Inferno Part 3

~119~ Evening Crazy

Ethan's POV

"What time did you say you had to leave?" I ask Nolan as we start a new game of Fortnite.

He groans as he looks at his phone. "Now"

"That's a bummer. Sorry, dude...I know you don't wanna see your dad."

"I want to see my dad...It's Justin I don't wanna see."

Oops. He REALLY hates when anyone calls Justin that.

"How full is your closet?" He asks after a minute.

"What a weird question."

He grins as he gets up and looks inside. Then he goes over to the window and inspects that too. Finally he nods.

"Wanna hide me tonight?"

Ummm....if he thinks I'm risking getting spanked, he's crazy. That hurt, and once was enough for me.

"No"

He rolls his eyes. "Ok, fine. I'll hide in the guest room then, just open the window for me when I climb up. I'm gonna go "leave" and say goodbye to your mom and dad."

"Nolan, come on. Just go home: you're gonna be in so much trouble."

"It's worth it. I've had a stomachache all day thinking about running into him without anyone else around. I can't do it, Ethan."

"Then why didn't you tell your mom that when she asked you if you wanted him to leave?"

He looks at me and scratches his eyebrow. "I couldn't do that. She wants him to be the same guy he was when they were kids. She's convinced herself that he's changing, and now that their dad died, he will magically become apart of the family. I can't crush her. She wants her brother...."

"So you'll just be miserable?"

He shrugs. "Better me than my mom."

"Don't you think she'll know if you don't come home tonight that you're avoiding him?"

He shakes his head. "I'm real good at lying. I'll make something up."

"Like what?"

"I don't know...Friends wanted to get together and so I went...Got drunk or something...I don't know, I'll figure it out."

"YOU WOULD TELL THEM YOU DRANK?!?"

"Shut up, Ethan," he hisses as he tries to shush me.

"Sorry....Are you suicidal?" I whisper this time

He sighs and shakes his head. "I just don't wanna hurt her. I can handle her getting mad at me and getting in trouble. Hurting her....."

He quits talking and just takes a deep breath.

"Can you just leave the window unlocked? Stay down with your dad for a while, so you can honestly tell him you never saw me."

I only nod. I'm not an idiot...I'll go down for this too. Sorry, butt...I tried.

We go downstairs and dad grins at Nolan. "Headed home, kid?"

"Yeah"

Dad hugs him tight and kisses his head. "He'll be gone in 6 days."

Nolan only nods as he hugs dad back and leaves.

"He ok?" Dad asks once Nolan walks out the door.

"Not really."

"Do I need to talk to Aunt Ellie?"

"No."

Dad studies my face for a minute, and then nods. "I'll see if I can convince my sister that the two of you can go to sleep at a decent time. Maybe he can stay here a few nights."