PEACH PIT :: ETHAN DOLAN

QUATRE

Alondra leaned her head against Ethan's shoulder in the booth of the restaurant, letting out a groan. "I cannot do dessert. I severely misjudged how much pasta I could eat."

"You do this all the time, Lon," Grayson laughs, picking up the dessert menu. "And you're gonna regret not getting dessert the second anyone else does, just like always. So split a lava cake with me?"

"...yeah, obviously," she nods. "You guys want anything?"

Phoenix lets out a sigh, shaking her head. "I think I need to step outside for some air, actually," she glances to Ethan, making sure he knows. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Phoenix..." Grayson says slowly, a frown on his face. "Are you okay? Should one of us come with you?"

"I'm not going to-Gray, I'm fine."

"I'll go with her," Ethan insists, sliding out of the booth. "You okay with that, Nix?" She nods, a soft smile coming up on her lips. It worked out better than she was expecting, with Alondra and Grayson letting them walk right out of the restaurant. "How ya feel?"

"We're not talking about this anymore today," Phoenix snorts. She'd had enough of the attention on her, on how she was feeling after fainting. "How have you been? I know you weren't in a good place when you left."

Ethan shrugs as they walk. "I don't know, I was doing really good for a while. Today's just been... a lot."

"We're all really happy to see you back, y'know," she tells him with another smile. "Even if I was a little mad at first. There was just-I wished you were here for a lot of stuff over the summer. But hey, we still have a few weeks."

Ethan wished he was there too. There was so much they did that he didn't experience with them, moments he would never get. But dwelling on that wouldn't change anything, and he still knew he needed the time away. It was good for him, he kept telling himself that.

He could look at both of them now without being filled with hurt. It didn't stir up confused feelings or heartbreak. He didn't feel obligated to drop everything to give them whatever they wanted.

They were no longer consuming him and every piece of his existence.

Alondra and Phoenix were over everything too. With Ethan gone, it was a lot easier for them to move on with everything. They still would've preferred if he stayed.

When dessert arrived, Ethan and Phoenix hadn't returned.

"They fucking ditched us," Alondra groans.

"Oh c'mon, maybe they're just talking. They were the closest, and they're both having tough days," Grayson defends, but he's not quite sure if he believes that himself. "Or, y'know, maybe they're making out."

She cocks an eyebrow, letting her arms cross over her chest and her lips pout. "Gross." They wouldn't actually be jumping at each other on Ethan's first back, would they? "I think they just left, dude."

"Alondra you don't-do you still have feelings for Ethan?"

"What? No?" She scoffs. Grayson saw her pout, and wanted to check. "I'm just annoyed they left us. I mean, we missed Ethan too. And Phoenix is our friend now, we don't all have to hangout separately."

He just shrugs and reaches for a spoon to dig into the lava cake, thrusting one into her hand. "I love Ethan, but I don't think he's fully back. Give him some time to adjust."

Ethan was back physically, sure. But mentally, he didn't seem all there. Most of the day he'd been up in his head-more than usual.

Alondra frowned and took a bite, still annoyed and even a bit disappointed they'd left. But then she looked up at Grayson, who was copying her pout mockingly. "Stop it!" She laughs, slapping his arm.