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by camsnewton

by camsnewton

+NARRATOR
THE PRESENT TIME

"CROSSROADS"

his arms were wrapped tightly around her when she awoke and that was very calming. what wasn't calming was the fact that his brother was looming over the two of them with a creepy smirk on his face. "this is interesting," he taunted, "i could've sworn you had a boyfriend — wait, no! a fiancé even?"

cali couldn't even be bothered to flip him the finger like she would normally do as they teased each other. her body was exhausted and her head felt like a punching bag; blow after blow it throbbed and she only had her own reckless behaviour and poor judgement to blame.

"i don't suppose you know if me and him had sex last night?" she whispered shamelessly. she was curious as to how she'd ended up in grayson's bed when the last memories she could recall place her on top of a lion in the freezing cold with some liquor glued to her palm.

"you didn't," ethan smiled, "you were both so loopy and drunk that i shoved you in bed as soon as you walked through the door."

"thank you," she smiled back, thankful to have somebody as caring as ethan looking after her when she needs it most. the brother got up and offered his friend a coffee to wake her up from the groggy state she'd been left in by the monstrous hang-over. "yeah," she replied, nodding her head lightly as to not disturb it further.

she carefully unravelled herself from grayson's arms which had previously been snaked around her torso, carefully so that she would not wake him. he looked ever so peaceful: in his own little world, no doubt getting up to something ridiculous in his dreams.

she remained wearing a plain, white t-shirt which she'd worn out ice skating the day before but all her other clothes laid scattered on the floor of the guest bedroom ethan had plonked them into.

calista sleepily made her way into the kitchen earning a hug from ethan who could see she was in desperate need of a pick me up. "coffee's almost done," he smiled reassuringly at the girl who looked as though she were ready to collapse.

"have any tylenol? or even something stronger?"

"yeah. check the cupboard, top right," he gestured to the cabinet where he kept his drugs. it was jam-packed with all sorts of medicine so it took her a while to fish out what she needed. ethan handed her a glass of water to wash down her pills and soon after, some freshly brewed coffee and toast.

"evan called."

"oh really," she raised her eyebrows, "many times?"

"just the one," ethan shook his head.

cali let out a huge sigh before burying her head in her folded arms which laid on top of the table. "i don't know what to do, i feel helpless but at the same time i have full control."

ethan got off his stool and sat on the seat next to her, rubbing her back in consolation as her heavy breathing exposed just how stressed and confused she felt. "want some advice?" ethan asked. coincidentally, the sun had started to rise as he asked this and calista's head had also popped up. the sun illuminated her face and she smiled, urging him to carry on talking. any noise would do to distract her from her troubles.

"grayson is my twin brother and i love him," he started, "but i also can't lie to you and say that he's the obvious best choice for you. i think if you went with evan you'd have an easier life — maybe even a happier relationship, but not necessarily a better one. i think that gray has something to offer you that you most likely won't find with another man, ever. i don't particularly believe in the whole 'there's someone made for everyone', but in your case i really do believe he's the one for you."

"but what if i can't trust him?" she muttered almost inaudibly as waves of melancholy emotion crept up her throat, threatening to make the girl cry. "you remember how he broke my heart last time. he got bored of me and he might again."

"i think that's very unlikely but it's certainly a risk..."

cali's heart began thumping harder due to sadness as well as fear. she feared that she'd have to let evan go in hopes of obtaining something more promising with grayson but she also felt sad that their past two years they'd shared together would be tainted by this dumping. there's no chance that he'd be willing to stick around in her life after this humiliation and it made her tear up just thinking about him in such pain.

"i feel like an dickhead," she cried, holding onto ethan's hand for comfort. "and funnily enough, the only person who doesn't get hurt in this scenario is grayson despite the fact that he's the reason we're in this mess."

"that's gray for you, he always manages to land on his feet unscathed," ethan chuckled from a place which seemed like first-hand experience.

the sky was blue for the first time in a long while and the roads were still wet from the rain which had poured down during the night. the sun was also shining brightly leaving its glow on every surface it beamed upon. beautiful songs were being sung by the birds which undoubtedly perched on the balcony of their house and yet with all this gorgeous, idyllic scenery which surrounded her, calista couldn't help but feel empty.

"i'm just going to let the next six days go past before making any life changing decisions," she sighed, resting her chin in the palm of her hand and staring out of the long, vertical windows acting as a portal to the balcony outside.

"the last thing i'll say on the subject is that you just have so many precious memories with him. your past together is littered with richness, for better and for worse. it would suck to throw it all away but more importantly: it would suck to throw it away wondering for the rest of your life if you'd made a mistake."