Maybe After Tomorrow (Hatchetfield)

Chapter 25

'Don't worry, Banana, everything's gonna be okay,' Lex said as the three walked up the stairs.
'No. We can't go back.' Hannah was trying not to cry. But it was hard. 'We've had so much fun here. I don't wanna go back there.'
Lex tried to comfort her, but it was tricky when she was on the verge of tears herself.
'Oh, Lex...' Ethan took her hand and looked at her sympathetically.
Then they heard Henry clear his throat, 'Girls, is everything okay?'
'Just a little in shock from the news,' Ethan said as they turned around.
But Henry sensed there was more to the story. 'Why don't you come back down for a minute?'
Reluctantly, they walked down and sat on the couch across from Henry.
'You wanna tell me what's really going on?' he asked gently.
'We just... The idea of living with our mother again is... less than thrilling.'
'Oh.' Henry shifted uncomfortably. 'There's actually something you should know.'
'What is it?'
'Your mother... She's gone. I'm so sorry.'
Hannah fell into Ethan's side as she sobbed. He put his arm around her before turning and seeing Lex. She just looked completely numb.
'She... she's...'
'I'm sorry.'
'But... Where will we go?' Lex asked, starting to shake.
'Well, you can stay here as long as you need,' Henry said.
'What's going on?' Tony asked, walking into the room and sitting down next to Henry.
'Lex and Hannah's mother is gone. They don't have a home to go back to,' Henry said.
Tony looked over at them sympathetically, his heart breaking when he saw Hannah crying into Ethan's hoodie.
'Don't worry. You can both come and stay with us.'
Ethan looked up at his dad, his eyes lighting up, 'Wait, really?'
'Yeah, of course.'
'Wait, are you sure?' Lex asked, shocked.
'Yes.'
'Oh my god...' Lex looked at him, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips, 'Thank you so much.'
'Yeah, thanks, dad.'
'You don't have to thank me. We have the extra room anyway since Ethan's sister moved out a few years ago.'
Hannah finally looked up, wiping her eyes and smiling at Tony. He just smiled back at her. But then she started to tug on the end of Lex's sleeve.
Lex stood up, taking her hand, 'I think we're gonna go up to bed, you coming, Ethan?'
'I'll be up in a minute.'
'Okay.'
Lex smiled at Henry and mouthed another quick 'thank you' to Tony before taking Hannah upstairs. Henry also took that as his queue to leave. And Tony moved onto the couch next to his son.
'Dad...'
'You don't have to say anything, Ethan.'
'Yes I do. Thank you for letting Lex and Hannah stay with us. I really don't know what they'd have done.'
'I wasn't gonna leave them with nowhere to go.'
Ethan had been trying to hold back tears, but it was pointless. 'I'm sorry.'
'What for?'
'Everything. I haven't exactly been easy to deal with over the years.'
'Maybe I didn't take enough time to understand why and help.'
'After the meteor... All I could think was that I was never gonna get a chance to see you again when we'd just started getting along.'
'Me too. When Henry told me you were alive... I was just so relieved. I love you, Ethan.'
'I love you too, dad.'
They hugged quickly before Ethan stood up and said, 'I should probably go up and make sure Lex and Hannah are okay.'
'Yeah.'
'Night.'
'Good night.'

'Hey,' Ethan said, drying his eyes as he closed the door and sat on the bed with Lex, who had Hannah laying with her head on Lex's leg. 'You two doing okay?'
'We'll be okay. Won't we Banana?'
'Yeah,' she said, before hugging Ethan and getting into her bed.
Ethan and Lex then got into bed next to each other.
'It's gonna be okay,' Ethan whispered, kissing Lex's forehead.
Lex just nodded.
Four minutes later, all three of them were asleep.

~

(A/N: I'm just going through end proofreading each chapter before posting since they're all done and I swear I get more sad every time I click publish. I'm not ready for this to be done)