[46] x's and o's (pt. 1)

5.1K 206 98
                                    

You were sifting through the mail that was dropped off at yours and Ethan's apartment, setting them into stacks of bills, junk mail, and unsure. Your eyes scanned the senders' names on every envelope, and they got caught on the familiar name of your old high school. Curious, you opened the envelope and saw that it was an invitation to your 5 year high school reunion.

Had it been only five years? It felt like decades has passed, so much in your life had changed. You met Ethan online as you accepted your dream job out in LA, allowing you to finally be with him.

"Hey babe." You called out down the hall to the office he used for editing and recording.

When there was no response, you walked down the hall, letter in hand, and quietly opened the door. Ethan was at his computer, headphones over his ears, and he was clicking around the video clips and audio. You came up behind him and wrapped your arms around his neck lightly, moving the top of his headphones to nestle your nose into the soft blue hair atop his head.

"Hey Y/N." You could hear the smile in his voice as he fully removed his headphones and set them around his neck.

You let go of him to let him spin around his chair, and he wrapped his arm around your waist to pull you down on the chair with him. A giggle escaped your mouth as he peppered your face with kisses.

"Ethan, I came in here for a reason!" You laughed as he kept kissing you, and he stopped with a pout. "I've been invited to my high school reunion, and I'd like you to be my plus one."

"When is it?"

You took the letter out to inspect the date, it was in about six weeks, on a Saturday. "Saturday the 27th, of next month."

"Hm, yeah, I'd love to go."

"Good."

"Now, where were we?" Ethan grinned before kissing you again, and you smiled into the kiss.

A few weeks later, on the Friday before the reunion, you were on a redeye flight with Ethan. He was already fast asleep while you were anxiously looking up all your old classmates on every social media you could think of. A few looked just like you remembered, while others looked like completely different people. It was hard to believe you were returning to your high school again.

The plane touched down, and you roused Ethan from his sleep to grab your carry-on bags. After grabbing your luggage from the terminal, you pulled him down to the rental car area.

"You're excited, aren't you, Y/N?" He laughed, still groggy.

"I want to show you the car I got for us this weekend!" You squealed, handing the attendant the rental paper you printed back at the apartment.

She led you down a row of cars to a black two-seater Mercedes. "Here you are, and I'll see you again Sunday."

Ethan looked at the car in awe. "You didn't."

"I did." You grinned, opening the trunk to put the luggage in. "We are gonna look so hot pulling up in this."

"You always look hot."

"Just get in the car, you smooth motherfucker."

Your hometown was a ways away from the big city airport, so the drive was filled with you pointing out some of your favorite things from your childhood. This was the first time Ethan had ever visited your hometown, and you wished you could stay here for longer than a weekend. You gave him directions to your old home, your parents had insisted that you and your boyfriend stayed with them for the weekend.

When Ethan pulled up in the driveway, the sun was rising right behind your house and you were caught off guard with a wave of beauty and nostalgia. The blue-haired boy helped you out of the car and grabbed the luggage as you pulled out your phone to snap a quick picture of the sunrise before moving over to the garage door. Flipping open the panel, you punched in your garage code, hoping to enter the house as quietly as possible to avoid waking your family.

But when you entered with Ethan just behind you, you saw your mom and dad already sitting at the kitchen counter sipping their coffee. It felt just like every morning before school.

"Hi." You smiled as they looked up, and your mom rushed in for a hug with you.

"Y/N, welcome home!" She hugged you tightly, then went and gave your boyfriend a hug as well. "It's so nice to meet you, Ethan."

"You too, Mrs. Y/L/N." He said nervously as you went to give your dad a hug as well.

"Hi Dad." You grinned, kissing his cheek, then he shook Ethan's hand.

"Nice to meet you, son." They shook hands, and you were ecstatic that everyone was getting along so well.

"And you, sir."

Your mother ushered you and Ethan inside, insisting that she'll take your stuff up to your room while you guys relax.

"And I'll see if I can wake up Joseph." She added, mentioning your little brother. "He's taken over your room since you've left, so you two will be staying in the guest room."

"Don't wake him up if he doesn't want to, we'll be here all weekend." You insisted, but your mom shook her head firmly.

"He should see his sister."

With a shrug, you went over to the coffee pot to pour yourself a cup, but Ethan stopped you. "If you drink that, you're never going to get to sleep and you'll be super tired for the reunion tonight."

You smiled, thankful for his concern, but poured yourself a cup anyway. "My parents only drink decaf. But thanks, Ethan."

He looked dejected, so you gave him a peck on the cheek before sitting next to your dad and taking his newspaper out of his hands. You flipped through it until you found the comics, and took them out before handing it back.

"Does she do this in LA too?" Your dad asked your boyfriend and he chuckled as he sat beside you on a different stool.

"We don't get the newspaper, so she's managed to convince Amy to bring hers and Mark's in to the office everyday." Ethan explained, and you shrugged.

"I've been reading the comics since I could read, I'm not stopping now."

"Boo-boo!" A deep voice yelled from behind you, and you were barely able to turn around before you got tackled by your brother.

He'd grown at least a foot since you'd last seen him, his voice was five octaves deeper, but he still called you by your childhood nickname.

"Hey, Joey!" You squealed back, getting off your stool to give him a proper hug.

"You haven't visited since my freshman year." Joseph pouted, and you reached up to ruffle his hair.

"I've been busy, but hey, I'm gonna be here for your graduation in a few months! That's exciting!"

Joseph was five years younger than you, meaning that now it was senior year for him. "It is!"

He turned to your boyfriend, who had stood up as well. Joey seemed to size him up for a minute, Ethan was a few inches shorter than your brother and clearly tried not to look intimidated. Your little brother's stoic features broke into a huge grin before he pulled Ethan in for some kind of bro hug that was executed awkwardly by the blue-haired boy.

"So good to meet you finally, Ethan! Y/N doesn't shut up about you whenever we talk."

"She does?"

You snorted, pinching both of their ears, to which they whined synchronously.

After breakfast, you found yourself yawning, as well as Ethan, and you pardoned yourself for a nap before the reunion. Ethan snuggled into the bed behind you, wrapping an arm around you.

"We've got ten hours until the reunion, and I intend to sleep for most of those." You declared, pulling the blankets around yourself.

"I'm not that tired." Ethan confessed, pressing a kiss to your neck.

"Then you can go talk to Joey about computers or video games or something. I'm sure he's still into that stuff."

At that he chuckled, and you settled into a peaceful sleep, the worry of before washing away.

crankgameplays imaginesWhere stories live. Discover now