Strong - GRETHAN

Chapter 12

It has been almost 4 days since the trip to the planetarium, and essentially... since I lost Ethan forever.
I've had little to no energy: no will to get out of bed, to eat, to focus on school... nothing. These few days Kris has come over every day to remind me that I still have Chloe and I can't have this make me forget I have to take care of my little sister. We do the homework together so I don't stay behind on the school program and tries to get me to eat, even if it's just a cereal bar, to not be starving myself and have some sort of food in my system, but I refuse every time. I can't eat, just the thought of it makes me sick. My body doesn't want it, doesn't need it.

"Gray you can't not eat anything at all, just this little granola bar, please. Even Chloe is worried about you she's never seen you in this state" she said softly, desperately trying to get me to eat. "I'm not hungry" I mumble softly. "Gray you can't have this ruin your eating habits, at least not those. I'm not saying have a full course meal, but at least something... Pasta, a sandwich, a salad, just something" she says really concerned and I know she's right, but my body will just reject it, it won't accept it. "Just forget about Ethan for now, ok?" she asks softly. You might be wondering why is Kristina so chill about what happened with Ethan, you know after that threat she gave of it being the last chance she would give him? Well, to put it simply, she knew something Grayson didn't.

Just his name alone pained me, but I knew she was right. I've lost him and there is nothing I can do about it. "Fine... but only something small" I say with a compromise and she smiles. She takes me out to my favourite place, Olive Garden, and we order some lasagne and we stay there for a good hour, even though we finished eating like 30 minutes in. When we're heading, I ask her if she can take Chloe over to her house since I had to write the paper over the visit to the planetarium and I would appreciate it since I will be able to focus on it better without her noise and playing distracting me. I love her but homework needs peace and quiet, not a toddler running around begging for you to play with them. She agreed happily and brought me home, made sure I got into the building before driving off with Chloe, I know she will make it fun for her.

It's late at night and I'm trying to find the way to continue writing this paper. I rest my head in my hand while clicking the pen over and over again, or tapping it against my temple accidentally hitting the frame of my glasses, desperately trying to find a way to better my paper. It wasn't bad as it was but I knew I could do better. I'm still writing when suddenly I hear someone knock at the door and I frown confused. Who could it be at this time of night? Kris said she was going to let Chloe sleep over so it's not her... I put my pen down next to my copybook and walk to the door, opening the door and as soon as I see who's on the other side of the door my heart stops beating. It's Ethan. He looks up and as he meets my gaze, he throws a surprised look, which I question before realizing I still had my glasses on. I hurry to take them off and blush slightly while he lets out a soft chuckle. "Do... do you want to come in?" I ask, not wanting to but at the same time wanting answers, to know why he's here, why did he turn up at 10.30 at night. "Please?" he says and I move to the side to let him in. "Is Chloe home?" he asks, I assume his question coming from the fact that it was silent. Little did I know, Ethan already knew she wasn't home, Kristina told him. They've been planning the perfect time for him to come over as he wanted to talk to me alone, in private. "Yeah... she's at Kristina's tonight, I wanted peace to write my paper for Mrs. Johnson" I reply to his question and he nods, acting oblivious to it. There is a moment of silence between us and I drop my head down, wanting to avoid looking at him at all cost. The silence between us goes on for a little more before Ethan finally decides to break it

"I broke up with her"

He says proudly and I look up at him in shock. "What?" I ask and he repeats it again. "I broke up with her" he says and I try to make some sense out of it. "When?" I ask utterly confused. "Right when we got back to school from the planetarium" so that's what that was? "Why? Did you argue or something?" I ask, knowing it can't be because of me, and he chuckles softly. "You know? For being so smart you're pretty dense sometimes" he says jokingly and I furrow my eyebrows. "What is that supposed to mean?" and he doesn't hesitate before answering "It means I want you, Grayson, I chose you" and at that my breaths hitches. "Y-you chose me?" I ask and he nods "Why?" I ask and he just smiles. "Because..." he pauses, coming closer and gently taking my hands in his, looking into my eyes, sincerity floating in his beautiful hazel ones "I love you" and I swear to God my heart stopped beating at those simple three word, but I could tell he meant every one of them. I suddenly feel wetness on my cheek and I didn't even notice I was crying. "Don't cry" he says softly, rubbing the pad of his thumb on my face to wipe away the few tears that had fallen. At that point I just couldn't hold it in anymore and I throw my arms around his neck and just let everything out in loud sobs: the happiness, the tiredness, just everything. He wraps his arms around my waist, rubbing my back to comfort me while I continue to sob and leave wet patches of tears on his shirt. "I missed you so much" I say softly in between cries "I missed you too Gray" he answers just as softly, bringing me closer as if protecting me from something.