Ethans POV:

I went with Gray into the beach house and he took me to his room, locking the door behind him. I watched him lean against the door taking a deep breath. "What happened?"

"What are you talking about?" I ran my hand through my long hair.

I knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Ethan things have been going so good since Autumn came into your life! Suddenly we all go out to eat and bam!" He clapped his hands together making me flinch. "You mood does a complete change. I look into your eyes and I see all of this sudden hurt and scaredness that had started to resolve since she came around."

"It'll never resolve Grayson and you know that. The damage is too deep." I snapped the last part.

"What happened that's so bad you couldn't even tell Autumn."

"I can't tell you Grayson-"

"Bullfuckingshit you can't tell me Ethan." He yelled at me, causing me to flinch in my skin.  "You've never kept anything from me and you aren't starting now."

"I..." I started to speak, but stopped. I took a deep breath in, then out, in, then out. I rubbed my now sweaty palms onto my jeans.

"Ethan." He came and sat by me. "You need to tell me. It's affecting you."

"I know." I bit my lip, my jaw clenching. "I got a text today at the resturant." I looked at the wall. "It was from Jack."

Grayson scoffed. "You're kidding? You're going to let Jack ruin your trip?"

"It's what he said." I squeezed my hands onto the bed on either side of me, my knuckles whitening. "He found out about Autumn and I. I don't know how, but he did. He's from California before he moved to Jersey, maybe he's here for his spring break with his family, maybe he saw here I don't know." I started to ramble.

I was so scared he'd go to Autumn. Say something to her about my past, even hurt her. It scared me. I couldn't lose her in my life. I never want that.

Grays big hands gripped my shoulders. "Give me your phone."

I slowly grabbed it and gave it to him. Autumn and I were on my lockscreen and he smiled softly. "She really is amazing for you."

"I don't deserve her." I smiled softly at the lock screen.

"You do." He unlocked it and went to messages. Jacks was ontop.

Jack: You actually settled down for a girl? Brought her even to LA? That's a long way to bring a hookup😂

Ethan: How do you even know I have a girlfriend?

Jack: Ooh my bad "girlfriend" interesting. Does she know about your past?

Ethan: yes.

Jack: all of it? I mean c'mon dude it is Autumn after all
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Grayson shook his head at the messages. "Dick." He muttered under his breath. "You have to tell her all of it before Jack does." He locked my phone and handed it back to me.

"I can't. I literally can't. She'll leave me."

"She won't."

"Grayson her parents are a shitshow and I'm all she has. If I tell her more details she'll leave me. Especially Brent-"

"You can't leave out that part."

That part.

I tried to block that part out of my life. The stupid side of me who just viewed Autumn as a prude.

Thinking of her so negatively now after knowing her, seeing her beautiful soul- it's eating me inside.

That's not me anymore. She's seeing the real me now, but this outweighs that. What I did, once she knows, she'll hate me.

"Grayson no."

"She needs to know. You know Jack and Cassidy are friends, that has to be the past he's talking about?"

"Grayson-"

"What you guys did to her with Brent was absurd. Dylan, Aaron, me!- We all knew it, but at the time your rep consumed you. She deserves to know that. If she hears it from someone else think of her reaction."

I couldn't give her more heartbreak. I was too into her to hurt her.

Hell I love her.

"Grayson I can't hurt her, I can't tell her."

"Then I will. Ethan you can't not tell her that!"

"T-Tell me what?" I heard Autumns small voice outside the door.

My heart literally fell out of my ass.

Graysons eyes got wide as he opened the door. Autumn was standing outside of it, her eyes laced with concern with a trace of hurt dancing over it.

"I just came to make sure he was okay and I heard you say you needed to tell me and I accidently spoke outloud..." She looked down at her hands that were fiddling together infront of her. She looks scared, as if I'd yell at her.

I've never yelled at her and I don't plan on it.

Grayson opened the door wider for her to go in. "I'll let you tell her. I know you can." He gave me a reassuring look before walking out.

"Love..." Autumn placed her smaller hand into mine. "I'm sorry I was outside the door. I just worried."

"It's okay." I leaned my lips onto her temple softly. "I appreciate you worrying about me."

She leaned her head onto my shoulder. We sat there in comfortable silence.

That's what I loved about her, about us. We could sit in silence with no issues. We could sit and show eachother memes for hours, lay and cuddle for hours. We soak up eachothers presense like our lives depended on it.

The words coming out of my mouth next would make or break what we have and it terrifies me. I had to tell her though. She deserves to know.

"When I told you about Vine," I took a deep breath. "I didn't tell you everything."

"You don't have to. Love, I didn't tell you everything." She rubbed her thumb across my hand. "We were both opening up for the first time. I understand."

She was so understanding and so caring. My love for her was growing by the second. She wasn't making this easy.

"But I have to tell you now. This kid from Vine we used to be friends back when my reputation was so bad. We aren't friends now, I changes and he didn't." I took a shaky breath. "He texted me though asking about you and what you knew about me and... Autumn if you learn more about me, you'll leave me."

"Ethan you can tell me. I'm not going anywhere." She put her other hand on my cheek causing me to look at her. "I've fallen for you too deep to leave so suddenly."

That just made it worse. This would crush her. "I...uh." I took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. "I had this girlfriend..uh.. her name was Cassidy." I felt like the walls were caving in on me. "When I started to like you, I let her go." I looked at Autumn. Her face was dropped slightly, the nervousness etched on her beautiful features.

"Well her and Jack, the kid who texted me, are really close. When he texted me when we were out he asked me what you knew. I...I think him and Cassidy are up to something because I left her for you and I-"

"What are you hiding, E?" She sat up straighter, pushing her long brown hair from her face.

"Autumn I told you what I used to do, what gave me my rep, but I can't give you details. It's too painful."

Autumns POV:

I sat there. I had nothing to say. I couldn't speak.

He left a girl for me? Why?

I'm not special. I'm a broken mess.

I'm making his life even messier.

"Look, I have fallen so hard for you." I whispered, "but if I'm a factor of why your eyes are showing me what they are, I can't handle that ontop of everything else Ethan."

He looked at me in silence, his hazel eyes shining with beautiful specks of green as he scanned over each feature of my face.

He painfully closed his eyes before opening them, now full of tears. "Autumn, remember Brent? Boyfriend- Junior year? When my rep was at a peak?"

I looked at him. Honestly I was surprised he remembered I dated him. Brent was my first boyfriend, we dated junior year. He really liked to party, but that wasn't me. He hung out a lot with Ethan and Grayson and all their friends.

We stayed together though despite a lot of our differences. I thought what we had was pretty special, but he just kept trying to get into my pants. I had to cut it off.

Lots of rude texts flew between us. The breakup was so messy.

I looked at Ethan slightly nodding.

"It was a bet. Run by Jack and Cassidy." He painfully closed his eyes again. "And me." He whispered.