Better. [e.d]

n i n e t e e n

"Wait no, Jake you-" I start but he cuts me off. "I don't have time to listen to this bullshit," he says before walking towards the exit with the girl following him.

"You okay?" Ava asks me and I shrug. "Yeah," I say and everyone moves closer to me. "You sure?" Maya asks and I let out a deep breath. "Yeah, this is all just a big misunderstanding... I was going to end things with him anyway," I say. "Why?" Grayson asks me and I shrug. "Tell us," Evan says. "I just didn't feel as much as he felt for me. I didn't want to hurt him," I say. "You sure you're okay?" Grayson asks. "Seriously, I am," I say and go over to sit down on one of the couches as everyone else follows and takes a seat. I then set my present for Ava on the table in front of me.

We talk for a bit before heading down to the bar. Everyone got up to go dance as I sat at the bar. Ethan walked over to me and sat next to me.

"How are you feeling?" He asks and I shrug. "Ribs feel fine if that's what you're talking about," I say. "No, about Jake," he responds and I twist my stool to face him. "I'm fine, really. I was going to end things with him anyway," I say. "Why?" "Like I said earlier, I don't feel as much as he feels for me," I say before taking a sip from my glass. "How many drinks did you have?" He asks. "Like five," I say shrugging. "Elena, you're not fine and you need to stop drinking, you're on antibiotics, you're going to have a really bad headache." "Ethan, I told you, I'm fine, leave me alone," I say. "You're not fine, stop acting like you are!" I let out a deep breath and turn back to face the bar.

"Elena, it's okay if you're hurt by this," he says after a few seconds. "But I shouldn't be! I was going to end things with him anyway, and he cheated because he assumed I did..." "Still, you had some feelings for him so it makes sense as to why you would be upset to see him with someone else." I look down at the bar and trace my fingers along the pattern on the tile.

"You wanna get out of here? I'm sure Ava will understand," Ethan says a few seconds later. "Yeah," I say before chugging down the last bit of my drink. I get out of the chair to go look for Ava as Ethan follows behind me. I already felt super dizzy and I was bumping into a ton of people as I looked for Ava.

I eventually find her dancing with Maya and some random guy.

"I'm not feeling too well, do you mind if Ethan and I head home early?" I yell over the loud music. "Yeah, it's no problem girl! Hope you feel better soon," she says smiling at me. I thank her and turn around to Ethan and follow him out of the club.

We get out of the building and I'm hit with a cold breeze. Great.

"Mmm, where are we going?" I ask feeling very drowsy. The alcohol is really starting to kick in now. "You wanna go home?" he asks as we walk down the sidewalk. "No." "Where do you wanna go?" "I'm hungry," I say and stumble over my feet and fall on Ethan's shoulder.

"Sorry," I say giggling. "I see the alcohol is getting to you," Ethan says and I laugh some more.

"Where do you want to eat?" He asks. "I want mac n cheeseeeee," I say dragging out the e. "Really?" Ethan asks looking over at me smiling and I nod. He looks ahead still smiling and walks to the car.

Once we get into the car, I grab the seat belt and try to put it into the latch but kept missing causing me to laugh. Ethan grabs it from my hands and puts it in and I laugh again.

"You're a child when you're drunk," he says smiling before starting up the car.

Ethan's POV:

"Where are we going?" Elena asks after a couple minutes of driving. "To the store to get you mac and cheese," I say. "REALLY?" She yells excitedly and I laugh. "Really," I say. "Yessss!" She cheers.