2 | Exposed ( ETHAN DOLAN )

TWENTY SIX

E X P O S E D
C H A P T E R  T W E N T Y  S I X

THE morning after was dark with rain and thick, grey clouds. Drops of rain pattered against the windows of Andrea's bedroom. It was her favourite weather, her favourite sound. She always loved sitting snug in her bed with a hot drink and watching the showers outside over the city.

When she woke up, however, she hated the sound. She hated her bed for being cold and empty. She hated being awake, but she knew by now she wasn't going to fall back to sleep.

She hated how much she fucked up the night before.

Her eyes were still sore and puffy from crying herself to sleep. She swiped the sleep from them, before pushing herself out of her bed.

Realisation quickly hit Andrea when she remembered just how much she had fucked up. She took off towards the spare room, only to find it completely empty. The white sheets of the bed were tucked away gently under some pillows.

Frowning, Andrea skipped down the stairs and into the kitchen. Her moms were sitting at the island, drinking coffee and eating scrambled eggs. Erica was writing a new book on her computer.

"Morning sweetie," Kristen chirped, placing her magazine down.

"Why the worried face?" Erica questioned.

"Have you guys seen Ethan?"

"No, why?" Kristen replied, her eyebrows knitting together.

"He's not in his room. All his stuff is gone."

"Maybe he went on a run," Erica said. "He looks like he goes on runs every morning."

"With all of his stuff?" Andrea argued.

"Andrea." Veronica appeared in the kitchen, her phone in hand. Her face was just as distressed as her sister's, if not more so. "Why is Ethan in New Jersey?"

Andrea was handed the phone. She stared at the screen, her vision growing clouded by tears again. Violent thoughts rushed to her head and she wanted to smash Veronica's phone against the wall.

Ethan had returned to New Jersey during the night. He had uploaded a photo to Snapchat of him exploring some forest at home with Grayson.

Andrea breathed in a heavy breath, placing the phone on the counter before she could go ahead and smash it. Within a moment she had decided what she was going to do. She jogged back upstairs to her bedroom and pulled out a suitcase from her wardrobe, the one she had just recently put away, throwing anything and everything inside.

"Andrea," Veronica exclaimed, having followed her sister upstairs. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm going to Jersey."

"No, Andrea this is a bad idea. Your bipolar is making you do this. Why are you doing this? When are you gonna come home? Do you even have any money? Mom's not gonna let you go!"

Veronica's words were in vain and she knew it. Andrea wasn't listening. Once she was set on doing something, there was no changing her mind. It was always the case.

After five minutes she was done packing, so she grabbed her purse and shoved her phone inside, then sprinted down the stairs so quickly she almost tripped over her own feet.

Andrea thanked God her walls were thick and her house was big enough that you couldn't even hear anything one room over. That meant that her mom couldn't question the commotion.

"Wait," Veronica said, grabbing Andrea's arm before she could reach her car. "I'll drive you there if you tell me what happened."

With a small smile of agreement, Andrea followed her older sister to her car and they sped off towards the airport.