Welcome to the panic room
Ethan jolted up from his slumber , a small ache in his head , he found himself to be on someone’s bedroom floor , whose it was , was an absolute mystery.
He rubbed his eyes , he could feel the old tears in the corners , ah yes he’d had a massive panic attack in the middle of a party , and someone had came and helped him.
That someone had begun to wake up in the bed beside him , “Eth?” A voice mumbled , it was croaky as she’d clearly just woken up.
“Morning Quinn , you sleep well?” He asked , yawning. A small smile appeared on his sisters face , she made her way out of the comfort of her bed and sat down next to him on the ground , wrapping an arm around him.
“Yes I did , did you?” She ruffled his hair , he laid his head on her shoulder , closing his eyes and smiling contently, “hmm , I mean the floor was kinda uncomfortable but yeah.”
She chuckles lightly , her laughs vibrating through body , making Ethan shake slightly with them. “We should probably get ready and head back to your apartment, I mean I’m gonna have to have a conversation with everyone anyway”
He looks at her confused for a second , but then simply shrugs , getting up and taking some of the spear clothes he keeps in her cupboard out.
“I’m gonna go have a shower…” Quinn could barley even make out what he’d said , the only indication about what he’d said was the fact that he walked into he en suit bathroom and closed the door behind himself , now that was worrying seeing as he only got quiet when he was anxious or upset , that party last night must’ve really done a number on him.
It’d taken almost half an hour for him to shower , that was a new record , and once he stepped out , Quinn instantly dragged him to the door , got him to chuck his shoes on and continued to drag him out of her apartment.
Ethan slowly trailed behind her as they made their way down the street , Ethan and Chad only lived a 10 minute walk away from Quinn it just made it easier for him , “so why are we going back to my dorm , like I mean I’d love to lay in my own bed and all but you didn’t have to come with?”
Quinn paused in walking , so Ethan could catch up with her , and looked him in the eyes , placing her hands on his shoulders “because they left you at that party and you had a really bad freak out , I haven’t seen you have one like that in years” she pulled him into a hug , and he just stood there , soaking in the embrace.
“Okay , now you understand that , let’s carry on walking,” she held his hand , and they walked side by side the rest of the way , lucky for them they were only about 3 minutes away in the first place
They arrived at the dorm room , ethan searching for his keys in his pockets “fuck I don’t have them-“ he tugged a hand through his hair in stress.
Quinn rolled her eyes , knocking on the door , it took quite a while for the door to open , there behind it stood Chad , “OH! Ethan you’re okay!! I was so worried about you , I’m SO sorry for leaving you at the party , I thought you would just suddenly appear behind us but I’m like super sorry” the taller boy pulled Ethan into a tight hug , Ethan smiled , his eyes shining with content as Chad let them into the dorm.
When the three of them walked in Quinn and Ethan were met with the rest of the group - tara , Sam , Mindy and Anika - however before anyone could speak Quinn started up.
“You guys are all such fucking shitty friends you know that right?! Leaving my younger brother at a party ALONE where he had a horrible panic attack , you’re all fucking pricks , well I can forgive Chad. But the rest of you.” She had a dark , rather protective , look in her eyes.
None of the others said anything , just turning to the tv as a ‘major news alert’ popped up.
All eyes widened at the figure stood on the tv , “holy fuck , ghostface is back?!”
Quinn stood there for a hot minute before realising what Sam had said , wait ‘back?’ You’ve dealt with this fucker before’
Tara looked at her as if she had grown two heads , “yeah it was sam’s ex boyfriend and my girl-..best friend Amber , happened last year.”
Something clicked in Ethan , “amber freeman?” He brushed a hand through his hair as everyone looked at him in surprise
“How the hell did you know that.” Tara spat slightly angry , she didn’t want this new boy in the group to know her old best friends full name , they had used a fake last name in the press.
“I spoke to amber before” Ethan’s light brown eyes locked with Tara’s dull brown ones , however instead of the usual ‘I don’t give a fuck’ expression , her eyes were wide with shock.
“You did?” Her voice cracked slightly at the memory of her best friend , almost girlfriend even , who’d gone on a massive rampage with Ethan’s older brother
*Flashback*
He could remember that day quiet clearly , it was one of the only ones he could from his time at home , he’d walked into his older brothers room to grab a charger , Richie was downstairs discussing things with his dad , obviously the older man had left his computer unlocked , he usually did that not really expecting anyone to just be in his room , so Ethan walked towards it , he could see a Reddit panel open , on there he was messaging a girl , the newest message reading ‘Richie baby how long are you gonna take?’
Ethan stared at the screen , he really shouldn’t have done what he did , but he sat down in Richie’s desk chair and begun typing
Stabenthusiest: hello , I am Richie’s younger brother Ethan 😇❗️
Freeman: oh , I’m amber. Anyways , Can you get your brother for me it’s kinda important.
Stabenthusiest: sure ig , uh bye?
Freeman: bye 😐
Ethan heard the door slam open behind him , there in the doorway stood Richie , he had a dark menacing look in his eyes
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing.” His voice was laced with anger , an anger that in all his years Ethan had lived with the psycho he’d never experienced , Ethan sat there , frozen , not knowing what to say or do.
That was decided for him when Richie pulled him from the chair , slamming him into the wall , hitting Ethan’s head against it HARD in the process.
“WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU READ??” Richie’s face was extremely close to Ethan’s , his eyes filled with a frightening insanity, Ethan was scared shitless.
“I- uhm- I just said hi to your girlfriend” he mumbled , gulping , he was so scared about what Richie might do to him , he already hurt him countless times for fun , but now he was angry , what sort of punishment would the young boy have to face this time?
Richie slammed his younger brothers head against the wall , a loud crack ringing out , the man had fucking cracked his brothers skull open , however the young boy didn’t scream or cry , as he knew by now that would lead him to a worser beating.
Richie slammed his head into the wall a few more times , large streaks of blood splurging with it .
*end of flashback*
This was when Ethan’s memory begun to grow hazy , you see due to all the aggressive hits to the head , Ethan gained slight amnesia , and not all of his memories had fully flooded back yet.
“Well??” Tara eyed him up , “how did you speak to her…Amber?”
Ethan begun to panic , holy shit had he just dug a deep hole for himself “uhm , well , I , was- I was friend with someone on the same subreddit! And he let me use his Reddit about , but like I never saw their talk about killing , well anyways , one time I asked her what she thought about the stab movies and she went on a whole rant about it , so uh yeah that’s how I spoke to her”
Mindy gave him a suspicious look , however Tara just gave him a small smile , “she really did love those movies..”
Then she faded into her usual gloomy state , “maybe a bit too much.”