fangirl
chapter eighteen | no one's point of view.

it was about two in the afternoon when eileen, james, grayson and ethan, all strolled into the Grove.

it had been about a month since they had all moved down to los angeles, and things were going pretty good.

besides the fact that eileen was sad most of the time, she couldn't complain. she was so thankful she got to move, because it really did give her more opportunities— and it was also a blessing that her family and friends were able to as well.

and james and the twins were amazing. they hadn't been very public about them hanging out too much, but people knew about it.

eileen couldn't count on hand how many times people asked about her about what her and ethan's relationship was.

genuinely, they were honestly just two really close friends. that's all it ever would be, but of course the internet had turned it into something else.

it didn't bother them two though, it actually amused them. they knew it wasn't like that, so it was funny seeing people assume things.

as for vinnie, her comments had finally stopped forcing them together. it pretty much stopped after vinnie made the comment about how they didn't know each other. of course there were some here and there, but it was over with for the most part.

it kind of still bothered her, even though she doesn't speak about it. she didn't talk to anyone about her feelings, because she knew it was still wrong to think of him in that way.

it's weird. she didn't like that she felt this way because they didn't date. because technically, he wasn't an ex boyfriend. but he was an ex- something. an ex- maybe. an ex- almost.

what gets her the most is that she thinks of the what ifs. she finds herself fantasizing about this dream him in her head, and it hurts when she realizes the cold, hard truth— he doesn't want her.

she didn't know what captivated her so much about him. he was just so.. i don't know.

"what you thinking about?" james asks, snapping her out of her thoughts. she looks over and smiles softly at him.

her life had changed so much over the past two months, it didn't seem real.

she still couldn't fathom she was here fucking hanging out with james charles and the dolan twins.

though her mind is running a million miles per hour, she shrugs. "just thinking." he nods and waves it off.

though she wishes someone would just look past the act she puts on. the act of not caring and the act of not being sad all of the time.

but no one ever does.

"okay, i think we should go to gucci," ethan suggests and james cheers. "i'm always down for that." eileen scoffs. "i am not stepping into that store, no way."

despite her efforts to not go, she finds herself rolling her eyes as she walked in.

"we're just looking eileen, chill out." grayson says, looking at her face and he laughs. she sighs and nods, following them throughout the store as they browse through the overpriced items.

"you think i should buy a gucci belt?" she hears a voice from the corner of the store ask. her curiosity gets the best of her and she peeks over, and as she does, she literally falls into clothing rack and falls on the ground.

"eileen!" james exclaims. grayson is hunched over, wheezing and ethan is stood there with his hands over his face. "bruh, what is your problem?" he asks.

her cheeks are beat red, and she knows if she doesn't get up and get her shit together, she will have a mental breakdown in the middle of the fucking gucci store.

there wasn't too many people in the store, just them, a couple, and vinnie fucking hacker and aaron hull in the corner.

she hopes, no she prays they didn't witness that. in embarrassment, she quickly gets up and just laughs it off. "shit, my bad."

grayson is still laughing and james scowls at him. "don't be fucking rude."

"eileen, you're deadass bleeding." ethan points out. her eyebrows furrow and she looks down at her knee and sure enough, there's blood pouring out of her knee. it wasn't a lot, just a little cut.

"here, i'll go ask if they have a bandaid in the back or something," ethan says, and james leads eileen over to sit on a bench in the store and she sighs.

this was so fucking embarrassing.

"what's up with you?" grayson asks, noticing her weird behavior. james and grayson are stood in front of her as she sits.

she sighs. it had to come out sometime, and eileen had a problem of oversharing when she was stressed.

"so like, two months ago, i was talking to vinnie hacker and i thought we were serious, but we apparently weren't. he legit flew down to washington and everything, and then kissed me, then told me he wasn't ready for a relationship. blocked me on everything. then when i blow up, he said he had never talked to me," she quietly rants. grayson's eyes widen and james gasps, loudly. "what an asshole, ew!"

vinnie is stood in the corner of the store with aaron, just looking over the obnoxious belts.

today, he was in probably the best mood he had been in, in months. he felt amazing, like nothing could ruin his mood.

until he saw ethan dolan pass him to walk to the front of the store. his eyes wondered over him, and he panicked.

tiktokroom had posted a video of him, grayson, james and eileen all walking together probably twenty minutes—prior to them going into the gucci store.

did that mean eileen was with him?

vinnie thinks he would literally die of embarrassment if he saw her. he had tried to get her out of his head, but it always failed. he never even apologized to her about his comment, and that wasn't even the worst part.

vinnie wasn't really that much of an insecure person, but as his gaze laid on ethan, he felt so embarrassed.

he could never compete with ethan dolan, he reminds himself.

he shakes it off. there was no way they were still together, right?

"what an asshole, ew!" he hears a loud, high pitched voice say. he peers over the clothing rack and his eyes land on grayson dolan and james charles.

"dude we gotta go," he quickly says to aaron, who peers up at him in confusion.

"why, we just got in here?" he asks, his hands skimming over the belts. vinnie shakes his head, "we just have to," he says and aaron shakes his head. "dude, i'm never coming into a gucci store again after this, let me have my moment." he says before leaving vinnie to wonder further in the store.

vinnie had no choice but to follow him. he didn't want to be caught by her, just standing by himself like a loner.

"eileen," aaron exclaims once his eyes land on eileen who is sat on a bench. he's already making his way over to the group in excitement.

vinnie is stood right behind him, and he closes his eyes for a split seconds before sighing and opening his eyes.

he follows him quickly and just prepares himself for the shitshow that was about to occur.

in all of her glory, eileen is sat on a bench, with a straight face, looking at grayson and james. when she looks up and sees aaron and vinnie in front of her, all of the blood runs out of her face, and she thinks she's gonna pass out.

before she can even acknowledge them, ethan walks over and leans down to unwrap the bandaid and put it gently on eileen's knee. her eyes snap to the boy kneeled in front of her, with a concentrated look on his face as he cared for her.

"there ya go," he says, and when he's done, he looks up at her with a smile and she nervously laughs. "thanks." she says.

vinnie stood there with his eyebrows furrowed, trying not to let it bother him.

you fucked this up, he reminds himself.

you have no right to be jealous.

you did this to yourself.

ethan finally looks away from eileen and when he's stood back up, his eyes look over to aaron and vinnie.

"what's up," vinnie awkwardly stated, looking straight into eileen's eyes, who just looks down at the floor.

this is why you don't go into a fucking gucci store, eileen snaps to herself in her head.

hello everyone