Better. [e.d]

s i x t e e n

Chapter 16:

Elena's POV:

I walk up to my room and throw my bag onto my bed and let out a groan. I hear a light knock followed by my name coming from Ethan. I walk over to the door and open it.

"You okay?" He asks me and I walk over to my dresser, frustrated, taking out my earrings. He walks in and shuts the door. "I just can't believe how irresponsible she's being," I say looking in the mirror at my ear as I try to take out an earring. Ethan walks closer to me and stands behind me looking in the mirror. "And she's acting like a teenage girl drinking and dancing with my friends. She's supposed to be my mom," I add and put my earrings on my dresser. "She's been drinking so much lately and I hate it because alcohol, in general, is just bad for you and I know I drink it but I limit myself. I don't drink nearly as much as she does and she's a nurse for god sakes! I can't believe it," I ramble turning around to face Ethan and walking towards my bed. "She said she'd stop and she clearly hasn't and she's starting to worry me and," I say and let out a loud groan at the end before laying down onto my bed face first. A few seconds later I feel the bed sink next to me. I turn around and lay on my back, looking at the ceiling.

"Sorry," I mumble. "No, it's good to let it out," He says. I sit up at the edge of the bed next to Ethan and look down at my lap. "Do you wanna take it slower so I can understand the situation and help you?" He asks. "So for the past few months, my mom has been drinking a lot. I'm pretty sure it's because of how my dad is always at work or out of the state. They rarely see each other anymore which has been upsetting my mom and they've been arguing so much so she's been drinking," I say. "Have you tried talking to her about this?" "Yes," I say letting out a huff and resting my head on his shoulder. "I'm just so upset. Today was going so well and I actually had fun for the first time in awhile and I didn't even feel any pain while we were at dinner because I was so distracted and I wasn't even thinking about feeling alone and then my mom had to do this and ruin it," I say quickly and let out a groan at the end. "How about, you forget what you just saw just for tonight? Act as if it never happened and we can all go out for ice cream and then you can talk to your mom about this in the morning," Ethan says. I remove my head from his shoulder and look back down at my lap. "I guess I can do that," I say. "Okay so, let's go downstairs, eat pizza or whatever and wait till they sober up a bit and then we'll go get ice cream," Ethan says. "Alright," I say and get up from the bed. I walk out of my room with Ethan following behind me and down into the kitchen.

"Sweetie," my mom starts when she sees me walk into the kitchen. "Mom, we'll talk about this tomorrow not when you're drunk," I say and she nods. Everyone was sitting at the island eating pizza. I walk over and take a seat across from Evan.

"So how was the date?" Evan asks and then takes a bite of his pizza. "It wasn't a date Evan, can you shut up?" Ethan says and sits down next to me. "Yeah, whatever," Evan says and rolls his eyes. "Where'd you guys go?" Savannah asks. "Madeo," I say. "Hey E, can I talk to you for a sec?" Grayson asks Ethan and sets his pizza down. "Okay," Ethan says and follows him out to the living room.

Ethan's POV:

"What?" I ask when we get out into the living room. "What the hell are you doing with, Elena?" Grayson asks me. "What do you mean?" I ask. "Oh, please you took her out to Madeo!" "So, what? She was upset of staying inside home all day." "So you decided to take her out to the most expensive restaurant in LA?" He asks me. "What's the big deal?" I ask. "You're leading her on!" "I'm not! She knows it wasn't a date relax. Even it was, why do you care?" "Because I care about Elena and I don't want you fucking around with her feelings," he says. "Grayson, I would never do that to her," I say and my voice slightly gets louder. "Really? You've done it with many girls in the past," Grayson says getting closer to me. "Emphasize in the past. I'm currently in a relationship," I say. "Are you and Palmer supposed to be serious?" "Well-" I start. "Like she's someone you can see yourself settling down with?" Grayson asks me. "Hey, don't talk to me about settling down with someone, alright?" I say and my voice get's even louder. "No Ethan, what's the point of dating someone if you don't see or want a future with them at all?" Grayson says equally as loud as me. "Relationships don't have to be like that," I say calming my voice down. "They should be like it. You're almost twenty years old, relationships shouldn't just be for fun anymore," he says calming his voice down as well. I look down at the ground and think about how I don't at all see a future with Palmer.