Darlin'- A Nash Hawthorne Fanfic

Nash's Story

"You can let it go
You can throw a party full of everyone you know
And not invite your family
because they never showed you love
You don't have to be sorry
For leaving and growing up"
—Matilda by Harry Styles

Taylor's POV
I woke up and went downstairs the next morning and found Nash in the living room. "Good morning" I said as I sat down next to him. "Mornin' Taylor. Hey, I was umm hoping to talk to you about something this morning, is that okay?" "Of course! What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just think you deserve an explanation. About the Alisa thing, about my family, about me, honestly just everything."

"Okay" I said. I could tell that whatever Nash was about to say was going to be a lot and it meant a lot that he trusted me enough to tell me.

"I might as well start at the beginning. And I should probably warn you that this is not gonna be a quick story. So you remember my mom, right?"

"Yeah, Skye. She seems interesting."

"Interesting. That's one way to put it. Well she never paid any mind to me. I was basically raised by my grandfather and by him alone." Nash seemed very cold towards his mother when I met her. I guess this explains why.

"My grandfather loved me in his own way. He raised me to be like him. There was a lot of pressure put on me and my brothers. At first, I didn't necessarily mind it. He taught us how to invest, invent, create, how to think differently, and ultimately, how to be successful. By a certain age, I got tired of it. My brothers all found things they were good at. They enjoyed the challenges, being prodigies. For some reason, I never took the same interest in it all. Don't get me wrong, I'm so thankful for all that I have. I have every opportunity in the world available to me. I've had millions of dollars at my fingertips my whole life."

Nash looked at me with tears in his eyes. "Taylor, this is the part I've never told anyone before. I- I would trade it all in an instant. All I've ever wanted was love. Stability. I never wanted to grow up and be a successful Hawthorne who disrupted industries and made millions. That's what I was raised for. But what I want, I want that white picket fence life ya know? The wife, two kids, and a dog. For some reason, that's pretty much impossible for people with status that just comes from being born into a family like the Hawthornes."

"Oh Nash." I whispered. That was one of the saddest things I've ever heard. People would kill to be a part of a family like the Hawthornes. But after being around Nash's family for a few days, I couldn't imagine growing up with all fame and fortune. It seemed like the family was full of brokenness.

"The thing is, once your born into a powerful family like that, it's hard to lose that status. You only go to schools, events, churches, stores, etc. with people that are also wealthy and powerful. You're expected to marry someone who is also successful and connected. I guess that's how I ended up with Alisa. I started dating her a couple years ago. She was pretty, smart, and nice enough but I don't think I was ever with her because of me liking her. I think it was more me wanting my grandfather's approval. I never fit his mold and I felt like a giant disappointment to him. Alisa is brilliant and one of the nations top lawyers. Of course, that made my grandfather adore her. She's more Hawthorne than me to be honest. I proposed to her because I didn't know what else to do. It felt like that's what everyone expected me to do. I shouldn't have. I know that now. I broke off the engagement three hours after proposing, at the engagement party."

"Oh my!" I said. I then slapped my hands over my mouth. "Oh crap. I'm so sorry Nash I didn't mean to interrupt, I didn't realize I said that out loud!"

Nash let out a small chuckle. "No darlin', it's fine. I think anyone would have that same reaction. It's shocking. And I feel so bad for doing that to Alisa. No one deserves that. But as soon as I proposed and she said yes, I knew I made a mistake. It's wrong to propose to a girl you don't love and break up with her a few hours after proposing. But, it felt even more wrong to go along with it and pretend and break her heart more eventually. I feel absolutely terrible but at the same time, not really. I have a suspicion that she never really loved me anyways. I think she was more interested in Hawthorne than Nash if you know what I mean. But I'm not mad at her for that because I was in the same position. A marriage of conveniences and status I reckon. That's normal for wealthy people and probably why most married people I know are not on their first husband or wife. But I can't go along with that life. I wanna marry for love, not status. I want to marry someone that's the other half of me. I want to get married knowing divorce isn't even an option."

Nash's POV
I can't believe I finally told someone all of that. It feels so good to get it off my chest. But I was scared of how Taylor was going to react to my next bit of information...

"Taylor, I hope this next part doesn't freak you out but..." I paused unsure if I should continue.

Taylor put her hand on mine. "It's okay Nash. You can go on."

"Well, you remember when Grayson was suddenly all nice to you?"

"Yeah, something to do with some media drama and lies about my friendship with Avery. What about it?"

"Well that is part of the reason he changed his mind about you but not the main one. You see, he found out something about you and the will."

"He did?"

"Yeah, he studied the will, other documents, and questioned family lawyers for hours trying to figure out why you and Avery were in the will."

"What did he find?" Taylor seemed very eager to know.

"Well, nothing about Avery except that she was put as the heir years ago. Before she met you, so you don't seem to be connected to that. But the part about you? Well, that was put into the will the same night I broke up with Alisa. The same night my grandfather found out about our break up."

Taylor looked stunned.

"Taylor, I don't know what his motives were but they don't matter. I really hope all this doesn't make you uncomfortable."

Taylor's POV
I'm gonna marry this boy one day. I know that for a fact.