Philophobia | e.d + g.d

Chapter 4

Ethan's POV

Grayson trailed behind me and slammed the door of our house harder than I expected. He turned around abruptly and stared at me in the eyes.

"Why weren't you talking?" he asked vigorously.

"Hey, hey," I started, "Why are you so angry? It's none of your business, so just back off," I grumbled.

"Is it those rumours Blake told you about Cassy?" he replied sharply.

"What? How do you-"

"Everyone knows about them, and only people who are sane will know that they are absolutely not true," he continued, exhaling hard through his nose, "You have no right to just ignore Cass like that, because you heard something off your 'so-called' girlfriend."

I started to breathe harder know, and clenched my hands into tight fists.

"I don't want to start a fight with you, bro. But you really have to give Cassy a chance," he sighed, "But you can stay with Blake if you want." he blurt the last thing out in a menacing tone. He turned around again and headed out the door, grabbing the keys behind him.

I stormed up to my room, slamming the door shut. I hauled myself onto my bed and buried my head in my hands.

What have I done?

••••

Cassidy's POV

Mom had left me a note in the fridge scrawled in her tiny handwriting:

Dear Cassy,
Sorry darling, I have to work for longer today!
I made you some cookies this morning, so stuff you mouth with as many as you want😄
Will be back at around 8:30pm!
Love you lots,
Mom xxx

I sighed deeply. Mom was running around for me, changing from one job to another just so that she could take care of me and herself. Yeah, she was a single mom, and yeah we had a lovely, big house for just the two of us, but her x-fiancé bought her this house and let us keep it.

He was real nice when we met him. Not snobby and mean like rich people usually are. My mom fell in love with him, you could say, but he started getting aggressive, and one night I caught him and called the authorities.

My mom tried to stay strong and wanted to continue being with him. But I wouldn't allow it. I didn't want my mom getting hurt for me.

He had said he was very sorry and let us keep his spare house here in the north of New Jersey.

And now we were here.

I lazily walked over to the kitchen and snatched a big chocolate chip cookie from the plate in the middle of the counter.

I was dragging my school bag up the stairs behind me, when I heard knocking at the door. My heart starting racing. It was extremely unusual, how nervous I was.

I slipped back down and cautiously peeked through the small hole on the door.

"Grayson," I sighed with relief and opened the door for him. I barely had enough time to look at him before he enveloped me into a massive bear hug. I had just seen him a few minutes ago!
His strong arms wrapped around my body, and I laughed, taking in his scent. He smelt of mint and aftershave.