PEACH :: ETHAN DOLAN

SIX

Ethan's vision was blurry as he dragged his feet back into the kitchen, his heart pounding in his ears. It matched the beat of the incredibly loud music playing, and he couldn't focus on anything else.

He had no idea where Alondra even was now. She ran into Izzy about an hour in and he hadn't heard from her since.

Ethan: loonie
Ethan: fuck
Ethan: lonnie where u go
Marcy: this is the group chat dummy
Ethan: shhhhhhhhhhh tryna txt linnie
Ethan: im drink :(
Marcy: i noticed lmfao
Marcy: told y'all not to be stupid and look where you ended up

Wandering into the backyard to look for her, he runs into the person he'd least like to see. His body bumped right into Phoenix's, almost knocking her over and spilling his drink a bit.

She's sober, completely. She always claimed to hate the taste of alcohol. At the sight of him, she can't help but laugh.

"You're drunk off your ass."

"Leave me alone," he huffs, the scent of peaches filling his nose. It must be her perfume.

Phoenix places a hand on her hip. "What's got you in such a bad mood tonight?"

Ethan would never say anything while sober, but this drunk? He has a few things to get off of his chest, and they're a long time coming.

"Well I... I can't find Alondra and... and I want your face out of my fucking head."

She doesn't say anything in response, for once. Surprising since she'd always had a big mouth--couldn't keep a secret for shit, always too excited to share, and though most of the time stayed quiet would let you know her opinion on anything if she was comfortable with you. Instead, she just moves both of them to the side, away from the crowd.

"I thought--I was getting over you. I thought I was and then I see you here with other guys and I just fucking miss you all over again. You consume my fucking thoughts. It's like you... like you took out pieces of me and replaced them with memories of you.

"And I'm so mad because I don't want to care about you anymore. You're the worst fucking person I've ever met and I want you to suffer--but at the same time I don't because I don't wanna see you in pain. Even if you deserve it.

"I know you cared about me. I know I meant something to you, at some point. I just don't know what I did to make you stop," he croaks, going from anger to sadness in a matter of seconds. Everything he says is rambled and comes out so fast she can barely understand him. "I feel like I'll never be able to move on. Every hint of feelings I get about anything else is shut down with the thought of you, Phoenix. You destroyed me, and I need you to know that."

The girl sighs as she looks at him, seeing more tears shining in his eyes. "You're barely gonna remember any of this in the morning."

"Probably," Ethan mumbles, teary eyes narrowing. "I hate that I love you."

"Listen, Ethan," Phoenix starts, grabbing his arm. "You're gonna go find a girl, and you're gonna get her number--you're drunk, so you'll actually be able to do it without being nervous like you always are--and you're gonna try and move on. And we're never going to speak about this again. I know you're strong enough."