Eighteen. Scary shit. And that's all I could think about for the whole month of May. That and the James scandal blowing up on every platform. He had lost a million subscribers, and this was only the beginning, I was sure of it.
The four of us had drifted naturally and healthily, but when James started reaching out to us in the light of his Gage situation, and claiming he wanted to hang out again 'because it's been too long' and for 'old time's sake', we backed away. I had chalked James' behavior up to being simply loud and his big personality, but everything on twitter made me feel like I had befriended a stranger. I wanted to know the truth, but I didn't dare reach out to him. His number was still in my phone.
I had face timed Ethan and Grayson the morning of and asked what we should do about it. After deciphering everything his patterns of hanging out with us, and Grayson's verdict on how he was becoming increasingly uncomfortable, the choice was clear. We all unfollowed, much like many other influencers in the community. When KeemStar called us out, my heart dropped to my stomach.
"ETHAN!" I yelled from his bedroom, using his computer to scan Twitter over and over again. I had left my mom and Amanda at my apartment, needing to sort this out with the twins and the twins only. Ethan stumbled out of the bathroom, quickly wrapping a towel around his hips, hurtling towards me.
"What's wrong? Are you okay?" he spluttered, scanning me up and down and touching my bare arm.
"Sorry, I didn't know you were showering..." I mumbled.
"Did you hear the water?" Ethan grinned, water dripping from his dark ends, onto his nose and slipping away.
"Read this," I said, gesturing to Keem's tweet. He scanned it, then shrugged.
"It's fine, totally fine. It's his job to stir the pot, don't worry about it," Ethan assured me.
"I can't believe I'm getting so worked up over a problem that isn't even mine," I muttered, rubbing my eyes furiously. I had been doing so well the past few weeks, and now this was ruining my sleep schedule.
"Hey, look at me," Ethan muttered, pulling me to my feet gently and tilting my chin up. I resisted the urge to look down and away from his searching eyes. The hazel flickered and his pupils dilated and retracted a few times, observing my face.
"Stop looking at my blackheads," I whispered, smirking.
"Shut up," he grinned, shaking his head slightly.
"Please don't worry about this. Please. If anything happens, we can take care of it. Everything is under control," he said calmly. He kissed me chastely, then pulled me into his warm chest, wrapping strong arms around me. I reached up and around his back, settling my hands on his shoulders.
"It's not your fault. It's James'. Not your responsibility. James'." Ethan said sharply. "Your heart is beating really fast," he whispered a second later.
"I'm anxious," I admitted, closing my eyes and evening my breathing.
"Let's lay down for a minute?" he suggested.
I nodded, letting him waddle me over to the bed and slightly collapse on top of me, before rolling over and ending up with me across his chest. He rubbed my back with one hand and brushed through my hair with the other.
"You're a good boyfriend," I muttered.
"Is that your version of thanking me?" Ethan sassed.
"Thank you," I relinquished.
"I'm kidding, Em. I'm always here for you," Ethan teased.
"I know,"
sorry i'm bad at writing this lol
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seeing comments motivates me so thank you ily!
