Alps ✰ Ethma

TWENTY NINE

Grayson Pov.

I swallowed the last of my mom's scrambled eggs she had made & set my fork down onto my plate, glancing across the table at Ethan & Emma who had already finished their plates & were only looking around awkwardly. I sighed, rolling my eyes at the tension in the air between them. Emma had already admitted to Ethan that she was in love with him, which was a shock to everybody but Ethan didn't return the feelings. I know my brother though & I know that he's in love with Emma as well. Especially judging by what I had walked in on earlier this morning. Friends don't cuddle like that. He Ethan just needs to admit it to her, he needs her in his life. He loves her. He's visibly more happy when she's around & he even started calling me by a nickname again, instead of my full name. Also, he's never just in a good mood in the morning, he's always quiet or angry about something. I could tell my mom was a little weirded out as well when Ethan had greeted her nicely after he came downstairs with Emma. My mom's face also held a look of shock & I knew why, Ethan never brings girls home or hangs out with them around the house. He may be a douchebag & just fuck & leave girls, but he always did it somewhere else. There was never a girl seen in this household that was hanging out with Ethan.

My phone suddenly began to vibrate in the pocket of my hoodie, causing Emma to look up from next to me. I sighed, coming out of my thoughts & grabbing the device out of the large pocket. James' contact name flashed across the bright screen & I smile to myself, sliding my finger across the bottom of the screen & holding the phone up to my ear. "Hey baby." I said smoothly, causing Ethan to make a face at me from across the table which I returned by sticking my tongue out at him playfully. "Hey Daddy." James' bright voice said from the other end of the line & my smile grew as I let out a small chuckle. "I just wanted to call you, since I figured you were staying home from school with Emma and Ethan. I'm just gonna sister-skip today because I don't feel like going and I'm heading to the phone store right now because I dropped my phone off the counter and shattered the screen this morning. But I could come over after if you want?" James explained & I let out a soft laugh at his clumsiness with his phone. "Sure. We'll be here." I responded simply & heard James hum in agreement. "Okay, well. I'll sister-see-you then!" He said enthusiastically & hung up the line, my phone making a small beeping noise. My heart warmed at the thought of seeing him again, it was just something about him that made me so in love & I couldn't put my finger on what it was.

I slipped my phone back into my hoodie pocket & looked up at Ethan & Emma. "James is coming over in a little bit, he's just stopping at the phone store because he broke his screen this morning." I mentioned & Emma snorted. "Of course he did." She stated & Ethan nodded with a small grin on his face. A sudden kiss on my forehead made me turn my head as my mom gave me a quick, warm smile. "I'm going to work, your father already left a few minutes ago." My mom said & my eyebrows furrowed, remembering that I never heard he front door open. Must've been while I was on the phone. My mom walked over to Ethan & looked down at him with an almost hesitant look on her face before she leaned down & pressed a long kiss to his forehead, causing his lip to curve up with fake disgust. "Mom." He groaned & my mom sadly smiled down at him, as if she was deep in thought. My mom then walked back around the table towards Emma who was in the wooden chair next to me. My mom leaned down & wrapped her arms around Emma, giving her a small hug as Emma tensed up a little. "Goodbye sweetie, I hope you feel better. Feel free to stay as long as you'd like," My mom said & then leaned down close to Emma's ear in order to whisper something but I heard it, "keep doing whatever it is that you're doing. I haven't seen my baby this happy in so long. Thank you." Emma's eyes locked onto the pattern of the wood on the table & my mom squeezed her shoulder lightly before grabbing her purse off of the counter & walking back down the hallway. There was the faint sound of the front door shutting & my eyes flicked over to Ethan.