Back Flip Boy [ Ethan Nestor ]

36.

I woke up in an unfamiliar room, shooting up into a seated position as I looked around. It took me a couple of seconds to realize that I was in Mark's guest room, a hand going to rest on my heart as I calmed my breathing. I looked outside to see it was dark, and the clock read 10:45. I looked to my right to see Ethan wasn't in bed, and slipped out from under the covers and made my way into the hallway. I heard laughter coming from the living room, and walked into everyone watching a Jenna Marbles video on the TV. I shuffled in and stood there for a minute, trying to figure out where to sit. Luna's head popped up as she saw me, and Ethan was the first to realize I was there, shooting me a smile. I made my way over and sat down next to him, petting Chica as she pranced up to me.

"How are you feeling?"

"A bit confused, but better."

"Confused?"

"It's dark outside."

"Oh yeah, you slept for a good ten hours." Emma looked over to me. "We got pizza, it's on the stove if you want some."

"I'm not hungry." Mark gave me a pointed look. "I'm not!"

"Mmhmm, okay."

"If the lady isn't hungry, she isn't hungry." Ethan gave Mark a look back, pretty much telling him to shut his trap. I held back a chuckle.

"Anyway, how was your sleep?"

"I feel pretty good. Although my sleep schedule is pretty messed up now." I shrugged. "I just gotta pull an all nighter and it should be fixed."

"Don't pull an all-nighter-"

"Says who?"

"Says me."

"Maddie, you're literally younger than me." I rolled my eyes jokingly. "I don't have to listen to you."

"Okay but don't pull an all-nighter."

"Bold of you to assume I'm gonna sleep more tonight." Maddie threw a pillow at me, which ended up hitting Ethan instead. "I have to film some videos anyway, I'm running out of backlog videos to post."

"What do you think you're going to film?"

"I'm not sure, honestly. Maybe some more Warframe? I was also thinking of starting this game called Stardew Valley, it looks cool." I shrugged. "Whatever I feel like, honestly."

"Are you ready to go back?"

"No. But if I backlog videos and take time to myself off of youtube, I should be fine."

If I were being honest, I just needed a distraction. And if I had that to distract me, I'd be fine.

Ethan and I ended up leaving around twelve, making our way back to the house with Luna. I then realized how messy it was, and turned around to say something to Ethan. He didn't let me get a single word out before he put his finger to my lip, telling me to just relax and he would take care of it. Which obviously wasn't going to happen. I grabbed some of the cleaning supplies and started wiping down the table in the living room, Ethan picking up trash and tissues and putting them in the trash bag he had grabbed. We got everything in the living room cleaned up in about an hour, and put it out in the dumpster before we decided to watch a movie. We had decided that we'd just relax for a couple of days, and figure out everything regarding where we were. At this point, I needed to tell him what had happened with Kyle, just so he knew why I did what I did. But part of me didn't want to tell him, because what if it scared him away? I know he kept saying it wouldn't, but what if it did?

"Eth," I paused the movie. "I need to get this Kyle stuff off my chest before I chicken out."

"Okay. Take your time."