Let Yourself Fall // sequel to My Ethan Karpathy

Chapter 92.

BRAIS POV:

The last few days have been lazy but fun. We haven't done much, but I'm pretty certain Paisley is happier. It's kind of good, we are getting a lot closer as friends. I'm trying to get my mind away from trying anything on her, but I know deep down I still like her. I hear the front door click so I know mums gone. It's Saturday, so I don't know where she's going. I'm waiting for Paisley to get up, but I'm getting bored. There's nothing on TV and I don't feel like playing anything. It's almost lunch time, so I wander over to the fridge. I grab out the bread and random sandwich fillers. I'm just finishing the sandwich when Paisley comes downstairs. She's either looking really tired or just not looking anything at all.

"You okay?" I ask, walking out from behind the kitchen bench.

"I need a hug." she says blankly.

She walks up to me and wraps her arms around my torso. I hold her against me and we stand there for a few minutes.

"What's wrong?" I mumble into her hair.

"I just need a hug."

She pulls away and looks at her bare feet. She has nice feet. Is that weird to be thinking that? It reminds me of something, though. She has a job, and she's completely walked away. I guess Holly is going to have to use Cat instead.

"Are you hungry?" I ask, placing my hands on her shoulders.

"No." she says under her breath, looking down at my hand on her shoulder. I awkwardly slide it off and walk back to the kitchen.

I cut my sandwich in half and slide it on a plate. Paisley plays with her phone while I eat. She's curled up at the end of the couch, looking all cute. Her hair is down and she's wearing leggings and a grey hoodie. I get a sharp pain in my stomach when the thought of it being Ethan's crosses my mind. Well, my stomach still hasn't healed. Who am I kidding? It's jealousy. She puts her phone to her ear. She's obviously listening to a voicemail. She chews on the end of her sleeve while she listens to it, smiling at the ground. Tears form in her eyes, but I'm not sure if they're happy or sad ones. She pulls the phone down and let's out a silent sob, chewing on her jumper sleeve. She closes her eyes shut and sits there crying. She actually looks more like happy than sad in a way.

"Aww, come here." I say, gesturing for her to come over.

She slides over and pulls her hands inside her sleeves. She sort of half puts her arms around me and snuggles up to my chest. She's actually laughing, but also crying at the same time.

"Okay, who was that?" I ask, not being able to stop myself from laughing s bit.

"Jai and Ethan. They leave me voicemails every day." she explains.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

"Yeah, I'm good. I don't even know why they make me cry." she actually giggles. She looks so fricken cute right now.

"Well, while your already crying, let's talk." I suggest, taking the opportunity to find out more. Just like with Ethan, if her story matches up, I'll tell her mine.

"Um, sure. What do you want to know?"

"About your family."

"What about it?" She asks, her mood dropping.

"Tell me your story." I say, sitting up a bit, making sure Paisley's comfortable.

"When I was little, mum and dad broke up because dad was cheating. He passed away a few years later and we moved. Along came Ethan a few years later, and his mum got sick. Since she couldn't get out of bed, I used to go over to his house and help him, but mum got angry. We got into a big fight and she started to physically hurt me, Ethan came over and helped me out, and we ran to the park where the fight went down. Mum followed, but was hit by a car. She passed away the same night. Turns out she tried drugs and it affected her brain some way." she explains, mumbling towards the end. I already knew half of it though.