drunk voicemails ➟ ethma

1.9

nineteen | way back when

ETHAN
↚ FLASHBACK | TWO YEARS AGO

A phone begins ringing, the noise having startled Ethan, waking him from his groggy state of sleep. He sits up in bed and breathes out a sigh before retrieving his phone on his nightstand. He assumed it was Emma, calling him to get coffee with her because she didn't feel like driving. He instead sees the caller ID to be from his old friend Ryan.

"Hello?" He mutters, not enjoying the fact he was woken up abruptly. However, if it was Emma that would have been a different story.

"Yo, you and Grayson want to hang out today? I haven't seen you guys in ages." He speaks.

Ethan contemplates it. He knows that Ryan doesn't have the best history but he was a good friend, nonetheless. He didn't have anything else planned for the day either, so he might as well.

"Sure," Ethan replies. "Let me wake Grayson up."

"Sick, I'll be over in an hour. See ya soon, dude."

[X]

"Ethan! Gray! It's been too long, guys. I can't even remember the last time I saw you two." Ryan greets upon the twins entering his car.

The two of them smile and agree, buckling their seatbelts, not quite sure what their friend has in store. The thing about Ryan, is that he's very unpredictable. Back in high school, you never knew what abrupt words he was going to blurt out and what mess he was bound to get involved in next. He was known for his countless detentions and remarkably bad rapport with numerous teachers. However, he was entertaining to hang out with and easy to crack jokes with. That's how the three of them became friends.

After graduation, they hadn't heard anything from him and they went separate ways. It was pretty out of the blue to have gotten a call from him, a year later. The pair didn't think anything of it.

[X]

"I'm just gonna be a minute." Ryan says, exiting the car while leaving the brothers to themselves.

"He hasn't changed, has he?" Grayson asks.

Ethan agrees, "No, I don't think he has."

They were parked out front of a convenience store, adjacent to a gas station. At eight in the morning, the streets were consumed with its infamous rush hour traffic. Sleep deprived businessmen and college students were about the only people that wandered the streets on a Monday morning at this time.

It didn't take long for their friend to come back, but immediately something had changed. He was no longer calm and relaxed, instead replaced with a state of distress and haste. It was only a matter of seconds before they realized he hadn't come back with a cup of coffee or a donut, rather a plastic bag of cash and a glock.

"What the fuck!" Grayson screams.

After Ryan had entered the car and slammed the door shut, he reversed at a quick rate and sped off in a hurry. He didn't bother looking behind him, instead he drove out of the parking lot, and joined the mass of cars where he seamlessly blended in.

Once they were out of sight of the convenience store, Ryan filled the car with his thunderous laughter. He ran a hand through his tousled hair, and turned his gaze towards the dumbstruck brothers with a giddy excitement.

"I can't believe that just happened!" He shouted, banging his fist on the center console, shaking with delirium.

Ethan looked at his brother in the backseat, unable to process what the fuck was going on.

"Uh, Ryan. You care to explain why the hell you just robbed that store?" Grayson spoke.

"I don't know!" Ryan screams, still on edge with adrenaline. "I had a fucking impulse, and I ran with it. It just felt right, you know?"

"No, I don't know, Ryan! That was the stupidest shit you could have ever pulled. How do you expect to get away with robbery?" Ethan shouted, angry that he and Grayson were made accomplices to a crime.

"Chill, guys. There weren't any security cameras and the old man probably has dementia, he'll forget about me in no time." He replied, as if what he was saying made total sense.

Ethan had no idea what to say. At eight in the morning, he hadn't expected anything of this sort to occur. He was trembling in fear, unlike his criminally insane friend who was still swept with exhilaration. What Ryan had just done was so illegal, the two of them were overwhelmed with panic, uncertain on what was going to happen next.

"Drop us the fuck home, NOW." Grayson clamored.

[X]

"Keep your mouths shut about this, do you hear me? If I hear you two snitched me out, I'll make sure you never speak again." Ryan snarled.

After he realized they weren't on the same page about what he had done, Ryan no longer had the same smirk on his face. His mind was racing with the consequences he never pondered about beforehand. His spontaneous crime was all fun and games until he discovered Ethan and Grayson weren't too fond of him anymore. It had clicked in his mind, he could be sitting with two narks. He wasn't about to let them ruin his newfound cash.

"If it means you'll unlock the doors, then whatever it takes." Ethan says.

"Tell your pretty little girl about this either, and you'll regret it. I know her dad's a fucking cop." Ryan replies.

"Fine, fine. Just let us go, we had no part of this." He says, gripping the handle to his door.

"No, I mean it Dolan, I don't even want to see you with her. If I find out you're even within five feet of each other, I won't think twice about making sure she's not a problem anymore." Ryan threatens.

Ethan didn't like that compromise, he didn't like being locked in the car with Ryan either and having his and Grayson's lives at stake. He would say anything just to get out of the car if it meant he never had to see him again.

"Fuck, okay, Ryan. I get it." Ethan pleads.

Ryan sighs and unlocks the car doors, allowing Ethan and Grayson to scramble out and into the safety of their driveway. Once they shut the doors, he speeds off for a second time.

"That fucking bitch!" Ethan yells.

—

hi... so was that anything like you were expecting?

the truth finally came out and now all the chapters will be longer from here.