Just Luck

Campfires and Small Talk

Ethan's POV

"Wasn't that fun?" Mark asked me and Tyler.

"So much fun. I forgot how it felt like to be outdoors." Tyler exclaimed, making his smores. I decided to keep quiet.

"Ethan? You okay?" Mark noticed my silence.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just... worried." I bit my lip.

Tyler put his arm around my shoulders. "Don't worry, dude. She's fine. They're both fine. All four of them are fine. They'll take care of each other."

"Not just that, though. I mean, what if Zach comes back? What if everything happens again? What if... god, what if I can't protect her?" Tyler and Mark looked at each other for a little bit, unsure of what to say.

Finally, Mark spoke up. "Just... don't think about it. Don't worry so much on the future. Worry about the present. Worry about the now." He chuckled at Tyler, who was holding his marshmallow in the fire for too long. "Worry about burning your marshmallow. Seriously, Tyler, did you want to do that?"

Tyler looked at the marshmallow, just as it fell into the fire. He laughed and grabbed another one. "Hey, you learn from your mistakes." He turned to Ethan. "I bet that (Y/n)'s not thinking about that right now. I bet she's having the time of her life right now with the girls."
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Your POV

"This is so fun!"

You giggled at Emerson. "We're just sitting in the living room playing Mario Kart."

Kathryn shrugged. "So? It's still fun."

Amy knudged you. "When was the last time you did something like this? You know, hang loose and just be with friends, no boys allowed?"

You shrugged. "A year or two, at least. If I was ever with friends, all of our conversations would be about boys, and there would be at least one guy in the room."

Emerson laughed. "Sounds like my friends!"

Kathryn yawned and put her controller on the coffee table. "I'm pretty beat. I think I'm gonna go to bed early."

Amy did the same, standing up. "Me, too. I had to be up early to help Mark get everything ready and in the car."

You nodded and shut the TV off. "Sure, go ahead. The bedrooms are upstairs at the end of the hallway." You said goodnight to each other, and Amy and Kathryn retreated upstairs to the guest rooms.

Emerson moved to sit next to you. "Are you doing okay?"

You shrugged. "Yeah, I guess you could say that." She motioned for you to continue. "I'm just... worried. I mean, something could happen to the boys, and they have no way to reach us. They all left their phones here."

Emerson shook her head. "There's no reason to worry. They'll be fine. They're not stupid, and they won't do something that'll risk their wellbeing- especially dad." She hugged you. "If you ever want to talk to someone, I'm here." She pulled away, smiling. "Night!" You waved at her while she walked up the stairs.

You made sure all the doors were locked and all of the lights were turned off before going upstairs and falling asleep in the bed.