Inheritance Games Oneshots & Fluff

by thelocalbookchild

Summary:

I think I’ve read almost all of the inheritance games fanfics on this website, and I was bored this summer, so I decided to write a collection of oneshots, especially since my fav couple in this series is Xander and Max, and there are so few collections of just them, so even though the tags say like all of the ships in the series, I’m mostly going to be focusing on Max and Xander. There will also be a significant amount of chaos with the entire group.

Notes:

I have no idea what I’m doing, I’ve never written a fanfic before, and it might show. The only reason I’m doing this is bc I’m at a cookout, the adults are talking, and I’m bored

Chapter 1: “You came all this way?”Ft one hopeless idiot in love

Summary:

This is a Xander/Max fanfic, where Xander misses his girlfriend while she’s away at college, so he plots with Avery to fly up and surprise her.

Notes:

Idk what this is, but I just rewatched that one Gilmore Girls episode where Logan flies out from London to see Rory, and I thought this was cute. So, without further ado, please enjoy Xander Hawthorne, being a simp.

Xander Hawthorne paced the floor of the Virginian airport, anxiety flooding him. His entire plan was falling apart, and he wouldn’t be able to make it to Connecticut in time.

Logically, Xander knew he needed the two hour layover, because he knew he wouldn’t be able to sit still for six hours straight without a scone, but why did his connection have to be delayed?!? He had done so much planning for this trip, and now it was going to be delayed? ‘Not cool, Universe’ Xander thought, shaking his head.

“Excuse me, Mr. Hawthorne?” A voice, loud and commanding brought Xander back to the present. Xander looked up to see a man in his mid twenties, wearing the airlines uniform of blue and white. “That’s me,” Xander said, meeting the man’s eyes. “We received word that you needed to get to Connecticut, and we have another flight headed there now. It leaves shortly, so if you could follow me, that would be fantastic and we can get you or where you’re going as soon as we can.” ‘Thank you, Avery’ Xander thought as he stood up, swinging his backpack over his shoulder and grabbing his suitcase with the other hand.

Xander made it onto the other flight without any problems, and was in the air before he knew it. Once Xander was in the air, he sent Avery a text, informing her that they were back on schedule. She texted back a thumbs up emoji. Xander leaned back in his seat, his nerves from earlier fading away. He pulled his headphones over his ears, and closed his eyes.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Max laughed as she dragged Avery into another store. This was one of the first times they had really gotten to hang out with no worries of paparazzi or nosy people. Avery was taking some time out of her gap year before college to travel the world like she’d always wanted to do, visiting all of the places from the postcard she collected with her mom.

Jameson joined her on some of her trips, but he was usually busy with school. Right now, though, Avery was spending some time with her best friend of all time, keeping her away from her dorm room, so Xander could arrive. “Aves, you have to try this on.” Max exclaimed, holding up a tight red dress. “I don’t know, isn’t it a little bold?” Avery asked, examining the dress. There was basically no back on the piece of clothing.

“Just try it on, you would look so hot,” Max pleaded, practically throwing the dress into the cart. “Fine. But only because I know you’ll convince me to buy it regardless.” Avery sighed, accepting her fate, and the fact that the dress would end up in her closet somehow. It felt good to be able to just be a girl, hanging out with her best friend, now that the whole ‘Hawthorne Heiress’ thing had cooled down a bit. Don’t get me wrong, people were still talking, in fact Avery doubted they would ever fully stop taking, it had definitely quieted down considerably since that life changing day four years ago.

Half an hour away, Xander Hawthorne broke into a building.

He didn’t mean to, but Avery couldn’t find a way to convince Max to leave one of her dorm keys out without her getting suspicious, so Xander found himself climbing through a window. It wasn’t that high up, only about three stories. That was nothing for a Hawthorne, especially when the Hawthorne in question was determined to set up the perfect dinner for his girlfriend.

When Xander was focused, he was actually a very good cook, he just wasn't focused all that often. Tonight, though, he was laser concentrated. Almost as soon as Xander arrived, after relocking the window, he started cooking. He made pasta, partly because he knew he couldn’t mess it up, partly because it was basically all Max had in her apartment. Tonight would not go wrong. His plan for the evening was quite clever, if Xander said so himself.

Max would arrive, Xander would serve his homemade pasta, and then they would go see the newest Marvel movie in theatres, the one Max had told Xander she had wanted to see.

Finally, they would go for a walk in the closest local park to the theatre. Right after Xander finished the food, his phone buzzed. It was Avery, telling him they were at Max’s dorm.

Xander quickly got into position, which was just him lounging on the couch, in a way that didn’t let Max see him from the doorway, but as soon as she stepped into the kitchen, he would be in full view.

Just then, Xander heard the front door open. It was time. He heard Max invite Avery in, but she refused, saying she needed to leave, but came in anyways. Then, it happened. Max entered the kitchen, and saw Xander Hawthorne sprawled across her couch.

She froze, then squealed, then leaped straight on top of Xander, practically tackling him. Xander’s arms wrapped around Max on instinct, holding her closer to him. He breathed in the scent of her, a combination of her rose shampoo and her vanilla perfume. Max gripped him like she wasn’t going to let go anytime in the decade, and Xander didn’t mind. Not in the slightest.

Notes:

I had to do so much research for this chapter. I don’t live in America, and I have no idea about the geography or the county at all. I might add the date after this, but I’m not sure. If you have any constructive criticism, I’m all ears, but please be nice

Chapter 2: “You came all this way?” pt 2. The date

Summary:

This is part two of my last chapter, and it’s the date, or basically what happens after Xander gets tackled.

Notes:

I wasn’t really sure what to do with this chapter, but I had and idea and woke up at 5:30 in the morning. This might be absolutely awful, I have no idea.

“I still can’t believe you’re actually here!” Max whispered, staying quiet as to not disturb the other people in the theatre, leaning her head on her boyfriend’s shoulder. Xander turned his head and kissed Max on her forehead. “I missed you.” He whispers into her hair. She tilted up her head and kissed him. Xander kissed back gently, as Max curled herself into Xander’s arms. Max nested her face against her Xander’s hoodie, breathing him in. She had really missed him, so imagine what she felt after she saw her boyfriend, laying on her couch without a care in the world, except her. Before now, the two hadn’t seen each other for almost four months, so a visit was long due, and since Max had been way too busy with school to make the six hour flight from Texas to Connecticut, Xander did it instead. He rested his head on top of Max’s, settling in to watch the rest of the movie.

After the movie ended, Xander and Max walked out of the theatre, blinking in the light, which was still bright, seeing as it was only 3:00 in the afternoon. “That was a great movie. Thank you so mush for taking me.” Max says, walking beside Xander, holding his hand, as they wandered through the downtown area of New Castle. Xander had the good idea to allow his girlfriend to show him around, because even though he had been there before, there had a lot of construction since he was here last, and as they walked through Main Street, Xander could see at least six restaurants or shops that hadn’t been there last year.
Suddenly, Max saw something across the street, and grabbed Xander’s head, tugging him in the direction of a small bookshop. “This place has been under construction for ages! This is the first time I’ve seen it open.” Max said, opening the door and stepping in with Xander in tow. A light bell sounded, but it was slightly obscured by the sound of Max, gasping. ‘And for good reason’ Xander thought, his eyes taking in the store, which had not only floor to ceiling bookshelves, lining all of the walls, there was also a clear amount of machinery used to make certain elements of the store move, like the sliding ladder attached to one of the bookshelves, that was moving across the shelves, slow enough so you could grab on and reach any on the higher shelves. Instead of being overly cluttered, the shop had a cozy and whimsical feel, almost like you were stepping into a fairy tale. “Hello, my dears,” a kind, quiet voice said, breaking both Xander and Max out of their thoughts. They turned, a saw a woman who looked like somebody’s grandmother, a short, plump old woman, with long silver hair that fell down her back.
“Hi!” Max said, very excitedly. “Welcome to the shop, is there anything I can help you find?” The woman asked. “Nope, just looking.” Xander said, as Max turned to look at the one of the shelves in detail. She ran her fingers down the row of books, then turned to Xander and whispered “How would you feel about moving in here?” Xander chuckled, and whispered back “I don’t think I would mind.” About an hour and a half later, Max finally dragged herself out of the store, but not before buying six books with Xander’s credit card. (AN as she should)
Xander and Max walked back to the movie theatre where Xander had parked his car, with the books in tow. Max loaded the books into the car, then got in herself, with Xander in the driver’s seat, and Max in the passenger seat. Xander started driving, but it wasn’t to Max’s dorm. When she asked why, Xander just smiled. Max leaned over, connecting her phone to the car’s Bluetooth, and opening her Spotify. She started her playlist, and the sounds of Taylor Swift filled the car.

Fifteen minutes later, Xander pulled off the quiet road, and parked the car. He stepped out of his car, and walked over to Max’s side, opening her car door for her. Max grinned, taking her boyfriend’s hand as she stepped out of the car, Xander’s hand still in her’s. “What are we doing?” Max asked, realizing they were in one of Connecticut’s most popular trails. “We, are going for a walk.” Xander said, a smile of his face as he looked down at her. “A walk?” Max asked, tangling her fingers in his. “A walk,” Xander confirmed. Ok. Sure. A walk.

Xander and Max started up the trail, taking it slow. It was still only about 5:30 in the evening, and their path was lit by the sun, which was slowly starting to set. Ten minutes later, Xander covered Max’s eyes with a hand, and when she tried to move his hand, Xander lightly swatted at her fingers. “It’ll be quick. Don’t you trust me?” Xander teased. Max reluctantly dropped her hand, and walked forwards, even while complaining that she had terrible balance, didn’t he know this, Xander wrapped a long arm around Max’s waist, steading her. They walked a few more steps, then Xander stopped walking. He uncovered Max’s eyes, and she gasped for the second time that day. Xander had set up a whole picnic, on the top of the large hill, complete with a massive blanket and at least two baskets of food. The best part was that Xander must’ve timed the entire day so that this would be timed perfectly with the sunset starting right when they arrived. “Did you do this?” Max asked, turning to her boyfriend, incredulous. “I planned it, but Avery and Jameson set it up.” He said, rubbing his neck. “Do you like it?” It occurred to Max then, that this boy meant the entire world to her, and how much he cared about her. “I love it.” Max said, reaching up and kissing Xander. He kissed her back, one of his hands resting on her waist, the other hand coming up to her hair.

Once all of the food was gone, and the sun had completely set behind the horizon, the couple headed back to Max’s dorm, where the two met up with Avery and Jameson, who had driven in that day. All in all, that way the day Max knew, without a doubt, that she was hopelessly in love with Xander Hawthorne.

Notes:

If you couldn’t tell, I’m single as heck. I tried so hard to write this sweet, fluffy romance, but I think it’s painfully obvious I’ve never been in a relationship. I have no idea what I’m doing, but I’ve read lots of romance books, so maybe that counts for something. I also wrote this entire chapter before 7:30 am, and I’m still partially asleep as I’m writing this.

Chapter 3: 3 times Max & Xander Pretended to Date + 1 Time They Didn’t

Notes:

I’m so so so sorry this took so long to update, i’ve been busy getting ready for school. Enjoy!

Time One:
Time One: Time One: Time One: “What are we doing here?” Max asked, turning to one of her closest friends. Xander grinned. “You’ll find out.” He said with a smirk. It was the day before Valentine's day, and Max and Xander were wandering down Main Street. Max would never admit this, but she actually had a huge crush on Xander. Even though Xander was single, Max knew he didn’t think about her like that, and she would be lying if she said it didn’t hurt her a bit, but she thought today might change something.

All of a sudden, Xander grabbed Max’s hand and pulled her into a cafe. Max shifted to stare at Xander. “What are you doing?” She hissed, and Xander just grinned, and led Max to a booth in the corner. “What are you doing?” Max whispered, the demand clear in her voice. Xander smirked. “You’ll see.” He said simply. Then, the waitress showed up at their table.

“Hello guys. What can I get started for you?” she asked. Xander looked at Max, waiting for her to order. “I’ll just do a chai latte, please.” Max said, after a quick glance at the menu. “I’ll have a caramel coffee. Thanks.” The waitress nodded, and wrote down their orders. “Anything else?” She asked. “Yeah, could we do a blueberry scone, please?” Xander asked. “Yeah, of course.” The waitress said, before walking away from their table. As soon as the waitress left, Max turned to Xander. “Please explain what is going on.” She said, staring Xander down. He grinned, and finally gave Max an answer.

“So, basically, because it’s almost Valentine's day, this cafe has a deal, where if a couple comes in, they get a discount on their drinks, but they both have to come in, or the deal doesn't count.” Max smirked. “Did you seriously use me to make your drink cheaper?” she asked, even while pushing down a small feeling in her gut because he just wanted a discount on his drink, and didn’t actually want to ask her out.

Xander chuckled. “Yup. And it worked, plus you are getting a free drink, so don’t complain.” Max laughed, and the two spent the next ten minutes talking, until the waitress came back with the drinks. “Your scone will be out in a few minutes, because we’re just making a fresh batch.”

Max wrapped her hands around her coffee cup to ward off the chilly February air that was blowing in from the door that kept opening. Xander noticed, and immediately started unraveling the scarf around his neck. He tossed it to Max without a second thought. “You don’t need to do that.” Max protested, even as she wrapped the scarf around her neck. It smelt like him, she realized. Like cinnamon, and rain. Max smiled at the thought.

Half an hour later, the waitress came back with the bill. “You two make a cute couple.” She commented, as Xander paid. He wrapped an arm around Max’s waist. “Thanks.” He said with a smile. Max allowed herself to lean into Xander as they packed up to go.

“Thanks for the drink.” Max said, while picking up her purse. “Thank you for going along with it.” Xander replied, handing Max her jacket. She took the coat, pulling it on, when one of her friendship bracelets caught on one of the sleeves. Xander noticed immediately, untangling the end of the bracelet and freeing her wrist. He didn’t let go of her wrist, though. Instead, he took her hand, intertwining their fingers. And he didn’t let go.

 

Time Two:
The event was loud, and very crowded. Max was only there to support Avery, because Jameson, who normally accompanied her to these events, had an important test he needed to study for, so he was stuck at Yale.

Anyways, Avery was in the middle of a conversation with some important-looking guys, so Max had been left to herself.

At the moment, Max was standing in a corner, not having an idea of what to do, when all of a sudden, a figure appeared in front of her.

“Hey, pretty thing.” Fax. They guy was tall, and if Max was being honest, he was pretty ugly. He was also standing very close to her, and his cologne was overpowering, and smelt slightly musty.

“Hello.” Max said tightly, hoping the guy would take the hint and see that she wasn’t interested. “I’ve never seen you at one of these things before.” The guy inched closer. Wasn’t taking the hint, then.

“I don’t come to these events often. I’m just here for my friend.” Max said, hoping the guy would leave soon. The guy perked up.

“Who’s your friend? Maybe I know them?” As much as Max wanted to get the guy to leave, she didn’t want to subject Avery to the obnoxious guy either. “I don’t know where she is.” Max said, trying not to look at Avery, so the guy didn’t get any ideas about harassing Avery either. “I’m Chandler. Chandler Charles. What’s your name, pet?” The guy asked, moving somehow even closer to Max.

Max blurted out the first name that came to her mind, a fitting match for the creep.

“Emily.” she said, and the guy smirked. “Emily, huh. What do you say we get out of here?” Max prepared to reject the guy, when he decided to make the very stupid idea to put his hand on her arm.

Max flinched, but the guy didn't seem to notice. He smirked again, when all of a sudden, a tall figure stepped in front of him.

“I highly suggest you remove your hand unless you want to have it removed.” The figure stated, without a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Max looked up into the face of her savoir, surprised to see Xander Hawthore staring the guy down. There was none of the usual humor or happiness in Xander’s face, and the creep seemed to understand that Xander wasn’t kidding.

“Geez man, Didn’t know she was taken.” The guy said, before walking off. Xander watched the guy leave. As soon as he was out of sight, Xander turned to Max.

“Are you okay?” He asked, his brown eyes free from any of the rage that had filled them a few moments ago. “I’m okay.” Max said, surprised with how mad Xander had seemed when he saw the guy put his hand on her arm. “I didn't know you were here,” Max said, as she thought back to earlier in the evening, not remembering seeing Xander around. “I just got here, like fifteen minutes ago. Alisa told me I needed to leave my lab. No idea why.” Xander said, and Max realized then that he was missing his right eyebrow. Again.

“In my defence, that robot wasn't designed to explode.” Xander said with a chuckle. “I forgot to thank you for rescuing me.” Max said, looking at Xander. “Anytime.” Xander said, but it sounded tight, like he was trying to get mad. “You didn’t look like you were having a good time, and I thought you could use a hand.” Xander smiled. “

Plus, I could smell his musty cologne from across the room, so I have no idea how it smelt up close.” Max laughed. “It was musty!” she said, wrinkling her nose at the thought.
Time Three:
The party was everything you would expect a Hawthorne baby shower to be, multiplied by two.

They had already done one for Libby’s close friends back in Connecticut, but this one was in Texas, with what seemed like everyone Nash had ever known.

The guests ranged from former business associates of Tobais Hawthorne to kids who attended Heights Country Day School.

Xander currently found himself stuck in polite conversation with one of these kids, a girl named Claire.(AN Im so sorry if your name is Claire, I just needed a name and this is not about you.) She had draped herself over Xander not five minutes after she arrived, even pushing Avery out of the way, which Jameson had almost punched her for, but Avery calmed him down in time.

Claire was annoying, and loud, and she had had a crush on Xander for at least three years. She always found a way to be around Xander, even after he had told her, multiple times, that he didn’t like her.

She kept thinking she could change his mind, even though Xander had a massive crush on Max, who only thought of him as a friend. Being Avery’s best friend, she had spent a lot of time with Libby, so it only made sense that she came to Libby’s baby shower.

Xander’s enormous crush on Max was slightly more manageable than it was when they had first met, seeing as when his crush started, Xander would almost have a panic attack every time he saw Max, he still found it hard to think straight when Max smiled at him.

“So, Xander, what was it like growing up a Hawthorne?” Claire drawled, her hand resting on Xander’s arm. “It was pretty much what you would expect.” Xander said absently, scanning the room for anyone or anything that could get him out of this conversation, when his eyes caught Max from across the room. At Max, staring at Claire’s hand on Xander’s arm.

Apparently feeling his eyes on her, Max looked up and met Xander’s eyes. Her eyebrow raised in a silent question. ‘Do you want that hand there?’

Xander gave a subtle shake of his head, and he caught Max thinking for a second, before Claire tightened her grip on Xander’s arm, bringing him back to the current conversation.

“Heyy, so I know this is like, really forward, but like, I like you, so we should like, date or something.” Claire said, grinning up at Xander like she thought he would say yes. All of a sudden, Xander felt another hand on his arm, this one warm.

“Really hate to be that person, but Xander is taken.” Max’s voice said, and Xander was shocked by how powerful her voice seemed. He was even more shocked when he realized he didn’t entirely hate her telling someone they were together. In fact, he actually kind of liked it.

Claire blushed, looking down. “I’m so sorry, I had no idea!” She said, before tripping over herself to get out of their presence. “Thanks for that.” Xander said, glancing at Max. She offered him a small smile. “You looked like you wanted to commit murder, and I don’t think Alisa would have liked that.” She said with a chuckle. Xander grinned.
The One Time They Didn’t:

The movie theatre was surprisingly uncrowded, despite it being a Friday night. The only other people in the theatre were two teenagers who looked like they were on a very awkward first date, a few parents who acted like this was the first time they had seen a glimpse of the outside world in six months, and Max and Xander.

Max had flown out to Texas two days after her finals, and she hadn’t left Xander’s side since. They had spent yesterday hanging around the house, just talking, and catching up, and being in each other’s company. It wasn’t like they hadn’t talked at least once a day while Max was at college, but it wasn't the same.

The couple had decided to watch the new Freakier Friday in theatres, and as they had lined up to get snacks, Xander had wrapped his arm around Max’s waist. She had leaned into him like she had never left and had no intentions of leaving again.

Once the couple had popcorn and their drinks, they found the room the movie was taking place in, and found their seats.

After getting everything organized, Max rested her head against Xander’s shoulder, and his arm wrapped around her waist. The couple spent the next few minutes before the movie started.

When the trailers started, Mad just curled closer to her boyfriend. Xander pressed a kiss to the top of Max’s head.

When the movie ended, Max was asleep. Xander wasn’t sure when his girlfriend had fallen asleep, but he suspected it had been sometime around the last quarter of the movie.

He stretched. Gently unwrapping his arm from Max’s waist, he shook her awake. “Hmmm?” Max muttered. “The movie ended.” Xander said softly. “Nope.” Max hummed. Xander gave a quiet chuckle. “Yep.” Max just snuggled closer to her boyfriend.

“Alright. That’s it. You are asking to be picked up and walked to the car.” Xander declared. “Mhm.” Xander grinned, and in one smooth motion, scooped Max into his arms. Max just gave a sleepy grin and wrapped her arms around his neck.

As Xander made his way to his car, Max still in his arms, it started to rain. It wasn’t heavy, but a kind of rain that made the world seem softer.

Max was more awake now, and when Xander gently placed her on her feet, instead of starting to walk towards the car, she just smiled at Xander.

Slowly, Xander took Max’s hand. She let out a small chuckle. Then, Xander began to spin Max out, then back in. She looked up at him with a look of quiet affection on her face. “What are you doing?” She whispered, and Xander gave her a grin. “Dancing in the rain.”

He spun Max out again, and this time, when she pulled her back in, she wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him. The kiss was soft, and Xander returned it. “We should probably get back to the car.” Xander whispered. “Probably.” Max agreed, but made no move to do anything. Instead, she kissed him again. Because he was hers.

Notes:

First of all, I want to say thanks to my friends, who helped with names, (Chandler Charles, hates to see that group chat coming) as well as my best friend, Makena, who did a grammar check and helped with ideas. (She didn’t read the last part, bc I wrote most of it before 4:30 am today) Thx!

Bonus: The waitress from the first time knew Xander and Max were faking, but didn't say anything bc she thought they were cute.

Also headcanon that every time Max and Xander see each other, they watch a movie in theatres. I’m also basing the entire movie theatre scene on the main theatre I go to. It’s a Cineplex, so it’s fancy. The seats recline and everything, it’s super cool.

On a separate note, I just finished glorious rivals, and it was rough, so i wrote this to cope.

School started last week, and I’ll probably be able to write on my 45 min bus ride, so updates might be more frequent.

Chapter 4: "Scone"

Notes:

This is an angsty little 300 word fic that's taking place when Avery is in the coma. Ik we had some of this in GU, but that was Libby, plus I have this little headcanon that Xander will stress bake when things go wrong. (This is me, I do this) I think it has something to do with the ADHD we all know he has. Enjoy!

It was another day Avery was in the coma. Max was slowly losing her mind. She didn’t think she had ever been more mad or annoyed at anyone in her entire life as she was when she found out Alisa had Avery moved.

Nobody had allowed the lawyer any access to Avery since, and Max doubted that would change anytime soon. Everyone in the house was terrified for Avery.

Jameson had barely left her bedside, except when Nash forced him to eat and sleep. Max was there at least once a day, and more often than not, a member of the Hawthorne family joined her, although Xander was there the most frequently when Max was.

This morning, Max made her way to Avery’s room as usual, and while she was walking through the expansive halls of the House, Xander fell into step beside her. He took her hand and pressed something rolled in a napkin into her hand. “Eat this,” he said, and Max stopped walking and turned to him.

“What is it?” She asked, and he didn’t meet her eyes. “Scone.” Xander gave no other explanation, and Max took his hand. “You okay?” She asked the question softly. He turned to her now.

“Honest answer? I’m spiraling. No one knows what’s going on, or what could happen to Avery, and Alisa is acting like she did the right thing when Avery could have died, and”- Max cut him off by placing her other hand on his arm, and she realized he was doing this because if he didn’t, he would go crazy.

“It’ll be okay.” Max said, willing Xander to believe her. “Everything will be okay.” Xander pressed his forehead against Max’s. “It has to be.” Without another word, Max took the scone in one hand and kept holding Xander’s hand in her other.

Notes:

This was not beta-read.

I have an idea for a Lynn Painter fic that's essentially a rewrite of nothing like the movies with Charlie and Bailey, and maybe Alec and Dani. Let me know if you guys would be into that or not. (I'm probably going to post it anyways, no matter what you guys say.)

Chapter 5: The Great Hawthorne Bake-Off

Summary:

Chaos at Hawthorne House. What else is new? Enjoy!

Notes:

Now, let’s be honest. The Hawthorne family definitely have massive monthly bake-offs where the winner gets bragging rights and doesn’t have to clean up the kitchen. Before, it was each for his own, but now that Libby, Lyra, Avery and Max are here, it might run a bit differently. Please enjoy the chaos.

Everything started with Grayson getting covered in flour. In Jameson’s defence, Grayson didn’t move in time to dodge the flour bomb Jameson threw at him. Grayson could have seen it coming if he had just turned his head a little bit to the side.
“Jamie. Please explain yourself.” Grayson’s tone was clipped, and it was hard to discern where his face started and where his Armani suit ended, due to the massive amount of flour coating him head to toe.
“It’s raining.” Jameson offered, like that explained everything.“Yes. It is. That does not explain why I am coated head to foot in flour.” Grayson said tightly. “I decided, since it’s raining, and we are all bored and that we can’t go anywhere or do anything, that it’s been a while since the last Great Hawthorne Bake-off.” Jameson said, finishing his speech with jazz hands.
“It’s been a while since the last Great Hawthorne Bake-off because the last time we did one of these things, Nash almost burned down our home.” Grayson muttered, brushing off his suit with his hands. “The key word in that sentence is almost. Can you help round up everyone else?”
Jameson didn’t even give his older brother a second to respond before adding, “You’re a good man, Gray.” Jameson just patted Grayson on the shoulder and disappeared through one of the secret passages.
Twenty minutes later, Nash, Grayson, Jameson, Xander, Avery, Libby, Max and Lyra were all gathered in Hawthorne House’s massive kitchen.
Xander stood on a chair, clearing his throat to get everyone’s attention. “Welcome to the Great Hawthorne Bake-Off.” He said, with no small amount of gusto. “The rules are simple: Make something edible, don’t burn down any portion of Hawthorne House, create an and ensure that your dessert is edible. Very simple. You have five hours.”
Xander clapped his hands together. Lyra raised her hand. “Why is it a rule that we’re not allowed to burn down any portion of Hawthorne House. Besides the obvious, of course,” she asked.
“Because, as it would happen, our dearest oldest brother burned down half of the kitchens in the Bake-Off that took place four years ago while trying to make a crème brûlée.” Jameson chimed in cheerfully. “It was an accident!” Nash protested, trying in vain to defend himself.
Libby turned to her fiancé with a look that was part shock, part horror and part awe. “Now that that’s out of the way, there’s only one more thing we need to discuss. And that thing is teams.” Jameson announced.
Eventually, they landed on four teams of two. Pretty quickly, they decided that none of the couples could be together, because there would probably be more making out than baking, so the teams they ended up with were this:
Nash and Max, Grayson and Libby, Jameson and Xander and Lyra and Avery.
Each of the teams separated into their own sections of the kitchen to discuss what they were going to create.
On one side of the enormous kitchens in Hawthorne House, Max was staring at her teammate in horror. “What do you mean, you don’t know how to cook?" she asked. “I mean, I never had to learn how to cook. The staff did all the cooking.” Nash defended.
“Unbelievable. So what do you know how to make?” Max demanded, shaking her head. Nash pondered the question before responding. “I can make cookies, maybe?” He said, Texas accent pronounced. “Maybe!” Max threw her hands in the air in disbelief.
“Sorry!” Nash said with a chuckle. “Fine. We’ll make cookies, but don’t be surprised if we lose. And I’m in charge. I don’t care that you’re older or whatever. You will follow my instructions. And stay at least ten feet away from the stove at all times.” Max declared, walking to the pantry to start getting the ingredients.
On the other side of the kitchens, Grayson and Libby started throwing out ideas. “We could make a cake?” Libby suggested. “Too basic, unless you have a kind of incredible, unique cake flavour no one has ever heard of before.” Grayson shot back. Libby thought for a second, before replying.
“What about cupcakes?” She suggested. “Think about it. They’re basic enough to be impossible to mess up, and you can customize them so easily. The flavour combinations are endless, so everyone can find something they like.” She explained. Grayson ran the possibilities through his mind, before nodding.
“It has potential. What flavour were you thinking?” He asked. Libby grinned. “I think we should have at least three kinds. I was thinking chocolate, vanilla, and something else,” she said, “But I’m not sure what.”
“What about something with caramel?” Grayson suggested. “I like it. Let’s do it.” After a brief discussion on who would do what, they went their separate ways to gather ingredients and supplies.
Forty feet away, Xander was throwing out ideas like we was getting paid for it. “We could make dessert scones, like scones but dessert flavoured, or the most amazing ice cream sandwich ever, or a seven tier cake with each tier being a different flavour of the rainbow, or-“ Jameson interrupted his younger brother.
“Flavours or the rainbow? What does that mean? Also isn't that the Skittles jingle or something?” He asked, the questions getting jumbled. “First of all, the rainbow definitely had tastes. Red is watermelon, orange is orange, yellow is lemon, green is apple, blue is… Blue is something, and purple is blueberry. Second of all, I think it’s a good idea.” Xander said, jumping up to sit on the counter.
He was quiet for a minute before jumping up. “Dessert tacos! That’s it! That’s our idea!” Xander exclaimed. “What are dessert tacos?” Jameson asked, turning to Xander. “Just what it sounds like. They’re like regular tacos, but candy. Trust me.” Xander said.
“That’s never a good decision” Jameson mumbled under his breath, but he followed Xander into the kitchen’s enormous pantry anyways.
In the far corner, Lyra and Avery were stuck. “Turns out I’m a lot better at running a multi-million dollar charity than I am at baking.” Avery said with a small chuckle. Lyra laughed.
“We need to do something really good.” Avery said, leaning back against the wall. “Do you have any ideas?” Lyra asked from her spot on the floor. “Nope” Avery replied, racking her brain for something good.
“Ooh!” Lyra said suddenly, jumping up. “What?” Avery asked. “I have an idea. It’s inspired by these cookies my mom used to make. Think s’mores, chocolate chip cookies, and cake.” Lyra suggested. Avery grinned, and Lyra could see the twinkle in her eye.
“They won’t know what hit them.” She said, pushing off the wall and turning to one of the three fridges in Hawthorne House’s kitchens.
An hour and a half later, the kitchens were buzzing with activity. There were shouts and conversations overlapping each other.
Nash was leaning against the wall with a small smile on his face, even though Max had banned him from being able to do anything after he got distracted and let the mixers fly out of his hands.
Max had taken over, and Nash had been sentenced to trying to figure out what everyone else was doing. It wasn’t going too well, because it looked like the other teams had figured out what Nash was doing, and had moved their things and bodies around so no one else could see what they were doing.
So, Nash just leaned back in that wall and waited until Max gave him another, safer, job.
Grayson and Libby were doing well. They had their cupcakes baked and were working on the decorations. Libby would pipe frosting on the cupcakes, and Grayson would put one of the small cookies Libby had made which matched the flavour of the cupcakes.
They were already done almost half of the cupcakes, and they were still going strong. They worked together well, with Libby’s cheerful demeanour thawing some of Grayson’s cold as ice exterior, plus the fact that they quickly found a rhythm.
Jameson and Xander were buried in marshmallows, and Xander’s fingers were sticking together. It wasn’t pretty. As it turns out, dessert tacos are a lot harder to make than you would think.
They had already melted down some chocolate and molded them into hard shell tacos, but while trying to make the ground meat, everything had gone wrong.
Somehow, even though both Jameson and Xander were both skilled chefs, they had somehow managed to mess up Rice Krispy treats. “Why are they burned?!?” Xander screeched, after pulling their fourth failed batch of Rice Krispy treats out of the oven. “You were supposed to be watching them!” Jameson protested. “I thought you set a timer!” Xander shot back.
“Well I thought-“ Right then, Libby walked past their station, pausing as she noticed the complete and utter chaos that was taking place in Jameson and Xander’s station. “What’s going on over here?” She asked, taking in the four pans of burnt or undercooked Rice Krispy treats.
“Someone forgot to set a timer for the Rice Krispy treats for the fourth time in a row,” Xander said with a pointed look at Jameson. “Well you were supposed to be watching them!” He shot back.
“Enough.” Libby said, glaring at both of them, and because they knew what was good for them, they shut up pretty quickly.
“I will make your Rice Krispy treats and you too will stop arguing, or you’ll set something on fire. Plus, you don’t cook Rice Krispy treats. That’s your first problem. So yes, you will set something on fire.” Libby said, walking into their area of the kitchens.
While she was in their station, all of the other teams could overhear her muttering "How do neither of them know how to make Rice Krispy squares? That’s like, the first thing you’re supposed to learn how to make.”
From her spot mixing the cookie dough together, Max looked up to see her teammate looking at the goth baker with a look of pure, unbridled love, to the point that he didn’t even do anything to defend himself from Max throwing a dish towel at his face, even though she spent a solid 30 seconds winding up her throw.
Across the kitchens, Lyra and Avery were doing fantastic. They had just taken their three cakes out of the oven, and were now figuring out what they would put in the middle. “We could put down a layer of graham crackers in between?” Lyra suggested.
“Hmm.” Avery thought out loud, “That might be too thick,” she said, “but what about some kind of graham cracker frosting. And then we can just grab a bunch of mini marshmallows, and, I don’t know, make a rim around the edge of the cake.” Avery suggested.
Lyra nodded. “I love it.” She said enthusiastically. “Let’s do it.” Avery smiled.
Three hours after that, with only half an hour left on the clock, Max and Nash were working on their fourth variation of a chocolate chip cookie.
Well, technically, Max was working on her fourth variation of a chocolate chip cookie. Nash had been banned from even mixing the ingredients together after he had forgotten to set a timer, and had accidentally burned their third batch of cookies.
So far, Max had made standard chocolate chip cookies, upside down chocolate chip cookies, espresso cookies, and was now working on a cinnamon brown sugar chocolate chip cookie, all of which were recipe ideas she had found on Pinterest.
Max had a feeling that their latest batch of cookies would be the ones they competed with, partly because they were the best ones she had tried so far, and partly because they only had half an hour left.
It was that or she would pile all of the cookies she had made on a fancy, luxury plate George Washington had probably used. Max grinned to herself.
Thirty feet away, Grayson and Libby were adding the finishing touches on their cupcakes.
Since they had extra time, Libby had the idea to take a few popular desserts and then turn them into cupcakes, including a chocolate chip cookie, and a popcorn cupcake.
In the last half hour, they had baked the cupcakes, figured out what to put on top, made three different kinds of frosting, and put everything together, and they were almost done.
Across the kitchens, Xander and Jamie had actually gotten their crazy idea to work.
Their idea of dessert tacos required many complex ingredients, including, but not limited to chocolate Rice Krispy treats, a full bag of chopped up Swedish Berries, and white chocolate dyed orange and out through a cheese grater. (They definitely didn’t break at least two cheese graters during this experience.)
The final product was something that looked almost identical to a set of two hard shell tacos. It was actually quite impressive, if you ignored the multiple cavities the elaborate dessert would undoubtedly give you.

The pair were just adding the final touches to their tacos, after which they planned to snoop on everyone else.

In the far corner, Avery and Lyra had finished baking the layers of their three cake and had already made a graham cracker frosting, and spread that in between the three cake layers. Now, the girls were adding graham crackers and mini marshmallows around the top of the cake.

All of a sudden, Avery felt eyes on her and Lyra. She looked up, glancing around the room, before her gaze landed on Xander, who was very determinedly not looking at her.

Avery poked Lyra, nodding her head in Xander and Jameson’s direction, and the pair subtly angled their bodies so Xander and Jamie couldn’t see what they were working on.

After a short moment, Avery felt the eyes leave her back. She looked up to see Xander changing his target, now spying on Libby and Grayson.

Avery stayed where she was, not letting anyone see what she was working on, not letting them see anything. Information was power in these games, and Avery was not willing to give anyone power. You never knew what could happen in a Hawthorne game.

With only eight minutes left on the clock, three of the four teams were completely finished. Xander and Jameson were still working, still adding things onto their dessert.

All of the other teams were just staring at the duo, watching them work against the clock. Precisely three minutes before, one of their tacos had tipped over, and the pair were still re-assembling the taco. “The fallen shall ride again!” Xander exclaimed, at they stepped back from their final creation.

Fifteen minutes and one phone call later, Avery’s lawyer, Alisa Orgeta was standing in the middle of Hawthorne House’s kitchens. “You want me to judge your baking competition?” Alisa asked, one eyebrow raised.

Beside her stood Nan, looking as terrifying as ever, cane in hand, completely prepared to poke anyone who got in her way.

The group had decided on two judges instead of one, partly because as Avery had called Alisa, Xander had found Nan as he came back from the bathroom, she had asked what the fire was, and he brought her along.

“Correction. We want you to be the judges of our baking competition.” Xander said with a grin.

Alisa sighed. “How long have you been working on this?” She asked, dreading the answer. Almost six hours!” Jameson said cheerfully. Alisa sighed again. “You just want me and Nan to eat your desserts?” Alisa asked. Her answer was several enthusiastic ‘Yup!’s and multiple nods.

“Fine. But I’m not going to play favourites. I will judge them based on how they look and taste.” Alisa said. Nan harrumphed.

First up, Max and Nash. Max had made the decision to let Nash organize the cookies, which she had decided to use all the kinds she baked.

Surprisingly, Nash had actually done a decent job at organizing the cookies. He had arranged them in such a way where you could easily see every cookie, with the arrangement still looking nice.

Alisa sampled a small portion of each cookie. “Not bad. You did them very nicely. I like the flavours.” Max grinned.

Next up, Libby and Grayson. Libby had lined up the cupcakes in neat lines, which showed off two of every kind of cupcake the pair had made.

Alisa picked up a cupcake, and took a tentative bite. She blinked, and then took another bite, this one slightly larger.

“It’s good,” she said, “But it is pretty sweet.” Libby blushed, and the edges of Grayson’s lips turned downwards slightly.

Then, it was Avery and Lyra’s turn. The cake the two of them made was incredibly detailed and looked fantastic.

The cake was three layers, and in between each layer, there was some graham cracker frosting, courtesy of Lyra's mom, and a border of miniature marshmallows that looked like they had been toasted with a blowtorch or something of the sort.

The top of the cake was done up in the same fashion, but there was also edible gold foil creating intricate flowers on the top of the cake that had probably been done with a stencil of some sort.

From somewhere, Jameson produced a cutting knife from who knows where, and handed it to Alisa, who expertly sliced the cake.

She offered the first piece to Nan, who shook her head, and huffed.

Shrugging, the lawyer took her fork and picked up a piece of the cake and ate it. “Mmm. That’s really good,” Alisa said, through the bite of cake. Avery and Lyra looked at each other and smiled.

Lastly, it was Jameson and Xander’s turn. Nan took one look at the dessert and promptly gave the plate a sniff. “Smells like diabetes,” she huffed. The pair served up an incredibly complex set of tacos, but made entirely out of desserts. Even looking at the thing would make your teeth start to hurt from the sugar coating them.

Nan actually leaned back, away from the table and onto her cane, as if the dessert would jump out at her and poison her with cavities or diabetes. At this, Xander grinned, and said, “I know it looks absolutely toxic, and quite possibly radioactive, but that’s the best part,” with far too much glee for anyone’s sake.

Alisa swallowed thickly and very carefully stuck her fork into the edge of the dessert before slowly placing the fork in her mouth.

The entire kitchen stared at her, waiting for her reaction, and the lawyer did not disappoint.

Within about ten seconds, Alisa’s face went from thinly veiled suspicion and doubt, to surprise, to slight awe, to what looked like respect.

Avery, moving first, picked up a spare fork off the table, and picked up a small piece of the dessert and popped it in her mouth. “Hmm.”

“Well?” Libby asked, impatient. Avery grinned. “See for yourselves,” she said, her face not giving anything, but Libby knew her sister well enough to see the small smile on the corner of the billionaire’s mouth.

Internally vowing to curse not only Avery and Alisa, but also both Jameson and Xander if this wasn’t good, Libby grabbed one of the forks from the counter top, she dug into the extravagant dessert.

After chewing on the startlingly realistic taco, Libby let out a small chuckle. “That’s actually really good!”

Then, Alisa cleared her throat and hustled everyone out of the kitchen for a few minutes so she could make her decision.

A minute and 48 seconds later, Xander counted, Alisa called everyone back.

“After a difficult decision, I have made my choice as to the team that won the- what are you calling this again?” The lawyer paused in the middle of her speech to look around at the assembled Hawthornes and Hawthorne-Adjacents. “The Great Hawthorne Bake-off!” Xander chimed in cheerfully.

“Right… the great Hawthorne bake-off winners were chosen because they were creative with their choice, clean in their presentation, and just did a great job overall.”

“The winners are Jameson and Xander. Congratulations.”

Xander fist bumped his brother, and the two looked incredibly happy.

Avery nudged Nash, who was standing beside her. “What does the winner of these things get?” She asked.

“Easy. The winners get bragging rights and they don’t have to help clean up the kitchens.”

Wow. As Avery looked around the expansive kitchens of Hawthorne House and realized just how big a prize that was. The kitchens were an absolute disaster.

“Alright. I guess we should start cleaning up now.” Avery announced, clapping her hands. She glanced at her boyfriend and Xander. “You guys gonna help?” Avery asked, but the two shook their heads, and, completely in sync with each other, skipped out of the kitchens, with a “Later, Suckers!” from Xander.

Notes:

I'm so sorry this chapter took so long to get out. I’ve been really busy with family and couldn’t sit down and write. Plus ao3 deleted the chapter like four times.😔

Not gonna lie, this has been mostly completed in my docs app since *checks calendar* the middle of august. Um… Yay.

I’m also choosing to ignore some canon in this chapter, specifically where it says Nash is a really good cook, (in GU) because I wanted Max to boss him around. Also, absolutely zero idea when in the actual canon this takes place, bc we like Alisa, but Lyra’s also here, and yk, let’s not think about it too much!

So this was just an idea I had, and now it's over 3.3k words. That happened.
This entire thing was not beta read, but I think like, the first half was, bc I kind of wrote the last chunk of this between the hours of 11:00 and 1:30 on a night when I have school tomorrow. Yay! Sleep Deprivation!

If you couldn’t tell, I’m a massive baker, so this was rlly fun for me to write. I’ve also seen every episode of Is It Cake like 4 times, so…

In case you were confused about what Jameson and Xander created, think like, melted chocolate molded into a hard shell taco, the ‘meat’ as chocolate Rice Krispy treats crumbled up, the lettuce and cheese and stuff are like, cake strips that they cut up and like, covered in coloured frosting, and then tomatoes are Swedish berries or some other kind of gummy.

Also, if you have any scenes or ideas you want to see, just comment and I can try to do it. Idk if they’ll be good, but I def would try.

I was really trying to sell the whole ‘freaking rich people’ bit in this. The three fridges, the forty feet squared kitchen, the whole thing.

I have an idea for a WesLiz fic, let me know if you guys would like that. I’m probably gonna post it anyways, but if that’s something that interests you guys, I could put priority on it.
I also rlly want to write something for Gilmore Girls too, but I need to know if yall are team Jess or team Logan, bc im team Jess 4 life, so if I did, it would be Jess, but would you guys be into that? Let me know in the comments.

Chapter 6: Halloween Chaos

Summary:

Chaos with the Hawthornes and Halloween fluff.

Notes:

Before you get to the fic, and I know this is more than a week late, but thank you guys so much 1000 hits!! I still can’t believe I get to type that. It means so much to me that you guys opened this, and that you read it, and you enjoyed it. For that, please take like 17 pages of Halloween fluff.

Also, I know! I know! I know this is late, I know I promised you guys this Friday, but I got super busy. Im sorry. Im so sorry. But at least it’s like 16 pages. That makes it better, right?
Enjoy!

Halloween with the Hawthornes was an adventure, to say the least. The Hawthornes didn’t do anything halfway, and, as Avery was learning very quickly, Halloween was no exception.
Every single year, the brothers had found a group of four to dress up as in the past. Every year, they also brought around Thea and Bex, who always had something creative that they dressed up as.
But now that Avery, Libby, Max, Gigi, and Savannah were here, their system of a group of four wouldn’t work anymore, especially not now that three out of the four brothers had girlfriends and because both of Gray’s sisters were here.
They hadn’t done Halloween last year because Avery had been in a coma, and they hadn’t done it the year before because they had been figuring out everything with the will and Avery’s inheritance.
What the group had decided on for this year as a group costume was characters from the Despicable Me Universe. Nash had been voluntold to be Gru, which put Libby as Lucy. Grayson was bullied into being Dru because he was the only blond one.
Avery had chosen to be Scarlet Overkill because her outfit was amazing, and her waist was invisible, which left Jameson no choice but to be Herb. (The couple had to have a lengthy discussion about people having to do hard things all the time, how Jameson loved Avery a lot so he liked doing things that make her happy, and how Herb had zero control over his name.)
Thea and Bex had wanted to join in too, especially since they had spent the majority of their Halloweens with the Hawthornes, so it made sense that they would join in this year too. The couple’s costumes ended up with Thea in a black wig and Rebecca in a fluffy unicorn onesie. To be fair, it was a very expensive unicorn onesie, but a unicorn onesie nonetheless.
Savannah and Gigi Grayson were Gru and Lucy’s other two kids, Edith and Margo, respectively. Gigi had heard about it from Max, whom she had become quite close with after the Grandest Game had finished, and was invited to join and bring Savannah, especially after they needed two other people who matched the twins’ description.
Arguably, the best part of their costumes was the minions. Bob was Tiramisu in a perfectly tailored Minions costume that cost more than what Libby paid for rent in six months at her old apartment. Stuart was Max, and Kevin was Xander, because he was freakishly tall and because he felt that he could channel the energy of the minions. Plus, he had the options of being a minion or of being Edith, and he of course chose the minion.
Max and Xander also decided that they wouldn’t be able to properly channel the energy of the minions without completely painting their skin bright yellow. Avery had pulled a few questionable strings and had acquired a custom-made minion yellow body paint that was only, slightly, most definitely toxic and probably wouldn’t wash out of human skin for at least a month.
The couple didn’t care in the least, and had instead rejected three different colour variants Avery had shown them before because they ‘had the wrong undertone.’
Eventually, they found a colour they were satisfied with, and Avery had spent an obscene amount of money on all of their costumes.
The plan for Halloween night had been planned mostly by Avery, with Jameson and Xander advising her. During the planning stage, Nash had also dropped in a few times, suggesting various ideas.
The entire group would participate in a series of challenges, including karaoke and minute-to-win-it-style games.
Avery had seen the idea on TikTok, had taken one look at her chaotic family, and just smirked.
They group would play the games and compete in the challenges in their Despicable Me costumes, but once they were finished, all of them had other costumes they would change into, mostly ones that connected to their partners.
Grayson had said about a month before the day that he wasn’t going to dress up and had spent most of that time complaining about having to be Dru in the first place while insisting that he wasn’t going to dress up later, but what he didn’t know was that his brothers and Avery had come up with a plan for him.
But for now, they had challenges to complete and competitive people to beat, and had something to hold over their heads for the next very long time.
Once the group was set up in one of the secret rooms behind a corridor on the third floor of Hawthorne House, they started on the first challenge. The mission: Have an Oreo placed on their forehead and move it to their mouth using only the muscles in their face.
After multiple rounds and almost four packages of Oreos eaten, Thea was a top contender for the winner, but Grayson was the clear champion. Avery had accused him of having the upper hand after completing the multiple times daily face workout of raising that one Hawthorne eyebrow in a perfect arch, and had thrown an Oreo at him.
He caught it with his mouth, the ass.
“Selena Gomez knows what’s up,” Max mumbled about one of the celebrities’ cookies. “Agreed,” Gigi nodded and grabbed two more from the package, ignoring Grayson’s stare at the crumbs from the previous eleven cookies Gigi had already eaten.
Right now, the group were hanging around on the couches and chairs, and none of them were using any of the expensive furniture correctly.
Max, upside down, was hanging her head off the end of one of the love seats, with her feet draped across the top of the couch. Xander was right beside her, sprawled across the remainder of the couch, her legs on top of his.
Gigi was perched on the couch beside them, and she was sitting on the top of the couch’s back, with her feet resting on the base of the couch, where normal people would sit. Her high-top Converse covered in scribbles sat on the floor beside Grayson, who was sitting on the floor with his legs stretched out, leaning against the base of the couch.
Beside them, Avery had taken a seat in one of the enormous armchairs in the corner of the room; she was sitting in a way that had her legs over one of the arms with her back against the other arm. Jameson sat in the armchair beside Avery’s, and he was seated in a similar position; only one of his legs was thrown over the back of the chair.
Across from them, Libby sprawled across one of the couches, taking up the entire thing, while Nah stood behind her, leaning against the wall, signature cowboy hat tipped low over his face. Next to the definition of ‘Texas cowboy,’ Savannah Grayson stood leaning into the place where the walls intercepted, curling into the corner of the room.
Thea and Bex were curled up in a single armchair, and the side of Rebecca’s face was tucked into Thea’s neck.
The majority of the pieces of furniture had a mostly eaten container of Oreos sitting near them. There were so many different boxes of Oreos because the entire group all had very different ideas on the best cookie flavour.
Max, Gigi, Zander, Nash, Thea, Avery, and Jamie all believed in celebrity supremacy. In their opinion, the Selena Gomez chocolate cinnamon cookie was the best cookie you could give them.
Grayson, Savannah, and Libby all preferred the golden cookie. They had split almost an entire package between them.
Bex liked the standard Oreo and had been helping herself to a straight package for most of the night so far.
They fed Tiramisu dog treats shaped like jack-o'-lanterns and skeletons. She was definitely already a little chubbier than she had been previously, and the night had just started.
After lounging around in the secret room, which had probably once been an office, judging but the amount of bookshelves and the enormous mahogany desk in the back of the room, and playing other games in that style, including flipping cups, which they did in teams (Thea, Avery, and Nash won), they moved on to the next activity of the night.
The next challenge was attempting to bake something of the team’s choice, but a third of the contestants were blindfolded, one third had on noise-cancelling headphones blasting Taylor Swift songs so they couldn’t hear a thing, and the remainder of the players had blindfolds tied over their mouths so they couldn’t talk.
This one was Max’s idea, after she had seen the idea on TikTok. She had raised the idea to Avery, who had grinned and immediately started including it into her plan for Halloween night.
Because there were eleven people instead of three, and Tiramisu, adorable as she was, probably wouldn’t be able to help with baking a cake, they had three groups of three and one group of two.
The first group of three was made up of Avery, Nash, and Max.
The second group of three was Thea, Gigi, and Xander.
The third group consisted of Bex, Jameson, and Libby.
The last group, and the one with only two people, was Grayson and Savannah.
Once the groups were established, everyone headed to the kitchen. The rules were quickly explained (don’t burn down the kitchen, don’t cheat, etc.). The teams each had 45 minutes in order to fit into the rest of the night’s schedule.
The next step was to figure out which person in the trios would do which part of the game.
In the first group, Nash volunteered to listen to the music, which left Avery and Max to choose between the other two options, and Avery decided she would prefer to not be able to talk over not being able to see, and Max was happy to not talk after all the years she had spent biting her tongue while living with her parents.
The second group took a lot longer to decide, with Thea and Gigi both not wanting to be the one who couldn’t see. Eventually, they settled on Gigi not being able to see and Thea not talking, with Xander completely content to just stand in the corner vibing to Taylor Swift, not listening to anybody.
The third group got everything sorted out rapidly. Jameson immediately asked if he could have the headphones, and Libby and Bex agreed. After that, Rebecca shyly asked if she could be the one to have the blindfold. Libby, who was fine with not talking, just handed Bex the strip of fabric.
Because Grayson and Savannah only had two people in their group, their rules were a bit different. They had two options of what they would do. The first option was to choose the one out of the three that they didn’t want to use, and they each got to pick one of the other ones.
Their other option was to not play and instead walk around and try to confuse the other teams.
They chose the second option.
Twenty minutes later, Savannah had just told her temporarily blind sister that she was, in fact, putting the cupcake tin in the oven because her teammates were distracted with other things, mainly regarding the age-old question of how much chocolate is too much chocolate in chocolate icing.
It was going directly in the freezer.
Savannah looked up from her quiet cackling to see a pair of metallic grey eyes on hers. She watched as he talked in a low voice to the Hawthorne Heiress herself, and she started doing a similar thing, putting a full cookie tray into the bottom cabinet in the pantry.
How on earth did not one, but two of the groups end up trusting the blind person to put things in the oven? That could’ve gone south very quickly, but it didn’t, thank God.
Grayson had clearly seen what she had done, and he knew that she had seen Avery try to bake cookies in the cupboard, and he offered her a small grin.
Savannah returned it, albeit softly. It wasn’t much, but it was a start.
A start towards everything they never had.
Unfortunately, immediately after that, she heard Xander ask Gigi if the cupcakes were in the oven, to which Gigi blindly gestured to the closed freezer.
Xander screeched and pulled the cupcakes out of the freezer, putting them into the oven. For real this time.
Savannah groaned to herself.
They were bound to figure it out eventually, but she had hoped that it would’ve taken them a little bit longer.
She looked over to Avery, who was content to walk around her section of the kitchen, bumping into both walls and the counter.
Savannah looked past the richest teenager in the world to the man who shared half of her DNA, and all of a sudden realized just how similar they were to each other.
How they both stood at the back of the room, constantly surveying the scene, always watching.
How they both always put family first.
Savannah noticed how much he cared, even when he didn’t always show it.
How, maybe, they weren't as different as they thought they were.
Suddenly, an alarm rang, startling Savannah out of her mind and back to the present, where the time for the baking challenge was done, and all the teams were regaining their senses and looking at the horrors they had created.
She let out a small laugh at the show before she felt a presence beside her. Turning, she found herself face-to-face with Grayson Hawthorne, or rather, face-to-shoulder, because of his height. Speak of the devil and he shall appear.
“It’s going to get pretty loud around here, with them arguing about who won,” he said, and offered Savannah another small smile. He was trying, and Savannah could give him a chance. It wasn’t his fault.
Grayson turned back to look at Savannah, his eyes an unanswered question. ‘I want to trust him,’ she realized, and took a step towards him and away from the noise of the people.
It was only once they were in the hallway, but Savannah noticed that the family’s resident dog, a beautiful golden retriever whom the entire family adored, had followed them to their section of the secluded corridor.
For some reason, the dog was dressed like a minion.
Savannah was more than a bit surprised when she watched Grayson notice the dog, crouch down beside her, and start petting her.
Grayson then scooped the dog into his arms and stood up, still petting the dog.
Savannah cautiously reached out a hand to stroke the dog behind her ears. “Have you met Tiramisu?” Grayson asked, and Savannah shook her head.
So that was the dog’s name. It suited her, Savannah thought. She wondered who named her, and, as if Grayson had read her mind, he responded with, “Xander named her. Nash found her, though.”
Grayson’s voice cut through the quiet air. “I do want to be involved in your life, even though I understand that you don’t trust me or even like me. I want to do what my father never did.”
Savannah swallowed, even as she knew she would like that. She knew she would like having Grayson as a brother, as someone in her life.
“I think I’d like that,” she said, and gave him the smile this time.
He returned it, bigger than Savannah had ever seen it.
The hallway was quiet for a moment, with no noise but Tiramisu’s soft snore as she slowly fell asleep in Grayson’s arms.
Suddenly, people started flooding the hallways. All the Hawthornes and Hawthorne-adjacents filed out of the kitchens, laughing and talking.
They were certainly a sight to see, with Max and Xander’s skins completely yellow and Nash with a hooked nose. Their costumes certainly were realistic, though, because they did in fact look like they had just walked out of Universal Studios and into Hawthorne House.
Tiramisu, clearly hearing the commotion, woke up and wriggled out of Grayson’s arms. He bent down and gently placed her on the ground.
Jameson was still laughing at Avery for not realizing that she had put her group’s cookies in the cupboard instead of the oven, and she smacked him with her bright red handbag that she had been carrying for the entire night and Savannah had a sneaking suspicion that the entire reason she had bought the bag in the first place was to hit people with it, seeing as the bag was far too small to be able to hold anything.
Now, the group was separating to go change into their other costumes for karaoke and giving out candy to the hordes of children who flocked to Hawthorne House’s front gates every year to get one of the king-sized chocolate bars the Hawthorne family bought in cases.
Fifteen minutes later, the group met up again in the bowling alley, which doubled as their karaoke room.
Everyone’s costumes this year were fantastic and incredibly complex.
Jameson and Avery had two options for their costumes, the first of which was one Avery thought of, which was essentially tying a bunch of pink ribbons around Jameson’s limbs, as the victim of a Pinterest coquette girlie. Avery would’ve worn some oversized sweater and black leggings, and that would’ve been their costume, but eventually, they decided to turn themselves into Vikings, because Hawthornes never did anything the easy way.
The costumes they had eventually chosen were Astrid and Hiccup, specifically from the original.
They had seen the live action version of the movie in theatres, and the original on a date night about six months into their relationship, on a rainy day without plans.
They had preferred the original, so when Avery had suggested the idea, they of course decided to do the animated movie.
The IT couple of the decade were dressed in genuine furs and leathers, as well as some other kinds of material.
Avery was wearing a long blonde wig that had been styled into Astrid’s signature braid, and she got to carry an axe, so she was happy.
Jameson had also let Avery put half a dozen tiny braids in his hair in order to replicate Hiccup’s hairstyle in the later movies.
Max and Xander had decided to cosplay Princess Leia and Han Solo, and they also had another excuse to use the droids Xander had made for Max when they had first met, except now they had been updated, so they were even fancier and even more realistic and accurate to the movie.
The droids had been coded to follow Max around for the evening, and she wasn’t complaining.
Libby and Nash had ended up doing Hercules and Meg this year, and their costumes were incredibly detailed. Nash was holding a time-accurate sword and Libby got to wear a pretty dress and got to be sarcastic to people. Isn’t that exactly what every girl wants in life?
Grayson had had no choice in his costume. In fact, if he had had his way, he wouldn’t even be in a costume, but since everyone was going to be in costume, Avery, Jameson, Gigi and Xander had organized a costume for Grayson.
The costume they had got for Grayson was a Ken costume. Specifically, Ryan Gosling’s Ken from the Barbie movie.
The best part was that he had no idea.
Before the group went to their rooms to change, Xander had opened a secret corridor into Grayson’s room and placed the bright pink costume on his bed.
Not only that, but he had also pulled all of Grayson’s suits, so that he had no option but to walk down in the neon costume, in the costume he was already wearing, or in his bathrobe, and since he despised the costume he had on, he was very likely to change into the Ken costume. Hat and all.
Once the night was over, Xander would replace Grayson’s clothes, but until then, they couldn’t risk Grayson heading back to his room and changing some time during the night.
Did they feel slightly bad about taking Grayson’s clothes? Maybe. Were they doing it anyway? Of course they were.

Thea and Rebecca’s costumes were another duo costume. Thea had seen a couple dress up as the Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood, and when she had raised the idea to her girlfriend, Bex had agreed.

Bex was wearing a red short skirt, a lace tank top, and a cropped red cloak overtop, with the hood pulled up, and her hair down.

Thea had on a similar outfit, only in grey, and without the hooded cloak. Instead of the hood, Thea’s costume had a grey furry coat.

All around, their costumes were completely iconic.

Tiramisu’s second costume was a T-Rex suit. It wasn’t constrictive, but laid over her back and was held in place by loose buckles on her stomach. There was a fabric tail that draped over her actual tail, and a hood that made it look like her face was in the dinosaur’s mouth.

Xander had designed it, and Max had helped with assembling it. They had also helped her get into her costume.

Finally, Savannah and Gigi had done a costume together. It was entirely Gigi’s idea, and it had taken a considerable amount of persuasive skills to get her sister to agree to it, but Gigi didn’t give up.

The twins’ costumes were, in fact, Anna and Elsa.

They were wearing replica costumes of what the princesses wore in the second movie, because the second movie had better outfits.

Goals.

Once everyone was changed and back in the room, the karaoke machine started, and the room quickly delved into chaos.

The way Hawthornes played karaoke when there was no missed SOS text to make up for, ran a bit differently. It worked similarly to how Hawthornes competed in Drops, but only slightly.
If, during Hawthorne Karaoke, you challenged someone to sing a song, they had had the choice to sing, or, they could decline in which case the person who had given the song had to sing, but, if you rejected, you had to talk using an impression of a random celebrity or fictional character for twenty minutes later in the night.
If you rejected more than one song, your time doing the impression was multiplied by the number of songs you did not sing.
Safe to say, people rarely rejected the song choice.
If it wasn't bad enough that Grayson had been forced into wearing the hot pink costume, for the first song of karaoke night, Jameson had pushed Grayson onto the stage and shoved a mic into his hands, jumped back down to the ground floor and grinned as the opening notes to “I’m Just Ken,” started playing.

After some squirming on stage and a very harsh look from both Avery and Nash, Grayson starts singing.

“Doesn't seem to matter what I do
I'm always number two
No one knows how hard I tried, oh-oh, I
I have feelings that I can't explain
Drivin' me insane
All my life, been so polite
But I'll sleep alone tonight
'Cause I'm just Ken, anywhere else I'd be a ten
Is it my destiny to live and die a life of blonde fragility?
I'm just Ken
Where I see love, she sees a friend
What will it take for her to see the man behind the tan and fight for me?
I wanna know what's like to love, to be the real thing
Is it a crime? Am I not hot when I'm in my feelings?
And is my moment finally here, or am I dreaming?
I'm no dreamer”
The song stops and Grayson looks relieved as he visibly huffs out a sigh. Damn his brothers. And Avery. Damn his whole family.
Except Tiramisu. She was the only good person in this entire family, he thought, as he scratched the furball curled in his lap behind her ears.
Next up for karaoke, paying for their sins, aka the song Grayson had had to sing, was Jameson, Xander and Nash Hawthorne and one Avery Grambs.
Grayson thought long and hard about the song he wanted his brothers and Avery to sing, but he eventually made his decision.
“‘There, Right There,’ from Legally Blonde. The musical,” Grayson said, and snickers ran across the room, most coming from Thea and Gigi. Max actually clapped.
“Oh, one more thing. I know there are a lot of people in this song, and only four of you, so I thought I would assign you all someone’s part to sing. Won’t that be good?” Grayson asked, and he heard Avery groan.
“Avery, you can sing Elle’s part, Vivienne’s and Brooke’s part. Xan, Warner, Enid, and, hmm, the judge. Nash, I expect both Emmett and Carlos’s parts to be belted at the top of your lungs, and finally, Jamie. You, you get to sing Callahan’s part and, you also get to sing Nikos’ part as well! Aren’t you lucky?” Grayson smirked. and
After a ‘people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones look, Avery started singing.

 

There! Right There!
Look at that tan, well tinted skin.
Look at the killer shape he's in.
Look at that slightly stubbly chin.
Oh Please he's gay, totally gay.
“This guy's not gay
I say not gay

 

Is he gay?

 

Of course he's gay!

 

Or European?

 

Ohhhh

 

Gay or European?
It's hard to guarantee
Is he gay or European?

 

Xander let out his next line with the power of an opera singer.

 

But if he turns out straight
I'm free at eight on Saturday
]
Is he gay or European?
Gay or European?
Gay or Euro–

 

At this point, they all turned to Nash. With an audible groan, and an eye roll to accompany it, he started to sing the song.

 

Wait a minute
Give me a chance to crack this guy
I have an idea I'd like to try

 

The floor is yours

 

So, Mr Argitakos

 

This alleged affair with Ms. Wyndham has been going on for...?

 

Two years

 

And your first name again is...?

 

Nikos

 

And your boyfriend's name is...?
Carlos

 

At this point, the entire group let out a perfectly timed gasp, and it took about a minute for Avery, Jameson, and Xander to stop laughing, so they could continue the song.

 

You bastard!
You lying bastard!
That's it, I no cover for you no more!

 

Peoples, I have a big announcement
This man is gay and European!
It's me, not her he's seein'
No matter what he say
I swear he never, ever, ever swing the other way

 

So if I may, I'm proud to say
He's gay!

 

And European

 

And gay

 

Fine, okay, I'm gay!

 

Hooray!

 

Once again, the entire group shouted “Hooray!,” together, and once again, it took a while for everyone to calm down.

 

A few more rounds of karaoke took place after that, including Gigi dragging Savannah onto the stage and making her sing both ‘Do You Want to Build a Snowman,’ with her and ‘Let it Go,’ by herself.

 

After karaoke was finished, which took just under an hour, the group headed out past Hawthorne House’s front gates and to the end of the incredibly long driveway, which was where they would actually get to interact with the kids, where they would hang out with a few speakers, a bunch of outdoor furniture and an enormous quantity of king sized chocolate bars.

Every year growing up, the four Hawthorne brothers would get to trick or treat, sort of. They would normally go around with some of their classmates, stopping by the houses where all of the politicians and businessmen lived.

 

It would only ever take them an hour because of the expansive properties everyone lived on.

 

Their candy hauls were always fantastic though.

 

Once Grayson was about fourteen, the entire family stopped going out, and they instead started giving out candy to all of the younger kids.

 

They kept the leftovers, or the candy no one took, and that normally held them over for quite a while.

 

Some of the kids started to trickle in around 5:30, and they planned to stay out until around 7:00 to 7:30, which was normally around when the kids stopped coming.

 

It was around 5:00 pm when the group got outside and started to set up for the night.

 

They had about a million fuzzy blankets scattered around the furniture and snacks everywhere, as well as a portable but still enormous projector had been set up beside the group, which would play both of the Hocus Pocus movies as the night went on.

 

The decorations that had been placed around the property, courtesy of Avery, Xander, Libby and Max, made the Texas estate look like somebody had robbed Spirt Halloween’s warehouse and had stashed it on Hawthorne House’s front lawn.

 

Plenty of things would also light up, growl, swat at or attempt to bite people who approached, thanks to Xander’s engineering skills.

 

About ten minutes after everything had been set up, the first groups of kids started trickling up to the House. The first few kids in the group almost jumped out of their skins when the first robot moved, and everyone laughed, including the kids who had gotten spooked.

 

They quickly got into a system.

 

Compliment the kids’ costumes, ask them what kind of candy they wanted, dump three to five of that type of candy in their bag, and repeat.

 

The kids normally showed up in groups of about four kids, to make the already stressful night easier to manage and handle.

 

About half an hour into their night, a little girl wearing a Luke Skywalker costume walked right up to Max with a proud “Trick or Treat” Max grinned, and held out the chocolate and candy options she had.

 

“Which one do you want?” Max asked, and the girl thought for a minute before locking eyes on R2-D2.

 

“Can I have him?” She asked, and Max shook her head, but took the girl’s hand and walked her over to where the replica droids stood.

 

Xander stepped behind and around his girlfriend, and pressed the button to trigger the coding on the droid.

 

R2-D2’s eyes lit up, and the gears inside it spun to life. The little girl let out a delighted laugh, and she followed the droid as it started traveling around the space, and she grinned even more when the droid turned back around and started rolling back to her.

 

Suddenly, a woman walked up to the couple looking slightly panicked.

 

“I am so sorry about her,” the woman said, taking the girl’s hand. “Don’t be,” Max said, and Xander nodded. “She’s adorable.”

 

The woman smiled, and gently let go of the little girl’s hand, and the girl immediately hurried back towards the replica droids.

 

Xander followed her, keeping an eye on her and making sure she stayed far away from the droids’ control panels.

 

Max followed her boyfriend with a fond look on her face.

 

The little girl stayed with the Hawthornes for almost half an hour after that, laughing with Max and Xander.

 

A little bit after the girl left with her mother, another little girl walked up with another older girl, both dressed up like Barbies, the younger one specifically as Margo Robbie’s Barbie, the older girl as Kate McKinnon’s Weird Barbie. The little girl took one look at Grayson and grinned.

 

The girl beelined straight for the Hawthorne with a mischievous smirk on her face.

 

She looked to be about ten years old, and the older girl looked about seventeen, so it was probably two sisters.

 

The younger sister had walked right over to Grayson and had started interacting with him as Barbie, forcing him to continue the conversation like Ken. She knew exactly what she was doing. Over the girl’s head, Grayson shot Avery with a look of pure hatred.

 

Avery simply smirked, mouthed ‘you love me’ before kneeling back down next to the boy beside her, smiling while he told her all about his Batman costume.

 

Grayson was forced to engage in conversation, in character, with the girl who seemed like she had no intention of leaving until she thawed the cold exterior of Grayson Hawthorne, and her sister seemed perfectly content to sit and talk with Libby until her younger sister achieved her goal, which Avery saw as ‘trying to drive Grayson Hawthorne out of his goddamn mind’ as it was working.

 

Avery, after the little boy dressed up as Batman left, looked up at Xander, making sure he had taken multiple pictures of Grayson interacting with the girl, and he nodded, and patted the droid beside him. Of course, if Xander Hawthorne had designed a completely realistic droid that was capable of doing everything it could in the movies, it would have a camera, if only to take blackmail pictures of people.

 

Eventually, the little girl weasled her way inside the front gates of Grayson Hawthorne. She didn’t make it a whole lot further, but the entryway was still pretty good, and it only took twenty six minutes.

 

Xander counted.

 

The evening finished up without anymore major incidents or small children terrorizing any of the Hawthornes, but an abnormally large opossum wearing a radioactive green cowboy hat attempted to steal approximately fifteen king sized chocolate bars, but Tiramisu chased down the opossum, even though it was the size of a Great Dane, Libby believed the fact that the golden retriever was dressed like a T-Rex probably scared him a lot, plus Tiramisu had been doing firefighter drills with Xander and Nash, so that also probably helped.

 

They managed to retrieve the candy, thanks to Tiramisu and Xander and Nash, who eventually scared off the opossum with a little help from Avery’s sword.

 

Once all of the kids had stopped coming, and they had run out of candy, they started packing up and moving back inside, dumping all of their stuff in their rooms and all of the food in the kitchens, silently agreeing to deal with them later.

 

Half an hour later, they all met back up in the room where they had started the night, all in varying stages of full makeup and elaborate hairstyles paired with oversized sweaters and comfortable clothes, and made the unanimous decision to not have to do anything else for the rest of the evening.

Notes:

Fun fact, this chapter originally went a very different way. I had 500 words describing costumes, and then I hit a block. For about 15 minutes, the gang was going to venture down into the basement, or some secret room and either find some ‘ghost’ or they would’ve summoned a demon or something. Then I realized that if they were going to summon a demon, I would have to figure out a summoning spell in Latin, and that that would probably send some SWAT team to my house, and because I was writing this mostly after 1am, I had to scrap that idea. Also, I feel like Libby, Avery and Nan wouldn’t let that happen.

Max’s reaction to the Selena Gomez Oreo is mine when I had one for the first time btw. They’re so good, and they only cost the mortgage on your house!

And yes, I know the timelines don’t match up, but idc.

Also, me, pushing Grayson and Savannah together at every opportunity I get? Nah…

Also, I do love Grayson, that’s why i put him through hell. It’s bc I love him.