Plus One

Best Part

Ethan held onto Anna as she yawned. "Go to sleep, pretty girl. I'll be here in the morning." Anna didn't know him leaving her in the middle of the night was an honest fear until he reassured her. She fell into a deep slumber, while Ethan sat up with his thoughts. For the first time in maybe forever, Ethan had found the right girl. She was beautiful, funny and smart. Anna got along with his family, including his wishy-washy father.

He wanted to pursue her. He wanted to make things real and official, but he didn't deserve her. He didn't deserve a happy ending when Ezra got what he should have. Ethan was a mess and he didn't want to hurt her but that's all he ever did. He hurt the ones he was supposed to look after and care for. "I'm sorry, Ezra." Ethan whispered as tears fell down his cheek. It should've been him that died that day. It would've been him if Ezra hadn't saved him. Ethan lost count at the many times he had cried himself to sleep, but as Anna unconsciously squeezed him tighter, he couldn't help but stop and smile a little.

"She's good for you, bro." Ethan could hear Ezra say in his head and grinned. He would give it a shot with Anna. He would pursue her honestly and enjoy it as much as possible, because the moment he felt he were to drag her down he would end things immediately. He wiped his face and wrapped his arms around her before falling to sleep. As he fell deeper into slumber, Ethan offered up a prayer for the first time since Ezra died that he wouldn't mess things up with Anna.

Anna shot up when she saw the sun so high up. "What time is it?" She looked around and saw that Ethan was gone. Fear snaked its way up her spine as she stumbled out of bed and down the stairs. There standing shirtless with sweatpants too low on his hips to be legal with a bagel in his mouth as he read something on his cellphone was Ethan Crane. Anna couldn't help but drink him in. The fact that he was still there meant he was choosing their relationship. A real one.

She walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around him. He smirked down at her before turning around. "You're really handsome, you know that." He smiled at her before pecking her lips. "My girlfriend has said that to me once." Anna smiled widely before taking bite of his bagel. "Hey!" Anna tsked. "What's yours is mine and what's mine is ours." Ethan laughed loudly before setting his bagel down. "Is that right?" Ethan leaned in for a kiss, but Anna's eyes bugged when she saw the time.

"How is it 8 o'clock already? We're so late!" Ethan watched her run around like a chicken with its head cutoff before grabbing her. "We're working from home today, babe." She looked at him as if he were crazy. "Told the old man you and I were staying in and working from home today AND tomorrow, so calm yourself and enjoy a bagel with your man." Anna watched as he sat down next to Garth who purred happily. "Ethan, this will look like special treatment."

He saw the anxiety building within her. "Every employee gets 3 work from home days a quarter. You have never used yours according to the database, so you're overdue. Besides I want to take you somewhere for dinner and we'll need to go right after work." Anna squinted her eyes at him at the possibility of a surprise. "Sit. Eat. Then you can work, but we're leaving right at 5 o'clock." Anna did as she was told all the while excited about what her boyfriend had in store.

He told her to dress comfortably, so she mimicked his outfit. Dark jeans, a sweater and boots. They drove for a little while and Anna immediately knew they were in South Portland. They pulled up to a diner called Jamley's Joint and Anna couldn't help but smile. It was as though they pulled it out of the 60's. They walked in and everything was an ode to the era.

They got some stares before Ethan led them to a booth in the back. "Ethan Crane! As I live and breathe!" An older man with thinning gray hair called out as he made his way over to them. "Sal! How've you been old man?" Sal shrugged. "I'm still kicking." They bantered quickly before he turned his attention to Anna. "And who might this lovely angel be? I'm so sorry for his rudeness. I'm Sal Richardson." He took her hand and pressed his lips to it. "Alright! Alright!" Ethan pulled her hand away causing Anna to laugh. "It's nice to meet you, Sal."

"What brings you by?" Sal asked Ethan as he pulled out a pad of paper. "I wanted to show my girlfriend my old neighborhood." Sal chuckled. "You want to show her you had some hair on your chest before you came Mr. Rich and Preppy." Ethan rolled his eyes, while Anna giggled. "Yeah something like that. Give us two number fours hold the pickles, go heavy on the special sauce and then bring out a side of special sauce with Sprites."

Sal smiled down at him and patted his back. "I missed you kid." Ethan smiled back at him and nodded. "Ditto old man." Sal left them to go make their orders. He had cooks already handling everything, but he wanted to cook for the kid that used to come by every day for a burger after school. He could still hear Ivy Crane threatening him for feeding her son more than she did.

"So, this is your old stomping grounds?" Anna asked looking out the window. "Yup. My mom grew up here, so when she and Dad got married, he wanted to stay and live as close to a normal life as possible while he got his business up and running." Anna listened as Ethan shared the unconventional ways each Crane generation found their way to wealth. "We came here a lot as a family when it first opened up. I think I was three or four. It was my mom's idea for Sal to have pictures of families plastered throughout the joint to promote the family friendly store. There's us."

Ethan pointed to a fading photo of a young Jefferson and Ivy crane with an even younger Ethan and Eliza Crane as Ivy cradled Ezra as a toddler. "This is awesome." Anna smiled taking out her phone and snapping a quick photo. "Yeah that's the only photo that exists of that house." Anna looked at him confused. "That was my childhood home. It burned down when I was 16 and then we moved to where my parents live now. We lost a lot in that fire including our copy of this photo."

Anna immediately got an idea. She smiled to herself as she watched Sal bring over a tray. "Here you go. I can't wait to hear what you think about it, darling." Anna smiled at him before nodding. Sal left them to it and Ethan wasted no time diving in. He moaned happily as the juiciest burger he knew ever existed tantalized his taste buds.

"This is insanely good!" Anna smiled as grease dribbled off her chin. "And I'm the messy eater." Ethan said wiping her chin. They talked more about Ethan's childhood and Anna could tell he had lots of happy memories. When they were done, she regaled Sal with compliments to which he soaked up. He told Ethan to come by more often, but Ethan knew he worked too hard to have the body he did for Sal's burgers to ruin it. "I'll make a quarterly trip," Ethan promised before heading out.