinning, and you reached down, caught the bottom of the shirt you didn’t remember him putting on, tugging it up in a bid to get to his skin, to get closer to him. He let you do it even if he didn’t understand what you needed, desperate to help you in any way that he could.
Once he was shirtless you pressed a kiss to his shoulder, his neck, his chest, anywhere you could reach, letting your brain accept that he was okay, that he was safe. You hadn’t realized how much of the weight had been because you were worried about him, what could have happened, what almost happened. Each kiss settled you even more, your tears ceasing as he held you.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” you whispered against his collarbone when you finally found your voice, leaning back so you could kiss his lips. He kissed you back, but you could feel his confusion at your words.
“I think I’m the one that’s supposed to be saying that right now. I’m so sorry. I should have checked the camera before we went to bed, hired more security. I just never thought -”
You cut him off again with a kiss. “Don’t you dare blame yourself. This isn’t your fault.”
“It is though. My lifestyle, putting shit about my life online, that’s why he chose our house, why all of that happened.”
“Baby stop. It’s okay. We’re okay now.”
He was quiet then, hands moving up to your face, thumbs tracing over your cheeks. It relaxed you slightly, calming your body in a way that only his touch could.
“Seeing you... like that.” He couldn’t make himself say it. “I’ve never been more scared in my life.”
“I’m glad it was me and not you.” You didn’t skip a beat, bringing a hand up over his when he cringed at your words.
“Angel please, please don’t say that.”
“It’s the truth. I’d do it again if I had to.”
He tilted your face up. “Look at me. You aren’t ever going to have to do anything like that. No one is going to hurt you, ever again. I won’t let it happen. Okay? That’s a fucking promise.”
“That sounds nice.” You rested your cheek in his palm, just watching him look at you for a few moments, comfortable silence filling the room.
“You tired?” He asked eventually, noticing your drooping eyelids as the rest of the adrenaline finally made it’s way out of your system. You nodded against him, holding on as he stood the two of you up so he could pull the covers back.
While you were pretty sure Grayson outgrew a twin size bed when he was 12, you were thankful for it that night. He not so subtlety moved you over so you were by the wall, his body broad enough that you couldn’t even see the door as you curled up in his arms, let him press you against him as close as he could get. He’d put himself between you and the outside world, any danger that could possibly ever come your way - and he did it every night after that too, made himself a shield of sorts even back in your room at the house.
ethan is sick of the pda and challenges you and grayson to a 3 day no touching bet. but what happens after 72 hours is a different story...
word count: 4.9k
warnings/tags: smut (it’s about damn time ladies), angst, lots of sexual teasing, lets have some fun shall we
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Many things happened when you were making out with Grayson. Getting clocked in the side of the head with a pillow was not usually one of them.
“Will you two keep it in your pants for two fucking seconds,” Ethan grumbled, obviously the perpetrator of the flying pillow that had connected with your face a few moments prior. He had good aim, you’d give him that.
“Fuck off,” Grayson grumbled, but he detached his lips from yours, settling to lay on you instead. It wasn’t an unusual position for you to find yourselves in - Ethan in the chair, you and your boyfriend sprawled out on the couch while you watched a movie. Most times you’d be laying on top of Grayson, cheek on his chest, his hand running gently up and down your arm or back. Sometimes he’d lift your shirt some so he could scratch your back, skin soft under his fingers. Other times - like now - he’d be wanting the attention, scooting down and nuzzling up on your chest so you could play with his hair or trace shapes on his skin.
Either way, it seemed to get under Ethan’s skin.
“You fuck off, I live here too I don’t need to see you two all up on each other 24/7,” Ethan shot back, obviously annoyed. It didn’t usually bother you - he went through phases where he’d get lonely and be a bit more annoyed at the PDA - Grayson was quite handsy if you were honest. On the other hand though, it could get annoying sometimes. You would like to be able to make out with your boyfriend on your own couch without the comments from the peanut gallery. And it annoyed Grayson 10 times more than it did you.
“Chill guys,” you sighed, not wanting it to get any worse.
“Nah, we’re about to take a trip in the van and I’m not about to wake up to you two fucking next to me cause you can’t keep it in your pants,” Ethan huffed back, movie long forgotten as he got heated. “You literally cannot keep your hands off each other, it’s gross.”
For some reason, that comment got under your skin a bit more than anything he had said prior. You were a mature adult who could control herself if she wanted to. And you could prove it too.
“Bet.”
Grayson stiffened, lifting his head. He knew how competitive you could be - it was one of the many reasons he loved you - but combined with Ethan’s inability to lose, it got dangerous sometimes. Bets were never good when they were between you and his brother, and you could tell he was worried.
“What are we betting?” Gray murmured, not liking where the conversation was headed.
“Okay fine.” Ethan perked up a bit, loving an idea of a challenge and completely ignoring his twin. “One week, you all can’t touch each other when I’m around.”
“Absolutely fucking not,” Grayson immediately shut it down. You put a hand on his arm, calming him a bit. This was between you and Ethan now.
“A week is too long. I’ll give you three days,” you offered. Grayson turned to you, incredulous.
“Absolutely fucking not?” He said it to you this time, but you squeezed his arm again, signaling for him to hear you out.
“I can do three days,” Ethan offered. “But if it’s only three, then you all can’t touch each other at all. Like even when I’m not around. Strict no touching policy for three days. It’ll be a good cleanse for you horny fucks.”
“Fine,” you agreed, narrowing your eyes at him.
“What?!” Grayson balked. You just grinned.
“But. If we make it the three days, you’re never going to say another snide comment about us touching. Ever.”
Ethan paused at that, really considering what he would be giving up if you managed to pull off the bet.
“Fine. But, if I win, I get to say whether or not you can be all lovey dovey and shit, and you have to listen.” There was a wicked look in his eyes; if he won he’d be ruthless, no doubt.
There was a whole lot at stake. But the prospect of being able to do whatever you wanted with Grayson, wherever you wanted, without Ethan’s commentary was too good to pass up.
“Deal.”
“Oh, so I don’t get a say in it? Cool, cause this doesn’t affect me at all,” Grayson chimed in, obviously annoyed.
“Okay, but how nice would it be if he couldn’t say shit about us,” you quirked an eyebrow at Grayson and he sighed, running a hand through his hair.
You were right, and he knew it.
“Fine,” he conceded, knowing you’d get your way no matter what he said. “I’m in.”
“Shake on it,” Ethan said, getting up from his chair and walking over to you. You reached out, giving him a firm handshake and a nod. When you let go, he turned his wrist, looking at his watch.
“Alright, it’s 11:35. Time starts now, disperse,” he grinned, gesturing to the two of you. Grayson moved off of you with a huff, scooting to the other end of the couch.
As soon as he was gone, you realized just what you’d signed the two of you up for.
It was going to be a long 72 hours.
day one
It was only 9am, and tensions were already running high. Ethan wasn’t giving up any ground - he hadn’t even let you and Grayson sleep in the same bed the night prior. Which meant Grayson, being the gentleman he was, let you take the bed and he took the couch.
So, feeling well rested and in a good mood, you headed for the kitchen. Grayson was there, as you expected, typical avocado toast in hand. But when he saw you, he immediately groaned, dropping his head to the counter as you opened the fridge.
“What?!” You asked, laughing a bit. When he looked up, you could see the frustration in his eyes.
“Could you at least try to not make this any more fucking impossible than it already is?”
“I’m just getting yogurt...” you said innocently, holding up the cup you pulled from the fridge only a few moments prior.
“Yeah, but you could at least wear a fucking bra,” he pointed out, eyes trained on your chest. You hadn’t really thought about it - you were in one of Gray’s shirts, which was oversized on you. But now that you looked, you could tell that the cold air of the fridge had made your nipples hard, the ghost of them obvious through the fabric.
“Bras are uncomfortable,” you countered, pointing your spoon at him.
“Yeah? Well so are blue balls.”
His voice was so serious that you both just stared at each other for a minute, and then you couldn’t help it. You broke first, starting to giggle and then both of you were cackling like middle schoolers.
Once you’d finally calmed down and wiped away the tears you were crying, you continued eating your breakfast, perched on the counter by the stove. Grayson’s eyes were on you, specifically on your tongue as you licked yogurt off the spoon.
“You know, Ethan won’t be up for another few hours. He’d never know,” Grayson wiggled his eyebrows at you.
“Nah, we don’t cheat in this house. A bet is a bet.”
“Well this bet sucks.” His voice was garbled around the last bite of toast that he was chewing.
“I know. But hey, it’ll be worth it. Then we can do whatever we want, and he can’t say shit,” you reminded him.
“We’re gonna drive him nuts,” Grayson grinned, and just those words sent goosebumps rising across your skin. Stop. Stop that. You couldn’t let yourself get lost in a daydream, especially when you weren’t allowed to touch him - that would just be self torture.
But it was too late. Now all you could think about was how normally right now, he’d be standing in front of you between your legs, hips pressed against the counter, his hands in your hair, lips on yours.
“Uh... babe? You good?” Grayson’s voice pulled you out of the image. His brows were furrowed, and you watched as he nodded to the floor, where a small dollop of yogurt had splattered. It must have slid off your spoon while you were lost.
“This bet sucks,” you repeated his earlier words, suddenly very much regretting your decision.
“Friendly reminder that you started it,” he grinned deviously. “Were you daydreaming over there?”
“No.” You answered too quickly. Dammit.
“Oh... well in that case, I guess I’m just gonna keep myself busy then. Might go build. Or lay out. Not sure yet.” That mischievous glint was in his eyes and you groaned. He knew exactly what he was doing - something about the focus he had when he was working on a project, with his tool belt low on his hips, sunglasses on and shirtless - it got you weak in the knees every damn time.
And he knew it too.
All you could do was glare at him as he got up and washed his plate before heading back to your room. Sure enough, 20 minutes later he was outside, carrying wood across the yard to where his saw was set up.
You sat in the living room, watching him work while you drank your coffee. Watched his muscles ripple under his skin as he hoisted 2 by 4′s over his head, powerful arms doing it with no effort. He could hold you up with those arms, hold you up while he-
“Good morning, this just in from pining central-”
You turned at the voice, glowering when you realized it was Ethan with a smug grin on his face.
“Shut the fuck up,” you grumbled, sticking your tongue out at him.
“Ooooo, touchy,” he teased, reaching out and ruffling your hair. You reached back to slap his shoulder, but you were smiling. “Or... no touchy.” Ethan cracked the joke, obviously proud of himself.
“That was actually terrible,” you shook your head.
“You’re just mad cause you’re gonna lose this bet,” he said, raising his eyebrows as he headed back towards the kitchen to make his breakfast.
“Not a chance in hell.”
day two
Sleeping on the couch wasn’t ideal, that was for damn sure. Not because it wasn’t comfortable, but because you didn’t have Grayson next to you. After his long day of building you knew that he was sore, and you’d insisted that he took the bed instead.
But that also meant that he had slept in for once, making your morning mission a little bit harder than usual. You snuck into the bedroom, tiptoeing at first, then walking normal when you realized that he was still snoring. He was curled up on his side, shirtless and sleeping soundly, his left arm curled around a pillow that he was holding to his chest. It took you a minute to realize that this was how you usually woke up, with his arm wrapped around you before you turned over and eased him onto his back so you could cuddle.
Stupid pillow. You pushed the thought from your mind as best you could, going over to your drawer and picking out a bikini to wear. It was beautiful out, the perfect day to get some sun. You changed quickly, grabbing a towel from the bathroom and your sunscreen before you headed out to the pool. It would at least help you kill a few hours. You were discovering that things were boring when you couldn’t make out with your boyfriend.
It was two hours later when you heard the doors open, signaling that someone was coming out of the house. You peaked over your sunglasses, unsurprised to see Grayson there.
“Did you just wake up?”
“No. I’ve been awake.” His tone was short, and you frowned.
“What’s wrong?”
“Don’t play innocent,” he grumbled. You sat up further on the yellow lounge, confused.
“What?”
“You’re doing this on purpose. Out here, all laid out in a tiny bikini when there’s nothing I can do about it. You’re a tease.” He sat down on the other lounge, staring at you. You could tell he was hard underneath his gym shorts.
“I just wanted to get some sun... But, two can play that game. You’re telling me you building all day yesterday was innocent?” You looked at him accusingly, expecting him to laugh. Instead, his eyes just darkened.
“Oh, does me building do something to you?” He knew the answer to that. It fueled his ego that him doing something so simple could turn you on so much, and you hated that you had no control over it. “What exactly does it do to you, hmm?”
“Stop it,” you muttered, but your body was reacting anyways. Your skin was flushing just from his words.
“Stop what? Stop making you wet?”
“We can’t do anything about it, don’t make it worse,” you pleaded. He was right, you were wet, and you wanted nothing more than for him to fuck you right then and there. But you were more strong willed than that. It was only another 30 or so hours. You would make it.
“I’m going to shower,” you said, standing up and heading into the house. You knew his eyes were on your ass, and you were unsurprised that he got up to follow you, carrying your towel in wadded over his dick in case Ethan was out of his room.
You tried to ignore him as you headed to the bathroom, taking your hair down and starting the water to give it time to warm up. To your surprise, he lifted himself up and sat on the end of the counter, giving himself a perfect view of the glass shower.
“What’re you doing?”
“Watching.” There was a heat in his voice that went straight through you. You swallowed heavy, turning to him. He got like this sometimes, where his dominant side would come out. Usually it was halfway through sex, when he was pulling on your hair, or when you had a particularly bad attitude and he corrected it quickly with a rough fuck.
But there was an intensity to this that had your mouth dry as you started to undress under his gaze. You reached behind your neck, pulling on the string that kept your top together. When the bow came undone, the fabric began to fall, though it didn’t fully reveal your tits until you untied the back and it fell to the ground.
Grayson said nothing, eyes unwavering as you moved to your bottoms. You shimmied out of them quickly, kicking them to the side. Unfortunately, they landed directly in front of him. You knew he’d see the wetness that had pooled in them; it was obvious. That wasn’t going to help matters.
“We can call off the bet. If you want.” You blurted it out - until the last few minutes you didn’t realize how desperate you were to have his hands on you.
“No. We can’t. Now shower, before we run out of hot water.”
You did as you were told, walking over into the water and letting it run over your skin. You kept your eyes closed mostly, but you could feel him watching your every move. As you washed your body, your hands lingered over yourself for just a moment, desperate for relief.
“Don’t you dare.” Grayson’s voice was deep and demanding, making your eyes snap open. He very rarely took that tone with you.
“Touching myself isn’t against Ethan’s rules,” you pointed out, knowing it would piss him off to hear his brother’s name right now. If he wasn’t already going to destroy you when he could, he definitely was now.
“It’s against my rules.”
Just those words were enough to almost make you cum right there.
Why, why had you made this bet.
day three
Getting out of the house was the only option, you couldn’t take it anymore. Especially after the pent up energy established yesterday, you couldn’t handle the stares and the constant need to have his hands on you. If you stayed too long, you’d break the bet.
So, you treated yourself to a bit of a shopping spree for the day. You picked out new clothes from a few stores, even picking up a shirt for Grayson you knew he would love, and some shoes for Ethan. You went to lunch, taking your time, even going to get coffee later on. It was a nice break from the tension, though every time you looked at your phone and saw your lock screen - a picture of you and shirtless Grayson in the mirror - it sent tingles down your spine, reminding you of what you were finally getting back tonight.
Your final stop was a lingerie shop. It was always fun to look at all the pretty lace patterns and colors - usually you just window shopped, but you were trying to draw out the process as long as you could. An emerald green number caught your eye, laid out on one of the tables. It was lace and silk, delicate but sexy at the same time. On a bit of a whim, you bought it, adding the bag to those already on your arm as you headed home. You took the long way, happy to see that it was already 7pm by the time you pulled in the driveway.
Four and a half more hours. That was it. Just four and a half more hours. Surely, you could do it.
When you came in, Ethan was eating cereal, and had already begun sulking. That lifted some of the tension that was hanging over the house, specifically coming from the direction of the living room where Grayson was practicing handstands.
“Awe, is somebody sad they’re going to lose the bet?” You teased, sitting the bags down and digging around for his shoes.
“Time’s not up yet,” he grumbled.
“Well, I got you a pity gift,” you smiled, passing him the box. “Enjoy.”
“Thanks, I’ll need a distraction from you all sucking face constantly,” he rolled his eyes. You knew he’d be grateful for the shoes once he got over his loss.
“Hey Gray, I got you something,” you called, heading to the living room with your bags. He was still in his handstand and he brought himself down slowly, a smooth landing.
“Lemme see,” he smiled. The frustration he’d had yesterday was still there, but he was trying to be helpful, as were you. Spending the day apart had made it easier, and with the finish line in sight the both of you were in higher spirits.
“I can’t remember which bag it’s in,” you mumbled, starting to sit them down so you could look through them. Grayson picked one up, and before you could say anything his hand was in it, no doubt feeling the lace and silk.
He froze, eyes darkening again.
“Is this for later,” he practically mouthed the words, barely speaking so Ethan didn’t hear him.
“It can be,” you whispered back, blushing. He only nodded, a wicked excitement in his eyes.
After the teasing and tension yesterday, you were a bit worried that your new set wouldn’t even survive the night. He had a bit of a habit of ripping things when he got dominant. You supposed you could just buy another one if you had to.
You kept yourself busy after giving him his shirt, looking for distractions anywhere you could. You ate a quick dinner, then decided to take a nap.
“I’m going to sleep,” you announced to the boys, heading towards your room.
“It’s 8:30,” Ethan said, confused.
“Well, I’m probably going to have a long night, so,” you grinned at him. Grayson choked, looking up at you.
“Gross. Go to bed,” E grumbled. You obliged, heading to your room. You killed another hour or so on your phone before realizing that you might actually fall asleep. Not wanting to ruin the surprise, you changed into your lingerie, looking yourself over in the mirror. It was just as flattering as you hoped it would be, accentuating all your favorite areas.
Grayson was gonna lose it.
You climbed back onto the bed, comforted by the feeling of the soft cotton on your exposed skin. You curled up, getting comfy and eventually drifting off to sleep.
The next thing you felt were two large hands on your waist, putting you on your back.
“What the?”
“It’s 11:36.” It was Grayson’s voice, and it clicked.
The bet was over. Thank fuck.
You were suddenly wide awake, and you couldn’t get your hands on him quick enough. His skin was soft and warm as you reached up to his shoulders, running along the muscles until you got to his neck. You pulled his face down to yours, crashing your lips together. You’d never felt anything so good in your life.
“We’re never doing anything like that ever again,” you mumbled against his lips, hands back on his skin, at his waist now, curling around his back trying to pull him closer to you.
“Agreed,” he said, kissing you again before he bailed to the side, reaching over and pulling you on top of him. And suddenly you were touching everywhere. His thighs were against yours, and you could feel his dick against you, his torso wide and strong beneath you as his hands roamed down your side, over your hip and around to your ass.
“Fuck, you look so good,” he groaned, fingers toying with the fabric of your thong. Your hips bucked at the feeling of his hand on your ass, and it created a delicious friction against his dick that had you starting a rhythm in no time. He sat up then so you were on his lap, gravity causing more pressure as you kept grinding, both of your breathing picking up at the sensation. After the pent up hormones of the last few days, you were sure you could cum just like that, and you wouldn’t be surprised if he did too.
He reached behind you, unclipping your bra with ease, pulling it off your arms and tossing it across the room. Then, his hands were at your hips, fingers digging into your skin, lips at your neck as you worked him over.
“Surprised you aren’t punishing me for being a tease,” you mumbled, then gasped at the bite that resulted from your words.
“Don’t tempt me, we’ve got all night,” he groaned, moving you a bit faster. You clung to him tighter, grateful that he’d decided to just focus on pleasure tonight.
“Just wanna feel you.” His words were hardly a warning as he rolled over, putting you back on the bed. He reached behind himself, unlocking your legs from around his waist before he moved down the bed. His hands went to you hips, scooting you up a tiny bit before he hooked his index fingers into the waist of your thong, swiftly discarding it after it was off.
“Look even better like this,” he hummed, crawling up to kiss you again. You chased his lips when he broke it off, only to gasp a bit when you felt him press a kiss to your collarbone. He moved down, cupping each tit and licking and sucking along your nipples until you were squirming. His progress down your torso was painfully slow, each little nip with his teeth making your whole body jolt. By the time he got to your inner thigh, you were begging.
“Please Gray, please fuck, give me something,” you whined, practically writhing underneath him.
“As you wish.” And then his mouth was on you. He knew you better than anyone - and he wasted no time. He worked you over like the expert he was, tongue flat then fast, with just the right pressure. You never lasted long like this, with your hands in his hair and his hands pinning your hips down to the bed. But this might have been the quickest - it couldn’t have been a minute before you were cumming, pulling on his hair as you let go. Your legs were actually shaking, and he pulled back, thumbs rubbing along your skin as you came down, catching your breath.
“Holy shit,” you choked out, trying to swallow as you gasped.
“That was hot as fuck. Didn’t even know you could cum that fast,” he grinned, obviously a bit proud of himself. You didn’t blame him - with that tongue he could have an ego as big as he wanted. He pressed kisses to your hips, then your ribs, the middle of your chest, giving you time to get your breathing back to normal before he caught your lips with his again.
Now it was your turn. You reached down into his boxers, wrapping a hand around his dick. It was heavy and hard in your hand, but his hiss made you stop your movements.
“Baby, I’m already not gonna last, don’t need you making it any shorter and bruising my ego,” he huffed, obviously trying to calm himself down a bit. You moved to the waistband of his boxers instead, pushing them down his thighs. He took them the rest of the way off, throwing them in the same direction your lingerie had flown earlier.
You spread a little wider, reaching for him as he positioned himself over you, his weight on his forearms which were on either side of you. He dipped his hips, teasing you for just a moment, before pushing in. You sighed at the feeling, wrapping your arms around his shoulders, holding yourself steady so that he didn’t push you up the bed. When he was balls-deep, he kissed your forehead.
“Missed you,” he whispered, and you could have melted right there. “You ready?”
You nodded - it didn’t matter how many times you did this - he was still big, and it always took you just a minute to adjust. Grayson always gave it to you, making sure he didn’t cause you any pain.
He lowered himself down so that some of his weight was on you, and then he snapped his hips back, driving into you with a groan. He was everything you could feel and see, his chest against yours, bodies touching everywhere that they possibly could as he started a quick rhythm.
“Fuck you feel so good,” he groaned, voice deep as he went deeper with every thrust, hitting the spot that had your toes curling, nails scraping down his back.
“Jesus fuck Gray, I’m gonna cum again, fuck,” you said, pleasure loosening your tongue. He moaned at that, burying his face in your neck, biting at the skin he found as he sped up his hips.
“Fuck, fuck fuck,” you squeaked out as your next orgasm hit, every muscle you had clenching up in pleasure.
“God,” Grayson moaned, somehow moving even faster, holding himself up with one arm while the other wrapped around your waist, pulling your hips up to get another angle. “Oh fuck,” he groaned. “Jesus baby, fuck.”
And even in your blissed out state, you felt him cum, cock twitching inside you before his weight lowered onto you for a moment, arm still wrapped all the way around you. As soon as he could function, he rolled the both of you over so he didn’t crush you. You didn’t separate at all as you laid on top of him, weak and satisfied as he stayed seated inside you, both of you fucked out and content.
You knew you were probably making a mess and you neither of you gave a fuck, not moving an inch other than Grayson’s hands wandering, fingers tracing patterns on your bare skin. Eventually he rolled over, sliding out of you gently with a kiss to your forehead before he got up and went to get a washcloth. He cleaned you up, as well as what was left on the sheets before tossing the rag in the laundry. He pulled his boxers back on before climbing back in bed.
“All good baby girl?” He gave you a soft smile as he laid down. You used the energy you had left to climb back onto him, unwilling to have any space between you at all after the last three days.
“I am now,” you sighed, content just to have his skin on yours. You just enjoyed each other’s presence for a few more minutes, and then you felt Grayson laugh a little bit underneath you, making you sit up just enough to look at him.
“What’s so funny?”
“I just realized that we won the bet. I kinda forgot, I was just ready for it to be over. But now we can literally do whatever we want and E can’t say shit,” he laughed, hugging you a bit tighter.
“We could literally have sex in the living room and he can’t say shit,” you grinned, quirking a mischievous eyebrow.
Grayson just shook his head with the biggest smile, wrapping his arms around your shoulders and kissing the top of your head.
having grayson’s baby is a dream come true for both of you, and he does everything he can to make it the absolute best experience that he can for you
word count: 11k (hahahaha fuck)
warnings/tags: the fluffiest fluff that has ever fluffed okay, seriously I don’t think I could have made this any softer, pregnancy, mentions of pregnancy things (morning sickness, weight gain, etc.)
feel free to send in requests! i’ll write most things! hope you enjoy :)
january
8 days late. You were 8 days late. A few days here or there would have you a bit edgy, but it had never been this long before. And you just had an instinct that this time, it wasn’t a scare. You were almost positive that you were pregnant. You weren’t opposed to having kids - you knew that you and Grayson wanted to be parents together, and that you were going to spend the rest of your lives together. You decided to let things run naturally, and if something happened then it happened. But something about the reality of having to go out and actually buy a pregnancy test had your mouth dry. Were you actually ready for this?
But as soon as that thought came, there was another. Grayson was going to be over the moon about this whole thing. All he ever wanted was to be a father, and you knew he was going to be amazing. He would make up for any of your shortcomings and then some. With that newfound confidence, you grabbed your purse and decided to head out to the store.
“Where yah goin’?” Grayson’s voice came from the dining room table where he was working as you tried to scurry past him. You hadn’t thought of an alibi. Were you supposed to tell him? No. You didn’t want to get his hopes up if your instincts were wrong.
“Just running to the store. Cause I need some stuff. From the store.”
Fuck. Nice one.
“Okay....” he trailed off, obviously suspicious. “You alright?”
“Yep, perfectly fine. I’ll be back soon, love you bye!” You blew him a kiss and escaped out the door before you said anything else damning.
This was going to be interesting.
Your fingers were tapping away on your steering wheel the whole drive to the local drug store, trying to think of what the hell you were going to do. Should you surprise him? Plan out a big elaborate thing? Or maybe you should just tell him? Should you have told him you were going to get a test? But what if it was negative? He’d be so sad.
With your head spinning, it was a miracle you even made it to the store. But you pulled in and headed to the aisle you never needed to go to, grabbing a few tests and going to pay for them, trying to convince yourself that no one was staring at you. The cashier offered you a soft smile and it actually calmed you down slightly as you headed back to the car.
In order to make it a little less suspicious, you decided to get some coffee and bring it home for the both of you. You didn’t have to pee yet, and you knew you’d go crazy at home if you had to wait, so you went to your favorite local shop and got your usual along with Gray’s and Ethan’s.
The drive home was quick, but you chugged it as fast as you could, wanting it to hit you before you got back. You stashed the tests under your shirt so that Gray wouldn’t see, and tried to walk as casually as you could back into the house.
“I brought coffee!” You called out. If you directed the conversation, then maybe you wouldn’t get blindsided and give something away.
“I thought you were going to the store?” Gray asked. He was still in the same spot at the kitchen counter, and when you looked at his screen he was working on some new promotional posts for Wakeheart. Good. That would keep him busy.
“They didn’t have what I needed, figured I’d get some while I was out,” you smiled, passing him his cup. He leaned up towards you, asking for a kiss. You gave him a quick one before going to throw your cup away.
“You already drank yours? You’re gonna be bouncing off the walls in about 20 minutes,” Grayson teased. He knew how you got with too much caffeine.
“I already feel jittery,” you laughed. It wasn’t a lie, but it definitely wasn’t from the coffee - you’d actually gotten decaf, remembering somewhere that caffeine wasn’t good for babies. You walked back to the room you and Grayson shared, not realizing until you got there that you still had Ethan’s coffee in your hand.
It didn’t matter, if you didn’t take the test right then you were pretty sure you were going to explode. So you sat the drink down on the desk, locked yourself in the bathroom and pulled the two tests out from their hiding places.
Peeing on a stick was just as awkward as you thought it would be, but you were proud that you got it on the first try.
And now, you just had to wait. Three minutes had never taken longer in your entire life, you were sure. But, you’d made sure to buy the tests that would clearly say one way or the other so there was no guess work. You tried to keep yourself calm, foot tapping as you watched the seconds click by on the timer you set. In just a few minutes, you were going to know if your instincts were right.
By the thirty second mark, you were hovering over the tests, watching the electronic bar load, flashing on the final stage. And then, the first one turned, revealing one word.
Pregnant.
“Holy fuck.”
You’d known. But now you knew. And holy shit. You were actually pregnant. The second test turned then, yielding the same result. There was no denying it.
The butterflies in your gut were overwhelming and you sunk to the floor, a hand going over your tummy. There was baby in there. And it was Grayson’s baby. You felt like you could scream, or cry, or explode.
“I’ve gotta tell Gray,” you mumbled to yourself. You wanted to do something special, but you also knew that there was no way you were going to plan an entire elaborate reveal - you’d break and tell him early. Something simple, something quick, but still something Grayson...
It clicked. Building. You immediately started searching on your phone for what you needed, deciding that you’d use his projector to put it on the wall. But should you film it? You didn’t want it to be a production deal, but a larger part of you wanted to have the footage of such a special moment. And you wanted it to be good quality, but you didn’t know how to work a camera for shit.
You needed Ethan. You quickly stashed the tests in a bathroom drawer and reached for your phone, pulling up your texts with Ethan.
Come to Grayson’s room, don’t be suspicious, bring a camera, don’t ask questions
You knew he would be confused, but you also knew that he would do it. You got excited all over again when you thought about telling Ethan the news. He was your best friend - hell, he was your brother, and you knew he was going to be over the moon for you.
It wasn’t five minutes later when he snuck in, closing the door and looking at you in confusion.
“What the hell is going on? Are you pranking him? Because if you are I so want in,” Ethan grinned. He was already filming - you wondered if you looked as wild on camera as you felt.
“Oh jesus please don’t make him think this is a prank. E, I need you to set up that camera so that you can see this wall with the projector. And then I need you to leave and not ask me any questions.”
If he started prying, you knew you’d tell him, and you’d feel terrible that Grayson wouldn’t be the first one to know.
“Okay... are you alright? You’re acting weird, you’ve got me a little worried.” Ethan frowned a bit, concern on his face.
“I promise I’m fine. And I’ll tell you what’s going on as soon as I can. I swear,” you said, offering him the most reassuring smile that you could muster.
“I’m holding you to that,” he muttered, setting up the camera in a good place and making sure it was recording before heading back to his room. Once he was cleared out of the room, you pulled up the picture you wanted onto the projector.
It was a wooden crib, simple but cute. And it would serve its purpose, which was all that mattered. Once you had it as you wanted, you turned the projector back off so you could pull it up at the right time. Then, you grabbed one of the positive tests and hid it in the waistband of your shorts.
Trying to keep it together, you poked your head out of the door, willing yourself to do your best acting.
“Hey Gray?” You called out.
“Yeah baby?” From the sound of it he was still in the kitchen.
“Can you c’mere for a sec?”
“Comin’,” he responded. You felt like your legs were going to give out. Your whole lives were about to change in the next few minutes. He came in casually, rubbing at his hair. “What’s up?”
“Well. I wanted to ask you if you’d do something for me,” you said. He quirked an eyebrow, crossing his arms. He was suspicious, but that was bound to happen.
“Okay....”
“It’s nothing bad, it’s just that I don’t know how to build it, but I think that you’d do it really well,” you explained. He relaxed a bit at that, leaning into you a bit more before wrapping an arm around your shoulder.
“Well now I’m excited. Show me,” he grinned - you were glad you’d picked this as the way you’d tell him, he got so excited about building.
With a deep breath, you turned on the projector, the picture of the crib popping up. You looked up to watch his face. As you expected, he was immediately confused.
“What even is that? Is that a bed?” He let go of you, moving to the wall and looking at it even closer. “It looks like a crib, with all the bars on the sides and stuff.”
“Yeah, I know it’s complicated. But you’ve got about nine months to get it done, so no rush or anything.” You were beaming, just waiting for the moment it would click.
“9 months? Why would I need 9 mo-”
You watched the realization come across his face, his mouth opening slightly into a little ‘o’, and then his expression turned to disbelief. Any of your nerves faded away as you realized this was all you ever wanted - having a kid with the man that you loved more than anything. You relaxed fully, trying to take it all in.
“No. No fucking way. No way.”
“Yes way,” you laughed.
“You are not. Is this a prank? Are you pranking me?” He was frozen to the spot he had turned at.
“I wouldn’t prank about something like this.”
“You’re pregnant? You’re actually pregnant?!”
“We’re having a baby,” you exclaimed, reaching for the test and pulling it out where he could see. That got his feet moving, and he only had to look at it for a second before he had his arms around you and you were both spinning around. You weren’t sure you could remember a time where you were happier.
It was good that you knew Grayson would never drop you because suddenly the two of you were sinking, and you realized he was sitting down on the floor, squeezing you to him in the tightest of hugs. It took a minute for you to register the wetness on your shoulder, and when you pulled back slightly, you realized that Grayson was crying.
“Oh baby, don’t cry, you’re gonna make me cry!” It was too late - you were already tearing up, but both of you had the biggest smiles across your faces.
“I’m sorry, I’m just so fucking happy right now. This is all I’ve ever wanted,” he said, voice cracking a little bit. You pulled him back to you, and the two of you rocked back and forth together, bodies close. It could have been minutes, it could have been hours; neither of you knew, or cared.
Grayson was the first to speak up, and the questions started flowing.
“Have you told anyone else? When did you even find out?! Do we need to go to a doctor? Oh we definitely need to take you to the doctor.”
“Relax baby, I just found out like 5 minutes before I told you, I went to the store to get tests cause my period was late. We’ll get an appointment made, I already have a gyno. And no, I haven’t told anybody.”
“Holy shit. So just you and me know? I gotta tell Ethan! I gotta tell my mom!” He was already shifting, starting to stand up. You let him lift you, but you caught his hand.
“We should probably wait until we go to the doctor and get everything checked out before we tell everyone,” you cautioned.
He looked a bit puzzled. You hated to damper his mood even a little bit, but you weren’t ready for the whole world to know about a pregnancy that seemed so fragile to you. It clicked for him, and he immediately put a hand to your stomach, fingers splaying out over soft skin.
“You’re right.” He nodded his head, still looking down at your stomach in awe. There was an unspoken question that you knew he was biting his tongue on.
“We’re definitely telling Ethan though, for sure. Like right now,” you smiled. Grayson looked up, beaming.
“Oh thank god, there was no way I could keep this from him.”
“I have an idea,” you grinned, explaining it to him quickly. He agreed that it was perfect, and went to get the camera that had been recording the two of you so that he could capture this too.
You went over to the long forgotten coffee that you’d brought home for Ethan. It was cold now, but you could microwave it. You grabbed a sharpie from the desk, scribbling what you wanted on the cup before taking Grayson’s hand and leading him to the kitchen. You popped it in the microwave - it wouldn’t be great, but that wasn’t really the point - and Grayson set up the camera. Once everything was done, you and Grayson exchanged a giddy glance before setting it into motion.
“Ethan! C’mere!” You called out.
“What do you want!?” He yelled back in his typical I-don’t-wanna-get-up tone.
“Just c’mere real quick, I forgot to give you something!”
Grayson was giggling next to you, trying to keep it together.
“Alright, I’m comin’,” he called out, and a few moments later he was in the kitchen. “What’s up?”
“I forgot to give you your coffee earlier, here,” you smiled, handing him the cup. He took it gratefully, though he was giving you the when the hell are you going to explain earlier look as subtlety as he could with Grayson still in the room.
“Dude, what does your cup even say? They totally spelled your name wrong,” Grayson said, unable to wait any longer for his brother to notice. Ethan held the cup up a bit so he could read the writing on the side.
Uncle Eteeweetee
“Haha very funny, eteeweetee, you got me.” He rolled his eyes, taking a sip.
“Wait, what exactly does it say?” You asked. Grayson was giggling beside you.
“It says ‘uncle eteeweetee’, which is just fucking stupid.” He looked a bit peeved, knowing he was missing the joke. “What? What’s so funny about Uncle?”
“What if I told you that the big news I couldn’t tell you earlier was that you actually are an uncle? Or at least, you will be in about nine months.” Now you were beaming. Ethan figured it out immediately, sitting the coffee cup down.
“You’re joking. No fuckin way, are you joking? You’re pregnant?!”
You nodded, and before you knew it he had you wrapped up in a hug. You squeezed him back and then let him go to his brother. They held each other tight for a minute, and though their words were a bit muffled you caught the end of it.
“I’m so fuckin’ happy for you bro. You deserve this,” was what Ethan said, and you couldn’t have agreed more.
february
Oh you were definitely pregnant. Even without the tests, or the doctor’s visit or the missed period, you would have been 100% sure by now. This had become your morning routine, and you hated every minute of it.
Right around 6am on the dot you’d wake up, a thin sheen of cold sweat on you and a churning in your stomach. You threw yourself onto your feet, running towards the bathroom and immediately hurling up anything you had left in you. Usually it wasn’t much, and that somehow made it worse. Your throat was sore from the bile morning after morning. It usually took you a good twenty minutes to get everything up, and another five after that for your stomach to settle.
Each morning, at the feeling of you leaving the bed, Grayson was right behind you. He’d hold your hair back with one hand, other hand gentle and soft as they rubbed over your back. You knew how much he hated being around people throwing up, but he never even flinched.
When your stomach would finally empty, you’d come down off your knees onto your butt, leaning your weight back against him.
“This shit sucks,” you said one particular morning, fully exhausted.
“I’m sorry baby, I wish I could fix it,” Grayson murmured, kissing your temple.
“I feel disgusting,” you grumbled, turning a bit and nuzzling into his neck.
“You wanna shower?”
Usually, you weren’t a morning shower type of person, but between the vomit and the sweat, it had become normal as well.
“Too tired,” you said, curling up into him. The fatigue was real these days, and you occasionally felt bad for being so lazy. Grayson would have none of it, reminding you that not only were you growing body parts with your body, but you were also still doing more than Ethan was on the daily.
“I’ll do the work. C’mon pretty girl, let’s get you cleaned up.”
And he really did all the work, from stripping you down to washing your hair and body, then drying you off and handing you a toothbrush.
“I’ll get some clothes while you brush,” he said, pressing a kiss to your shoulder as he disappeared. You were grateful for the minty taste in your mouth as he came back with a pair of his sweats and a t shirt. You let him pull the shirt over your head before you spoke.
“I don’t understand how I can be this fucking tired,” you muttered as you put your hands on his shoulders, steadying yourself as you stepped into the legs of the pants that Gray was holding out for you.
“Fatigue is really common during the second month, it’s supposed to get better by the third though, so hopefully it won’t last too long,” he offered in reassurance. You smiled at that - he’d been listening to any podcast he could get his hands on related to pregnancy and parenting. It was the cutest thing, and every time you thought about it you started to tear up.
“Hey, hey, why we cryin’? What’s wrong?” His thumbs were wiping at your cheeks - it was like an instinct now since he had to do it at least once a day.
“You’re gonna be such a good dad,” you blubbered, leaning into his shoulder. You felt him chuckle a bit and you crumpled. “Don’t laugh at me.”
“I’m sorry baby, I didn’t mean to. You’re just cute.”
You groaned. “Cute. Right. I’m grumpy, lazy and gross. Not cute.”
“You’re none of those things. Well, you’re kinda grumpy with Ethan, but so is everyone.”
It was true - you’d been very grouchy lately, especially with Ethan for some reason. The cute things he usually did to make you laugh got under your skin like no other, and you’d snap at him, which would in turn make him sad, which then made you feel guilty and ended in tears every time without fail. Ethan was a great sport about it, always accepting your teary apologies and teasing you nicely about the hormones, but you still hated not feeling in control of your emotions and yourself.
Knowing it would only be worse if you didn’t get any sleep, you stumbled your way to bed and climbed back under the covers. Grayson climbed in next to you, opening his arms so you could lay on his chest, his fingers tracing patterns on your back as you drifted back into exhausted sleep.
march
You stood in front of the mirror, hand rubbing gently across your belly. There was definitely a bump there starting to form, and it mesmerized you every time you thought about what was within it. It was tiny. Anyone else looking at you wouldn’t notice, or would think it was just a big breakfast. But you knew that it was your baby, growing away.
And you loved your bump, but Grayson was even more obsessed - any time you were sitting within reach of him his hand was across your stomach. Though he wouldn’t admit it, you knew part of it was protective. He’d become very cautious since you’d found out about your pregnancy, always making sure you were safe, not letting you do anything too ‘strenuous’. You’d had to get him to back off a few times, assuring him that stirring pasta wasn’t going to cause the baby any stress.
He’d been even more worried when you and the boys took a flight home to Jersey so you could tell Lisa and Cameron the good news. All through the airport he was right next to you, hand around your waist guiding you through the terminals.
“Grayson, flying is only dangerous if you’re like... super pregnant. Like might-deliver-on-the-plane pregnant. We’re fine.” You reassured him.
“We?” His face softened at that. It was the first time you’d really referred to the baby and yourself as a unit. It was a nice feeling - you were finally starting to get back to normal, and feeling like yourself. The morning sickness had let up, only about once a week now. Ethan didn’t piss you off any more than normal. You were still a bit weepy, but that was to be expected in some ways.
The biggest issue now was your cravings. They were so intense, way more captivating than you thought even possible. When one hit, you couldn’t think about anything else. And the worst possible place to get one? A plane.
“Gray. Grayson,” you whispered to him over the hum of the airplane engines.
“Hmm?”
“I want a soft pretzel. Like I need one.”
“Like you want one or you’re craving one?” He’d learned to differentiate between the two with all your wild food preferences these days.
“Craving. Craving so hard.”
“Well that’s a new one. I brought some of your other cravings just in case, but not gonna lie, didn’t bring a soft pretzel with my snacks. Do you want any of these?” He gave you a sympathetic smile and showed you the stash of snacks he’d brought for the 5 hour flight - lots of the candies you’d been craving, peanut butter, chocolate.
“Thank you, but for some reason thinking about eating any of that is making me nauseous,” you scrunched up your nose.
“What!? You ate like 20 twizzlers yesterday alone!” He looked a bit exasperated, but you just laughed and rested your head on his shoulder.
“It’s okay baby, not your fault. Guess we’ve got a picky kid. Oops.”
The rest of the flight went without event, and when you went to go pee after you got off, Grayson found an Auntie Anne’s in the terminal and brought you back the biggest soft pretzel they had. You hummed as you ate it, wiggling a bit in excitement considering you were pretty sure it was the best thing you had ever tasted in your entire life.
“You’re so fuckin’ cute,” Grayson teased, taking your bag from you so you could fully enjoy your snack as you walked through the airport.
The drive to the Dolan household was about an hour, and you napped through most of it, head on Grayson’s lap in the backseat - the fatigue was fading, but it wasn’t fully gone. He woke you up gently as Ethan turned into the driveway, and you felt the excitement mounting. Not only were you getting to see Cameron and Lisa, but you were getting to tell them the news. You were finally comfortable with more and more people knowing, though you didn’t want it out on any social media.
When you came in it was three straight hours of hugs, smiles and stories, and there wasn’t even a lull in the conversation where you could have said something. Besides, this was Grayson’s family, so you wanted him to be able to make the big reveal anyhow.
He’d decided on a scavenger hunt that Ethan helped him set up; you stayed with the girls and feigned your innocence, which almost backfired completely.
“You seem different Y/N. Did you get new makeup or something?” Lisa asked, giving you the same suspicious look that Grayson often did.
“Um, yeah, yeah I got a new bronzer that I’m trying out.” You went along with it, hoping that if you somehow looked different she would attribute it to that.
“I thought so. Your skin is glowing!”
“Awe thank you!” You smiled, trying not to seem nervous. You’d heard of mother’s intuition, but damn. Luckily the boys returned then, sending their sister and mom on the hunt around the house. It took about 15 minutes, but finally they ended up with the card that had your most recent ultrasound photo in it.
Lisa blubbered for a good thirty minutes, all the mixtures of emotions about becoming a grandparent coming out. She held her youngest son close for so long, and you gave them their moment by explaining all your pregnancy woes to Cameron, who was beyond excited to finally become an aunt.
The trip only lasted a few days, but you enjoyed spending the time with Grayson’s family and watching him relax and recharge. When it was time to go and the boys were loading the rental car, Lisa pulled you aside.
“I know pregnancy can be really hard, so you just call me if you need anything, okay? Any questions, anything you need. I’ll fly out any time you need me.”
“Awe thank you Lisa,” you smiled, giving her another hug.
“No, thank you honey. You’ve made my whole family so happy, I can’t thank you enough.”
april
“I give up. I literally give up, I’m never leaving the house ever again.” You threw the shirt across the room, plopping down on the bed in defeat. Grayson spun his chair around, one ear of his headphones already off. He’d been editing, but heard you grumbling.
“What’s the matter love?”
“None of my clothes fit! I’m huge!”
“Well first off, you’re not huge. Second, you’re growing a fricking human, so yeah your tummy is gonna get bigger. Do you want me to find you a shirt of mine?” He offered, trying his hardest to console you. You’d been pretty good at avoiding the meltdowns lately, and he wanted to keep that trend going.
“No. I don’t wanna wear your stuff.”
“Baby. You ask me for my clothes like, every day,” he reminded you.
“Yeah. But I like having the option of wearing my clothes,” you pouted, looking at your discarded top on the ground.
“Okay, well then why don’t we go shopping tomorrow and get you some new clothes. Okay?”
“Okay,” you agreed. You didn’t love the idea of having to buy new clothes in bigger sizes, but you knew you’d have to do it eventually.
“Hey, c’mere,” Gray smiled, patting his thigh. You obliged, climbing onto his lap. His hand went to your bare thighs, rubbing circles. “You’re beautiful, you know that right? Even when you don’t feel like it, I promise you that you are.”
You blushed at that, knowing better than to argue with him. Instead, you just kissed him, fingers gentle on his cheek.
“I love you,” you smiled against his lips.
“I love you more. Why don’t you go take a swim, I’ll come out as soon as I finish this edit.” His suggestion was a very good one - the fourth month of pregnancy was mostly nice, but you were starting to get sore, especially your back and hips. The best relief you could find was in the pool, and you’d never been more thankful to live in California.
You kissed him one more time before getting up and pulling out a bathing suit. He cheekily watched you change with a few side glances, making you blush even harder.
The pool water was inviting, and you swam around for a while trying to loosen up your muscles. Then, you climbed onto a float and drifted off into a nap. A nap that was ended quite abruptly by cold water being splashed at you.
You peeked an eye open and all you saw were red shorts.
“Rule number one Ethan. Never wake the pregnant lady,” you grumbled.
“I know I know, but I got you something! Look!” Ethan was beaming when your eyes finally adjusted to the sun. You had to look closely to realize that it was a pool float in his hands. Specifically, it was an avocado pool float.
“Awe, thanks E!” Even if you didn’t really understand the gesture (you had plenty of floats), you still appreciated it.
“It’s a pregnancy one, see!?” He exclaimed, pointing out the picture on the box. Sure enough, it had a hole in the design. “So once your bump gets like, huge, you can still lay on your tummy and then your bump is like the pit!”
He had such childish excitement that it was contagious, and you couldn’t help but laugh. You could feel the baby fluttering around in your tummy a bit as you giggled - you’d been feeling them move around some lately, though it wasn’t enough for Grayson to feel externally yet.
“Well, if I try to blow it up I think I’ll pass out, but I wanna see what it looks like!” You grinned. He kicked off his shoes and pulled off his socks, sitting on the edge of the pool and putting his feet in while he unboxed the plastic, finding the plug and beginning to blow it up.
You watched the process, which took a good while, but it was worth the excitement on his face when he stood up and held the giant avocado up.
“That thing is huge! How much did it even cost!?”
Ethan was known to spend too much money on things that no one really needed.
“Doesn’t matter, happy momma happy baby, and since I did it, happy baby means I’m the favorite uncle.”
“I think you already win favorite uncle E, but I’m sure the baby also loves the float,” you smiled as he blushed. Though he wouldn’t admit it, you could tell he was a bit nervous at the idea of becoming an uncle. Grayson was always the brother who took over when it came to kids, and Ethan felt a bit behind in that department, but you knew he was going to be great.
“Here, come try it out!”
You waded over to the edge of the pool by Ethan, who was holding the float steady at the edge. You took his other hand and he helped pull you up. And when you laid on your stomach, you realized just how uncomfortable the other float had been.
“Holy shit, this is nice E. Thank you. You should come hang out for a while, I feel like I haven’t seen you in like a week.”
“Lemme get changed,” Ethan smiled, letting go of the float and heading inside. It wasn’t often that you got to hang out with just Ethan anymore. He was your best friend, and you were grateful for such a strong friendship that had eventually led you to being friends (and then more) with Grayson. It was like having the best brother-sister relationship that you could imagine, with the teasing and the caring perfectly balanced. You were so excited to see him be an uncle to your kid that it wasn’t even funny.
When he came back in his swim trunks, he had a bottle in his hands. You quirked an eyebrow at him.
“Sunscreen, you’re getting pink on your back,” he explained, walking into the water from the stairs and coming over to you. He put some in his hands and starting rubbing it on your back. The groan you let out wasn’t voluntary.
“Ew gross, wrong twin,” he teased. You flipped him off.
“Shut up, my back’s just sore, it feels nice,” you explained, relaxing.
“Still sore huh? That sucks dude.”
“Yep, you know just trying to make room for a human in here and shit,” you chuckled. He finished putting it all on and stowed the sunscreen on the edge of the pool. The two of you talked for a while, about work and Wakeheart, new video ideas and Ethan begging for the fiftieth time for you to let him buy the baby clothes already.
But as he was pleading his case for the baby needing a matching outfit to his, he realized that you had drifted off back to sleep. So he pulled the float over to the side of the pool, using one hand to scroll his phone and the other to push and pull it back and forth to create a sort of rocking motion that would keep you asleep.
When Grayson came out ten minutes later, he was a bit confused at the sight. Ethan immediately turned and put a finger to his lips.
“She’s out,” he explained. Grayson smiled at that - as much shit as he could give his brother sometimes, he really did have the biggest heart.
“Thanks for taking care of her man, I’m done with the edit I can take over,” he offered. Ethan brushed him off.
“Go take a nap or something, I’ve got this.”
Though he would never admit it, he really did like taking care of you. So Grayson let him, going to catch up on some sleep on the couch with a smile on his face.
may
“You okay baby?”
You frowned, wondering why he’d asked. Then you noticed that your knuckles were white where you were clinging to his hand. You weren’t sure why you were so nervous - it was just another ultrasound scan. Maybe it’s because of what you were finding out.
“I’m alright, just nervous. I can’t believe we’re finally finding out if it’s a boy or a girl.” You brought your other hand to your bump, rubbing gently over it. You already felt connected to the little human inside you, but the thought of knowing something else about them made you feel even closer.
“Then we can finally start shopping,” he smiled, bringing your hand up to his mouth and kissing the back of it.
Your OB came in then, ready to begin your scan. You watched in awe as she moved the ultrasound head around, searching until a perfectly clear picture of your baby popped up. You watched their little heart flutter while Grayson watched in awe.
“Everything looks perfect, they’re growing great, got a good amount of fluid in there to swim around in. And if we can get them to turn just a little bit, I should be able to let you know if it’s a little mrs. or mr. in there. Are you all wanting to find out the sex today?” The doctor wasn’t looking at either of you, eyes focused on the screen as she spoke.
“Yeah, we wanna know, if you’re able to see.”
“Alright, well they seem pretty active so we should be able to get a good view here in a minute. Some babies start to wiggle when mama does something, is there anything you do that makes them move around more?”
“They move when I laugh, or when Grayson talks to them.”
Grayson blushed a bit at that. You’d told him over and over that when he talked to your baby, they moved around. He would talk to them every night, hands splayed across your belly, just waiting for some type of kick. And though you could feel them inside, he had yet to feel anything.
“Why don’t you give that a try Grayson, see if they’ll move,” the doctor encouraged.
Grayson was obviously nervous to be put on the spot - he was only used to doing this in the comfort of your room at home. He cleared his throat, leaned in close to your belly, and started to speak.
“Hey baby, it’s daddy. I know you’re probably really comfortable just chilling in there right now, but we need you to move just a little bit. Not too much, but maybe just towards me a little bit. I know, I know, it’s a lot of work, but you’re tough, you can do it.”
You loved the way he talked to your baby, so sweet and adorable. You were enthralled with his words, almost forgetting where you were.
“Well, it looks like you two have a got a major daddy’s girl on your hands,” were the words that pulled you out of your trance. You hadn’t even felt the baby turn.
“Girl? We’re having a girl?!” Grayson’s eyes were wide, and he had the biggest smile on his face as he looked at you.
“Looks like it. Congratulations guys! I’ll give you guys a minute and go get some of these stills printed, then you all are set to go!” The OB wiped the gel off of your tummy and gave you a warm smile.
As soon as the doctor left, Grayson pumped his fist in the air in excitement.
“I was gonna be happy either way, but I was totally pulling for a girl,” he admitted. He was beaming - you’d always known he wanted a daughter so badly.
“And apparently she’s already a daddy’s girl. I’m in trouble,” you teased. You held your bump with both hands, looking at it in a whole new light. “Hi baby girl. Momma loves you.”
june
You knew that this day would be hard; even harder than it had been for Grayson the last few years. So you weren’t all too surprised when you woke up to an empty bed.
Your back was stiff as you crawled out from under the covers, and you gave yourself some time to stretch and put some sweats on before heading out to the living room. You saw the silhouette of him through the glass doors.
Grayson was in the backyard, sitting on the patio couch, staring out at the view of LA. You decided to give him a few more minutes alone, going to make the both of you a cup of coffee (yours unfortunately decaf).
You made sure to make a little bit of noise when you opened the door, not wanting to startle him. He turned, relaxing when he realized that it was you. His eyes were puffy and red, and you knew it wasn’t from allergies.
“Hey,” he said, throat obviously tight. “How’re my girls?”
“We’re alright. Just wanted to come check on you, see if you needed anything.”
There wasn’t much you could say to make him feel better. Father’s day would always be very bittersweet for him.
You’d thought about getting him a card, or a small gift that was ‘from the baby’, but you knew that the day would be so laden with emotions that you’d rather not potentially make it worse.
You passed him the coffee as a comforting gesture, and he gratefully took it.
“I can give you some more alone time if you need, I just wanted to see if you were alright,” you offered, giving him a soft smile. Sometimes he preferred to let his emotions out by himself, and you respected that.
“Stay please. And thank you, for the coffee.” He patted the seat next to him and you sat down, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. He leaned into you, and it wasn’t long until the shaking started. It was like the sobs were being ripped out of him, and it physically pained you to see him hurting. You did all that you could, pressing kisses to his skin and holding him as close as your bump would let you until the tears finally started to let up.
You wiped away what was left on his cheeks when he sat up to get some air, and he laid the weight of his head in your palm, obviously exhausted.
“I just miss my dad,” were his only words, and you swore you felt your heart crack right down the middle.
“I know baby. I’m so sorry.”
“I have so many questions for him, about being a dad, and raising a daughter. And I know he would have been so excited to be a grandpa. I wonder if he would have wanted her to call him grandpa, or poppy. And now she won’t even have one,” he said, a fresh batch of tears coming to the surface.
“He’s still her grandpa baby. I know he’s not here, and god I wish he was. But she’s gonna know about her poppy Sean, and what an amazing person he was. We’re gonna tell her stories, and show her pictures, and she’s gonna see all of his best qualities in you. You’re going to be an amazing dad, because you had an amazing example.” The words came spilling out of you, just like the tears came spilling down for both of you.
Coffee cups discarded somewhere close by, he took your hips in his hands and pulled you onto his lap. He buried his face in your neck and you held him tightly, running your fingers through his hair. When he moved up to your shoulder, you felt him press a few kisses to your skin - a silent thank you.
“You really think I’m gonna be a good dad? You’re not just saying that?” His voice was muffled against your skin.
“I honestly think that you’re going to be the best. And I’m not just saying that, I swear.”
“But why? Why do you have so much faith in me? I have no idea what I’m doing.”
“Neither do I. I’ve got motherly instinct to go on, and some babysitting, and that’s it. And I know you think you have no idea how to take care of a kid, but I know that you’re going to love her, and you’re going to protect her, and those are the most important things you can do. You already love her so much,” you explained.
There was an odd sensation in your tummy just then, and you gasped at it. It was new, a slow dramatic motion, and as you looked down you could actually see your skin moving. The movement tracked down the top of your bump and towards your belly button, which was pressed against Grayson. You didn’t have to ask - you knew he had felt it.
“Was that...”
“That was all her,” you assured him. You recognized the feeling as her stretching, but you realized quickly that it was the first time he’d actually felt her move. His hands moved to spread across your bump, the sadness that had been on his face now replaced with awe.
You both watched closely, waiting to see if she would do it again. You felt it first.
“She’s moving, she’s moving again, right here.” You took his hand and moved it to the right place, just in time for him to feel her kick. He looked up to you with wide eyes.
“Holy shit! I actually felt that! Does she do that all the time?”
“She’s been doing it a lot more lately. Guess she’s trying to make more room. I swear, she really does move around a lot more when you’re talking to her.”
Something about his voice made her decide to do flips all the time. Most the time it was fine, though sometimes it would be a bit sharp if her little feet or elbows found a rib. You’d never tell him that though - watching his face light up was worth any kick.
“Hey baby girl. Whatcha doin’ in there, huh? You showin’ off?” His voice softened every time he spoke to her, and your heart softened with it. On cue, she kicked again, right into his hand.
“No way! That’s so cool! Does it hurt?”
“Not unless she catches an organ or a bone,” you teased, loving how excited he was, and grateful that he was finally getting to experience this. It went on for another hour, both of you enthralled to see how she moved.
“I think she’s saying happy father’s day,” you said at one point, not thinking it through. But to your relief Grayson was beaming proudly at your words.
july
You spotted the glitter from across the store, and immediately started shaking your head.
“No. Absolutely not,” you protested as the boys approached you. Whatever it was in their hands, you weren’t going to let them buy it.
“But baby, look. It has ruffles on the butt,” Grayson explained, holding it up. It was a bright pink glittery onesie, that did indeed have ruffles on the butt of it.
“I am not putting my daughter in that.”
“I mean, Gray and I both want it. So technically you’re outnumbered,” Ethan countered, quirking an eyebrow.
“Well I’m growing her butt with my own body, so technically I get to decide that I’m not putting ruffles on it,” you mocked, eyes narrowing. He backed off, knowing better than to mess with you.
“What if we got one that wasn’t so bright? They have non-glittery ones,” Grayson offered. You always softened up when he suggested things, and looking at how small the newborn clothes looked in his hands had you in a puddle.
“Non glitter would be... better.” You said, still a bit suspicious.
It wasn’t that you were totally against girly clothes - you just thought all the baby boy clothes were so much cuter. Who wanted unicorn onesies when you could get some with jungle animals, or sea creatures? You’d found yourself wandering over to the boys section more and more, picking out little hoodies and things with simple patterns.
Grayson took you to the ruffle butt section, and you had to admit the ones in more neutral colors were quite cute. You picked out a few with him, and then it was like his eyes glazed over.
“Oh my god,” he said, head falling back a bit before coming back up to a pout he only got when he saw something too adorable. You followed him over to the sundress section where Ethan was already holding up a tiny little dress with sunflowers on it. Even you had to admit, it was adorable.
“I love it, but she’s due in September. I don’t want her to be cold,” you sighed, hand going to your tummy. You’d started to feel more and more protective of her recently.
“We’ll buy her a little jacket or something.”
You weren’t surprised that the next 30 minutes (and $300 most likely) were spent in the dress section. You decided to let the boys have their fun - you knew you’d be the one dressing her more often than not, so you could put her in whatever you wanted.
When you got back home, you headed to the nursery, which was really starting to come together. The boys were putting in so much work to make it perfect, and it made you so happy. There was a crib that Grayson had built, and tested about twenty times as well. You’d assured him that it didn’t need to hold 200 pounds, but he was very proud that it passed the test of him laying in it.
“What if she gets scared and needs me to sleep in there with her!?” was his main argument for that one, and you couldn’t fault him.
They’d painted the walls a dark gray with a few pops of light purple. There was a changing table and dresser built by Grayson as well, though right now you were focused on the closet as you put her clothes away.
“I can’t believe she’s gonna be here in like, two months,” Grayson mumbled as he hung a tiny dress up on a hanger. He was moving the delicate straps by pinching them with his fingers, which was somehow more adorable than the dress itself.
“I know, it’s crazy. Not gonna lie though, this bump is getting a little heavy. I wouldn’t mind her getting here a little sooner,” you sighed, leaning slightly to try to relieve some pressure on your back. Standing all day in the stores had your ankles swollen and your back screaming.
“Hey, I got this. Why don’t you go lay down, I’ll give you a massage when I’m done okay?”
You balked a bit at that. It wasn’t that you didn’t trust him - he was perfectly capable of unpacking baby clothes. But your nesting instincts were coming in hard these days, and you were very particular about anything nursery or baby related.
“I...”
“Color order, and separate it by type of clothes and sizes, I know. Onesies in the drawer, plain on the left and cute on the right. Plus, you’re probably going to rearrange it all next week anyways.” Grayson reassured you, checking all the boxes you didn’t even have to say.
“You’re the best,” you smiled, standing on your tip toes to kiss him - the bump was getting in the way these days.
“I know,” he joked. “Now go lay down.”
You did as he said, and he was unsurprised to find you asleep in bed when he got back a mere twenty minutes later. The sight of you curled up on your side, cradling your bump, made him smile.
He helped get you changed into pajamas - you grumbled a bit as he moved your limbs, but you didn’t wake all the way up.
Then, he moved to your ankles, rubbing at the puffiness to try and get it to reabsorb - he’d looked up the best massages for pregnant women months ago, but they were really starting to come in handy now. By the time he got to your back, you were humming at the sensation, somewhere between dreams and bliss.
“Thank you,” you mumbled. Grayson wasn’t sure if you even knew you said it.
He smiled, leaning down to kiss your forehead, then your bump. “Anything for my girls.”
august
You’d resorted to pool noodle violence, seeing that you were quite slow even in the water. You brought it down as hard as you could on Ethan first, then on Grayson.
“Enough!” you yelled, exasperated. The boys stopped in their tracks - they’d been wrestling and bickering about something for a while now, and you were annoyed. Not because they were arguing, but because the baby was doing all sorts of flips and kicks to the sounds of their voices. She had always responded to Grayson’s voice the most, but apparently Ethan’s was similar enough that he got the same response. Which meant them arguing was actually quite painful.
“If this baby kicks me in the ribs one more time because of you two, I swear,” you grumbled, rubbing over your sore stomach.
“Sorry, I keep forgetting,” Ethan apologized, giving you a look of sympathy.
“Sorry baby,” Grayson sighed, coming over to the edge of the pool where you were. It didn’t matter what you did these days - you were just uncomfortable. Your bump was huge, and you felt like a whale day in and day out. It was making you grumpy, and you hated it.
“No, I’m sorry. She just won’t stop kicking. Like girlfriend, you’ve gotta chill out,” you gestured to your bump, making both of them chuckle.
“You be nice to your momma, so that she’ll be nice to your uncle E,” Ethan said to your bump. “Oh my god, I wonder if she’s gonna get us confused.”
“No. She’s gonna know exactly who I am,” Grayson argued, a bit peeved.
“What if she likes me better?” Ethan prodded, trying to get more of a reaction as he often did.
“Hey. She’s still trying out for the world cup over here, whisper if you’re gonna talk,” you grumbled, pressing on the side of your bump to try and soothe the pain. Grayson’s hand replaced yours, rubbing soft soothing circles.
“I bet she’s kicking cause she thinks you’re annoying, like her dad does,” Grayson retorted, smirking a bit. It would have been a good comeback if he didn’t have to whisper it.
“I’m gonna be her favorite, cause I get to be the fun uncle,” Ethan countered quietly with a wicked smile.
“You both have useless nipples, therefore I’m pretty sure I’m going to be the favorite for a good 6 months at least,” you chimed in, defeating both of their arguments. “Now then, I’m getting pruny, I’m going in.”
Before you could protest, Grayson had already pushed himself up and out at the edge of the pool, coming to help you up. He wasn’t letting you out of his sight for even a second these days. He was afraid you were going to go into labor and he wasn’t going to be there.
The closer your due date got, the less worried you were. It confused Gray - he figured you’d be anxious about the delivery, the labor, all of it. But you were just excited to meet your little girl. You both hadn’t picked out a name yet - all you knew was that you wanted it to be strong, and have meaning. You were going to wait until you saw her face to fully decide.
Caught up in your thoughts, you didn’t even realize that you’d made the turn into the nursery instead of into your room. It was a bit hard to believe that you were going to have a baby of your own living in here in just a few short weeks.
“Do you wanna go back through your hospital bag and make sure we have everything?” Grayson’s voice came from behind you.
You shook your head with a soft smile.
“Oh. Do you wanna rearrange again?” You could tell he was a bit more hesitant on that one - you’d asked him to move the furniture around at least twice already this week. You couldn’t help the hormones, but you did feel bad for him.
“No, I think it’s perfect. Just picturing her in here,” you explained, taking his hands in yours.
“How are you not freaking out? Are you not nervous at all?”
“A little I guess. But I’m more excited,” you smiled.
“I’m terrified,” Grayson admitted a bit sheepishly.
“What’s got you so worried?” You wanted him to talk about it, mainly so you could try to figure out a way to help.
“I just want everything to go smoothly. My delivery didn’t go well, and I don’t want anything to go wrong with ours. Plus, I really, really, don’t wanna see you in pain. That’s gonna be really hard.”
“I’m pretty tough,” you teased, trying to address the only thing that you could actually comfort him about.
“Hell of a lot tougher than me, I know that for sure. Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For carrying our kid. I haven’t thanked you enough for the sacrifice of it. You’ve given your body up for so long, so thank you.” He was looking down at your bump now, hands rubbing over the skin.
“Best thing we’ve ever done,” you smiled, pulling him closer to kiss him, though you both had to lean a bit. “Though I’m not gonna lie, it’ll be nice when I can actually kiss you normally again,” you teased.
“I’m pretty sure the baby will be stealing most of the kisses from me,” Gray said.
“Not all of them,” you assured him, leaning to kiss him again.
september 3rd, 3am
Grayson had passed behind you at least ten times. You watched him in the mirror with a bit of a smirk. You were brushing your teeth, breathing deeply through your nose as a contraction started.
“Are they close together? Oh god, I’m supposed to be timing them, shit, okay, hold on,” he mumbled, heading back towards the room again. You caught his hand, holding him there while you spit out your toothpaste and rinsed your mouth.
“Baby. Relax.”
“Relax? How are you so calm right now!? Aren’t you like, contracting?” His eyes were wide, panicked. You knew the only way to get him calm was to stay calm yourself.
“I mean yeah,” you shrugged. Right now, it was no worse than bad period cramps. You weren’t going to freak out - waking up to your water breaking wasn’t exactly your plan, but you were more excited than anything.
Grayson packed the car while you brushed your hair, and he came back in to walk you to the car. He held your hand for the whole drive, bringing your intertwined digits up to kiss the back of your hand any time you tensed up with a contraction. There was luckily no traffic at 3am, and the drive to the hospital was easy enough.
Ethan was at home, in charge of letting everyone know that it was time, and getting Lisa and Cameron when they made it into town. So it was just you and Grayson, and you loved it, even though he was freaking out.
You got checked in and taken up to your room. Grayson was at your bedside, hand in yours from the moment you got settled with your IV. The nurse was sweet as she came in to give you your first exam. It wasn’t comfortable, but you hadn’t expected it to be.
“Well momma, look at you! Already 4 centimeters dilated! If you keep up this pace, you’re gonna be holding that baby girl in no time! Around what time did you say that your water broke?”
“Around 2:45 this morning,” you said.
“Wow. You really are moving along quickly, especially for a first time momma. I’ll come check you again in about a half hour, and we’ll see how you’re feeling okay?”
“Sounds good, thank you,” you offered her a smile as she headed out.
When you looked back over, Grayson’s eyes were on your face.
“Looks like things are gonna go pretty smooth,” you wiggled your eyebrows at him, just trying to make him laugh. He smiled, shaking his head.
“You’re insane,” was all he could say.
“Hey, I told you I was tough! And I’m sure it’s going to get a lot worse from here,” you reminded him.
“I was fully prepared for you to be screaming in pain. And you’re just here, hanging out like nothing’s happening!” He was exasperated.
“Screaming isn’t really my style. Well, I guess it is sometimes,” you winked at him.
“You are not making sex jokes right now.” He had the biggest smile now, which was all you wanted. Another contraction hit then, low in your back. You sucked in a deep breath, squeezing on Grayson’s hand as it came through. You breathed your way through it, trying to get a rhythm down that you knew you could keep going. They’ll pass. They come and then they pass was going to be your mindset for the rest of the time.
And it worked. Each time a contraction came you closed your eyes and breathed deep, focusing on the sensation of the air coming in your nose and out over your lips. The only other sensation you were willing to acknowledge was Grayson’s hand in yours, his lips on your forehead, the sweet encouragements he was whispering in your ear.
And they got worse. Much worse. The nurse came and checked you often, reassuring you that things were moving well. It was a few hours later and you were already at 8 centimeters.
“I haven’t seen a first time mom move this quickly through labor in a long, long time. Whatever you’re doing, it’s working,” the doctor said when she checked you.
“But that’s okay right? It’s not bad that it’s going fast right?” Grayson was immediately concerned.
“No, no problems at all. Less time in labor means less stress on mom and baby, so better all around. You’re a natural Y/N, I’ll give you that,” she smiled. “I’d say we’re gonna be pushing in the next hour or so.”
“Sounds great.” You gave her a soft smile, trying with all your might to be pleasant. Your hips were on fire, like you’d been holding a wide squat for the last 3 hours. You knew it was just everything widening, but damn did it hurt.
“You’re doing amazing baby, you’re so strong.” Grayson’s words came at the right time.
“I think I’m ready to be done now,” you laughed a bit, and it was the first time you’d felt any self pity the whole time. But you were tired, and you knew that pushing was supposed to be the worst part of the whole thing. You weren’t sure you were as ready for that as you thought you were.
“I know baby, I wish I could make it better. But you’re gonna have your daughter in your arms so soon, and it’s all gonna be worth it,” he reminded you. His face was laced with sympathy as he leaned in to kiss you.
It was enough encouragement to help you through, though you weren’t as quiet as you had been. Each contraction was longer, and closer together now. You were groaning a bit at the pain, trying to keep it under control as you had before, but it was getting harder.
The time crawled by, and you shed a few happy tears when the doctor came back in and told you that it was time for you to push.
It was a bit of a blur from there, all guttural instinct and people counting and breathing. The only anchor you had was Grayson, who kept himself in your view the whole time, encouraging you and letting you know you were close, that it was almost over.
And then you heard it. A loud cry, a bit of a gurgle at first, and then clear as day.
Your baby girl was here.
The nurses were wiping her off just a tiny bit, and then she was there in your arms, on your chest.
“Hi baby girl, hi sweetheart,” you cooed, wrapping her up in your arms. The tears were streaming now, and you looked up at Grayson. He was crying too, a look of pride and happiness that you’d never seen on his face before.
“Congratulations, she’s beautiful! Dad, you wanna cut the cord?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Grayson’s voice was rough as he moved to help, cutting the cord where the doctor’s clamped it off. You were mesmerized by your little angel’s face - she had Grayson’s nose and lips, you could tell already.
“Hi pretty girl, it’s momma. Welcome to the world,” you said, running a finger over her tiny nose.
“Alright momma, you catch your breath, we’re gonna get her cleaned up and swaddled okay?” The nurse gave you the warning before going to take her off your chest. You let her, and then you looked at Grayson. He was obviously torn, looking between you and your daughter.
“Go, go with her,” you encouraged him. You relaxed back into the bed, body spent entirely, but eyes wide open as you watched what was unfolding, trying to ignore everything that was happening with you, from delivering the placenta to the clean up.
They weighed her first - 6 pounds and 2 ounces - and then you watched as they wrapped her up and put a tiny hat on her head. The nurse turned and placed her in Grayson’s arms. His eyes went wide for a moment in nervous panic, and then he settled as she fit perfectly in his arms. His tears flowed freely as he looked down at her in awe.
“Hi precious. It’s daddy, yeah, it’s daddy,” he cooed, and you swore you’d never been more in love with him in your whole life. He walked slowly back over to you, leaning down and lowering her back into your arms. You scooted over as best you could, and Grayson got the hint, helping you move over with his free arm and climbing into the bed next to you.
You took her in your arms like you’d done it a thousand times before. She was peaceful there on your skin, content and happy. Her eyes opened a bit as you held her close, Grayson’s hand behind her head.
“She’s perfect. You did so good,” Grayson praised, running a thumb over her soft hair.
Gazing at her face, you knew that the name you’d secretly been considering was perfect.
“Bailey. I wanna name her Bailey. After you. And I want her middle name to be Shawn, after her poppy. We can spell it s-h-a-w-n, or s-e-a-n, either way,” you said, looking up at Grayson.
His tears were enough of an answer.
“Bailey Shawn Dolan. I love it. It’s perfect,” he smiled, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead. You weren’t sure how long you sat there with them. Somewhere in the back of your mind, you knew that there was much to come. Ethan, and Lisa and Cameron would be there soon. There would be more nurses, a lactation specialist, doctors. But right now, all you could do was watch little Bailey breathe, and be grateful for the perfect little family that you had.
an early december snowboarding trip to colorado with your favorite boys is on the agenda. nothing can go wrong... right?
word count: 6.8k
warnings/tags: jealous!grayson, angst, mild injuries, arguing, angsty angst angst I did my best okay I hope it’s worth the wait :’)
feel free to send in requests! and check out my masterlist if you wanna :)
It was the kind of cold outside that you could feel through the car. Even the metal frame of the van seemed to be shivering as Grayson continued down the highway, hand warm in yours on the center console. The sun had dipped down under the horizon, and you shifted again, trying to get comfortable in the passenger seat.
“All good?” You felt him squeeze your hand, eyes flickering over to you. Nodding, you squeezed back, shifting so you could lean against him, resting on his shoulder.
“Yeah, just trying to keep my ass from going numb,” you admitted, grinning when he let out a dry laugh. He turned his head, pressing a kiss to your forehead, then resting his cheek against the top of your head.
“You wanna go sit in the back for a bit? It’s almost Ethan’s turn to drive anyway, then I can join.” His eyes flickered to his phone, maps pulled up. Four hours left until you got to Keystone Colorado.
“I don’t wanna miss the Christmas lights.” Half the reason you were going back to Keystone was because Grayson proclaimed it to be the cutest little christmasy town he’d ever seen.
“Baby we’re on the highway for another -” he checked quickly - “three hours. Go wake E up for me so he’s ready to drive, I’ll make sure you see the lights before we leave.”
Even though it was your first time traveling long term in the van, you’d become so comfortable in it. You easily unbuckled and climbed over the center console, letting out a squeak when Grayson’s hand came up to swat your ass while it was up in the air.
Ethan was sprawled out across the bed in the back of the van, head towards the back doors, arms crossed over his torso - the perfect position for pouncing. Grayson laughed as he watched you in the rearview mirror, heading around the seats before getting a three step run in, giving you just enough momentum to launch onto Ethan.
“BOO!” You yelled, landing directly on top of him. His groan was so loud that even Grayson jumped in the front seat. “Gotta wake up, almost your turn to drive.”
“That’s twice that you’ve jumped on me today. I’d rather Grayson wake me up than you,” he grumbled, eyes still closed.
“I’m offended.”
“Because I can hit him,” he finished, making you grin.
“I’d like to see you try!” Gray called from the front, shaking his head.
“Is it really already my turn to drive? Isn’t it your turn yet?”
“Bitch I drove the first 5 hours this morning, I don’t wanna hear it,” you scoffed, rolling to the side and flopping down on the cushions. Just laying down was enough to remind you that you had in fact been up since 4am, having been the designated alarm clock for the group. The coffee you’d downed was long gone now, and with the gentle bumps of the car on the road, you knew you’d be asleep soon if you stayed down.
With that, you sat up, reaching around to get into the ‘junk’ drawer, pulling out the old deck of cards that you’d tossed in. Ethan narrowed his eyes at you, hesitant. You didn’t blame him - it was common knowledge that you could kick his ass in cards.
“War. That’s all I’m playing.”
“Lame,” you muttered, but you dealt the cards out anyways. The game helped pass the time, both of you getting a little animated when you’d pull away with a lead. He threw a card at you when you got the last ace, knowing he’d effectively lost. You stuck your tongue out in response. Bad move.
That mischief that you’d seen so many times flickered in his eyes, and you made a dive for the front of the van towards Gray. It was futile; Ethan’s arms immediately trapped you and he drug you back onto the bed.
“No!” You squealed, knowing exactly what he was going to do. The two of you ended up in sore loser situations more often that you’d like to admit, and you crawled away, trying to avoid it. Unfortunately, the van wasn’t as long as you thought and when you turned around, he was right there, pinky finger up and devilish grin on his face. He put it in his mouth and you made one last dive, but he caught you, effectively giving you a wet willy that you cringed away from.
As soon as you could you scrambled off the bed, up the tiny hallway and past the curtain, crawling into the front seat and curling up in a ball. Gray moved on instinct, arm stretching over to your seat, blocking the gap between them so his brother couldn’t make it through.
You grinned, knowing you’d made it to safe territory as Ethan glowered at you over the seat.
“Don’t make me pull this van over,” Grayson cautioned, putting on his best dad voice. You just laughed as Ethan rolled his eyes.
“Traitor,” he accused with narrow eyes, sitting back into the second row of seats as Grayson pulled off the exit to find a gas station. Once he pulled in you hopped out of the van, stretching your legs and heading in to pee. You started walking as fast as you could, the air so cold it took your breath away.
“Hang on, I’m coming.” Gray jogged to catch up with you, leaving Ethan behind to pump the gas.
“I’m fine,” you reassured him, bumping him with your arm. Almost five months ago you had told him that one time at one gas station you’d gotten kinda spooked, and ever since then, he made sure you never went in one alone if he could help it.
“I know.” He kept walking anyways, following you in and over to the corner of the store where the bathrooms were, standing by the shelves and trying to look non-creepy while he waited for you.
By the time you got back, Ethan had finished up; you could see him in the driver’s seat, plugging in his phone. Gray opened the door for you and you gladly climbed back into the warmth. You beelined for the bed, grabbing the blanket and immediately climbing under it.
You heard him laugh first, and then you felt the cushions dip as he crawled over, laying down and resting his head on your side until you turned so he could cuddle up to you.
“Keep it PG back there, I can’t close the curtain,” Ethan called, prompting Gray to flip him off. You didn’t care if Ethan saw, you wiggled down until your face was even with Gray’s, pulling him in for a kiss. You could feel his smile as he brought an arm over and under you, rolling to pull you on top of him, your hair falling around him. He reached up to push it back, holding your head and guiding your lips back down to his, skin soft and warm against yours.
Something about being so close to him just relaxed you like nothing else - you didn’t care about anything, worry about anything when you were in his arms. It had become home to you in the best way.
The downside of that? The fact that you were so comfortable that you had to pull away and let out a huge yawn. As soon as you were done you looked down to see him watching you with a smile.
“Am I boring you?” He teased, leaning up to press a kiss to your neck.
“No, you’re just cozy,” you hummed, nuzzling down onto his chest. He had on his yellow Cudi hoodie from coachella, and you traced the letters on his chest absentmindedly, eyelids heavy.
Before you knew what was happening you were fast asleep, Grayson smiling when he felt your breathing even out above him. He shifted you over onto the bed, rubbing gently over your back to keep you lulled. Once he was sure you were out, he kissed your head and slid off the bed, moving up to the passenger seat to keep Ethan company. He turned the music down so it didn’t wake you up, and E filled the silence.
“What happens when I get a girl? All four of us won’t fit in here,” he mused.
“We’ll figure it out, we could always pitch a tent if we had to. Gotta find a girl whose gonna put up with you first.”
“Ha- ha. If you can find one, I shouldn’t have a problem.”
On instinct, Grayson craned his neck up to look in the rearview mirror, checking on you. You were still asleep, curled up on your side in the middle of the bed. You looked so small and cute back there, it took more willpower than he thought it would to keep himself in his seat.
“She still out?”
Grayson just nodded, still watching you. “She was exhausted bro, I don’t know how she even stayed up that long.” Ethan’s eyes flickered up to the mirror, and he smiled.
“You picked a good one. She’s gonna fit right in.”
Grayson was pretty sure it must be a twin thing that Ethan could sense his worries even when he hadn’t voiced them. It didn’t matter how much he loved Y/N, he was still a bit nervous to bring her home to meet his family for the holidays in just a few weeks.
“I’m not worried about Ma. She’s gonna love her, I already know that. I’m worried about Cam.”
“Why wouldn’t Cam like her?”
“Cause Cam doesn’t like anyone we date, ever, you know that. She’s too damn protective.” Just the thought of his sister and his girlfriend in the same room together made his palms a bit clammy. He wiped them on his sweatpants quickly, hoping Ethan didn’t notice.
“Neither of us have ever brought a girl home like Y/N before though. And let’s be honest... Cam’s never been wrong, has she? Even if she’s a little over the top, you gotta admit, she’s got a radar for crazy. She always knew before we did if things were gonna go to shit.” E raised an eyebrow, and Grayson couldn’t help but laugh. His sister really had called out every crazy ex before he had been able to see the red flags.
“Now I’m really scared, cause I gotta trust her. Her track record’s too good, what if she says Y/N is actually batshit crazy or some shit? Then what?!”
“Well, she is dating your ass, so she’s gotta be a little crazy,” Ethan grinned until Gray smacked the back of his head.
“It was her idea to invite you along, so yeah, I’ll give to yah, she’s a little crazy.”
“I helped build this van, I automatically get invited on all trips that it embarks on.”
“Ethan you put in two fuckin screws, you didn’t build shit.”
“Cause you wouldn’t let me do anything!”
They bickered for a few more minutes before they got over it, moving onto other conversations until they ran out of highway. When they got off the exit, they were immediately greeted by the most christmasy town they’d ever seen. Every store, every porch was covered in twinkling lights - Gray considered waking you up, but you looked so peaceful that he let you be, knowing he’d have another chance to show you.
Everything went to plan until Ethan pulled into the campground that was supposed to house them for the night. The woman was nice enough, but even her polite tone didn’t make the news that there were no open campsites any better.
“I’m sorry boys, we filled up the last spot about an hour ago. Lots of people trying to get their ski trips in before the holiday rush. There’s a rest stop about 5 minutes up the way, you could park there for the night.”
“It’s alright. Thank you for your help.” Ethan mustered up the best smile he could through his exhaustion and turned the van around, pulling back out and onto the road.
“We’re gonna freeze our asses off again. The whole point of the campground was so we could run the fucking heater.” Grayson checked his phone - it was 20 degrees.
“We’ll just have to make it work. We can wake up and drive around in shifts if we have to. I’m fuckin toast man, you are too. We gotta at least try to sleep,” Ethan muttered, eyes peeled for the rest stop. Grayson didn’t have an argument for that.
As soon as they pulled off at the rest stop they were climbing into the backseat, stretching their legs for a minute before they grabbed the extra blanket they had and headed to bed.
“Don’t wake her up, she doesn’t go back to sleep easy,” Grayson cautioned, careful to move the bed as little as possible while he climbed in. Ethan copied his movements on the other side of you, trying to settle in.
“Night bro,” Ethan muttered, rolling over to face the outside of the van before reaching up to turn off his light.
“Night,” Gray answered. You were still sleeping soundly, facing towards him, some of your hair falling into your face. He couldn’t help but smile - you looked so peaceful, so cute all curled up in your pullover. He leaned over and kissed your forehead before reaching up to turn off the light, his hand finding yours that was resting face up by your head. With your fingers intertwined, he fell asleep almost immediately.
It was peaceful - until it wasn’t.
When you woke up, there were too many things going on at once. For one, the light was on, practically blinding you, which didn’t help the mission you had of figuring out what the fuck was going on. Two, your face was freezing, but your back was warm. And three, you felt heavy, and it took you a minute to realize that there was an arm slung over top of your torso, wrapped around and under you.
Seeking the warmth and the comfort, you relaxed back against his chest, blinking to try and figure out what was going on.
And that’s when you saw Grayson, up on his knees on the bed, hovering tall and angry above the both of you. It clicked then, and you realized exactly what had happened.
“Ethan, what the fuck!” Gray was yelling, his voice bouncing off the metal all around you and making you wince.
Ethan only stirred, and did the worst possible thing he could have done in that moment - you felt his arm tighten around you, pulling you against him firmly, face hiding behind your head to get away from the noise.
“E, Ethan wake up,” you muttered, knowing it wasn’t going to end well. He didn’t have much of a chance to even disengage before Grayson was grabbing his wrist and yanking his arm off of you, much more force behind it than necessary.
“Bro, what the fuck?” Ethan groaned, starting to wake up. You did your best to move quickly, rolling away from him and ending up bumping into Grayson’s thighs. Damn tiny home. Grayson’s anger dissipated for just a second while he helped you sit up, and you climbed off the bed, half to find water and half to avoid what you knew was about to happen.
“What the fuck?” He mocked. “Are you fucking kidding me Ethan?”
“Dude, I don’t know what’s up your ass right now, but can you just wait until the morning to be a dick please?” He rolled over towards the outside wall of the van, trying to avoid the lights. It didn’t last long - Grayson was on him in a second, pulling him back over onto his back. Ethan put his arms up in defense, and it was a smart move, because right after that Grayson started shoving, pushing at his chest and his shoulders.
“Grayson, what the fuck is your problem right now?” He was fully awake now, his anger rising.
“My problem? My problem is that I woke up to you all over my fuckin’ girl, that’s my problem. The fuck is wrong with you?” He shoved him again, and you winced when you heard Ethan’s body hit the metal of the wall. You knew it didn’t hurt him, but it still made you upset.
“Guys-” you tried, but you knew it was futile - you knew better than to try to get into the middle of one of their piss matches. Your voice fell on deaf ears, and you sighed, climbing into the second row of seats. The leather was cold, so you tucked your hands down into your sleeves, curling up on your side while the argument continued.
“Bro, I was fucking asleep. I probably thought she was a blanket or something, it’s cold as fuck in here.” Ethan tried to defend himself. You hoped Grayson would be calmed by his words, but of course, he wasn’t.
“I don’t give a fuck if you’re fucking cold, Ethan. You can keep your hands to yourself.”
“Oh, shit, you’re so right! Let me just check in with my motivation real quick... oh wait, I was fucking unconscious.”
Your exhaustion only heightened your annoyance, and you moved your arm up over your ear, pleasantly surprised with how much noise the fluffy fabric blocked out.
You’d almost made it back to sleep, surprisingly comfortable in the seat when Grayson noticed you were gone.
“Y/N? Y/N! Where the fuck did she go?”
You only reacted when you felt his hand on your arm. You turned to look up at him, and even if you were annoyed your heart tightened at the little bit of panic left on his face.
“I thought you left the van, you scared me,” he breathed, still keeping a hand on you.
“Nope, just trying to get some sleep and avoid the testosterone overload,” you muttered, quirking an eyebrow.
“Come back to bed.” There was a twinge of guilt in his tone, and it softened you whether you wanted it to or not.
“I can sleep just fine right here. Might avoid me becoming a tug-of-war rope at 3am.”
“Baby. Please.” He was pleading now, tugging on your arm just barely. The stubborn part of you fought it, but you knew you were going to give in eventually. Might as well do it now.
Grayson relaxed a bit when you stood up, taking your hand just for the quick walk to the back of the van. Ethan was on his side, facing the wall again, but you could tell he was awake when he scooted over as Grayson climbed into the middle where you had been.
It was petty, but you figured it would solve the problem well enough, so you didn’t fight it. He turned the lights off, and as soon as you were laying down Grayson’s arm was around you, pulling you back against his chest as tight as he could, cold nose nuzzling into your neck.
“Mmmm, you’re warm,” he hummed quietly, just for you.
“You’re lucky you’re cute, you possessive fuck,” you mumbled, cuddling up to him despite your words.
“You love it.”
“I don’t love when you fight with Ethan.”
“I always fight with Ethan.”
“I know, that’s the whole point,” you sighed. He shifted behind you, and you felt his hand come up to brush some of the hair off your neck, fingers moving to the collar of your pullover so he could find some skin and press a kiss there.
“I’ll try to behave tomorrow. Promise. As long as Ethan keeps his hands to himself.”
You just rolled your eyes before closing them, soaking in the warmth of him there next to you as you drifted off.
----------
The first sip that hit your lips was still too hot, and you frowned down at your mug.
“Not good?” Ethan quirked an eyebrow, already downing his latte across from you.
“Still too hot,” you mumbled, blowing down onto the liquid, watching the ripples spread across the top of the foam.
“Before he gets back -” Ethan nodded at his brother, who was still waiting for his coffee by the counter - “I just wanted to say I’m really sorry if I made you uncomfortable last night. I mean, I was asleep, but I still feel really bad cause I know that was probably weird for you.”
“E, chill. It’s fine, really. We were all cold as fuck, I don’t blame you for grabbing the first warm thing you found. I’m sorry he’s so damn protective, I know you didn’t mean anything by it.” You did your best to reassure him quickly but sincerely. He just mouthed a quick “thank you” as Grayson sat back down at the table.
Even though they hadn’t outrightly bickered yet, the tension was obvious between the boys. Gray sat turned almost entirely towards you, his back to Ethan in the most subtle of standoffish ways.
You stayed out of their arguments as much as you could - you had no place interfering in the twins relationship with each other, that was for sure. But it didn’t mean you didn’t feel bad for Ethan sometimes when Grayson was being a dick. You frowned as you watched him quietly sip at his coffee, knowing that if he said something that could even be slightly misconstrued, his brother would take it and run with it.
“So what gear do I need to get exactly?” You opened up the conversation, hopeful that it wouldn’t devolve.
Grayson launched into it, explaining everything you would need to rent out for the day ahead of you, from your board and boots to your goggles and helmet. It got him talking, which kept him from giving Ethan dirty looks, which was your ultimate goal.
You kept the conversation going as best you could for the rest of the morning, just bringing up random things to keep the emotions light and friendly. You got your reprieve about an hour later, when the three of you arrived at the slopes and walked into the rental store at the bottom. Someone greeted you at the door, giving you a chance to take a breath.
“You make a good mediator,” Ethan muttered in your ear when Grayson followed the employee towards the snowboards. Maybe you hadn’t been as subtle as you originally thought.
“Might as well be my full time job living with you two,” you teased, bumping him with your shoulder.
“Hopefully he gets the stick out of his ass before we hit the slopes.”
You headed over to Grayson, Ethan in tow, and started to listen to the instructions from the employee. You got a bit lost in the jargon, but you understood that the boys got advanced boards and you got a beginner one.
“It’ll make it easier if you mess up, cause it’s more bendy,” Gray explained, offering you an encouraging smile. You weren’t the most coordinated, and you’d never tried to snowboard before, but you’d promised you’d try.
“Sounds good to me,” you shrugged, letting out a bit of a clueless laugh.
“First time out there huh?” The employee offered you a bright smile - he was a bit shorter than the boys, with a sweet face and a head full of blonde hair.
“Yeah, gonna give it a go.”
“Nervous?”
“A little,” you admitted.
“I’m sure you’ll do great, you seem like a smart girl. Just stick to the green slopes at the start, those are for beginners. If you need some tips, just let me know.”
Grayson’s arm was around your waist immediately, pulling you against him so hard you almost lost your footing.
“I can handle the tips. Just need the gear,” Gray said, tight smile on his lips. It took all your willpower to stop yourself from rolling your eyes.
“Right. Let me just go get the rest of it.”
“Thank you,” you said, elbowing Grayson in the ribs as soon as the boy turned around and disappeared to the back storage.
“So we’re being assholes to customer service workers today too, huh?” You accused. You saw Ethan’s eyebrows raise as he held back a laugh behind his brother.
“He was flirting with you.”
You didn’t get a chance to refute it because the boy came back with all the gear in his hands. Most of it was for you - the boys already had jackets, boots and goggles. You passed them their helmets while you scooped up all the puffy fabric and Grayson paid.
The whole interaction didn’t come up again until you were on the lift, all geared up and headed to the first green slope. Ethan had gotten onto the seat behind the two of you, and you knew he’d done it on purpose. You tried a softer approach - instead of bringing it up, you just leaned over and kissed him. Your goggles that were nestled on top of your head clinked together, and you giggled at it before you leaned back.
“What was that for?” He mused.
“Just a reminder that I’m yours and you don’t have to worry about a teenage ski resort employee. Or your brother. Especially not your brother.”
You expected him to laugh, or at least smile. You got neither.
“A reminder? Why would I need a reminder?”
“I don’t know, you’ve just been getting jealous really easy lately. Thought maybe it was something I did,” you muttered, already shrinking down. You got annoyed when he was pissy with other people, but when he was pissy with you? You felt like an ant, tiny and fragile.
“I’m fine.”
“Okay.”
The rest of the short ride was silent, and you were relieved he still helped you get off the lift despite his attitude. But that was about the only help he gave you - he went down the slope almost immediately, leaving you at the top with your board in your hands. You pulled your goggles down over your eyes, hoping that might keep you from tearing up more than you already were.
“Here. I’ll show you,” Ethan’s voice was as soft as ever when he came up beside you. “Put your board down, and strap your right foot in.”
You did as he instructed, glad that he had his foot in front of your board so it didn’t slide away from you.
“Okay, now you just gotta feel it. Kick using your back foot for a minute so you can move and get used to it and find your balance, and then bring your other foot up on top. To go faster, shift forward a bit, and to stop turn your board sideways. I’ll go with you in case you can’t get stopped.”
You followed his instructions, gliding just barely over the snow. You were crawling forward, but you started to get the hang of the feeling. All was good until you tried to stop, overcorrecting and immediately losing your balance.
“Woah, I gotcha, you’re fine.” Ethan caught you, somehow managing to stay up on his board as well. You’d never understand how both boys could be so athletic.
“Thanks. Was that right? I mean, besides the stop.”
“Not bad for your first, uh, 2ft run,” he grinned, teeth as white as the snow he was standing on.
“Thanks for helping. Sorry he’s being a dick, I know you all usually snowboard together.” It was kinda their thing. Maybe you coming along wasn’t such a good idea.
“This was your all’s trip, you were nice enough to invite me on it,” he reminded you. “So I’m sorry he’s being a dick. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun. Right?”
“Right,” you smiled.
“Okay then. Let’s keep practicing.”
Ethan’s patience was endless. He showed you the ropes, encouraging you as you got your control down, even cheering so loud that everyone looked when you made it all the way down the slope without stopping.
“We should go up to an intermediate slope. I think you can do it.” His confidence transferred over to you, and you just shrugged, laughing a bit at the sound your suit made when it rubbed against itself.
“If you say so.”
“Let me go find Mr. Grumps, I’ll meet you back at the lift.” And then he was off, looking for his twin. You undid your straps, picking up your board and heading for the lift.
Five minutes later, you saw the boys approaching, boards tucked under their arms. Just from their walks, you could tell that Grayson was still pissed, and you sighed at the sight. When he got in his head like that, there wasn’t much you could do to bring him out of it. But that didn’t mean you had to put up with it either.
So you only felt a little guilty when you climbed onto the lift seat next to Ethan, leaving Grayson to sulk by himself.
Ethan just quirked an eyebrow over his goggles, making you laugh.
“Nobody wants to ride with Mr. Grumps,” you teased.
“Understandable. We’ll just make this a best friend run instead of a couple-and-third-wheel-twin-brother-run.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
When you got off the lift, you didn’t hesitate. Knowing you’d lose your confidence if you waited, you started down immediately, exhilarated by the feeling of the freezing wind in your face. You felt in control, like you could conquer the world. Ethan was right behind you, whooping and yelling as you both tore down the slope, picking up speed.
All was well until someone cut a bit too close to you, almost running into you, turning at the last second and sending snow up into your face.
“Woah!” You squeaked, trying to turn to avoid them. It happened quickly after that, a blur of white snow, hard ground, yelling and a body colliding with your quite hard. A sharp pain erupted in your ankle as you jolted to a stop, only then realizing that your eyes had been squeezed shut. You opened them to see pine trees above you, slightly discolored by your goggles.
“Y/N! You okay? Are you alright?” Ethan’s voice was in your ear first, and then he was moving, shifting from underneath you. You pieced it together quickly - he’d grabbed you, kept you from slamming into the trees. Which meant he’d taken the brunt of the force.
“I’m fine, I’m okay. Are you okay? Holy shit.”
“I’m alright, just a little winded,” he said, trying to take a few deep breaths.
“Just breathe, you’re okay,” you encouraged, but you weren’t sure he heard you over the yelling that had erupted back on the slope. You looked up to see Grayson, running over as quickly as the snow trapping his feet would let him. When he got to you he sent snow flying when he dropped to his knees beside you.
“Baby! Are you alright? Are you hurt? You okay?”
“I’m fine, Ethan took the worst of it.”
“E, you good?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” he reassured him, moving to stand up against the tree.
“I saw you all go off track, I thought you totally lost it, that was scary as fuck.” The panic was still evident in his voice, and you couldn’t help but reach a hand out to him. It grounded you more than you thought it would, and you shifted to him, asking for a hug. He pulled you to his chest, squeezing tightly.
“C’mon, let’s get you up.” Gray stood first after he let go, and you leaned forward to unstrap your board. As soon as you touched your left foot you winced, the breath you sucked in hissing through your teeth.
“What, what’s wrong?” It was Ethan’s voice, which surprised you.
“I must have hit my ankle on the tree. Hurts like a bitch.” Now that you had noticed it, there was no ignoring it. It throbbed like your heart was there instead of in your chest.
“Can you walk on it?” Grayson pushed his goggles off his face, concern strong in his eyes.
“I don’t think so.”
“I told you she wasn’t ready for an intermediate slope Ethan, I fuckin’ told you!” Grayson turned on his brother, and you spoke before you could think.
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Grayson turned back to you, eyes wide. “You should be thanking him right now, he just saved my ass. And where were you? Oh right, sulking. Like you have been this whole damn trip. I’m done dealing with it. So just get me off this damn mountain. Please.”
They both just stared at you for a minute, unsure of exactly what to say. It wasn’t often that you had an outburst like that, but your anger was still bubbling, only fueled by the pain in your foot.
“I’ll go flag somebody down. Do you think you can get her out of the trees?” Grayson’s voice was small, and you immediately felt a twinge of guilt that you tried to ignore.
“Yeah, yeah I got her,” E answered, already moving over to you. He reached down and picked you up bridal style, heading back out to the edge of the slope. Once he sat you down and went back for the boards, you watched Grayson, who was traversing down to the medical tent located halfway down the slope.
Five minutes later and you were in a small sled, which was tied to the back of an ATV of sorts. You already knew you looked dumb, but Ethan laughing at you didn’t help matters. You flipped him off and stuck your tongue out.
“I’m coming with you,” Gray offered.
“No. You two are gonna go down at least three more slopes, and you’re gonna come back to the van and be happy siblings again. Okay?”
“Y/N...”
“I’m not asking. Give me my board, and go,” you instructed. You were pissed enough that he didn’t question it, handing you your board in defeat.
The paramedic looked back at you for a signal. You gave him a thumbs up and he pulled away, sending you on your way down the mountain, the boys watching you leave.
The process was easy enough at the bottom of the mountain considering they put you in a wheelchair to get you to the small clinic they had on site. The nurse was nice, reassuring you that they saw stuff like this all the time and there was nothing to be sorry for.
An hour later, you had the diagnosis of a severe sprain and a crutch to use to help you get where you needed to go. They had been nice enough to take your gear back to the rental, which meant you could head straight for the van. It was a relief when you made it there, glad that you’d been trusted with the keys.
With no hesitation, you climbed back to the bed, glad to have a place to put your swollen ankle up. It was already starting to get dark, and you knew the boys would be headed back soon.
back at the van, just knock when you get here cause I might be asleep you text, moving your phone over and cuddling down under the blankets.
Sure enough, you awoke to the knock on the metal door about an hour later. The entire interior was pitch black, so you turned on a light before you headed to the door, hopping on one foot until you got to the seat, sitting down and reaching for the door.
It slid back to reveal only Ethan, standing there with a goofy smile.
“Did you kill him or something?”
“Thought about it,” he joked, climbing up and around you, immediately moving towards the console and maneuvering into the driver’s seat. You narrowed your eyes. Something was definitely up.
“He’s going to try to make this up to me isn’t he.”
“Yes.”
“Did he at least apologize to you?”
“Yes.”
“And you aren’t going to tell me anything else are you.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Cool.” You sat back into your seat as Ethan backed the van up, heading god knows where. There was no point in stressing about it - it was happening whether you liked it or not. You tried not to speculate as Ethan drove back through the town, but you couldn’t help but get curious when he turned into a neighborhood.
“Pretend I’m not here,” he mumbled, pulling over to the sidewalk and putting the van in park.
Before you could ask, the door was opening and there stood Grayson. But you only looked at him for a moment before you looked down, something catching your eye.
“You’re here to apologize. And you brought... an office chair?” Your eyes flickered between his face and the chair. He offered you a small smile, holding up a cup.
“And hot chocolate. Just... just get a blanket and come out here. Please.”
It wouldn’t have mattered if you didn’t want to, you were too intrigued to resist. Ethan passed you a blanket from the passenger seat, and Grayson came up to the side of the van, wrapping an arm around your waist to lift you down gently onto your good foot. It took a bit of hopping, but soon enough you were settled in the chair.
He handed you the cup before he wrapped the blanket around your shoulders. You felt him press a kiss to your head before he closed the van door, tapping it twice, signaling Ethan to drive away.
“You gonna fill me in?” You craned your neck back so you could look at him. Even with just the light of dusk, you could see the guilt written all over his face.
“I was a dick this whole trip. And I ruined it. For you, and for Ethan. I don’t know what got into me, I’ve just been in my head a lot, but I took it out on you all instead of just talking about it. Which is dumb as fuck. And shitty. And I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.” Sincerity dripped from every word he said, and you were surprised at the weight that it lifted off of you.
“You’re forgiven,” you grinned, glad that you didn’t feel like you had to be mad at him anymore.
“Really?”
“Yes really. Now are you gonna explain where you stole this chair from and why?” You accused.
“I didn’t steal it. I convinced the lady at the coffee shop to let me borrow it for an hour.”
“Convinced?”
“I gave her twenty bucks,” he grinned, shrugging one shoulder up to touch his ear. You couldn’t help but laugh at him. You sipped at your hot chocolate as he started to push you down the sidewalk.
“I promised you I’d show you the lights before we left. And somebody went and sprained their ankle, so I had to improvise the cute little walking date I had planned,” he explained, making your heart swell. Sure enough, as the sun continued to dip down, more and more houses intricate light displays were coming to life, mixtures of crisp white and colorful arrangements.
“Woah, look at that one!” You pointed at one with snowmen out in the yard, only realizing that he was filming on his phone when you turned around to look at him.
“You’re so cute,” he smiled, continuing to push you through the neighborhood. You weren’t sure how long it lasted - there were too many houses to count, and you both rated them out of 10 each time, picking out your favorite parts.
When you reached the end of the road he spun you around, leaning over you, hands on the armrests for support. The lights behind him turned into fuzzy circles as your eyes focused on his.
“I promise I’ll make this up to you. Take you on another snowboarding adventure and not be an asshole this time.”
You scrunched your nose at him. “Yah know, I think I might be more of tropical girl. Beaches. Fruity drinks. You shirtless instead of in five layers,” you grinned, tugging down on his hoodie so you could pull his lips to yours.
“You taste like chocolate,” he mused, kissing you again, tongue running over your lips. “I’ll take you wherever you want, you just say the word.”
“Right now? I have an idea of exactly where you can take me...” You let it hang in the air for a moment.
“Oh?”
“Mhmmm. Back to the van. So I can get my hands on... some fucking ibuprofen. This shit hurts,” you pointed down at your foot with a wicked grin.
He huffed out a breath that turned to fog in the cold air.
“I deserved that one.”
“Yep.” You pulled him back down for one more kiss, savoring the warmth of it on your cold lips. “I love you, even when you’re a dick.”
“I love you more. Thanks for dealing with my annoying ass,” he sighed, forehead against yours.
“It’s worth it. Now c’mon, apparently we have an office chair to return.”
this is a continuation of dark, which you can read here
after the break in, you try to put on your brave face, but you’re not as unaffected as you pretend to be
word count: 4.6k
warnings/tags: dark themes
feel free to send in requests! and check out my masterlist if you wanna :)
Nothing felt worse than overstaying your welcome, and although he would never say anything, you felt bad for taking up so much of Nick’s space in his already small apartment. So, you finally put your foot down on the third night in the twin bed, sitting up to look at Grayson as he laid against the pillows.
“We’re going back tomorrow. We aren’t gonna just hide out here.”
“Are you ready to go back?” There was no pity in his tone, just sincere concern as he rested his hand on your hip, rubbing circles. He was constantly touching you now, a reassurance for him more than for you.
“No, but we don’t really have a choice do we?” You let out a dry laugh, resisting the urge to scratch at the scab on your neck. It was still a bit tender, but you’d refused the bandage - it just made it more noticeable, put you on edge.
“Of course we do. We aren’t going back until you’re 100% ready. I mean that.”
“Grayson. I don’t know if I’m ever gonna be 100% ready,” you admitted, hating that you sounded a bit weak, a bit scared. You’d never admit anything like that to anyone but Grayson, and you watched carefully to see how he was going to take it. It was like clicking through pictures on a ViewMaster, each one changing rapidly before your eyes - sadness, anger, fear, uncertainty. It was killing him to see you, his strong girl, feeling fragile.
“Hey. C’mere.” He didn’t wait for you, instead just pulled you tightly against his chest, knowing that at least if you were in his arms he could keep you safe. “We’ll rent a different house or something. Hell, I’ll buy a new house, sell the one we have.”
“Don’t be dramatic,” you joked, but even in the darkness of the room you could tell there was nothing humorous about it to him. His arms only tightened.
“I’m not being dramatic. I’m gonna do whatever it takes to make you feel safe again, and if that’s what I have to do then that’s what I’ll do.”
And Grayson was a man of his word.
It was mostly subtle things, and nothing out of the ordinary. Grayson was a protective man after all, and always had been, even in the first days of your relationship. But now, it was just that tiny bit more noticeable. Instead of resting his hand on the small of your back when you walked to the car the next morning, he held onto your hip, pressed you up against his side until you were safe in the passenger seat. He kept a hand on your thigh in the car, too focused on making sure you were okay to even listen to the music he put on. He put smooth cat on autopilot, knowing he was too focused on you to react quickly if he needed to.
You liked to think that you kept it together well, that you didn’t let any of the panic show. The tightening of your stomach as you got off the interstate, the quickening flutter of your heart when the tesla made the turn onto their street. But it was harder to hide your breathing when the gates came into view, the gates that used to make you feel so safe and secure. Grayson stopped at the end of the driveway, pulling his phone out and calling Ethan.
“Yo. We’re here, can you unlock the gates?” A beat of silence. “Yeah, yeah we’re good. See you in a minute.”
It took a moment before the gates swung open, revealing the rest of the driveway and the house. It looked less intimidating in the daylight despite the dark exterior, and you forced a deep breath in and out of your lungs. You’re safe. Grayson’s right here, he’s safe. You’re okay. The little mantra played in your head as you willed yourself to pull it together, to keep your chin high as he put the car in park. Just breathe in, and breathe out. That’s all you had to do.
Everything looked the same - the pull up rings were still hanging from the tree at the side of the yard, the tiny shed still stood beautiful and warm. It was Grayson’s house, your house, and you weren’t going to someone take that from you. It was a bit easier to breathe when Ethan appeared outside the front door, smile wide and welcoming. You realized how much you’d missed him, and you clung to that feeling, focused in on it instead of the daunting task of going back in the house.
Grayson was two steps behind you as you got out of the car, heading up the sidewalk before you could overthink it, eyes on Ethan.
You weren’t sure how his hugs were so different than Grayson’s but they were. A different comfort came over you when he wrapped you up - not better, just different.
“Missed you bub, how’re you feeling?”
You weren’t sure how to answer such a loaded question, so you gave him a simple “I’m okay. I missed you too” and he let it slide instead of prying like he usually would.
You breathed him in and settled yourself before he moved on to Grayson, pulling him into a hug that you knew was probably going to last a moment. You reached for the door, surprised when it held firm in the frame. Ethan had just come outside, it shouldn’t be locked, but you dug around your purse for your key anyways.
“Oh, we changed the locks, here I’ll get it.” Ethan perked up, pulling out his phone. He pressed a few things on his screen and held his finger down before you heard the click that signified the door had unlocked. “I’ll show you all, c’mon.”
Your feet didn’t move until you felt Grayson next to you, tall and strong and stable. He laced his fingers with yours quickly, squeezing three times like he always did - a small reassurance that he was there. You resisted the urge to close your eyes, to turn around and run back to the car. Instead, you looked over at Grayson, anchoring yourself to him as best you could before you finally walked inside.
It didn’t look any different, but it felt different. The vinyls and play button had been placed back on their shelves, the blanket Ethan always used and never folded was piled up on the couch like always instead of folded in the basket. It smelled like the new wakeheart candles, a mixture because they could never decide which one to burn.
“You okay?” Grayson’s voice was in your ear, low and warm as he moved his hand from yours and wrapped it around your waist. Being held up against him soothed you more than you realized and you were grateful to have the pressure to anchor you, especially as you realized where Ethan had settled.
The kitchen.
You’d thought coming back in the day would make it easier, but the light from the windows did no good. As soon as you rounded the corner you could see it perfectly, see where you’d been standing, where he’d been standing, feel his arm holding you captive, the knife on your throat. Your eyes flickered to the counter, relieved to see that someone had thought to put the knife block away for your sake.
Grayson reacted to you as you reacted to the room, immediately moving in front of you, blocking your view of anything but him. You shifted your focus to his face, tracing your gaze over all those familiar features - the spot in his eyes where the green shifted to brown, the scar on his chin, the stubble on his cheeks. Breathe in. Breathe out.
“Hey, you’re okay. We don’t have to do this in here, not today.”
He took your silence as an answer, turning and moving down the hallway to the podcast studio, Ethan getting up to follow. There was something soothing about the stillness of the studio when you all made it in and closed the door - no sound getting in, no extra light. Contained... controllable.
It gave you the stability you needed to find your voice.
“We changed the locks. So that means he got in through the door?” You looked at Ethan, who was sitting on the table facing you and Grayson on the couch, knowing he would have gotten the full story from the detectives. It was in his personality to know every detail when something went wrong.
“Yeah. He paid off one of our construction guys to steal a key and make him a copy, told him he’d give him a cut after he sold everything he was gonna steal. He snuck over the fence in the back, so we added to that, made it taller and put a sensor there. And now the locks are only openable by our phones, and our fingerprints. Here, you can look.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket, unlocking it and pulling up the app. You scrolled through as he kept explaining, noticing all the different options and settings.
“So we can arm any door or window from the app now, and unlock or lock the doors. They’re all electric now, but we can also make it where it requires a key if we want. And you have to put your fingerprint in, so even if someone gets a hold of your phone they can’t access the house. We added more cameras outside too, and theres an option to upgrade and do in house cameras as well, but I wanted to see how you guys felt about that.”
“Thats up to Y/N,” Grayson said, pulling you out of your head a bit as you looked up from the phone.
“Why is it up to me?”
“If it’ll make you feel safer then we’ll do it. I mean, we haven’t done in house cameras before because people can hack that shit, but if it’ll make you feel better we’ll do it.”
You weren’t sure if it was the stress you were under or his casual tone, but his words rubbed you the wrong way for the first time since everything had happened.
“Look, I know that I’m the one with the cut on my throat.” Grayson flinched at your words, hand tightening on your thigh. “But this dude broke into your house.”
“Our house,” Ethan corrected. He never wanted you to feel like it was any less your house than his or Graysons despite the fact that you hadn’t paid for any of it.
“Okay our house. Still, I’m not the only one in this equation. This is a group thing.”
“A family thing,” Grayson mused, any annoyance you had with him fading away at his sweet words.
“A family thing. Which means it needs to be a family decision. And yeah, out of the three of us I’m probably gonna have the hardest time with everything because.... well, because.” You didn’t have to go into detail - just the way that their shoulders tightened told you that they were seeing the same thing in their head. “But I want you guys to feel safe too. Cause it could have been either of you. And the thought of it happening to you guys scares me just as much as the idea of it happening to me again. Hell, it scares me more.” You couldn’t dwell on that, just the brief thought of either of them in danger making your heart skip.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
Ethan reached out a hand for yours and you took it, watching as he linked up with Grayson’s left, and when your hand found Grayson’s right you sighed, squeezing both of them as the tears started to prickle.
“We’re gonna take care of each other. Like always. Like family. Whatever we gotta do. Yeah?” Grayson was sniffling too though he tried to hide it with a smile at the end. His lip quivered anyways.
“Yeah. Always. Group hug?” Ethan spoke up.
You nodded, and the twins stood up in sync, you one beat behind before the three of you stepped together and hugged. You were a bit dwarfed by both of them, tall and broad, but the way they held you to them made you feel safer than you had since you entered the house.
“I vote no to the cameras by the way,” Ethan said over your head after a moment. You all leaned back so you could see each other, still holding on.
“I know I’m gonna hit the wrong thing and pick the wrong camera at the wrong time. It’s just my luck bro. Seriously.”
The mental image of you and Grayson in a compromising position on Ethan’s tiny screen was probably the only thing that could have gotten a true laugh out of you, and you were happy that it did. It cut the unintentional tension in a way that only Ethan could. The three of you squeezed together again before you let go, though Grayson’s hand stayed on your back.
“Okay, enough with the heavy. I’m hungry, but the kitchen is obviously a no go for mwah so... Monty’s?”
“Hell yeah, I’m driving, since you all jacked my car for three days.”
“You told us to take it!” Grayson argued.
“Doesn’t mean I didn’t miss her,” he countered, pulling the door of the studio open and leading the way out.
You were able to keep your mind off of everything for the most part once you were back outside and in the tesla. You got Monty’s to go and ate in the parking lot, caught up on everything regarding the candle launch prep and the podcast between bites of fries and sips of milkshakes.
You’d hoped the dread wouldn’t come back when you made it home, but alas, the pit returned to your stomach at the movement of the gates. Breathe in. Breathe out.
The sun was setting over the house. Most days it would be beautiful. You’d probably pull your phone out, run around to the back yard to get a better picture, maybe even have Grayson boost you up onto the roof.
But not that night.
Now, it was just a reminder that darkness was coming, and you were going to have to face the house again. The front door seemed to mock you after it closed behind Ethan as you stood frozen in the driveway. It was staring you down, daring you to try it again, to see if you could keep it together better than you had earlier.
“We can go somewhere else. We don’t have to sleep here tonight.” Grayson’s voice was low enough that Ethan couldn’t hear. “We can go to Ryan’s.”
“Coop is there, you’d die in your sleep,” you countered, accidentally admitting you’d already considered it.
“I have my inhaler, I’d manage. Or we can go to Ster’s.”
“We’re sleeping here. I have to get over it.”
“Woah, hey,” he turned you by your hip, a mixture of disbelief and anger in his eyes. “None of that. Don’t put that pressure on yourself.”
“I just mean that I can’t keep avoiding it. I gotta at least try to do it. I love this place, I don’t wanna be scared of it.”
He searched your face, looked for anything he could read. You weren’t sure what he was looking for, but you just focused in on his features again. Breathe in. Breathe out.
“Okay. But you have to promise me that you’ll tell me if it’s too much. Even if it’s just a little bit too much. Okay? You promise?”
“Yeah. I promise.”
“Okay. Then we’ll try.” It caught you a bit by surprise when he leaned down to kiss you, hand coming up to your jaw. You knew his fingers grazed over your cut, knew he felt it, pretended like he didn’t. You pretended too. “I’m proud of you. My strong girl.”
You wanted to deflect it, make a joke about how he was definitely stronger even though you knew that wasn’t what he meant. Anything to keep your heart from swelling up, overwhelmed as it usually was by the fact that he loved you as much as he did, somehow. Instead you just wrapped your arms around his waist and let him guide you back into the house.
“Let me set up your alls phones before we go to bed, so you can do shit in the morning if you want,” Ethan said from the kitchen when you appeared. You handed your phone over, let him do what he wanted as you tried to process everything in the kitchen.
The spot two steps to the left of the sink was where he’d trapped you. But it was also where you had tried Grayson’s french toast for the first time, watched his face light up when you told him it was perfect. The spot on the counter where the knife block was supposed to sit used to be where the speaker sat, the source of so many late night ice cream dance party nights, the background noise to the tiger cub wrestling matches the boys sometimes had. You focused on those memories, hoping they’d override the most recent, the persistent one that kept nagging at the edge of your mind as you fought against it.
Ethan passed your phone back after a minute, moving on to Grayson’s. You fiddled with the settings, glad to see that you could check any of the outside cameras that you wanted to. You could arm and unarm the door, see the last time it had been opened and by who. It was a complex system, and you didn’t even want to think about how much it cost - you knew Grayson would say it didn’t matter anyways.
Once Grayson’s phone was done you gave Ethan a final goodnight hug before the two of you headed towards your room. You held your breath a bit when you went around the corner - an unconscious habit that would unfortunately stick around for almost a year. You kept your hands at your sides as you walked, not wanting to touch the wall like you had that night, not knowing if it would cause a reaction in you or not.
Getting to the bedroom made you breathe a bit easier. The bed was made, but definitely by Ethan considering the pillows were on the wrong side. You still smiled at the gesture, knowing he’d come in and made it welcoming for you to come back to. But seeing the window above the bed, the closet doors, the general lack of light - so many places for someone to hide, to sneak up on you, to wait for when you aren’t looking. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.
“Do you wanna shower? I know you said that shampoo at Nick’s was weird, it might feel good to use your own stuff,” Gray offered, obviously seeing that you weren’t sure what to do.
“Yeah. Yeah that’s probably a good idea.”
You moved to the drawers, grabbing a pair of underwear and one of Grayson’s shirts before you headed towards the bathroom.
“Do you want me to come with you?”
“No, no it’s okay. I got it,” you answered on instinct. Surely, surely you could handle showering by yourself.
“Oh. Okay.” The worry in his voice rang like a bell, and you frowned.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, I just... can you leave the door open? Don’t like you being where I can’t see you right now.” It was his turn to be a bit shy. Grayson never liked acting like he needed help, never liked admitting that he had a weakness. You were alike in that way. The fact that he even said anything made you want to melt into a puddle.
“Of course I can baby. I’ll be quick.”
“I’m gonna get some work done, just yell if you need me. I love you.”
“I love you too.” You leaned over on the bed, giving him a quick kiss before you went into the bathroom, having to stop yourself from closing the door. Grayson’s new bathroom was very aesthetically pleasing, with the dark green tiles and the marble fixtures. It was cozy enough, and you’d been in it enough times that you felt comfortable there as you brushed your hair.
Grayson’s eyes flickered away from his laptop when you stripped down, watching until you got under the stream of water in the shower. He cursed himself for getting the tempered glass that you couldn’t see more than an outline through.
You’d been in that shower so many times, but something about this time just felt... off. You couldn’t place it - maybe you felt exposed because you were naked, or claustrophobic because of being closed in. You tried to swallow it down, ignore it, distract yourself by starting your usual routine, lathering up your hair with shampoo. Still, your heartbeat sped up, thundering in your chest, so loud it was in your ears.
You’re safe. Grayson’s right here, he’s safe. You’re okay.
You’re safe. Grayson’s right here, he’s safe. You’re okay.
You’re safe. Grayson’s right here, he’s safe. You’re okay.
But Grayson wasn’t right there, he was too far away, out of your sight. He could be in trouble, he could be in danger, you’d had no idea that there had been a man in the house before, who was to say there wasn’t another one now?
You couldn’t catch your breath, couldn’t focus, couldn’t move as everything started to close in around you.
“Gra- Grayson!” You yelled it, probably louder than you needed to.
The only time Grayson had ever heard you sound like that was a few nights ago, and his blood ran cold.
“Y/N? Baby?!” He was on his feet, laptop thrown to the side without a care as he ran into the bathroom, throwing the shower door open.
The panic in your eyes was blatant, naked chest heaving as you tried to breathe. And then he as in the water with you, holding onto you.
“Shh, shh shh shh I’m here, I’m here, you’re okay.” He reached past you, turned the water off to quiet everything down as he pulled you to his chest. You clung to his now soaked t-shirt, unable to form any words.
“You’re safe, nobody is gonna hurt us, I’ve got you. Just breathe with me angel, just breathe.” You heard his words through one ear, but the vibration of his chest in the other was more soothing than anything he could say. Just knowing he was there and safe helped you to fill your lungs again little by little, each breath getting deeper, slower as he held you, rested his cheek on your shampoo covered head, let you get yourself calmed down.
It wasn’t the first time he’d seen you panic, so he knew that letting go of you wasn’t going to help anything. So when he shifted and you clung to him on instinct he immediately moved to reassurances.
“Hey, I’m not going anywhere, I’m right here. Let’s get your hair washed out and get you dried off, you’re shivering. I’m staying, I’m not going anywhere.”
You nodded against him, let him reach around you and turn the water back on. It was cold at first, making you jump until the hot water caught up and rained down over you again.
“You’re gonna get all wet,” you mumbled, looking down at his soaked sweatpants.
“That’s why we have a dryer. Lean your head back, I gotcha.”
You did as he asked, focusing in on the feeling of his hands on your scalp to avoid the uncomfort of having to close your eyes. He did it as quickly as he could, running his hands through the way he’d seen his mom do so many times, making sure he got all the suds out before he was reaching for the handle again and turning it off.
“Hang on just a sec.” He moved quickly to shed off all his wet clothes, leaving them in a pile in the corner of the shower to be taken care of later - his only concern was you. You let him lead you through the motions, from stepping out of the shower to drying off, stepping into your undies and pulling his shirt over your head. For once, it didn’t effect you that he was fully naked in front of you - you were too distracted, too overwhelmed by everything he was doing for you, the way he took care of you like it was his favorite thing to do. If you asked him, he would say that it was.
Eventually he moved the two of you into the bedroom, grabbing a towel on the way out so he could dry himself the rest of the way off and pull on a pair of clean boxers. He looked at you for a moment, and then he shook his head.
“We’re not sleeping in here tonight.”
“Grayson-”
“We can stay in the house, but we can’t sleep in here yet. I can’t sleep in here yet, so I know you aren’t going to sleep either. But I have an idea. Do you trust me?”
You nodded, secretly relieved at the thought of not having to sleep in the bed.
“Okay, grab the pillows, and I’ll get the comforter,” he instructed. You did as he asked, waiting for him to get situated and take your hand before he led you out of the room. You still held your breath when you went around the corner, letting it out when you saw that no one was there.
He turned into the pod studio, letting you in first before he closed the door behind him. It was silent, but in a comforting way, everything but Grayson muffled.
“I don’t know if this is gonna work, but I felt good in here earlier. Safe. So I think we should give it a shot in here tonight. Whadda you think?”
“I feel safe in here too,” you murmured as an acceptance, and at your word he got to work. You expected him to move over to the couch but instead he put the comforter down on the rug on the floor. You followed his lead and moved the pillows to the top of it, waiting.
Finally, he laid down at around the midway mark of the width and reached up for you to join him. Putting your confusion aside you crawled down to him and curled up against his chest, unwilling to put even an inch between you if you didn’t have to. His plan came together when he threw the extra half of the comforter over the top of you both, creating a bit of a cocoon. Any other night, you would have been worried about sleeping on the hard floor, or getting too hot. But not that night. That night it was exactly what you needed. Just you and him, safe and warm and together.
“I’m sorry about earlier, I don’t know what caused that,” you mumbled, tracing patterns over his heart, a few 47s, a few shapes.
“You know you don’t have to apologize to me. For anything.”
“You don’t like to see me upset,” you countered.
“Of course I don’t. Would be kinda fucked up if I did. But if you need me, I’m gonna be there. Even if it’s just to help you wash out your hair,” he teased, resting his cheek on your forehead.
“Your ‘strong girl’ who can’t even get through a solo shower,” you scoffed, poking fun at yourself.
“Always my strong girl, no matter what. But strongest when she admits she needs help.”
You couldn’t find the words to answer, and he didn’t ask for them. Instead, he just kissed your forehead, a silent promise to keep you safe through the night, and every night after that.
while one full year of wakeheart and an impending candle launch are definitely moments to celebrate, you might just have another plan for the ceo’s attention
word count: 7.5k
warnings/tags: ceo!grayson, lots of smut, 🥵 is all im sayin
feel free to send in requests! and check out my masterlist if you wanna :)
Between construction at the house, the warm California summer and an inviting pool right in the backyard, you couldn’t remember the last time you’d had on more than a bikini top, running shorts and one of Grayson’s shirts. He was the same - mostly running around shirtless in his shorter shorts, maybe throwing on a tank top if he was building. When you’d packed up to take haven from the construction dust and noise, headed for a rental house in Malibu, you’d had to convince him he needed to pack more than his new speedos.
Needless to say, getting cleaned up and ready for a black tie event was quite the shift from your usual day to day. The makeup you were swiping on felt almost foreign, especially the lipstick. But the hand that made it’s way onto your bare back was all too familiar. You relaxed into it, smiling at Grayson in the mirror.
“God damn.”
“Stop it,” you rolled your eyes, closing them when he leaned over to press a kiss to your shoulder.
“You look so good,” he hummed. “But can you look good 6 inches to the right? I gotta clean up my beard.” Your eyes went wide, lip jutting out as you moved over, opening up the spot in front of the sink.
“Don’t shave it.” You blurted, making him laugh.
“Don’t worry baby, I’m just cleaning up the edges. The scruff stays.”
“Good, it makes you look very... ceo-ey,” you grinned, reaching over to run a finger over his jaw, feeling the coarse hair there that you loved so much.
“What, I don’t look ceo-ey with a baby face? Not even in this fit?” He gestured down to himself in his speedo, striking a bit of a pose.
“King of business. Steve Jobs is quaking. The bulge really sells the whole look,” you teased, scrunching up your nose. He belly laughed at that, a hand moving to his chest as if to brace himself until he moved forward to you, spinning you around a bit so he could press his nose to yours.
“Can’t blame me when you insist on getting ready in a bra and tiny shorts,” he mumbled with a grin, fingers ghosting up your bare sides as if to reiterate his point.
“I’m enjoying the ethan-has-his-own-bathroom perks of this house, sue me.” His lips brushed against yours just barely as you spoke, so light that it almost tickled.
“I’m enjoying it too.” He pressed a kiss to your lips gently, a small one.
“Don’t smear my lipstick bub,” you cautioned nicely, wrapping your arms around his neck. He sighed at that, eye meeting yours and just looking. It was the type of gaze that made your cheeks as warm as your core.
“Bring more so you can fix it later. You’re very kissable right now.”
“And you’re very sappy,” you mused. He always got sentimental on big occasions, excited to make new memories. “And kissable.” You gave in, giving him a quick one, ignoring his attempt to deepen it. “We gotta get ready or we’re gonna be late to your own event.”
“The CEOs have to be a little late, I think it’s customary,” he tried, but you just shook your head, covering his lips with your hand.
“Shave, I gotta do my hair anyways. And I’m probably gonna need your help with my dress.”
That was enough motivation for him to get on with getting ready. You’d been sneaky, not shown him the dress you’d picked out for the evening. It was your first black tie event that you’d gone to ever, and definitely the first one with him at your side. You wanted to look good next to him, look good in the pictures you knew were going to be taken that he was no doubt going to post and probably print out to add to his photo collection too. It had butterflies fluttering in your stomach as you did your hair the way you liked, keeping it simple and making sure it framed your face.
It took you a little while, and you smiled when Gray wandered back into the bathroom in his suit, bowtie hanging loosely around his neck just as you finished. You let out a low dramatic whistle, breaking it off into a laugh when his cheeks turned your favorite shade of pink.
“Help.” He walked over to you, lifting his chin up so you could better access his bowtie. You went to tie it immediately - you’d taught yourself last week when he decided to wear one. It made you smile as you recalled the two of you sitting on his bed, him shirtless with just the bowtie around his neck while you practiced, the spitting image of a male stripper from a bachelorette party. You’d been laughing so hard that it took you a ridiculous amount of times to get it. Luckily now you got it on your first try, proud of yourself as you straightened it out.
“Is it dress time?” His eyes flashed a bit when you nodded in response, heading for the closet where your garment bag was waiting. You pulled it out, having to hold your arm up high so that it didn’t pool on the floor as you moved it to the bed.
Grayson rubbed his hands together in anticipation before he balled them into fists, the full embodiment of a kid on christmas, but in a 6 foot body.
“You look like you’re gonna combust baby, chill,” you teased, shaking your head as you slipped your shorts off. You felt his eyes on your thong, the smallest one you owned. You still weren’t sure it would work - only one way to find out.
You reached behind yourself and unclipped your bra, letting it fall to the floor before you leaned down to scoop everything up and toss it the laundry.
“I like where this is going.” His voice had dropped a bit, eyes taking you in from head to toe.
“Oh yeah? Well, get excited,” you teased, reaching into the Target bag on the floor to pull out a few nipple pasties. “These bad boys are coming along for the ride.” You wiggled them around dramatically in the air before you turned to the mirror to put them in place. Grayson watched, entirely unfazed.
“Okay, go stand in the bathroom for a minute,” you instructed, pointing to the door. He balked, eyes going wide.
“What? Why!?”
“Cause, you seeing me wiggle into this thing will ruin the allure. And I like surprises.”
“But I wanna see,” he pouted, giving you the best puppy dog eyes he could muster. You weren’t sure how a 6ft man in a tuxedo could look so soft, but he pulled it off.
“You will see, in like two seconds,” you teased, pushing gently on his chest as he walked backwards towards the bathroom door. He was still pouting when you closed it.
Taking a deep breath you went back over to the garment bag, pulling the zipper of it down to reveal the fabric you hadn’t seen in a while. Just laying there it looked almost innocent... almost. But when you put it on? You’d never felt like such a bad bitch - even in the fittings you’d felt powerful, sexy.
“Do you have it on yet?” Grayson’s voice was impatient, a bit distorted. He was biting his fingernails, you could tell.
“No, just gimme a minute,” you laughed, coaxing the dress off the hanger and carefully stepping into it. The fabric was silky but dense, with enough structure to give your body shape and enough flow for it to be flattering. It was a deep purple that reflected in a way that made it almost blue when it caught the light. The cleavage was there, but subtle, and that subtly was made up for with an open back. The material pooled right over the curve of your ass, leaving almost your entire back exposed, held up by the tiny straps over your shoulders.
But once you had it on, you remembered your favorite part, the main reason you’d bought it besides the color.
The slit.
It was high. So high that it was borderline inappropriate, but still just classy enough. It tapered up at your hip, leaving your entire left leg open to the air. And as you’d feared, the lace line of your thong was visible.
“Let me see,” Grayson whined from behind the door. You knew if you didn’t give in he was going to come out anyways.
“Alright alright, come in!” You called to him. He wasted no time in getting the door open as you stayed where you were in front of the mirror, trying to figure out what to do about the underwear situation.
“Holy. Fuck.”
That caught your attention, and you turned to see his face. He was smiling, but his mouth was wide open, jaw slack as he looked you up and down. You expected him to get it together after a few moments, but he just stood there, awestruck, eyes never leaving you.
And then, to top it off, he finally took in a raspy breath, coughing a little. You opened your mouth to say something, but he held up a finger and moved towards the bed, rummaging around by the bedside table.
It was a sight you always wanted to remember - him, puffing on his bright red inhaler while standing there in a tux.
“Wow, that good huh?” You couldn’t help the ego boost that it gave you to see him so undone just from looking at you.
“You got room for this in your bag? Might need it later with you lookin’ like that.”
You rolled your eyes a bit, but you held your hand out anyways, taking it from him and sitting it down next to your bag. The fabric tape you’d bought peeked out at you and you pulled it out with a sigh. It wasn’t the most comfortable looking stuff, but you didn’t have much of an option.
You moved back in front of the mirror, reaching up to your thong and hooking a finger through it and pulling it down.
“What’re you doing?” His mouth sounded dry as he spoke.
“It was showing. Can’t wear any with a slit this high.”
“You’re actually trying to kill me.” He watched you step out of them with hooded eyes, which turned to confusion when he watched you open the packaging on the tape. “What’s that?”
“Fabric tape. Keeps everything where it needs to be, ya know?”
“You can’t just wear the dress?”
“Do you want the entire Wakeheart team to see my vagina tonight?” You laughed, quirking an eyebrow at him in the mirror. He scrunched his nose at that idea, staying quiet while you got everything arranged and taped.
“Okay, tell me if you can see anything.” You spun around slowly, trying out a few different angles with your leg that you might do during a photo.
“You’re good. I fuckin’ love that dress, it looks perfect on you.”
“Thank you baby. You look pretty fuckin’ hot yourself.” You fixed the collar of his shirt with a smile. He brought his wrist up, checking his watch - his green rolex, of course.
“Ah shit, we gotta go or we really are gonna be late.”
You just nodded, moving to the box with your new black heels and pulling them out. Grayson held his hand out for them and you handed them over, blushing when as you watched him crouch down and reach for your foot.
“I can do that you know.”
“I know.” He grinned up at you before he looked back down and guided your foot in, his big fingers giving him a few problems when he got to the tiny clasps on the straps. “These are stupidly tiny.”
“I can get em,” you offered again, but he just waved you off, sticking out his tongue as he focused and finally got the buckle to thread through. The left shoe went easier, even though you had to hold onto his shoulder while you balanced on your right.
He stood up when his work was done, eyes flashing wide when he looked at you.
“You’re so tall now. That’ll be nice for my back.” The question must have been clear on your face, because he answered it. “Don’t have to bend down to kiss you.”
“Shut up and put your shoes on,” you laughed, kissing him quickly before moving to check yourself in the mirror one last time - even you had to admit, you looked damn good. Grayson got his Louis shoes on quickly, tying them and coming beside you, phone in hand. He pulled you against him so you both fit in the mirror, posing like you were on a red carpet just for his phone.
“Turn around.” His voice was gruff, and when you did as you were told you knew why. You couldn’t help it - he took the first picture of just you looking up at him, your back on display. But by the time he snapped the next one, you snaked your hand down, white nails bright against his black pants as you cupped him over the fabric, his bulge already growing.
“Don’t.”
He snapped the picture anyways.
“You sure?” You didn’t have to lean too far to get close to his ear now that you had on heels, and he rolled his neck as he sucked in a breath. His eyes flashed to yours, desperate and angry and wanting all at once.
His hand fell over yours, pulling you off of him by your wrist. “Later.”
“Promise?” It rolled off your tongue as you looked up at him through your lashes.
“Jesus,” he groaned, the effort he was using to stay put together obvious. He pressed a kiss to your knuckles before he let go. “Yeah, fuckin’ promise.”
He saved the last picture under my eyes only and put his phone away, taking your hand as you grabbed your bag and followed him out of the room.
------
“Does my hair still look okay?” You turned to Grayson, a bit nervous that you’d undone all your hard work.
With gentle fingers he fixed a few strays that had come loose. You should have known that they were going to play Cudi the whole way to the venue - it was a Dolan celebration after all. The boys always got hype, and you couldn’t help but join in, dancing along and singing at the top of your lungs. For your mood? Wonderful. But for your look? Maybe not so much.
“You look perfect.”
“Promise?” You quirked an eyebrow, knowing exactly what you were doing and loving every minute of it.
He sat back down in his seat further, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath through his nose. Ethan noticed from the front seat, watching for a moment and then deciding he should probably mind his own business.
Grayson’s eyes were serious when he turned to you, leaning over so no one else heard your conversation.
“We have photos in like 5 minutes. I’m begging you. Behave.”
You pondered it for a minute - how many times had he fucked you up, got you turned on in public when there was nothing you could do about it? But there was a sincerity in his eyes and his voice that you couldn’t ignore.
Did you like being told what to do? No. But for Grayson? You’d do just about anything.
“Fine,” you conceded with a grin, leaning over to give him a quick kiss. “But only cause I want you to be able to post the pictures without your dick showing.”
“How considerate of you,” he rolled his eyes, but it was light hearted. He laced his fingers with yours, thumb running over your skin as his excitement mounted every minute closer you got the venue. You watched out the window as the fancy buildings started to emerge, signaling that you were getting close. Malibu had a more relaxed yet somehow more exclusive vibe than LA, and it had your heart racing.
“You’re gonna be fine, it’s just cameras.” He had somehow sensed your nerves, putting his own aside as he tried to comfort you instead.
“You’ve done this before, of course it’s not scary for you.”
“True. But I’m gonna be with you the whole time, which means you have nothing to worry about,” he countered, almost asking you to challenge him on it. You just nodded, picking up your purse from the floorboard.
“When we get out can you stand in front of me? I don’t wanna accidentally flash anybody.”
“Of course baby. I thought thats what the tape was for though,” he mused.
“Better safe than sorry.”
“We’re here, you guys ready?” Ethan turned from his spot in the passenger seat, excitement written all over his face. He reached back, hand extended to his brother, his partner in all this. You watch them do the handshake they could do in their sleep, a silent communication of excitement and support.
And then, it was time for the show to really begin. It was a bit of a blur after that, mixtures of adrenaline and nerves. Grayson opened your door, standing tall and broad as you stood up, got your footing and adjusted your dress to make sure all was covered. And then he offered you his arm, prideful grin on his face as he showed you off.
It was a blur after that. You vaguely remembered pausing in front of the backdrop, a simple white with the Wakeheart logo scattered across it. You took a few serious pictures, giving your best sultry look, but mostly you just smiled, so proud of your man for all he worked so hard for.
At one point he stepped back from you, gesturing towards you proudly. It took you a minute to register that the photographers were calling out for you to pose, just you by yourself. You did your best, posing and looking where you were called.
You only relaxed when Grayson reattached to your side, leading you down the rest of the carpet that stretched up to the venue. You posed for a few with both him and E just for fun, the three of you goofing off and just being yourselves before you made it to the end, the doors open to reveal the inside of the venue.
“They want some of just E and I, do you wanna wait out here or do you wanna go sit down?”
“I’ll go sit, save my feet. Have fun!” You kissed him quickly, vaguely aware that a few cameras flashed. You reached up and wiped a tiny bit of lipstick off his lip before letting him go, watching him head back over to his brother.
You weren’t alone for long - you’d barely made it into the room before Sterling saw you, lighting up and running over to you. She was in a floor length green number, the sparkles on it catching the light from outside.
“Ster! You look amazing!”
“Says you! Holy shit! You rode in with the boys right?” You nodded, starting to look around. “Do you think they’re gonna like everything?”
“Oh they’re gonna love it, for sure.”
The room was dim, colorful lights all around giving just enough brightness to make it functional without ruining the vibe. It only took you a second to realize that each light was specific; purple, blue and a light orange, just like the Enterlight collection. There were little Wakeheart touches everywhere, from the little mini fragrances on the tables to the logo printed on the name cards at the tables.
“Your all’s table is at the front I think,” Sterling offered, pointing up by the stage. “I gotta go find Daniel, I’ll find you later!” She disappeared to find her boyfriend and you headed in the general direction of the front, weaving through some of the tables.
“Y/N!”
You turned, lighting up as you realized the call had come from Deon who was beelining for you, the biggest smile on his face.
“De!” was all you could get out before he had you wrapped up in a hug, almost lifting you off the ground. It had been too long since you’d seen him, too long since he’d come by to hang out after the first few times that you’d hit it off.
“You look hot as hell girl, damn!” He praised, and you blushed so deep that you were sure he could see it, even in those lights.
“Did Kai get to come?”
“Yeah, he’s getting us drinks, wanna meet him?”
“Of course! Gotta see what all the hype is about,” you nudged his shoulder, taking his hand as he lead you over to the bar.
Kai was taller than you’d pictured him when Deon had described his boyfriend, but he was beautiful enough for all De’s constant gushing about him to make sense. The introductions went well, and you almost forgot where you were until someone cleared their throat.
“You guys gonna get drinks or what?” The bartender that spoke was a burly guy, too much muscle, and probably too old to be happy as a bartender if his tone and glare said anything about him.
“Oh right, sorry! Just uh, two mules for us. Y/N?” Deon looked at you expectantly.
“A mojito for me please,” you kept up the niceties, trying to stay pleasant. Maybe he was just having a bad night.
“I hate making those.”
Niceties? Gone.
“Well then I guess it’s a good thing you’re getting paid.”
“Suppose so,” he grumbled, passing over the two mules to Deon and Kai. They took the gratefully, giving you a little wave before they headed off, so caught up in each other that they didn’t even register the conversation. You stood up a bit taller now that you were by yourself, practically daring him to try something.
“You here by yourself?”
“No.”
“Don’t see anybody with you.”
“So observant.” You let the annoyance seep into your tone, but you were right in assuming that he was the type of guy who didn’t give a fuck if the women around him were uncomfortable.
“Where’s your man then? Not a smart one if he’s gonna let you walk around here wearing that by yourself.” The way his eyes raked up and down your form didn’t sit well with you.
“He’s a bit... occupied. And considering I’m the reason there’s a bar here in the first place tonight, I suggest you watch your mouth and make the drinks before the CEO changes his mind.”
“What she said.”
You’d know that voice and the hand that slid dangerously low across your back anywhere. Apparently, the event planners must have shown the workers who the whole party was for, because the man behind the bar changed his tune immediately.
“Mr. Dolan,” he greeted, so serious that is almost made you laugh. “Can I get you anything sir?”
“You can get my girl what she asked for, and you can watch your mouth. That’ll be all.”
You weren’t sure how a guy the size of the bartender could look sheepish, but he managed it as he handed over your mojito.
“Thanks! Have a great night!” You hoped your insincerity was blatant enough as you took your drink and waved back to him, letting Grayson’s hand guide you as you turned around.
“Hi baby, how were the rest of your pictures?” You asked as you walked to the table, chasing your straw with your tongue for a moment before taking a sip.
Grayson just shook his head at you. “You’re perfect, you know that?”
You shrugged, enjoying the compliment and lifting up to kiss his cheek in thanks. He pulled your chair out for you before you sat down, settling beside you. As you expected, he was a hot commodity, a stream of people coming up to the table to give their congratulations. It only got more constant when Ethan found his seat on the other side of Grayson, everyone making sure they got their moment with the boys.
Grayson was fully engaged, and you did your best to listen, focus on what he was saying, accepting the little nods of acknowledgement everyone was giving you.
But you were much more focused on the way Grayson’s hand was reached back so he could keep a hand on your thigh, his diamond ring cold against your skin as he squeezed every once in a while - a little reminder that he appreciated you being there with him.
It was innocent enough - but the mixture of him in that suit, the professional tenor of his tone, the lights, the fact that his hand was big enough to cover all the way across your thigh. You couldn’t help it - you shifted your legs just barely, only then realizing just how wet you were.
It was wishful thinking that he didn’t notice. And of course, right at that moment there was a lull in the congratulations. He turned back to you, a playful glint in his eyes.
“Come with me, I wanna show you something.”
You smoothed out your dress when you stood up, hoping your skin didn’t look as flushed as it felt.
“Hey. We gotta talk at 8. Don’t leave me hanging.” Ethan’s tone was all too knowing, and if you hadn’t already been blushing you would have when he fist bumped his brother.
You took Grayson’s hand, his Rolex cool against your wrist as he lead you out of the event room, down a small hallway and to an elevator. He hit the button labeled R, and you both waited as patiently as you could. As soon as the doors were closed he was on you, both hands on your face, thumbs over your jaw as he pulled you to him.
You melted into him, molding to his form, whimpering when his right hand traced down your back, crossed over and tucked under the fabric of your dress, fingers ghosting over your bare hip.
“Fuck, forgot you ditched the panties,” he groaned, turning in annoyance as the doors dinged and opened.
There were very few things that could have pulled your attention away from Grayson at that moment - the view was one of them.
“Oh wow,” you breathed, looking out at the rooftop that the elevator had brought you to. It was a garden of sorts, lots of greenery and flowers all around. But the real stunner was the view over the ocean, a perfect Malibu beach stretching out, visible even in the dim twilight that had settled over the sky while you’d been inside.
“Figured you’d like it up here. And it’s private.”
You turned around, quirking an eyebrow at him.
“Private.” You swallowed around the word as he came closer to you, pulling you in for another kiss. This time you got your piece, hands coming up to his neck, searching out any skin you could find over his collar. He one upped you, both hands moving down your back, under your dress and over your ass, squeezing and massaging as he reached further, getting dangerously close to where you needed him most.
“We can’t, Gray we can’t.” Your words didn’t match your actions, whole body jolting when his hands moved out of your dress, right hand resting on your hip from the front now, the slit just making it that much easier for him to gain access.
“Why not?” He mused, kissing along your neck.
“Cause we can’t go back down there looking fucked out. We’ll be home in a few hours.” There wasn’t even a flicker of conviction in your voice, and he just shook his head, unwilling to hear it.
“Can’t. Got me fucked up down there, calling me CEO and shit, hyping me up to that piece of shit. Don’t think I’m gonna make it home without at least a taste.” His hand traced left, ducking under your dress. You gasped as the tape peeled off your skin, leaving you vulnerable.
“Fuck Gray,” you whimpered as his hand cupped over you, your knees buckling underneath you at the feeling of his fingers sliding through your slick.
He groaned at what he found, other hand coming up to the back of your head, chasing your lips with his as you gasped when he started to move.
“Just hold onto me baby, I got you.” His voice was deep in your ear as you clung to him, his arm wedged between both of your torsos as he worked you over. But just when you were really getting there, legs shaking, he pulled away, leaving you exposed and cold in the evening air.
You were about to complain, but the look he gave you told you he was far from done.
“You’re on watch.” His voice and the wink he threw you had your already weak knees about ready to give out as he sunk down, moving your dress away like a curtain.
He pressed a sweet kiss to your hip before he ducked down, holding onto your thighs as he dove in with a wide tongue, finally getting what he’d been waiting for. And even if he hadn’t told you to you would have been bracing yourself on his shoulders.
“I like these heels,” he murmured when he pulled back for air. “Gets me a better angle.”
“Fuck, Grayson.” Something about you using his full name had him diving back in with a vengeance, tongue rough and active, only pausing to suck on you in the most delicious way.
Your eyes rolled back, hands finding his hair, not caring if you messed it up as you held on, twitching a bit as he hummed at the feeling of your nails on his scalp. You forced yourself to focus, watching the door to make sure no one wandered up to the roof, found the star of the whole affair buried in your pussy.
But something else caught your eye - a little clock, number shining blue.
7:58pm
“Gray, G-Grayson, stop, stop it’s almost 8, you have to - fuck - you have to go,” you warned, but you couldn’t bring yourself to pull him away from you.
“Gotta keep my promise first,” he said, only speeding up, knowing you were close from your breathy tone and your quivering thighs. Sure enough, all he had to do was add his finger and you were completely undone, calling out his name and bracing on his shoulder so you didn’t collapse.
He stood back up with a triumphant grin, ego booming as you just stared at him, working through the aftershocks. He checked his watch and clenched his teeth, giving you a nervous look.
“Hell yeah, one minute to spare. Take the elevator.” He pressed a wet kiss to your cheek and jogged off, leaving you panting and alone as he disappeared down the staircase.
“Jesus christ,” you huffed, trying to walk forward on your wobbly legs as quickly as you could, doing your best to pull yourself together. It was all deep breaths and attempts to ignore the wetness on your thighs in the elevator ride as you tried to re-stick the fabric tape with no luck.
The only reason you didn’t go to the bathroom to get yourself re-situated was because you didn’t want to miss the boys speech. So you quickly made your way to your seat, sipping on your drink to try and cool yourself down while you watched Ethan attempt to fix Grayson’s hair at the side of the stage. Oops.
They walked up eventually, waving and acting as humble as ever while the room applauded them. Grayson looked entirely unfazed, as if he hadn’t just been nose deep in your pussy 60 seconds ago. You tried to manifest the same energy, pretend like you weren’t still practically dripping sitting there in your dress.
But when he looked right at you and swiped his thumb across his bottom lip, wiping away what you knew was you? You clenched around nothing, biting down on your straw.
It was going to be a long rest of the night.
They thanked everyone for coming, and for all the support of the brand over the last year. They shouted out everyone on the team, giving them the praises they deserved. Grayson slipped in a little moment for you, a “thank you to my amazing girlfriend who always smells every sample I bring home and isn’t afraid to give her honest opinion, and who keeps me sane and supports me through every step of everything I do” that had your cheeks burning as all the eyes in the room sought you out.
When they were done he wasted no time in putting his hand right back on your thigh as soon as he sat down, smirking a bit when he wrapped around and found just a trace of wetness.
“Easy. My tape won’t re-stick,” you warned, not wanting him to get too frisky and accidentally move your dress.
“Guess you’ll just have to stay close to me then huh,” he mused, leaning in for a kiss that you gave him happily.
The rest of the night went smoothly, from the meal to the social hour afterwards. You stayed on Grayson’s arm, right where he wanted you as he made his rounds, made sure he spoke to the executives that he and Ethan had invited, got the advice he’d wanted to ask about.
Before you knew it midnight had come and gone.
“You ready to get out of here baby?”
“Hell yeah.”
Perks of dating a 20 year old CEO? He has his own driver when he wants it. But to your surprise, the man who drove the three of you there handed him keys instead of leading you to a car.
“Had em drop off the porsche in case we wanted to ditch early and Ethan didn’t.” He answered the question he knew you had, leading you to the familiar blue car that was waiting on the side of the street.
“Always the planner,” you teased, squeezing his arm before he opened your door for you and helped you in.
“I do run a company you know,” he mused, leaning down to kiss you one more time before he picked up the rest of your dress and put it in the car so it didn’t get closed into the door.
You watched his every move as he went around the front of the car and climbed into the drivers seat, starting it up and revving it up once just for good measure.
As soon as he pulled out of the spot you were leaning down to unclasp your heels, groaning in relief when your feet were freed.
“Better?”
“So much better,” you sighed, relaxing back in your seat as he plugged the rental address into the GPS and started down the road.
“Those shoes have their perks for sure. Sorry they hurt you though.” He palmed the wheel as he turned and you bit your lip, remembering exactly what perks he was talking about.
Now it was his turn.
You reached over, hand resting on his thigh, nails digging in just barely. He twitched, foot pressing a bit on the gas, lurching the car forward.
“Easy baby,” you cautioned, turning in your seat so you were facing him, fingers tracing up further, gauging his reaction.
“What’re you doing,” he asked as if he didn’t know, eyes trained forward on the road.
“Keeping promises,” you mused. “Got me fucked up back there.”
He sucked in a breath through his teeth as you repeated his words from earlier, unbuckling his belt and pushing it out of the way as you spoke.
“Yeah? How’d I get you so fucked up baby. Tell me.”
“You know exactly what you did,” you reminded him, popping the button open with your nail, coaxing the zipper down to reveal his Calvin Klein briefs that were already getting stretched as he got harder and harder.
“Wanna hear you say it,” he grunted, knuckles white on the steering wheel.
“Could barely walk to the elevator when you ran off, my legs were all wobbly. Made me feel so good,” you explained, stroking his ego and his bulge simultaneously.
“Fuck yeah they were, and you still made it down for my speech.” You reached up under his waistband, pulling his underwear down enough for you to get your hand around him. His hip stuttered as you started to work him over like only you could.
“Wouldn’t miss it,” you hummed, using your thumb to trace the vein on the side of his shaft, up over the tip with just enough pressure to really fuck him up.
“Shit baby. Just like that.”
You did as he said, twisting your wrist over him as he grew in your hand. When your knuckles grazed over his balls the porsche jolted again, making you grin.
“Careful. Can’t fuck you if we don’t make it home.”
“If you weren’t so fucking horny we wouldn’t have a problem,” he huffed, looking at his phone to check the ETA. 2 more minutes.
“Can’t help it. You in a suit just gets to me,” you admitted, batting your eyelashes a bit just for fun. You didn’t count on him dropping his right hand from the wheel and reaching over to you, shoving your dress to the side and immediately cupping over your already sensitive folds. You jolted in your seat, squeezing his dick in your hand.
Two could play that game. With a wicked grin, you shifted, closing your legs so he couldn’t reach you and leaning forward, dropping your head.
Before you could get very far his hand was in your hair, pulling your head back up so you had to look at him.
“Wait.”
You swallowed hard and nodded at his command, sinking back into your seat as he pulled the porsche into the driveway, typing in the gate code, fingers drumming on the wheel while he waited for them to open. He pushed the gear shift forward into park as soon as he stopped, looking over to you.
“Wait.” He said again, opening his door and readjusting himself back into his pants before he came around to your side of the car. He opened your door sweetly, offering you a hand.
As soon as you were on your feet he was crouching, shoulder hitting your hips before he grabbed and lifted, practically throwing you over his shoulder.
You squealed, trying to find purchase against his back, hands balling up his suit jacket in an attempt to hold on. He was unfazed, even taking one hand off you to unlock the door.
By the time he made it to your alls room on the top floor you’d gone limp, knowing there was no point in fighting him. You missed his face while you couldn’t see it, smiling when he leaned forward at the edge of the bed, let you fall on top of the comforter, bouncing slightly.
“Dress on or off?” You asked, quirking an eyebrow.
He pondered it for a minute, eyes darkening as he imagined both scenarios, played them out in his head.
“Off,” he decided. You nodded, standing up and pulling one of the straps off over your shoulder. His fingers found the other before you could, pulling it off so that the top of your dress fell down, revealing your breasts. You looked down with a laugh, almost forgetting about the nipple pasties you’d put on.
He cupped them anyways, thumbs running over the little petal shaped cut outs, the muffled sensation of his fingers on your nipples making your back arch, asking for more. He was gentle as he peeled them away, not wanting to hurt you, ducking down to kiss each one when they were free.
You ran your fingers through his hair as he licked over them, kissing his way across. Your dress continued to fall down, gathering at your hips until his hands found it and pushed it the rest of the way off.
“Much better,” he grinned, guiding you back until you fell on your back again.
It was quite the show, watching him strip out of his suit in front of you. He started with the jacket, tossing it away without a care before he started working at his bowtie.
You couldn’t resist - you sat up, untucked his shirt from his pants, hastily fumbling over the buttons, pausing to run your hands over his abs as soon as you saw them. He groaned at that, especially when you leaned forward to kiss his warm skin. He got the tie off somehow, working from the top button and meeting you halfway before pulling it off. Just him shirtless in those fucking pants was enough to have you fully worked up again, and you laid back down, watching him pull his belt off through the loops, undo his button and pull everything down at once.
Your mouth watered, ready for him, but to your surprise he crawled on top of you, resting just enough weight down to pin you to the bed. He was beaming as he looked down at you for a few moments, just taking you in.
You reached up to cup his face, pulling him down to kiss you, surprised but warm nonetheless at his sudden change of mood.
“I love you,” he murmured against your lips.
“I love you too.” There was no question. “Proud of you.”
“Couldn’t have done it without you.” He pulled back, readjusting so he could line up. You opened your legs a bit wider to make room for him, anticipation mounting as he rubbed himself over your folds for a few strokes. His lips found your forehead as he finally pushed in, stretching you out as he slowly let you adjust to all he had to give.
“So fuckin tight for me, every time baby, fuck,” he huffed out, sinking down further onto you. If you had room to, your back would have arched as you drug your nails over his arms, overwhelmed at how deep he already was.
He dropped to his forearms, rocking above you so hard that your whole body moved across the bed with each thrust. You clung to him, arms moving around him, scratching at his lower back.
You couldn’t even form words, the only things falling from your lips being his name and a constant stream of whimpers, punctuating each drive he made into your heat. Every time he pulled out his tip ran across that spot deep inside you that had you squirming, body unsure of whether you wanted to run away or get closer, overwhelmed by the force of the sensation.
He knew you were close when you started to clench around him, walls fluttering in a way that pushed him towards the edge like nothing else ever could.
When your orgasm came, it was almost too much. You cried out, clinging to Grayson as he continued to pound into you without mercy, only spurred on when you bit onto his shoulder, riding it out before your body went limp for a moment, completely fucked out.
“Almost there baby, fuck,” he groaned, sitting up and grabbing your hips with both hands, holding you up as he chased his high, lost in you entirely. “Want your mouth.”
Somehow in your blissed out state you managed to sit up enough for him to get close enough to you and your waiting tongue. It only took a few quick strokes before he was cumming, hips stuttering as he unloaded into your mouth. You found the energy to suck him dry, taking all he had to give before he guided you off, much too sensitive for you to keep going.
He laid down beside you, rolling to his right to find your hips and pull you on top of him. Neither of you moved a muscle for a few minutes, just trying to get your breathing under control and your heart rate back down to an acceptable rate. When you finally got enough energy back you made your way up to his face, catching him with soft and lazy kisses over his lipstick stained lips, drinking each other in.
You knew that the pictures would run tomorrow, and your faces would be everywhere. You could see all the headlines about Grayson in your mind: CEO, youtuber, famous, heartthrob; every girl that saw him in that suit would be just as enthralled as you had been. But none of it mattered. Because they didn’t get your Grayson, the Grayson who picked you up and carried you to the shower twenty minutes post fuck, helped you take your makeup off and made you laugh until your stomach hurt when he washed his hair and spiked it up in a soapy mohawk like a six year old. That was your Grayson; your CEO, your heartthrob, for the rest of your fucking life. You relished in the thought as you curled up to him that night, loving the weight of his arms around you as you drifted off.
it’s not very often that you and ethan get the house to yourselves... and you’ll be damned if you don’t make the most of it
word count: 8k (holy shit haha)
warnings/tags: smutty smutty smut lets goooo, christening the house hehe, ITS A WILD RIDE
feel free to send in requests! and check out my masterlist if you wanna :)
It was almost like watching a scene in a sappy romance movie, but instead of the typical girl in the sundress with the handsome man, it was two handsome 6 foot tall men standing outside the airport, staring at each other uncomfortably.
“Just make sure you text me when you land. You got your charger and everything?”
“Yeah E, I’ve got it. I’m gonna miss my plane man, I gotta go,” Grayson said, but he wasn’t moving, obviously unsure of what exactly to do.
“Bye Gray, have fun and be safe,” you decided to step in, giving him a goodbye hug. He squeezed you back, swaying a little bit back and forth.
“Keep him alive and fed for me, will yah?” Gray teased, ruffling your hair like he always did before letting you go.
“I think I can manage that for four days,” you teased, stepping back. There was an odd awkwardness in the air - the twins weren’t very experienced in saying goodbye.
You stood to the side, watching them hug. It was a genuine one, with just a hint of unease in it - the boys hadn’t spent this much time away from each other since they did their one week without each other video.
When they were done, the two of you waved at Grayson until he was out of sight inside the terminal. And then you climbed back into the tesla, you in the passenger seat like usual.
And it was time for the real fun to begin.
Riding in the car with Ethan was one of your favorite little parts of your relationship. It was such a simple thing, to sit next to him in the passenger seat with the music playing. And his hand was always on you somehow - fingers intertwined, pressing kisses to the back of your hand. But it wasn’t often that you didn’t have Grayson in the back seat. This time was different.
As soon as he was merged back onto the highway, his hand was on your thigh, thumb rubbing over the bare skin left by your shorts. It was innocent enough to start, but his fingers trailed higher and higher with each mile he drove, and when you looked over he was chewing on his lip - one of his tells.
“Mind on the road,” you teased, but you opened your legs just barely anyways.
“Baby I drive a tesla. My mind can be anywhere,” he reminded you, a bit of his ego popping through.
“We’re five minutes from home,” you breathed as his hand moved further up, brushing over the zipper of your shorts. There was a nervous energy filling the car, and it reminded you of how you felt before you slept together for the first time. You felt giddy at the thought of having Ethan all to yourself, and the house empty except for the two of you, for four whole days.
“Wanna make sure you’re ready,” he said, voice low and gruff. It sent chills across every inch of your skin.
“Oh trust me, I am,” you sighed, squirming just barely as he rubbed over your skin. He knew exactly how to press your buttons and get you worked up in a matter of minutes.
“Shit,” he muttered under his breath, squeezing your thigh. He edged the speedometer up, wheels flying over payment in a desperate bid to get home even a few minutes earlier.
“Hey, we can’t fuck if you crash before we get home,” you reminded him, messing with your nails. When you looked over at him, his pupils were blown wide, incredulous. The easiest way to get him worked up was with your words, and you used it sparingly, knowing if you always said all the dirty things in your mind that it wouldn’t hold the same effect when you decided to use it. It was the only way you could even the playing field - Ethan could have you in a puddle with one touch.
He slowed down, but only a fraction, and you were itching to get home just as much as he was, maybe more. The gates at the end of the driveway felt like they took an eternity to open when Ethan punched in the code, and you had already undone your seatbelt before he even had smooth cat in park.
You both jumped out of the car, giddy like unsupervised teenagers. He took your hand, lacing his fingers with yours as he started towards the house. To your surprise, he didn’t open the door immediately. Instead, he turned to you, catching your hips with his hands.
“I have a proposition.”
“Oh do you now.”
“New house. All to ourselves for four days.”
“Mhmmm.” Not sure why we’re not acting on that right about now, you wanted to say, but you held your tongue.
“Christening.” The word hung in the night air for a moment, slowly disappearing into the song the crickets were making. Images flashed through your mind of all the furniture, the floor plan, the layout. Fuck.
“You bought a very large house, with a lot of rooms,” you started. His face fell just a fraction, and his lips parted as he started his rebuttal. You stopped him with a finger.
“We better get started.”
night one, 11pm, living room two
You’d never realized just how soft the purple sectional was; probably because this was the first time you were naked on it. Ethan had made quick work of everything you had on as he lead you in the door, past the small living room, through the kitchen and dining room, and into the small sunken living room two, as they called it.
“Odd first choice,” you mused, not really caring where you were. All you were worried about was the fact that Ethan was still fully clothed, which was wildly unfair in your opinion.
“Well, we’ve already done our room and bathroom, so no need for repeats. Not gonna do Grayson’s room or bathroom, cause that’s just weird. Figured we could work our way across the house. Living room two, dining room, kitchen, living room one. Come back and get the office, guest bathroom, laundry room.” He listed off the rooms like he was reading from the floor plan as he shed his shirt and started to work on his belt.
“You’ve really got this planned out huh. Been daydreaming about having sex with me all over the house?” The smirk on your face was playful, and he just laughed, shaking his head as he shoved his Louis V pants down his legs along with his boxer briefs and stepped out of them.
“I’m always thinking about having sex with you. Duh.” He crawled over top of you, coaxing you to lay down flat on the couch. One of your favorite things about sex with Ethan was that it was always versatile, and not just in positions. You’d had every mood of sex in the book - playful, funny, dirty, kinky, angry. You were so comfortable around each other it wasn’t even funny.
So you weren’t surprised in the slightest that he nudged your hip with his knee and muttered ‘scootch’ so he could get himself comfortable above you. And you also weren’t surprised when you both realized that there was no way in hell that this position was going to work in any way, shape or form on that narrow ass couch.
“Floor?” He asked.
“Floor,” you confirmed, following him as he rolled off you and onto his back on the rug. Now you were hovering over him, straddled over his abs. His hands found the back of your thighs, pushing lightly.
“Come up here,” he grinned, and you knew exactly what he was asking for. You maneuvered your way up until you were hovering above his face.
“Let the christening... begin,” he said in his most dramatic voice, smile wide on his face as his hands came up onto your thighs to pull you down closer to him.
“That’s the cheesiest shit you’ve eve- oh.”
“Mmmm, what was that?” He asked, pulled away from where he’d just been.
“Nothing! Nothing,” you squeaked, suddenly desperate for him to put his mouth back on you. He obliged, starting to work you over slowly. You shifted your weight onto your knees so you could get closer to him, hands going to his hair, which was finally getting just long enough for you to get a grip on.
It didn’t take long for him to set a rhythm with his tongue that has your hips grinding, thighs shaking just barely at the tension of you holding yourself at just the right height. He’s always been so damn good with his mouth, even since the first time you slept together.
But it wasn’t until you bit down on your fist as you came that you hear him groan, and he’s tapping on your thigh, signaling you to dismount. You climbed off, catching your breath and relaxing your muscles, coming down.
“What’d you bite your fist for?” He asked, sitting up and moving towards you like he had on the couch, coaxing you down onto your back again, his fingers ghosting over you.
“Didn’t do it on purpose.” You were still a bit breathless as he ducked down to kiss you.
“Well for once we don’t have to be quiet. Wanna hear you babe, while we can,” he said, more of a request than a demand. You nodded in response as he lifted up slightly, lining himself up. You let your legs fall open to the sides, giving him more room as he dipped down, grazing over your folds.
You let out the breath you’d been holding as he pushed in, moving slow and easy. He held himself up on his hands, which were splayed on the floor above your shoulders to hold you in place. You bit down on your lip, a force of habit.
He grunted above you, moving down to his forearms, rolling his hips as he shifted his weight to one side so he could bring a thumb up, guiding your lip out from under your teeth.
“What’d I just say,” he groaned, a hint of dominance creeping into his tone. You just nodded, overwhelmed as he continued to stretch you out.
“Fuck E,” you moaned, hands coming up onto the skin of his back, nails dragging down. A tiny part of your brain realized it felt weird to be so loud, but the pleasure took over that as you felt everything start to tighten, an overwhelming feeling that you’d become familiar with.
“God, I can feel that,” Ethan breathed, speeding up the roll of his hips, somehow getting even deeper than he already was. “Shit baby, you feel so good.”
“Don’t stop, please don’t stop,” you whined, pulling him as close as you could, lifting your hips up just barely to meet him. The new angle was electric, just the tiny shift making all the difference, and suddenly your thighs were shaking and you could feel him release, filling you up before he collapsed on top of you.
“Holy shit,” he breathed, rolling off you smoothly. You were only on your back for a second before his arm wrapped around your shoulder, rolling you over onto him.
“We’re gonna have to pace ourselves if we’re gonna make it through every room in the house,” you laughed, trying to catch your breath. He ran his fingers over your back, feather light over your spine.
“Fuckin’ hell, you’re gonna wear me out,” he laughed with you, reaching his other hand up to run through his hair.
“Your fault, you bought a big ass house,” you grinned, squishing your cheek against him, smiling when you heard the rumble of his laughter in his chest.
Eventually, he somehow mustered the energy to get the two of you to your feet and back towards your room, the unspoken agreement that you were done for the night.
“We should shower,” you mumbled.
“Oh yeah, for sure,” Ethan answered, crawling onto the sheets.
“E! We’re gross!”
“Totally disgusting,” he agreed, curling up further into the bed. You thought for a moment about trying to drag him to the shower, but it was no use. If he didn’t wanna move, you couldn’t make him - you’d learned that lesson many times.
Instead, you gave in and crawled over to him, peppering kisses on his bare back. “You’re washing the sheets tomorrow.”
“Deal,” he sighed, twisting to wrap you up in his arms before you both fell asleep.
morning one, 9:42am, kitchen
As you did every morning, you headed into the kitchen alone. The wood was cold against your bare feet, sending goosebumps up your legs. You’d thrown on one of E’s shirts out of habit, but skipped the shorts when you remembered that the house was empty aside from a quietly snoring Ethan.
You made yourself a cup of coffee and turned on the speakers, just loud enough that they might wake Ethan up. The playlist that was just a massive dump of every song the three of you liked started to roll through, and you danced along to it, deciding to make a more complicated breakfast than normal. If there was one thing you could cook, it was breakfast.
The boys had started to branch out and find more vegan substitutes, so you were happy to find all the ingredients you needed to make vegan breakfast bagels - an egg substitute, vegan cheese, even veggie sausage that would work great. While everything cooked away, you cut up some fruit and sipped at your coffee, getting more and more into the music as it played, especially when your favorite Cudi song came on - the boys had gotten you hooked as soon as you moved in, said it was a ‘house rule’ that you stan Cudi.
Lost in your own little world as you scrambled the ‘eggs’, the poke to your hip made you squeal and almost drop the spatula. You turned and saw E, a goofy close lipped smile on his face.
“What’d you poke me for?” You grinned, getting up on your tiptoes to kiss him good morning. He answered by poking your cheek again, then squeezing it gently between his thumb and his index finger.
“Just makin’ sure you’re real, and that I’m not dreamin’,” he sighed, brushing some hair back from your face, proud of the blush he brought to your cheeks.
“You’re such a simp.” You turned back to the ‘eggs’, cutting off the burner, happy they were done so you could give him your full attention for a few minutes.
“Am not.”
“Are too,” you countered. “Okay maybe not a simp, but definitely a sap. Over here poking me to make sure I’m not a dream,” you teased, but you loved every second of it.
“But you are a dream,” he said in his most dramatic voice, hands going to your waist to guide you away from the stove. With one swift move he spun you around and lifted you up so you were suddenly sitting on the island, now just a hair taller than him.
“I wake up to you, cooking a damn good vegan breakfast in my kitchen, with Cudi on the speakers, in my shirt-” he reached for the hem, moving it slightly up from where it sat on your thighs, obviously expecting shorts. He groaned when he didn’t find any.
Immediately, his hand was coming around to the back of your head, fingers curling in your hair as he pulled you down towards him, lips on yours. Usually his kisses were a bit lazy in the morning, but right now he was more than awake, and you could tell.
It wasn’t another minute before he was guiding you backwards and you were laying on the counter, cold marble setting all your nerve endings on fire as his fingers hooked into your panties and pulled them down in one swift motion.
He pressed kisses to your thighs, morning scruff tickling your skin as he made his way up, coaxing your legs to open for him. It was on odd sensation being out in the open like this, but you didn’t have the energy to care once his mouth was on you.
“Fucking shit,” you groaned, the sensitivity left from last night elevating things immediately.
“All good?” He murmured, looking up to you for reassurance. He knew your body almost as well as you did by now, knew you’d be sensitive.
“Yeah, yeah keep going.” You were practically begging for it already and it had only been a few seconds. He started with long, flat tongue licks that he knew would have you squirming, even if he didn’t add a finger like he did.
“Jesus E, fuck,” you whimpered, fingers grasping at the smooth counter, desperate to find something to hold onto as he worked you over. He just hummed against you, satisfied that you were being vocal and adding to the sensation all at the same time.
His tongue moved up to your clit and you gasped, sitting up slightly and grabbing at his head, fingers trying to find purchase in his short hair. It didn’t faze him in the slightest and he continued his work, knowing you were close.
“Fuck, fuck fuck fuck,” you squeaked, body tensing up and then relaxing all at once, causing you to collapse back onto the counter. You barely had enough left in you to make sure that your head didn’t hit the marble.
“Well, kitchen can get checked off,” he breathed, pressing kisses to your skin as you tried to settle back down. After a few moments he helped you sit up, leaving you to relax while he picked up where you left off with breakfast as if nothing had just happened. That was one of your favorite things about Ethan - he was a giver, through and through, and he never did anything to get something in return.
But that didn’t mean you weren’t going to repay the favor.
“You are getting the best head of your life later, so prepare yourself.” You tried to stay serious, but your voice was still a bit breathless as you came up beside him.
“Like I said. Absolute. Dream. My fuckin’ girl,” he smiled, reaching a hand around to cup your ass and pull you up against his side as he continued to cook.
evening one, 6:33pm, the laundry room
You watched him put the blue liquid into the washer, filling up the little cap and putting it into the little container on the right side. You weren’t sure why, but watching Ethan do domestic shit was one of the hottest things to you.
“Did you just put fabric softener in with the sheets?”
“Of course I did,” he responded with a smirk.
“Absolute. Dream. My fuckin’ guy.” You quoted him from earlier with a smug grin, moving from where you were watching in the doorway to right beside him. The washer started to hum, filling up with water as you spun him around so his back was against it.
“Oh?” He quirked an eyebrow, looking at you in surprise - you weren’t usually the one to initiate things, not because you didn’t want to, but because Ethan usually beat you to the punch.
You didn’t answer. Instead, you pulled on the waistband of his shorts and briefs, reaching down to find his cock, which was already rising to your attention.
“Laundry huh? That’s what does it for you?” Ethan said, trying to seem unaffected, but his breath was already catching in his throat. He always got very overwhelmed when you took care of him like this - he was so used to being the giver, sometimes he wasn’t exactly sure what to do as the receiver.
“Shhh, just relax. I told you to prepare for this, remember?” You teased, getting up on your tip toes to kiss him while you pushed his shorts and briefs down. They pooled around his feet and you followed them, sinking to your knees.
“Fucking shit.” He breathed it out, barely audible over the machinery behind him that he started to brace on as you took him in your mouth.
You just hummed as you worked him over, knowing exactly where to get him weak in the knees. He liked slow, long strokes at first, but you surprised him by coming up to cup his balls, rolling them in your hand.
“Oh fuckkkk,” he whined, thigh twitching and hand coming down to your hair. His fingers tangled in it and you didn’t ease up at all, knowing you were about to get him right where you wanted him.
You backed off for just a second, just to see his reaction as you looked up at him. His eyes had been closed for a bit, knuckles white as he gripped onto the washer. But with the loss of contact they flew open, just as you wanted them to.
With his eyes on you, you grabbed onto his hips, opening wide and taking him as far down your throat as you could. You fought the urge to gag, grinning a bit when his hips stuttered and his breath hitched. He even bent over slightly, body unsure of how to handle feeling so good.
He wasn’t even forming words anymore when you started to suck again, paying special attention to the vein that ran along the side as he practically came undone.
When your hand came back up to his balls, he was done for. He came quickly, and you let it slide down your throat, leaving him in your mouth until he guided you off.
You stood up proudly, wiping the corner of your mouth with your shirt while you waited for him to catch his breath.
“You are incredible,” were the words he chose, boosting your ego and making you blush all at the same time.
But you didn’t get a chance to respond, because suddenly he was bending down, your hips colliding with his shoulder as he scooped you up, grabbing onto your legs as he stood up.
“Ethan!” You squealed, bracing your hands on his lower back to hold yourself up. “Your ass is literally in my face.”
“You love it,” he teased, reaching up to give an easy slap to yours, making you squeak as he headed to the next room.
evening one, 7:07pm, guest bathroom
He didn’t even sit you down - he just waltzed right into the shower, opening the glass door and turning on the water.
“Cold, cold cold cold!” You gasped as the water ran over your back, hitting your shirt and soaking the fabric through.
He didn’t react to the water - he only squatted down so he could put you on your feet, hands immediately going to your waist to push you up against the wall. The water was starting to warm up, but the tile was so cold that it still took your breath.
It wasn’t helping that Ethan’s touch was making you feel like your skin was on fire, flushed and warm as he bent down slightly to catch your nipple in his mouth through your shirt. You moaned at that, back arching off the tiles when he nipped at it with his teeth.
“Not supposed to shower with clothes on,” you whimpered, already overwhelmed by just his hands on you.
“Not gonna shower, don’t even have soap in here. Christening, remember?” He whispered it, barely audible over the sound of the water hitting the floor. You didn’t have to ask his plans - he showed you, one hand moving to cup your core. He groaned when he felt a different kind of wet.
“All this, just from sucking my cock huh? Don’t deserve you, truly,” he grinned, hand coming up to the waist of your panties and yanking. The fabric tore, making you gasp.
Somehow, Ethan was already impossibly hard again, ready for another round. He pinned your hips back against the wall, foot pushing your legs just a little wider so he could line himself up. He pushed up in one swift stroke, stretching you out yet again. Somehow, it was even better than the day before, and you were so lost in the bliss you barely felt him pull your shirt over your head, leaving you completely naked.
“Fuck E, feels so good,” you moaned, arms going around his neck as he started his rhythm, deliciously slow yet fast enough at the same time. Only he could fuck you like this, you were sure.
“Tell me how good baby, tell me how I make you feel,” he urged, hands moving to the tiles behind your head as he thrust into you, grunts and groans falling from his lips with every move.
“So good E, so fuckin’ good baby, you’re so deep, fuck,” you let the words tumble out, not thinking twice about them. When he leaned in to kiss you it made you clench all over and he hissed against your lips at the feeling.
“So tight for me baby girl, fuck, my fuckin’ pussy.” The mixture of his groans and the filth coming out of his mouth was enough for you to get yourself right to the edge.
He felt it, felt you lift up on your tiptoes, felt your walls tighten and start to flutter. He reached between you, fingers finding your clit just in time. He rubbed quickly, causing you to stop breathing as every muscle in your body tensed and then you were shaking, so hard your teeth chattered. If his dick wasn’t still inside you you probably would have sunk to the ground.
He pulled out of you as soon as you were done, leaving you feeling entirely empty. You watched with hazy eyes as he turned off the water.
He came back over to you, strong arms wrapping you up and lifting you with ease, even with your skin slick from the water. You let him do whatever he wanted, just relaxing into his shoulder as he carried you out of the shower with your legs wrapped around his waist.
“We’re gonna make a mess on the floor,” you mumbled, watching the water fall off his body and drip onto the wood.
“Shhh, it’s fine,” he reassured you, pressing a kiss to your shoulder as he started to walk towards your room. You couldn’t help but feel that he was still hard, practically throbbing below your entrance as he carried you.
“Where we goin’?” You asked quietly, sitting up.
“Our room.”
“No repeats, remember?” you mumbled. “Put me down.”
He did as you asked, but there was already concern written all over his face. He kept a hand on you as you wobbled slightly, knees still a bit weak.
“Baby, you don’t have to-”
You just took his hand.
night two, 7:30pm, living room one
“Sit down,” you instructed him, pulling him towards the couch. He plopped down on the gray fabric - you knew there would be a wet patch there when you all were done, but you didn’t care.
Before you could say anything else, he reached out, hand on your thigh, thumb rubbing over the skin.
“Sweetheart, it’s okay if you’re not up for it. Really, I mean it. The whole christening thing is just for fun.” His voice was so soft - he was obviously worried that you were overdoing it. After all, you did have a history of being too sensitive for so many rounds in a row; Ethan always took it as a compliment.
But now, you were somehow still horny, and you knew he was painfully hard, especially since it was his second go round. So, you decided to prove to him that you were perfectly fine, leaning over, hands going to his thighs as you got in his face.
“Are you trying to convince me not to sit on your dick right now?” You said it slowly, drawing out your words. “Do you not want me to ride you?”
You actually watched him swallow, and he shook his head like a school boy being scolded.
“That’s what I thought,” you grinned, climbing onto his lap.
You wasted no time, bracing yourself on his shoulder so you could lift up and sink down onto him. There was barely a stretch this time, and you were glad, because you could immediately start up the pace you wanted. You went to your knees so he’d stay deep inside as you started to roll your hips like you knew he loved.
“Shit,” he choked out, hands moving to your ass, squeezing the flesh there as you leaned forward, adding a bit of a bounce to your movements - having your tits in his face was just a bonus.
“Not gonna last, fuck baby, just like that.” The words disappeared into your skin as he buried his face in your neck while you kept moving. Wanting to see his face, you tugged on his hair until his head came back up and you could kiss him.
His hands were desperate, wandering all over your skin as he tried to keep it together, lips rough against yours. It took so much focus for you to keep your pace as your own orgasm started to build, especially when you felt Ethan rising up to meet you, trying to get impossibly deeper.
“C’mon baby, cum for me.” You didn’t care that it had only been a few minutes - you knew he was so close, you could feel it.
He groaned at your words, and you gasped as his hands came to your hips, actually lifting you slightly just so he could pound into you harder. And just that slight shift of angle was enough to build you up in just a few strokes, and suddenly you were cumming with him, seeing stars as your body tried to process the third major orgasm of the day.
“Holy shit,” was all Ethan could say once he caught his breath. You were still speechless, body totally spent as you just sat there, exhausted. “Three in one day, that’s a lot for you,” he praised, pressing kisses to your temple. “My pretty girl is all fucked out huh?”
“Mmmm,” was your only response, and even you didn’t know what it was supposed to mean.
“Let’s get you cleaned up,” he said, moving so he could stand up. He shifted inside you, making you whimper until he was able to lift you off of him. He mumbled an apology, hands coming around to your ass to hold you up. You rested your cheek on his shoulder as he carried you back to your room.
Ten minutes later and the bathtub was full with hot water, waiting for you as you rinsed off in the shower first, deciding your hair desperately needed washing. Ethan watched you through the glass door as he waited in the water for you, soft smile spreading across his face when you finished up and headed to join him, limbs heavy.
He sat up to help you step into the massive white tub, immediately wrapping his arms around you as you settled back against his chest.
“You remember how you said we needed to pace ourselves?” He murmured in your ear. “Well, we only have two rooms left. We’re beasts.”
“What’s gonna happen when we have our own house? We could do this every weekend,” You teased, twisting around so you could rest your cheek on his shoulder, pressing a few kisses to his neck and collarbone.
“Do you want our own place?”
You thought on it for a moment, as much as your blissed out haze would let you. “Not for a while. I like living with Gray.”
“Wait. If we didn’t live with Gray, would you just walk around with no pants on all the time?” The seriousness of his tone made you giggle.
“Probably,” you shrugged.
“That’s it, we’re moving, I’m getting on Zillow right now-” he sat up slightly as if he was going to get out of the tub, making you laugh and cling onto him.
“Stop, you know you love living with your brother. You miss him already and it’s only been like a day.”
He sighed, chest rising below you. “You’ve kept me plenty distracted.” But you both knew that you were right.
morning three, 10am, office
Your second whole day at home alone was so... soft. There was no other way to put it. You’d woken up on your own time, thrown on some comfy clothes and went together to your favorite vegan bakery, getting lattes and the best banana bread.
E had driven you up to a lookout and you’d had breakfast together watching the waves crash on the coast. And when you got home, you spent the whole day just moseying around the house, dancing around to the music on the speakers, playing cards, cuddling on the couch and watching movies.
“Can’t wait till this is us in our house with a few little mini you’s running around,” Ethan had said, pulling you closer to him on the couch.
“Mini me’s? Why not mini you’s?”
“Oh god, I wouldn’t wish a mini me on anybody, just ask Li,” he’d teased back. And the night had devolved into the two of you talking about what you thought your lives would look like in the future - living either in Jersey or LA, but definitely with Grayson as a neighbor. Two or three kids running around, not too far apart in age. You could picture it all in your head so clearly, and it had even seeped into your dreams later that night when you fell asleep on Ethan’s chest.
So when you woke up on the third morning, you pouted a bit when you didn’t find Ethan beside you in bed. You climbed out from under the covers, rubbing the sleep from your eyes and going in search of him - you wanted to tell him about the little mini-him’s you’d dreamed about, and how cute they were. You checked each room as you went along, finally hearing his voice and peeking into the office.
He was spinning slightly in the office chair, cell phone pressed to his ear.
“Yeah, I think that’s fine. If we restock in July, then we should have enough time to get enough surplus built up before the holidays.” He caught sight of you then, face lighting up. He waved you in, wanting you to join him.
You could hear the voice on the other side of the line as you got closer, and recognized it as Nathan, one of the main product managers for Wakeheart. He’d made sure not to plan any meetings for the days you had the house to yourself, giving himself a ‘mini-vacation’, but you knew he couldn’t stay away from work that long. You didn’t mind - his ambition was one of your favorite things about him.
So you simply headed over to settle onto his lap, nuzzling up into his neck as you straddled one of his thighs and cuddled up.
He pulled the phone away from his ear for just a moment, turning his head to kiss you good morning.
“Do you think we should make a holiday line? Grayson and I were talking about it, or we could just run some specific packaging deals, with mini’s or something.” He kept talking, spinning about 45 degrees in the chair and then back again, using his foot to move him.
What he didn’t realize was that just that movement was making your core shift on his wide thigh, and your thin panties weren’t doing anything to help the situation.
You still had a bit of residual sensitivity, but it didn’t hurt - now it just made it that much easier to get turned on. You tried to ignore it for a minute - Ethan always took his work so seriously, and you really didn’t want to interrupt.
But soon it was too obvious - you knew that if he didn’t already feel the wetness on his skin, he was going to soon. Almost against your own will your hips started to move just slightly, desperate for any type of friction across your throbbing core.
And of course, Ethan noticed. You sat up, trying to get a new angle and his eyes were blown wide, mouth actually hanging open slightly because holy shit, you were actually riding his thigh while he was on a business call.
With a devious grin, he bounced his leg once, and you squeaked so loud that you had no doubt that Nathan heard it. Your hands immediately went up to cover your mouth, cheeks bright red in embarrassment.
“Just my floor, sorry. What’d you say?” He played it off, pressing a finger to your lips and still smirking at you as you started to grind again, one hand going to his shoulder, the other bracing against his right thigh to give you leverage.
“Yeah, we could do two separate mini bundles, with one set for enterlight and the other with the signatures, maybe spruce it up with some festive packaging.” His voice was devilishly calm, and somehow that only turned you on more. The fact that he could be so unaffected by you literally getting off just using his leg had your skin flushed and hot, a mixture of embarrassment and want.
“We’ll have to run it past Gray once he’s back. Right now it’s just me and my girl at the house, Sterling isn’t even here, so it’s just us.” His eyes were on you, but you didn’t realize how intensely he was watching you until he brought his other hand up to grab your jaw, tilting your head back until you had no option but to stare directly at him.
You bit down on your lip hard, fighting with yourself to stay quiet as you worked yourself up, moving fast, the chair starting to creak just barely with your movements. A few whimpers still slipped past your lips and you could actually see his pupils blow wide at the sound.
“Yeah, uh, actually Nathan I think Y/N needs me for... something. Can we finish this up later?” There was a slight gruff to his voice now, the first real sign that any of this was getting to him. “Alright, talk soon. Bye.”
His phone hit the desk hard as he practically dropped it, both hands moving to your hips as his mood turned on a dime.
“God you drive me insane baby. Don’t know what’s gotten into you lately but I love it,” he groaned, gripping onto your hips as you continued to move, so lost in the feeling that you barely even heard his words.
“Fuck Ethan, I’m close, I’m so fuckin close,” you breathed, digging your nails into his shoulder hard enough to make him suck in a breath through his teeth.
“There you go baby girl, c’mon, get yourself off on my leg, c’mon, you’re almost there,” he encouraged you, starting to barely bounce his leg to give you that extra little bit of friction you needed.
“Fuck, fuck fuck fu-” your breath caught in your throat, cutting off your words as your whole body tensed up, thighs closing together to squeeze around his as your toes came off the ground and every muscle in your legs started to shake. It rolled through you in waves, keeping you tensed up for almost 30 seconds before you were finally able to breathe. You gulped down the air you’d been missing, collapsing forward onto Ethan’s chest as his arms wove around you.
“Woah. That was a good one huh?” His voice is soft as he rubs up and down your back as you caught your breath. “If you needed me, all you had to do was ask.”
“Was just comin’ to tell you about my dream,” you stood up, moving to close your legs and sit on his lap sideways instead, too sensitive to stay like you had been.
“Oh yeah? And what did my girl dream about, hmm?”
You launched into the story, talking about how the two of you had a daughter and son, both with dark curls like Ethan’s that bounced around while they played in the treehouse that Grayson had built for their kids to share.
“It really sent the baby fever into overdrive,” you sighed, tracing over his collarbone tattoo as you finished.
“You know,” he leaned down, getting closer to your ear. “If you want a baby, you gotta at least give me a chance to get my dick in you.”
“Stopppp,” you blushed, burying your face in his neck. He just laughed.
“Oh so now you’re gonna get bashful on me huh? Just came in here and rode my thigh into oblivion while I was on a business call, but me mentioning putting a baby in you, oh no, that crosses the line.”
You sat up and pouted at his teasing, but he just kissed it right off your lips with a laugh. “You know I love it, don’t be embarrassed.”
afternoon four, 3:32pm, dining room
“Babe, c’mon, if we’re late Gray’s gonna be pissed,” you called out, grabbing Grayson’s water bottle from the counter and filling it up - you were always thirsty after a long flight, and you figured he’d appreciate the gesture.
Ethan came around the corner then, taking one look at you and immediately turning around with a groan, heading back to your room.
“E!”
“You’re wearing that? You don’t even have a shred of mercy for me, do you?” He was exasperated as soon as he came back into the kitchen.
You looked down at yourself - you just had on a sundress, it was no big deal.
“What do you mean?!”
“I’m already trying to get over the fact that you’re gonna start wearing pants again all the time and you’re out here looking all... all tempty,” he pouted, and you couldn’t hold back your laugh.
“Tempty? That’s a new one. And hey, technically I still don’t have on pants,” you offered, quirking an eyebrow.
“Is that supposed to be helpful right now?” He asked, making you realize that pointing out the fact that your were in a dress probably wasn’t helping the already growing bulge in his pants.
With devious eyes, he glanced over at the clock. You had a few minutes to spare before you absolutely had to leave to avoid being late, and he knew it too.
“Ethan... no. No,” you cautioned as he started to walk towards you, but you were laughing at the fact he looked like a cat on the prowl.
“C’mon, we never finished our christening! All we have left is the dining room! You know I hate giving up.” He was pouting again, even sticking his bottom lip out as he kept walking and you backed up until you bumped into the wooden table.
“We’re gonna be late,” was your last possible defense, and even that was half assed. You were already wet god dammit, all he had to do was look at you.
“Please baby? We’ll be quick, I promise.”
You answer by turning around, bending over and reaching back to flick your dress up over your ass. His knees almost give out at the sight.
“Absolute.” He leaned down and presses a kiss to your left asscheek. “Dream.” He kissed the other, making you laugh.
“Thought we were gonna be quick,” you teased, secretly loving all the attention. As excited as you were to see Grayson, you sure as hell were gonna miss this.
“So greedy,” he chuckled, moving up to catch your thong with his fingers and pull it down to your knees. You heard the rustle of him getting his shorts down, and a gentle tap at your slit with his tip was your only warning before he pushed himself in.
“Fuckin’ shit baby,” you croaked, hands balling into fists at the sensation. You weren’t sure how it felt so good to be stretched out so nicely - surely you’d get used to it eventually, but you secretly hoped you never did.
“Hmm, feels nice huh? You feel so good every damn time,” he praised, hands squeezing at your ass as he pulled out to the tip before thrusting back in. “Always so soft for me.” He was lazily rolling his hips, giving you just enough to get you worked up but not enough to get you there.
“Fast Ethan. We’re going for fast,” you reminded him, a bit of sass creeping into your tone. You didn’t want to deal with a cranky post-travel Grayson if you were late.
He stilled his movement entirely, leaning forward to nip at your ear.
“You asked for it.”
And then he was moving, pulling your hips so he could slam into you fully, only letting go to reach around and rub at your clit, making your whole body tense up at the sudden change in pace.
“Fuck yes Ethan, fuck just like that, yes, yes yes yes,” you whimpered, a hand even coming to smack at the wood on the table as you tried to process all the sensation happening so quickly.
“Already tightening up, look at you.” His breathing was already labored as he continued pounding into you, grunting with the force of it. Neither of you were going to last long, it felt too good. “C’mon baby, wanna feel it. Cum for me, I know you’re close.”
You brought one hand down over his, guiding him to just the right spot over your clit, the callouses on his finger giving you just the right friction that had you tumbling over the edge.
You collapsed onto the table with the force of the orgasm, smiling when you felt Ethan chasing his own high and spilling into you only a few moment later, only your name falling from his lips.
It took a few minutes for you to calm down, and then you were waddling off to the bathroom to clean yourself up quickly before pulling your panties back up. Ethan watched you with a smug smirk as you tried to walk normally, his ego bursting.
“Shut it,” you threatened, pointing a finger at him. “This is your fault.”
“I said nothing.” But his smirk was enough. “Better get that figured out before we get Grayson, or he’ll never let us live it down,” he grinned, offering you his arm as you rearranged your dress and let him lead you out to the car.
40 minutes later and you were climbing out of the car, legs not giving too much away as you watched Ethan run around the car and engulf his twin in the biggest hug, both of them more than ecstatic to see each other.
“Missed you bro,” Grayson smiled, looking over at you. “Missed you too munch,” he said, throwing out the nickname that only he was allowed to call you. Once Ethan let him go he moved over to you, giving you the biggest bear hug and spinning you around. Ethan reacted before you did, reaching a hand out to keep your dress down in the wind.
“Woah, easy, that’s only for my eyes,” Ethan huffed, pulling you to his side once you were back on your feet.
“Righttt, I forgot. But hey, I’m home now, so you’re gonna have to start wearing pants around the house again. Sorry to ruin the no-pants party,” Grayson smirked, watching the blush spread across your cheeks as you whirled on Ethan.
“You told him?” You squeaked, embarrassment running through you from head to toe.
“Thanks bro, real fuckin’ nice,” Ethan said over your head before looking at you. “That’s the only thing I told him, I swear.”
“You’re so dead,” you narrowed your eyes at him, and he knew he was in for it later.
“Ahh, so nice to be home,” Grayson grinned, wrapping you both up in a hug as he laughed.
-----
SORRY this took so long guys. also if u love me u should message me which room was your favorite just for fun haha thank you for reading, ily guys!
the boys do their first no tech challenge since you and grayson get together, and though they make it, something goes terribly wrong at home
word count: 5k
warnings/tags: angst, worried!grayson, hurt!y/n
feel free to send in requests! i’ll write most things! hope you enjoy :)
Your POV:
“I dunno, I just have a weird feeling about this one.” Grayson’s fingers were twisting and untwisting the hem of your shirt, his nerves evident as you laid next to him in bed.
“Gray you’re gonna be fine, it’s just like before. You’ve got the van, and you’ve done survival stuff. Everything is gonna work out. I am gonna miss you though,” you gave him a sad smile.
Since you’d started dating, you’d been attached at the hip. You still had an apartment of your own, but if you were honest you needed to just bite the bullet and sell it - you practically lived with the twins, and you wouldn’t have it any other way. But that also meant that this was going to be the first long-ish stretch that you weren’t with each other.
“It’s just 7 days baby, it’ll go by so fast.” Now he was comforting you, of course.
“You’re gonna have the best time, I can’t wait to see the video when you get home.”
“I’d send you pictures, but you know we won’t have our phones,” he sighed, running a finger along your jawline. “Not being able to see this face all week is gonna suck.”
You blushed deep red, warming his fingertips before you pulled away and crawled across the bed.
“Hey, where ya goin’?” Grayson pouted, but you ignored him for a second, going over to the dresser where you kept some of your clothes full time. You reached down, pulling out the little album that you’d been making as a gift for Grayson down the road. You pulled out one of your favorite pictures; from one of the first weeks that you’d been dating, it was the two of you with the LA skyline in the background, with you looking up at him as he smiled.
“Here, take this with you.” You handed him the photo. “I know E will probably give you shit, but just hide it somewhere. Make sure you bring it back though, that one’s my favorite.”
“I love you,” he responded, but you barely heard it, because at that exact moment Ethan was banging on the door and yelling “GRAY! C’mon it’s time to go!”
“And i’m going to kill my brother,” he groaned, reaching out and pulling you to him tightly, falling back on the bed. You landed on top of him, and his lips were on yours before you could say anything. He kissed you roughly for a minute, a bit of urgency there as he knew you weren’t going to be able to do this again for a while. Ethan knocked on the door again, and you felt Graysons arms tighten as he rolled over, putting you underneath him
“Go Gray, before he beats the door down,” you teased, pushing gently on his chest.
“I could just stay here with you,” he countered, raising an eyebrow.
“Go,” You giggled, pushing harder.
“Fine, fine,” he grumbled, kissing you again before getting up. “Alright E, I’m coming!”
You followed him to the door where Ethan was standing in the doorway.
“Finally get him to stop crying and leave?” E asked.
“Oh shut up,” you teased, pushing on his chest so you could get by. He followed you, slinging an arm around your shoulders as you headed out to the van, which you knew was already packed.
You stayed out of the shot as they filmed a little intro explaining what they were doing. Grayson was so much more excited these days in all the videos, but even more so in the ones that had to do with adventures. You watched as the locked their phones in the box they’d used before, storing it under the benches in the van.
Once the cameras cut, Gray made his way back over to you, wrapping you up in a tight hug.
“I love you. I’m gonna miss you so much,” he murmured into your hair.
“I love you too Gray. Be safe.”
“You too. Call Ricky if you need anything okay? He’ll still have his phone for emergencies.”
His mind was already wandering as he continued driving down the road, already in Arizona. They were headed to Big Bend National Park, with the new challenge of not using their phones for navigation. Ethan was actually a good navigator, so once he got on the right highway it was just a matter of driving through Arizona and Texas, then down to the Mexico border to get to the park.
“I think all this footage is gonna be sick, and I’m excited to get some star shots once we get to the park,” Ethan said. Gray just nodded along, watching the road.
“You good bro? You’re off, I can feel it.”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just have a pit in my stomach about this whole thing. It’s makin’ me anxious,” Grayson explained, fists tightening on the wheel of the van. Ricky was in the back, sound asleep.
“What about it though? Is it something specific?” Ethan asked.
“I can’t put my finger on it. I just have a weird feeling. I’m sure it’s nothing, I’m just in my head.”
“Is it Y/N?”
Sometimes, Grayson really hated sharing a mind. And this was one of those times. He stayed silent, which was enough of an answer for Ethan.
“She’s a fully capable person Gray. She’s gonna be fine without you for a few days.”
“Thanks asshole, I know. Just drop it.”
“Whatever,” Ethan shrugged, settling down into his chair a bit more, crossing his arms and getting comfy for the long trip ahead.
And a long trip it was. They made it to the park around 1am, and were amazed at what they saw. Above them was the whole milky way, clear as day.
They shot a quick clip explaining the main reason they’d come all the way to Big Bend.
“It’s a certified dark zone, which means no one is allowed to have building with lights out here. So theres no light pollution at all, it’s one of the best places in the world to see the stars,” Ethan explained. Grayson wasn’t paying too much attention; instead he was gazing up, and suddenly missing who he wanted beside him more than anything.
It was going to be a long few days.
Your POV:
The first four days were alright. You spent your time wandering around the house, enjoying all the space. You sat in Ethan’s comfy chair in the living room while you watched netflix, cuddled up in one of Grayson’s blankets from his bed that you’d dragged with you. It smelled like him, and it was comforting.
When that got boring you’d change into a swim suit, heading out to the pool - you’d given it a good cleaning, which you knew the boys would be thankful for when they got back. You were determined to get more of a tan than Gray by the end of the summer, and if you had any chance at all you needed to get a head start.
By day five, the boredom was starting to get to you. You wanted to talk to Grayson, see his face, see his smile, hear his laugh. You even resorted to going back and watching a few of your favorite videos of theirs, just to hear his voice. You felt pathetic while you did it, but you also couldn’t really bring yourself to care too much if you were honest. All throughout the day you caught yourself pulling out your phone to text him, but you knew he wouldn’t see them.
Still, you’d send a message just for fun, knowing he would see them once he got back and was allowed to have his phone. You could just imagine his face when he got back and saw all the little messages you’d left.
miss youuuuu
hey u should come home now, k thanks
I stole your favorite hoodie and you’re never getting it back oops
im gonna hide all your building stuff, that’s the level of boredom i’m at
this shit sucks
i love you
I wanna go on the next adventure :(
But as you sent the last one, it sparked an idea.
You could make your own adventure. Nothing was stopping you, and you had nothing better to do. The weather was nice, and there was supposed to be some good surf coming in.
And so, that was that. You packed up a towel, your wetsuit and some sunscreen, heading out to the car. You decided to take the Bronco, just because it had the surf rack on top. Grayson still wasn’t too keen on anyone driving his car, but he trusted you with it more than Ethan, and you knew he wouldn’t really care.
So you packed up your surfboard, struggling a bit to get it on top of the roof and strapped down - Grayson always made it look so damn easy. But you managed, finally getting in and heading to the beach. The drive was beautiful, as always, but you missed being in the passenger seat with Grayson’s hand on your thigh.
Damn. These last few days were gonna suck.
Grayson’s POV:
“I think we’re really getting the hang of this bro. I’m excited. We could do this full time, for real,” Grayson grinned, packing up a few things in the van while Ethan filled up the packs with water. Ricky was filming, so he took the opportunity to explain what was happening.
“So guys, today we’re going on the longest, and most difficult hike in Big Bend. It’s called South Rim, it’s about 14 miles total, but we’re gonna split it up and actually camp about halfway so we can get even cooler views tonight. Now, Ethan and I like to say we’re hikers, but honestly, we kinda suck.”
“Yeah, we uh, we’re not great,” Ethan chimed in.
“So this should be fun!”
“Oh yeah, great time.”
“And obviously we don’t have our phones, so we’re gonna have no idea what time it is, we won’t be able to call for help if we get, ya know, mauled by a mountain lion or something.”
“Bro, why would you say that!?” Ethan groaned.
“It’s the truth! Well, I guess Ricky has his phone though, so we’d be alright.”
“My phone hasn’t had service since we got here,” Ricky countered from behind the camera.
“Oh we are so fucked dude,” Ethan grumbled.
And in all honesty, it put a bit of a pit in Gray’s stomach, knowing he wouldn’t be able to contact anybody if something happened. But he pushed the thought from his mind, moving to help his brother pack up the tent and begin their trek.
Your POV:
The beach wasn’t too crowded, which was a blessing. When you said you liked to surf, it usually meant that you liked to catch 1 wave out of the 50 you tried for. You were a beginner, that was for sure. There were only about 20 people on the entire beach, and a few surfers out on the break, with the lifeguard keeping a close eye on them.
Even if you didn’t feel it, you looked the part in your wetsuit, board tucked under your arm. You snapped a quick picture, sending it to Grayson’s non-existent phone just for kicks.
wish you were here! you’d be laughing at how much I’m gonna suck. love you!
After it sent, you put it away in the waterproof box you’d brought. You made your way over to the lifeguard station, waving up at the man sitting atop the chair.
“Hey, I’m here by myself, do you care if I leave this box here with you?” You asked politely.
“Yeah that’s fine. Be careful out there,” he responded, not taking his eyes off the water. You put it down by the legs of the chair, jogging towards the water. The ocean was cold when it hit your skin but you adjusted quickly, diving in and heading out to the break.
And as you predicted, you missed practically every single one you tried to get up on. You hit the water over and over again, your arms sore from pushing up to standing, even if it was to no avail.
You began paddling in after about an hour, accepting defeat, when suddenly you noticed everyone beside you paddling out instead of in.
The lifeguard’s whistle came too late. By the time you turned around, the wave was already there, towering feet above any that had come prior.
And you were right in the break.
You’d read about these before. Rouge waves, you remembered. Random waves that come from nowhere, with no apparent cause. You had just enough time to suck in your breath before it crashed directly over your head.
It felt like the inside of a washing machine looked - that was the only way you could describe it. And then you felt something warm on your head, and everything went black.
Grayson’s POV:
It was the morning of day six, and Grayson had never been more ready to get home. The pit in his stomach was a rock now, and he had no explanation for it at all.
“Bro we’re actually disgusting. Like we need a real shower somewhere, or we’re never gonna get the smell out of this van,” Ethan said. And he was right. After all the hiking and sleeping in the tent, the three of them reeked.
“We could do a gas station shower, we just gotta map our way there without our phones. I don’t think that breaks the rules, we just aren’t supposed to use technology,” Ricky shrugged.
“Alright sick, we might as well start driving. Gray, you okay?” E asked.
“Yeah. Just don’t feel good,” he mumbled. He kept himself curled up in the back of the van, head resting on the table as Ethan found his way out of the park and towards the nearest town.
Grayson couldn’t figure out what was bothering him so much. He wasn’t dehydrated, he hadn’t eaten anything bad. He should be having the time of his life, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong. It was like the time that Ethan had cut his leg open when they were kids; Grayson wasn’t near him, but he just knew. It was exactly that feeling, except Ethan was right there in front of him, perfectly fine. So he just kept his head down, hoping whatever it was would pass.
They found the gas station about 45 minutes later, and the three of them headed in eagerly. Maybe a good warm shower would clear his mind.
And once he was done, he did feel better. But only slightly. It was getting harder to breathe. He headed out, noticing that Ricky was already in the van and Ethan was waiting outside.
“Gray, dude you don’t look good. What’s wrong?”
“I think I’m getting sick man. I’ve been sick to my stomach since yesterday, and I feel like I can’t breathe now. Maybe I’ve got a really bad allergy to something out here. I’m sorry man, I’m trying to shake it so I can be up for the video, but I don’t know where it’s coming from.”
“Guys.” Ricky’s voice was serious, much more serious than normal.
“What’s up?” E asked.
“I just got service again, and I’ve got 12 missed calls, all from the same number. I don’t recognize it though. LA area code.”
“Call it. Call it now.” Grayson’s answer came before he could even think about it. He felt like he was going to hurl.
Ricky dialed it back quickly, holding the phone up to his ear. The twins climbed in the back, sitting down across from him at the table.
“This is he.” Ricky said. “Um, yeah, yeah he’s right here.”
Grayson’s blood went ice cold when Ricky held the phone out for him.
“It’s for you.”
He felt robotic and he reached out, taking the phone and putting it up to his ear.
“Hello?”
“Hi, is this Mr. Grayson Dolan?”
“Yes.”
“Hi Grayson. We’re just calling on behalf of Ms. Y/N Y/L/N from King Hospital, you’re listed as her primary emergency contact.”
“Is she alright? What happened?”
“She’s stable right now. We don’t have all of the details, she’s been in and out of consciousness. She was in an accident -”
“Accident?” Grayson’s voice cracked, and Ethan stiffened up beside him. As if it was instinct, he felt his brothers hand on his shoulder, anchoring him just enough that he could listen.
“She was out surfing at Manhattan Beach, the lifeguards said there was a rouge wave. They got her out quickly, but they think she hit her head on some rocks when she went under. She wasn’t breathing when they got to her, but she was stabilized in the ambulance. She told us to call Ricky off her phone when she was conscious because you wouldn’t have your phone. We’ve had her sedated so her brain could rest, but it looks like we’re going to need to take her in for surgery, because we found some deep lacerations on her head and want to check for anymore significant damage.”
“Surgery?” Grayson expected himself to go numb, but he almost had the opposite. He was so overwhelmed that it was crippling. “How soon?”
“As soon as we’re able. She isn’t able to give consent, so we needed to get in contact with you if possible. Are you able to get here quickly?”
“I’m - I’m not in the state, I’m in Texas.”
“Well, a telephone consent will do,” the nurse said.
“Oh. Okay, yeah. Yeah, I consent. Do what you need to, please just be careful.” It was dumb thing to say, he knew that, but he couldn’t help himself.
“Thank you Mr. Dolan, we will. And we’ll keep you updated. Should we call at this number, or the one you have listed?”
“The one I have listed is fine, I have it now.”
Ethan knew exactly what that meant and was immediately scrambling to find the box with their phones while Ricky got the key ready off his keychain.
“Alright, speak soon Mr. Dolan.”
And with that she hung up the phone.
“I’m gonna be sick,” were the only words that Grayson could manage as he crawled to the back of the van and hurled over the bumper. Ethan followed him, holding onto his shoulders and trying to stabilize him so he didn’t fall out.
“What do we need to do Gray?”
“Drive. We need to get home, now.”
Without further questions, Ricky climbed into the drivers seat as they closed up the back of the van, immediately heading in the direction of California.
When Gray finally managed to get enough air in his lungs, he was able to look up at Ethan, who was sitting opposite of him.
“Y/N’s hurt. I think it’s pretty bad.”
“Tell me what happened.”
And so he did, to the best of his ability. He didn’t have very much information, which was the hard part. But he told his brother everything that the nurse did.
“Well, if she was with it enough to give them Ricky’s number instead of yours, that’s good. That means she was alright when they got her in the ambulance.”
“Right. I wonder if she tried to call me.” The thought made his stomach tighten.
“Your phone was dead, it’s charging up front right now. Either way, we’re headed back as quick as we can.”
Grayson noted that the van was moving quite quickly - Ricky was definitely speeding, but he didn’t care.
“E.”
“I know Gray. I’m scared too. But she’s gonna be alright. She has to be.”
She’s gonna be alright
She’s gonna be alright
He repeated the words over and over again in his head, sometimes mumbling them aloud. A few minutes later, his phone was charged. Ethan climbed to the front to get it. Without having to ask, Ethan knew that Grayson wanted him to screen his texts, just to see. And he could tell there were texts from her just by his face.
“E. If she text me about all this and I didn’t answer, I’m gonna lose my fucking mind.”
“She wouldn’t have been able to, she didn’t take her phone in the water. These are all from before.”
He held out his hand.
Looking at the texts was his undoing. He could hear her voice, clear as day in his head as he read them, making it all the much harder. He began to sob, uncontrollable ragged sounds. Ethan put an arm around his shoulder in silent support, as he often did. And Ricky continued down the road.
------------------------
It was the longest 15 hours of his life. They’d checked to make sure it wasn’t quicker to stop in Phoenix and put Grayson on a flight - driving straight through was faster. But god it felt like it was taking years. He held the picture he had of him and Y/N in his hand, but he couldn’t look at it for too long without losing it.
Ethan was driving now, with Grayson in the passenger seat - he hadn’t been forced to take a turn, everyone knew he was in no shape to drive.
Everyone in the car was on edge, which meant they all jumped practically to the ceiling when Grayson’s phone rang. He answered on the first ring.
“Hello?”
“Mr. Dolan?” It was a different voice this time.
“Yes.”
“Hi, this is Y/N’s surgeon, just calling with an update. Y/N is out of surgery, and she did great! No complications, and the damage seems pretty minimal, though we’ll have to see once she wakes up.”
He took his first real breath in the last 15 hours.
“That’s great news. Thank you.”
“So she’s in recovery right now, but she’s gonna be unconscious for the next 30 minutes or so. Should we be expecting you?”
“Yeah, yeah I’m headed there right now, I should be there in about 25 minutes according to my GPS.”
“Alright perfect. Well, she’s in room 828 on the post op wing when you get here, just sign in at the desk and we’ll bring you up. We’ll take good care of her.”
“Thank you so much doctor.”
“She’s alright. Out of surgery, should be waking up soon,” he explained as soon as he hung up. The relief was obvious, especially for Ethan. Gray had been so caught up in his own worry that he’d forgotten how worried Ethan must be - Y/N was practically his sister. Grayson watched as his brother pressed just a tiny bit more on the gas, racing towards the hospital.
When they arrived, Grayson couldn’t get out of the van fast enough. He bolted for the entrance, with Ethan in tow. Ricky stayed in the car out of privacy, offering to get them anything they needed.
They went through the motions of check in - something they were all too familiar with - and Grayson followed the nurse up to the post op floor, where he was transferred over to the nurse that had initially called him.
“She’s starting to stir just a bit. Just to prepare you, we aren’t sure how confused she’s going to be when she wakes up. With the mixture of anesthesia and her concussion, she may be very out of it. Just be patient with her, she should come around to her normal self within the next few hours. She’s right through here.” The nurse stopped outside the door, opening the door with a gentle push.
“You wanna go alone, or do you want me with you?” Ethan asked, hesitating.
“With me.” He didn’t have to think about it.
Grayson went in first, and if Ethan hadn’t been behind him, he probably would have fallen to his knees. Y/N was in the hospital bed, gown over her still form, her head partially wrapped in gauze. She had oxygen tubes in her nose and was breathing deeply, laying flat on her back, eyes closed. Just the image of her in the whole hospital garb was enough to bring tears to his eyes. He hated it more than he could have imagined.
Once he was stable enough on his feet, Grayson headed to her bedside. As he got closer, she started to stir a bit, fingers twitching as he sat down as gently as he could on the side of her bed. It was as if she knew he was there already, even though he hadn’t said a word or touched her at all.
“Mmmmmm.” She started to make a noise, her dry lips parting.
“Baby?” Grayson leaned forward, taking her hand in his, careful not to move her IV.
“Mmm- mad.” She mumbled, eyes still closed.
“Mad?” He looked back at Ethan for clarification, but he just nodded. Grayson raised a hand up to cup her cheek, and she smiled, resting her head in his palm. He revealed in the feeling, taking it in.
“Bronco.” This time, her word was clear, though it didn’t make anymore sense.
“Baby. Y/N, can you open your eyes sweetheart?” Grayson coaxed, rubbing his thumb along her cheekbone.
“Tryin’. It’s heavy,” she said, scrunching her eyebrows. He could tell she was really doing her best, which made his heart squeeze a bit tighter. When she finally managed to lift her eyelids, he could tell she was exhausted.
“You’s gonna be mad at me,” was the first sentence she managed to string together, though all her words were drawn out and slightly garbled.
“Why would I be mad at you baby?”
“I drove the bronco, left it at the beach. Probs some homeless guy living in it,” she said, resting all the weight of her head onto his hand.
“It’s okay. I really couldn’t care less about the car right now.”
“Don’t say that, Ethan will be big sad.” She gasped then, sitting upright a little more. “Ethan! Hi buddy!” She had just noticed him at the end of the bed. She blinked hard, like she was trying to bring him into focus.
“Hey girly, how yah feelin?”
“Got a cracked skull, but i’ms okay. But guess what?”
“What?” He asked.
“Still smarter than youuuuu,” she shrugged, and Grayson couldn’t help but let out a laugh.
She really was back to normal.
“You want me to go get the car?” Ethan asked, sitting on the opposite side of her bed and for once, choosing not to throw a comeback. He really had been worried.
“I don’t have keys. Or my phone. I left em with the lifeguard,” she pouted, her lip curling down. If it wasn’t so pitiful, he would have found it adorable.
“It’s okay, we’ll figure it out. Don’t worry about it,” Grayson reassured her, leaning forward to press a kiss to her forehead.
The nurse came in then to check on her. Ethan moved out of her way, and Grayson was about to move away, but Y/N grabbed his hand, using all her strength to hold him there.
“Don’t go,” she whimpered, and he swore he could feel a piece of his heart crack.
“I’m right here, just getting out of the nurses way,” he promised, kissing her hand and standing next to the bed.
“You guys are fine, I’ll let you know if you’re somewhere I need to be,” the nurse smiled. “How’re you feeling Y/N?”
“Sore, but okay.”
“Well, you’re a trooper. I’ve never seen anyone come out of anesthesia so clear headed before. Now, you might get confused in a little while, but that’s just the concussion, and it’ll pass, okay? Just gotta give it time. You just rest and give your body some time to heal. You should be ready to rock and roll out of here in the next few days, okay?”
“M’kay. Is my phone lost forever?” She asked.
“Actually the lifeguard that pulled you out dropped off your box with your things earlier. It’s over there with your other belongings.”
Grayson made a mental note to find that guy and thank him profusely in the future. Ethan went over to the personal items bag, bringing it over to the bed. Y/N started to rummage through it, pulling things out one by one.
When she got her wetsuit out - which took some effort - she frowned, running her finger over the new cut that Grayson assumed was made by the paramedics. He tried as hard as he could to not picture what the ambulance looked like when that cut was made.
“They cut it,” she pouted. “That was my favorite one.”
“I’ll buy you a new one,” Grayson reassured her.
“M’kay,” she mumbled, satisfied. She cuddled down a little bit into her pillow, obviously exhausted. Grayson continued going through the bag, getting the keys and her phone out of the box.
“I’m gonna get the car before it gets towed. Give you all a minute,” Ethan said quietly, having a hand out for the keys.
“Thanks bro. I’ll keep you updated.”
He was extremely grateful, but he couldn’t find the words. He hoped Ethan knew.
“Gray,” Y/N said quietly.
“Hey baby, I’m right here.”
“M’tired,” she murmured, holding a hand out. “Can we sleep?”
“You can sleep sweetheart,” Grayson reassured her.
“C’mere. Come up here,” she said, patting the bed next to her.
Grayson obliged, sliding his arms under her knees and behind her back, scooting her over just enough so that he could slide into the bed beside her.
“Much better. I missed you. Maybe don’t go for so long next time,” she said, curling up against him and getting as close as she could.
“Don’t worry. I’m not leaving you for a long, long time.”
“Sounds good to me,” she mumbled, but she was already falling asleep before the end of the sentence. So Grayson held her close to him, relishing in the feeling and lulling off to sleep.
