Starboys

S T A R B O Y 3|4

"Damn, you really didn't bring back up ice cream." Her head appeared again. "And no, I don't feel like going out tonight." Another dramatic sigh followed.

Ethan did what he did best; roll his eyes at his sister's antics.

"So you'd rather stay here and mope because of your probably unrequited crush?"

"Yes."

"I don't get it. You haven't even talked to her."

"Yes, obviously. You just don't understand," she whined. "She is so pretty. Like, so, so pretty. Beautiful. And breathtaking. Breathtakingly beautiful. I can't just go and talk to her, I wouldn't even know what to say. Her beauty straight up short circuits my brain." She paused. Ethan thought he might know what would come next. "Probably the only straight thing about me." There it was.

Ethan snorted. This was ridiculous. His sister was ridiculous. And yet, he still somehow put up with her. He'd even moved to London for her. Heck, he'd moved in with her. And somehow he hadn't lost his mind - yet.

He pulled an apple out of the bag and put it on her head. "If every beautiful woman would short cut your brain, you'd never be able to use it."

Lillie pursed her lips in thought, not bothered by it. "True," she hummed. "But Marisol is the one! My one true love. It was love at first sight." With another sorrowful sigh she placed the apple in the bowl with the others.

Ethan didn't believe in love at first sight.

Attraction, yes, and sure, he believed that people could grow to love, really love someone, but not right away. It took time to get to know and trust someone. It took time to see all their sides; the light ones, the greyer ones, and the dark ones. It took time to discover all their dirty secrets and hidden skeletons and learn to accept them regardless.

For Ethan, at least, that was what love was about.

If you asked Lillie, she'd ramble about every romantic trope and cliché under the sun. You would get to hear that love was all about intense eye contact from across a room full of people. That time stopped, sparks flying and turning into whole damn fireworks when two star-crossed lovers finally shared their long awaited first kiss. She'd finish it up with something about your foot popping, whatever the hell that was supposed to mean.

After living with Lilly for 15 years, Ethan had seen his fair share of cheesy rom-coms and apparently tear inducing historical dramas. From A Cinderella Story to Zombieland - if you could call that a romance movie -, he'd seen it all. And after all these years of watching Hollywood's sometimes bizarre portraits of love, Ethan could say one thing: Love at first sight was, in fact, not real.

He told his sister as much, but it was a fruitless effort. And because he actually didn't want to see his sister mope around for the rest of the evening, he made a change of plans.

"Guess I'll go to Pip Dreams-your favorite club-alone then." That piqued her interest. "While I have fun without you, enjoy crying over Elizabeth."

"First of all; it's PipeDream, doofus." She narrowed her eyes at him. "And you wouldn't dare!"

"Like I wouldn't dare to read your diary back in middle school?"

"You read my diary?" she hissed.

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't." Ethan shrugged. "You wanna try me on going alone to the club then?"

Lilly made a shocked but very fake gasp. "Betrayed by my own brother!"

But she was already sashaying towards the bathroom. "I'll be ready in thir- forty...I'll be ready in fifty minutes."

Ethan grinned. Sometimes Lillie made it way too easy to ...'gently' point her in the right direction.

The bathroom door slammed shut and Lille yelled: "You know what, make it an hour. Also, don't think I don't know you're trying to manipulate me. You're years too early to trick your great big sister, Lillie Soeng!"

Ethan's grin fell and the muscle twitched again. He just flipped off the door - and Lillie behind it.

A few hours later Ethan already regretted his decision. It was a chilly October night, and the queue in front of PipeDream seemed to be endless. Lillie had mentioned that the club was very popular, especially with the LGBTQI+ community, but Ethan hadn't thought it would be this popular. Now he was here, proved wrong, and the queue seemed endless and it was cold. Screw that, it was almost freezing.

Lillie didn't seem that bothered, although she was shifting from side to side, most likely to keep at least somewhat warm.

"How long do you think it'll take?" Ethan muttered.

His sister shrugged. "A bit, I guess."

'A bit' turned into twenty minutes, and then into thirty. When only four other people were in front, Ethan checked his phone again. They'd been waiting for 45 minutes, but at least now there was the end in sight. He sighed in relief.

Ethan looked up when the people ahead started complaining someone had just cut the line and the bouncer had let them through. All Ethan could catch was a mop of unruly sandy curls that disappeared through the door.

"Who was that?"

"One of the regulars‌," Lillie mused. "Happens sometimes. This place is like a huge family for some, so there might be some nepotism, if you wanna call it that. But hey, we're almost in anyway."

They showed their ID's to the bouncer who just nodded. He hadn't much height on Ethan, but his entire posture and aura made him quite the intimidating guy.

Ethan followed Lillie to what appeared to be the coatroom. A pale looking kid with bags under his eyes took their coats and handed them small metal plates with numbers in return. They were close to the dance floor now and the bass thrummed through the walls.

Lillie grinned at him and wiggled her eyebrows and Ethan smiled back. Time for a fun night out with his sister!

HELLO BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE. If you liked what you've read, please don't forget to vote or comment. That can make a little bookmoth's day ;)

xx Motte