perfectly wrong | ethma

eighteen

my phone dinging uncontrollably wakes me up. i look at the time. two am? can i get a good nights sleep. i try to ignore the sounds, but it keeps going off.

i reach for my phone and the bright screen burns my eyes. i have so many texts from jen and ethan telling me they need me.

jen: emma can you pls come over to graysons house rn???

jen: EMMA PLEASE

jen: please emma, we need you !!!!

ethan: grayson is freaking out. please come over

ethan: emma???

i throw on a hoodie, grab my keys, and slip on some shoes and leave my house. i text my mom to let her know where i'm going just in case.

emma: going to graysons house. something is wrong idk what it is, but i have to be there. sorry

i'm driving faster than normal to reach their house. normally the drive is ten minutes, but i made it in six. the lights are all turned on and i can hear the yelling from outside.

i edit my car and rush to the front door and let myself in. the house was a mess. pictures were broken, plants on the floor, chairs knocked over. it's a horrific sight.

ethan comes in from the back door. he spots me and his eyes lighten.

"what's going on? where is he?" i ask ethan urgently.

he points to the backyard. i rush past him and open up the back doors. jen was sitting down crying as grayson drank from a bottle.

"gray?" i ask softly as i approach him slowly.

his head lifts up, his eyes red from crying i assume. he gives a sloppy smile and stumbles. "emma! you came!"

"of course i came," i reach him. "what's wrong?"

he laughs. "where the fuck do i start?" he yells.

"shh, grayson. tell me calmly about what happened." i try to reason with him. i get closer to him and he backs away.

he points to jen. "she shows up out of nowhere and decides to tell me she's in love with me when she starts to see i'm finally healing! she goes 'oh grayson baby, i love you so much. i only almost slept with your brother and ruined his new relationship because i was scared. oh i was so scared'" he mocks jen.

i look over at her and she covers her face, sobbing. she told him how she felt. this should be amazing news for him. there has to be something else.

"did anything else happen?" i ask.

he takes another drink. he nods his head and scoffs. "yeah, my dad's dead."

i freeze in place. his dad... their dad is... dead? this makes more sense. tears form in my eyes. he was like a second father to me as i grew up. he watched me grow up throughout the years and was my support system.

"oh, grayson." i touch his arm. a tear rolls down my face and i wipe it away as quick as i can. i sniffle a bit and grab the bottle. he still has a firm grip on it. "you've had enough." i say.

"oh, have i?" he throws the bottle on the ground and glass shatters everywhere. jen lets out a scream.

"grayson!" she yells from her spot. she suddenly stands up and walks towards him, he stumbles back.

"it's fine," i crouch down to pick up the broken pieces. i pick up the large chunks and make sure not to cut myself.

"emma, stop." grayson says. "don't do that. i made the mess, let me pick it up."

i lose my balance from crouching and my hand lands in the pile of glass. "ouch!" i mumble.

ethan emerges from inside. "emma?" he shouts. "are you okay?"

he reaches me and kneels down. he grabs my hand. "you're bleeding." he says. he turns towards grayson. "grayson, i love you, but you're so drunk right now and you need to go to bed." he helps me up and walks me inside.

i lean against the counter as ethan picks out the pieces of glass with tweezers. he runs my hand under water, pours some rubbing alcohol over it, and wraps it up. the cut wasn't deep and the bleeding stopped easily.

"all fixed!" he tried his best to smile.

"aw, my hero!" i jokingly say as i throw my arms around his neck. i kiss his cheek and pull away.

his smile was gone and he refused to make eye contact.

"hey," i place my hand on his cheek. i play with his messy hair and smile lightly. "he didn't mean for it to happen, okay? i'm fine."

he nods and kissed my hand. my heart races.

"are you?"

he nods. "i'm not the one that cut their hand tonight because a drunk threw a glass bottle on the floor."

"i mean, with everything that's going on. your dad, e." i looks into his eyes with empathy.

he shrugs. "i guess it hadn't really hit yet. it doesn't really feel real. like," he sighs. "i think he's going to walk in that door any minute with a smile on his face and apologize for coming home so late."

i nod my head. the best i can do right now is listen to him.

"i don't want it to be real. i would do anything for it not to be real." he says.

"come here," i pull him close for a hug. we embrace eachother for what seems like years. "you tired?"

he nods his head. "let's go to bed," i walk towards his room and hold my hand out for him to take.

his hand holds mine as we walk up the stairs together to his bed. i throw off my shoes and crawl under his sheets next to him.

he throws his arm over me and pulls me close.

—

i was drifting to sleep. it was nearly five am. ethan and i were talking for a couple hours until he went quiet. the best i could do is be here for him.

i feel his head move towards mine. "thank you," he whispers in my ear. "for everything." he kisses my cheek and drifts off to sleep.