Bryant woke up a few days later, and to say Jodie was relieved was an understatement. She spent every waking moment near his side, but all Bryant wanted was his computer to edit photos. Grayson hadn't seen Ethan in four days since he woke up, and it was getting harder to contain him. I was torn between Ethan's stern wish and Grayson's terrifying glare every time I exited the room.
However, Ethan insisted. It had taken Grayson a week to realize Ethan was okay after the motorcycle accident, and this time, Ethan looked a lot more broken. And felt it too, it seemed. He went silent for long periods of time.
"Why is everything going so wrong?" he kept asking. "Why is this happening?"
And you could tell he felt guilty. What for, I had no idea. After a full five days, and Ethan's cut lip and swollen face had gone down, I coerced him into letting Grayson seeing him.
"I just don't want him to see me like this. All weak and stuff," Ethan explained. "I'm the older brother. I'm supposed to be protecting him. Especially since Dad's gone."
"It's your twin, Ethan..." I insisted.
"You don't get it, Emma," he said, looking away.
"You're right, I don't," I huffed. "My dad didn't just pass away from cancer, and I haven't pulled the short end of the stick like you have these past months. But here you are. You helped me through my shitty patch of life a few months ago, and now I'm trying to help you through yours. And I know you like being alone, and you think you can handle it, but you can't. Grayson and you can get through this. It's harder on him not seeing you, it's hurting him. You're hurting him by pushing him away, Ethan." I said hurriedly, trying to get my thoughts out.
"Okay, yes, you're right," Ethan admitted. "It's just harder than you think,"
"Okay," I said finally, "I'm getting Grayson,"
And I did, ushering him from the lobby where he had been spending hours on end after showering at home for the past week.
"Emma, come on, let me in, it's not a big deal, and I need to be there for him-" he gushed.
"I know, I know, I made some progress, come on in," I said. And we walked through the door.
"Hey, E." Grayson whispered.
"Hey, man," Ethan said, a lot more awake than when I had first seen him.
"You look like shit," Grayson decided.
"Fuck off," Ethan said. "And go get me some pudding."
Grayson grinned, taking this instruction and knowing everything was alright. He left.
"See?" I told Ethan.
"Yeah, yeah," he said, scrolling through Twitter.
"Shit, Emma," he said abruptly.
"What?"
"Were Olivia and your other friend in your apartment recently?" he asked frantically.
"Yeah, I gave them the key to do laundry," I said absently.
"Well in Olivia's video there's a picture of us," he said softly.
"Are you serious? What picture?" I said, leaning over his shoulder. And there it was, a blurry canvas of photo booth pictures we had taken at Olivia Jade's party. There it was, the newest scandal. All of Twitter and Instagram already. Great.
"Oh, shit," I muttered.
"You can't even decorate your own apartment without people nosing through," Ethan announced. "This is bad."
"Well, text Olivia and make her do something about it, but I don't think that will amount to much. Everyone has already seen it," Ethan sighed. "Tell her to be more careful,"
"Well, this is just a part of our plan, right?" I said encouragingly. "Not confirm and not deny,"
"I guess," Ethan huffed. "Car accidents and wildfires and dying wasn't a part of the plan,"
"Everything will work out, Ethan," I assured him automatically, but not even believing it myself.
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tysm for 5k votes. means so much.
sorry this chapter was so shitty
