online. (g.d.)
Summary: everyone warned him about talking to this girl online. but he can’t help but want to fall for her... now he has to meet her. what happens when they finally get together in person?
Pairing: Grayson Dolan x Reader
WARNINGS: sexy thoughts but nothing too bad
Word ct.: 4116 words
this is the first part of my fic! i was gonna post the entire thing but it’s waaaaaaaay too long. so, here’s “part one”.
UNEDITED
(grayson’s messages are in bold, (y/n)’s are in italics)
***
So, let’s talk for a moment.
Shoot.
Would you maybe want to…meet?
Meet…in person?
Yeah. I mean if that’s too big of a step maybe we could facetime or something.
She was frozen. Sure, they’d been talking for a while but this wasn’t like they were dating. And no, she wasn’t a catfish; everything she told him about her was completely true, so that wasn’t her concern. But she was stressed beyond belief because this guy claimed to be Grayson Dolan, and he was a pretty big deal. And if she’s honest, she’s starting to like him in that way.
What if he sees her in person and he doesn’t like her in that way like she does?
Then she’ll feel pretty stupid.
Hello?
Hey. Sorry. I think us facetiming would be a good idea. Baby steps, wouldn’t you agree?
Grayson wanted to scream with joy. This girl…she’s basically him, but female. She’s got the humor, the kindness, the empathy.. everything he’s looking for. And yes, he completely will agree with anyone and everyone who found out he was starting to fall for a girl he met online—he completely understands that he might be clinically insane.
He doesn’t think he’s falling in love with her, but if he ever did, he surely wouldn’t fight it.
Definitely. Baby steps. Maybe we could talk tonight? If you’re not busy. He typed back.
No, I shouldn’t be busy… what time?
Maybe around 8?
Your time or mine?
Oh right, she lives in New York.
Mine.
She doesn’t know what to do. Of course, she’d love to see his beautiful face—she’s started following him on Instagram since they’d begun chatting, and she’s convinced she’s seen an angel. But what if it’s not him? Or what if he sees her and says, “mm, no thanks”?
She gets an idea. When he calls, she won’t answer. She’ll say she wasn’t feeling well, or that she went to bed early.
But then he’ll reschedule.
Ugh, she really wanted to just get it over with already. Is he who he says he is? Because no-one that attractive is this willing to talk to a girl like her, so she thinks.
Actually? She’s gonna do it. She’s going to answer his call, and if it’s a random guy named Raymond that looks nothing like him, then she’ll cuss him out (as she does so well) and then she won’t feel as bad for letting three months of chatting with this guy feel like a waste. But if it is him, then maybe she’ll have made a friend that she can actually trust.
Okay. She typed simply after battling with her brain cells for a couple minutes.
Everything okay?
He must’ve noticed that she wasn’t exactly responding eagerly.
I’m just worried.
Worried?
Yeah.
Why?
She typed hesitantly: Because what if you see me and I’m not what you imagined me to be?
He replied quickly without missing a beat: Then hopefully we can still be friends. I don’t think that’s something you should worry about, though.
What do you mean?
What you look like doesn’t determine your place in my life. If you were honest with me about you, then we can still chat as much as you want. I still like talking to you a lot.
Oh.
So all that matters is that we accept each other for who we are. And if we can do that, then we’ll be fine.
He was right. There was no need for her to stress, because there’s nothing to stress over.
You’re right, she told him in a feat of confidence, you know what, maybe we should facetime now? Just get it out of the way.
She didn’t think he would say yes.
And when he saw her message, his heart fell to his ass. But he really wanted to see her. Because in his mind, she had to have been beautiful, to match her beautiful personality.
Okay. What’s your imessage?
Should she tell him?
If she never marked the message as read, he wouldn’t know. And then she wouldn’t have to worry about looking stupid in front of him.
But that’s not fair to him. He seems like a genuinely nice guy and the least she should do is honor her word and talk to him. Hell, maybe he’ll be even more perfect than what she was hoping for.
(y/n)[email protected]
Cute username.
She rolled her eyes. At least her username wasn’t anything stupid. Pancakes are a universal delicacy in her mind, so they should be on the same page.
Hey, don’t judge, I made it when I was 10 and I was going through a pancake phase.
Waffles are better, but I won’t argue it this time. Give me a second and I’ll give you a buzz.
Is he serious? She’ll brush it off because he decided to.
Oh god she realized that it’s happening. She should’ve just minded her business. She should not have suggested that they talk now. Because if they talked later in the day, she could make up reasons to ignore his call, but she can’t do that now. Is she going to burp or fart with him listening? What if he sees how nervous she is? What if he—
[email protected] wants to FaceTime you.
Okay, she can do this.
She can do this.
She can’t do this.
She probably shouldn’t do this.
But she definitely shouldn’t keep him waiting.
She swiped the button to “answer” before her brain could tell her not to.
Connecting…
His face appeared on the screen with a bright white smile. “There you are!” He exclaimed.
God, his voice. She knew it was deep because, judging from his pictures, he’s a pretty big guy.
“Hi.” She squeaked, her mind still darting to different ways she could hang up and go to bed to wallow in her own self-pity. She mustered up a thin-lipped smile. “What’s up?”
“Nothing, really.” He shrugged, fiddling with things on his desk. “So…what’s up with you?”
The last thing she wanted was for the conversation to get awkward. Because once it gets awkward, then she’ll get uncomfortable. And then she’ll make up a reason to hang up…not like she hasn’t been doing that already. “I’m avoiding my work by talking to a guy that lives across the country.”
He hummed. “Is he cool?” He asked with a brow raised.
“Hardly.”
He belted out a laugh and she wanted to shriek.
He was so beautiful.
“So you’re not talking about me.”
“Oh, I’m certainly talking about you.”
“You couldn’t be. I’m cool.”
“Cool like a burning furnace.”
“So you’re saying…I’m hot?” He had to ask, she was practically begging for him to ask.
Duh. Idiot.
“Mm. To some.”
He couldn’t help but laugh again. His laugh was almost soothing, as noisy as it was. At this, her shoulders relaxed in her seat. “Good one.” He replied.
“You’re cute, I guess.”
“Thank you.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“And may I say…you’re absolutely stunning.”
Her face got hot. She didn’t know what else to say, so she said, “Oh my god, shut up.”
“What?”
“Don’t call me “pretty”.”
“I didn’t call you “pretty”, I said you were “stunning”. “Pretty” is what you call your sister on her prom night. But you’re way more gorgeous than that.” He almost sounded stern in the tone of his voice. “I’m sure you’re even more breathtaking in person.”
“You really know how to make a black girl blush, don’t you?”
“I’m just telling the truth.” She saw him shrug. “And now that I’ve seen you, I won’t be able to get you out of my mind.”
“You’re too smooth for your own good, you know that?”
“Probably. But I know you find it attractive.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Because if you didn’t like what you were hearing—or, rather, who you’re hearing it from—you would’ve blocked me a long time ago.”
“I still have the opportunity to, trust me.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. But now that you know I’m not some random guy—“
“You still are, technically.”
“—you should come to L.A.”
“Huh?” If she’d been sipping water, surely she would’ve spat it out by now.
“Yeah. Come hang for, like, a week. Then we could get to know each other better, no screens separating us whatsoever.”
“Um—“
“Okay, maybe not a whole seven days.” He reasoned. “Maybe, like, 5?”
“Here’s the thing.” She stopped him mid-ramble. “I have no money.”
“Oh, that’s okay, honey. I’ll pay for you.”
Disregarding the fact that he called her “honey”, her jaw dropped in shock. “No, no, no, no. That’s too much money.”
“It’s not that much.”
And that’s how she quickly realized they were in two different financial brackets.
“It’s expensive, Grayson. I couldn’t ask you to do that.”
His name just rolled perfectly off her tongue. And if he wasn’t paying attention, he’d be thinking about all the ways he’d like to hear her say his name, both appropriate and not.
“I want to. I’m paying for you and that’s that.”
“You’re delusional.”
“Maybe.” He shrugged again. “But I want to see you. All you’ll have to do is say when you want to come out, and I’ll hook you up.”
She thinks she loves him.
“Thank you, Grayson. You’re the best.”
“I know.”
***
He broke her. She quickly decided that she needed a break from school. And as she told him tearily—though not in tears because she doesn’t cry unless she absolutely can’t help it—she was “so stressed she didn’t know what to do with herself”. So she told him that she wanted to come the following weekend.
And of course, he said okay.
So he sent her all of the necessary information, as did she, and then before she could realize, she was boarding a plane.
She sent him a text:
hey, just boarded. see you in 4 hours! :)
He replied quickly.
Okay great. I’ll see you soon! I’m so excited. I’ll be waiting for you at your gate with a surprise for you. :)
A surprise?
What’d he get her?
She hopes she can eat it, because she’s starving.
Eventually, the plane got to its destination and she was shaking from nervousness. So badly someone had to help her get her bag from the overhead compartment.
She courteously sent him a text with shaky hands:
hey. just landed. be there in 5!! xoxo
Why was she feeling like this?
She walked slowly from the plane and into the airport. Her logic was the slower she walked, the less likely he was to wait for her.
But then she would’ve wasted his money.
Ugh, damn her conscience.
She decided to walk at a normal pace (much to the pleasure of those stuck walking behind her), and entered the airport, sucking in a breath as she walked to Baggage Claim.
Her phone buzzed.
1 unread message from gray ☀️
Okay!! I’m pretty sure you’ll see me, your surprise is pretty big lmao
Huh?
Her eyebrows furrowed as her eyes scanned the vast area of the room when they landed on a particularly big man holding a particularly big sign that read in all caps:
WELCOME TO LOS ANGELES Y/N
She couldn’t help but laugh at him as she made her way in his direction. He hadn’t seen her yet, and he set the sign down to tie his shoe. He promised her he’d wear real shoes and not his Gucci slides, no matter how comfortable they were, because she didn’t want to see his “hairy toes” as he described them. “Y’know,” she spoke when she was within earshot of him. “I think the point of a sign is to consistently hold it, but that’s just me.”
He stood quickly, pulling her into his arms with a laugh. “Hey, you.” He mumbled in her ear as they embraced.
His mind was swimming, and rightly so. This girl was finally in front of him. They’ve been chatting since Halloween and all he’d wanted since then was to hold her in his arms.
And damn, was it worth it, indeed.
“Hey.” Her voice was muffled by his shirt. She sighed in their hug, her mind wrapped up in how good he smelled. She never wanted the scent to leave her nose. “You smell good.”
He chuckled, “You, too.” He couldn’t help but kiss her forehead, because she was here, and she was so gorgeous, and she was just…her.
She was first to pull away from their hug. She got a good look at him: his hazel eyes, his hair that was steadily growing down and not out, his cute little button nose that she was certainly going to poke before she goes back home, to the scar on his chin that she felt the urge to kiss. “You’re so pretty in person.” She muttered, almost so that she couldn’t be heard.
“I could say the same thing about you.”
She punched his arm. “Okay, you can’t do that now that I’m here.”
“Do what?”
“You can’t be all cute and stuff.”
“I’m…sorry?”
“No. Like you can’t call me pretty, or gorgeous, or stunning, or—“
“How about perfect?”
“Especially that.”
“You are, though.”
“Shut up!” She punched his arm again.
“Look, missy, you’re not going to keep hitting me.” He pointed a thick index finger at her. “I’ll get you back.”
“Mhm. Sure. Anyway, can we eat? I’m starving.”
“Fine.” He grabbed the sign and her suitcase and walked alongside her to his car. “What do you want?”
“Pasta.”
“(Y/N), it’s eleven o’clock.”
“So? It’s basically lunchtime. To Olive Garden!”
He wasn’t going to give her everything she wanted while she was here, that was his vow to himself. Because if he did, she’d be over the moon, and he’d be in debt.
But he didn’t mind because he was completely certain that he would give her the Milky Way if she asked him for it.
“Fine. We can go to Olive Garden.”
He could tell she was drowning in excitement, no matter how much she tried to mask it. “Wait.” she stopped him. “My surprise?”
“Oh, right. Your surprise is me. You’re welcome.”
“No thanks.”
***
He watched her as she hummed a tune, lips pursed and brows furrowed in concentration. She told him that she already knew what she wanted (ravioli in marinara sauce), but she had to scan the menu “just to make sure”. She had this way about her, this gravitational pull that seemed to just keep bringing him closer. And if he wanted to pull away, he wouldn’t even be able to fight it.
This girl had way more power than she lets on.
Her eyes darted across the menu’s print, her glasses sliding slowly down the bridge of her nose. She took a hand and pushed her braided hair behind her shoulder. “Stop staring at me.” He heard her mutter. “I can feel it.”
“You’re just so perfect.”
“You’re shitty at following directions. I said to not call me those names.” She looked at him with a glare.
“I’m not calling you names, I’m describing how beautiful you are. And, at this moment, you look perfect. Absolutely perfect.”
She hid behind her menu in embarrassment. “You’re mushy.”
He snatched her menu away from her, setting it in the booth he was sitting in so she couldn’t reach. “And you’re gonna deal with my mush all week.”
“Trust me, I’m not looking forward to it.”
He chuckled. “Okay, okay. Now that you’re here…what do you want to do?”
“I don’t know. I thought you were the one with the master plan. After all, it was your idea to lure me here, y’know.”
“I’m aware.”
“Ooh.” She thought out loud, her eyes widening. “Can we go to Disneyland?”
Look at her face! All he wanted to do was kiss her.
But let’s not forget—he’s on a limited budget. Because the last thing he wanted to do was to spend up all his money to take her wherever she pleased. She confessed to him that she doesn’t travel much so yes, he did want to take her exploring, but no, he does not want to be on the corner begging for change by the end of it all.
“Well, I don’t see why not.” He shrugged. How could he say no to her, especially now that she’s here? This was all his fault, after all. Had he not asked her to come, he wouldn’t be considering taking a second mortgage on his house. “What else do you want to do?”
“Well, I’d love to see the Hollywood sign, and maybe we could go to Madame Tussauds, and maybe we could—”
“Clearly you’ve made a list.”
“Yes.” She replied bashfully. “I’m just really excited to be here.”
“Trust me, I am, too.”
***
He also learned from his observations that she gets sleepy in the car. If the radio’s just quiet enough and the seat is comfy, she’ll have her head propped against her arm, and she’ll be out in under a minute.
And lucky for him, they got stuck in traffic, so he got to watch her sleep.
Not creepily, but admiringly. He’s not a weirdo.
She stirred when he had to make an abrupt stop. “What did you do?” she asked groggily.
“I didn’t do anything. We’re just gonna be chillin’ here for a bit.”
“Kay.”
“You get a good nap?”
She wordlessly nodded. She must not be one for conversation when she first wakes up.
“Well, it sure sounded like you did, all that snoring you were doing.”
She pushed his bicep, which she found to be very…big. “Shut up. I don’t snore.”
“So what do you call it?”
“Breathing.”
“Some “breathing” you do when you sleep, then.”
“Oh!” she exclaimed suddenly, almost causing him to slam on the brakes because he thought she’d gotten hurt somehow. “I forgot to ask you to take me by a hotel when you get the chance.”
“A hotel?”
“Yeah…so that I can have a place to sleep at night…”
“I figured you’d just stay with me.”
“Stay…with you?”
“Yes. Is that a problem?”
“Well, I—no, but I didn’t know if you wanted me to stay there or not, so I looked up some cheap hotels in the area.”
He waved her comment off, looking behind him in the seat before going around the lanes of traffic and speeding down the freeway. “No, no, no. You’re my guest, so you’ll stay at my house, in the guest room. Is that okay?”
“Yeah.”
Clearly they have a habit of staring at each other, because she couldn’t take her eyes off him. She couldn’t help but watch him as he sat up to change lanes, but then she couldn’t even describe how she felt when her eyes glanced down to his thigh and she saw how his muscles there flexed in relaxed as his foot stepped on and released the gas pedal. And she did not dare look anywhere else, no matter how tempted she was.
This was not that kind of trip.
She did say she wanted to get to know him better, and she did, but she didn’t just want to have sex with him. She figured he wasn’t that kind of guy anyway, as kind and caring as he was. She wanted to see where things would go, and clearly she wouldn’t be able to if all she thought about was what he could (or couldn’t) do to her.
“Thank you, Grayson.”
“For what?”
“For bringing me here, and paying for everything, and letting me stay with you and Ethan, and—wait, does Ethan know about me?”
“Two things: one, stop thanking me, okay? I mean it. I’m doing this because I want you here and I like having you around, so I’ll do everything I can to make you happy. So no more thanking me, alright?”
“Yeah.” She felt like she was being scolded like a child, but couldn’t deny the butterflies that were currently having a rave in her tummy.
“Good. And two, yes. Ethan knows about you, but he doesn’t know you’re coming.”
“So…do you plan to tell him?”
“Yeah. I will.”
She didn’t say anything after that. How could she? Now she would be a puddle of nerves. And she was already nervous because she was here with him, and now she has to meet the most important person in his life? The least he could’ve done was say something.
He could see the worry beginning to etch itself onto her face. “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. He’s harmless.”
“But what if he doesn’t like me?”
“He will.”
“But what if?”
“I’m telling you, he will. He’ll take one look at you and he’ll see what I see—perfection.”
***
He opened the gate to go up the driveway, and after creeping his way up the hill, he parked his Porsche under an awning attached to the house. The two of them got out of the car, and she went to grab her things from the backseat, but he stopped her. “I got it.” He said simply.
“No, it’s no problem, I can get my luggage.”
“No.” he gently took her carry-on bag from her grasp and slung it over his shoulder, yanking her suitcase out of the backseat. “I got it. You go ahead.” He handed her his house keys.
She walked ahead of him cautiously, because she saw another truck in the driveway. So that could mean that Ethan’s here. And that might mean that she’d have to meet him.
Oh god.
She stood timidly on the porch as he lugged her things toward the door. She attempted to take the carry-on bag from off his shoulder. “At least let me take my carry-on.”
He smacked her hand away. “Stop it.” He took the keys from her and unlocked the door. He nodded his head in the direction of the house. “C’mon.” This time, he led her. She followed him inside in the direction of a room just off to the side of the living room. “So this is your room, feel free to make yourself at home.”
“Is Ethan here?” she asked quietly, sitting on the edge of the bed as she watched him set her things down.
“Yeah. His truck’s outside. He’s somewhere around here.” He sat next to her on the bed and took her hand, kissing the back of her palm. “But like I said, everything’s going to be fine.”
“Yo, Gray!” they heard a voice yell from down the hall.
“Now, listen,” he said to her. “just be yourself. There’s no reason to worry, okay? He’s harmless and no matter what, you’ll still be my favorite.”
That was their little inside joke. When she found out that she’d been talking to the Grayson Dolan, she slipped up and told him that he was her favorite of the two boys after only mildly stalking their YouTube channel. So every time they speak they tell each other that they’re their favorites. Cheesy, of course, but she found it to be their “thing”, so she thought it was cute.
She chuckled. “Yeah, yeah. You’re my favorite, too, I guess.”
He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side. And to be perfectly clear, she wanted to die. He was so warm, and he smelled so good, and she just wanted to snuggle him forever. “I know I’m your favorite. You can’t deny it, no matter how hard you try.”
She saw who she assumed to be Ethan stroll past the room. But then he backtracked and said, “Hey, Gray…who’s your friend?”
“This is (Y/N). You know, the girl I was chatting with on Instagram?”
“Oh, okay.” He entered the room. “Hi.”
Grayson nudged her.
“Hi.” She replied quietly. “Nice to meet you.”
He removed his arm from around her. “She’s going to be staying with us for a couple of days, if that’s alright.”
“Yeah, that’s totally fine.” He shrugged. “I’m going to the gym. You need me to get anything while I’m out?”
“Nope, I’m good.”
“Cool.” He turned to leave but before he did, he said, “Bye, (Y/N)! It was nice meeting you!”
Then, they heard the jingle of his keys, and then the gentle slam! of the front door. “See?” he mumbled to her, kissing her temple. “You did all that freaking out for nothing.”
“I was not freaking out.” She retorted but let out a huge breath of air anyway.
“You were. And I know that you were, because I could feel your heart pounding without me touching you.”
“Shut up.”
