PEACH :: ETHAN DOLAN

ONZE

"E!" Grayson's voice bellowed, swinging Ethan's bedroom door open. "Mom asked us to run to the store."

"Can't you fucking do it alone?" Ethan mutters from his spot in bed. "Why do both of us need to go? It's the grocery store, it doesn't have to be a fucking team effort."

Rolling his eyes, Grayson flicks his brother in the ear. "Because she said so. Now get your ass up and in the car."

Ethan groans and throws a pillow at him when he leaves, but still climbs out of bed. He hasn't done his laundry in... way too long, so despite the warmer weather, he pulls a hoodie on.

His hair, which is a goddamn mess and needs to be washed, he gives up on. Instead he tucks it away under a beanie and pulls his hood up.

It was Sunday, so he'd do all that later--or at least shower and beg his mom to do his laundry for him. He definitely wasn't making progress on the pile of homework he had though.

Climbing into the passenger seat, he slammed the door shut and leaned his head against the window. The second they drive off, Grayson glances toward him.

"I think we need to talk," he sighs.

Ethan whips his head to face him, "is this a fucking intervention?"

"Call it that if you want, but you gotta tell me what's going on, dude." They weren't asked to go to the store. Grayson just had to get him somewhere he couldn't run away from. "Marcy said Alondra won't talk about it either. What happened with you guys?"

"Why don't you and your girlfriend learn to just mind your business?" Ethan hisses, crossing his arms.

"We're not--that's not what this is about," he says, shaking his head. He knew Ethan was lashing out, so he'd been letting all of his snide comments slip. "You've been upset for weeks now. It's like you got cheated on all over again."

Grumbling, he faces the window once more. "I like her."

Grayson stifles a laugh, trying to take his brothers problems seriously. "What's so bad about that?"

"The problem, Grayson, is that she doesn't feel the same way. My dumbass starting falling for a girl who probably sees me like a brother." Every time he has to admit it out loud, it reopens the wound. "And now she wants space, so we haven't been talking."

"Falling for her? It was that serious?" He splutters, taking his eyes off the road for just a second to look over at Ethan. He just huffs.

"Yeah, it is pretty serious."

If he was being honest, even with the space, with how upset he was not seeing her, his feelings felt like they were still getting more intense. That was sure to be a problem, because they weren't going away like he hoped he could make them. He was only starting to fall deeper.

Ethan couldn't help but think maybe if he realized how he felt sooner, things might be different. Maybe she would've felt the same, or if they weren't as serious he wouldn't hurt so much.

Or even just that day, after he kissed her, maybe he should've just let her speak first. But no, he had to blab and confess how he felt.

Now Alondra was getting on with her life without him. They fucking graduate in less than two months, and he had lost everyone this year.

"Why does she need space?" Grayson asks after a moment. "If she knows she doesn't like you back, what's the space for?"

"I think she just wants us to drift," he mumbles. "It's easier to ask for space than to cut me off."