accomplice | ethan dolan

eight

ethan

"ethan!" grayson calls me back just as i'm about to leave, "i'm coming with you"

"why?"

"zack text me. he wants to talk to us" he shrugs as we get into my car.

"talk to us about what?"

"i don't know, he said he'd explain in person. must be something about a job"

the drive to zack's house feels a lot longer than usual, because for the whole ride i've been thinking about what I'm going to say to jade.

i don't even know if i should say anything to her, but before i can even start a new debate in my head, we arrive at her house.

"what are you going to say to jade?" grayson asks.

"i don't know" i sigh, "i think i'll just leave it"

"no, you should definitely talk to her" he says as we're walking into the house.

"who's the lucky girl?" noah asks bluntly after hearing the end of our conversation, while sitting at the bottom of the stairs.

i have a feeling he knows who we're talking about, but for her sake, i hope he doesn't.

"where's zack?" i ask him, ignoring his question.

"kitchen!" zack yells from the back of the house.

"i'm warning you dolan, stay away from her" noah mutters as he follows me into the kitchen.

"no i'm warning you" i snap, before grabbing the collar of his shirt and slamming his back into the wall, "lay one more fucking finger on her and i swear-"

"what's going on?" zack pulls me off him and pushes me back to grayson, who grabs on to my wrist.

"don't make a scene bro, it'll piss her off" grayson whispers and lets go of my wrist once i've calmed down.

"what's going on?" zack asks again, looking between the three of us for an explanation.

"nothing" noah mumbles under his breath, intimidated by zack, as usual. Bitch.

"whatever it was, forget it. our next few jobs are very important and i'm not having some stupid fight getting in the way" zack warns as we follow him into the kitchen.

"who are the jobs for?" grayson asks but i've already lost interest as my eyes meet hers.

noah glares at me from across the room but i pay no attention to it, because jade's eyes are staring deeply into mine. she looks uncomfortable as he wraps an arm around her and pulls her closer to him.

"ethan, what do you think?" zack's question pulls me back to reality.

"about what?"

"the bank"

"the bank?" i ask, completely lost.

"we're robbing a bank" jade speaks for him, once again her eyes meeting mine.

"for who?"

"for us. we're not working for other people anymore. that jewellery store heist was easy for us so we're going to hit a few banks for ourselves, make enough money and go clean" zack explains.

"sounds good" i shrug, "but why the sudden change of heart?"

"jade was put into danger with diego. she wasn't involved in any of this but she still wasn't safe. that's what made me realise as long as i'm in this life, so is she. we're going to hit three or four banks then i'm going clean, but the rest of you are free to do whatever you want"

"when's our first job?" grayson asks.

"two weeks from now"

-

"i need to talk to you" i finally find jade alone in her backyard. she's sitting on the edge of the pool with her feet in it, looking beautiful as always.

"no you don't. noah's inside"

"zack sent him out to get dinner, he was pissing everyone off" i scoff, sitting down beside her.

"he won't be long. what do you need to talk about?" she looks at me concerned.

"hey" I whisper, taking her hand in mine, "you don't have anything to worry about. i won't let him hurt you"

the fear in her eyes fills me up with rage. she's terrified of her own boyfriend and it makes me sick.

"you're not always here" she mumbles, pulling her hand out of mine.

"i could be"

"i think you should go back inside" she gulps.

"i just need to tell you something first"

"don't say it"

"i like you a lot jade. i don't know what that means to you and honestly, i don't know what that means to me but fuck i can't stop thinking about you- about us"

"it's not that simple" she shakes her head, staring into the pool.

"yes it is"

"i love noah"

"i'm not doing this again" i sigh.

"well then don't" her voice cracks.

"jade-"

"i'm not entertaining this, my boyfriend's going to be home soon" she takes her feet out of the pool and stands up to leave.

"you're terrified of him" i scoff.

"no. i love him"

"whatever" i mutter before she goes back inside, leaving me alone with my thoughts.