A Day With The Dolans

Chapter 3

I followed their car to our destination--the Dolan house. On the way, I had to keep reminding myself to keep my eyes on the road. The scenery was beautiful...

We finally reached the house. I parked my truck close to their vehicle and stepped out. Both Ethan and Grayson spread out their arms in a welcome gesture. "Mi casa, su casa," they both said. 

Do they practice speaking at the same time like that?

I pulled my key from the ignition. I grabbed my bag from under the driver's seat and my wall charger from the glove compartment on the passenger side. I looked at the house and took a deep breath. Here I go... Nervously, I stepped inside as Grayson held the door.  

Ethan directed me to the living room. "Okay Shay. You can charge your phone over there," he pointed to an outlet. "You can stay here and then we'll all just watch a movie or something." 

I thanked him and immediately plugged in the charger. Today was Tuesday, so the twins obviously posted a new video. I needed to wait for my phone to charge though.

I sat there on the couch, twiddling my thumbs. Yes, I was that bored! 

The brothers came back about 10 minutes later. Grayson was holding a burrito, fresh from the microwave I guess, because it was still steaming. Then, they both plopped themselves down on the couch, and I was in between them. 

They asked me what I wanted to watch. I decided that they already spoiled me enough by buying me my favorite pizza and letting me stay here. "I don't care, you can pick. It's your house."

They both shrugged and chose the movie. In the middle of it, Gray had to use the bathroom. That left just me and Ethan. 

We awkwardly watched the movie for a few minutes. I made the decision to turn to him and stared into his eyes. They were so beautiful... I watched his lips as they moved. Then someone called my name. "Shay!" 

I snapped back to reality. "What?"

Ethan giggled that precious giggle than made my heart stop. "I asked what brought you all the way out here?"

Ughhh. I should've known that would've come up eventually. "Should I tell him?" I thought. Might as well... I told him everything. I told him about my mom and I arguing over something stupid--I couldn't even remember what it was anymore. I told him about my need to drive without any destination in mind. "... Then my car ran out of gas, and here we are..." I finished. 

Ethan looked utterly confused and sympathetic. "Wow, I'm so sor--"

"No, you don't need to be sorry about anything. It was my fault I ended up all the way over here. Plus, I'm actually okay with it," I answered. 

"How are you okay with it?" Ethan asked. "You're miles form home, in a strange town that you don't even know, and you could've ended up--"

"Ethan," I interrupted again. "I met you guys. I'm okay now, aren't I?" 

He seemed to calm down. "Yeah, I guess..."

A moment of silence passed. Then I said, "Did I tell you that I want to start a YouTube channel?" 

Ethan now had a surprised look on his face. "No. Why?" 

I told him that he and his brother were my inspiration. I've watched them for almost three years now, and I thought, "when can I do this???" I wanted to start a channel, I just didn't know how. 

Grayson still wasn't back yet. What's taking him so long?

"Well," Ethan started. "You just need to be yourself. It doesn't matter what everyone else says or what they do." I stare deeply into his eyes. "You're perfect just the way you are," he continued. 

 He stared at my lips... 

"Except for this," he told me. He wiped at the corner of my mouth with his thumb. 

Not what I was expecting.

I put my fingers to the place he wiped at. "What was it?" I asked, giggling. 

Ethan snickered. "Pizza sauce." 

I still had that on my mouth??? "Well, am I perfect now?" I asked.

Ethan looked through my glasses into my dark eyes. "Yeah. I think you are." 

I gulped at the feeling of butterflies in my stomach. "Snap out of it Shay!" I mentally scorned myself. "He doesn't like you! He's just trying to make you feel good about yourself!"

Ethan's voice broke the silence. "What's that face for?" 

"What face?" 

"You have this face like you're embarrassed or something," he said. "I would kill to know what you're thinking right now." 

I suddenly heard someone running towards us. "Aaaand what's going on?" Grayson asked as he literally threw himself onto the couch. I ended up bouncing and I pushed my glasses back into place. 

"Nothing," me and Ethan said at the same time. Weird...

"Ethan was just telling me how I needed to be myself to start a channel like you guys. What he said honestly reminded me of that inspirational speech he gave after he got his wisdom teeth taken out!" I said with a laugh. 

Ethan covered his eyes in embarrassment. "I still can't believe I did all that stuff bro!" 

We talked a little more, and got back to the movie, and it was great. 

It was almost 9:00 when we finished. As soon as the movie was over, I hopped in the shower. 

After I got done, I put my clothes from earlier in my bag, along with my beloved baseball cap. I got dressed, stepped out of the bathroom, and started to head back to the living room. Then I heard Ethan and Grayson talking in hushed whispers. I stopped in my tracks and put my back against the wall. 

"Dude, I swear, as soon as we went up to that truck, her eyes were on you." Grayson...

Ethan replied with, "I don't know... She was looking at you too." 

Grayson sighed. "Not the way she was looking at you. Ethan, at Pizza Hut, Shay was giving you those lovey-eyes the entire time." 

Oh no... They were talking about me...