together | ethan

three

"You want a drink?" She asks, pointing towards her kitchen, "No, I'm good. I have to drive," I chuckle.

"Oh okay. Not drinking helps remember he events of what will happen tonight," she smirks, walking away from me, leaving me confused at her words.

A few hours into the party, and Lexi hasn't even acknowledged the fact that I'm here anymore, and probably wouldn't care if I left anyways.

I know for a fact she isn't too drunk. Almost like she's waiting for something to happen, which is why she isn't drinking that much so she's sober enough to go through it.

"Carter!" I hear a voice from the crowds, and I look around trying to find out who it was.

Lexi comes up to me, tugging hard at my forearm. Her breath fans over my face, and I try not to cringe at the smell of alcohol coming from there.

"You're a big, fat, whore," she spits, and now I know, for a fact she is drunk. She hits the area on my face, causing me to stumble back. A pair of arms catch me, but I don't care enough to see who it is. I stand up straight again, walking slowly towards Lexi.

"You're drunk," I say, in a duh tone.

She laughs bitterly, "I may be drunk, but I know what I'm doing." Another punch is thrown at my face, making me fall to the floor. By now, a small crowd has formed around us, but not everyone is paying attention.

I touch the area on my nose, feeling the blood that had poured out, "why are you doing this?" I ask slowly, as I struggled to get up, but eventually got it.

She scoffs, "oh, you know why!"

"If I knew why, you think I'd ask?" I reply, when her hand comes in contact with my cheek, once again.

"Don't play all smart, Carter! You ruined my relationship with Grayson!" She shouts at my face.

I more the hair away from my face, looking at her with a confused expression. "What?" I ask, not getting what I had done.

"He told me he liked you! Do you have any idea how much that hurt me?!" She shouts, pulling at my hair. I wince, trying to fight back, as I grabbed her arms trying to get them off of me.

"Lexi!" I shout, trying to get out of her grip.

She finally lets go, when two guys pull us apart, finally. "I never want to see you again, Carter!" She shouts, forcefully leaving the guys grip, and storming out of the room.

My heavy breathing dies down, when I shake my arms out of the guys grip, storming out of the house as well.

I run across the street to my car, but being careful, knowing I'm wearing heels. I unlock the door, getting into the drivers seat, and immediately turning on the heat.

My hand goes up to touch the cut on my cheek, which I presume is from any jewelry she was wearing, then the blood on my nose.

I examine the injuries through the mirror of the car. Not having any napkins, I had no choice but to drive home looking like this.

There had even been some blood on the shirt I had been wearing. My hair was a mess, and I hadn't realized until now, but I am in fact crying. Lexi was such a good friend, and to have that all thrown away just because of stupid feelings; it's all stupid.

Grayson! He likes me, and he didn't have the balls to tell me himself. You know, I bet he was the one to post the confession on the afterschool app, about a year ago. I can't believe Lexi would let something as easy as this get in the way of our friendship. She knows I like Ethan. Not Grayson.

I sigh, and start driving back to Long Valley. All I really wanted to do right now was sleep.

I glance at the time, as it read 2:13am.

My eyes stay fixed to the road, but about 30 minutes later, I find myself back at the Dolan house, one again.

Ethan's pov

The headlights of a car shines through my windows, waking me from my sleep. I slightly groan, rolling to my side, reaching for my phone. It turns on, and I wince at how bright the brightness was. Turning it down, I check the time on my phone as it read 2:44am.

Knowing it was Carter, I rip the covers off me, and race down the stairs, careful not to wake any of my family. Before doing so, I make sure to put on a shirt, knowing I usually sleep without one.

Mid-way down the stairs, the front door opens. I take a glimpse of the stumbling Carter who had just walked it. It doesn't seem like she knows I'm here though, when she sniffles and wipes a tear.

She shuts the door quietly before taking off her heels, and setting them by the door.

"Carter?" I make sure to keep my voice down.

She jumps, looking up at me. It's dark, but it doesn't take an idiot to know she obviously had some sort of injuries on her face.

"What happened?" I question, coming down the stairs fully. I gently cup her face, examining it more.

She looks at me with expressionless eyes, before pushing away my hands, "Nothing."

Carter walks into the kitchen, myself following her like a lost puppy. But I can't help that I'm in fact worried about her.

She opens a cabinet before searching for something that's in there. "Carter?" I whisper-yelled, wanting to know what's she's doing.

"Carter!" I say a little more loudly, this time catching her attention.

"What?!" She turns around. I can swear my heart broke a little at the sight of her crying even more than she was earlier. She looked broken, and dirty. There was smudged blood underneath her nose, and a visible cut right below her right eye.

"Talk to me," I say, calmly, ignoring her cuts at the moment.

She rolls her eyes, turning back around. I hear her sigh of relief, once she finds what she's looking for.

She pulls out a bottle of alcohol. She struggles to open it, pulling a concentrated face. My eyes go wide, running up to her. "Carter, no!" I shout, trying to pull away the bottle.

"Stop!" She shouts, holding the bottle closer to her chest. Her grip slips, causing the bottle to hit the floor, making the glass, and the liquid spill everywhere.

I gasp, looking at the mess before me.

Carter sobs, sliding down the wall, hugging her knees to her chest. "I can't do anything right," she mumbles into her knees, little sobs escaping her lips, "maybe that's why you stopped loving me."

________________

END OF CHAPTER 3

Things got juicy! Grayson liked Carter, or still does?!?! Idk BUUUUT anyways, what's your thoughts on THIS chapter?! 🙄😫💓

Be sure to vote and stuff, it really makes me happy 😁😁😁

Let me know if you guys get emotional during parts like this, cause when I think about emotional parts for this story, I get emotional, but when I write it, I don't. Is that weird? 🤔

Anyways, until next chapter. Peace 🤤