song for chapter:
budapest- george ezra
| baby if you want me then all of this will go away |
(highly recommend + put on repeat)
***FLASHBACK***
5 months after moving in together
northern california.
saturday, 5:30pm.
ethan and graysons birthday.
jaylee's pov
"stop!" my voice raised as my hands immediately wrapped around ethans face, grabbing onto his blindfold and readjusting it to be sure he couldn't see. "you can't look yet." I told him, still holding onto his face so that he wouldn't try to be slick and take off the blindfold again.
a few laughs left his mouth as he gave up, putting both of his hands back into his lap. "where are we going?" he questioned once again, loud enough so that the rest of the people in the car could hear him.
osman, grayson, froy, and ella were the other people. not including me.
"no," osmans voice was stern from the drivers seat as his eyes shifted to the mirror, looking through the reflection at ethan, grayson, froy and I all smushed in the backseat. "stop asking questions." he warned ethan in a demanding tone.
"I feel like you're about to kill us." grayson spoke from beside me, a blindfold covering his eyes just like ethan.
"on your birthday?" osman questioned from the front of the car, raising one of his eyebrows upwards. "never!" his voice laced with sarcasm.
his comment caused me to laugh a couple of times. I let go of my grasp from holding onto ethan, knowing that he wasn't going to try and peek at where we are going.
both of my hands gently held onto his arm, leaning my head against his shoulder. his personal scent of a cologne, marshmallow and laundry detergent filled my nose. my heart even jumped a little bit from how much I love it.
I could feel his head slightly move, lightly leaning against mine. "how much longer?" he asked in a low tone, like he was only talking to me.
I was about to answer him, but grayson cut me off due to him hearing what ethan asked. "for real." he groaned loudly. "we've been in the car for like three hours." he complained in a tone of annoyance.
"yeah, how far is this place?" ella asked from the passenger seat, turning her head to look at osman sitting next to her. "I kinda have to pee." she laughed a little bit with a smile across her lips.
"no surprise." froy chuckled as his hands wrapped around the back of ella's seat to pull him forward a bit. "you always have to pee."
"you can piss once we get inside." osman quickly glanced over to ella, then back to the road. he clicked on the right blinker, then made a turn onto a gravel road. "we're pulling up right now." he announced to the rest of us.
those words caused ethans head to quickly sit up from leaning on mine. "we're here?" he questioned in a rushed tone, slight excitement laced in his voice.
"thank fucking goodness." grayson sighed out of relief, adjusting his blindfold to fit better from being a little bit loose.
it was obvious how excited and relieved everyone was to get out of the car from being crammed in for more than three hours.
a smile creeped it's way onto my lips as I continued to tighten my grip around ethans arm from the excitement that was building up inside of me.
it's been what feels like forever since we've been to this place. well, all of us except ella. back in high school, we had so many great memories here on prom night. I know that ethan and grayson will both be itching to make some memories and make it a night we won't forget.
osman pulled into a parking spot, causing the sound of smushing gravel to suddenly come to silence. "hop out kiddos." osmans voice was bubbly as he unbuckled his seat belt, getting out of the car.
"oh my gosh, i'm so excited!" ella squealed, clapping her hands together repeatedly as she took no time in getting out of the passenger seat.
froy opened the back door on his side of the car, sliding out easily before turning to help grayson get out of the car. they were struggling a bit though.
"will you just grab my fucking arm? I can't see shit." graysons voice filled with frustration as he held out both of his arms for froy to grab. "not with that attitude." froy teased him in order to piss him off even more.
"dick." grayson mumbled under his breath as he stepped out of the car with froys guidance.
helping ethan, I leaned across his body to pull the handle, then pushed the car door open. osman caught the door, then held out his arm for ethan to grab onto.
I placed both of my hands onto ethans hips as he turned his body to face the door. "just reach out in front of you, osman will help you get out." I instructed him, still holding onto him.
"oh fuck." ethan laughed lightly as a wide smile crossed his lips. he reached out both of his hands, immediately grabbing onto osmans shirt sleeve as he stepped out of the car.
following behind ethan, I scotched out of the back seat, hopping onto the tiny pebbles on the road and shutting the car door behind me.
"this better be amazing. I didn't cramp in the car for that long to not be surprised." grayson spoke in a tone as if he were warning us, crossing his arms to be intimidating.
"oh don't be a dick." I rolled my eyes, pushing graysons arm roughly to get him to stop acting like an asshole.
froy walked in front of ethan and grayson, putting his hands into each of their shoulders to hold them steady. "you guys ready to see?" he questioned them, raising one of his eyebrows even though they couldn't see him.
a smile beamed across my lips as energy flooded through my body. trying to hold in my excitement, I grabbed onto ethans arm again, smushing my cheek against his shirt.
"can we take them off now?" ethan questioned, sounding exhausted from waiting.
osman put both of his hands onto his hips as he smiled at what we were standing in front of. he inhaled a deep breath, then exhaled out of accomplishment. "go for it." osman gave them permission.
almost immediately, they both ripped off the blindfolds as their eyes gazed at what was in front of them. their jaws dropped slightly as they were speechless for a second.
"holy shit." ethan mumbled out of shock, clearly not expecting this to be the surprise.
"surprise!" I smiled widely from ear to ear as I looked back and forth from both of them to see their reactions. "we all pitched in to rent the same cabin that we did on prom last year." I explained to them, not being able to help my beaming smile.
graysons head quickly snapped down to look at me. "we're back in our hometown?" he questioned out of disbelief, not putting the puzzle pieces together about how we got here.
clearly he knew how far we drove could have been to back home, but he just wasn't expecting it. at all.
"hell yeah we are." froy put his hands into the pockets of his jacket, smiling at the familiar giant cabin a few hundred feet in front of us.
ethans eyes gazed around the land in front of us in amazement, still not believing that we were here. "this is insane." he spoke in a surprised tone.
I leaned my head off of his arm, looking up at him standing next to me. "is this a good surprise?" I questioned, grinning widely.
"of course it is." grayson cut off ethan, answering the question for him. his tone was threaded with excitement, now sounding just as excited as I did earlier.
ethans cheekbones were sharp from how hard he was smiling. his lips broke apart, showing his teeth. "I don't think you realize how much fun we're all about to have tonight." he spoke energetically, grabbing onto my hips and lifting me into the air.
I couldn't contain my laughs of happiness, and I could tell he couldn't contain his own either. both of his hands wrapped around my waist, hugging me tightly as he put me back into the floor.
completely changing the mood, grayson spoke up again. "please tell me you guys brought alcohol." he spoke in a stern voice, eyeing each and everyone of us.
he was giving us that certain look that basically said if we didn't bring alcohol, he might just have to kill us.
the passenger car door slammed, causing all of our heads to turn. "of course we did." ella smirked deviously, holding a box filled with multiple different handles of alcohol.
"yes ma'am!" ethan's tone was threaded with energy as his hands let go of me and he walked towards ella. he gave her a hard high five before he took the box out of her hands, holding it in his arms. "let's go inside and start this weekend." a wide smile was spread across his lips as he motioned his head in the direction of the cabin.
"let's do it!"
___
10:30pm
I grabbed the keys to the golf cart off of the counter top. "okay, so do you guys know the rules?" I questioned everyone as each of their eyes were staring at me standing in front of them.
"uh, can you explain it again?" froy asked with confusion laced in his voice. "I'm a little drunk, so i'm trying to understand the rules correctly." he chuckled, setting the handle of alcohol he was previously drinking down onto the table.
"follow me." osman nodded his head in the direction of the garage, then began walking down the hallway as all of us followed him. he opened the door and turned on the light as all of us looked around the garage.
"jaylee and I will be the cops, which means we get the golf cart." osman pointed his thumb to the black shiny golf cart behind him. "you guys all run and separate and we have to find you. once we do, you sit on the back of the cart and wait until we find the rest of the people remaining." he explained the instructions to everyone.
"if we catch you, you better hold on tight because we're gonna be driving fast." the corner of my mouth curved upwards as I grinned, keeping my arms crossed at my chest. "wouldn't want anyone to fall off and get hurt."
one of ethans eyebrows raised high. the same smooth smirk that I had on my face covered his lips as he fully looked me up and down with only his eyes.
"what are the boundaries?" ella questioned, knowing that she wasn't familiar with the land due to the fact that she has never been here before unlike the rest of us.
osman clicked a button that was on the wall, causing the garage door to start opening. "the entire land." he told everyone, before turning around and looking outside at the dark yard. "there's a huge open field, there's a woods with a tree house, a basketball court, a giant pool area, and four wheeling trails." he explained the boundaries.
grayson rubbed his hands together as a smirk plastered over his lips. "sounds good." he spoke in a tone that was eager to get started.
osman turned to me, taking the keys from my hand without even asking. he walked over to the golf cart and sat down into the driver seat, turning the key into the ignition.
turning away from osman and looking back to the rest of the group, I exhaled a large breath. "you have one minute to run and hide." I warned them, but none of them moved a muscle.
osmans eyes widened as he raised one of his eyebrows high. "run." his tone was a bit sassy, like he was giving them advice.
"oh shit." ethan laughed, realizing they had barley anytime to find a spot to hide. without hesitation, each of them began pushing each other to get out of the garage, laughing and sprinting into the darkness outside.
grayson and froy both sprinted in the same direction towards the pool area and basketball court. "fuck off go that way! stop following me." grayson chuckled as he pushed froy away from him to get them to separate.
ethan and ella were both sprinting in the direction of the open field and the forest. "shit, lets go this way!" ella grabbed onto ethans wrist, pulling him further into the woods.
I clenched my jaw, exhaling a deep breath through my nose. my hand grabbed onto one of the bars on the golf cart, slightly swinging myself around and sitting down into the passengers seat next to osman.
he wrapped his arm around the back of the seat, turning his head to look at me. "don't let it get to you." he told me, clearly taking notice in what I saw between ethan and ella.
I nodded my head, blinking a few times as I looked to my side to look at him. "i'm trying." I admit honestly, even though it was hard to watch.
"maybe, you should just confront him?" he spoke as if it were a question, suggesting that I should step up and say something. "let him know it's bothering you." his eyes looked back and forth between mine.
he's right. I know he's right. even he knows that I know he's right. this isn't the time or place to talk it out.
"it's not a big deal." I shook my head and turned away from him so I could avoid eye contact. "I don't want to make it into a big deal." I told him in a stern tone, not wanting him to continue to give me advice right now.
he turned in his seat a little bit so that he could face me. "jaylee." his voice was direct to get me to take him seriously. I could feel his eyes pinned on me. as much as I wanted him to convince me to talk to ethan, this wasn't the time. it's his birthday.
panicking slightly from knowing that osman could easily get me to open up, I changed the subject. "come on. we have people to catch." I spoke quickly, grabbing onto the stick and putting it into drive.
"woah!" osmans eyes widened from being taken off guard. he grabbed onto the wheel quickly so we wouldn't lose control. his foot pressed onto the gas, causing us to shoot forward and start racing into the dark.
I squinted my eyes so they could adjust better in the dark. my eyes scanned the land, looking for any movement as osman continued to speed.
"if you see anything, yell at me and i'll slow down so you can get out to chase them." osman told me as we rode around the bumpy grass near the pool area. I nodded my head, leaning forward in my seat a bit as my eyes focused on the basketball court.
I looked carefully, thinking that I had just saw some type of shadow. due to the bumpy dirt, the light from the golf cart shined over the basketball court for a second.
"graysons on the basketball court!" I screamed loudly at osman as I pointed my finger to where he was standing. seconds later, grayson began to sprint away from the court due to him hearing us yelling that we spotted him.
I stood up slightly from standing down, waiting to get close enough to where I could get out of the cart and chase him on foot.
osman started to gain on him a little bit, but then got distracted. "froys right over there!" he pointed to froy sprinting across the field. "get out and get grayson." he ordered me, slowing down enough to where I could jump out without getting hurt.
taking no time to hesitate, I jumped out of the slow moving golf cart and began to sprint towards grayson who now was sprinting back towards the basketball court.
osman was quick to whip the golf cart in the other direction, taking off towards where he saw froy running across the field.
I ran across the basketball court, seeing grayson running up the grass hill to get to the wide trail of rocks that had a stream of water running down the middle of it that goes into the pool.
I could feel myself gaining on grayson due to him being tired from running uphill. once he reached the top and started running down the path and towards the pool, an idea popped into my head.
instead of chasing behind him, I started to run back down the slightly steep hill of grass and towards the pool.
if my plan works out right, by the time he is at the bottom of the water trail, i'll be running at him and be able to tackle him into the pool if the timing is correct.
I continued to sprint across the grass until I was finally on hard ground near the pool. I looked back and forth between the pool and grayson.
once I was close enough, adrenaline began to pump through my body. right when grayson turned his head to look at me, my arms wrapped around his body, tackling him into the pool.
immediate warmth hit my body from the pool being heated due to it being winter. I released my grip around grayson, then started swimming back towards the surface of the pool.
I let out a breath, watching grayson gasp for a deep breath of air once he came up from the water. "oh my god." he panicked slightly, breathing heavily. "I wasn't expecting that." his eyebrows raised high as his eyes were wide—being in shock.
a wide grin spread across my mouth as I splashed him with water. "got you." I spoke in a smooth tone, feeling proud of myself for how well that worked out for me. even though i'm soaking wet now.
he groaned loudly, exhaling a large breath of air as he started to float on his back—looking up to the dark sky.
"alright, let's go." I told him, beginning to swim towards the stairs in the pool. "I still have people to catch." I laughed lightly, squeezing the water out of my hair as I began walking towards the field.
"wait up!" I could hear grayson yell, followed by the sound of him splashing water as he tried to hurry out of the pool.
osman pulled up to me in the golf cart with froy sitting in the seats that hung off the back of the cart. "why are you all wet?" he asked me as he patted the seat next to him, signaling for me to sit down.
"ask grayson." I laughed under my breath, turning my head in the direction of grayson. he was walking like he was ashamed. water was dripping from his clothes and his hair was wet and slicked back.
osmans eyes widened as he bursted out laughing, mocking grayson. "she destroyed you, didn't she?" he questioned in an energized tone, trying to antagonize him.
grayson sat down next to froy, letting out a deep sigh. "shut the hell up." he told him in a blunt tone, not wanting to take any of his teasing shit.
"it's alright, osman grabbed my leg and I fell and scrapped up both of my knees." froy chuckled as he straighted out his leg, showing grayson the scratches on his knees.
"god damn, os. were you trying to kill the kid?" grayson laughed at how badly froys legs seemed to be messed up.
"yes, that was the goal." osman spoke with sarcasm as he began to drive forward again, heading towards the trails that lead into the woods.
I looked around the hundreds of trees as he passed them quickly, trying to see if I could see any body movement. "tell me if you see anything." I told osman in a quiet tone, listening for any noise.
"up there." osman immediately stopped driving the golf cart. I turned to look at osman, seeing that his eyes were aimed upwards. I turned my head in the direction he was looking, trying to see what he was looking at.
the tree house. there was a single lamp on inside, causing any movement inside to be a noticeable shadow. "you think one of them would be up there?" I asked him, confused on why someone would hide somewhere they couldn't run.
"I saw a shadow." he assured me, putting the golf cart into park.
I exhaled a large breath as my jaw clenched together and tightened. "i'll go check it out." I told him in a low tone as I hopped out of the golf cart, feeling my heart rate begin to accelerate.
"hey." osmans voice was direct, causing me to turn back and look at him. he held a stern, yet worried look on his face. "want me to come?" he asked like he was just as nervous as I was. him and I are both thinking the exact same thing.
I shook my head, swallowing the air stuck in my throat as my lips rubbed together anxiously. "no, I can do it." I told him, trying to give him assurance.
he gave me a certain look like he was worried. worried for me. or for how I'm going to feel if I find both ethan and ella up there together. he knows it's been bothering me, and he knows that this will affect me.
this game isn't supposed to be a partner or alliance game. it's everyman for themselves so you don't get caught.
"i'm good." I nodded my head to give him even more assurance before turning back around. my eyes looked back to the treehouse as I started to walk towards the wooden stairs.
one by one, I slowly walked up each step so that I could sneak up on whoever was inside. or if anyone even was inside.
once I got to the top of the steps, my hand gently grabbed onto the door handle. before opening it, I could feel my jaw clench again. I let out a deep breath through my nose, then twisted the handle.
I opened the door, seeing ethan standing across the room with his eyebrows raised high and his eyes wide as the corner of his mouth was slightly curved upwards from me catching him.
a smile was on my face for barley a second until my eyes traveled downwards a bit. ella was standing behind him, holding onto his arm with both of her hands. exactly how I was holding onto him earlier.
what the hell is she doing?
ethan looked away from me, turning to look down at her. "I fucking called it. ella I knew they would look up here." ethan spoke in a voice that sounded like he was laughing.
ethan started walking away from her and walking towards me. "I didn't think they'd think we were dumb enough to trap ourselves in a tree house." she explained herself, her eyes watching him as he walked away.
ethan stopped walking once he was directly in front of me. he put his wrists together, giving me a cheeky smile that showed his teeth. "take me to jail." his voice was soft, his eyes continuing to look back and forth between mine.
my lips tucked inwards as I smiled weakly at him. not saying anything, and not grabbing his hands, I turned around and started to walk back down the stairs. both of them followed behind me.
"did you go in the pool?" ethan laughed a little bit as he took notice in my wet clothes and hair.
"yeah, I had to tackle grayson into the pool." I explained in a plain tone as we walked down the rest of the stairs.
before ethan could respond to me, froy cut him off. "oh my god." froy shouted loudly as he watched all of us come down the stairs. "how dumb can you guys be for hiding in a treehouse?" he questioned harshly, laughing a bit to mock them.
"I told you." ethan turned around to ella, shrugging his shoulders as he had a look on his face that said I told you so.
"whatever." ella rolled her eyes, keeping a small grin across her lips as she sat down into the back seat.
ethan sat down in the only open seat next to her, right behind my seat.
I sat back down in the passengers seat, keeping my head straight forward as I didn't say a word. I could feel osmans eyes on me. "everything okay?" he questioned in a low tone, not wanting the others to hear.
"yeah." I told him in a plain tone, still facing forward and keeping my face emotionless so he wouldn't ask any questions.
"are we gonna play another round?" grayson asked from the back of the golf cart, twisting his body to look at us sitting upfront.
I shook my head, placing my elbow onto the metal arm rest. "i'm actually getting pretty tired." I told them in a low tone, not feeling excited about this game anymore.
"what?" ethan questioned in a shocked tone from behind me. he leaned forward, grabbing onto my shoulders and rubbing them from the back seat. "already?" he asked in a tone as if he were being let down, wanting me to keep playing.
"aw, is jaylee tired after running for a couple minutes?" froy instigated me, using a whiny baby voice that sounded like he was trying to mock me.
I exhaled a deep breath through my nose, trying not to get pissed off at the whole situation. "not in the mood, froy." I told him sternly.
"babe." ethan spoke in a more serious voice, adjusting his body position so that he was looking in between the seats so that he could see me. "what's wrong?" he asked in a concerned tone with his eyebrows narrowed.
I turned my head to the side, looking at him leaning forward in the backseat. my eyes scanned around the features on his face, feeling warmth go into my heart just by looking at him.
he doesn't even understand how close he is to ella. he's so clueless to see that she's constantly being flirty with him. she's doing the same type of stuff with him, that I, his girlfriend would do.
if I explain that now, it's just going to cause drama and problems. there would be tension between ella and I. I can't do that to him on his birthday.
I looked away from him, facing back forward in my seat. "i'm tired."
____
12:10am
I rubbed the green towel through my hair, trying to dry it as I walked down the long hallway. the more I walked, the more clear all of the talking and laughter became.
I turned the corner to the living room, seeing ethan, osman and ella all sitting on the long white couch that was close to the fire.
ethan has a blanket wrapped around his body, almost like a cape. his smile was radiant as he watched his friends taking shots and making stupid jokes.
ella has a blanket on top of her legs, holding a pillow in her lap as she sipped on a glass of red wine.
osman was leaning forward on the couch with his elbows on his knees. he continued to take shots on the small glass coffee table in front of him.
froy and grayson were both sitting next to each other, comfortably laid out on a different couch as they drank a couple of beers.
ethans head turned in my direction, causing his smile to become even bigger. he sat up quickly from where he was sitting and scooted over a bit. "babe, come take some shots with us." he told me, patting the seat next to him.
"yeah babe, come take shots." osmans tone was filled with sarcasm as he bit onto his bottom lip jokingly.
ethan turned his head, grinning at osman. his hand grabbed onto his head, pushing it forward aggressively for teasing him.
"I think i'm just gonna go to bed." I told them, feeling myself not really being in a party mood. plus, it is late and I am actually pretty exhausted.
"woah." ethan stood up from his seat quickly, letting the blanket fall from being wrapped around him. "you're not going to bed yet." he told me sternly, wrapping both of his arms around me and pulling me down onto the extra couch that no one was on. "it's my birthday."
my eyebrows narrowed as I turned my head, looking over to the clock on the wall that read 12:12am. I tilted my head a bit as I looked back to him. "not anymore."
keeping his arms around me, he squeezed me tighter. "oh shut up." he leaned his head down, pressing a soft, warm kiss on my lips. nerves, yet also a comforting warmth flooded into my body.
"gross." osman shouted obnoxiously loud from across the room, earning a few laughs from grayson, froy and ella.
I couldn't help but laugh a bit at osmans immature comment. my lips broke apart from ethans due to the smile that had formed over my lips.
"there it is." the corner of ethans mouth curved upwards slightly as his eyes gazed down to me with softness in them.
I looked up to him, keeping the small smile across my lips as my eyebrows narrowed a little bit. "what?" I questioned, confused on what he was referring to.
"your smile." the pad of his thumb gently rubbed over the skin on my lips as he continued to stare down at me. almost like he was admiring me.
I could feel my heart flutter as butterflies darted straight into my stomach. my eyes looked around at his features, focusing on him.
"you guys know there are rooms literally right there, correct?" osman questioned as he pointed down the hallway, making yet again, another joke to embarrass ethan and I.
again grayson, froy and ella all started to laugh at his comment. a little bit too hard due to them all being drunk by this point.
ethan let out a few laughs as he looked over to osman, then he looked back down to me. "I love you." he spoke in a light tone, laying his head down in my neck. "please don't go to bed." he begged, mumbling against the skin on my neck.
goosebumps traveled down my neck and all the way down my body. an automatic smile crossed my lips, not being able to help it. "fine." I gave into him, knowing he was my weak spot.
"yes!" he spoke in accomplishment. he stood up from the couch, keeping me in his arms as he jogged back to his original spot on the couch. I laughed lightly as my legs were wrapped around his waist.
he bent down, grabbing the blanket from off the ground. putting me down and letting me stand on the floor, I waited while he wrapped himself in the blanket again. he sat back down onto the couch, then pulled my wrist, causing me to sit onto his lap.
he wrapped his arms around me, keeping the edges of the blankets in his hands causing me to now be in the blanket with him.
his chin rested on my shoulder and his grip around my body was tight. clearly he was in a cuddly mood.
I looked over to ella, seeing her fill up osmans shot glass with vodka, then she downed it within' a matter of seconds.
+++
700 votes + 700 comments for next chapter.