Undying Echo {1}

27 | Making Peace

Corey slumped down on the cold sand, the only sounds emitting in the quiet of the night his and Ethan's hard breathing after their fight.

He could feel the side of his face beginning to swell, promising a dark bruise in place, his lower lip throbbing and his nose bleeding a little. And when he inhaled a deep breath, he groaned, noting that there's probably another bruise somewhere near his ribs.

Ethan lay down a couple feet away, breathing heavily and wincing whenever he frowned or raised his eyebrows due to the bloodied gash that stretched on his left eyebrow. The side of his jaw numb with pain from Corey's hit that had somehow managed to land there.

He was glad that most of the hits had landed on his chest or stomach, somewhere that can be hidden by clothes, for he was sure that his mother would have a heart attack if she saw him with a split lip or a broken nose.

And as the next morning rolled by and he and Corey materialized into the kitchen for breakfast, his mother had let out a horrified gasp at the sight of them along with Mrs. Anderson, demanding answers as to what happened between them and that they needed to end the fighting and "ruining each other's handsome faces."

They had reassured their mothers that everything was okay and sorted out, even though that didn't help and left disappointed scowls on the women's faces.

Corey had grabbed some sand the night before when they were slumped on the ground and threw it at Ethan swiftly, which earned him a kick on the leg from Ethan's slumped figure. And when they finished their last attempts of getting at each other, Ethan had gotten up and offered his hand to Corey, who had taken it and grunted in pain as Ethan helped him up.

And just like that, everything had been solved between them. Well, not everything, but they were getting there.

Ethan wanted to text Camilla to reassure her, he knew she would be worrying herself out and stressing, yet he didn't want to text her as if nothing happened, he wanted to talk over everything with her face to face, at a better time and shape. So Corey told him to wait for tomorrow and that he would text her instead.

Camilla had laid down with her phone clutched into her hands that night. Waiting for a text that would do a big part in calming her nerves. And when her phone let up with a new text, she scrambled up to sit properly before reading it.

Corey: We just got home. Don't worry, everything is okay. Sleep tight.

Her heart lifted with great relief, yet the disappointment of it not being Ethan was still there, but she brushed it away as she lay back in her bed, and just as she was drifting into sleep, her phone screen lit up.

Ethan: Goodnight.

A sleepy smile graced her lips. One word from Ethan was all it took to put her at ease, and she found herself snuggling deeper into her bed, typing back a reply before sleep managed to take over.

Camilla: Goodnight, Ethan.

A paper was shoved into Ethan's face as he stood aside while his mother was last-minute-chatting with Mrs. Anderson. His father has already said goodbye earlier this morning to the Andersons for they were leaving.

And despite Penelope being furious with Corey for telling Ethan the truth, and that he knew everything, she still took advantage of their parents standing nearby and hugged Ethan, clinging into him shamelessly since it was normal for friends who weren't going to see each other for a long time to hug.

They had kept their parents in the dark from everything this far, so it would appear weird if he pushed her away or something like that.

However, he didn't hide his displeasure of her hugging him, not even bothering to put his arms around her for their parents' sake.

Ethan grabbed the now crumbled sheet of paper from his face and looked down at it. It was a poster of some sort, of a carnival they were holding at a place Ethan knew was an hour away.

Ethan looked up at a smirking Corey, confused. His nose seemed better now, and his lip stopped bleeding, yet, the side of his face was a purple mess.

Corey began signing, something that Ethan was surprised by. "Here's your chance to fix everything, make good use of it."

Ethan lift up an eyebrow, the corners of his mouth curling up in amusement.

"Yeah, yeah, I know I'm awesome. Get over it already." Corey waved a hand out dismissively, before opening his arms. "Now come give my awesome self a hug before we leave so I could get some of my awesomeness transferred into you. I bet you would need it to smite that girlfriend of yours. I'm surprised she isn't running after me already."

Ethan scowled at him and whacked the side of his head, but nevertheless, he stepped over to hug his best friend who was now half-chuckling-half-groaning in pain.

Camilla was getting the mail when she heard wheels running over gravel, and she ignored it, thinking it was just a passing car. But when the sound stopped, and she heard a door slam shut, she couldn't help but think it was Ethan.

But as she looked up at the familiar car, she was reminded that it was due for the Andersons to leave. It surprised her it had been two weeks since they came since it had passed by quickly without her noticing.

She smiled as she spotted Corey walking over to her–Penelope hadn't even bothered to pretend to appear civil in front of her parents– but as he came closer, the smile disappeared slowly from her face and her eyes bulged out.

"Corey!" She said in a fright, her hand holding onto his chin and twisting his head around so she could see the splotches of blue and purple marring his face.

"Don't tell me Ethan did this to you." She whispered, her face contorting into one of concern. "Did you two fight?"

Corey batted her hand away from his face. "I'm fine. You think I didn't land a few good ones to his pretty face?"

Camilla scowled at him, now afraid of what she would see when she meets Ethan next time. Corey huffed, "Don't worry, I didn't break anything. And his mouth is still intact, so you shouldn't worry about kissing his face off."

Camilla's scowl deepened, and she swatted a hand at Corey's chest, earning a howl of pain-laugher from him.

"Anyway, I came to give our farewell. Now come here and give me a hug, hot stuff." He said, opening his arms just as he had done with Ethan fifteen minutes ago.

Camilla smiled in spite of herself and stepped into him to wrap her arms around his waist. Corey grabbed onto her shoulders when they pulled back, looking down at her seriously with his forest green eyes. "Take care of Ethan for me, will you? He's full of shit, but he deserves the best."

Camilla's mouth fell open as she gaped at Corey.

"That actually makes a pretty good poem." He said thoughtfully, rubbing at his chin. Another howl of pained laughter leaving him when Camilla swatted at his chest again, harder this time.