Beyond a Brotherly Bond | Grethan

Chapter 12

Author's Note: Welcome back! I'm so glad my final exams are over. Prioritizing multiple things is stressful af, but I hope you guys like this chapter!
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*Ethan's POV*

I frantically search each room upstairs, looking for the one Meredith's sleeping in. Waking up to thousands of fans going ballistic over a leaked photo of me and Meredith from her party was definitely not what I needed — especially after last night's events.

I delicately make my way downstairs, the pain from my foot slowly returning as I've missed my medication.

I meander into one of the various hallways on the main floor. It continually baffles me how many bedrooms a family of three needs.

As I peak into the umpteenth room, I spot a familiar bundle of messy blonde hair. I rush over to her, slowly nudging her shoulder.

"Meredith... Babe, wake up!" I whisper.

Her eyes flutter open, quickly turning away from the incoming sunlight. "E-Ethan? What's going on?" Her voice sounds ever so slightly huskier than usual, and not as high-pitched. She brushes her hair out of her face before sitting up and stretching.

"Someone posted this picture of us... from your party," I hesitantly hand my phone to her.

Her eyes instantly grow wide, "Oh... my..."

"I know... Someone must've snuck into the room we were in when I passed out. I'll try my best to have it taken dow-"

"So many people have seen it!" She shrieks.

"Huh? Y-You're not upset about it?" I question.

"Oh... um, yeah! Of course I am! This is a complete invasion of our privacy! I'm so sorry baby, I know how badly you wanted our relationship to be kept a secret." She wraps her arms around my neck, pulling me into a tender embrace.

Her coconut-scented hair permeates my senses, partially calming my anxiety.

I slowly pull away, "I definitely didn't want everyone to find out like this, but I guess there isn't much we can do." My heart sinks. I owed the fans a proper — and more appropriate — announcement of our relationship.

"We need to handle this professionally. This is L.A. Someone new will try to tear you down every day," she says matter-of-factly.

"What do you mean?"

"Taking it down won't do much, too many people have seen it. We'll just address what happened," She reaches over and grabs her phone from the nightstand. After a few moments of vigorous typing, I receive a notification of her new tweet.

"@Meredithmgm tweeted: That picture of @EthanDolan and I was a total violation of our privacy. I was simply keeping him safe during the party."

"That sounds pretty good," I remark, "So now what?"

"Now we just continue with our lives," she states nonchalantly.

"T-That's it?" I stammer.

"Yup! Want to get breakfast?" She replies sweetly.

"Uh, yeah! Sure. I've been pretty hungry." I guess it's best to just drop the subject.

My mind is drawn back to Grayson. He must've seen the picture.

To: Grayson

9:13 AM: "Hey. Did you see the picture? :("

Several minutes go by, but he never replies.