Who Names The Colors

Been and Gone

"Hey mum!" His voice was tiny and thin, but she wasn't sure if that was the recording or the way he was talking. He sounded, wrong. "I'm really excited to tell you all about Greece." Ethan didn't sound excited. Jo thought about what the date was and realized he must have landed this morning, she expected a call, but maybe not until tomorrow, when he was home and settled. She was so confused by his tone and the timing, Jo nearly missed the last part of the message. "I should be there in a couple hours. Can't wait to see you and Zoe."

The message clicked off and Jo was at a complete loss. He was coming here? Today? She checked the time he had left the message, scratch that, he would be here really soon.

She had just walked in the door herself. Her house was a shambles, but that was not so big a deal. He'd lived here, helped her clean on Saturday mornings when she would get a bee in her bonnet and decide that they were a family that turned up the music and cleaned every weekend. Those moods never lasted, but for a while, they'd sing to each other and scrub floors and hang clothes. Ethan had developed a serious love for 90's R&B at the time.

Come to think of it, that might be where Harry found Lilith rock. He had cleaned with them a few times, roped in after a sleepover. The nature of those sleepovers and why he lingered had had uncomfortable implications today, like so many memories. It was easier when she just thought they were silly boys.

But everyone had a secret life she supposed. Jo was currently leading a double one.

She rolled her forehead in her palm and decided to take off her workout clothes, put on some shorts, Zoe had already disappeared upstairs, so there was no point in cleaning that up, it would be an exercise in folly. Zoe May follow her and undo anything she had done. Some things up there did need attention, Ethan's bed needed fresh linen.

It felt weird to be in this room now. She could picture Ethan and Harry, sprouting and pubescent, then lanky and locking doors. Their ghosts haunted this room. She missed that Ethan, often wished to rewind time.

That Harry though, so different from her man, was off-putting. She hadn't thought of the complication of knowing him when he was so young for a long time. He'd grown up so much, she often forgot it was before her eyes.

Ethan's bed disquieted her. As she stripped it, some thoughts of Harry and Ethan kissing were instructive and loud in here. In other instances, before, when she fantasized about Harry with men, it was hot. Harry with Ethan, brought up her gag reflex like it had that night she found out about them.

She couldn't think about it. Ethan's sheets smelled like a cupboard, the old ones, that nobody had slept on, and the ones from the actual shelf too. Jo hustled down the stairs and was cursing that she had to hold her boobs since she'd neglected a bra. She made a detour to throw one on, and made it back upstairs and was smoothing fresh sheets onto the bed when she heard Ethan come in.

"My lord, you are so tan! Like a bronze of yourself." She said coming off the stairs and wrapping her arms around him, needed to get her hands on him. Embrace some sense into herself.

Ethan locked his hands around her lower back and held on. He wasn't sobbing, but the emotion was grander than she would expect. They had gone a month without seeing each other many times since he left for uni. So much so that Zoe had heard his voice, come for cuddles and headed back up to her very serious pony game. Zoe found nothing amiss about her brother being away and then back. Jo thought all of the timing was off. She doubted he was checking on her, or still felt most comfortable here. She assumed it wasn't about her.

"Did you miss your old mum? Something go wrong on the way back?" Jo pulled out of his embrace and ran her hands over his shaggy vacation length hair and a brown shoulder uncovered in his vest top. "Did you drive straight home from the airport?"