lemonade | ethan

thirty five

i hear the sound of cars honking, new yorkers yelling, tires screeching, laughter, whistles, cries. the simple yet complicated life in new york intrigues me. still, i can't wrap around my head why all my friends wanted to sleep when new york at night is just as magical.

"so..." i hear from behind me. my glance from the large window to behind me. "i can take the couch if you'd like?" he says.

upon entering that door to our airbnb earlier today, i had to mentally prepare myself for when maya had to tell me i'd be rooming with ethan. obviously i knew this the moment they had mentioned it would be two to a room.

the rooming was complicated. i wanted to room with maya, but maya wouldn't let clayton and ethan room together considering their history. she offered for me to room with clayton, but i obviously passed that offer.

"whats the worse that could happen? besides, don't you like him?" maya asks me.

i furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "i thought you didn't like the idea of ethan and i?"

"no, hon. i don't hate the idea of you and ethan. i hate the idea of ruby." she shrugs before looking around. "that manipulative bitch isn't here. do as you please with your man tonight. hell, take him out to dinner at two in the morning, i don't know."

"no, eth. it's okay. you can have the bed. it's really no problem." i tell him. there was a couch in our room at the end of the bed. i sighed, getting up from sitting on the ground. i throw the pillows off the couch and across the room.

he chuckles. "dev, are you serious?" he asks, watching as i threw a blanket onto the couch.

i sighed, my hands on my hips. "no, i'm hungry." i complain. i gasp, "let's go somewhere."

"what?" he asks in confusion. "it's midnight and freezing. i'm tired."

i shake my head. "you're no fun."

of course he wouldn't want to hang out alone with you, devon. but yes, i guess i was just doing this to clear the air. we are sleeping together, so i thought, why the fuck not?

i slip my jacket on before putting on a beanie. "wait, where are you going?" ethan asks.

"hey, a girls gotta eat." i say, putting my hands up in defense. come on, ethan. i wanted to hang with you, but if you aren't down, i'm still going anyways.

he sighs, slipping on his shoes before his jacket. "you aren't going out alone." he tells me, concerned. "it's dangerous."

with my hand on the door knob, i reply: "i knew you wanted to secretly hang out with me, dolan."

"in your dreams." he chuckles before following me out the door.

LEMONADE

we escape the cold, entering a local restaurant in the hidden parts of manhattan. the neon sign aluminates red, the light reflecting off us. it was fairly empty. a lone man sits in the corner, eating his food with his head hung low. an elderly couple sits alone, eating peacefully.

"why don't we get like, new york pizza or something?" ethan asks. "this place freaks me out."

it was dull, but i remembered it to be full of life when i was a kid. "i used to come here often when i was little. i really liked it. you can't just eat pizza all the time, you know. you need to experience other food." plus the food was amazing.

he sighs. "i don't know the first thing about korean food, dev."

"you have korean friends, ethan." i say in a duh tone.