Heart of Glass// Ethan Dolan✅

Chapter 10

I end up sitting outside their door until the entire video is done. Emma walks out, looking down at me smirking. She knows that I heard what I heard.

"Do we have things to discuss?" she asks in a singsong voice.

"Maybe. I have to talk to Grayson about it first. I have to find out if he was talking about me. If he wasn't, that would be really embarrassing later on," I tell her. Emma just makes a wider grin.

"If you need me, I'll be in their living room on the couch," she says, practically skipping down the stairwell. I go to step inside Grayson's room but am bombarded by Ethan and Aaron both trying to exit at the same time.

Ethan just pushes past me anyways, any trace of him being happy, gone. However, Aaron looks at me and smirks.

"We almost sent out a search party. Thought you had turned into the next Jonah, himself," Aaron jokes, playfully hitting me on the arm. I roll my eyes playfully and step inside the room. Grayson has his back facing me.

"Grayson?" I call out softly trying not to scare him. That doesn't work because Grayson jumps higher than the Eiffel Tower, causing me to giggle. "Can I talk to you?"

"Yeah, sure. Sit down," he offers, patting the seat next to him on the bed. I go sit down next to him, my knees facing him. "So what's up?"

"Well, I guess... I wanted to talk about us," I tell him.

"You're not trying to break up with me, are you?" Grayson jokes nervously, adding in a fake teardrop. Actually, Grayson, I might be doing the exact opposite of that.

"No, I just wanted to talk to you about something I heard while I was out of the room," I tell him. His eyebrows raise, and he instantly falls back on the bed with a groan, covering his eyes with his arm.

"You weren't supposed to find out," Grayson sighs, sitting back up.

"So, Ethan was talking about me?" I ask, a little hope in my voice. Grayson nods, and I grin, grabbing a hold of his hand. "I like you too, Gray."

"What?" Grayson asks, his eyes going wide. His fingers start to play with mine. "How could you like someone like me? I'm just a goofball living in New Jersey."

"That might be true, but you're a goofball living in New Jersey that showed me that maybe Jersey isn't as bad of a place as I thought it would be," I admit to him. "And that goofball personality of yours, it's just made me like you a little bit more than I would have otherwise."

It's true. Grayson has shown me that New Jersey isn't as terrible as I first thought. Maybe that was just because he was the light that shined in the darkness.

"Cara... I know I haven't gotten a chance to say this, and Ethan makes it very hard, but you're different," Grayson comments, lacing his fingers with mine. I look down and suddenly, I feel this tingling in my stomach. Butterflies?

"I can't tell if that's supposed to be a good thing or not," I say quietly.

"Of course, it's a good thing, Care. All of my life, everyone's been the same person. Nothing has changed for sixteen years of my life. But then, here you come on some magical horse from Florida and there's something enjoyable to look forward to every day," Grayson explains. "Even though he doesn't show it, Ethan sees it too."

"Is that why he called me pretty?" I ask with a small grin on my face.

"He might not like you, but he can't deny that you are probably the most beautiful girl in New Jersey," Grayson says. I sigh, realizing that we are both avoiding the issue at hand.

"What are we?" I ask Grayson. "Are we friends? Are we something more? I don't want to be something that will cause us to wreck our friendship. Especially if we aren't ready."