drunk voicemails ➟ ethma

3.2

thirty-two | boy toy

ETHAN
MONDAY | ZERO DRINKS

"Ethan, you need to calm down," Grayson breathed.

At the moment, Ethan doesn't think he's capable of calming down. He's hyperventilating as his hands tremble and the room feels like it's spinning. He rests his hands on the kitchen counter in attempt to stabilize himself. Everything is a whir of colors.

"This isn't happening," Ethan whispers.

Emma quickly grabs onto both of his hands, trying to pull him back to reality. She can feel his shakiness as it spreads to her hands.

"E, just breathe, breathe with me, it'll be okay. We're going to fix this, nothing is going to happen to me," Emma soothes.

It's ironic how the note left behind is threatening to harm Emma but she's the calmest out of the three of them. Ethan feels like he reliving those days from two years ago as every haunting memory he's tried to shove away are now replaying simultaneously in his mind. He feels the room begin to shrink as the walls appear to be closing in on him.

"Ethan," Grayson says sternly, "Snap out of this, bro. You can't stand around panicking all day because if you do, then you're just helping Ryan. Neither of us want that, so let's think about our next step."

At the sound of Grayson saying that he'd only be helping Ryan, he snaps his head up and it's as if something clicked in his head. If he stands around like a fool and continues to let his guard down just so he can freak out, then it's not going to help solve the issue.

"Maybe I could call my dad," Emma suggests.

"NO!" Ethan and Grayson both shout simultaneously.

The fact that Emma's dad is a cop, is part of the reason Ryan is targeting her. Emma is associated with Ethan and was when the situation occurred. Ryan knows how important she is to the twins, especially Ethan, therefore she is a valuable asset in keeping them quiet. Now that he's been released from prison, he's continuing to keep tabs on them to see if communication still persists, which it has.

Ryan most definitely doesn't want to return to prison for an old crime so he'll do anything in his power to make sure that doesn't happen. He doesn't take it as a good sign that they're together again because it almost guarantees that Emma is aware of what happened.

"He could help, though. He's educated on the laws and I'm sure he's worked on blackmail cases. This isn't something we can take on ourselves and my dad would be the most willing person to help," Emma explains, "How would Ryan find out that I'm talking to my dad anyway?"

"She's got a point," Grayson comments, "I could take her to a safe place to meet her dad and you could take your car to Emma's to distract Ryan if he is following us. He'll probably assume that Emma will go with you so our tracks will be covered."

Ethan nods, figuring that's not the worst plan. He feels a little weary going to Emma's apartment alone because it's a possibility he might have to face Ryan. Even if he's not ready for that, he'll have to be for Emma's protection.

"Wait do you guys have him on snapchat?" Emma asks.

Grayson nods, "Why?"