chapter nine . paparazzi
one month later

A month had passed after Maisie and Adonis' first date. After about two weeks of them talking and going on dates, Adonis finally mustered up the courage to ask her to be his girlfriend. The brunette said yes, and the couple remained strong.

Elizabeth began to get over Adonis, deciding that maybe the single life was better than dating a model.

Jonna was waiting in anticipation for the cast list of the show she auditioned for, she had gone to callbacks a week before and was sure she did great. Darnell was right by her side, distracting her with funny jokes and movies.

Victor finally admitted to himself that he was into Oliver while the two were watching a movie, but was too scared to act on it.

Zinnia had left for a few days to visit Christopher, but she should be arriving anytime soon.

Lucielle had the opportunity to go to an interview with her dad and had a lot of fun bonding with him.

Wade and Hunter? They were still Wade and Hunter.

— — —

Oliver and Maisie stood inside of the grocery store, enjoying their "sibling bonding" as they liked to toss it. They were mainly just goofing around, tossing things into their cart with ease while they barely looked at their list.

Maisie, and her obsession with sugar, caused her to continuously throw sweets into the cart, which resulted in Oliver laughing while he pulled them out. She usually just snuck them back in.

They made a final visit to the snack aisle before they decided they had all that they needed and Oliver let them towards the self checkout.

To Oliver, self-checkout was the best thing about grocery shopping. His anxiety was bad enough, and knowing that there was always a fan of his mother wanting an autograph, it was better to stay private.

They bagged their groceries and paid, immediately dashing out of the store. They were both wearing baggy clothing, not risking the possibility of being spotted. The only difference was that Maisie was wearing Adonis' hoodie instead of her own.

"I drove here, you drive back." Maisie tossed Oliver the keys. He caught them with ease, laughing when she leaned into the passenger side. He slid in and started up the car, beginning the drive home.

Neither of them were expecting the mob of paparazzi that had managed to get into their driveway.

— — —

"Um, guys? We got a problem." Zinnia yelled into the house, setting her suitcase on the floor.

"What's up?" Victor ran up, giving her a welcoming hug.

"No- look." She quickly bolted from the embrace to point out the window, where the paparazzi stood in their driveway. "They were there when we got here, but the gate didn't lock. They must have slid in when Chris was driving out."

"Shit." He breathed, "It's okay, um, let's close these windows and let everyone know."

— — —

Oliver and Maisie drove into the driveway, unaware of the paparazzi. A sudden flash of a camera blinded Oliver while they drove in. "Shit!" He exclaimed, slamming onto the breaks.

It took a second for Maisie to process the situation, but she physically paled once she did. She was lucky to have no bad encounters with the paparazzi since everyone moved in together, but she guessed that was about to change.

"Are you fucking serious? We can't even get a month without the paps being up our asses." Oliver exclaimed. Maisie began talking, but he couldn't hear her. His breathing  became uneven and shallow while he tried to grip onto the steering wheel.

The paparazzi swarmed their vehicle, snapping as many photos that they could of the two siblings. Maisie's hands covered her face and Oliver ducked his head down, his hand beginning to clutch at his phone.

There was banging on the windows, and Maisie jumped whenever they got particularly loud. She mumbled incoherently to herself, trying to get as far away from the window as possible.

— — —

Victor got the whole group into the living room, except for Zinnia. She was on the phone, frantically trying to get help.

"Maisie's not here." Wade scanned the room, "Neither is Oliver- Adonis?"

Adonis had already beaten Wade to it, texting his girlfriend before he was asked. He cursed underneath his breath, making it known to the group that she wasn't responding.

"It's too late." Lucielle jumped from the couch, peeking through the window. She was alerted by the loud yelling that the two celebrities were already stuck in the driveway.

"Oh shit." Hunter stood next to her, peeking over her head. He frantically shut the curtain when one of the paps turned around.

"I'll text Oliver." Victor stood up, grabbing his phone from the counter.

— — —

A sudden ring from Oliver's phone distracted him from the chaos around their car. He looked down and looked at Victor's text.

VICKY <3
v = oli
v = oli are you okay?

o = not really

v = i can open the garage
for you two but the paps
need to leave first

o = i can try but they
probably won't listen

Oliver took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself for a second before he rolled the window down slightly. It was a small crack, just so they could hear him. "Can you please leave?" He called out.

The paparazzi began to argue with him, which caused the curly haired boy to look down for a moment. He finally took off his sunglasses and looked back up, hoping they would see the desperation in his eyes.

snap!

A camera was shoved directly against the window, taking a photo of Oliver in his moment of weakness. They banged on the window, yelling incoherent questions at him.

"No! I'm not gonna answer your stupid questions. I said leave!" Oliver knew they were recording, but he also knew it was the only way to get him and his sister out of the growing situation.

The reporters didn't care, they kept snapping photos until it finally pushed Oliver over the edge. "Get the fuck out! All of you! You have no right to be here. This is my private property and I'll call the fucking cops if I have to. We're human beings! Not some fucking dolls you could dress up and take photos of whenever you want to. This is almost my fifth year of dealing with this bullshit, and I'm done. All I asked was for all of you to get off of my driveway and you fought me about it? Now I'm not gonna be nice. Get the fuck out!" He let the engine growl to emphasize his point.

They all began to slowly leave the property in small clumps. After ten minutes they were all gone. He knew they were probably standing along the property line but he didn't care. Oliver quickly drove the car into the garage. Once he did, he flew out with a sob.

Oliver let out a small whimper as he felt his knees give out from underneath him, but someone caught him before he fell and helped him stand upright. He opened his tearful eyes to be met with Victor, who was gazing at him with concern.

Out of the corner of Oliver's eye, he saw Maisie's boyfriend rush out from the house. He knew she was probably in a similar state.

Oliver leaned forward and began to sob into Victor's shoulder, finding his comfort in the two smaller frames holding each other. After a few seconds, Victor slid his arm around so it was wrapped around Oliver's shoulders and helped the boy into the house, letting him lean into his side.

Adonis helped Maisie out of the car, not wasting a second to draw the brunette into his arms. She had wasted all her tears in the car and was numbly standing in his arms, it was like the world shut off for her. "I'm so sorry." He murmured, holding her close.

She finally felt the tears once again appear in the corners of her eyes and she squeezed her eyes shut, resting her chin on his shoulder while he crouched down to hold her tighter.

The group made it to the couch, where Maisie and Oliver sat together. Adonis gave Maisie some space while she hugged her brother, crying silently into his shoulder. They were the only two on the couch, and their friends were huddled around them.

"Why can't they realize that we're people?" Maisie choked out while she pulled away from Oliver. The friends nodded and looked down.

Everyone had their fair share of paparazzi encounters for the young celebrities, but it was always worse for the two swift siblings.

They weren't born into the fame, or even loving families. They were two children that were born into two very broken homes, and Superman just happened to land on their doorstep.

Of course they loved Taylor and Joe, but the Hollywood lifestyle was hard. Nothing could've ever prepared the two for how invasive people would be to them. It was something they were raised hearing about, but it's different when it's their every waking day.

Maisie and Oliver knew they would never get used to it, and nothing could take away the cruelty that was shone to them in their early years. One of Maisie's first memories in the Swift household was of her reading her first article of herself. Instead of something that was uplifting, it dragged the young child, making up rumors and excuses on why she was adopted- which were all horrid in their own ways.

The friends were what made it okay. They were willing to stay in the spotlight if it meant continuing to live in the household they did.

These celebrities are the light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how hard the world is for any of them, they'll always be worth it in the end.

NOTE NOTE NOTE
the majority of this chapter was written by ashe but it was just rewritten a little bit so it matches the writing of the other chapters. definitely give ashe some love bc she slays
ily all mwah (also don't forget to join the disc server)