Mercy- Ethan Dolan

Chapter One

I walk down my stairs with a slight sigh as I finish getting ready for the day. It's an average Friday, which means next to nothing to me. To me it means in bed usually by eleven because the I finished the whole season of Stranger Things in one night and I'm not ready to commit to a show like that again quite yet, it really takes a lot out of a person.

I check the time on my phone to see that I'm ready a little earlier than usual. Which is cool for me, it means I get to let the car warm up before making my way down the street to Grayson's house to pick him up.

There's no way in hell that either of my parents are awake right now, so I just grab my car keys and walk out the door as quietly as possible. They always tell me that they wouldn't mind getting woken up to say good bye, but they work all night at their jobs, waking up just to say bye to me seems kinda pointless, so I don't even bother.

I unlock my door and the passengers seat for Grayson as I sit there waiting for the heat to kick in. Grayson just lives down the street from me, so picking him up every second day doesn't bother me at all. Not that it would either way. We take turns picking each other up for school and driving each other home. It's been that way since we could drive.

As I make my way down the street, I can't help but think about how little I want to go to school. Since Ethan went away it has gotten significantly worse. Granted, I was never popular. However, when you're tied in with the 'criminals' brother, you're also taken as a bad person. Not that I want to know any of those people anyways. They're all judge and no listen, so I'll pass on that friendship.

I park outside Grayson's house and he runs outside before I have a chance to text him that I'm here. "Dude.." He says to me, throwing his head back after he buckles his seat belt. "You're never gonna guess." He informs me as I back up out of his parking lot.

"Good or bad?" I ask.

"Just big." He says after a few moments thought. "I haven't had time to think about it yet.. My parents just sat me down this morning. Ethan's coming home." He says.

"He is?" I ask. "I guess he's been away awhile."

"Yeah." He says. "I really don't know what to think. I mean, he won't be around long, he never is. I guess I'll just live my life, he'll live his and some times we'll see him at dinner. And in the mean time I know not to get attached."

"Sounds to me like you have a lot to sort through." I tell him. "His rooms down the hall from yours, you can't just ignore him."

"Yeah, I know." he looks down.

"Plus, theres no more family members for your mom and dad to pawn him off to. You need to realize that he may actually stick around this time. For a little bit anyways.."

"It's just easier when he's not here, you know?" He asks me. "I already can't get everything out of my mind, I think that with him being here it's all just going to surface and explode. I'm just so use to not having him here."

"Yeah, I know." I tell him, looking over at him with a frown. "But, at least you'll have some time before he's home. How long until he's out?"

"My parents go and get him Monday, so when I'm home from school, he'll be there. So, three days."

"Well, it's not much time, but at least it's not today." I try to comfort him with.

"I guess.. I just think that if my parents didn't start pawning him off when he was so young, that some of this could be prevented. Does that make me a bad person for putting blame on them?"

"Not at all." I tell him. "They should have tried harder to raise him themselves." I concur.

"I guess I shouldn't really bitch about my parents not raising my brother to you. I'm sorry."