His Name Was Ethan || BWWM

8. The Talk

Payton's POV

"After you baby." Ethan teased, holding the front door of his house open. I laughed and quickly stepped inside escaping the cold outside. Walking into the living room, I took of my coat and cardigan, draping them across the couch. Big mistake.

"I'm so cold." I shivered, rubbing up and down my arms.

"I'll go turn on the heat. I'll be right back." Ethan took of in a jog to the thermostat. After a few seconds, I heard heat blasting through the vents. It was getting warmer by the second. Ethan obviously had an updated system because this place was no longer cold.

"Better?" He asked, wrapping his arms around me in a hug. Lifting me off the floor, he swayed me in the air, squeezing me to him.

"Let me go. I'm tired." I wiggled out of his arms and dropped to the floor.

"You're right. Let's go make ourselves comfortable in the bed." He teased, in a seductive voice.

"Try again." I countered making my way up the stairs, to the room. I got my extra pair of pajamas that I left here before and headed to the bathroom.

"Where you going?" Ethan asked, plopping down on the bed.

"I'm changing."

"You could do that here." Lord knows with my body image issues I couldn't.

"I'd rather not, Ethan." I knew that once I said this he wouldn't push it after that. And he didn't. He shrugged his shoulders and turned on the tv to CNN.

When I walked out, I shuffled over to the bed and got in. I put my head on Ethan's chest, along with my right hand. His arm went under my left arm and wrapped around my waist.

"Are you okay, baby?" He looked down at me with his blue eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I kissed his hairy jaw to seal the point. He rubbed up and down my back in a comforting way.

The next news story broke my heart. 34  teenage girls in the Washington D.C. area have gone missing. No one has picked up a finger to do anything. Of course because they are black. Not one Amber Alert. But God knows that if it were one white little girl, it would be chaos.

Grabbing the remote from Ethan, I angrily shut off the tv. I say up, crossing my legs Indian style. Ethan sensed my agitation and put a calming hand on my thigh.

"Baby...it's okay." My head shot up and I stared darts into his eyes.

"What do you mean it's okay. 34. 34 young teenage black girls are missing. This is the first time I'm hearing about it. Not one amber alert. Not one." My hands were flying in the hair, displaying my dismay.

"I know and it's sad that society hasn't evolved enough to care about everyone equally. People are treated different based on their race. In the end as cliché as it may sound, we are all the same people just different varieties." I brought my knees to my chin, watching Ethan as he talked. He was so full of emotion and determination. It was quiet for a couple minutes. He had this far away look in his eyes.

"What's wrong, babe." Ethan's eyes snapped to mine with a glint.

"That's the first time you've called me by a name that isn't Ethan."