two doors down (e.d.)

chapter thirty-one

ethan~

riley: ethan
riley: ethan please answer me
riley: come to my dorm immediately

i furrow my brows, confused, but i walk to her dorm anyway.

i knock on her door and it swings open immediately.

riley's eyes are wide and pleading, almost.

i give her a "wtf?" look and she motions behind her.

sitting on her futon eating pizza is quinn.

what?!

"hey," i step in the room, gently nudging riley out of the way, "quinn right?"

"yep!" he smiles and takes another bite of his pepperoni slice.

"so uh, what're you doing here?"

"just came to visit! thought riley might be hungry so i brought some pizza."

"isn't that nice?" a voice from above me says. i glance up and see elanor sitting in her bed, eating a slice.

"yeah?" i say with uncertainty, "how did you even find her dorm, quinn?"

"i asked the dorm administrators," he shrugs

"they don't just give out information like that." riley answers coldly.

"okay so i payed them, alright?" quinn laughs and relaxes into the couch

i look at riley and we talk with our eyes.

save me please from this psychopath

just a second.

"so riley and i actually have a study date tonight," i say, "and i'm sorry, but threes a crowd."

"actually there's four of us, so we all have a partner!" quinn says, "i call riley."

is this even real?

i feel like i'm in a movie.

this can't be actually coming out of this dude's mouth.

"quinn, i'm sorry but i'm going to have to ask you to leave. thank you for the pizza! it was very nice of you." riley says in her sweetest voice.

he looks taken aback, and like he's about to argue, but i raises my eyebrows and straighten up.

he sighs and says, "see you soon."

what. the. hell.

"talk about creepy," riley gags once he's shut the door.

"why did you let him in?"

"i don't like to be mean, ethan." she raises her voice a little, so i decide to back down.

"that's understandable, but when he's this creepy, you need to stop it."

"i know." she sighs, "to change the subject, we still haven't talked to wyatt."

"i'll get to it," i shift uncomfortably.

"are you scared?" she teases, a laugh hidden in her voice.

"no," i scoff, "i just haven't seen him."

"it's not like you have to ask permission or anything. i'm an adult."

"and i'm almost 20," i say

"so i've been told." she rolls her eyes

i've talked about turning 20 a lot.

"should we go talk to wyatt now?" i ask

"can i just like... text him?" she sighs

"that's informal."

"i know. let's go."

she grabs one of my hoodies off her dresser and slides it on with a small smile. it's my pink one.

"nice choice," i say, "maybe i can have it back when you're done?"

"funny, dolan." she laughs and closes the door behind us.

we pass by a few of my friends in the hallway and we either nod our heads or high five.

"wow didn't know you were so popular," riley teases

"i was a king before you came along."

"why aren't you anymore?"

"because i met my queen."

"aw," she pouts, "that's cute. still kind of cringe."

"i tried something new," i shrug

we get to wyatt's door and riley knocks nervously.

"it's open!" wyatt shouts

riley slowly opens the door and i file in after her. wyatt looks up from his movie and his eyes flick between the two of us.

"hi," he says, "you guys talked?"

"yeah," riley half smiles, "we did. about a lot of things."

"so...?" he asks, waiting for the impact of the answer.

"well," i say, grabbing his desk chair and letting riley sit in it, "let's explain."

"so i know you're not thrilled with us. like at all." riley starts

"and we know it's not really fair to you..."

"... but i- we want to be together."

he sighs and stares at us for a little bit.

after the moments go by, he shakes his head slightly as he answers, "if it's what makes you both happy."

"seriously?" riley exclaims, face lighting up.

"... yes." wyatt hesitates with a pained look.

i give him an appreciative nod as riley laughs her nerves away.

"so like, it's real? it's a thing?" wyatt asks

"yes." we answer at the same time and smile at each other.

"okay," wyatt holds up his hand, "if i'm going to be cool with this then you can't do that around me, okay?"

"deal." we say again.

perfect match.