drunk voicemails ➟ ethma

3.3

thirty-three | a second too late

ETHAN
MONDAY | ZERO DRINKS

Ethan is blaring Tame Impala in his car to drown out any nervous thoughts that try to run through his mind. He's not feeling very confident about this plan of theirs but he knew it was their only option. Ryan is bound to make his appearance soon and he's just glad Emma isn't with him. He feels better knowing she's with his brother and her dad. He does wish he wasn't alone because his alcohol withdrawal symptoms aren't mixing very well with his panic state.

He was given a key to her apartment before they departed ways so he could sit inside and lock the door. Ethan was the diversion plan. He had to distract Ryan long enough for Emma and Grayson to get help from her father. He's just hoping that if Ryan does follow him to her apartment that he decides he's not worth bothering since Emma isn't with him. She's in safe hands now and he doesn't have to worry about her being harmed.

He arrives at her apartment complex and quickly hurries inside to her home. He slides the key in and the door unlocks, allowing him to enter and lock the door behind him. Ethan sits on the couch and pulls out his phone, checking the snapmap to see where Ryan is currently at. He feels like he's about to throw up when he sees that he's only a mile away, slowly approaching the complex.

Ethan stands to look around her apartment for any sort of object that could be used as defense and settles for a large knife when he isn't able to find a bat or something similar. He's sure that Ryan's gun was confiscated at the scene of the crime, but he doesn't doubt that he would be able to get another one easily. He doesn't want to have to use it, nor does he think he'll have the guts to even use it, but he can't go unarmed.

Now he's stuck trying to figure out where to go. He could stay in the living room which isn't too far from the door or he could find a hiding spot. Either way, Ryan will know he's inside somewhere by his car in the parking lot. He settles for the couch again and waits anxiously. His heart is hammering as he holds the knife close to him.

He suddenly thinks about leaving his phone somewhere to record whatever happens. It'd be too obvious to get a video, so an audio recording will have to suffice. He places his phone in between the couch cushions, the speaker side facing up.

He rotates around to look out the window and his stomach drops when he sees Ryan exiting his car. He looks quite different from what he did two years ago. His hair is now longer and shaggy and his facial hair has grown out to be quite unruly. He looks—well, not great. Prison must have been rough on him, but that's karma for the guy.

Ethan anxiously waits for something to happen and not even a second later, there's a pounding on the door.

"Oh Emmaaaa, I know you're in there. Why don't you open the door and we can talk," Ryan calls from outside the door.

Silence. Ethan doesn't stay anything as he hears the door handle shake.

"Ethan, you can't hide your girl in there forever. She's not yours to keep anymore. Let's have some fun."

Ethan grasps onto the knife tighter. He's not opening the door for him, but he feels like that's not going to stop him. All he can hope is that a neighbor comes out and hears the commotion.

"Alright, guess you're not going to make this easy for me," He shouts, the door handle jiggling again.

Ethan turns back toward the window again and tries to decipher if he has time to jump out. Luckily Emma lives on the first floor so there's not really a jump. He decides to go for it and fumbles with the hatch, turning it upwards for it to unlock. Shit, he really should have thought about this earlier.

He finally manages to get it unlocked, sliding it open. Just as he's about to step out, the door slams open. Ethan feels like his heart has stopped beating.

"Close the window, Ethan," Ryan commands, pointing his gun at him.

It feels like all of time has froze to Ethan. He freezes for a second, and slowly slides the window to a close. He was so close to making an escape but he waited just a second too long. Now he turns to face Ryan as he falls back onto the couch in defeat.

"Where's the girl?" He asks.

"Not here," Ethan replies, adverting his harsh glare.

Ryan steps closer to him, "I'm not in the mood for smart ass answers. Where is she?"

"A café, I don't know where, she didn't tell me," He answers honestly.

Before the three of them parted ways, Ethan made sure he didn't know where the other two were going. Fortunately, they thought of this situation and decided it was best for Ethan not to know in case he was asked.

"Alright, well if I can't go to her, we'll just have her come to us," He smirks.

"Ryan, why are you doing this?" Ethan asks.

"Don't you remember, Dolan? I told you if you told her about what happened, I'd make sure she wasn't a problem anymore," Ryan states.

"Does it really matter at this point? You've already gone to prison," He questions.

"Her fucking dad was the one who arrested me, you don't think your pretty little girl wouldn't tell him about the first time?" Ryan retorts.

"I never even told her about it," Ethan lies.

"Bullshit!" Ryan shouts, "Do you think I'm stupid?"

He wants to answer yes considering he's stupid enough to leave his location on, but he decides not to push it.

"I'm surprised you lasted two years, but you chose the wrong time to reconnect. Seriously? You came over to see her the same damn day I was released," Ryan says, still pointing the gun at Ethan.

Ethan doesn't know what to say at this point. He has no idea how he had the confidence to speak so malevolently to him.

"What do you say I call her? I bet she already ran to her daddy, we'll have to take care of that."

He pulls out his phone with one hand and taps a few buttons, putting the call on speaker for Ethan to hear. A few rings pass before he hears the call connect and he smiles maliciously.

"Hey bitch, I got your boy toy with me. Shouldn't have cried to your daddy," Ryan snarls.

A few seconds go by of silence before Emma speaks, "Don't hurt him."

"Let's make a deal. I'll let go of Ethan in return for you. Come by yourself," Ryan speaks.

"Okay, I'll do it."