Just Friends - Chapter 19: Chapter 19

Spencer's POV
"You're cute." Ethan slurred, looking lazy eyed, dazed and characteristically confused.
"Okay," I sighed, closing my eyes and rubbing my temples. "Someone explain this to me again." I huffed, reopening them and glancing back and forth between the two boys.
Jake swallowed and threw Russo a look for help. The other boy just shrugged his shoulders from a chair in the corner of the white-walled room. "We were skateboarding down Jake's stairs." Russo began.
Jake sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "We," he made sure to emphasize, "As in both Russ and I, dared Ethan to go down the stairs backwards."
I huffed angrily and Jake flinched backwards and slammed against the edge of the hospital bed and immediately hissed and flew forward.
I just rolled my eyes, "Of all the stupid things..." I growled and looked over at Ethan on the bed. He sat Indian style against the steel backboard and looked around the room with obvious detachment from reality; though his eyes would drift to me occasionally. He had been calling me cute ever since I stepped in the room and doesn't seem to remember who I was.
I honestly didn't know what pissed me off more, the fact that he didn't remember who I was or that he would just try to flirt with someone random guy.
I turned to Russo, "What did he break?"
"Physically, we don't quite know yet; although he was holding his ankle when we were driving him here." He answered.
I leaned forward, "And, mentally?"
They both shared a worried look before glancing back to me, "He's been...strange."
"Define 'strange'." I retorted. I mean, it was Ethan. Strange streamed out of his pores.
"Strange as in he doesn't recognize any of us. That and the fact that he introduced himself as Ethan Montana from the Suite Life of That's so McGuire and that we were watching The Disnelodeon Network was a little alarming as well."
I blinked. "Do his parents know?"
Russo nodded stiffly, "They're on their way." He looked behind me at the door, "Where's Abby?"
"She's with Suzy getting some coffee for me; it's going to be a long night."
Jake noticeably responded, "Suzy?" he muttered before gaping and meeting my eyes, "What's she doing here?"
I raised a brow, "She's a friend of mine." I eyed him down suspiciously, "Is there something wrong?"
He swallowed thickly, "No?" he squeaked. "Nothing at all." He quickly muttered before practically sprinting over to where Russo sat.
Before I could question him on his bizarre reaction, the door opened and in walked a rather short blonde female carrying a clipboard. She looked up from it and eyed the three of us blankly from the door. "Are you three family?"
"Boyfriend." I quickly replied, stepping closer to her, "Don't kick us out just yet, please."
She looked reluctant but sighed, "Fine but no more people in the room who aren't family. I already had to ask two other females to wait outside the room."
I nodded in agreement as she moved over to a long table near the right side of the room. AS Jake and Russ headed over to Ethan, I made my way over to the nurse. "So, what did he break?"
"Nothing." She mumbled. "He sprained an ankle and bruised a rib. He also bumped his head so he's suffering from an acute case of amnesia. His memory should fully return in a day or two; though he probably won't remember the last 24 hours."
I exhaled sharply and peered back at him in the bed; laughing with Jake and Russ as they animatedly retold the entire event. If anything, he was resilient. My gaze refocused on the woman in front of me. "He's going to be okay, right?"
The nurse stopped what she was doing to turn to meet my eyes. She must have seen the genuine concern hovering in them because she smiled sympathetically. "He's going to be fine. He's going to have to get a cast and a sling for a month or so but he's going to make a full recovery."
I breathed out again, only this time the queasiness that rocked the pit of my stomach had simmered down dramatically and the feeling of relief took its place. "By the way, is there any particular reason my boyfriend is as high as a mountain?"
She snorted and returned back to organizing the pills she had brought with her. "The kid comes in here with a sprained ankle and bruised rib; we had to give him some powerful stuff. Unfortunately, the side effects are –"
"- Thinking he's a character from some unholy mixture of cancelled Disney shows?"
She shrugged, "Disney's the only thing we let anyone under eighteen watch while they're here."
I shivered, "So how long is he going to be Wiz Khalifa-ed?"
"Shouldn't be long." She responded and walked over to Ethan with a few of the pills and a cup of water. She placed it on the counter closest to him and turned back to me, "You guys can stay here for a little while but you'll need to leave once the doctor gets here. Family only."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Jake muttered from Ethan's bedside and turned back around to continue to joke with him.
The nurse rolled her eyes before coming back over to meet me, "I've never seen kid so calm almost killing himself."
I snorted, "He's not like most kids. And I'm still contemplating if that's a good thing or not."
She snickered, "In this instance, it's a good thing." She said, picking up the other pills and placing them back into their respective bottles, "Trust me, I've seen kids throw pans across the room at parents because they didn't recognize them." She looked at back at Ethan who, unsurprisingly, was still hanging onto every word Jake and Russ were saying. "This one is different. He doesn't look scared or hurt or anything. Plus he's warmed up to his friends quickly."
"I'd say it was the drugs of I didn't know him and his irritating sunny disposition." I retorted, much to her amusement.
She picked up the bottles and patted me on the shoulder, "Make sure he takes those three pills when family and friends are allowed in."
I nodded and she left, taking the clipboard she had rested on the table when she first came in with her. I heaved a heavy sigh and ran my hand through my hair. Today was already a long day. Dad and Mom were at some Gala with the Martins and, according to dad, if everything went to plan, he'd finally be getting that promotion he was after.
I had student council meeting after school where Mathew placed me in charge of very ridiculous task you can imagine. Inclusive of possible scents for library card lamination and to lead the investigation on if the meat loaf in the cafeteria was actually meat loaf.
"So, I fell and cracked my skull?" Ethan asked, sounding oddly fascinated.
Jake enthusiastically nodded, "Dude, blood was everywhere!" he childishly explained, spreading his arms out far and wide to illustrate. "At one point your eyes were in the back of your head."
Ethan boisterously wailed, "You two must have been crazy scared."
"No Shit!" Jake cried. "Bro, we thought you were dead at one point the way your neck bent backwards."
Ethan snickered, "That's sick!" he laughed, "And freakin' awesome!"
Russo scoffed, "You think that's sick? You should have seen the way you're ankle wrapped around the banister!"
"Okay!" I barked, forcing the three of them to peer over in my direction abruptly with their smiling faces fading. "That's enough."
"Sorry, cutie." Ethan smirked, "I didn't realize you were squeamish."
Glad to see the drugs wearing off. "I'm not." I retorted, "I just prefer not hearing that my boyfriend's bones being torn and frayed."
"I'm okay, babe."
I growled. "I hate it when you call me babe."
He thumped his skull three times "Can't remember...remember?"
I rolled my eyes, "That's no excuse for acting like I dick."
Just as he was about to retort, the door flew open and in walked a wailing Mrs. Littman. She managed to push pass the two other boys and wrapped her arms around Ethan, "My baby!" she cried, kissing him on the forehead more times than I could count.
"Who is this crazy chick?" Ethan mumbled, sounding smothered and pained under the weight of his overbearing mother.
Mrs. Littman gasped, stepped back and folded her arms across her chest, "What did you just call your mother?"
Ethan's right eye twitched, "Mother?"
"He has an acute case of amnesia." I muttered, filling in the blanks before Ethan was grounded for an entire year.
Mother Dearest's eyes bulged out of her head as she hummed in sympathy and went back to crush her youngest son but thankfully, Mr. Littman and Josh had entered the room. "Margaret, give the boy some breathing room." The patriarch sighed before walking over to the side of his wife and son.
Josh, on the other hand, decided that standing next to me was the right place to seat himself in the room.
He took a while before asking, "He's alright, isn't he?"
"He's fine." I sighed, "He's an idiot...and so are his friends, but he's fine."
"Good." He replied, "I just buried our cat and I don't think I can handle another funeral right now."
My gaze flew up to meet his as his drifted down, "Another one?" He shrugged. "How many cats are you people going to murder in that house? It makes me nervous to have kids with Ethan."
Josh raised a surprised brow, "You and E have talked about adopting already?" I went to speak but the sudden burst of heat on my cheeks forced me to stare elsewhere. "Oh My God," he murmured, "You were. You and Ethan were actually talking about adopting kids."
"So what?" I mumbled, returning to him once the fire had dulled, "It was just silly talk about baby names."
His smiled – wildly – and placed a light arm over my shoulder, "I can see myself as the fun Uncle."
I snorted, "Good luck with that. You'd be competing with Fun Uncle Kai."
His smile dropped, "Damn. I forgot about DUI Kai."
"Who?"
"But seriously, thinking of adopting kids at this age is kind of scary." He noted before a somber glint appeared in his eyes, "What if you two don't make it far enough to adopt?"
He didn't have to tell me that twice. "I know. But watching Ethan light up whenever he even mentioned a son in the future is enough for me to indulge him."
He got that 'judgey' look in his eyes, "Spencer."
I groaned, "I know, I know. Ethan's impulsive and sunny and always sees the bright side...even if the bright side is the unrealistic one, blah, blah, blah."
"Don't take him seriously, Spencer." He mumbled low enough for just the two of us to hear, "I love it that he influences your dish-water personality-"
"Ouch."
"But this isn't a movie, Spence. It's real life – no matter how many over the top dates Ethan plans."
"Don't worry, Joshy. I've prepared myself for the worst case scenario." My attention returned to Ethan. He looked happy, a little overwhelmed by the attention oddly, seeing as he loved all eyes on him, but overall he looked like the same old happy kid he has always been. "Though admit I'm far more accepting of a happier one."
He sighed, "Isn't everyone?"
In the midst of all of the chatter, the door reopened for the thousandth time since I arrived here. Only this time a man dressed in all white clothing with a clipboard in one hand and a stethoscope dangling around his neck stepped in. He looked up and seemed surprised by the great number of people who were huddled in the small room. "I'm going to need everyone who isn't family to leave the room for a moment." He said. He didn't sound commanding or angry just as if he was doing his job.
Jake and Russo were the first to leave, but I kept my position next to Josh at the long table.
But it wasn't long before the doctor questioned our affiliation to the boy. And, while Josh insisted I was family, the doctor didn't seem moved by it and asked me to leave but assured me that I would be able to "see my boyfriend in ten minutes."
Out in the empty hallway, with Abby and Suzy on either side of me and Jake with Russo slouching against the wall on the opposite side, the tension from earlier seemed to have found its way back into the atmosphere. Only this time a disoriented Ethan wasn't there to break the tension.
Jake did all he could to avoid looking at Suzy and Russo was just as awkward looking around her.
I didn't know if it was because she was new or what but the deafening sound of utter (awkward) silence was starting to drill holes into my head. "Okay, what the hell is going on?" I blurted out, stepping in the middle of the hallway and passing narrowed glances between Jake, Russo and Suzy; all while Abby looked on with confusion.
Jake was the first to answer, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
I rolled my eyes and huffed, "You guys have been acting strange around Suzy and you knew who I was talking about before I even introduced her."
Suzy sighed, flipping her dark hair over her shoulder and pushing herself off of the wall. "Jake and Ethan tried to put the moves on me earlier this year."
"What?" both I and Abby uttered. My slightly gaping gaze found home back at Jake again. "You tried to flirt with Suzy"
He looked all too nervous. "Well, actually Ethan did. Though...I admit to egging him on but I swear it was just in good fun." He promised, "Purely innocent."
"He's right." Suzy agreed. "Plus, Ethan doesn't seem like the kind to just cheat for no reason. They were just goofing around and I just happen to be in the halls at that point."
I growled and pointed at Jake, "This isn't over Moore." Ethan was already lying down with half his body broken; I didn't need any more drama right now. "You, Ethan, Suzy and I are all going to be having this conversation again once his memory returns."
"Spencer!"
All of our gazes – whether angry or confused – surged to the voice the echoed up and down the white hall. Mom, with Dad not too far behind and still in her dazzling blue, floor sweeping dress, was briskly making her way down the corridor. "Thank God." She muttered, slight out of breath. "I thought something might have happened to you."
Without any real warning, her arms engulfed me and she wrapped them around my skull to push me into her chest. "Mom," I called, sounding muffled, "What are you doing here and why would you think something bad happened?"
"Margaret Littman called us and said that one of you boys got hurt." Dad – who still looked regal in his back suit and tie – responded.
I tore my way out of mom's bear hug and stepped back before her claws could sink into my skull again. "It's Ethan and he's fine. He's just a little banged up."
"Oh." Mom muttered before looking up at Dad. "It's good that he's okay."
I narrowed my eyes as they started to share small nervous glances. Too many for my liking. "Why am I getting the feeling that you aren't excited by this?"
Dad cleared his throat and grabbed me by the hand, leading me off from the rest of the group with mom not too far behind. Once she had finally caught up and the two of them were in front of me, Dad spoke. "I got the promotion."
I took a few seconds. "That's great." I mumbled but refrained from smiling; but it was only because they did as well. "Why does this seem like bad news?"
"It isn't." Mom assured, stealing a glance up at Dad. "Your father has been promoted to partner in Martin &Co and has been pushed up to Chief Financial Officer."
"Can you please get to the bad part?" I snapped, understandably so.
Dad huffed. "My new office is located at HQ...in New York City."
That took a while for me to process. Hell, this entire day was still processing.
"That's not possible..." I muttered, "That would mean that we would have to..." Mom sighed and went to place a hand on my shoulder but I flinched back. My eyes darted between the people who had the nerve – the audacity – to call themselves my parents. "So let me get this straight; you accept that I'm gay, say you're proud of me just so you could rip me from everything I know and drag me to some city where I would have to start all over again? In my senior year?"
Mom tried to step forward. "Spence-"
"No, mom." I hissed. "The both of you have really outdone yourselves as parents." I bitterly scoffed. "As if raising a stoner and a boy who likes boys as sons isn't enough."
"Spencer!" Mom yelled with this mixture of hurt and shock on her face; as if what I said was nearly enough to give her a heart attack.
Hell, I must have been wearing one myself; even I couldn't believe I just said that.
"That's enough, Spencer." Dad's harshly muttered, "How dare you say those things to us. How dare you say those things about your own flesh and blood!" His eyes grew somber, "...And about yourself."
"This cannot be happening right now." I mumbled and spun around and just started walking; ignoring the calls of both my parents and friends as I reopened the door that led into Ethan's room.
Unsurprisingly, the entire room looked up at me and before the doctor could ask me to leave again, I quickly spoke. "Can I talk to Ethan for ten minutes?"
He stepped forward, "Sir, I'm go-"
"Please." I begged, shakily.
"Spence, what's wrong?" Josh asked, moving towards me with the Littman parents not too far behind.
"I just want to talk him for a while." I tried to muster up a smile but it fell before it had any chance to make an impact.
"It's okay." Mr. Littman assured with a smile in my direction before turning to the doctor. "He can take as much time as he wants...or needs."
The doctor looked reluctant but after one final glance in my direction, he caved. "Fine, but I'd hurry if I were you. I just gave him three pills and he's going to be drugged up in a minute or two."
I nodded and they left, leaving just me, Ethan and my overbearing angst in the room.
He frowned from his sitting position on his bed. "What's the matter, cutie?"
I slowly walked over and sat next to him, reaching over and intertwining our fingers. He stared at them for a while before looking back up at me, confused. "I just wanted to talk to is all."
His frowned deepened. "Then why are you crying?" he asked, slipping one of his hands out of mine and wiping away a tear that I had not even realized was falling.
"I'm okay," I laughed but it came out more spiteful than convincing. "Family stuff."
He nodded, albeit he didn't look at all moved. "You said you wanted to talk?" I nodded. "Well, seeing as the only thing I can remember is how to wipe my ass, what do you want us to talk about?"
I thought. "I have no idea." I didn't really think about what to talk about, but all I knew is whenever we talked, I felt better. And if there was any a time I needed to feel better, it was now.
He snorted, "How about you tell me about us."
I raised a brow, "What do you mean 'us'?"
He shrugged his shoulder and adjusted himself so he sat Indian style in the bed and directly adjacent to me. "I don't know; anything about us."
And so, I sat there for a while and thought. It's amazing how you have so many memories, but the one time someone asks you to recount them, you go blank. "Well, we fight a lot."
He frowned, "Damn, so we're like Ike and Tina?"
I snorted, "No, you idiot. It's not physical. We argue over everything. Movies, books, shows, songs...we're really different. Oh, and we've actually started coming up with baby names – ridiculous ones – but names nonetheless."
He looked around thoughtfully before remaking eye contact, "Why are we in a relationship if we're so different?"
"Beats me. It doesn't make since; we don't make sense." I blurted. "But, all I know is that I love You and, you may not realize it but you love me too."
He smiled, "I do love you."
I cocked my head to the side, "You're memory is coming back?"
He scoffed with a chuckle, "I wish."
My smiled faltered a bit, "Then how do you know you love me?"
"Any guy that has the balls to start talking about baby names has either knocked up some chick or is truly, madly, and deeply in love." He paused, "Or stupid. And I get the feeling I'm the brains in this relationship."
Right. "I couldn't agree more." I chuckled.
His own boisterously tantalizing laughter followed, "Plus, my heart hasn't stopped beating out of my chest since you locked our fingers together."
"I guess you can fool the mind...but not the heart."
He blinked before cracking into a fit of laughter, "That was incredibly cheesy."
I admit to blushing at some point between him laughing and coughing because he laughed too hard but, I didn't mind and I'm guessing neither did he. In fact, he 'awed' and pinched my cheeks once he noticed them reddening.
After a few more moments of us just recounting events, (strangely, he didn't quite like the ones with him nearly dying) I could tell the drugs that the doctor gave him were starting to take him over again. "You're funny." He hiccupped and I rolled my eyes.
"And you're drugged."
He chuckled, "I'm not drugged, I'm just really Zen right now." He fell backwards, "I'm just really relaxed is all. Like, like, really, really relaxed. Like, elevator music, Sarah McLachlan relaxed."
"I should go."
He flew up and grabbed my arm with the glassiest set of puppy dog eyes I might have just ever seen. "No, man. Don't leave me here in this room." he flipped over his covers and revealed his bare thighs. "Stay here with me tonight."
It was tempting. But I wasn't about to sleep in a small hospital bed with my drugged up boyfriend; that only could lead to one thing. Plus, I had unfinished business that obviously needed attending to. "I have to go talk to my parents, Ethan."
He frowned, "Didn't they make you cry or something?"
I blinked, "Yeah, but I was really rude to them and I should go apologize."
He blinked, wide eyed and expressionless, "But they hurted you." He smiled goofily, "I would never hurted you."
"I'm sure you would never...hurted me, but I need to go and talk to them. What I said crossed a line that should not have been crossed and I feel horrible for it."
"What did I say?"
I blinked again, "You didn't say anything."
He confusingly nodded his head. "Oh. What did you say?"
I sighed with a frown. "Something horrible."
He frowned as well and pulled himself closer to me, "It's going to be okay."
"It won't."
"Hey, hey, hey." He whisper yelled, grabbing and cupping my chin with one of his hands; all while wearing a glazed over look in his eyes that screamed both sincere and psychotic. "It's going to be alright. 'Cause you're my baby...and I love yuh."
I blinked under his intense and far gone gaze, "Have you been watching TNT during the day again? And what the hell do they have you on?"
He snickered, "Love, baby!" he shouted and circled one of his index fingers in front of my face before it landed on the bridge of my nose. "Boop!"