make you stay (g.d.)

twenty-four

elizabeth:

waking up next to grayson isn't the weirdest thing in the world.

but waking up next to grayson with his twin brother gaping at you from the doorway is.

i sharply inhale and immediately try to shield my face with the white comforter. grayson stirs next to me, but doesn't wake up.

"what. the. hell." i hear ethan whisper to himself. he's still standing in the door.

i poke grayson's arm, and his eyes flutter. he smiles when he sees me, but it quickly turns into a frown when he sees my facial expressions.

he shoots up and gasps quietly when he sees ethan.

everything on ethan's face looks as if he'd been shot. i mean, i kind of get it. but why didn't grayson tell ethan that it was me the whole time?

"elizabeth?" he asks accusingly. "you're f*cking elizabeth?"

"no—" grayson scrambles, but i sit up, causing both of them to turn to me.

"ethan," i say, trying to keep my voice even and calm. "this isn't what it seems."

he laughs bitterly. "so it's not like my twin brother has been seeing the girl i've been talking about and not telling me?"

i shrug. i mean, he kinda nailed it.

"unbelievable," he mutters, shaking his head and looking away from us.

"ethan," grayson says. "please just let me explain."

"no!" he yells. "you don't get to. as soon as i start taking interest in something, you always have to take it away from me. you're a shit brother, graysonl—"

"ethan!" grayson yells, and i realize it's my first time hearing him raise his voice. "this is elizabeth."

"oh really? i had no idea," ethan says sarcastically.

"no, i'm plane elizabeth," i say softly, pointing at myself. "grayson and i met five months ago."

he looks between us, pure confusion on his face. "she's... she's the one that left you? in the airport?"

i look at grayson, but he avoids my eyes.

"and you didn't think to tell me? sooner than this?"

"i tried, ethan," grayson says with pleadings in his voice. "i tried."

"how many times?" ethan asks in a hard voice.

"that's not the point—"

"how many times?" he reiterates. "how many times did you attempt to tell me?"

grayson lowers his head. "once."

i stay quiet as they continue to fight, and watch as grayson rises from the bed and stands in front of his brother. i don't know what to do in these situations, so i do what i know best: leaving.

"where're you going?" grayson asks me as i touch the door handle.

i look between them. "this is clearly something the both of you need to figure out."

"yeah," ethan says. "i agree."

"no," grayson demands with authority. "she's apart of this, so she stays. lizzy, please tell him—"

"lizzy?" ethan exclaims. "when did that happen?"

"stop!" i yell, holding up both of my hands in front of their faces. "this is so, so stupid. i'm literally just a girl that works in a cafe. this argument," i point at both of them. "is useless."

grayson, who clearly ignores me, turns to his brother again. "say one thing you know about her. if you think you should be the one to have her, tell me all about her."

ethan's quiet, but grayson continues to raise his voice. "tell me all about how she hates the sound of tapping pencils, tell me about her favorite pet fish that she had when she was nine. tell me about the way she laughs when she sees a seagull, and how she never seems to let people see her cry. tell me how she likes the smell of rain, but not the storms that come with it. tell me about the things she's told you about her parents, and why she moved here. tell me, ethan! admit to yourself that you don't know shit about her, and you only like her because she's pretty!"

i step back, shocked from the words that came out of grayson's mouth, and how aggressive they were. the silence is so loud it makes my ears ring.

ethan's face is unreadable. almost. he knows grayson's right, i know grayson's right, and grayson knows he's right too.

with a finishing huff of air, grayson steps back from his close proximity from his brother.

"i hope i never see you again," ethan says to gray calmly, and slips out of the room.

i try to grab his arm, but he brushes it off, and gives me a sad smile. "enjoy him. hope it's worth it."

"no," i sigh as i bury my head in my hands. "that's not how this goes!"

i hear grayson pacing, and i've made up my mind.

i have to get the hell out of here.

who do i think i am? breaking up twin bonds? yeah, no. this whole thing isn't for me. maybe there's a cheap flight to canada or something and i can just pack up and leave.

grayson must read my mind, because he gives me a pleading look. "don't worry about him. he doesn't mean that. just please promise you'll stay until i talk to him."

i hesitate.

"please?" he asks, and i can i tell that i need to do this for him.

"of course," i nod. "go talk to your brother. and don't come back until he loves you again."