25. The story💭

*Keep asking questions for my Q and A* Just a vid to cheer you up!

Chapter 25: The story

Kelsey's POV

*****

"OMG, Lara look," I heard someone whisper.

"Aww that is adorable!" Lara whispered.

I refused to open my eyes to see what they were doing. I was too comfortable in bed, my arms around a pillow and my head laying on a hard surface.

A hard, moving surface.

I woke up with a jolt, my eyes fluttering open before I rubbed my eyes, seeing all of the guys standing out of Ethan's bedroom door staring at me and Ethan sleeping. In the same bed, with our legs entangled with each other's as we both held each other. Things couldn't have gotten anymore awkward.

I groaned in embarrassment, leading Ethan's eyes to flutter open as well, a disoriented look on his face.

"What are you guys doing here?" Ethan asked in his attractive raspy morning voice as he woke up completely, rubbing the sleep away from his own eyes.

"Well we were going downstairs and the door was open and well yeah," Lara said.

"Kelsey why are you sleeping in here?" Noah curiously asked.

I untangled myself from Ethan and sat up, looking down at my lap in embarrassment. I couldn't even imagine what they were thinking about me in that moment. I certainly did not want them to see me that way with Ethan, and I did not want them to get the wrong idea.

"She's sleeping in here because Zack took the guest room," Ethan explained.

"Couldn't she have slept in Lara and I's room?" Ellie asked suspiciously.

"It's a long story," I replied, scared that they will ask for more details.

I didn't want to tell them that Ethan and I were pretending to be boyfriend and girlfriend just to get Zack off our case. Certainly they would have wanted to help in a way, or they would have let something slip and ruin our plan. Thankfully, they all nodded in understanding without any further questions and I took them downstairs to make them some breakfast.

I was glad that nobody brought up me and Ethan while eating, and for a moment, I even found myself forgetting that we had an unwanted guest in the house. That was, until I heard his footsteps coming down the stairs before he stepped into the kitchen where everybody else was eating quietly.

"Good morning family, are you eating without me?" Zack said with that same old annoying look on his facen as he took a seat, making everyone roll their eyes.

"We're not your family Zack. We may be cousins but you have never treated us like family," Noah said before excusing himself and going to his room, leaving half of his favourite breakfast on his plate.

It took a lot to annoy Noah, and I couldn't stand to see him so upset. What Zack was doing to them was unforgivable, and I found myself being mad at him without knowing what he actually did. If Noah and Ellie were upset with him, two people who were sweet with everybody, then I didn't even need to know.

"I'll go talk to him," I said, wanting to find a way to cheer him up.

"No, I'll go," Ethan said, standing up and going upstairs after Noah.

I couldn't help but smile at Ethan's caring gesture towards his brother. Zack had only been there for one day and he had already upset everyone in the household, including me, whilst Ethan was trying his best to make everything okay.

"Who pissed in his cereal today?" Zack said, sitting down next to Lara.

"Zack, language! How can you use that language in front of Ellie?" I said, getting a bit mad that he didn't even seem to care that there were children in the room.

Couldn't he just act like a normal, kind, human being for once and not make everyone want to slap the smirk off his face?

"Maybe the same person who should piss on your face," Lara replied, standing up and going upstairs.

I was shocked with her words. I hated Zack from making something so foul come out of Lara's mouth, and no matter how much I was supposed to be mad at her for saying it, I couldn't bring myself to do so.

"Kelsey, what does pissed mean?" Ellie asked all innocently, making the anger I was feeling for Zack increase at how he was tainting their innocence with his bad words.

"Nothing sweetie, it's big girl stuff," I replied.

She just nodded, in understanding before going back to her breakfast, allowing me to let out a sigh of relief when she didn't press the subject any further. I knew that some seven year olds already knew what it meant after constantly hearing people at home say it, but I would have rather left Ellie innocent.

"Well then, I'm gonna go meet up with Jenna, unless you want to do something with me instead, Kelsey," Zack said, winking at me as he put his arm around me.

"I'd rather chew a roach," I said, throwing his hand off of me.

It sounded like an exaggeration, especially because I loathed roaches-but I probably had never been more serious than I was in that moment.

"Damn, fiesty. I like it," he said before sending me a wink and heading out.

"I'm going to go see if Lara and Noah are okay, you coming?" I asked Ellie.

"I want to finish my oat meal," she replied.

I couldn't understand why, but she reminded me of a grandma, slowly eating her oat meal, completely oblivious to what was happening around her-or at least pretending to.

"Okay, if you need anything just yell. Be careful," I replied before going upstairs and walking next to Noah's door.

I was about to knock before I heard the two of them talking. "Noah, I know he hurt me but that was a long time ago, I'm sure that he won't manage to this time," I heard Ethan say.

I wasn't eavesdropping or anything, my ear had just somehow gotten stuck to the door.

"Eth, if he wins this time you wouldn't be the only one to lose something, we all would," Noah replied.

"I know Noah."

"Ethan, this time it's worse, do you realise what you did?" Noah asked, slightly angry.

I winced at Noah's angry tone towards Ethan. They were getting along so amazingly, and I was scared that Zack's visit was going to lead the two to go back to the relationship they had before. I certainly didn't want that.

"What else could I do Noah? That was more important to me than my feelings, you don't even know. It would have been worse. I just want to protect her," Ethan said.

I froze as soon as I heard that. It was evident that he was talking about me, and that was when it became clear that I could not keep overhearing their conversation from behind the door when it concerned me. I had to build up the courage to go in there and join their conversation.

"Is everything okay guys?" I asked as I went in Noah's room, eyeing the two boys.

I did not want them to think that I was spying on them, despite the fact that I may have been doing so. Nonetheless, I did want to know what they were talking about.

"Kels! Yeah everything's fine." Ethan seemed shock as he saw me barge in, his cheeks turning red as he started stuttering his words.

It was clear that he didn't want me to be hearing what the two of them were saying, and so I had to try and pretend like I hadn't heard anything. I knew that Ethan would have gotten defensive if he were to find out that I overheard them talking about me.

"Do you feel better Noah?" I asked, trying to put what I had just heard at the back of my mind and acting like I normally would have.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied with a smile which didn't reach his eyes. I felt horrible seeing him that way. Noah and I had the type of relationship where he would always tell me what was going on, even when it seemed like it was something small to him. The fact that he was clearly lying to me hurt me more than I could have even described.

"Okay," I said, choosing to drop it. I did not want to force him to tell me something which he so clearly didn't want to say. I knew that if he wanted to tell me, he would have. Turning to Ethan, I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried to get ready for what the next couple of minutes had in store for me.  "Ethan can I please talk to you? It's important."

He seemed as if he was caught off guard by my question, and I could see the panic in his face as he just sat there, looking at me without saying anything. I sent him a small smile when he finally accepted and got out of Noah's room and in to his, with me following suit.

That was my chance to ask him about what I had wanted to know. All I had to do was just go out and say it. There was no way I was going to be kept in the dark any longer, it wasn't fair.

"What did Zack do that was so bad?" I asked in one breath, hoping that for once he wouldn't just shrug me off.

Ethan sighed and looked down at the ground, evidently having expected that question. A glimmer of hope shone within me once I realised that he hadn't immediately disregarded me, which was a step closer than I had ever gotten with that question. He looked at me again, his lips pursed together in thought.

"Are you sure you want to know?" He asked, sitting down on his bed.

I nodded and sat down next to him, preparing myself for the story that was to come. I didn't know what I was about to hear, but I knew that I was ready for it. There was no way I could live with Zack without knowing why everybody in the household hated him, nor why Ethan was trying to protect me so badly.

"Okay, so, 3 years ago he got kicked out of his house for the first time and my mom decided to let him stay here because she had always thought he was this nice guy that was just misunderstood.

"He came here, and everything was going fine. Ellie loved him, he always used to play with her and buy her toys from the store, it was like she loved him more then she loved me. Anyways, that's not the point. That time, I had a crush on this girl. Her laugh would light up my world more than anything. She was my second crush, the one that actually showed signs of interest in me. Zack knew this and he still went after her. She started spending a lot of time with him. She started developing feelings for him and went after him instead."

"Zack tried to do everything to please her and to show how he was better than me in every way. It made me feel horrible," he continued, his voice breaking at the last part, pain evident in his eyes.

My heart clenched at the sight of Ethan that way. I could see that telling the story brought back horrible memories for him, and I felt bad for making him relive it.

"So you hate him because he took the girl you really liked?" I asked, only to receive a shake of the head as an answer. The issue seemed to be graver than fighting for a girl, and I didn't know if I wanted to hear the rest.

"One day, to show how cool he was, he took my mom's car without asking. He was fourteen, it wasn't legal for him to drive. He went to pick her up to go somewhere, I don't care where," he said, his voice getting angrier as his fists clenched.

"I was out walking that day. He decided to follow me to rub it in my face that he got the girl to fall for him. He sped up. He wasn't supposed to go that fast, heck he wasn't even supposed to be driving."

I noticed a tear slipping down his cheeks, and I instinctively wiped it off with my thumb. Ethan leaned his head in my palm before taking my hand in his, rubbing circles on it with his thumb as his eyes locked with mine, his red, bloodshot, glossy eyes making my heart ache.

"He killed my best friend Kelsey," he said, his voice breaking. "He killed my dog Bradley," he clarified as tears kept trickling down his cheek.

I instantly hugged him, not knowing what to say. All of it was horrible. I couldn't believe that Zack killed a poor, innocent dog who didn't deserve any of it. Ethan snuggled his face in the crook of my neck as he held me tighter before backing away slightly, wanting to continue his story.

"He was careless. Bradley went in to the street to get something for me and Zack sped up, killing him instantly. He never even cared to apologize. He lost his virginity at fourteen. That same day with my crush. Not only did he take her away from me but he also took away my best friend. No one has forgiven him," he said, snuggling his head in my neck again.

"Ethan I'm so sorry," I replied, hugging him tightly.

I felt horrible for the boy in front of me, who lost something so important to him because of somebody's recklessness. I loved animals, and all form of life. I would never even kill a roach because I would feel so guilty about hurting it. The thought of a poor dog wanting to help his owner with something that was clearly important to him, only to end up getting innocently killed hurt me, and I couldn't imagine how it must have felt for Ethan, looking at it all happening. Looking at his best friend lying lifeless on the floor.

"I promise I'm not going to let him hurt you. I promise Ethan," I honestly said, wanting to convince him of it. After knowing the entire story, I was finally able to understand everyone's concerns with regards to Zack much better, except for one thing.

"Why did Noah say that this time it would be worse?"

"No reason Kels, he just doesn't want me to get hurt again," Ethan replied.

I simply nodded, not wanting to keep questioning him. I did not want to make him talk about it anymore, I wanted him to be happy, and not upset him even more. I could tell how much it cost him to tell me that story. I couldn't believe that a person would do that to someone.

"He's a jerk," I said after a moment of silence, making Ethan chuckle at my sudden outburst.

"He is," he agreed, nodding his head. "Good thing I have you to keep me sane," he continued, winking at me and making me blush.

"Aww are you blushing?" He asked, batting his eyelashes innocently.

"N-no" I stammered. "It's just hot in here" I replied, my eyes widening as soon as the words left my mouth, knowing that it was a bad choice of words.

I could feel my cheeks heating up even more, as I found it impossible to look at Ethan after having just embarrassed myself in front of him.

"Oh, is it now?" He smirked.

"Oh don't get over your head Ethan," I replied, slightly pushing him, looking at him once again and finding a grin plastered on his face.

I honestly hoped that Zack wouldn't hurt Ethan, ever again. The thought of him instantly lit up my life and I wouldn't have been able to bear to see him upset. Ever.

A/N: here you go as promised!!! I hope you guys love it. I'm sorry if it's bad,the exams drained out all of the energy and brains out of me and I've been afraid that you guys no longer like my story. I promise I will get better once I have a clear view of where the story is going.

Now I'm very glad you stopped with the chair throwing that's very nice of you! Let's hope we dont start throwing them again alright?

Okay so I hope y'all had an amazing day, for this of you who have just started their day good morning and I hope you have a wonderful day.

I love you beauties

Stay perfect

~M