Chapter Text
Ethan was glad he’d chosen the comfortable position of laying in bed, Kristina’s chestnut hair spilling across his abs and down onto the comforter, to manage the hundreds of business emails populating his inbox. He was hyper focused, completely unfazed by the reel she was watching on Instagram, successfully tuning out Grayson’s calisthenics-induced grunting just outside the window. Ethan was all for fun and relaxation, but work time was work time, and he had a responsibility to maintain this aspect of their business. He was just about to begin deleting emails when he saw it and his eyes widened without his permission. His fingers shook as he tapped the message open and held his breath to read.
“YEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS!!!! Holy fucking shit, finally!!!”
Ethan couldn’t stop laughing and yelling happily as Kristina frowned at him in confusion having been forced out of her relaxing position.
“We’re approved! We’re officially dual citizens,” he yelled as he stared at her in pure joy. Kristina’s hands went to her face to cover her shock, evident by how far her jaw had dropped. Tears welled in her eyes and she whispered, “Shut the fuck up, Ethan - are you serious?” Ethan laughed at the cuteness of her accent despite the profanity, then wrapped her in his arms as he tried not to cry.
He needed this good news more than he could explain after the year they’d had. They were just a week away from their 21st birthday and this was the best birthday present imaginable. He had to tell Gray.
“Can you call Adell? There’s so much to do!” Ethan pecked Kristina on the lips quickly as he ran off to deliver the good news. As he stepped outside, he imagined Gray’s loud laugh in his ear and the bear hug he would inevitably crush Ethan in at hearing that they were clear to return to one of their favorite places on earth. He couldn’t wait to see his twin’s eyes light up, and talk about all the things they would do when they arrived. Ethan felt so light as he rounded the corner and spotted Grayson mid-pull-up.
“Gray, you won’t believe this,” he smiled easily. Grayson returned his smile as he let go of the bar and shook out his arms.
“What’s up, bro?” Grayson’s smile grew wider when he noticed Ethan’s excitement.
“Dude, we are officially dual citizens of Australia!” Ethan’s voice had gotten louder with each word until he was yelling and grasping the back of Grayson’s head with his right hand, his shoulder with his left hand, by the end of his sentence.
Grayson’s jaw dropped as his eyes shot open and he mirrored Ethan’s grasp. A happy squeal escaped his open mouth as he stared at Ethan before falling into a tight hug and laughing in his ear. Grayson’s reaction wasn’t as animated as Ethan had expected, but he figured Grayson was just shocked and happy. They held onto each other laughing for a bit longer before Ethan released Grayson and took a small step back.
“Bro, we have so much to do! Do you think we should ship the podcast table? Shit, we need to figure out where we’ll live! Are we buying or renting? Wait, maybe we should build. Damn dude, how will we run our Wakeheart meetings with the time difference and...”
As Ethan’s thoughts and words continued at a mile a minute, Grayson stood there smiling serenely at him, his hands in his pockets. It took a few more unanswered questions for Ethan to realize that his twin and best friend was not responding. Ethan stopped mid-sentence and really looked at Grayson for a moment.
“You good, dude?” Ethan asked.
“Yeah, man, this is incredible. I’m so happy this happened. I know we will figure all of this out, bro,” Grayson said quietly, his smile beginning to look a bit sad, “but I’m not going with you.”