Page 31 of The Holiday Disaster

KINGSLEY

After voting for the ice sculpture we liked best, Ethan and I ordered the hot chocolate Jim recommended. I took a sip, and my taste buds exploded with all the flavors of the drink. It was rich, creamy, and had a hint of spice.

“This is probably the best hot chocolate I’ve ever tasted,” Ethan said after taking his own sip. I hummed in agreement as I scooted closer to him.

We were sitting on a bench to the side of the booths that sold the hot drinks. People walked by us in groups either admiring the ice sculptures, walking the trails of lights the farm had set up, or huddled together chatting.

I wrapped an arm around Ethan, and he naturally leaned into my embrace. There were billions of people in the world and yet loneliness was still a very common emotion.

Sometimes it wasn’t about how many people were around. Even in a crowd of friends, it was hard not to feel like life was a solo journey. But when you found that one person who made you feel special, even if you two were the last people on Earth, you wouldn’t feel lonely. We’d walk hand in hand and navigate the scary thing called life together.

“Do you think we’ll continue like this when we head back to school?” Ethan swirled his cup, his eyes on the center of the whirl that spun in a never ending motion. It was symbolic of life. A reminder that regardless of how much we wished to stay in this moment forever, life would continue on and we’d be back home, then back to school before we knew it.

“Who knows? Maybe if you didn’t hole yourself up in the West Library all the time, we’d see each other more,” I teased, hoping to ease the feeling of melancholy that settled in my heart.

Ethan pushed out of my arms to raise an eyebrow at me. “How do you know that?”

“Know what, babe?” I asked, my mind still thinking about how to keep Ethan in my daily life even after we left this town.

“That I’m always in the library. How do you know that?” He narrowed his eyes, and I refocused my attention on him, realizing that I’d given myself away.

“Well… You know,” I said with a shrug. He didn’t let me off the hook and stared me down. “Did you really think I wouldn’t come to check up on you when we’re so far away from home?”

“Oh. Why’d you never come up to me then?” he asked.

It was my turn to give him a pointed look. “You never wanted to be in the same room as me. I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable, so I’d check to make sure you were doing okay before leaving.”

His expression softened as he set his cup on the bench and basically jumped into my lap. “I’ll never do that again, so make sure to come visit me often when we get back to the real world, okay?”

I gave him a happy smile and hugged him tight. “Like anyone could keep me away,” I breathed into his hair.

Buzzing had us pulling apart from each other. Ethan pulled out his phone from his pocket. He looked down at it and frowned. “Speaking of real life…” he said as he showed me the screen. He had an incoming call, the screen displaying that it was Elliott.

“Answer it,” I encouraged him and picked up our empty cups. “I’ll throw the trash away.”

He greeted his brother as I walked to the trash can. I took my time, partly because I wanted to give Ethan some privacy while he spoke to his brother but also because I wanted to sort my thoughts.

I didn’t think anyone would be happy to find that their best friend was dating their younger sibling, and Elliott probably wouldn’t be the exception to this.

I didn’t think he cared about our gender, but he might feel blindsided to find out I was going out with his younger brother. I knew I would be if I was told he was going out with Valerie. Not because I thought he would treat her badly, but because it was just weird.

However, even if that were the case, I wasn’t going to give up on Ethan. I had always gone with the flow and was always passive, letting things happen as they came. I’d never actively gone after the things I’d wanted, and I wanted Ethan.

I’d probably wanted him since the first time we met, and now that I knew there was a real chance with him, there was no way in hell I was going to let another person’s opinions stop us from being together. I would have to prove to Elliott and his parents that I would take good care of Ethan.

I used this chance to quickly go to the bathroom, and when I got back to Ethan, he was already off the phone. “That was quick. It hasn’t even been five minutes,” I said as I sat down beside him.

He turned to me with his brows furrowed. “Is everything okay?” I asked and used my thumb to smooth out the crease between his eyebrows.

“Yeah, it was just a weird conversation.”

“How so?”

“I told him how odd it was that Mom hadn’t called me today, and he said they thought they’d give us some time. Then he asked about you.”

“Me? He could’ve texted me,” I said, checking my phone to make sure I didn’t miss any messages. The latest message thread I had was when I’d let my parents know what was going on.

“Right? I told him we’d probably be home Monday, and he said we could talk then.” His face was full of panic as he faced me. “What if he knows something, and he said we needed to talk because he didn’t want us to be together?”

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