bleach • lrh (ON HOLD)

seven - unnecessary

— now —

the week leading up to them heading out to joshua tree flew by a lot quicker than sloane would have liked.

it felt like one moment she had been sitting in jordan's living room, laughing with her little family and the next she was in her bentley, five minutes out from the location that layla had sent her.

"coley, honey, you've gotta stop tapping that damn steering wheel, you're giving me a migraine."

remind her again why she was giving graham a lift out there? oh, that's right, because she had lost a game of rock, paper, scissors against aspen and unfortunately lovely gray had to ride with the loser.

"it's my car, graham. i can do what i want." flicking on her indicator, sloane took the next left like she was instructed to do by google maps. "if you don't like it, get out."

"wow, grouchy you are." flipping his hair dramatically, graham side eyed her with a grin. "i think i know the reason for that."

how she wished she could run him over with her car right now. did he really have to be so fucking annoying, especially now? he knew where they were going and who they would be seeing for the first time in years and he couldn't even offer her some silence on the car journey?

god, why couldn't she have won that rock, paper, scissors game and had loren and brandon in her car instead?

noticing her stony silence, graham winked at her. he was having way too much fun with this. "no need to be pissy with me, coley. save that for the australian lead singer, not this one."

"i can be pissy with whoever the fuck i want, thank you very much." they were only a few minutes out from the destination now, and sloane wasn't sure if she was happy or anxious about that.

on one hand she desperately needed to get gray out of her car so she could slap him senseless, but on the other...

well, you get it. she was seeing the men she used to consider family again and she didn't know how she would react.

would she be angry? probably. sad? internally. anxious? of fucking course she would be, she was going to be stuck with them for the next six months with barely any reprieve.

she really fucking needed a joint right now. she'd corner brandon later for one.

"coley, you know i love you. you're the only woman i've ever loved other than my mother and your satanic best friend." the glare she shot him could have put him six feet under in an instant. "but you can't go in there looking like a nervous wreck."

mulling over his words for a moment, sloane had to admit that gray had a point. fuck him for being smart, anyway. "you may have a point."

"i always have a point." smirking cheekily at himself in the rear view mirror, gray motored on. "you have to go in there looking, and acting, like the bad bitch you are now, not the naive girl you were when you met him. i can help-"

"nope. i don't need help from you." flicking a manicured finger against the side of his head, sloane took the last turn into the long driveway of the house slash studio they were staying at for the next month.

a pout formed on gray's lips as he rubbed at the sore point on his head. "that was unnecessary."

"you're unnecessary."