Two of a Kind | Grethan

VI

"Grayson!" Ethan called out to his favorite guy from across the street.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Grayson's hearty laugh shouted back as he ran across the street to join Ethan.

Ethan's mom was on a business trip for the next two weeks, so, for the first time, Grayson was going to Ethan's house.

Once they entered, Grayson was overcome with the smell of cinnamon and vanilla. The home was themed with cream, dark brown, black, and red. It was darker than Grayson's home, but he enjoyed it nonetheless.

"We can do whatever; watch movies, play video games, whatever." Ethan shrugged as he closed the door behind him and sheepishly put his hands in his pockets.

"Where's your room? I wanna put my stuff up really quick." Grayson lied. He really just wanted to see what all Ethan's room may consist of.

"Upstairs and it's on the very left." Ethan pointed and half smiled. Grayson nodded and ran up to his room. When he opened the door, the smell of mint hit is nose and even down to his throat. The walls were just cream with a large window on the opposite wall of the door. A white desk with a black lamp sat underneath the window. The bed resided on the left, with a dark gray comforter and a flannel blanket folded at the end. Posters were scattered across his walls: bands and musicians, things about astronomy, even a few of his own drawings, or at least Grayson assumed were his drawings. A small tv sat on his dresser on the wall opposite of the bed, and his closet was on the left hand side of the bed. There were black curtains on the window. It was also dark, but still very comforting to Grayson.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Grayson threw his backpack down on the floor and slid his shoes off, putting them in the corner with Ethan's shoes. He then walked over to a wall with drawings on it and admired them. The signatures on all of them had an 'E' at the beginning, signaling that they were indeed Ethan's. They were so interesting to him. One was of a sketch of a black bird with broken wings and the words 'like birds who's wings are broken, you live without direction.' Another was a man pulling off his face, which was truly a mask, to reveal horrible scars.

Ethan's artwork had such meaning behind it, and it intrigued Grayson to say the least.

"Grayson, you okay, bud?" Ethan asked, knocking on the doorframe. Grayson jerked himself around to his host and laughed meekly.

"I'm sorry, I was just uh... looking at your drawings." Grayson said with a nervous chuckle to hide the embarrassment.

"Ah, they really aren't that great." Ethan's cute laugh made Grayson smile.

"What are you saying? I love these! They're all so deep and meaningful." Grayson assured his friend. Ethan's cheeks turned red.

"You really think so?" He asked flatteringly, rubbing the back of his neck with a smirk.

"Of course." Grayson smirked back.

"Come here, I want to show you something." Ethan said after a few moments of silence and grabbed Grayson's hand, pulling him towards him.

"Where are we going?" Grayson asked.

"You'll see." Ethan's laugh constantly echoed in Grayson's mind as he pictured the beautiful smile that went along with it.

Unlike Grayson's home, Ethan's had a basement. And that's where Ethan took him. It was dark for a moment before Ethan switched on white Christmas lights that circled the entire basement. The walls were covered in various different paintings. Not canvases or paintings that were hung up, but actual murals. The dim glow of the lights shone on the paintings, making them have their own sort of glow. A black couch resided in the middle of the basement with a large tv on the wall in front. That entire wall was painted in a glow in the dark galaxy. Grayson found it breathtaking.