e i g h t

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nova's pov :

i laugh at the random joke mom told and continue washing the dirty dish.

"can i help?" a voice asks

i finish my last dish and turn around to alison, flashing her a genuine smile.

"of course. here, you can take this to the table." mom hands her a bowl

"everyone to the dining table!" lisa yells

everyone walks over to the dining table and i'm the only one left behind in the kitchen.

"nova. c'mon, there's nothing to do in the kitchen honey." lisa speaks from the living room

"uhm, i'm coming!" i gently shout back

for some reason, i was freaking out. i mean there is nothing to be nervous about. i usually sit next to ethan and i'm praying to god he didn't reserve that spot for alison this christmas. i take a deep breath and step out into the living room, only to see alison in my usual seat. i don't make it obvious about how shocked i was and i see an open seat next to mia and aiden.

i'm totally happy with that actually.

"so... how long have you guys been together?" mom asks

"a year and hopefully many more." she chuckles

i choke on the bread i was eating but nobody looks except for grayson. his eyes get wide and a smirk plasters onto his face. he laughs quietly and then downs a glass of water, trying not to laugh even more.

"so alison, what are you doing tomorrow?" lisa asks

"i'm not sure actually. just celebrating christmas with my family and hopefully ethan can come over later." she nudges him

"i'm sorry to disappoint you but, i'm going to be keeping him home all day tomorrow." lisa apologizes

"oh no it's totally no problem, you shouldn't even be apologizing. he's been hanging out plenty with me." she smiles

that conversation dies down and everyone has their small conversations with people next to them or across but i sit there quietly and eat my food, looking around the table and shaking my leg anxiously. a bad habit of mine when i'm nervous that only ethan knows about.

"who's shaking the table?" mia asks

"i-i am. i'm sorry." i respond and shyly smile

"you ok?" ethan mouths

i nod quickly, not smiling and then look down, eating my food again.

"oh c'mon nov. please!" mia begs

"please please please." she pouts

"i wish i could but your bigger cousin wants me to play video games with him. you already know i'm sleeping over right? i always sleepover on christmas eve. we have plenty of time before you leave." i smile

she nods quickly and then grabs aiden's hand, tugging him away.

"your fault." i point to grayson's chest and run upstairs

"my fault, my ass." he says, walking upstairs

i chuckle and once we're finally up, the sound of people talking and christmas music dies down and i immediately feel much calmer.

"do you want to play a game or watch a movie." he asks

"your choice gray." i fiddle with my thumbs

"what's wrong?" he sits on the edge of the bed and puts his hand on my knee, making me look up

"is it ethan?" he asks again

"n-no. he didn't do anything. it's just me, i guess. i don't know gray."

"i heard you guys arguing last night because i mean, perla and i we're upstairs but do you want to talk about everything?" he asks

"right! i forgot you were there. i shut my door after we fought and then i didn't even care for anything else. i didn't even come out my room the whole day."

"i tried knocking on your door but perla stopped me, saying you needed alone time."

"ya i did. thanks for respecting that." i smile

he nods gently and then i look around his room, not like i haven't seen it a million times already.

"i don't think ethan loves her anymore. i think he fell out of love."

my eyebrows furrow and my heart beat starts to pick up.

"w-what do you mean? he seems so happy every time he's with her."

"have you talked to him about it yet?" grayson asks

"if he fell out of love?" i question

he nods and i shake my head, as a no.

"i mean you just told me. i didn't even suspect anything like this was happening."

"am i really the only person who noticed?" he questions

"maybe you're overreacting?" i question

"no, no i know ethan. he's happy but he's not himself. he's himself when he's with you."

"grayson, what are you trying to say?"

as he opens his mouth, mia and aiden open his room door and run inside, jumping onto grayson's bed.

"i wanna hang out with nova. not alison." mia pouts

"mia! that's not very nice. don't say that." i scold

she giggles and grayson starts chuckling.

"grayson!" my eyebrows raise

he puts his hands up in surrender and on cue, ethan and alison come into his room.

"mom's calling us down." ethan points behind him

mia and aiden jump off the bed, running downstairs and i walk past ethan, not looking at him nor talking one bit.

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