(With this chapter i listened to these songs that you should probably listen to as well especially the first one!!!!:

Bad idea by Girl in red

Play date by Melanie Martinez 

Before the worst by The Script

WARNINGS:

1️⃣ PHYSICAL ABUSE WARNING (Slightly) 

BETWEEN THE TWO 1️⃣ EMOJIS.

———

Jay Brown? I use my thumb to unlock his phone after having added it last summer. All five texts came from my best friend Jay who's name has a heart next to it.

Dearest Jay ❤️: Hey ❤️

Dearest Jay ❤️: How's your complementary vacation? 

Dearest Jay ❤️: I bet its not as good as being back home with me

Dearest Jay ❤️: I can't stop thinking about your hot body

Dearest Jay ❤️: And how much i want it.

My stomach falls to the bottoms of the earth. The back and forth texts age back up to two years. We started dating 3 years ago. I make the mistake of reading some more. 

Dearest Jay ❤️: Are you here yet? Can't wait to get my hands on you

Me: Almost there Sweetheart. Can't wait to see what your wearing, or rather what I'll be ripping off of you

Dearest Jay ❤️: You'll make me blush!

Sweetheart. "Stop!" Danny warns aggressively. I keep reading.

Dearest Jay ❤️: I want to touch you so much right now

Me: That can be arranged

I keep myself together but im so close to crying right now. "Its not even that bad" he tries to justify, "not that bad?" I ask sarcastically. "Not that bad?! 'Want to know what I'm wearing?' 'What?' 'Nothing'" i read. "Put it down!" He yells. He comes towards me and grabs my hand trying to take it, i throw the phone on the ground and let it shatter. "You broke my fucking phone!" He yells, he pushes me into the wall and pins me against it. "Dont fucking touch me!" I yell back, matching his volume. He pulls me by the shoulders off the wall and slams me straight back into it. "You are a fucking idiot" he spits. "Get your dirty fucking hands off me!" I shout. 

1️⃣Then the next thing i see is his fist moving towards my face and i feel an overwhelming pain on my lip. "Get out" i whisper, he doesn't move. "Get the fuck out!" I scream this time. Blood rushes down from my lip. He moves back and grabs his suitcase and walks towards my door. "Fuck you" he yells back for the last time before slamming the door. 1️⃣

I move towards the mirror and stare into my already inflamed and bloody lip. I don't know what to do, I'm not going to sit here and cry because that's what he wants. I open my door and walk towards where i last saw Avery and Jameson. 

To my surprise i meet them in the corridor on the way, "hey what happened to your lip?" Avery asks me. "I fell down the last few stairs, really knocked the soberness into me." I lie. She nods in approval and fills me in on everything.

They continue their conversations. "The old man chose our names." Jameson says, "He picked our names," he repeats, pacing the long hall like a caged animal. "He picked them, and then he highlighted them in the Red Will." Jameson stops again. "He disinherited the family twenty years ago and chose our middle names—all of them but Nash's—shortly thereafter. Grayson's nineteen. I'm eighteen. Xan will be seventeen next month."

"The old man was playing a long game," Jameson says, every muscle in his body tightening. "Our whole lives."

"The names have to mean something," Avery states.

"He might have known who our fathers were." Jameson considers that possibility. "Even if Skye thought she'd kept it a secret—there were no secrets from him." I hear an undertone in Jameson's voice when he says those words—something deep and cutting and awful.

"We can do a search," Ave says, "Or have Alisa hire a private investigator on my behalf to look for men with those last names."

"Or," Jameson counters, "you can give me about six hours to utterly sober up, and I'll show you what I do when I'm working a puzzle and I hit a wall." 

"I'm going to have to rain check" i say. "You sure your ok?" Avery asks me slightly quieter. She walks closer and inspects my face. "Fine" i reply. She holds my face in her hand and moves it around to look at my lip. 

"Where was Danny when this happened" she asks, i pause to think of an answer. "Not here" i say truthfully. "What do you mean? Where is he?" She asks. My eyes flick back to Jameson who is watching us intensely. My eyes go back to Avery quickly, "he left, we had an argument" i say. "You've never had an argument" she says. "Yeah, we have." I inform. "Hmm" she dismisses. I look back to Jameson who seems to know Danny gave me my swollen lip as his jaw is clenched and he looks really concerned.

"So when was this? Why haven't you cleaned it up yet" she asks. "I fell when i ran up the stairs to get here" i remind. She pauses "You said you fell down the stairs" she catches on. "Did i? Well it was definitely up" i say. She gives me a suspicious look but lets it go.

Avery makes her way along the hallway, leaving me and Jameson alone. I make a move to exit the other way but a gentle but firm grip makes its way to my wrist. I turn around even though i know who it is. Our faces are close and his eyes are on my lips. "Can i help you?" I ask sarcastically, "he did that didnt he" Jameson comes to the conclusion. "No" i justify, "Your a terrible liar" he says with a tensed jaw which i had thought to be his brothers thing. 

"And if he did?" I ask, there is no point lying, he knows and there is no convincing him otherwise. "I would kill him" Jameson warns as if its no big deal. "Brilliant. Good thing he didnt" i smile before pulling my wrist away. "I know for a fact that kind of injury came from no trip dont the stairs" he insists. "Well i kicked him out, i don't need you to 'kill him' because i handled it myself like a big girl" i mock, "Well you clearly didnt" he raises his voice and points at my lip. "your just a kid you shouldn't have to deal with this sort of shit" he says softer now. I hadn't heard him swear until now "Im not just some kid I'm.. two years younger than you?" I scoff. "At least let me clean you up." He offers. "Whatever" i allow. He leads the way to the nearest bathroom. 

We get to his room and i finally realise where he has taken me. We stand in front of his bedroom door and i laugh. "No way am i stepping into the bedroom of a Hawthorne" i smirk, "its the nearest bathroom." He justifies, "no way" i say. "Shut up and let me help you" he says with a smirk. Those words give me a strange feeling in my gut... but not a bad one, a good one, great even. 

He leads me into his bathroom without a chance to even catch a glimpse of his room. Its clear he wants me in there just as much as i want to be there. 

(a/n: hi, short ish chapter but its also got a lot. I personally have not had to experience some of the stuff in this story which im glad for however im sorry to anyone who has, also it wont be perfectly written due to this reason. I hope its still authentic enough and not completely, unbelievably unrealistic and offensive, which if it is please let me know. Have a good day/night.)