Paranoia.

M

'Grayson, give me my pizza back.' I hear an aggressive growl and see Austen jump on Grayson's bed to catch him because he grabbed her slice of pineapple pizza out of her hands. She jumps on his back and makes him fall of the bed. He rolls over and tries to jump on my bed, which is on the other side of the room, but fails and falls to the floor with a loud bang.

'NEVER!' He screams and eats the whole slice in one bite. He grins a little and walks up to me, trying to take my slice.

'Grayson. You stay away from my pizza, or I'll fucking kill you.'

I hear Austen chuckle in the background and see her walking up to me. I already hug my pizza box and protect it with my life to prevent her from stealing it.

'I need a boyfriend who is as protective over me as Ethan is over his pizza.' she says and puts her pizza down on the floor.

'OKAY, you two, STAY AWAY from my pizza, I'm going to call my mom to ask if they're already on their way, I trust you.'.

'Do you really?' Grayson asks with his eyes already locked on Austen's pizza. She just laughs en heads to the living room. When she's gone, Grayson sneaks on my bed and sits down.

'Stay away from my pizza.' I growl but he just grins.

'No, I don't want your pizza, I just wanted to let you know I think she's nice. I'm happy that you've found someone you can talk to so easily.' he looks genuinely happy.

I hear silent sobbing from the living room and get up so fast that my pizza is falling on the bed.

'Grayson. Why is she crying?' I look at him, and he shakes his head. Of course, he doesn't know why she's crying. Stupid question Ethan. I walk towards the living room, where Austen is sitting on the couch, with red and puffy eyes. I sit down next to her and she immediately wraps her arms around me. I back away, not used to this close contact. Austen looks at me.

'Something wrong?' She asks me. 'If you have a problem with me hugging you, you should tell me.'

'No, no, no. I have no problem with that. Just not used to this kind of personal contact.' And I pull her back in a hug. She starts to cry even more. I feel her shaking all over her body and just hold her tighter.

'Do you want to talk about it?' I ask her lightly.

'Not yet,' she says in my shirt. 'But if you can walk me home, I would be really happy.'

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'Sorry about all of that.' Austen says, looking at the ground. She looks tired and not happy at all.

'Sorry about what?'

'Just about the whole thing. You and your brother probably planned on having a fun night with gaming and eating pizza, and then, I come and ruin everything.'

I look at her. 'Stop saying bullshit. I told you it was okay, right? By the way, Grayson really had fun and I did too. I love to have you around me because you make me happy.'

She smiles lightly and wraps her arms around me. She moves to my left ear and I feel her breath on my skin. At that moment, she whispers something I haven't heard in years.

'You're a good person, Ethan'

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As we are close to her home, I see her looking at me in the corner of my eye. Her face is neutral but I know she's thinking about something.

'What are you thinking about?' I ask her. The light the moon reflects shines on her face, making her soft facial features stand out.

'What? Oh, nothing special. Just... I don't know.' She stops walking and we hear loud shouting coming from her house.

'What's happening in there?'

'Oh, nothing special, it's just my parents. Don't worry, they'll make up in about 20 minutes after.'

I am still worried, and apparently, that's showing.

'Really, I'll be fine. Goodnight, Ethan.' She whispers and turns around, walking into her home.