Chapter 3

806 65 43
                                    

Author's Note: Welcome back! I'm having so much fun writing these chapters, I keep forgetting that I have chores, homework, pets, a job, friends, etc. Enjoy! :)
——————————————————
*Ethan's POV*

The moving truck arrived about two hours late and dropped off about 13 boxes, leaving Grayson and I to assemble all of the furniture on our own. Grayson almost screwed the wheels for my desk chair to the bottom of my dresser, and I accidentally used the tabletop for our dining table as the headboard of Grayson's bed. Those damn instructions were confusing; and it didn't help that Grayson was reading them to me.

Our pain and suffering finally ended around midnight when we finished connecting the legs of the couch for the living room.

"Dude, it's 12:16 AM. I'm exhausted and I'm starving. Can we order pizza?" Grayson mumbles, half asleep on the floor.

"Sure, I'll call." I check my phone for the first time since we left to the pool. I had a bunch of notifications from Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram, some messages from Mom and Aaron, but nothing from Meredith. Did she forget about me?

I understand that our schedules don't exactly correlate, or so she says, but a quick text letting me know that she'll be busy would be nice. I look over to see Grayson still laying on the ground, so I take my chance and sneak outside to call Meredith. Grayson's one of the very few people that know about me and Meredith, but I still get embarrassed when it comes to girls and it's not a side of me I really show people.

The phone rings for a while before she finally answers.

"Hello!?" I hear Meredith yell. There's music blasting in the background.

"H-Hey, babe. What's up?" Ugh, I'm such an idiot. Why did I stutter?

"Not much, I'm just at a friend's house. And you?" She yells over the music.

"Is your friend throwing a party? It's kind of hard to hear you." I wonder if she was genuinely busy today or if she just ignored me. The thought of her ignoring me acts like a weight on my chest.

"Oh, um, well yeah. Kind of. How was your day?" She changes the subject.

"Well I woke up really early because Grayson and I moved to L.A. today. We just finished building a bunch of our furniture. I had texted you, but you didn't respond."

"Oh, you did? I'm sorry, I didn't see them. But congrats on moving!" She must've walked outside, because it got a lot quieter.

"Well thank you. I'm really excited that we can see each other more often now, instead of just on facetime dates." I say eagerly.

"Ohhh yeahhh. Yeah, I'd like that. You would just have to let me know when, because you know I'm really busy with modeling and stuff."

"Well y-yeah, of course. Are you free tomorrow? I'd love to meet you and take you to this awesome restaurant I heard abo-"

"Actually no. I'm really busy this week. But that's so sweet! I'll text you and let you know, okay?" She quickly interjects, leaving a bit of a sting in my heart.

"Oh, uh, that's alright. I understand. Now that Gray and I moved here, you and I have plenty of time to go on dates." I smile through the phone.

"Yeah! Listen, I gotta go. It was nice talking to you! I'll text you tomorrow." I hear a deep voice mumbling something in the background before she hangs up.

I let out a sigh and look out at the view. I really don't remember when I became such a softy. Relationships have always felt like a huge puzzle to me. A puzzle with about 16 missing pieces. I want to be the best boyfriend I can be. I've never had anything as serious as what I have with Meredith and a part of me feels like I care more than she does. But I'm completely okay with that.

It's as if I put my heart in her hands and I'm waiting for her to see that I'm worthy of her trust. When she has time to talk to me, it's always great. I hope now that we're closer to each other, we can finally be a real couple.

I open the door to walk back into the apartment and I feel a huge thud. It's... Grayson?!

"Dude, what were you doing behind the door?!" I ask, looking down at him.

"You have some very deep conversations with the pizza delivery guy, Ethan," he says, holding his head.

"YOU WERE EAVESDROPPING?!" I feel my face flushing.

"Yes, okay, I'm sorry. But I just thought it was weird that you had to go outside to order a pizza so I checked to make sure you were okay." He finally gets up.

"So you heard everything I was saying to Meredith?" I shy away from him.

He lets out a sigh. "Yeah... are things not going well?"

"Kind of... I don't know. Am I doing something wrong? Is that why she doesn't want to see me?" I look at Gray, feeling defeated.

"Dude of course not," he comes over and pulls me in for a hug, "you're doing everything perfectly. But I told you from the beginning, I don't feel like she's right for you. She's not appreciating anything that you do. What kind of person does that?"

"I don't know, man. I feel like she likes me, but maybe she just has to see that I'm worthy."

Grayson looks at me with pity in his eyes. "I'm your brother, and I love you more than anyone. Even though I don't think she's the right one for you, I'll support whatever you choose to do." He gives me a small smile.

"Thanks, bro." Grayson and I have never really had that conversation before, or at least to that extent. We had a version of this conversation a few weeks ago when I had ordered a dozen roses to be delivered to where she was having a photoshoot one day. Meredith called and said that the flowers were nice, but she didn't want to be interrupted during photoshoots, so she told me not to do that again. Grayson thought that she was being ungrateful, but I understood, even though it made me sad.

"Now that all of the furniture's done, let's explore tomorrow! Where do you wanna go?" Grayson looks at me excitedly.

His excitement is contagious as my mind races with possibilities. Santa Monica Pier? Surfing? Hiking? Quad racing?

"Let's hike up to the Hollywood sign!" I half yell.

"Oh ok, so you know I haven't worked out in almost a week and now you want to kill me? That's fine. Let's go!" He says excitedly. "Oh, by the way... can you order that pizza now? My stomach keeps yelling at me."

I can't help but laugh. "Of course, two Hawaiian pizzas comin' up!"
————————————————
End Note: Heyie! I wanted to give you guys more insight on Ethan's "perfect" relationship. Do you think he'll keep chasing after Meredith? Or will he listen to Grayson?

Beyond a Brotherly Bond | GrethanWhere stories live. Discover now