Page 33 of Chloé

It’d been three days since he’d seen or heard from Ethan, and the teachers told him he’d reported in sick. But whenever Zayne texted or tried to see him, it was radio silence, and this shit was getting old.

He was worried about him. Cared about the jackass. But if he was going to just ghost him, then maybe Zayne shouldn’t even bother. Clearly Ethan didn’t want to see him or talk to him. But the idea that Ethan was lying in bed sick as a dog didn’t sit well with him.

And if he was that sick, then why wasn’t he at the doctor’s or hospital?

Ugh, Zayne couldn’t decide if he was more worried or annoyed at this stage, but one thing he did know—he wasn’t leaving until Ethan opened the damn door.

Bang, bang, bang.

“Go away, Zayne.”

Ah, so heisalive.Just ignoring me.

“No. Not until you open this door and prove you’re not dying.”

“Jesus.” The door was yanked open so hard that Zayne was shocked it didn’t fly off its hinges, but before he could get his bearings, Ethan spat out, “Are you stupid?”

That had his brain refiring. “For giving a shit about you? Probably. Can you not text a person back? Clearly you can walk. So is it only your hands that aren’t working?”

Ethan’s eyes narrowed, and for a second Zayne thought he was going to slam the door shut. Instead, he turned and said, “Go away.”

What the hell was going on here? It had been nearly a year since the two of them had been—well, whatever they were—but not seeing each other daily wasn’t part of it. Hell, they spent every spare minute together, often in this dorm room, onthatbed. So being told to go away now for no goddamn reason wasn’t going to fly.

“Seriously?” Zayne followed Ethan into his dorm and shut the door behind him. “You think that’s really going to work on me? I followed you around even when you hated me. News flash, I ain’t going anywhere. So tell me what’s wrong with you. Are you really sick?”

Ethan stood with his back to him, his hands in his pockets and his head bent low, and that was when Zayne saw it: the deep breath in…then out.

Ethan looked utterly defeated. A word Zayne would never usually associate with the guy.

“Ethan, what’s going on?”

“Nothing. I don’t feel well, that’s all.”

He was lying, and Zayne knew it. He’d seen Ethan when he was sick. Brought him chicken noodle soup when he’d had the flu back in January.

No, something else was going on here. Something that was causing Ethan to pull away.

“Bullshit.”

When Ethan still didn’t turn, Zayne marched over and walked around him until they were face to face.

“Would you stop lying to me and tell me the fucking truth?”

“I did.” Ethan glared at him. “I want you to go away.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean, why? I just want to be on my own.”

“Fordays?” Zayne shook his head, trying to understand, trying to work out why Ethan was suddenly acting this way.

He was his boy.

His Z.

So why was he suddenly acting like Zayne had the fucking plague?

“Did I… Did I do something I shouldn’t have? Say something? I thought we were good. That we…”

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