Torn // In Stereo (Jakob Delgado, Ethan Karpathy & Chris Lanzon)

91. |

// Jakob's point of view //

"Chris, I am so sorry for overreacting and I don't want to fight anymore." I try not to say through gritted teeth. I'm doing this for Ethan, not for me and not for him. Ethan. Ethan's happiness means everything to me. Even though I don't mean a single word I'm saying, I know this is what Ethan wants.

"You don't have a reason to be sorry. I should have waited until you guys were ready. Honestly, I've been tearing myself up for days about this. When you guys left without me before, I got on the wrong bus and ended up an hour away at some beach. It was there when I realised what I had actually done. Im scared I will never stop being sorry for this." Something about Chris' words melts the anger inside of me. Suddenly, I understand exactly what he felt and why he did what he did.

"Chris, it's fine. We just need to get over this and set some ground rules," Ethan starts, looking at Chris. When he nods, Ethan continues. "You can't expect us to be perfectly okay with this now. We'll get over it but it might take us a little while to feel comfortable in front of you. Also, under no circumstances whatsoever, you can not hint or tell anyone about us."

"We don't care if someone is holding a knife to your neck, man. Whatever it is, you brought this on yourself and you have to suffer the consequences. You can not tell." My words are a little harsh but they had to be said. 

"I promise." Chris nods, his voice barely above a whisper. He's looking at Ethan, not at me, but that's probably because Ethan's being a lot nicer than I am right now.

•••

"I know that entire apology was fake." Chris walks into my room, shutting the door behind him. It's now or never.

"It was at first but now it's not. I've realised a few things and I don't want to be angry anymore." I announce.

"Do you understand my point of view?" He asks slowly. His tone is slightly condescending or patronising but I brush it off, thinking of my reply.

"I understand." Is all I say, because it's true. I remember how I felt when Chris and Ethan would ditch me to spy on Lara. This is worse and it took me a while to understand that. They weren't in a relationship then and I already felt kept in the dark.

"I support you and Ethan in whatever you choose to do, okay? Just like I'd support you if either of you were dating a girl. If either or you hurt each other, I swear to god I'll bash you up." Chris laughs a little in the end, but his words are reassuring and they cause me to stand up and pull him in for a friendly hug.

"Just don't kiss my boyfriend ever again." I warn, only half joking.

"It's okay, Jake," he tells me, his eyes turning a little bit more serious. "He never kissed back. He loves you."

After Chris leaves, the door opens again and Ethan walks in. At first he looks sad but then his expression changes as he wraps me up in a hug. He buries his face in my neck and I rest my chin on his head, unsure as to what's going on.

"I'm so proud of you." He whispers into me and I can't help but smile.

"Now things are fixed here, it's time." I reply. He knows exactly what I mean; we have to tell our parents.

"My dad is coming over on a flight one hour after mum and Kaleb. I've already organised it." He tells me, pulling away. It's like I did something for him, so he did something in return. That's the way I like things to work.

"That's gr-" I start, but he cuts me off.

"And there's one more thing."