"Ethan what the fuck did you do!?" Grayson yelled.
"I-I didn't mean to bro, honestly!" Ethan panicked.
My eyes fluttered open and saw the two brothers sitting each side of me on the bed. They hadn't noticed my eyes opening and carried on bickering.
"I swear to god if what happened the last time happened, I will never forgive you and I'll turn you in myself." Grayson growled.
"It won't Grayson, I checked her pulse and she's alive." Ethan said.
My heart rate quicked. Alive? So what happened before, did someone die? Did it have anything to do with that lady the other day? I tried my hardest to not interrupt so I could find out more.
"Ethan you need to be more careful. With P trying to catch us and avenge her daughter we need to lay low and not fuck up again." Grayson hissed.
I decided that was enough so I moved my hand to touch Grayson's and he instantly grabbed at it, looking into my eyes as he did so.
"Thank god, I was so worried." Grayson said, giving my hand a peck.
"Y/n I cannot tell you how sorry I am for-"
"Shh Ethan, it's okay." I interrupted, grabbing his hand too.
He smiled as tears threatened to fall from his beautiful brown eyes.
"It's not okay, I'm really sorry." He said as his smile turned to a frown.
I looked into his eyes but he couldn't bare look into mine. Instead he let my hand go and excused himself from the room. I budged up in my bed so Grayson could get in fully. He shuffled around and pulled me close to his chest.
"Y/n you won't see Ethan from now on until he gets in control of his anger and actions. I can't have this happen to you again." He said.
What, to save your own ass or because you actually care?
I wanted to say it but decided not as I didn't want him knowing I listened in. I'm sure he cares otherwise he wouldn't have been by my side.
"Also I want you to sleep with me tonight, I miss sleeping with you in my arms." He smiled as he stroked my hair.
"Okay, but surely I'll see Ethan since he lives here too." I said.
"Don't talk or look at him. If worse comes to worse I'll make him go to a friend's house. You're not going to be put in danger anymore." He said, gripping my hand tight.
His eyes were watery and red. I looked at him with sympathetic eyes and gave his hand a squeeze back. He smiled slightly and kissed the back of my hand.
"Grayson, thank you." I said as I looked in his eyes.
"For what?" He asked.
"Everything. Except the whole sex slave thing." I let out a small chuckle but a frown appeared on his face.
"You're not a sex slave, at least not to me." He said.
"But that's the reason you picked me up off the street." I retorted, loosening my grip on his hand.
"Y/n, I don't see you as that, I see you as a person with feelings. I know what Ethan and I did was wrong but please don't think I'm like him." He said.
"I know you're not the same Grayson..." I trailed off and he smiled in return.
"But what just happened made me realise what you did. I was naive at first since I had and wanted attention, but now...I just want to be treated like a person. Not someone you use as your toy." I said bravely, gathering up all my strength to leave Ethan's room.
I managed to detach my hand from Grayson's and pushed myself up with my weak arms. He saw them wobble and grabbed my wrist. I snatched it away without giving him a glance and pulled myself up using Ethan's side table. I stood for a few seconds and sighed, wobbling as I concentrated on making it to my room. My legs were like jelly as they shook when I took steps towards the door.
"Y/N let me help." Grayson said softly, appearing next to me.
I looked at him and gave in. I sharply moved my arm so he could hold it but he pulled me to his chest instead. I looked away from his face as he grabbed my thighs and hoisted me upwards so he was carrying me. I placed my hands on his shoulders and put my head on his shoulder to hide my face to avoid awkward eye contact. He wrapped my legs around his torso and kept his hands under my thighs knowing this wasn't a time to touch anything else. I felt my eyes watering as I realised he really did care, but I was too mad to let that take over my thoughts. He still took advantage. We got to my room and he slowly put me on the bed and pulled away, standing next to my bed.
"I'll go cook dinner and get you some water, let me know if you need something." He said as he walked away. I nodded to myself and watched the tall figure walk out the room.
-
The next couple of days were awkward with both of the guys, mainly Ethan since whenever he'd see me he would leave the room immediately no matter what he was doing. One time he was filling the sink to wash up the dinner plates and he walked out the room when our eyes met, resulting in me rushing to turn off the trap the the kitchen didn't become a swimming pool. Grayson and I would exchange small talk and occasional awkward smiles but nothing went past a 'how are you?'.
It had been a week since the incident and I was tired of all the tension and awkwardness between the three of us. It was frustrating.
"Ethan." I spoke loudly as I knocked on his closed office door.
No answer.
I sighed because I knew he was in there and that he could hear me.
"Ethan please speak to me, or at least open the door."
Silence again.
I thought I would leave it and go talk to Grayson but I soon heard the locks on his door unlocking. The door opened slowly and Ethan was revealed. He looked rough and tired as his usual clean face was covered with stubble. His under eyes were dark and his eyes were half closed out of tiredness. He was shirtless with only basketball shorts on with some white socks. Or they were white. I looked at him sympathetically as he looked like he was about to cry.
"Y/n I c-c-"
Before he could say anything I pulled him into a big hug, wrapping my arms around his torso tightly. He whimpered and pulled me to his chest as his arms slung around my neck. He desperately cried into the crook of my neck as he held me close. I rubbed the bottom of his back as I shushed him and reassured him. I pulled away slowly and saw his tear stained face, his big, watery, brown eyes looked deep into mine.
"Ethan, I forgive you okay?" I said as I looked up at him, wiping tears from underneath his eyes.
He stepped back and held my wrists gently. He sighed, but it was a broken one as his breathing was uneasy from his crying.
"You should never forgive a monster like me. I hurt you. I almost killed you y/n, and..you forgive me?" He said as his eyes met mine again.
"Yes, I do." I said.
"Well, I cannot forgive myself. You need to stay away from me y/n because whenever I see that beautiful face of yours...I feel regret and guilt for being so rough with you. You deserve so much better than what I did to you. You deserve better than me." He said, more tears spilling from his red and raw eyes.
I looked at him with sympathy. What he did was out of order, I know that. But he deserves a second chance to redeem himself. If he hurts me again, that's when he'll be unforgiven.
I raised my hands to cup his wet cheeks so he had to look at me. He tried to avoid my eyes but he couldn't in the end. His eyes travelled across my face and to my neck where the bruises in the shape of his fingers were now faded and just a yellowish colour. His fingers traced my neck and his face had a pained expression as he did so. His eyes travelled then from my eyes to my lips, which I licked as I looked as his own.
"Y/n..." He trailed off.
Before he could say any more I pulled his face down gently and put our foreheads together.
"Don't hurt me again, because I won't forgive you this easily." I said.
He nodded against me and sniffled a few times before looking up at me. I looked back into his glossy brown eyes and removed my forehead from his. I looked at his lips once more and slowly leaned in to touch them with my own. It was a gently but lingering kiss, the type that makes you desperate for more, but I knew the boundaries at the moment in time and left it at a small peck. Ethan however wasn't wanting a small peck, as he put his hands either side of my head to deepen the kiss.
"E-Ethan..." I said as he kissed me with such passion.
He groaned as my hands fell from his face and to his shoulders. He kissed with such desperation, it was as if he wasn't going to see me again. I tried to push him off since I knew where this would go, but I couldn't deny the fact I wanted it too. As much as I did, I knew if Grayson found out he would ignore me the same way Ethan did for the past week, and I didn't want any more hassle.
"Ethan please." I said and he stopped.
He smiled and shook his head a little before looking back at me. His lips were red and swollen from the sloppy and passionate kiss, and I suspected mine looked the same.
"Sorry, I've just missed you so much." He admitted.
"Don't get all soppy, just come here." I said with a smile as I pulled him in for a hug.
He hugged me back tightly until he heard a throat being cleared from beside us. We unhooked our arms from each other and looked towards the person. It was obviously Grayson.
"What's going on here then?" He asked, slight annoyance in his tone as his arms were folded.
"I just wanted Ethan to know I forgive him." I said.
"You forgive him?" Grayson said, a little shocked.
"Yes, I forgive him, but I told him its the only chance he has. If he does it again then yeah, I won't forgive him as easily. He deserves a second chance." I said, smiling up at Ethan.
Ethan didn't smile back as Grayson's face distorted from shock to slight annoyance again. He looked pissed off.
"This fucker doesn't deserve any more chances after the shit he's pulled and put me through." Grayson said in rage.
Ethan's eyes began to water again as he nodded. Grayson came up to me and held my waist, pulling me away from Ethan. I had no energy to fight it but looked at Grayson with narrowed eyes.
"Yeah, well I don't have a fucking clue what he did so I think he deserves another chance from me. Stop trying to boss me around Grayson." I sneered.
"Exactly you have no idea what he's done. How'd you know he hasn't killed another person?" Grayson raised his voice.
Ethan and I's heads shot up to look at Grayson's. Ethan's eyes were wide and his head was slightly shaking where as mine was still as I had a unreadable facial expression.
"Grayson..." Ethan's words were shaky.
Grayson looked as if he regretted his life decisions and was staring back at Ethan.
"Ethan I'm sorry." Grayson said as he moved closer to Ethan.
I was extremely confused now and watched as the two brothers hugged whatever just happened out. Grayson was whispering in Ethan's ear as Ethan began to shake.
I felt myself get close to the two brothers but Grayson looked at me with wide eyes and shook his head. I nodded in understanding and walked away from the situation.
«»
It had been a couple hours since Ethan's panic attack/anxiety attack and I wanted to go see if he was okay, but Grayson said to leave him to calm himself down. He was with me on the couch watching a movie, snuggled in a blanket as I sat on his lap.
"I'm sorry for being bossy." He said as the movie's end credits started.
"It's okay, I understand you want to keep me safe. But please, let me make some of my own decisions." I said as I looked at him.
He nodded and I smiled lightly at him. He smiled back and pulled me closer to him as he picked another movie to watch. As he chose one, Ethan opened the door and entered the room. His eyes were still red and puffy but he looked a lot calmer. I smiled as we made eye contact and he smiled back forcefully. I looked away as he sat right next to Grayson, pulling me off his lap so he could hold me.
"Hey!" Grayson said trying to pull me back to him.
"I want a cuddle." Ethan said as he held me tight to his chest.
It was a weird position he held me in. His legs were crossed and his arm was under my legs as if he was about to carry me bridal style. His other arm was wrapped around my waist as he pulled me close to him. I had no choice but to rest my head on his chest and he kissed my forehead.
"Woah woah, you said cuddle. No kissing." Grayson said.
I chuckled as did Ethan at Grayson's little panic. This felt almost domestic, if you could call it that. It felt warm and calm. Especially calm feeling Ethan's chest rise and fall and hearing his heart beat. It could send me to sleep if we all weren't so engrossed in the movie we were watching.
Ethan's hands dropped my legs and now rested on my thigh, making a slight tingle in my stomach. I snuggled into his chest as my eyes felt heavy.
"Uh-uh you're not falling asleep on me." Ethan said as he caught on to what I was doing.
"Why not?" I whined, looking up at him.
"Because then I'll have to carry you to bed and tuck you in and I can't be assed." He said with a slight smirk.
"Grayson if I cuddle you will you take me up to bed?" I asked.
"Yeah." He simply answered.
I tried to move off Ethan but he gripped me. I groaned and pushed as hard as I could but to no success.
"I was joking, I'll take you up if you fall asleep." He said and smiled down at me.
It felt weird to have Ethan being nice to me after all the shit he said and how he acted. But it was also nice, it was like a whole different person. I guess I just needed to get to know him and have a near death experience with him for him to open up and be his true self.
Grayson on the other hand was hard to read. It's as if they switched. He's not unkind, just protective. He wants me to be safe, but it got annoying. As if he was some clingy boyfriend. He was really kind one moment but as soon as the incident with Ethan happened...it's like a switch was flicked inside of him. I don't think he could ever intentionally hurt me, physically or mentally, but he was definitely either protective or getting possessive. Going against his own brother.
I don't know what happened in the past to cause all these physiological issues for them, but I'm sure as hell going to find out...
«»
Oh my god an update! I bet you all thought I was dead or some shit the amount of time I was gone lmao.
Anyways I'm sorry if this sucked ass, I did try and make it interesting.
Also, I'm on holiday right now, so I have more time to write without distractions. So I'm hoping to write more for you guys.
I'm also writing a new book hehe, I wanna see what you think it's about. It's called Taken, that's the only clue I'll give.
Any how I hope you enjoy this chapter, thank you for reading and being patient for me.
C x
[p.s should i do a face reveal or nah?]