Be My Addiction

10 • Party Invitation

Eugene

A few days have passed since the last time me and Ethan went to the park. We have been hanging out a lot more and I've come to enjoy his company, even if he's grouchy and sarcastic most of the time.

I've noticed Ethan has these moments where he acts extremely skittish or aggravated even over simple things. I've also noticed that sometimes his skin is overly pale and he shakes. Now, it's in the middle of summer, so is it possible he's cold?

Not likely.

There's times where I just want to pull Ethan off to the side and ask him what's wrong. What's going on with him? Does he have some sort of condition? Is it a chemical imbalance or is he not eating enough?

I don't think he'll tell me at least not right now.

Sure, we've hung out but we haven't actually had any heart to hearts. We haven't talked about things like the car accident or his brother and I know he's mostly avoiding those conversations. That might be why he enjoys hanging out with me so much. 

I haven't asked him yet. I want to but I'm not going to unless he's ready. Unless he's willing to share, before I have to ask.

I'm not willing to push the boundaries for our growing friendship. First I need Ethan to trust me and consider me a friend because I want to consider him a friend in return. I figured the only way to do that is to introduce him to my friend group. Maybe if he makes more friends with people who I hang out with, he might feel like he belongs around me.

We've already finished the project but I somehow managed to convince him to meet me at a restaurant, with a group of my friends and Veronica.

They all accepted him fairly well, but I knew Veronica was a bit jealous of me paying more attention to Ethan - introducing him to people, of course - than her. That's understandable though because I haven't been paying enough attention to her. To make it up, I planned a simple date for Wednesday night.

After the pleasant dinner, I offered to give everyone a ride home. Most of the guys drove here, themselves, so they all drove off in their cars. That just left Ethan, Veronica, and I.

Veronica seemed a little upset that we didn't have the car to ourselves, but she was generally okay with it considering her house was only a few minutes from the restaurant. I was excited to have Ethan in the car. Now, I could find out where he lives so he didn't have to walk home all the time.
 
Of course when approaching the car, Ethan seemed to slow as he looked over the machine. I only just now realized why he walked and I feel stupid for not realizing what the problem was.

Ethan was in a car accident. 

He was in a car, when his brother died.

Ethan was scared of cars.

"Eugene you fool" I muttered under my breath and walked over. His eyes gazed at me and I offered a smile "hey... I know you probably don't want to be in a car but if you want, I can drop Veronica off and come get you and we can walk home."

He seemed almost relieved and surprised by my offer but shook his head "no. I'm ok. It just has been a while" he chuckled though I could tell it wasn't genuine. Either way, he got in the car and buckled.

And I was proud of him for doing it, even if he was scared.

We soon got situated and I drove Veronica to her house. We kissed, leaning across the console before she got out and headed into her house.

I could feel Ethan's eyes on me but I didn't sense any judgment from the PDA. He was simply observing. 

Glancing through the mirror, I smiled lightly and he returned a small one "Address?" 

Ethan gave me the address to his house and I began driving there "So... what do your parents do?" I needed to get him to talk. The silence was killing me.

Ethan shrugged and lay his head against the door, closing his eyes. I could tell he was holding onto the seatbelt but he didn't seem to be distressed "My family works in accounting which means they work a lot."

Does that mean he's alone a lot? Why would they leave him alone at a time like this?

I shook my head lightly and held back a sigh. He probably didn't want me to talk about his family.

It bothered me though. Ethan must have a lot of downtime if he only spent time with me. Maybe I could fix that "There's a party... it's Saturday and I think you would enjoy it"

I could see the spot between his eyebrows crease "I'm not a party fan."

I frowned and puffed out my lips into a pout. He seemed to be amused by my expression because he quirks a smirk. "Come on.. please? You don't have to drink. Everyone you met tonight will be there so you won't be alone..?" I pleaded and to my luck, I could see Ethan slump in defeat. 

You won't believe how much of a person you can see, even from a glance to the mirror. 

Ethan sighed and rolled his eyes again "Fine. But if I don't like it, I am leaving" At his words, I couldn't help my smile. 

Soon we arrived at his house and he said a quick parting before slipping in through his front door. 

I was unbelievably excited for this week.