Underage

[25] A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

Underage

[25] A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

Magnus pounces onto Ethan, who scoops the pup into his arm and smiles for the first time since I picked him up. I still have the pictures in my hand, and Ethan's keys are still on the table exactly where he left them. It's felt like weeks since my period came and we fought. When, really, it's only been four days, and Mother Nature has been kind enough not to let me suffer a single day more.

The minute we open the front door, the apartment fills with an awkward tension. The pup pays no attention. His tail is wagging, beating up against Ethan's arms, and his tongue is licking at his face. Ethan tries to get his face away from Magnus' slobber, but the puppy attacks with a vengeance, eliciting a small chuckle from Ethan's lips.

"Why didn't you want to go home?" I dare to ask. I push the words from my lips. I lost this one, this game, but I knew the moment I saw those pictures that I had lost. His green eyes catch mine and hold them for a few seconds. Magnus barking at him takes his attention from me. He gives Magnus' length a few strokes and then sets him down. The pup whines as he sits at Ethan's feet, no doubt giving him a blue-eyed puppy dog look.

"I wanted to come here."

"I don't think that was such a good idea."

"I can't go home," he says, taking a single step towards me. I cross my arms and stand my ground, despite wanting to rush into his arms. "I need you to yell at me. I need you to make me understand why we're even fighting. You have to spell these things out for me, Thea, you know that."

With each word, he comes closer to me until I can feel his heat and smell his cologne. His hands are in still in his pockets, and his leather brushes against my bare arms. He's giving me that smile. The smile where he only shows a few of his teeth and his dimples. It's the same smile that he gave me junior year when he convinced me to skinny dip in the lake with him during winter.

As if a smile, even my favorite one, can mend all our problems.

"You left your key," is all I say.

His eyes leave mine and find the key he left on the table. The one I haven't moved, haven't touched. I've stared at it for days and wondered if he was ever going to come back for it. The longer he stares at the key, the more I think he might not want it back.

"I know."

"You haven't called."

"You told me not to."

"When has that ever stopped you before?" I ask. "You once called me sixty times in a row when we were fighting junior year. You called until I turned my phone off, and then you started calling my parents just so you could talk to me."

"You sounded serious, you sounded hurt. I wanted to give you some time." He almost has me, here. He sounds genuine. I take my eyes from his. The longer I stare into those green pools, the more chance I have of forgetting everything and taking him to my bed.

"What happened to us not going to bed angry?"

"I know."

"Well, saying 'I know' doesn't solve anything, Ethan."

"I know."

I groan, take a step back, and let my hands fall to my sides. "God dammit, Ethan, say something besides 'I know'. Tell me why you got so mad at me the other day. Tell me why you never came over. Tell me why you left your damn key here. Tell me why you didn't come into the coffee shop."

"I didn't want to interrupt your little date."

"It wasn't a date, and you know that. I wouldn't do that to you. No matter how much we may fight, I wouldn't do that to you," I say. "I wouldn't go from punching Julia in the face for the exact same reason, to going out on a date with Kyle."