Let Yourself Fall // sequel to My Ethan Karpathy

Chapter 41.

PAISLEYS POV:

I change into a casual white dress with a brown belt then grab my phone, purse and stuff them into my bag. I slip on my brown flats and head down the stairs. I exit out the side door and sit down on the grass against the fence. I look up at the night sky and see a shooting star. This is fate, I swear. Ethan's coming and there's a shooting star. And yep, I'm thinking of Ethan.I don't know how long I was sitting there, but I was enjoying watching the sky anyway. I hear my phone buzz and check to see it was Jai. I can now hear voices coming up the driveway- Ethan's voice.

"I know man, I know." Ethan laughs. I miss this laugh. Maybe they are telling the truth, I think she really is his cousin. Chris told me that Holly isn't here for another few days. I wonder if we can get this drama sorted before she comes back?The voices disappear into the house and I hear footsteps coming towards the gate. I open it so I am face to face with Jai.

"I'm sorry, you look cute. Cmon." Jai says, offering me his hand.

I know what it sounds like. I know it sounds like I'm getting with Jai again, but I'm not. We are just so close now that we can do this stuff without any romantic or sexual feelings. We could hug, kiss, fuck- even though we won't- whenever we wanted and there would still be no feelings attached. We're just best friends, and that's all we will ever be now. Jai walks me down the street and leads me into a little cafe. It's one of those olden style cafes with wooden benches and tables all lined up against the walls. There are pieces of artwork hanging in large frames over the walls which were covered in black and white striped wallpaper.

"May I help you?" A young women asks, emerging from behind the counter.

"Two hot chocolates." Jai orders for us. Jai knows me. The lady leads us over to a small, two seater table against the side wall. There was only two other people in the shop, and there were on the complete other side.

"Thanks, Linda." Jai says. She gives him a confused stare.

"How'd you know my name?" She asks, slightly creeped out.

"It's on your badge." Jai smirks. Linda just walks away with an amused look on her face.

It's only a few minutes before she comes out with our hot chocolate. She places the steaming mugs on the table in front of us and I see there's two marshmallows in them. That's adorable. Jai and I sit there for a very long time, just talking and enjoying each other's company. When we finished our hot chocolate, we would just keep ordering more. Jai's phone must've gone off because he tilts the screen up so he can see it. He reads something quickly and types a one word reply.

"Alright, we can go home now."

"Yep, before I can drink any more" I say, getting out my purse to pay for my drinks, but Jai places one hand on my arm to tell me to stop.

"Jai." I warn, giving him 'that' stare telling him he isn't paying for me.

"Paisley, I am famous. I have more money than I need. Let me pay. Plus, it's my fault we had to go out." He says, rushing to the counter and starting to talk to the man there before I could stop him. A few minutes later, I give Jai a little playful glare as we walk out of the shop and back down to Grace's house. When we arrive, Chris, Brai, Cat and Grace are already at the door, waiting for us.

"Hey," they all greet as we walk in.

"Hey," we both reply.

"Alright, so what are we going to do for the next hour or so?" Chris asks.

"Really, Chris? It's like 11:30?" Grace replies, looking up at him.

"Oh, I'm sorry, baby. If you're tired." Chris apologises.

"Bed time? We can talk in there until we fall asleep." Jai states.

"Yeah." I agree. Cat and Brai nod their heads so we head off to get ready for bed. I really miss Ethan. I mean, falling asleep in Jai's arms is good I guess- at least it's someone's, but they're not Ethan's. It's not the same. I want to go running back to him, but I'm going to make him earn it. I think we need a break, we've been going too hard, too long.

"You alright?" Jai asks, noticing my sad and thinking face.

"Yeah, just thinking." I sigh.

"Need to share..?" He asks.

"No." I reply simply. He just shrugs and walks away so I take my pyjamas and walk into the bathroom. I quickly change my shorts and take my top off, but before I can slide my other top on, the door swings open, revealing a really embarrassed Brai.

"Oh, um, I- I'm sorry." Brai stutters. I can see him looking me up and down, checking me out, but I choose to ignore it. He suddenly snaps out of it and turns away. He starts to walk off, a huge blush creeping up over his face. He shuts the door and I hear rapid footsteps running away. That was weird. I quickly change my top over and walk back into the room. At first, Brai was a little uncomfortable but he totally forgot all about it.

"I'm sleeping now." I announce with a big yawn.

"Night," everyone says as I crawl into bed.

The rest of them all sit at the end of their mattress, so their kind of in a circle. Chris and Grace just lean against their bed and complete the circle. They start talking about all kinds of things. At first I listen, but then I start to drift off. Just as I was about to fall asleep, I hear something that catches my attention.

"Is she asleep?" Chris whispers.

"Yeah, I think so." Jai replies in the same hushed tone.

"Okay, guys, how are we going to convince her he didn't cheat on her? They need to be together. He wouldn't ever cheat on her, he really does love her. He's all alone in that house." Chris whispers.

"Well, now we've seen the messages, I know he wasn't lying. She is definitely his cousin, but she's just not believing it." Brai answers.

"Ethan told me to try and tell her, but I'm scared she will yell at me or something." Jai states.

"We just need to get them back to each other or they will both end up hurt." grace says.

"We will make it happen, we need to make it happen. Before he tries again." someone says, but I can't work out who because I fall asleep.