39: Wow, I Think I Love You

Oliver is in a bad mood. Cool.

Sarah was more than willing to look after the twins for New Year's. She came right after I'd called her, a batch of cookies in her hands. She'd pushed Oliver and me out the door. Something about New Years kiss left her mouth and then the door slammed in our faces. A usual day with Sarah.

We're in the car now, driving towards Grayson's house. The radio is on but at such a low volume that I can barely tell what was playing. Oliver hasn't said a word since his strained bye to the twins. His knuckles are white, which only happens when he's thinking too hard or ready to punch someone. I'm thinking it's the latter.

The last time we'd gone to Oliver's house and seen Mr. Grey it wasn't exactly pretty. The tension between the two was almost palpable. I felt very out of place listening in to their conversation. Something is going on with the Grey's, but I still didn't know exactly what.

I just stare at Oliver the whole ride, wondering what could possibly faze him. He's Oliver Grey, Oliver the Great. He's rumored to be fearless. But right now, I think there's more than one fear rushing through his veins. I bring my hand over his white knuckles and brush my thumb over them to trying relax him. He doesn't loosen his hold, but he does let out a deep sigh. I smile a closed lip smile and continue my soft movement over his thumb.

When we finally arrive to Grayson's house, Oliver opens the door for me and walks beside me to the front door. It swings open before we even make it to it and Grayson is already smiling his goofy smile.

"Move it people, we have two hours to get ready!"

I furrow my eyebrows and look to Oliver, "Isn't that more than enough?"

He shrugs and keeps his stone cold face as he looks to me, "Apparently not."

Grayson grabs my shoulders when I walk in and starts leading me through his house. I'm as lost as ever after the third turn, but we finally make it to a door with a golden plaque that reads 'Abigail's Closet'. Of course Grayson's sister would have a whole room that's dedicated to being a closet. It only makes sense.

Grayson opens the door and pushes me in but stops at the doorframe. I look back to them, waiting for someone to tell me what to do. Grayson turns around and faces Oliver. Grayson's arms are crossed and Oliver crosses them to copy his friend's posture.

"You don't get to come in," Grayson says with his arms crossed, "And fix your attitude," He slams the door shut.

I can only imagine the face Oliver has when he saw his best friend close the door on him. I bet it's a mixture of anger and surprise. His hands in fists and arms crossed. His eyes a little wide at the shock of having the door close. I chuckle at Grayson and he just smiles at me.

"Now, let's make you look hot!"

He walks over to the back of the room where there's a wall dedicated to fancy gala ready dresses. They're organized by color, from white to black and every color in between. It could be a magazine cover or even just a background for an Instagram picture, like that pink wall in California.

I just stand in surprise at all the dresses. My jaw must be on the floor by this point. Grayson is standing beside me chuckling lightly at the face I'm making.

He's used to all this glamour, I haven't been in this world in years. And even when I was, it wasn't this extravagant. My father always said we had to earn what we bought. It's a good motto, but now it just seems like he wanted more money to be able to steal.

I turn to Grayson still in surprise, "I have to choose one?"

He nods, "All yours. I need to go change myself," He starts walking back to the door.

"Wait, will you help?"

Grayson furrows his eyebrows and starts walking back to me, "Oliver's favorite color is blue."

He gives me a wink and walks off, leaving me alone with the hundreds of dresses. I feel undressed in the closet. My flannel and jeans don't seem to make the cut for Abigail's closet. I ignore my feeling of discomfort. I look around at the billions of dollars that are poured into this room disguised as different types of fabrics. God, this is insane.

I walk over to the blue dresses and flip through them. There's four dresses to choose from and each one is prettier than the next. I decide to just give myself a private fashion show for myself.

"Alright," I say to myself and pull out my phone, "I just need some jams."

I press play on whatever I have on and blast it on my phone. I look to my back to the dresses and take my clothes off. I don't need to be a Victoria's Secret model to walk the walk. I laugh at my own thoughts and grab the first dress.

I put it on and look at myself in the mirror. It's way too long and I stumble just trying to get to the mirror. Alright, first one is a no.

There's a knock on the door when I'm putting the second dress on. Panic rises as I don't know what to do. My One Direction is blasting through my phone. The dress is on me but unzipped. I make my way to the door and open it slightly.

"Maddy?"

"Hazel! Let me in, I'm here to help."

I let the door open and she walks in, closing the door behind her. She has beautiful makeup on and a dress in a bag in her arms. She's wearing a hoodie and sweats but has heels on. It's a whole fashion statement she somehow makes look good. But she also looks kind of funny.

"Are you going tonight?" I ask her, although all signs point to yes.

She nods her head, "Grayson told me to come help you," She looks to me, "Not that one."

I give her a small smile and slide the dress off. She walks towards the dresses and I follow her. Her hips are swaying to the music.

"One D fan?"

"Only the best band of all time," She laughs.

I smile to her and nod, "Wow, I think I love you."

We continue laughing and jamming out to the music. I loose track of time from all the fun I'm having with Maddy. I'd never really talked to her before, but I could see why she was popular. She was beautiful, nice, funny, and had excellent taste in music.

Maddy helped me choose a dress that fit and looked good. She gets dressed once we find one for me. Her makeup matches perfectly with her dress. She gives me a little fashion show and I pretend to be her paparazzi. And that's when Grayson barges in. We both stop dead in our tracks. Maddy mid pose and I'm pretend to hold a camera in my hands.

"I walked in on something here," Grayson laughs.

Maddy turns around and rolls her eyes, "Ever heard of knocking?"

"No," Grayson says, walking into the room.

He has a white suit on with a black bow tie. His hands are in his pants. He stares at us in surprise. The goofy smile of his is replaced with a smirk.

"Wow, you guys look hot. The guys are gonna flip some shit."

"Is it time to go?" I ask, ignoring Grayson's comment.

He nods, "Told ya you needed the two hours."

I roll my eyes and make my way out the room. I give myself one last look in the mirror before walking out. Maddy is beside me as we zigzag our way back to the front door. She smiles to me and gives me a side hug.

"You're cool, Hazel. And you do look hot."

I smile at her, "Right back at ya. Ryder's not gonna know what hit him."

"Alright, enough with the bonding, I'm feeling left out," Grayson blurts.

Maddy and I both laugh at Grayson. We make it to the front door and the guys from the Christmas party are all talking. Ryder, Tyler, and Oliver are all standing in their fancy suits and shiny shoes. I could tell they were laughing about something. Guess Grayson was able to flip Oliver's bad mood.

"I present to you," Grayson yells as we walk into the front lobby, "Maddy and Hazel."

I look to Maddy when Grayson presents us. She just shrugs her shoulders and laughs. Apparently no one knows what goes on through Grayson's head. I'll even have the audacity to say he's more of an enigma than Oliver Grey.

The boys all turn to look at us in silence. Ryder is the first to move as he walks up to Maddy, picks her up in a hug, and gives her a kiss. He then whispers something in her ear and they walk to the front door, hand in hand.

Tyler walks up to Grayson and dabs him up. Telling him about something that must've happened earlier in the day.

I just stand there awkwardly. Everyone looks so comfortable in their fancy attire and talking to their popular friends. I, however, still feel out of place. I wanted to go back to the closet and jam to One Direction with Maddy again. That was fun and normal. Getting ready for a fancy gala is not.

I catch Oliver's eyes. He's already staring at me, his lips slightly parted. I smile at him and walk up to him. I give him a once over as I make my way. He has an all black suit on with a bow tie. He looks like a bad boy still, but ready for a nice night out.

"Hey, you."

"Hey," He breathes out, "You look," He falters, his eyes looking me over again.

"Sexy?" I offer.

He nods, "Beautiful."

The blush creeps up my neck and onto my cheeks. My makeup is definitely not enough to cover it up, I'd asked Maddy to keep it natural. I keep holding eye contact with him, his blue eyes shining.

"Well I think you," I put my finger on his chest, "Look sexy," I give him a smirk.

He raises his eyebrows to me and puts his hands on my waist, "Who told you my favorite color was blue?"

"I did, lovers. Now, let's get going," Grayson smiles and puts one arm around Oliver and the other around me, leading us out the door.

The rest of our oddball group is already outside waiting for us. Maddy is standing by Ryder as he and Tyler and talking. I can only assume it's about football. Maddy smiles when she sees me and gives me wink. I return with a small smile and word 'Hot' to her. A fancy black car, big enough for the six of us and a driver, is parked in the large driveway.

Grayson turns to Oliver before we make it to the car and whispers, "Ready for hell?"

Oliver huffs, "Just don't let me punch him."