Mended

6

Izzy's POV

My heart plummeted to my stomach as the table fell completely silent, Elijah's words hollowing out the previously nonchalant atmosphere. The only sounds audible to my ears were of the ocean waves crashing against the shore and the subtle chatter of the people seated in the restaurant around us.

Ethan's fingers stilled around his glass, his face turning pale as the color drained from his skin. His slate grey eyes slowly lifted until they met Elijah's.

"What did you just say?" Ethan's voice was too calm.

Elijah remained unfazed as he stared back at our brother, his blank grey gaze impassive. "I said," he began smoothly. "We're all moving to be here, closer to you, Caleb and Izzy."

I snuck a glance at Ethan, holding my breath as I waited for him to process the news I'd been ecstatic to hear. Caleb blinked multiple times, the news coming as a surprise to him, too.

For a long moment, Ethan said nothing as he stared at Elijah blankly, his fingers still wrapped around his glass. The way he looked at Elijah made it seem like he was waiting for our brother to take back what he'd just said. When Elijah didn't, Ethan spoke again.

"Why."

The simple word didn't really come out as a question. Instead, it slipped out in a clipped tone as Ethan spoke through gritted teeth. His fingers tightened around his glass as his gaze turned more fierce with every passing second.

Elijah cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean why? You don't want the rest of your family close by?" His voice remained flat yet mocking, as if he couldn't care less about Ethan's reaction. Caleb was cautiously quiet, his eyebrows furrowed as he watched everything unfold.

Ethan's jaw tightened. "Why now?" He uttered, the words strained.

Elijah and Kaiden exchanged a glance, the latter also looking calm and collected as he watched Ethan. Nobody answered quick enough and I flinched as Ethan slammed his drink down on the table hard enough that the table shook, but luckily the glass didn't break. I snuck a quick peek around to notice a few people glance our way, and my face warmed.

"Why?" Ethan forced out again, his eyes burning with barely contained rage. It looked like he was only holding himself together right now because of the audience around us. I knew that if we'd been at home, this would've unraveled at a much more dangerous rate.

This time, it was Kaiden who spoke as he leveled his hard gaze at Ethan. "Because it's for the best," he answered simply. "Because we think that we should all be close again and flying back and forth as much as we do takes too much time."

Ethan went quiet, his eyes jumping back and forth between Elijah and Kaiden.

"Did you already find a place?" Caleb asked.

Elijah nodded.

Caleb asked another question, but I tuned them out as I glanced over at Ethan, who was frozen as he spaced out, his gaze zeroed in on an indefinite spot in the distance. When he sensed my eyes on him, his head whipped over.

"Did you know?" He snapped at me, his dark grey eyes narrowing.

"I just found out before dinner," I snapped back, my irritation rising at his tone. He'd been snapping at me all night. I knew he was still annoyed by me calling our brothers about him, but I was getting sick of how he'd been acting the past few days.

Ethan's jaw ticked as his eyes flashed. "Tell me the truth. They're moving here because of me, aren't they?" He whispered, quietly enough so that only I could hear him. Elijah and Kaiden were talking to Caleb about their moving plans.