Falling In

“Deegan!” I shouted out to the lake house, knowing that he’d be hanging out with my brother. The drive home was a bit awkward, but we made some kind of silent pact that we wouldn’t talk about it. Though, I would be lying if I said that it didn’t keep me smiling the whole way.

“Holy fuck, thank god you’re safe!” he shouted running towards me and gave me the biggest hug ever.

“What happened?” I asked as he gave Avalanche a hug too.

“We just got the mail for your official signing Pres. Con for Red Bull!” he announced.

“You’re an idiot! I thought somebody died or something!” I punched his arm.

“Ah,” he complained. “Sorry, I thought it was an emergency,” he smirked. “Congratulations!” he laughed at me.

I turned to Ethan and gave him the widest smile, and before I knew it, his arms were around my waist and his lips were moving against mine. I could feel the smile that was on his lips.

“Whoa shit. Jacob!” he shouted out, and my brother came running down the stairs.

“What? Are they- Ew! Get off my sister!” I heard my brother whine.

I pulled away from Ethan with wide smiles on our faces. He set me down gently, and I turned to my brother and best friend. “You did not have to see that,” I said.

“You’re right. And I hope I never have to,” Jacob shuddered. “First, I see it on New Years, then I hear about it and now I see it again?”

“Love you too bro bro,” I grinned at him.

“You though,” Jake said pointing at Ethan. “You and I are gonna have to talk,” he said seriously. “Come on,” he said to Ethan and started walking towards the sliding door leading out to the lake.

“Right now?” Ethan asked.

“Right now,” Jake confirmed.

Ethan looked at me worriedly. “You’ll be fine. You’re bestfriends, what’s the worst that could happen?” I asked him, as I reassured him with another kiss. Why am I kissing him a lot lately?

“Do not even make me think of that, Stella Grace,” he shook his head at me, and followed Jake out of the house.

“Okay. Was not expecting that,” Deegan told me as he took a seat on the couch.

“Sorry, adrenaline,” I told him as I sat next to him and laid my head on his shoulder. “I’m so happy right now,” I told him. “So, tell me. What was the whole emergency?” I asked him.

“I’m glad,” he said sincerity evident in his voice. We were quiet for a moment before he spoke again. “I really am glad to see you happy. But the emergency,” he said. “Heather’s back.”

“What?” I squeaked out.

“Yeah, she’s in town. Not for good though,” he assured me.

I let out a sigh of relief. “Thank god. What’s she doing here though?”

“She’s engaged.”

“What?” I let out a laugh. “She’s what?”

“She’s engaged,” he repeated.

“To who?”

Deegan shrugged, and started to pet Avalanche’s head that was on his lap. “Don’t know. All I know is that she’s not prolonging her engagement and they’re getting married in like, two months,” he scoffed.

“Are you serious?!” I asked, fighting a smile off my face.

“I’m dead serious. I heard they were sending out the invitations next weekend or something,” he informed me.

“That’s great!” I smiled. “I mean, uhh. That’s great she found somebody!”

Deegan laughed at me. “Aren’t you happy? You and Versace are finally getting your happy ending.”

I smirked at him. “Deegan, we’re not in a fairytale.”

“I know,” he told me seriously. “But you really need to talk to him about it. I know you haven’t told him why you haven’t talked to him in years.”

“We’ll get to that,” I said softly.

“I’m your bestfriend, right?” he asked me after a few seconds.

“Yeah, of course,” I told him.

“Since I’m the bestest friend in the world, I’ve gotta tell you something,” he said seriously, making my heart beat faster.

“What?” I squeaked.

“I’m gonna have to be brutally honest, okay?” he warned. I got ever more scared.

“Okay,” I squeaked.

“I know you don’t wanna hear this,” he said to me. “But you have to hear it,” he continued and I was dreading for the next words. He sighed and looked me straight in the eye. “You are so fucking in love,” he said.

My jaw dropped. “Fucking asshole! I thought you were gonna tell me that you hated me or something!” I yelled.

“I know, I loved seeing that scared face,” he cooed pinching my cheek.

“You are one dumb fucker,” I mumbled. “But in all seriousness, I’m not,” I told him.

“Yes you are.”

“No. And I don’t think I’ll be falling in love with him anytime soon,” I told him seriously. “Or with anybody else.”

“You’re either dumb or just plain stupid,” he smirked. “Boy’s got you wrapped around his middle finger. He had you falling for him in a week.”

“The hell I’ll fall,” I scoffed. “And no, I did not fall in love with him within a damn week!” I argued.

“You’re right,” he said with a nod, and I smiled triumphantly. “You fell in love with him 7 years ago the first time you saw his ‘mesmerizing green eyes’ and heard his ‘angelic voice’ singing to Michael Buble’s song,” he mocked.

I gasped. “You’re an idiot!”

“Love you too,” he smiled.

I sighed, and was about to spat a retort, but the two guys walked back in. I saw the both of them smiling and talking about something, and Ethan shot me a look, the smile on his face wider and brighter than I’ve ever remembered. It was like he glowed. It was like a magnet was attracting my eyes towards him.

The way he walked, the way his stood the way he’d give me a sideways glance. Even the way his mouth moved and the sound of his voice and the way he talked. Why was I just realizing this now?

The two started walking towards us, and he sat down next to me on the couch, wrapping his arms around my torso, and I instinctively leaned on him.

“What were you talking about?” he asked me.

I shot Deegan a look who sent me a wink and stood up. “I’ll see you guys later. Jake and I have to run an errand,” he said quickly.

“We do?” Jake asked.

“We do,” he said and they both disappeared.

“Weird,” I mumbled.

“You know them,” he laughed.

“What were you talking about?” I asked referring to his conversation with my brother earlier.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” he laughed.

“I would, actually,” I smirked at him.

“Well he was giving me some warnings,” he smirked at me.

“Oh? Like what?” I asked, tracing shapes on his leg.

“Like how he’d run over my face with his car if I broke your heart. Or how he’d take me to the deepst part of the lake and rop me there with 500 pounds of weight so I could never swim up,” he laughed.

“Brutal,” I laughed with him.

“Yup,” he said popping the ‘p’

“It’s okay, none of those are gonna happen to you,” I said to him. “It’s not like you have my heart or anything,” I said and suddenly realized how that sounded. “Fuck, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that,” I said to him. He pulled away from me and sat back a foot away with a glare.

“Are you taking me for an idiot, Stella?” he asked me anger and sadness in both evident in both his eyes and his voice.

“No E, it’s just that…,” I sighed, knowing I couldn’t get it out.

“I love you Stells. It’s either you love me or you don’t!” he yelled standing up.

“I don’t know,” I whispered quietly.

“Why are you so fucking afraid to fall in love?!” he yelled.



“Hey guys,” I greeted my dad that were on the couch when I got home from school. My brother walked in after me, and closed the door. We stood side by side as we looked at our father, sitting on the table in our living room, looking out the sliding door and into the lake.

“What’s going on?” Jake asked.

“Mom?” I called out, suspecting something was wrong, because by now our mom would’ve already waltzed out of the kitchen with the widest smile on her face and would announce what was for dinner or what she made for a snack. I dropped my bag, as I ran to the kitchen hoping to see my mom there. But my heart sank seeing that it was as clean as we left it this morning and there were no brownies nor cookies baking.

“What do you mean she fucking left?!” I suddenly heard my brother yell out. “You just let her waltz out of here without a word?! Are you fucking with me dad?!” the voice got louder as I got closer to where I left them and my eyes were watering.

“It’s not like I would’ve kept her here! There was nothing I could do, and you fucking knew it!” my dad yelled back at my brother. “If she wasn’t happy, then she’s free to fucking go, okay?!”

I knew that my parents were having some problems between them, but I didn’t realize it was this serious. They got in fights, yes. But I realized that as the years passed it just got a lot worse.

“I’m sorry guys,” he sighed. “I love your mom more than my own soul, but damn she wanted to leave. She wasn’t happy here anymore. She didn’t love me like she loved me before,” he said and sat back down burying his face in his hands. “It just doesn’t work that way,” he sighed. “Love just doesn’t work like that.”

“Stella Grace, listen to me. Your mom and I are different, your dad and I are different. Your parents are different from you and I,” Ethan told me, holding my face to look at him.

“That’s not the only reason,” I said softly.

“Tell me,” he begged.

I took a deep breath and sat back down on the couch. I sighed and looked up at him. “You slept with my old bestfriend.”