Emma Pov.
The room fell dead silent & my heart caught in my throat as my eyes lingered on Ethan who's shoulders were moving up & down greatly after he had just been yelling. Grayson's arms unwrapped from around me slowly & my stare didn't move away from his twin. Ethan was in love with me too? My heart skipped a beat as the ethereal thought entered my mind. My attention was brought back to reality as Ethan suddenly shook his head, clenching his jaw & I caught a small glint of what looked like sadness & anger in his eyes before he turned around & stormed out of the living room. Without any hesitation I turned to look at Grayson & raised my hand up, slapping him across the face. He brought his hand up to his now reddening cheek & his jaw dropped open as he looked at me with wide eyes. "Hey-" He started but I cut him off. "What the hell was that about?!" I exclaimed. He knew I was in love with Ethan, not him so what was his issue?!
Grayson's eyebrows raised as a door slammed shut loudly upstairs & I glared at him. "I wasn't for real, I just wanted to push Ethan into admitting his feelings. I didn't know he would react like that. It was all fake, a plan." He explained & my lips parted at him in a triggering way. "So James crying was fake too?" I asked & his eyebrows furrowed. "Crying? He must've been playing along pretty well then, I texted him about the plan and how it was just fake." He stated & my eyes lowered at him. "Really? You texted him even though his phone is fucking broken?" I scoffed & his face went pale. "Oh my God I forgot about that. B-but this was all supposed to be fake..." He trailed off, sounding like he was reassuring himself more than me. "Tell that to your boyfriend who thinks you actually left him for me." I said, giving him a stern look before standing up from the now uncomfortable couch & walking over to the bottom of the staircase. I paused & placed my hand on the wall, looking back at Grayson who was still staring at the ground while looking dazed. "By the way, that was a stupid plan." I said a little loudly so he would hear & his eyes only flicked to mine before moving back down to the floor. I turned back around, jogging up the stairs & flicking the light switch in the hallway on when my foot left the last step. I wouldn't stay mad at Grayson forever because we are best friends, but for now I was pretty pissed. Not only did he maybe just screw up the only true relationship he's ever had, but who knows how he made Ethan feel.
I walked slowly down the hallway, something on the wall catching my eye as I moved closer to it. I stopped & stared at the dull blue color of the wall, a fist-sized hole now punched into it with a few drops of blood around it. My eyes widened slightly, knowing who caused that to happen. I turned on my heel & picked up my pace, reaching the door to Ethan's room. I placed my hand onto the metal handle & turned it, inhaling in slight worry when it didn't turn as Ethan had locked it. I bit my lip, thinking as my eyes wandered the hallway. An idea popped into my head & I mentally shrugged as I stood on my tiptoes, reaching above the top of the door & feeling around for a small object. My fingertips grazed something metal & I grinned in victory, grabbing the key between my fingers & taking it down. I shoved the small piece of metal into the keyhole on the door handle & swung the door open, my eyes saddening at the sight of Ethan curled into a ball on his bed with his back facing me. Every muscle in his body looked tense & I stepped closer.
"Ethan." I said & Ethan didn't move from the position he was laying in. "Why are you in here. Shouldn't you be hanging out with your boyfriend." He muttered coldly & I frowned, walking the rest of the way over to the bed. "No, I don't like Grayson like that and you know that. He's my best friend and that's all he ever will be." I stated, sitting down on the edge of the bed & making the mattress dip slightly. I looked down at him, seeing the way his eyelids were lowered as if he was tired & how he cradled one hand with the other. "Let me see." I said & his eyes barely flicked up to look at mine. "See what?" He mumbled, pulling his hands closer to himself. "Your hand Ethan, I saw the hole in the wall. Let me see it." I stated & he just shook his head. I frowned & reached over him, gently grabbing his wrist in which he resisted against my tug. "Ethan." I groaned & he didn't respond, only fighting against my pull. "Go look at Grayson's hand, I bet he'd love if you kissed it better." He muttered & my jaw clenched as my eyes moved to look at his own dark green ones. I let go of his wrist & immediately brought my hands to his cheeks, turning his reluctant face up to look at me. "Stop it. I'm not in love with Grayson, Ethan. I'm in love with you, you already know that so shut the hell up and believe me." I said, raising my eyebrows down at him & his eyes searched mine for a moment as if uncertain. An urge overtook me & I leaned down, pressing my forehead against his as his breath hitched. I glanced down at his lips & then looked back up into his eyes. "I love you Ethan Grant Dolan. I fell in love with the one person I hated the most. And now you're the person I love the most." I stated & his eyes gazed into mine with an unreadable emotion. He glanced down at my lips before looking back up again & my heart skipped a beat. "Only if you want to." I whispered, referring to look he just gave my lips & his breathing stuttered. "Did you not listen to my yelling earlier?" He asked, letting out a soft chuckle as his eyes crinkled with a small smile. "There's the smile I love." I whispered, laughing lightly. He rolled his eyes, his eyelashes fluttering against my skin. I licked my lips before looking at him seriously & he stared back with an intent gaze, our foreheads still pressed together. My heart fluctuated again at his gaze. Is this what it's like to be in love?
I slowly leaned closer & Ethan's minty breath hit my lips softly. Our lips barely brushed together & he was about to lean closer until I grabbed his wrist in between us, quickly pulling away while laughing in victory. He groaned & tried to pull his hand back to himself but I kept my grip, shooting him a look to stop trying. "That's not fair." He mumbled & I shrugged. "Seems fair to me." I mentioned & he let out a dramatic sigh. I turned his large hand around gently, moving it so I could see his now bloody knuckles that were starting to bruise. I sighed sadly. "You need to stop hurting yourself." I mumbled & his eyes met mine with a reluctant look. He exhaled loudly & turned onto his back instead of his side, causing me to straddle his stomach so that I would be able to look down at him still. I got distracted looking at his large hand compared to my small one. I held his newly abused hand up & spread out his fingers, doing the same with my hand before pressing it against his hand. He had his head propped up on his pillow, watching me with fascinated eyes as I stared at our hands. Suddenly his fingers moved in between mine & he folded his down, intertwining them with my own. I smiled down at him with unfocused eyes, it was one of those moments where you're looking at something but your eyes don't exactly focus on it. It's like you're just staring off into space while looking at something else.
I blinked slowly & moved my eyes back to Ethan & I's hands, my gaze traveling down to his wrist. I unlaced our fingers & dragged my fingertips down his wrist, feeling the smooth skin there. My touch moved up his veiny arm, turning it around slightly to examine more of it as his eyelashes flitted shut in relaxation. Goosebumps rose on his skin in the invisible path my touch formed. I skipped over the sleeve of the t-shirt covering his shoulder & instead lightly dragged my fingertips over his smooth yet prominent collarbones, admiring the way his breath caught the slightest bit yet his eyes didn't open. I moved from where I was sitting, plopping down further up his chest. I ever so lightly brushed the tip of my thumb across the smooth skin of his bottom lip & smiled down at him, even though his eyes were closed & he couldn't see me. I ran my fingers softly across his cheeks & booped the tip of his nose, making a faint smile appear onto his lips. I rested the palms of my hands on his cheeks & while being as gentle as possible, ran my fingertips over his shut eyelids. I then moved my hands further up & ran my fingers through his dark hair, the soft strands twisting against my skin. I looked down at his other arm then, picking it up gently & brushing my fingertips lightly across the scars that were now formed on his tanned skin from a few weeks ago. I brought his scarred wrist up to my face, pressing my lips together & placing a light kiss on top of the undeserved permanent marks in his skin. This boy was truly beautiful, scars & everything. I smiled & leaned down again, pressing my forehead against his & causing his eyelids to flutter open. "You're beautiful." I repeated my thoughts quietly to him & he shook his head. "I'm not, but you are." He responded & my eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "I am not. I don't know what you're on if you could call me 'beautiful'." I whispered back & he scoffed, rolling his eyes in front of mine. "Emma, you are the most beautiful person I have ever met," He started & then paused as if he was debating to continue, "whenever I'm around you, it feels like there's this-this balloon expanding somewhere in my chest, filling my stomach with butterflies and my mind with want." I awed at his words. Who knew Ethan Dolan was good at word play?
I gave Ethan a soft smile & he returned it as his eyes flicked down at my lips again. I took a deep breath & slowly leaned in, closing the short distance between his lips & mine. His lips moved gently against mine & I softly tugged on a few strands of his hair. It was a short & sweet kiss before I pulled away with a large grin on my face, keeping my forehead against his. "I love you Emma Chamberlain." He said so quietly that if I hadn't been pressed against him, I probably wouldn't have heard his ethereal words. That ballon that he was talking about earlier suddenly felt like it appeared in my chest, somewhere near my heart.
Grayson Pov.
James wasn't at his house & he wasn't at school, so that left me with the last option of where he likes to go; the small coffee shop that wasn't too far downtown. I had walked there, not bothering to take my car from the house as our garage door hadn't been working lately & I didn't want to screw with it. I was anxious to say the least, I felt so damn bad that James had probably thought what happened today was real. I'm so in love with him & I'm really hoping I didn't just screw up our relationship. I was so thrilled about my plan for Emma & Ethan earlier that I hadn't even thought about the text not going through to James. My own damn boyfriend. Boyfriend of the year award goes to Grayson, the guy who literally put somebody else's relationship before his.
I sighed, shoving my hands into the pocket of my hoodie as I trudged into the small coffee shop, the bell ringing on the door & the smell of coffee beans hitting me hard. Before I could walk any further into the small shop to look for James, somebody had bumped into me & I was about to apologize until I realized who it was. James, throwing away his emptied large cup that used to hold a caffeine infused drink. My boyfriend's gaze met mine & my heart broke at the sadness captured in the honey brown irises of his eyes. "What are you doing here Grayson? Shouldn't you be with Emma since you love her 'oh so much'?" He asked harshly & my mouth dropped open slightly. "I don't love Emma, James. I love you, it's always been you. It was all fake, I just wanted to make Ethan jealous so that he would admit his feelings for Emma. I tried to text you the plan but I was being stupid and didn't remember that your phone was broken and you probably hadn't gotten a new one from the phone store yet." I rambled out & he raised his eyebrows at me. "Sure." He said sarcastically & I frowned. "You don't believe me?" I questioned & he sighed loudly. "Why should I Grayson? It seems very likely that you could fall in love with your beautiful best friend instead of some overly-gay-twink like me." He muttered & I scoffed. "First of all, I am very much gay-" I started but was cut off by him. "Just leave Grayson, I don't want to be a part of a cheating relationship. Dating may be a game to you, but it isn't to me." He said with his voice slightly cracking & he placed a hand over his mouth as his eyes started to water. I move forward to hug him & he moved away from me, holding up his other hand. "Don't touch me, just leave Grayson." He stated with a cracking voice & I shook my head in confusion, stepping closer again. "Leave!" He then yelled while letting out a small sob & causing me to flinch at his harsh tone, drawing attention from the other customers in the small shop. I opened my mouth to say something but then shut it, clenching my jaw with sadness & anger as I turned on my heel to storm out of the cafe. I began to walk across the street, my feet hitting the pavement heavily. Is our relationship over now? How am I going to fix this? What if James gets with somebody else? What if he doesn't love me anymore?
My mind was so clouded with thoughts of doubt that I didn't hear the loud honking of a horn & tires screeching against the asphalt until I was suddenly impacted by something large & metal.
****
Author's Note: WELL-
sorry it's short.
ily allllllllll. <3333
the title of this book will be changed to 'Alps' tomorrow for personal reasons lol, but it'll still be the same book. just a different name.
it's also another song. <3
alps by: novo amor