Ethan took my hand and helped me out of the back of the cab. Once we were on the sidewalk, and I had paid the driver, Ethan laced his fingers through mine as we made our way to my apartment.
“So that kind of shit certainly happens,” Ethan said. He swung our arms between us, biting down on his lower lip and smiling down at me as we walked. He’d been telling me some of the most bizarre stories about people who had undergone the same surgery as he had. “There was a guy they put headphones on and asked him in his right ear what he wanted to do for a living, and his left hand wrote down that he wanted to be a race car driver. When they asked the same question into his left ear, he wrote with his right hand that he wanted to be a draftsman. Oh—and if you show just one of my eyes a picture of something and ask me to draw it, I’ll always draw it better with my left hand even though I’m right-handed. How fucked up is that? It’s because your right brain is better at drawing, I guess.”
“It’s actually really fascinating,” I said truthfully. We entered the elevator, and I pushed the button for my floor. “But it’s also kind of scary in a way, you know?”
“Yeah, I know,” Ethan said with a nod. “I can live will all that stuff pretty easily. Not being able to read is a much bigger deal. A lot of the split brain stuff is kinda funny, like I mentioned before when I kept passing the donuts sign. Sometimes it’s just freaky, like earlier.”
“Do you think…um, both of you want to talk to me now?”
Ethan laughed.
“There’s still only one of me, goofball,” he said. “It’s just that when I can’t make up my mind, I don’t always realize I can’t make up my mind. You should see me when Andi is bitching at me to eat healthier, and I start making a salad with Hershey’s syrup for dressing!”
“You’re kidding!” I gasped. The elevator beeped at us as we reached my floor. We stepped out together, and I pulled my hand out of his to dig through my purse for the keys.
“Of course I am.” He smirked. “But I have had one hand grab orange juice and the other one grab a can of Coke at the same time. I’ll sit down at the table and look down, realizing I have both.”
“That has to be a little odd.”
“Yes and no,” Ethan said. He held open the door for me after I unlocked it, and we both went inside. “Really, everyone does it, but most people do it in their heads first and then act. I act first, and how I act tells me I’m indecisive. Usually, no one except me notices it happens at all, but times like today make it kind of obvious.”
Ethan looked around my apartment, taking in the neutral décor and checking out my stereo system. I hung my purse on its hook and took his backpack from him, laying it down on the floor next to the door.
“Do you want something to drink?” I asked.
“Orange juice and Coke, please,” Ethan said with a wink. “Nah. Really, I’m fine.”
“Well, I’m going to have some wine if that’s okay with you.”
“Of course.”
I stepped into the kitchen and pulled out a wine glass and the half bottle of Merlot I had started the day before. After pouring a glass, I went back into the living room, where Ethan was pulling out DVDs from their display cases one at a time, looking at the covers of each one.
“You like romantic comedies, huh?” he said.
“I guess so,” I replied. “They’re a nice distraction from schoolwork anyway.”
“Do you have a lot of schoolwork to get done tonight?” Ethan asked. He looked out towards the doorway and ran one of his hands through his hair, tossing it all over the place. “I don’t want to…to be in the way.”
I looked up at him, and Ethan looked down at his feet for a moment with his brow furrowed.
“You aren’t in the way,” I said quietly. He glanced back up and blushed.
“I don’t know what to say now.” He stepped from one foot to the other. “I’m not very good at…well, making up, I guess? That’s what this is, right?”
“I want it to be.”
“So do I.”
I placed my wine glass on the coffee table and took a few steps closer to him. Reaching out, I took both his hands in mine. He looked at them for a moment before looking back into my eyes. His beautiful half smile appeared, and his blush deepened as he pulled me close and kissed me softly. I returned the favor and then raised my hands up and around his neck, twisting them into his hair and holding him closer. I felt his tongue against my mouth and opened to him.
Ethan groaned and wrapped his arms around my waist, gripping me tightly.
“I didn’t think we’d ever do this again,” he said, moving away from my lips and kissing up my jaw to my ear. “I never thought I’d touch you like this again. It hurt so much just thinking about it…”
“Ethan, I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt you.”
Pulling back, he opened his eyes and looked at me, ran his tongue over his lip rings, and sighed.