Taste by Sabrina Caprenter

You'll just have to taste me when he's kissin' you, if you want forever, I bet you do, just know you'll taste me too — Every time you close your eyes and feel his lips, you're feelin' mine, and every time you breathe his air just know I was already there, you can have him if you like, I've been there, done that, once or twice.

"Hello?" Nash's voice reiterates, firmer and more agitated this time. I hear chatter in the background, people laughing and cheering.

I hear his voice and feel too overwhelmed to do this. I realize I was in deep over my head. "Sorry. Scam call." I murmur, fumbling to hang up with my shaking hands.

"Paris?" His voice softens, worry and anxiety evident in his voice. The chatter in the background instantly freezes, everyone going eerily quiet. 

I don't give time for another word, hitting the big red button and tossing the phone onto my bed.

My heart pounds. I breathe heavily, attempting to control my emotions. 

"Fuck!" I scream, kicking my wall and causing a small dent and rumble of dust. Then my phone rings. I let it ring out. But it rings again. 

I fight every instinct in my body telling me to ignore it, reaching for the phone and picking up.

"Paris? That you?" Nash asks. The chatter once gone instantly picks up again, people yelling in Nash's direction. 

"What'd she say?" 

"Is she okay?"

"What's going on?"

I hear Nash scold everyone into silence before bringing the phone to his ear again.

"You okay, kid?" He asks tenderly. 

"That was a mistake. Sorry." I state clearly, about to hang up before I hear one voice that makes my breathing audibly hitch. "P?" 

I'm fairly certain the last piece of my remaining heart shattered. 

"Who's P? Baby what's going on?" A ladies voice interjects. "Shut up!" Xander yells at whoever it is. "Are you gonna let him talk to me like that?" She wails. 

Grayson doesn't respond to her. "Paris?" He asks firmer this time, stepping closer to the phone.

"Nash I wanna talk to Libby." I state. He instantly starts moving, I can hear his footsteps into the otherwise quiet room, the swing of the kitchen door.

"It's your sister. She wants to talk to you." He tells her. Within a second I'm hearing my sister's voice.

"Paris?" She quivers into the phone. "Yeah." I whisper. 

I look around me, making sure nobody's around before I perch on my bed at the very corner of the room, having eyes on all of the room around, my hand safely gripping the knife beneath my pillow.

"How are you?" She asks. I don't answer that. I don't think I could if I tried. 

"How are you?" I say instead. I'm met with solemn whispering on the other end. "Are you drunk, Pear?" My sister asks delicately. "I know that you were drunk when you last called any of us, and Grayson said-"

I instantly cut her off. "Don't say his name." I say sharply. "Did.. did something happen between you guys. I know you broke up, but he told us he had no clue why. Did he do something-"

I cut her off again. "No. It's.. I just don't want to think about him." I mumble, running a hand through my hair and over my face.

"Got it. Just promise you won't hang up?" She pleads, a vulnerable and frail voice. It breaks my heart.

I don't reply. No promises. No deals. Not when she could be outside my window right now, ready to kill me. It's a preposterous proposition, but one that haunts me just enough to cautiously speak up. "Can we switch to facetime?" I ask. If I can see her, I can confirm her location and ease my nerves just a little. 

There isn't even a moment of hesitation for my sister. I see her face first and it warms my heart. Her hair is drawn over her shoulder in a chaotic braid. Nash's reflection in the fridge behind her is pacing, one hand on his hip and the other rubbing his temple, his signature cowboy hat tipped down. 

Libby's cheeks are glowing pink, a steamy pot behind her on high heat, looking like it's about to bubble over. Nash thankfully notices and turns it down to simmer for her. 

My camera turns on and I watch the small smile on her face drop just a little, faltering before she corrects herself. 

"You look pretty." I tell her, smiling softly and causing her cheeks to warm with joy. "Thanks, so do you." She lies, I don't object or call out the lie, just nod gratefully. 

"Happy Thanksgiving." Libby says, I go a little still as I process that. "Shit, sorry.. I- I completely forgot it was Thanksgiving. Are you guys busy with dinner? I can hang up-"

She waves me off. "Don't be silly, we're really happy you called." She assures me.

"Can I talk to her?" I hear Nash mumble now. She looks away from the screen, a small argument of hushed whispers. 

"Hey Nash." I interject, stopping the bickering and causing Nash to snatch the phone back. "Hey kid, we all miss you."

"Congrats on the engagement." I offer instead of repeating the thing he just said and going back in forth with the same small talk this whole call has consisted of. 

"Oh, thank god you got it. We hadn't really heard from you and we weren't sure if you were still staying there." Libby says excitedly, pushing past Nash's arm to get in the camera frame. 

"Yep." I nod. "I actually wanna talk to you in person, you think you're gonna visit anytime soon? If it's too much we could fly over to you?" Libby suggests hopefully. 

"Uhh.. I really dunno. It's a busy time." I tell her, staring beyond my phone at the suspect wall, her face linked up with red string to at least half of the incidents. The only reason I'm talking to her is because she has the least string attached to her photo. It doesn't make her innocent, but it makes her the closest I've got. 

"Well, I guess we could just talk now." She suppresses a frown. Oh god. She's pregnant isn't she.

"I want you to be my maid of honour and bridesmaid. We're doing something small with just family and friends." She asks with a smile spilling over her entire face, looking happier than I've ever seen her. Gone is the girl who took punches from her ex and barely managed to make rent and working overtime every night.

"Who else is in the wedding?" I ask sheepishly. 

"My groomsmen are Xander, Jameson, Grayson and one of my old school friends." Nash takes a deep breath, holding it for a moment. "And my bridesmaids are Avery, you, Max and Beatrice." She forces a smile. 

"Oh." I nod. "We just wanted everyone to have someone to walk down the aisle with." Libby states. "Jameson and Avery, Xander and Max, Grayson and Bea.. then you can walk with Michael? He's really nice, I swear. Nash has been his best friend for years." 

I'm sure 'Michael' is a lovely guy, but he's not who I want to walk down the aisle with. I want to walk with Grayson. Of course I do. Anyone with eyes could see that. But I can't. 

"That's.. that's really nice but-" I start, rubbing my neck awkwardly. 

"Can I talk to her?" Avery asks, entering the kitchen desperately. 

Libby weighs out her options, letting me answer before she can. I don't speak. It's already too much. But I nod anyway. 

Avery takes the phone, and of course she's radiant. A gorgeous glowing angel. Her brown hair's in a slick back atop her head in a wonderfully messy bun, still looking silky and precise. She's wearing a black halter neck dress that shows off every gorgeous curve of her body and enunciates her best features best. Her makeup is so subtle but flawless, a deep red color painted over her lips.

"Hey." She grins widely. "Hi." I smile, achingly wary over everything going on. 

Every instinct in my gut told me to hang up. 

"Have you told her yet?" Avery asks the couple behind the camera. "About Elena?"

My heart stops for just a moment. 

"Elena?" I furrow my brows. "Ave." I hear Nash warn. "Shit, sorry." Avery instantly tenses up, realizing her mistake. 

"Who the fuck is Elena?" I raise my voice, bouncing off my bed and racing for the wall, scanning over every interaction i've ever had, every photo, every classmate, every single person. The only Elena I find is a name on my 'teachers' section. My third grade algebra teacher was called Elena. Her?

"Relax, it's just a.. friend. We think you should meet her sometime." Avery tries to ease off. 

"Ave?" Jameson's voice appears in the kitchen, he walks up to her, a wide admiring grin and then he freezes when he sees me.

"Hi." He says. "Hi." I reply. 

I know I was a dick to them when they tried to visit me, but they don't seem angry. They're accepting, not that I've ever uttered an apology. 

"How are you doing?" Avery asks. "I'm pretty shitty-"

That's when another Hawthorne bounds into the kitchen. 

"Give me the phone, Grambsy." Xander warns, snatching it from Avery and grinning widely at me. There was a time I'd have referred to him as my best friend. Not anymore. Now he's just a face on my suspect board. But I'd be lying if I said his smile didn't comfort me more than unsettle me. The presence of my friend lifts away the strain on my heart. 

"How's my little Pear Bear?" He smirks. "Never worse, anyway I-"

The door swings and I contemplate smashing this phone. 

"Where is she?" Max asks, jogging over to her ex to squeeze into the frame. "How's life treating my mother-faxing bestie?" She smiles.

"Can you give Libby the-"

"What's all this cacophony?" Zara asks classily, Constantine strolling in behind her. "Holy shit-" I groan.

"Mouth of filth!" Nan scolds, hobbling in with Tiramisu bounding in behind her.  

"Is there anyone not there?" I snap. "Nobody except your messy ex and his elderly rebound." Xander snorts, earning scolds from Nash, Libby, Jameson and Avery. 

"Oh please we were all thinking it." Max defends him with a snort. 

"I aged better than her." I hear Nan huff under her breath. 

"Um, I'm gonna head to bed you guys." A short girl slips in to the kitchen, her sheepish frame a little skinny and pale. Her soft brown hair contrasts her rosy cheeks. 

"Night, Elena." Avery, Max and Libby smile. Xander's smile falls as she leaves. 

"Take this." He mumbles to Jameson in passing, tossing the phone to his brother and racing out of the kitchen. "El!" He calls after her. 

"She got invited to Thanksgiving? Who is she? Is she like.. Xander's sister?" I try to peace the puzzle together in my mind. I found everyone's families, I found Grayson's half sisters, Jameson's Father. I didn't know Isaiah had another kid. And how could she be so pale? What was Xan's connection to this girl? Regardless, I'd have to put her on my suspect list. If she's close to them she could be the one stalking me. 

"God, no!" Jameson grimace with repulse. "Then what?!" I yell. 

"Keep her name out your mouth!" Grayson yells furiously. 

I tense up. I almost think he's talking to me before I hear a plate smash and feel the tension and horror in the kitchen from through the screen. 

"What the fuck?" Jameson mumbles, racing through ahead of all the others to see what's going on in the dining room. Max reaches over Jameson with a smirk, knowing exactly what she's doing as she flips the camera. I can now see Grayson and Beatrice arguing over a smashed plate of whatever it is. She's fuming, having very clearly swiped the plate off the table in anger. 

"We're going outside." I hear Grayson grumble in a hushed whisper to the lady quite literally wearing a bra and trousers set, a gorgeous yellow color not only showing off her ethereal beauty but matching her skin tone perfectly. 

"No, I won't go outside. Not until you tell me why this slut's calling your brother and why everyone in your family seems to care more about her than they do about me." She squeals. 

"Don't you dare call her that!" He yells at her. "I need to go." I speak up, hoping I go unnoticed by the couple, but her head snaps towards the phone. I hear Jameson hiss a string of curse words under his breath as he tries to hang up, but before we can it's snatched out of his hand. 

"Are you fucking kidding me?! She's a kid. You're cheating on me with a kid?!" The girl roars, her plum lipstick perfect despite the screaming. 

"Don't call her kid." Grayson grits, reaching to take the phone from her. 

"You know I saw that video of you getting your tits out and thought you looked better with the bra on." She growls at me. "Grayson liked it just fine, I'm sure he's tired of seeing his reflection in yours." I instantly fire back. 

"Sweetie Grayson and I have shown each other things your little mind couldn't even comprehend." She says condescendingly. "Who do you think taught him?" I say plainly, my calmness only annoying her further. 

"You've got a big ego. But at the end of the night he's only going to be moaning one of our names by the end of the night." She smirks coyly. "Yeah, and there's only one of us he pictures every time. And I'll give you a clue, he's picturing her right now." I shrug.

She whips her head back to Grayson, who stays silent, staring beyond her, it's clearly enough of an answer for her because she completely flips out. 

"I don't know how he dated you for so long! You're such a bitch!" She screams, "I guess he has a type then." I growl. 

"Don't even think about comparing us right now. I'm everything you aren't." Beatrice huffs. "Yeah I think it's better that way." I reply. 

"I'm gonna fucking kill you if you even think about my man again. I'm gonna slit your throat myself." She screams. That one I can't argue. I can't even think of a response. But I do slowly trace my hand over her strings on my wall, contemplating if that was a mindless threat or a sickening promise. 

As far as I know I've found my stalker. My roommate Maddie. But that doesn't stop every alarm in my mind picking out every possibility and contemplating the reality that it may be not one person, but multiple.

"Get out." Grayson's voice speaks calmly. "I'm hanging up, don't worry baby she'll-" Beatrice nods softly, placing a tender arm on his bicep, not without making sure I see it. 

"No. Get out Beatrice. This is done. Whatever this was, it's nothing now. I'll have a driver make sure you get home safe and I'll send you a box of everything you left here. You're not allowed to stand in my home and talk like that to someone I l- I really care about." He corrects himself just in time before saying something he knows he'd regret. 

"Are you fucking kidding me-" She begins. 

"No. You walk out this second or I'll have Oren drag you out. Your choice." She booms. 

She shrieks and then throws the phone to the floor. And then everything goes silent. Everything goes black and the call ends. 

(a/n. I just checked my plan and i'm pretty sure there's only 10 chapters left in part 4. And considering part 5 is like 5-10 chapters that means there isn't much left of this book and that has sent me spiralling into a pit of depression. Thankfully though, The Albatross comes out the second part 4 ends!! It's a Xander fic set in the same universe as Riches, so there is more Paris still to come. And technically this chapter is like chapter 10 or something of The Albatross?? Elena is the main character, you guys finally met her. What are we thinking of her? In other news this chapter was so fun to write cause I hate Beatrice. I guess Libby'll have to pick a new bridesmaid — we all know she only invited hg cause she was dating Grayson. Also, should I make Max date Michael? Idk she's like 20 in this and he's like 23. You guys don't even know him yet so it's hard to say, I just want everyone to get a somewhat happy ending and I kinda stole Xander from her)