escape | ethan dolan

comfort • 6

Boom. Boom. Boom. Wait, am I still sleeping? Shout. Boom. Boom. Boom. No, I'm awake. Shout. Boom. Boom. My eyes flutter open to the sight of the street, cars passing by leisurely. Boom. Boom. What the hell is going on? I spring up in bed, and a rush of soreness runs through me at the sudden movement, but I shake it out and hop onto the floor. Ouch. I cringe when I land on my leg. It's still tender, but overall I think I'm on a good road to recovery.

I jerk when I hear another loud shout come from a few rooms down. Curiosity gets the best of me and I canter out the door and turn left to where the yelling is coming from. Lisa has heard it too, because as I make my way down the hall I see her upper half poking out of the doorway. When I step on a floorboard she turns to me, startled.

"Dear!" She exclaims. "You scared me!" She puts a hand to her chest and takes a few deep breaths, then laughs it off.

"Sorry," I apologize. "What's all of the commotion?"

"It's the boys," Lisa replies in dismay. "I don't think I've ever heard them fight like this."

"Oh no," I say glumly. I hope they aren't fighting about me.

"I just woke up," She announces. "I heard the shouting and-" Her hand rises to her temple, rapidly, like she's trying to get rid of a massive migraine. "I'm going to go see what's wrong. Stay here, honey."

It felt nice to be called 'dear' and 'honey' since I had never really gotten that affection in awhile. Having a real mom again always seemed like a dream that would never come true. Now, I'm finally getting a glimpse of what it would be like. Lisa seems totally sweet and it gives me tranquility to know that I'm in her care.

I snap back into reality when I hear more screaming coming from the room at the end of the hallway.

"You boys need to control yourselves!" Lisa screams. This is the first time I've heard her so angry, and it kind of scares me. Cautiously, I make my way down to the room.

"He was the one who started screaming at me!" Grayson yells. I'm assuming he's talking about Ethan.

"What?" Ethan exclaims. "I came in here calmly and then he starts freaking out and yelling!"

"Enough!" Their mother yells. Her shout is so loud I swear I can feel the whole house shift. Everyone becomes silent, and it feels like my surroundings have disappeared and I'm completely alone. I can't hear any sign of breathing or movement- nothing. "Ethan," Lisa finally says. "Go back to your room." I hear Ethan scoff as he exits and closes the door. He catches a glimpse of me and stops in his tracks.

"Harlowe!" He gasps and takes a deep breath. "You scared me."

"I guess I've been doing that a lot this morning," I chuckle thinking back to the previous incident with Lisa. Ethan gives me a puzzled look but I brush it off. "So, um, what happened?" I change the topic and motion my head to the room Ethan just walked out of.

"Oh! Nothing! It was nothing," He sputters. Suspicious, I move closer to him.

"Really?" I smirk, raising an eyebrow. "It was obviously something, Ethan."

"Don't worry about it," He touches my shoulder and I shiver. Again, he quickly pulls away at my reaction.

"Please, just tell me. I don't want to be left in the dark," I reach my right hand over and rub my left shoulder uncomfortably.

"I just told Grayson he needs to back off with you. That's all."

"You told him that? Now he's going to know I told you he was bothering me!" A tight string of panic forms around my rib cage.