| Ephemeral |

Three

Ethan's pov

I pressed on the controller repeatedly trying to take down Grayson's character. "Dude are you invincible or something?" I half yelled, still pressing the button.

"No you just can't aim." He replied bluntly, then his character killed mine swiftly. "Dude you definitely cheated." I groaned, tossing my controller to the side. 

"How long has it been since we've done this?" I asked out of nowhere. He looked at me, then back to the side. 

"Feels like forever, I guess." He shrugged, setting his controller down too. "We need to spend more time together man, I feel like we've grown apart lately," I said honestly. He looked as if he was about to laugh, probably because I sounded like a baby. I do miss him.

"Well, you're always in Alex's room, and I'm always halfway down a bottle." He smiled sarcastically before getting up and walking towards the door.

"Is this about Alex?" I asked suddenly before he got a chance to leave. "What?" He asked quickly. 

"This whole alcoholic, staying in my room and being an ass to everyone act?" I asked. He walked back into the room with a few swift steps.

"Maybe it's the fact that we don't even live in our house anymore. Maybe it's the fact that I witnessed a literal gang war. Or maybe that I saw Jordyn die right in front of my eyes, or that I saw you almost die in front of me." He said through clenched teeth. 

"Take your pick man. So if you want to say this whole 'act' is about Alex, sure. You can follow those lines of events straight back to her." He said coldly before turning towards the door, but he stopped, and so did I. Our eyes were met with a pair of saddened ones. 

Alex's pov

"I didn't want to tell you because it's not the whole story. I was trying to protect you." Theo explained from the other side of my door. 

"If you open the door I'll tell you the whole story. Please, Alex." I heard his pleading voice again, making me get up quickly and open the door.

"You have five minutes," I warned, letting him past me into my room. 

"Alex, yes I knew where your mom was. Larce trusted me enough to tell me." He started, already making my fingers curl into my fist. 

"Then tell me where she is so i can go get her." I pleaded, but his face changed a little. "What?" I asked slowly.

"If Ethan knows, that means Larce somehow told him. No one knew but me and him. So if Ethan now knows, you best believe she has already been moved to her next luxury." He responded, letting out a breath. He seemed angry, not at me, maybe her?

"I'm still waiting for an excuse on why you didn't tell me," I said, and he breathed in hard. "Alex, Larce wasn't forcing her to be anywhere. Yes, he provided safe houses and he encouraged her strongly to be there, but he by no means locked her anywhere." He responded, making me look to the side.

"So you're telling me that my mom willingly left to begin with, and could have come back home anytime, but hasn't?" I asked, to clarify. "But why?" I asked again. 

why would my own mother want to be away from me and her kids so badly? 

"Alex, she saw that you were a target. At first, she wanted to be back and stay with you, and be a mom. After she heard what happened to Ethan, and numerous others that you care about she saw that if she came home that would be her." He explained. I scoffed before standing up and began walking around my room. 

"So what you're saying is my mother didn't want to be around me cause she was concerned for her safety?" I asked, and he nodded.

"So that selfish bitch is hiding away in some spa resort no doubt, away from me, just so she can be quote on quote, safe?" I was just talking to myself at this point. 

"Theo I swear to any God in existence if you're lying to me-" I started walking in his direction but he stood up quickly and cut me off. "I'm not lying to you, I swear." He said quickly.

"I know you're upset with your mom right now, but we have more pressing matters at hand," He started, making me furrow my brows. 

"However Ethan found out, we can't deny the source it came from, which means.." Theo trailed off, his body getting stiff.

"Larce is still alive." I finished the sentence for him. I turned to walk out of my door before Theo's voice appeared again. "Where are you going?" He asked.

"For starters to see where Ethan got his information," I responded. "Are we cool though?" Theo asked, but I rolled my eyes. "Five minutes is up." I responded before walking towards Ethan's door.

I stopped abruptly when I heard a tense conversation between Ethan and someone else. I stood by the door and listened for a second. 

"Is this about Alex?" I heard Ethan's voice get louder. "What?" Grayson's voice fired back quickly. It was close to the door which made me back up a little.

"This whole alcoholic, staying in my room and being an ass to everyone act?" Ethan asked again, making me hold my breath for a second. With Grayson's temper, I'm not sure where this will go. 

"Maybe it's the fact that we don't even live in our house anymore. Maybe it's the fact that I witnessed a literal gang war. Or maybe that I saw Jordyn die right in front of my eyes, or that I saw you almost die in front of me." Grayson raised his voice at Ethan, making me stop and think to myself.

This really is my fault. I dragged all of them into this and now Grayson is a halfway alcoholic, and now apparently resents me for all of this. I stood where I was halfway in the doorway so I could see them. They both had a vein popping out of their necks, and it was visible how angry Grayson was. 

"Take your pick man. So if you want to say this whole 'act' is about Alex, sure. You can follow those lines of events straight back to her." I heard his voice sink lower, and I felt my eyes watering a little. 

He turned towards the door, making me forget I was visible. Their eyes met mine, but they held two different expressions.

"How long have you been standing there?" Ethan asked, bringing his hand to his hair. "Long enough," I responded quietly, mostly looking at Grayson. 

"Good, now you can stop asking what's wrong with me. Now you know." Grayson said quietly, before brushing shoulders with me and walking out. 

"Alex," Ethan started. I wiped my face with both of my hands quickly and cleared my throat. "We have some things to talk about, I'll get Theo to help me explain it to you." I spoke quickly.

"Look Grayson is-" He started again but I held my hand up. "Grayson was just being honest. I think a few people in this house could learn from him. Now let's go, we're wasting time." I responded, walking out of the door.

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How are you liking this new book so far?

I have a plan for this book, but for some reason I feel like you guys might be pissed at me if I continue with the plot I'm thinking lol.

Also, is this paragraph format 'annoying' to you guys? Someone commented that on the first book, if it is lmk and I'll change it. I just like this better, but idk.

Anyway, thanks for reading.

:))))