lemonade | ethan

forty one

SERIOUS QUESTION: how do you guys feel about smut? does it make you uncomfortable or do you want to see it in this book? lmk! thanks.

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devon's pov

upon waking up, a feel the end of my bed shift like someone was sitting there. i open my eyes slightly to see my mom staring directly at me. i jumped, feeling alarmed. "what the hell, mom."

"devon..." she calmly says. "it's noon! wake up, already." she yells, throwing one of my pillows at me. "i invited the millers over for a late lunch. i had to set it up at one since i knew you'd be sleeping at twelve still."

i mentally rolled my eyes. why, God? why me? "what's the occasion?" i asked, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

she shrugged. "what? we're all friends here. it's just lunch, hon. now get ready."

what i thought was going to be a regular lunch, like we'd always have before i met ethan, turned out to be a complete ambush from mrs miller and my mother.

when they first arrived, everything was alright aside from clayton and i being totally distant. but once we all sat down at our dining table, my parents, well, my mom in particular would not stop talking about my relationship with clayton.

not only did it piss me off, but i could tell it was making clayton uncomfortable which pissed me off even more. i still cared about him and seeing this conversation make him uneasy made me angry at the moms.

before you know it, they're already planning our wedding without our say in anything. "lavender and white would be a perfect color scheme, don't you think honey?" my mom adds to mrs miller's thoughts on the location of a mansion venue.

i know my mom was doing this in attempt to get me to forget about my relationship with a south sider. but she didn't know or understand any of it.

i looked at clayton, and i suddenly knew that unlike my mom and his, he understood what that relationship meant.

i mean, they don't even know that clayton and i are not even together anymore. i had to tell them. this was driving me crazy. "mom, mrs miller; i appreciate your thought in this whole scenario, but i think i should tell you that clayton and i are no longer an item."

mrs miller portrayed a look of shock, as well as her husband. "what? when were you going to tell us, clayton?" his mother asks him.

he sighs, rubbing his temples. he was so stressed. but i honestly didn't know if his stress was from this conversation or from something aside from that. "i didn't want for you guys to find out this way." he simply explains.

"well, how long were you two going to keep it a secret?" my mom butts in.

i look at my dad for his reaction in this entire conversation to see him completely unbothered like he knew the entire time, while peacefully eating his salad.

"we thought you knew?" i sheepishly say, attempting to lie. they were our number one supporters in our relationship. they thought we'd last forever but things change. i knew if we told them, they'd be so disappointed and i was right.

my mom shakes her head. "i don't understand you, devon. how could you break up with clayton? that boy has been nothing but kind to you." it's like she completely forgot about the charity event where clayton said mean things about me in front of the entire town.

"i—" i was about to defend myself against her words but clayton interrupts me.

"she had a good reason, mrs wu." he explains. "i cheated on her. she had every right to break up with me." he says, sadness laced in his voice.

mrs miller gasps, and my eyes widen. i thought it was just a rumor.

looking at my dad once more, i notice he's sipping his wine as he watches everything play out from the brim of the glass. typical. i love him.

"clayton!" his dad scolds. "i can't believe you'd do that! that's not like us miller's at all!"

clayton nods, sitting there awkwardly, not really sure how to respond to his father. "excuse us." i say, smiling in attempt to lighten the very dull mood. i pull clayton from his chair and drag him upstairs into my bedroom.

i shut the door behind us. "why'd you tell them you cheated?"

he sits himself on the edge of my bed, shrugging. "they won't stop nagging us until we give them a good enough reason to stop doing this." he explains. "i know how much you don't want this," he motions between us, "so i did something."

"but... you shouldn't have lied." i tell him, sitting down next to him and placing my hand on his shoulder for comfort.

he stands up abruptly, breaking contact with me. "i didn't, dev. i did cheat." he sighs, pacing across the room, stressed.

i watch as he moves back and forth. "i'm sorry, i really am. i never meant to do this to you. it's just that...."

as he walks past me, i hold onto his hand to stop him from pacing anymore. "hey... it's okay." i tell him in attempt to calm him down. "we fell out of love long before that summer. we were just dragging this relationship for years because it defined us."

"never again." i say, pulling him to sit next to me once more. "besides, i think we're better as friends anyway. even if you hate the south siders." i tell him, nudging him on the shoulder.

he shrugged. "well, i don't hate them, per say. i mean, sonny's pretty cool."

i chuckled. "i'm so glad you think so. you should hang out with us more often."

he's quiet for a minute before sighing. "devon..." he says. "i should tell you something that you deserve to know."

i didn't respond, awaiting what he had to say. "i didn't tell anyone i slept with someone else at church camp. i mean, i told maya, but i was naive to think she wouldn't say anything to anyone." he says. "i just needed a friend to rant to, and you were busy going through your change..."

"anyway, um..." he shakes his head before hanging it low as he rubbed his temples. "i didn't tell anyone because the person i slept with was...."

"it was...."

i hold onto his hand after noticing how badly he was shaking. "you can tell me, clay. i'm here for you." it hurt me seeing him so shaken up, so vulnerable and so ready to crack.

he grips my hand, using his free one to cover his eyes. he was crying. with every sob, my heart broke.

he sighs, collecting himself after awhile.

"because... it was a guy."

END OF CHAPTER FORTY ONE

SHIT YALL i told y'all plot twists were going to happen! ahhh!!!

clayton, don't worry babe i love you no matter what.

claytons character development is improving too. i mean, he defended devon in front of his mom and hers. he only cheated because he fell out of love with devon and found out what he really wanted. he doesn't really hate south siders anymore?

you know what, clayton isn't really there yet, but something tells me he will be... i hope.

anyway, peace y'all! see ya later :)))