out of love | ethan dolan

THIRTY-SIX

The day I dreaded had finally come. The day that it was my turn with the baby. I really didn't want to take care of it, but whatever.

I heard a knock at my door and I opened it. As expected, it was Ricky. He looked like ass. "Damn, what happened to you?"

"Shh," he pointed to the baby. "There's a recorder in there and Mr. Palmer can hear when you curse-he'll take points off."

"Let me take her to my room." He nodded his head as I gently took her from his arms, allowing him to enter the house. I walked upstairs and laid the doll on my bed. I quickly ran back downstairs.

"Now, you asked what happened to me?" He shut my front door and I nodded. I sat on the couch and he joined me. "That baby cries like crazy."

"Well no kidding, it's a fake baby!" I exclaimed. He shook his head and began laughing.

"It cries at one to four in the morning. When you don't wake up and get her immediately, it gets louder!" He told me.

I sighed. "I don't want her anymore. You want to keep her?"

"No! I'm glad to get rid of her. These next two days are going to be amazing."

"Until you get her back after the days are over." He let out a long sigh and I laughed. "Maybe she's a mommy's girl." I joked.

"I can see why," he smiled. There was an awkward long silence. "I just mean you're probably a better caretaker than I am."

"That's probably not true, I'm sure you were amazing!"

"Thanks." Another awkward silence. I cleared my throat. "I want to apologize for when I was fifteen."

"It's okay, the past is the past and you can't change it."

"Yeah, but I wish I could. I liked you, blondie." Blondie. Definitely brought back a lot of memories. I felt my cheeks heat up. Not in a romantic type way, but a flattered way. "But I know I fucked it up by being a cringe fuckboy."

"Yeah, it was kinda cringe," I laughed. He joined in on the laughter. "But I'm over it now. You've got to move on some day."

He frowned. "Well, you don't have to." I raised my eyebrows. I quickly realized what he meant when you smashed his lips against mine.

I didn't kiss back but I didn't pull away. Finally, I pushed him off. "Ricky, I think you should go." Oh, my Gosh!

I didn't even look at him in the eyes. "Paisley, I'm sorry. The way you were talking to me.. I-I thought you liked me still."

"I'm dating Ethan!" I shouted. I gained the courage to look at him. He looked like he had no regrets when he laughed.

He shrugged his shoulders. "If you're dating someone, why would you put off signs that you're interested in me?"

"I did not! I was just talking to you. You call that 'putting off signs'?" I asked. He sighed.

"I'm sorry. Good luck with the baby and your boyfriend." He said as he exited my house. How was I supposed to tell Ethan? I should've pulled away sooner. But I didn't kiss back. Did I cheat on him?! I felt disgusting-sick to my stomach even!

I could not keep this from Ethan. If he found out any other way, he'd think I'd kissed him back probably.

My hands were shaking as I picked up my phone. I called Ethan and he answered. "What it do, baby?"

I smiled to myself. He sounded so happy. I knew that'd change in the matter of ten minutes or less. "Come over? It's urgent."

"Sure. On my way," he told me as he ended the call. My stomach was in knots as I waited for his arrival.