DolanTwins/GrethanStories

Chapter 2

A/N: Plot twist! If you've already read the first chapter, go and re-read that, otherwise you won't understand this chapter much XD

Also "Brian" is a fictional friend of theirs.

It had been a little over a month. Just about five weeks.

The change hadn't happened gradually. There had been no brother talk, no Grayson telling Ethan anything. Sometimes Ethan would wake up and Grayson would be gone, or he'd leave in the middle of the day after a text lighting up his phone screen and smile lighting up his face.

It had been a while since they'd done really anything together, other than film videos.

So Ethan was completely taken aback when Grayson sauntered down after a leisurely shower and asked him to come with him to get pancakes.

"What about Andrea? Why don't you want to go out with her?" He tried to keep his tone from sounding to accusatory, tensing for Grayson's reaction.

Gray smiled halfheartedly, took in a breath. "She was out with Brian last night. Didn't even text me to tell me, so I figured..yeah. Coming?"

It struck Ethan this was a perfect time to tell Grayson about Andrea's anticipated purposes; he agreed instantly.

They drove in near silence, Ethan pondering about the best way to go about this, Gray somehow sensing the awkwardness between them and stealing looks at Ethan every couple of minutes. Once arriving, they ordered, the pancakes came, and Ethan let Grayson take a couple of bites before saying, "Gray, I've got something to tell you."

Grayson looked up instantly, brown crinkling at Ethan's unusually serious voice. "What?"

Ethan folded his hands together, propped his fingers under his chin and then realized he was intimating Sherlock Holmes' preferred thinking pose and quickly crossing his arms on the table in front of him. Taking a deep breath, his eyes flicked to the waiter serving the couple next to them. He watched the girl smile at her date and take a bite of her pancake.

"Ethan, what?" prompted Grayson.

He turned his gaze back to Grayson and decided to spew it out.

"There's something you should know about Andrea, Grayson, something I should have told you a long time ago."

Grayson's brows furrowed even more. "What? She's not cheating with you, is she?"

Ethan shook his head hastily. "No, Gray, no...but that's close. She's—"

"She's cheating then, isn't she?" 

"No, let me finish!"

Ethan waited till Grayson nodded, eyes narrowed with a mixture of concern and suppressed anger, and he decided, for lack of inspiration, to be blunt.

"She's a cheater, Grayson. She's cheated on every single boy she's ever dated."

Grayson's eyebrows lifted, a look of amusement came to his face. "Yeah, right. Very funny."

"No, listen. Remember about two and a half, three years ago? That girl...Carly?"

Grayson's breath caught in his throat and he frowned again, digging up the memory achingly slowly. Finally, "Yeah. She cheated on you, didn't she?"

Ethan swallowed; nodded. "Yes. It's her, Grayson, Carly. I know it is."

Grayson snorted, the amusement returning to his face. He took another bite of pancake. "Don't be ridiculous, Ethan, that was in New Jersey. This is LA, Ethan. The other side of America. Do you think she just happened to move to the exact same part of LA as us, and date me? And what about her name? Why would she have changed it?"

Ethan leaned forward, hands interlaced, eyes and voice pleading. "Please, Grayson, trust me on this one. I just know it's her. I dated her. I had sex with her. I knew her, I thought she was the best girl ever. I'm trying to warn you Grayson. And obviously she's lying to you about her name."

"Saying she is the same girl, Ethan. Just suppose for some reason you're right. If she cheated on you, why would she come back and date me? Why?"

Ethan ran a hand through his hair in agitation. "I don't know, Grayson. I really don't know. But I have this gut feeling. I know it's her. I just...the way she looked at me..."

Grayson was gazing at Ethan with a solemn expression in his eyes as he trailed off into silence, unsure of what he was saying. For a minute, Ethan thought Grayson was about to believe him, but then he snorted out a breathy laugh and turned his attention away from Ethan down toward his breakfast. "You're just jealous, or something, Ethan, don't make things up. Andrea's not going to cheat on me. She loves me."

She loves me. 

"And you love her?" Ethan prompted.

Grayson hesitated for a split second, so quickly it wasn't even noticeable, then spoke defiantly. "Yes, Ethan. I love her."