part of me | e.d

forty

i get up carefully, trying my best not to wake up grayson. then i walk out of the living room and upstairs to ethan's room.

i open the door quietly, peeking my head in. but it's empty.

i close the door again and walk to the guest room instead. that's where emma's staying.

again, i peek my head in but i don't find anyone.

i sigh, slumping my shoulders. then i close the door and when i turn around, i run into someone's chest.

i look up and try to see who it is. 

"grayson?" i squint at him through the darkness.

"yeah?"

"why are you up?"

"you woke me up!" he whisper shouts at me. "what are you doing?"

i sigh. "looking for ethan and emma. but i can't find them anywhere."

even though i can barely see him, i can tell he's smirking at me. "why are you looking for them?"

i look down at the ground, not wanting to answer. he lifts my head up to look at him but i avoid his eyes.

"why, rylin?"

"no reason." 

i know he doesn't believe me. he just keeps looking at me, waiting.

i finally break. "i'm jealous, okay? as much as i've tried denying it, i'm so freaking jealous of their relationship and it bothers me how close they are. i trust ethan, i really do, but he doesn't see how much she's been flirting with him."

i get all that off my chest, finally looking grayson in the eyes. he has a serious face on. "you know, they really are just good friends."

i roll my eyes and turn around. all the boys in this house are oblivious.

i walk down the hallway, but grayson grabs my arm and turns me to face him again. "wait, rylin. i know what you're saying. but i promise, she's not flirting with him. they've always acted that way around each other."

"you don't think it's weird?"

he shakes his head and shrugs. "you and ethan were like that when you were best friends."

i think for a second. i know ethan and i were close, but we were never flirty with each other. at least not until right before we started dating.

grayson and i are interrupted when we hear a car beep outside. i walk past grayson and downstairs to the front door. i see ethan, emma, and luna getting out of the car and walking to the house.

"ethan?" i say, opening the door. his eyes go wide and he looks at emma, who's cradling luna to her chest.

"hey ry." they walk in and i close the front door quietly.

"i'm going to go put the baby in your bed, okay, e?" she brushes his arm and he just nods. then she walks past us and goes upstairs to ethan's room.

i cross my arms and look at ethan. "i'm really trying not to be jealous here but what the hell?"

he looks up at the ceiling, sighing heavily. "emma woke me up because luna was crying so we went in the car to drive around since luna always falls asleep best in the car."

"and she had to go with you?"

"she asked. i wasn't going to say no for no reason."

i could feel myself getting angry with him and i didn't like it. it was almost as if my body was rejecting it.