Hi there! I'm here with another update, and I hope it lives up to expectations. It's kind of hard to write relationship stuff considering I've never been in a relationship myself, so I hope this story pleases!
Finding the Honey: Chapter 11
Ethan drained his tenth bottle. He'd had a mixture of vodka and beer. Cal's vodka and beer. He had initially got them from the kitchen, but when they ran out, he practically turned Cal's bedroom upside down looking for his not-so-secret stash.
Ethan knew the alcohol was working. He'd nearly forgotten all about Honey and the day's events. He'd nearly forgotten how badly he messed up, how bad everything was... what a terrible person he was. He just needed needed a few more drinks and then he would've forgotten about the complete mess that was his life.
He wanted to get up and find some more, but he found he didn't have the energy. He curled his knees up to his chest while he sat on the sofa, and buried his head in his knees.
And he cried. Hard.
He had never realised how tough being in a relationship was. He should have taken the whole Cal and Taylor situation as a warning. He was sure it wasn't meant to be so... upsetting. He had known many successful relationships, and even ones that fell apart, but he was sure no one had ever felt pain like he was experiencing right now.
The fact that his possible girlfriend - someone who he admired and loved with all his heart - was pregnant with another man's (someone who Ethan had never heard off, Honey didn't even think to mention him) baby was enough to make him upset, but he'd overreacted. Honey looked as though she loved Blake... like Ethan loved her, and Ethan didn't want that. Yes, it was selfish, but Ethan wanted her to love him the way he did for her.
He thought she did, they went on a date and had a brilliant time. Then that man turned up and Honey was pregnant and it all went out the window. Not forgetting Ethan kissed Lily, and she liked him.
He screamed into his knees, sobbing harder and harder. Why did he hurt so much over such a fickle thing called 'love'? As a logical person, Ethan never understood why people were so upset if they were dumped or something, but now he had a whole new view of it. He didn't see how he would ever be able to make this right.
Cal unlocked the door to the flat and wondered whether his brother would even be home. He was heartbroken, rejected, and upset. He wouldn't go to the pub; Cal had already ruled that out. Ethan didn't do drinking, he hated the stuff. Ethan wasn't in the ED either. He must have been home - it was the only other place Ethan would go. Cal was thankful Ethan had not taken the car and driven somewhere, it wouldn't have been safe in the state he was in, and it meant he wouldn't go very far away... at least, Cal hoped.
The older brother entered and could immediately hear muffled crying, and a scream. He gulped and slowly walked towards the source, and found Ethan curled up on the sofa in the living room. Next to him were quite a few alcohol bottles. Cal sighed. Ethan never drank heavily, Only a heartbroken and devastated Ethan would do something like this.
He walked in further and knelt down in front of his little brother, placing a hand on his knee. "Ethan?" He said softly. "Ethan, look at me."
As Ethan rose his head, Cal was shocked. He looked so much younger, so much more vulnerable, so fragile. He had tear tracks on his cheeks, tears still steadily making their way down his pale face, he kept sniffing, he was trembling, and his hair was an absolute mess. Cal decided to ignore the strong stench of alcohol on his brother for now, he'd deal with that later, along with the monster of a hangover Ethan would have.
He wondered whether it was the drink that caused Ethan's emotional state. He was obviously very upset, but maybe it just amplified it a little.
"What were you thinking, Ethan?!" Cal breathed. He wasn't angry at his little brother, but if Cal hadn't arrived when he did (and thank goodness he did), Ethan may have drunk himself into a coma.
"I wanted to forget..." Ethan sobbed, more tears falling. There was a pause in which Cal could hear Ethan's sobs. "Why am I such a terrible person?" His strained voice asked, and Caleb could see Ethan's face desperately wanting answers. It was like Cal held all the answers to every question ever asked. Nevertheless, he was taken aback. Not only because Ethan barely ever asked personal questions to Cal, but also because of the content of the question he'd just asked.
"You aren't aren't a terrible person, Ethan." He tried to reassure his brother, but it didn't work.
"I am!" Ethan shouted, throwing his head back down to his knees, crying and screaming like the world was ending. Cal guessed it probably felt like that for Ethan right now - it certainly did after Taylor was revealed as a con-artist.
Cal sat next to Ethan on the sofa and practically uncurled Ethan himself. He brought Ethan's head to his lap and stroked his hair while Ethan cried and screamed and sobbed his heart out.
They were both grown men now, but Ethan was so vulnerable and childlike that Cal could think the only way of calming him down was by comforting Ethan the way their mother did to them as children.
"It's okay, Ethan. Everything will be alright," he said soothingly, repeating this phrase over and over and over again. Ethan was trembling, Cal noted, and seemed as broken as you could get.
He scanned around him, there were a lot of empty alcohol bottles, and Cal knew they'd come from his stash. He wondered to what length Ethan had gone to get Cal's alcohol - it was put away quite well.
Cal did not want to see what Ethan had moved in his bedroom.
Finally, after what felt like a century, Ethan was calming.
"Let's get you off to bed, yeah?" He asked, and felt Ethan nod. He helped his weak and drunk brother stand and supported him to his bed, where the younger practically collapsed down and fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.
Cal smiled at his brother's sleeping form, before grabbing some water, paracetamol, and a bowl for when the inevitable started to happen. Cal blew out a concerned breath, Ethan's hangover would be so bad Cal would probably feel it too.
After ten minutes of watching his brother sleep, Cal decided he had to go back to work. Connie wouldn't like it if both he and Ethan were off work. At least Cal could cover for his brother this way, instead of him and Ethan being unaccounted for. As reluctant as he was to leave Ethan, he'd probably sleep for a decade.
He made sure to leave Ethan a note by the side of his bed, making sure Ethan would know he could call whenever he wanted.
Cal slowly made his way back to work, praying he could help. He wasn't the best person to help with relationships, but Honey was his friend, Noel, her father, was his friend, Lily (who Cal would no doubt have to find before she found him) was his friend, and Ethan was his brother.
Whether he wanted to get involved in this sticky situation or not, he had a duty to help.