Weightless

3) Lonely

A/N: This may be a little short, but my usual word count is between 1,500-3000 words. Am working on making these chapters longer. Next chapter will come very soon. Thank you for the votes BexieID! 

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22nd of January 2017

It's the next morning when Cal returns. The sound of the front door slamming, shoes being thrown against the wall and a coat falling on the floor alerts Ethan to his brother's appearance, as it always does. Cal never arrives quietly unless it's in the dead of night and he's sneaking around. Today is no exception.

Ethan is sitting at the table, drinking a dark coffee and holding a piece of cold buttered toast, whilst flicking through his phone. Cal walks, a little guiltily, into the room.

"Where have you been?"

"Sorry. We got pretty drunk."

"Drunk?" Ethan looks up from his phone and drops his toast onto his plate with a soft thump. He's not in the mood for it, anyway. "She didn't seem like that kind of person."

"Oh, yeah. She loves partying. When she gets going there is no stopping her, trust me! We went clubbing after the restaurant and then I dropped her back home. I'll see her at work later, if she's not too hungover!" Cal laughs and sits on the side of the table. "Oh yeah, when's work?"

"Seven. Luckily, you're just in time - I'll drive us there in a bit."

Cal smiles. "Ah. Born lucky, aren't I?"

"Seems that way."

Cal gets comfortable on the table and takes Ethan's half eaten toast. "You okay?"

Ethan peers up at Cal momentarily and then drops his eyes back down to his phone. He refreshes his emails again pointlessly. Obviously, Cal has noticed Ethan's vague cold tone. "Yes. I'm okay."

"Not mad at me for leaving you on your own-io all night?"

"Nope," Ethan shrugs. "Was nice to get the peace."

Cal nods. "Right."

"It's nice that you're back, though," Ethan admits with his eyes glued needlessly to his phone screen. "It's quiet when you're not about, making noise."

Cal laughs and bites into Ethan's toast. "I'll take that as a compliment that you like my noise."

Ethan smiles, but in all honesty, he had really missed Cal. It wasn't like they did a lot when they were both at home together, but the silence was so glaring that Ethan had gotten sick of it.

It's such a relief that, finally, Ethan and Cal can be alone for at least a day before Cal dashes off to see Mollie again. As lovely as she is, Ethan decides that it'd do Cal good to have a few hours from her. It'll be brilliant to spend some time with Cal again.

Ethan's relief is short lived when he suddenly remembers something Cal had just said.

'I'll see her at work later, if she's not too hungover!'

Ethan drops his phone. "Uh, Cal, what did you mean a minute ago, when you said that you'll see Mollie at work later?"

"Because she works at the same hospital we do," Cal says. He notices Ethan's face as it falls. "Oh. Didn't you know that?"

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For the remainder of the day, Ethan spends the majority of the time on his own. Turns out, Mollie works as an agency nurse in same department. She spends a lot of time shadowing Cal and giggling. Ethan can't stand the happiness - seemingly forever being the Scrooge of every season - and breaks apart from them.