Chapter 10

Ethan decided to shop again. He parked his car at the front of a mall, got out and walked into the mall. He was swinging the keys in his index finger happily. He started shopping, smiling ear to ear. He made sure to get a lot of chocolates and ice creams. He barely got clothes; his cart was filled with junk, snacks and fragrances. After about an hour of shopping, he paid, got the bags and walked out. He packed everything into the passenger’s seat, got in and drove off.

Instead of going home straight, he decided to stop at the beach; it was 7pm already. He parked his car, took off his shoes and walked on the smooth sand, letting the breeze into his gut. He walked into the water, the waves washing past his feet; everything screamed peace. He could stay here forever. He closed his eyes, inhaling the cool breeze like his life depended on it. After about thirty minutes, he decided to go home. He put his shoes back on, hopped into his car and drove off.

Getting home, he found Lucien’s car already parked outside. He rolled his eyes,

“He seems to come home early these days.”

He dragged out all the shopping bags and arranged them on his arms, instead of holding them with his hands. He hugged the car key back on his index finger, pushed the door open and walked in. As expected, Lucien was on the couch, tapping his foot on the floor like he was running out of patience. Immediately he heard the door close, he sprang up,

“Where are you coming…” his question froze mid-air as he looked at all the bags and Ethan dangling his car key in the air.

“What..who..when..” Lucien kept spitting nonsense. Everything was shocking to him.

Ethan smiled and walked past him. Lucien regained himself and hurriedly blocked Ethan’s way. Ethan raised a brow,

“If you are not about to collect these bags from me, then leave my sight.”

“Where did you get the money to do all that shopping, huh? And what key is that?” Lucien asked.

“You don’t have the right to ask me those questions; I never ask you the same, so…” Ethan’s speech got cut off when Lucien grabbed his arm tightly,

“You don’t use that tone with me!!!” He yelled, but Ethan just kept quiet. Lucien smiled and thought in his head,

“He’s still a scared cat after all. I knew all these stupid attitudes were from a stupid mood swing, but he still knows his place” he let go of Ethan’s wrist, eyed him and walked away. Ethan kept staring at the wrist Lucien touched. In a minute, he was in his bathroom, scrubbing his wrist as he got in contact with a virus. After washing to his satisfaction, he got back to his shopping bags and started unpacking them. He kept a small bowl of ice cream and a pack of chocolate in his room, then transferred every other thing to the refrigerator, literally stuffing it.

He went back into his room and was about to stuff his face with the bowl of ice cream and pack of chocolate when his phone rang; it was his mum calling. Ethan smirked and picked up,

“Hey mum.” He said.

“Hey son, did you get home safely?” She asked from the other end; he could feel the smile in her voice.

“Yes mum, got home not long ago, did some shopping and visited the beach,” Ethan said. He intentionally told her what he did specifically because he knew she would be so excited, and he wasn’t wrong,

“Really? My baby!!” She gushed. Ethan imagined her with him; she’d have poured kisses over his face.

“Where’s dad?”

“He is…”

“Hey son.” Mr Vale cut in. Ethan imagined his mum glaring at his dad and laughed to himself.

“Dad, wanna give me money?” Ethan asked dramatically.

“I don’t have money; ask your mum to have mercy on us.” Mr Vale replied in the same tone.

“I’ll help only one person, so whom should that be?” Mrs Vale said, playing her role perfectly.

“Me!!” Father and Don kept screaming. They all burst out laughing. After a not-so-long talk, Mrs Vale said good night, and so did Me, Vale.

“Good night mum, good night dad,” Ethan replied.

“Always be happy.” Mrs Vale said.

“And you too,” Ethan replied, smiling.

The call ended. Ethan smiled at his phone before putting it down to focus on the task in hand. He grabbed his laptop, scrolling through to see which movie to watch; he wanted something that matched ice cream and chocolate. He quickly found one; he positioned himself before digging in, focusing on the movie as well.

Lucien was in his room, on his bed; he scolded himself for taking a second to actually worry that he had done something to get Ethan mad, not that he cared anyway. He remembered Aiden had texted him; he hadn’t replied.

“Damn!! All for that pathetic human being; I can’t believe I ignored Aiden.” He groaned, picking up his phone; instead of texting, he decided to call. On the third ring, Aiden picked up, but he remained quiet; in that moment, Lucien knew Aiden was so mad at him.

“I’m sorry, I could have replied; I was caught up in quite something.”

“Am I bothering you?” Aiden started sobbing.

“No, no, never, I’m sorry.”

“I was just…trying to look out for you.” Aiden continued, his sobs getting louder.

“I’m sorry, baby; don’t cry. I was wrong.” Lucien’s voice softened; he felt like jutting himself and killing Ethan too.

“It’s okay.”

“I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

“I.. I don’t want anything, it’s fine.” Aiden said.

“I insist.”

“Uhmm okay, just have lunch with me tomorrow, and I’ll feel good.”

“Of course the lunch still stands; I will make it up with something other than that,” Lucien promised.

They talked a little more before the call ended; Lucien kept thinking about what to make it up to Aiden with. He grabbed his phone again and began searching for gifts