Dating Mistakes

Chapter 17

Ethan

"Ethan, I might come home late today. Are you going to be alright?"

"Mom, I'm not six anymore. I can look after myself for a few hours!" Mom pats my cheek and smiles a little.

"I know, I know. You're a big boy now. Of course, you can look after yourself. I just meant are you gonna be alright here with Milo?" She glances at the incorrigible Corgi currently nibbling at my discarded shoe.

I bend down and take the shoe away from him. That little troublemaker.
The shoe looks like it might have seen better days rather than something I bought like two days ago.

Milo has been a part of our family for four years now. He has always been a little bundle of mischief. I'd seen him and instantly took a liking to him. Apart from his little shenanigans, he's a great dog. He'd been six months old when we got him on my 13th birthday and I love this little shit to death.

"I think I'll be fine. I'll leash him up if tries anything funny. Yeah, Milo?" I watch as he tucks his face in between his paws and crouches down.

Ah, the puppy dog eyes.

"Yeah, well alright. I have to leave now, so take care." She hops into the driver seat and speeds away.

I sigh and bend to pick up Milo. "Looks like it's just you and me now, buddy."

I walk back into the house and plop on the couch in living room. Our house is something out of the black and white era. Modern yet lacking any other colour combination. White tiled walls, white marbled floor with black couch in the living room along with black coffee table in the middle. On the front wall is a television that might be the only source of any other colour apart from the sunlight streaming through the window, near the staircase, on the left to the television amd the countless number of indoor plants my mom is hellbent on decorating every corner of the house with.

Milo gets off my lap and runs towards the kitchen. I follow him, knowing all too well what he wants. Even though I just fed him not more than thirty minutes ago, he's hungry again. I open the black drawer in which his food is and put a handful of it in his bowl.

"Well, there you go, Milo." He wags his little tail and happily starts devouring the meal.
I watch him as I lean against the black counter top on which the stove and oven resides.

How does it feel to be this happy, buddy?

I sigh and pull out my phone to check if I have any messages from Elaine. It's been a while since I last contacted her except for that one time in school when I said it was okay if she is considering to go out with Noah and adviced her to be careful.

I could've visited her after that day. We don't live that far apart but part of me still don't know how to pretend that everything is okay.

Because it's not.

I've biding my time and steeling myself for the inevitable but that doesn't mean I can't delay it. In order to save our friendship, I ignored my feelings and now, I have to pay for them. I wish I'd had the guts to tell her. But now it feels too late.

And at the end of the day, if she's happy, then so am I. I don't want to lose her friendship, though. These four years with her have been a blessing in disguise. Hell, she's been a blessing in disguise and I'd be an idiot to let her go.

But you are an idiot who's letting her go!
I shut the nagging voice in my head and focus on the screen in front of me.

I'm shocked to see the most recent person who texted me, though. It's not Elaine. It's Andrew. But the content is what alarms me the most.

Andrew: Elaine and Gem are in danger. Follow the location.
Attachment: live location